The first burglary
As Nick and Gerald drove up to the first hardware store that was hit they found that it was really quiet. As they parked their SUV in front of the store there wasn't a single police officer on scene. As they approached the store Nick ordered Gerald to setup a perimeter around the store as he went in to investigate. As he approached the door the only abnormal thing he saw was a large black paw mark on the window of the door. As he opened the door the lock wasn't broken and inside the store was cleaned inside out, all the products were stolen.
As Nick pulled out his notepad to record all he saw he whispered to himself "This is unusual, the lock isn't broken neither are any of the windows and the place isn't messy." He saw someone moving inside at the back.
"Hello are you by any chance the owner of this place" Nick spoke in a confident tone while also holding his close his gun.
"Oh another officer, say are you by any chance a detective?" The owner was an old pig wearing a purple vest with green trousers.
"I sure am sir well temporarily. What do you mean by another officer?"
"Well earlier, maybe about an hour ago two officers from the BBPD drove in checked if everything was clear and told me the detectives will come."
"Alright so they haven't done any investigating yet. Say can I see the camera footage?" Nick replied as he saw a camera in the corner of the store.
"Sure thing, follow me"
As Nick and the Owner walked towards the room, he started to think to himself. "two officers from the BBPD hmm, maybe it's Judy? I've got to ask the owner"
"I got another question sir. Can you describe the two officers that came in?" Nick asked the owner as they continued walking
"Well one of the officers was a sheep and the other was a bunny," the owner spoke to Nick as he recalled the two officers to Nick.
"A bunny. Maybe it is Judy?... I have to forget about her for now, got to focus on my duty." Nick though to himself as he decided to continue with his work.
As they entered the backroom it was all dusty. There was a small metal desk with a fuse and alarm box next to it, on the table there was a monitor. The owner tried to turn on the monitor "Come on turn on!" he failed so he then tried to eject the tape. He spoke to Nick in horror "The-the tape is missing!"
Nick put a paw to his chin as he started to ponder at the idea of who the criminals are "So they are professionals. Did you or anyone hear the alarm turn on?"
"No. It's strange, the alarm guy told me it would turn on if someone even touched the door."
Nick starts looking through his notes. "Do you by any chance know this alarm guy?"
"Never saw him in my life, he seemed fairly fishy though. Took him a very short time to install it and he asked me a lot of questions about the shipments that arrive"
"What did you tell him?" Nick starts recording with his pen.
"Everything that I always tell the customers, what you see here in display is what I have. However, I did have a shipment of gunpowder arrive yesterday several boxes of it, which got stolen"
Nick was shocked "Gunpowder!? Why didn't you hire a guard to protect it?"
"Well I uh… I though nothing would happen to it overnight and then my alarm would sound if someone tried to rob it
Nick placed his notes on the desk as he attempted to open the alarm box. "Locked, do you by any chance have the key?"
"Yes right here." The owner pulls out a small key chain with various keys on it. He hands over the key to the security box. Nick places the key into the lock and unlocked the box. As he turned the box he spoke to the owner with a smirk. "Are you sure he even installed an alarm?"
"Yeah he told me he did." Replied the owner.
"Well take a look inside."
as the owner looked inside more horror appeared on his face. "How can it be empty!?"
"OK so these guys are professionals after all. How long ago did the alarm get installed?"
The owner takes out a diary and starts reading it. "two and a half weeks ago."
As Nick was about to ask more questions Gerald rushed in. "Nick, sir. There's a witness outside I tried to tell her to leave the crime scene but she claims she saw the criminals load up a truck late midnight."
Nick followed Gerald who lead him to a Deer standing outside with a handbag. She is wearing a velvet pattern shirt with white shorts and a flowery hat on her head.
"Hello ma'am." Nick spoke trying to act formal.
"Hello there, are you in charge around here?" The Deer spoke in a somewhat posh voice.
"I sure am ma'am, my partner told me you have key..."
The Deer interrupts Nick "At midnight I saw two large mammals wearing completely black outfits load up trucks behind the store. I was awoken by the noise of them loading up the boxes. I thought it was the standard delivery until I saw the police come this morning."
Nick writes down everything that she told him "Thanks ma'am, if you do get any more information please report it to your local police station."
"My pleasure darling." The Deer replies as she walks home.
"Let's check the room that you stored the gunpowder."
Nick and the Owner went towards the room while Gerald stayed on guard. As they approached the door Nick noticed that the door had an electronic lock to it. The owner placed his paw against it and the door became unlocked. Inside there wasn't a trace of any gunpowder. There were two empty boxes and a vent that was big enough for a weasel to enter. Nick noticed that from the inside the door didn't have a paw scanner.
Nick takes out his notepad and pen. "Tell me more about this locking mechanism"
"Well if you want to enter from the outside you need to scan your paw. This little is registered to only allow me to enter. However, it's unlocked if you want to open it from the inside.
Thoughts started to rush through Nick's mind, "What if the criminals had a small mammal climb in through the vents and then open the door from the inside."
For the rest of the morning Nick was searching the stock's list to see what was missing. Among the gunpowder, drills, wrenches, screwdrivers and other mechanical tools were missing. When there weren't any more leads that Nick could follow he gave his farewells.
"Sir if you ever find anything that might help us solve the case do visit the department." He spoke to the owner as he and Gerald drove away.
Nick focused on the road, for him there were more questions than answers. He wondered to himself, "No alarm, stolen tools and gunpowder, no broken windows, no records of the criminals, doors lock picked and all products missing this is starting to sound a lot like the night howler case, not a single trace apart from this phone." He started to wonder a lot more, thinking about what connection there can be with the two cases. He started remembering the old times when he worked with Judy side by side, she was one smart bunny he thought to himself as they continued to drive.
"Hey Gerald, don't mind me asking what brought you to the force." Nick questioned Gerald.
Gerald sighed as he started telling his story:
"It's a long story Nick but I'll try to tell it to you as well as I can. A few years ago I was a young wolf who lived with both of his parents in tundra town. My family was really poor at times they couldn't scrape enough food to eat so we starved most of the time. My father was great as sneaking and some of the time he tried to break into cafes and restaurants just so he could supply for me and my mother. He was never caught and the local mafia noticed this, they offered him a criminal career.
My mother was against this but what could she say we really needed money to supply ourselves. My father agreed with this proposal, for weeks he was bringing us all the money we ever needed for a good meal and we finally had the money to at least get new clothing. My mother finally found a good job to sustain us."
Nick could sense the anger and fury growing inside of Gerald, he focused on the road while also closely listening to him.
"One day my father's boss visited us and told us that my father died while helping his brothers, I felt proud for my father he died as a hero. A few days later one of my father's most loyal allies came for a visit, he had scars and bandages all over him. He reported that his father betrayed the mafia and decided to help the police force. As soon as he left our apartment we could hear gunshots, when I rushed outside, he-he was dead…"
Gerald was now shaking all over, Nick quickly parked the SUV, took of his aviators and attempted to calm him down. "calm down Gerald, it's in the past were now in the present."
"They killed my father Nick, those criminal scum killed him!" Gerald was now full of furry he pushed Nick away from him with all his force and continued his story.
"That's when I decided to avenge my father, I sent an application to the academy and I passed, after training in one of the best academies I was finally ready to serve the police force. One of my superiors noticed what potential I had the long while that I served in the force, he decided to recruit me into the Sheriff's department. And that is how I ended up here Nick."
There was a moment of silence, Nick allowed Gerald to calm down by himself. Gerald kept on looking down, he was now more eager than ever to find the criminals.
"Nick, we're going to find all those scum that killed my father and we will put them on trial." Gerald spoke quietly to Nick, he still had small burst of anger.
Nick finally learnt the true side of Gerald. Who might've seemed like an innocent wolf who wanted to become a cop now was a redeemer who wanted to repay his father's death.
Nick now held both of Gerald's shoulders so he would listen to him, "Gerald, remember don't ever let your anger take control of you during your duty. You can become blinded and fail your true task, to protect and serve."
Finally, Nick and Gerald arrived at the second crime scene he saw one unusually dark green and black colored police squad car parked outside as he went towards the store he saw a familiar face…
*I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More on the way. If you can please give me a review. Enjoy your day*