"Thank you, Roxana. If you think of anything else, please do not hesitate to contact me or Detective Hopps," Nick said, handing over a card to the young camel as they stood in the foyer of Precinct Twenty-Six. He then turned to the older male camel at her side. "Mr Marlborough, I'd call her college and let them know she may need a day or two. Feel free to give them the number on the card if they need anything confirmed. Here's the witness counselling number as well," he added, handing him a small pamphlet.

"Thank you, Detective," the girl's father said. He'd come down to be with his daughter after she had come to the station. Like any good parent in this situation, he was concerned for his daughter's well-being and had started to grow agitated when informed he couldn't be present at the interview. Though not strictly true, Nick and Judy felt better if an overbearing parent wasn't hovering over his child, especially considering the child in question was nineteen and a legal adult. Nick felt sorry for what Roxana had been forced to see, but it looked like her family would be able to provide any support she needed if her father was anything to judge by.

Nick nodded in response and then turned back to Roxana. "I'm hoping it won't come to this, but we may need to get in touch to check details of your statement. We have your information, but would you be OK with that?" he asked. He always found it good to be pleasant with witnesses whenever possible. It made it easier to get back in contact with them.

"Of course! Anything to help the family of that poor mammal," Roxana said. The statement confirmed Nick's assessment of the family situation. If the first thought was for Kevin's family, it revealed where her priorities were. Nick mused on that as he walked back to the interview room, which he and Judy had commandeered for their interview and were using as a makeshift office during the last few hours they had spent at Precinct Twenty-Six. Nick never had the most stable family life. Dad died when I was a kid, mother a prostitute who did her damned best to make it stable, including having her pimp babysit me. Gosh, when you describe it like that, I'm surprised I'm not more screwed up than I am, Nick mused as he headed to the doors at the foyer's rear.

His thoughts turned to his mother at that point, and he sighed. He had to go visit her soon. He loved his mother, but it was getting harder to go see her. The doctors were optimistic, but they weren't around her as much as he was…and he could tell she was getting weaker. He was pretty sure he'd have no family left soon.

Well, that's not true. You'll have Judy. And I guess Finnick too.

The thought of them both perked him up a bit until he remembered his fight with Finnick earlier that morning. Distracted as he was, it was little wonder that he walked straight into the flank of another mammal.

"Jesus, Wilde. If you want to cop a feel my shift finishes in an hour. Bring money…a lot of money," the gruff tones of Detective Coulton told him as he picked himself up off the floor.

"In your dreams, Coulton. Besides, I'm spoken for," Nick countered. He started to put on his most shit-eating grin, but when he noticed Hunter wasn't hanging around his partner, Nick decided he couldn't be bothered. Of the two, Coulton was a lot easier to deal with. Something about his younger partner always seemed to bring a little extra bitterness from the horse, but he was generally tolerable on his own. "Where's your slightly lesser half?" Nick asked, noticing Hunter's absence.

"Hunter had to head out early," Coulton answered.

"Why?"

"Some family thing, I dunno. He didn't exactly give me a newsletter. That leaves me to finish all our paperwork. I'm just heading out for a smoke break when you walked into my butt."

"Is everything OK with him?" Nick asked, his thoughts turning back to his own family troubles.

"I dunno and I don't wanna know. We're partners, but we don't unload shit on each other. Not every partnership gets as close as you and Hopps do."

"Well, what can I say? She fell for the old Wilde charm."

"Fell for something alright…" mumbled Coulton.

"The fuck did you just say?" Nick snarled. And it was a proper snarl; his fangs were showing as his lips curled away. Few things triggered him, but anyone suggesting his feelings for Judy were less than genuine was a surefire way to get his hackles up.

"Hey, whatever thing you doing to that bunny ain't none of my business," Coulton said dismissively.

Nick forced himself to calm down, adding Coulton to his mental list of mammals not worth his time and to avoid where possible. Remembering a few facts about the horse, however, brought a smile to Nick's face.

"You're married, right Coulton?" he asked innocently.

"Was. Gave up on it after the third one," the horse answered, shrugging as he did so.

"Well then, that just means I can ignore your advice or observations about relationships and marvel at the mastery of which you must fuck them up. Toodles!" Nick said, his smug grin returning to his features as he walked past the now angry horse.

"Why you miserable piece of…" Nick heard before walking through a door that muffled whatever expletive was thrown his way. He also chided himself a little. He prided himself on not letting mammals get to him, and the few that tended to do so were either because he'd known them for a long time or were...well, Judy. But people commenting on him not being right for her, or some other reason that they shouldn't be a couple? It just drove him up the wall. Especially because he knew he wasn't good enough for Judy himself anyway. Hell, he'd voiced that thought to Judy many times, only to be reminded of her unlimited compassion by saying that wasn't his choice to make for her. Then she would usually snuggle up with him on the couch to watch a movie, give him a long kiss, or in some cases, simply screw his brains out.

He had to admit, it worked better than the anti-depressants he was sometimes prescribed.

His anger at Coulton dissipated somewhat when he entered the interview room and saw Judy sitting on the table where he had left her, flicking through a notebook. The large table made her look a little like a child, but it was something both she and Nick had to deal with sometimes. Despite progress being made, they were still usually the smallest mammals in the room in any ZPD precinct, and the furniture reflected that. Often, they found themselves questioning suspects while walking back and forth across the table, which on one paw made it seem like they were questioning them like a lawyer pacing back and forth across the courtroom, lending a little gravitas to the situation.

On the other paw, it also looked completely ridiculous when interviewing a suspect ten times your size. At least Nick suspected it did when he was the interrogator. Judy seemed to have this air of authority about her that she carried despite her diminutive size.

On the other-other paw, maybe he just thought that because he was whipped.

"Everything OK?" Judy asked as she looked up from her notes, concerned by her partner's uncharacteristic silence.

"Eh, just Coulton being a dick. Nothing new," Nick answered, giving a half-truth. He didn't want to burden her with the issues with his mom and Finnick.

"And?" Judy prodded, not believing him for a second.

Nick sighed, wondering why he even bothered to try and hide stuff from her, even if it wasn't anything worth hiding. Logically, he knew it made him feel worse, it frustrated her, and she always got the answer anyway. Guess old hustler habits die hard, he thought.

"Mom and Finnick," he said simply and hated the concerned look she gave him. However, when she motioned him over to the overly large chair, he did so and was rewarded by a quick hug and chaste kiss.

"I won't ask you to talk now, but let me know when you want to, OK?" she asked. And with that simple act, he felt immensely better and felt a smile spread across his features. "What did Coulton say anyway?" she continued, steering the conversation to less personal ground.

"Oh, just insinuated I didn't love you. But I told him I wasn't taking relationship advice from a guy who has 90% of his salary go to alimony," Nick said, smiling.

"Remind me to drop-kick him in the gut next time I see him," Judy said in a tone that suggested to Nick she was deadly serious.

"So, what have we got so far?" Nick asked, joining Judy on the table and sitting next to her, glancing at her notebook. He had his own as well, but he had done most of the talking while Judy had written what was being said during the interview. It was also recorded so he wouldn't be missing anything and could refer back to it at any point, but it was good to discuss things as often as possible in a case so it all stuck in the mind.

"Barely anything. A camel found a mummified polar bear. Most we have to go on is your preliminary identification, but we can't really do anything with that until the coroners confirm the identity. Unless you want to risk telling Raymond his brother is dead and being completely wrong about it?"

"Yeah, no thanks," Nick replied, trying not to imagine what he'd look like as a small pool of viscera and grease in Mr Big's office. "I guess we could go see if we can get traffic cams for the desert?"

"Wait, the desert has traffic cameras?" Judy asked. She was pretty sure she would have noticed something like that in the sands.

"Well...no," Nick admitted. "There's about a dozen places where the roads head into the desert and they have traffic cams. Not many vehicles drive into the desert in comparison to the rest of the city, so it wouldn't be that arduous."

"Except that we don't even have a rough time of death yet. Billy said the desert had, and I quote, 'fucked the body something fierce.' Remember? The guy could have been killed two weeks ago, or two years."

"I think we would have known if one of Big's enforcers had been dead for two years," Nick replied.

"You know what I mean," Judy said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, I get it. Maybe we could talk to some contacts, see if anyone we know has heard anything? Maybe Duke Weaselton? Sandra? Hell, maybe put in a call to some of the Tundratown precincts?"

"Maybe Finnick would know?" Judy asked, and the expression on Nick's face made her regret the suggestion a little. "Nick…"

"He went all Peeping Tom on you, Judy! And don't tell me he didn't know you were in the shower. The water was very audible and I was in the kitchen. He would have seen me as soon as he woke up from the couch!"

"He was also hungover," Judy pointed out.

"You kicked him through the door for perving on you! Why are you defending him now?" Nick asked agitatedly.

"Hey, I don't want to fight about this," Judy replied, raising her paws, exasperation in her voice. "I'm not defending what he did. But I've had some time to think about it, and I admit it could have been an honest mistake. We should at least give him a chance to explain himself."

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" Nick said, crossing his arms in a huff.

"Nope!" Judy said, smiling brightly.

"Fine!" Nick said after a few seconds of silence. "But can we at least wait a day or two before talking to him if we avoid it? I wanna feel angry for a bit. Even if it was an accident, he still took his sweet time getting a good look at you."

"Fair enough," Judy said. Nick wasn't completely unjustified in his anger, so if he needed to feel it for a bit, she'd let him. She looked back at her notes and sighed. She handed them to Nick, who read through them as well. "See what I mean?"

"Yeah, not much to go on at the moment I guess. Still means we can head home early after reporting to Vines and Bogo," Nick said. He checked the time on the clock in the interview room, noting it had only just gone past 2 pm.

Judy nodded and hopped off the table, followed by Nick climbing down. As they made their way to the door, a vibration in her pocket alerted Judy to her phone. She withdrew it and saw it was Billy the forensic pathologist calling her. She answered the call and placed it on speaker. "Hopps here, what's up, Bill?" she asked.

"Hey Judy, I got a preliminary report from the autopsy for you," Bill said. Something in the way he was talking seemed off. He sounded unsure. Judy turned to Nick, who looked intrigued as well.

"Everything OK, Bill?" she asked.

"Honestly? I'm not sure. Something about this does not add up."

"Just let us know what you can, Bill," Judy asked, starting to get impatient.

"Very well, but I wouldn't put it past you to call bullshit on this. I know I would." The goat paused and took in a breath. "So we rushed the autopsy to try and see what we could of any organs, and well…quite frankly, if I'm reading the injuries and broken bones right, this polar bear was beaten to death by a mammal that was, at most, half his size. Possibly less.

"What's so crazy about that?" Nick asked, perplexed. "You can kill an elephant with a crowbar in the right place."

"No, you misunderstand…they were beaten to death with bare paws."

"Come again?" Judy asked. "You mean you found claws marks, right?"

"Did I say claw marks?" Billy said, frustration entering his voice. "No. I said paws. As in it was all blunt force trauma, on the outside anyway. The main cause of death was what I first thought was a hammer blow to the skull, but the impact radius is all wrong. My guess? It was a fist."

"Wait a minute. You're saying a mammal less than half the size of a polar bear beat one to death and didn't use anything but their own strength?" Nick asked incredulously. "That's…"

"Hard to believe?" Bill interrupted. "Don't know it. But the impact radii of several bruises and broken bones seem to confirm it. I'm gonna be checking them over and maybe get a second opinion, but I don't know what else it could be."

"Christ," Judy said, almost disbelieving. She didn't question Billy's analysis, but it was still hard to believe.

"Oh, it gets worse," Billy said, getting her attention again. "Those weren't the only injuries. I found several scratches from smaller mammals and knives. Several were around various major arteries. If he hadn't died from the blunt force trauma, he would definitely have bled to death…if it wasn't for one other thing.

"What's that?" Judy asked, morbidly intrigued.

"If the bleeding and the blunt force trauma didn't kill him, several incisions on his lungs would have done it. But that doesn't make sense."

"What do you mean? If he was punched as hard as you say he was, surely there would be damage to his organs," Judy pointed out.

"Yes, and there was, but I said these were incisions. As in cuts. Very reminiscent of scalpel cuts actually.

"So someone operated on him at the same time he died?"

"Nope. There were no incision marks on the outside of his body All these cuts were on the inside of his lungs. It's like someone was tunnelling from the inside out. His throat has several cuts as well, akin to swallowing something sharp. But after that, it doesn't make sense. The cuts don't go down to the stomach."

"Could he have breathed something in?"

"Not without choking, and even then, the incisions are too clean. Like I said, it's like someone took a scalpel to the inside of his throat and lungs."

"Jesus," Nick said. "That must have hurt."

"Oh yes, I can imagine few worse pains. I'm still working on how long he's been dead for, but I'll try and get it back to you soon along with the full report."

"Thanks, Bill," Judy said as the call ended. "OK, realistically, what animals could beat a polar bear to death?"

"Elephant, rhino, and hippo. Maybe a buffalo, bison, or horse if they're particularly strong," Nick answered, scratching his chin. "But he said it was a mammal half Kevin's size, which seems impossible. And what about those incision marks in the throat and the claw and knife marks? Was he tortured? What kind of mammal, or mammals, would do that?" A small note of revulsion entered his voice at the last question.

"Someone I would not like to get on the wrong side of," Judy answered.

Luther Hill yawned after he set another crate of booze down behind the bar. As he did so, he looked around the club he led the security for. The Inferno strip club never usually had anyone in it at dusk since it wouldn't be open for another four hours, and most mammals employed there usually turned up about an hour beforehand. But he had other personal matters to attend to tonight and had asked his friend Harry, who was also the owner if he could have a couple of nights off. Harry happily agreed, but to make it up to him, Luther decided to come in a few hours early and get things ready for when the club opened. It also gave him a chance to make sure that the backup security measures were in place.

Six months ago, the club had been the scene of a firefight between the ZPD and a wanted criminal. One of the weapons used in that fight had, in fact, belonged to the club, a pump-action shotgun that Luther kept in a safe under the bar. Since then, he'd also placed a pistol in the safe. Nothing fancy, a simple Glock 19. Both weapons were made for medium-sized mammals, such as badgers like himself. He smoothed down his trademark red-dyed head-fur as he checked the weapons. Both were loaded of course, and there were two full refills of ammo for each. They were both easy to use and could be accessed by only a handful of mammals in the club, mainly the bar staff plus one or two of the waitresses who had proven to be the most sensible.

Personally, Luther would have preferred an SA80, the rifle he used while in the British army. Simply due to familiarity, though assault rifles were illegal to buy and own in Zootopia. These would suffice though and, in all honesty, the only use they ever saw was when he occasionally tested them. The weapons made him reminisce of his time in the military, something his dad had been proud of. He'd never made it past the private rank though. Dad had sent him there to get a little respect for authority, which didn't work. He had little time for anyone ranked above corporal and one or two of his sergeants. He'd barely made it the four years minimum, and after that? Well, Dad didn't like the fact he'd not done much there, but he respected Luther for trying. It had certainly cooled things between them, so at least when the colonel died of a massive heart attack a couple of years later, they were at least a happier family than before.

I wonder what he'd think of me now. Dirty old bastard probably would want a discount on the drinks, Luther thought, and then laughed internally. The thoughts of his family made him check the time. Yeah, the flight would be landing in a few hours. Plenty of time to grab a bite to eat beforehand. He grabbed his keys and went to head out, leaving a few scribbled notes for the bar staff and Harry who usually got in before anyone else. He made his way out of the bar proper and into the entrance hallway, closing the first of two doors that led into the club. As he approached the locked main door a loud series of bangs made it shudder violently in its frame. The thing was massive, with a solid wooden structure and complemented by metal coverings. Meaning even a charging rhino should have at to give it at least a couple of goes before denting it, so the pounding caught Luther by surprise. After a few seconds of listening, he realised it was someone knocking on the damn door!

Composing himself, he clambered up the steps he kept on the side of the door that allowed him to open a fairly large panel to see anyone in front of the door. He slid it open and glanced around, seeing no one. Until he glanced down, anyway.

At the very foot of the door, a small mammal stood. Although he couldn't see the face, he could see hints of red fur, though not that of a fox. He also saw a fairly long and bushy tail, the same red fur there, but also some dark red, making a series of rings. Spattered between the red were hints of grey fur, though that was mainly due to age. The mammal also seemed to be wearing some sort of robe.

"The fuck you want, old mammal?" Luther barked, but at the same time wondering how the hell the mammal smaller than he was had managed to cause the door to rock like that. The mammal in question looked up and Luther saw his face, recognising it as one of a red panda. The old man comment had been right on the money as well; a long, thin and white moustache drooped down from the muzzle.

"Ah, young man. Would you kindly let me in? I wish to discuss a business deal with your boss." the mammal inquired. The deep voice was at odds with the vaguely Asian undertones his appearance gave.

"Boss ain't here," Luther replied. Normally at this point, he would have closed the hatch and walked off, but something seemed off about this mammal. "Come back when we open, or better yet, use a damn phone!"

"Ah, you see, I prefer to conduct my business in person. Let an old man have his funny ways."

"Doesn't change the fact he ain't here. Now bugger off," Luther ordered, and he did start to shut the hatch this time. However, as soon as he moved, the red panda spoke again.

"Hey," he said with an air of authority that somehow stopped Luther in his tracks. "It is wise to respect one's elders, young one," he said softly, with a hint of menace.

"Don't see nothing to respect," Luther replied simply and slammed the hatch shut. Fuck this, I'll give him a few minutes to leave. Normally, if someone had been that mouthy to him, he'd open the door and give them at least a black eye. But something at the back of his mind made him think that it wasn't wise in this particular instance.

Suddenly, the door rocked with a massive bang, much louder than before. So loud in fact that it caused Luther to stumble off the steps and land awkwardly, twisting his ankle. He yelped in pain but looked up in time to see the door shudder again. Something either massive or solid had slammed into it a second time. And by the looks of it, the door was going to lose this fight.

The fuck is that? Did the old bastard bring a battering ram!? Luther thought, scrambling up as whatever it was hit the door a third time. And this time, he saw the hinges beginning to come out of the walls. Limping like mad, he made it to the second door of the hallway when he heard a fourth hit, the breaking of concrete, and a very large metal object hitting the floor. He opened the second door, built similarly to the first, and ran inside. He turned around to close it. As he did, he finally saw what had caused the door to collapse.

The biggest, most heavily built giant panda he had ever seen.

Luther couldn't stop himself from keeping the door open a little longer as he watched. The panda glanced down at his hand, which seemed to be dripping with blood. Apparently, he had punched the door down. If his hand was causing him pain, he wasn't showing it, as he simply waved the excess blood off. He was dressed simply, a pair of red shorts and an open red vest that did nothing to hide his exceptional muscles.

Then the red panda came into view. He was followed by another mammal similar in size, a mongoose who wore a green shirt, trousers, and a flower in her hair. She was harder to see than the panda, but Luther recognised that she was also very muscular. Perched on her shoulder was a rat who seemed to be holding two knives, dressed similarly to the mongoose. The light from the door lessened somewhat as an almost equally massive tigress took up station next to the panda, wearing an outfit like his, but with black trousers. Another mammal walked in a snow leopard with a face that looked like it had taken one too many punches. He was wearing a purple shirt that matched his trousers. Finally, the sound of leather filled the hall as a massive fruit bat swooped in and landed on the shoulder of the leopard, dressed in white and wearing the type of hat Luther had only seen in old kung fu movies. A momentary glint of light caught his eye, and he saw the bat had metal claws...no he had some sort of knives attached to his feet, sharper than any natural claw. In fact, now that he looked, he noticed that some of the other mammals were armed too. The mongoose seemed to have a long bicycle chain, while the rat wielded two knives. The leopard and tigress didn't seem to have anything, but from here, Luther could see that their claws were freakishly sharp.

The only one who didn't seem to have any weapons or have sharpened claws was the panda. Considering what he had done to the door, he probably didn't need them.

With a voice and expression of sheer contempt, the panda spoke. "Perhaps you would like to discuss business now?"

Notes:

Actually rewrote this chapter completely as the original one gave me a story that was going nowhere, introduced and did away with a character who deserves more development than I gave her, and was pretty much drama for drama's sake. Glad I got rid of it.

Thanks to DrummerMax64 and CombatEngineer once again. Life savers.

Also for those who care, my wife is FINALLY getting the surgery she needs to be pain free. ONLY TOOK TWO YEARS. You can thank the UK Conservative party for fucking up the NHS along with pretty much everything else in this country for the last decade. Oh and UKIP. Bastards.