"Wow, you actually found it, Nick?" Judy asked as she leaned over to look at what the fox saw in the paper.
"Yes, look: see how the first letter of each sentence is capitalized," Nick pointed at the letters on the paper, and then at the billboard.
"So what? That's how it is supposed to be... Oh my goodness," Judy was shocked when she looked at the billboard and finally saw what Nick had found. The billboard had a cheesy gimmick for a politician using his name.
Protective. Affectionate. Righteous. Kind. Loving. Excessively. Honest.
Judy finally saw the word pop out at her when she looked back at the paper. "Nocturnal," She mouthed without saying a word. "What else did you find, Nick?" Judy was now leaning over his shoulder, now in overdrive to find more clues in the paper.
"Well, look here Carrots. See the letters that ARE actually written in hand? They spell out a word: theater. So, we are to head to the Nocturnal Theater in the Nocturnal District." Nick pulled out some scrap paper from his dashboard and wrote out the words.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going Nick!" Judy jumped back into her seat and buckled back up before slamming her paw on the pedal. The cruiser lurched hard as it began to shoot forward.
"By the way, isn't that place abandoned?" Judy asked as she headed to one of the many entrances across the city that lead to the underground Nocturnal District. It was more like a secondary city than the underbelly of Zootopia. Crime ran unchecked in this part of the city as the ZPD just didn't have the mammal-power to enforce the laws properly, nor did they have enough nocturnal mammals on the force.
"Yeah. Right after the Skunkettes had that shootout in the theater, the place just couldn't get back on its feet," said Nick with a monotoned voice as he looked out the window.
"What's wrong Nick? You seem... upset," asked Judy as her ear twitched at the sound of a deep sigh.
"Oh, it's nothing Carrots. Just worried about what we might find there." Nick looked back at Judy and gave her that signature smile of his.
The car turned onto the off-ramp as they headed for the the entrance from Sahara Square to the Nocturnal District. The rest of the drive was pretty quiet as they turned left and right on the roads until, with a final right turn, they could see the tunnel that would lead them to the Nocturnal District and the next clue.
As they pulled up to the tunnel's entrance, they were stopped by a security guard at the booth that regulated traffic into the district.
"Hello, can I help you?" asked the grizzly bear with a rude attitude that gave Judy the impression he didn't even care what she had to say.
"Yes. Yes you can by letting us through so we can follow a lead on a mass murder case we are on," demanded Judy with a commanding tone.
"Oh really now? Can I see you paperwork, miss?" The grizzly bear bent over so he could get a better look into the car and gave the bunny a look that said, "I bet you don't have any and you are wasting my time."
"Officer Wilde, please hand me the file on our case," Judy didn't look at Nick as she asked him; instead, she coldly stared into the security guard's eyes.
"Here you go, Officer Hopps." Nick handed over the folder they had gotten from Chief Bogo that morning to Judy, who then handed it to the bear.
"What the fuck?! Ahem, I mean, I'm sorry to hold you up! Please have a nice day," stuttered the bear after he glanced through the paper and was shocked to see the contents.
"Thank you sir," said Judy kindly as the bear handed the folder back. She waited for the pole to rise so they could move forward. Once the bear lifted the pole from his booth, Judy gently pressed her foot on the pedal, pushing the cruiser forward. The light from the sun slowly dissipated as they entered the tunnel. The only source of light came from the lights on the walls, helping lead the way. Judy looked ahead as she drove deeper into the tunnel for what felt like a long time, but really, it was only a five minute drive.
They had both been to the Nocturnal District a couple times before, and it rarely changed. As soon as they left the tunnel, they entered a massive cave with buildings starting at the ground and going all the way to the top as though they themselves were the support beams for the entire cave.
Judy could count at least six of these structures from her perspective; the cave was huge but none of the "pillars" were taller than fifteen stories. Other buildings proudly stood, but were nowhere near as tall as the others. Judy knew from what she had seen and read about from her time in the Nocturnal District that this was the poorest section in the entire city. Its dominant populace were mostly predators of the canine family; wolves, foxes, coyotes, dingoes, and sub-species of these main four lived here.
Judy began to notice that Nick was getting incredibly tense as she turned on the headlights. The Nocturnal Theater was in the center of the cave, so Judy drove as fast as she could. She began to look at all the people they drove by, and she could see all the sadness and anger in the faces of the different mammals. "This is horrible! Someday, we will be able to help you all," said Judy to herself as she drove by a family of arctic foxes sitting on a corner with a sign saying, "Lost my job need help feeding my kids."
"There is nothing we can do about it, for now," said Nick as he looked out the window and saw what appeared to be a homeless grey wolf sleeping on a bench.
Judy could only mentally agree as they continued to drive towards their destination. They were nearly there when Nick suddenly yelled, "Judy stop the car now!" causing Judy to once again slam on the breaks.
"What's wrong?" Judy looked over to see Nick hopping out of the car with his tranquilizer gun already drawn as he began to run back the way they had come from. Judy quickly did the same as she, too, got out of the car and ran out from behind the car to follow Nick. She saw him turn down an alley street just ahead of her and could hear him yelling at someone. Judy may have been a good distance from him, but she could hear it all thanks to her sensitive ears.
"Get the hell off of her in the name of the law!" shouted Nick from around the corner.
"Hey, get the fuck out of here! Can't you see I'm busy with this stupid bitch!" yelled a voice from around the corner.
"Please help me! Get him off of me! He's hurting me!" Judy could hear a woman scream in terror now just as she turned the corner. The whole scene was laid out in front of her: she saw a rather large wolf on top of a red fox. He had his pants down and was attempting to remove hers.
"Stop in the name of the law, or I will shoot!" screamed Judy as she trained her sights on the wolf.
"Fuck this, I'm out," growled the wolf as he pulled up his pants and ran down the alley away from them. Judy quickly ran over to the vixen, along with Nick. They quickly helped her get up.
"Ma'am are you alright?" Nick was glad to see that the wolf had not torn any of her clothes.
"Yes, thank you so much!" the vixen tossed her arms around Nick and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Judy felt a pang of jealousy, but was able to calm herself when Nick gently pulled the vixen off of him and asked if she had any friends or family she could call. The vixen nodded and pulled out a phone before quickly dialing the number of someone she knew. Despite what Nick and Judy needed to do, they couldn't leave the woman alone until someone came to pick her up. As they waited, they did their best to help console the vixen as best as they could. Finally, a car pulled up and three mammals jumped out of the vehicle.
"Cassie, oh my god! Are you ok? You're not hurt, are you?" a red fox who looked a lot like the vixen came running up to her and hugged her tightly.
"Thank you so much for saving our daughter!" cried a semi-hysterical male fox who hugged Judy and Nick. Another vixen, most likely the mother, quickly came and gave the officers a hug as well.
"I'm sorry, but we have got to be going. I'm so glad we were here in time to stop such a disgusting act from happening to such a beautiful vixen," said Judy as she walked over to the fox and looked her in the eye before saying one last thing. "Remember, this is a dangerous neighborhood. Please stay with a friend whenever possible," said Judy with a smile as she hugged the girl one last time. She and Nick then walked back to the cruiser. They had wasted nearly thirty minutes with the vixen, but Judy didn't see it that way: she and Nick had saved someone today.
"Good job, seeing what was happening to her. It's good thing we have your good eyesight for this part of town," Judy said after they had gotten back in the car. They were back on their way to the theater.
"I barely saw, it to be honest. The only reason I looked was cause I saw the wolf go in there, and I was curious about what he was doing." Nick put his sunglasses back on. Judy found this annoying, considering they were underground, and there was no sun to be seen.
As they drew closer to the theater, Judy began to notice that the buildings were getting more and more run down - some of them were completely empty. Finally, they turned onto the final street and could see that every single building here was condemned for destruction.
"This is a very desolate place, isn't it?" Judy asked as she looked at both sides of the street. When she looked over to Nick, she could see a tear running down his face and his paws were clenched in very tight fists.
"Nick what's wrong? I can see you crying, and you're so tense." Judy pulled the car up to the theater with the 80's themed sign standing out over the sidewalk. The building name was plastered on it.
"My dad died that night, when the Skunkettes had that shootout. I never thought I would ever be here, at the place he died. He worked here, you know." The fox gave a shaky sigh. "He was the first to get shot. They killed him because he was in the way as the shooters tried to enter the place. I was too young to remember it well." Nick didn't look at Judy as he continued to stare out the window, but another tear rolled down his cheek.
"I heard about that when I was at the academy. It was something we had to study to learn how to deal with those kinds of situations. Four officers, thirty-two civilians, and all three members of the Skunettes dead," Judy stopped as she realized that Nick's fist was shaking uncontrollably.
"If this killer knows so much about you, then he or she is sure to know a lot about me. I'm sure they will use these details to get to us." Nick's right ear slightly twitched as he said these words. Judy was astonished to see that this was getting to Nick this much; he was usually never phased, but this - this was already digging deep, and they hadn't even found what the second clue was.
"I'm sorry. I talked about the details of that night; that was rude of me." Judy apologized as she turned the car off and silently sat there, waiting for Nick to recompose himself. After a few minutes, Nick spoke up again.
"Don't be, Fluff. I had to study the case as well in the academy, and let's say it was rough sleeping that night after I found out how my father died. Tsk, Mom was strong and never showed any pain or sadness when I asked about him. She would just smile and tell me that he always wore a suit and was handsome, just like me. Finally, on my tenth birthday, she gave me his tie. That was the first time I saw her cry." Nick didn't say any more as he began to fumble with the end of his tie - the same tie he was wearing the first time he and Judy had met.
"Enough of this. Let's go find the second clue. Bring your radio; we may have to call for backup," said Nick as he opened up his door and walked over to the theater, taking his sunglasses off as he did so. Judy felt horrible about the whole situation, but she pushed that to the back of her mind as she got out and followed Nick. They walked right up the the entrance and found that the door was already open with a little light coming from inside. Judy and Nick looked at each other and both pulled out their tranq's as they slowly walked in.
After a few steps, they began to smell the same horrible odor from the warehouse and decided to follow it. The place was run down: the wall paper peeled off the walls, mold just hung off the ceiling, and the smell was already horrid without the added scent of rot and decay. Nick and Judy began to head down one of the halls that lead to some of the screening rooms, but turned back around as the scent got weaker. They went back to the main room where people gathered and bought food and drinks before heading down the other corridor.
Immediately, the smell of rotting flesh became overwhelming and nearly as strong as back at the first location. All this time, Judy's ears had been on high alert, listening for any sounds as she led the way. They finally reached a door with the number 3 written on it.
"I knew it," growled Nick before he spoke up again, "I was three when he died."
"Well, let's hope he is in here so we can stop him before he does any more harm," said Judy, glancing to Nick before she took position on the other side of the double-door entrance. She held up her fingers, counting down from three. When she hit zero, they both kicked open the door and pointed their weapons down the corridor as they headed down the lone path. Nick watched their top side as Judy moved forward. They reached the point where they could clearly see all the seats, and no one else was there.
Nick looked over at the black screen. What he thought was a large stain was actually a body nailed into the wall by its hands and feet, its limbs all splayed out. Nick could only lower his gun as he saw that this mammal was also completely devoid of any fur. Judy stood next to Nick and covered her mouth in horror as she noticed that there was not only a body on the screen, But also a message, written in red. It was short, straightforward, and made the two cops realize that this killer was a complete lunatic.
"In Zootopia, anyone can be anything. So, why can't I be any mammal I wish to be!? Take a good look, Judy and Nick. I'm sure you can find the next clue amongst all the filth and muck of Theaters 1-5," Nick read the message out loud.
Judy stared at the horror that lay before her. The body was of what appeared to be a skunk, judging by the smell coming from... her. The message was clear: no one was safe in Zootopia. Nick looked at the body and judged that it had been here for nearly a week before taking a step back. His paw landed on something soft and wet. Slowly, he looked down and saw that he was standing on the fur that had originally belonged to the victim. He had to quickly cover his mouth before running over to a trash can.
Judy was in complete shock as she saw see the bloody mess on the floor. A smiley face was written in blood next to the fur.
"Nick, I'm calling this in. We should have enough time to search the theaters before the others show up to document all of this," said Judy as she pulled the radio from her belt and pressed the call button.
"This is Officer Hopps calling in a 12-03 at the Nocturnal Theater in the Nocturnal District. One body had been found, but there may or may not be more. We will keep you updated if we find anything else," Judy waited for Clawhauser to respond as she began to head up the stairs to the seats and search for clues.
"I hear you loud and clear Officer Hopps! We're sending a van to you, along with backup," replied Clawhauser from her radio.
Judy looked down at Nick and could see that he was also searching for clues, now that he was finished with the trash can. "What are we dealing with exactly?" was all Judy could ask herself as she looked at the corpse on the screen and the message written in blood.
((((Author's Notes))))
Sorry this one is a bit late but I was having trouble making the clue (my goodness these clues are hard to write) as I need to make sure they are
clever, creepy, and don't spoil too much about the killer.
To be honest this is very "detailed" story in which I have to constantly edit and redo chapters so I don't reveal too much and keep the sense of
danger and mystery going. But boy is it a very fun challenge for me.
Its also a challenge to keep people in character since they haven't dealt with any of this in the movie.
And as always please have a great week.
