8.00 am, Tuesday, May 19, 2022
Nick picked Judy up from her house as usually. She took her seat, took her coffee without a word and sipped it slowly. The fox watched her with worries, as they rejoined the traffic. She looked weary, but not hungover. But foremost, she looked downcast.
"That bad?" He asked with worries and she just shuddered.
"I… He was such a wonderful guy. Charming, attentive… And then, I… I don't want to talk about it for now," she cut it shortly and the fox nodded with understanding.
"OK, tell me when you're ready. But I assume he's coming today?"
"I hope," she only said, which made Nick even more curious. They arrived to the station around the usual time and for a short moment, they even saw August passing somewhere in the distance; he had a bandage all over his left eye, as if someone had punched him real hard. Nick raised his eyebrows curiously, but did not ask a thing, knowing that he wouldn't receive an answer anyway. He even spared any snarky jokes, seeing how low she was.
After the roll call, Judy went for a talk with Chief in his office on the subject that was an open secret to everyone. In meanwhile, Nick came back to their box trying to rehearse everything they had learnt of their stolen ATM, when Kaylee appeared.
"Hey! Judy's talking with Chief?" She guessed.
"Mhm, about the yesterday, most likely. Did August tell you what happened?" He asked.
"Judy said not a word, huh? Neither did August, I'm afraid… but he really didn't have to, actually. It turns out whole the incident was described in some police report. I can send it over, if…"
"I'd rather hear it from her," Nick assured.
"Oh, of course. Before you get angry with August, though, you should know that it wasn't Judy that hit him," Kaylee told him and fox raised his eyebrows curiously.
"Oh."
"Yeah. I'll make sure so that everyone knows. The truth puts them both in much better light than conjectures," the bunny declared and Nick smirked.
"To the job, Director of Gossip Section," he ordered.
"Oh, I'm on it!" Kaylee saluted half-jokingly. "But before I go, I've found something. I've send you some ZooTube video on the messenger," she said and Nick pushed his seat aside, allowing her to search it for herself. She was much faster with PCs than him, anyways. "Oh, no, no. Your computer, your account, your job. If I don't look to it, no one will. That's how you get the security breaches," she refused and Nick drove back to the desk, admitting his fault. He found the link from Kaylee in the description and played it. The video shown a demolished green Hanza pick-up with something on its back, covered with tarpaulin; just the car they were looking for. Somebody was recording it, laughing at car's devastated front, as if it crashed into something. Due to reflects of light, the camera failed to catch any facial details of the driver. Nick checked the date; it had been published today in the night.
"That's our car," he said, rather impressed.
"I thought so. According to the signboards, the recording was taken at the Sousten Street, just by the coast, which gives us a general idea where the car had gone. I've also checked profile of the guy that uploaded it. It's connected with his Zoobook, so it wasn't that hard. Turns out he's some white collar in the Downtown, you should have no problem getting him to talk," she said and Nick viewed guy's profile. There was even his phone number in there.
"We'll get to it right away. Thanks, Kaylee, that was quick."
"Oh, Internet has all the answers. You just need to ask the right questions," she smirked and was on her way. Nick watched the video again and watched the signboards. He recognized the place and just like Kaylee said, it took place at the Sousten Street.
"Hey, what's that? Is it our car?" Judy was standing right behind him, watching the paused video.
"Yeah, someone recorded it at Sousten Street. How did it go with Chief?" He asked, but she only shrugged.
"A minor reprimand, nothing unusual. Sousten Street? That's rather far," she changed the subject.
"And it doesn't look like he was driving much farther. I'll call the guy that recorded it and we'll try to learn more," Nick said and Judy agreed with a smile. It looked like they were on a good path.
10.57 am, Tuesday, May 19, 2022
Michael Vitalis, a deer working as a white-collar in one of Downtown's massive skyscrapers, agreed to meeting with Nick and Judy with quite an enthusiasm, to the point where he insisted that they'd drive him in the back of a police car to the place where he made his recording. Sitting behind the bars, he was making selfies while making silly faces. To Judy's amusement, Nick joined him somewhere in the halfway to the sighting scene.
"Goofs," she muttered rolling her eyes. They parked at the Sousten Street and Michael Vitalis took them to the crime scene.
"OK, so I was recording from here, I think," the deer pointed stopped at the spot. It was just before half past three, when that pickup made its way toward us. I and my two buddies were coming back from a party when we saw the car approaching. It was driving slowly and looked ridiculously, so I grabbed my phone, but then the driver sped up and passed by us hurriedly.
"Did you see the driver?" Judy hoped and he nodded.
"I did, but I don't remember his species. A canine, I think? Some coyote or a fox?" Guessed Michael. "Can't you see it on the video?"
"Light reflexes," explained Nick.
"Oh, right. Anyways, he passed by us quickly and turned in one of the streets. Um…" He hesitated, trying to recall exactly. "That one. He turned left. I'm sure because I never saw the passenger," he explained. After that, they discussed for few minutes more, but the deer couldn't tell them anything useful beyond what he already had. As a reward for help, Michael Vitalis took a selfie with them and they drove him back to his workplace in Downtown. Then, they returned to the last sightseeing of their car.
"It couldn't have driven much farther. In a car demolished like theirs, they certainly wanted to be off streets as quickly as possible," Nick said confidently.
"We should look for any workshops in nearby…" Judy suggested and paused, as they turned into the street their car was supposed to have turned into. Just two hundred feet farther, was a big car repair shop. Judy smiled. "Well, well, well."
"We can't not walk over. Say hello," smirked the fox.
"Find a certain pickup," Judy added slyly, as they walked over. She noticed two cameras in the front with the view on the street and the yard that she'd certainly love to ask about. As they came inside, one of the workers, a weasel, walked over.
"Can I help you, officers?"
"Detectives Hopps and Wilde. We'd like to speak with the owner," Judy explained and a massive brown bear appeared right behind their backs.
"That'd be me. What is it?" He asked harshly.
"We'd simply like to ask couple questions, Mr. …"
"Miles. Leonard Miles," the bear introduced himself. "What is it?" He asked, as he walked over to block their path inside the workshop.
"We are looking for a certain car, a Hanza pickup. Have you or any of your workers, by any chance, seen such a car in recent months?" Nick asked. Mr. Miles glanced at his workers and then, he answered.
"No."
"Are you one hundred percent sure? You could check the register…"
"I'm sure," the bear snarled with annoyance.
"Does the workshop ever work at the night hours?" Nick asked.
"Never."
"And weekends?"
"Never."
"Which workers have access to the workshop? I mean, is there anyone that could just open it without your knowledge and perform any works in here?" Wondered Judy.
"I'm not required to give information about my workers' responsibilities," replied Miles and it was the longest statement they had heard from him this far. At least they knew that he could build complex sentences.
"Sharing such information would be greatly convenient, though," Nick assured, but saw no reaction. How to avoid a gentle suggestion? Stay blunt. Nick coughed off. "I'd like to ask about the cameras on the outside…"
"Mockups for thieves."
"Sir, I can recognize a mockup and I am quite certain that these are not…" The fox disagreed.
"Not connected. Not recording."
"Why would that be so?" Judy asked suspiciously.
"No need."
"Then why to buy the cameras?" Nick doubted.
"For security," replied Miles. The fox glanced at his partner. They both felt like they were talking to an unusually blunt statue rather than an actual bear and neither saw much of purpose in it anymore.
"Mr. Miles, we'd like to look around the place…" Judy tried to step forward, but the bear thumped standing in her way.
"No warrant, no looking around," he stated firmly. Judy sighed and walked to the exit, but Nick stood still.
"Oh, I'm sure we can reach an agreement," the fox brought his attention again. "We wouldn't want to be forced to apply for a warrant when we could simply solve this politely…"
"Goodbye," replied the bear firmly.
"Or we'll do it by warrant, if you insist so badly. Please realize that it only gives you a day more…" Nick's eyes sparked as he saw change in bear's face. "Unless that's what you need? Just a day more?" He wondered, but Miles said nothing, staring in him coldly.
"Goodbye…"
"Sir, could you tell me what is that?" Judy asked, waving at him with something from side of the workshop. She certainly wasn't anywhere near the exit, merely used Nick's talk to look around.
"A banknote," Miles said after a moment of hesitation.
"A twenty-dollar banknote which, according to our intel…" Judy checked something on the phone hurriedly. "…was stolen with a certain ATM just two days ago, using a car we've asked about. So, it's not just a banknote, Mr. Miles. It's a probable cause," the bunny smiled. "We'll have a look around, shall we?" She asked. The bear snarled as he stepped forward, but both Nick and Judy jumped back with their tranquilizers ready. Other workers were watching the scene full of tension.
"There really is no need, but we can also make it assaulting an officer if you insist," Nick warned and then, proceeded to call backup. Mr. Miles stood back reluctantly in gesture of surrender. Soon, couple police cars arrived and six officers began to search whole the workshop carefully. Except for the banknote, they didn't find anything promising though and questioning Miles' employees gave them nothing as well. What brought their attention was a repair station in the back; unused, as Miles claimed, but cleaned very carefully very recently.
"It looks as if it was cleaned yesterday, Mr. Miles," Judy said to the bear who was now watching every step of hers.
"We do nothing here. It's clean," he said. Judy wanted to look around, but she decided to call the forensics instead. She wouldn't want to waltz in and destroy any evidence that could have remained. As the forensics team took care of it, Nick was sitting in Miles' office.
"Found anything?" Judy asked, closing the door behind her. They were there alone, with no Miles or any of his workers overhearing. Nick was browsing the bear's computer, searching through old files.
"Not really," explained Nick. "I'm checking camera recordings. You wouldn't imagine, it turns out those legitimate cameras happen to be plugged in for the most of time. Except they had been disconnected…"
"Let me guess. On Sunday night?"
"Close enough. On Sunday morning," he said. "He came over alone, plugged them off, end of the show," Nick explained.
"Not a sign of our car?" Judy's ears dropped.
"Not a sign. And last time I checked we had no recent thefts of Hanza pickups…" Nick's phone buzzed and he read a text. "And Flash says that according to DMV, neither Miles or any of his family have ever had any Hanzas."
"Tough luck," Judy muttered. "The forensics don't seem too optimistic either. The place seems swept clean just recently," she huffed with annoyance. "They were here. Just two days ago, that car was in there, there's no way…"
"Well, try proving that," Nick said, just as annoyed as her. "By the way, you don't have the list of stolen banknotes on your phone, do you?" He watched her with amused suspicion.
"It was IA734 series. I couldn't say that out loud in front of him, could I? They'd never use them then and they're our best lead," she pointed out with a smirk.
"Sly bunny," he congratulated.
"Found anything more in there, sly fox?"
"Nope, Miles made sure that I wouldn't," Nick stood from the chair with surrender. "Let's get back to the workshop and see if others found anything promising," he suggested with not much hope.
Facts justified Nick's skepticism eventually. Except for the banknote which Judy caught, they had found nothing. The most promising lead they were was some green paint dust and plastic secured by forensic team in the back. No careful search or discussion with workers had brought anything valuable to the spotlight, which was even more frustrating given that Nick and Judy were almost sure that it was where their car must have vanished.
"We need to search Miles' house and check his call log. We have a decent basis to suspect him," Judy said, as they were driving away from the yard. Miles was watching them in silence.
"Yeah, we have drunk deer's confession supported by a video on ZooTube and a banknote," Nick said with almost no sarcasm. "That's more than we generally have at this stage anyway."
"We also need to check nearby junkyards… All city junkyards, if there's need, actually. And we should ask around Miles' neighbors, check if he has any shady friends," continued Judy.
"Ask the neighbors of the car repair park, maybe they heard something in the night," added Nick. "And his workers. I might be able to get to one of them, see if he knows anything."
"That's quite a lot for one day. What time do we have?" Judy asked.
"Almost six. Let's call it a day, Carrots. Warrant to search the house will take time and everything else can wait a day or two. I'd want to say hello to mother, she must be dying of boredom. And besides, you're supposed to drop in and say how the date went," Nick pointed out and Judy turned a little paler.
"Oh, I almost forgot," she muttered. She wished she could forget. Or for that at least August could forget that cursed night.
5.41 pm, Tuesday, May 19, 2022
Diane Inesi knocked on the door of a small convenience store despite the "Closed" plate hanging right in front of her face. One of the workers recognized her and opened the door for her.
"Hey, Diane, come inside," a tall gazelle invited her in.
"Hey, Liz, is James still here?" Diane hoped.
"Still chasing that sorry tail? Girl, you should find yourself some decent guy finally," the gazelle said only to see Diane's theatric roll of eyes. "No, he's not here. Actually, I think he quit the job."
"What?!"
"He talked with boss today, packed his stuff and left in the morning. No idea what he's doing, though…" But Diane was already running straight toward James' flat. She knew what he was doing; he was being a freaking moron that needed someone to put him back together. And who was going to do it, if not Diane?
She stormed inside his flat, nearly kicking down the entrance door, only to see James and Ryuk sitting on the floor and doing something with some metal boxes.
"James, you idiot! What do you think you're doing…" She paused in the middle of the sentence seeing that the boxes were, for the fact, full of banknotes, some of them brand new. "What the… What the hell is this?!" She yelled.
"That? Money," snickered Ryuk.
"I mean… what the! How?! When?! What did you…"
"Won a lottery," James assured, not daring to look her in the eyes, though. Diane sat down on bed just above him, flabbergasted.
"More like you robbed a bank," she muttered.
"Nah, won it fair and square," sworn James, but she didn't believe him at all. "Really, it was lying in the street."
"Ryuk, where did you get it?" Diane asked.
"Oh, don't tell her. I heard you took money from Reynolds. Are you working for her now?" James asked and then, Diane took from purse Reynolds' reward and threw it in Greymane's face.
"It's yours. Go blow up another house now, could you?" She riposted angrily. "What in the world have you done?" She asked the hyena.
"Hey, this time we weren't on the news," snickered Ryuk. "Miles really was right, it was a good idea. Nice and quiet, no attention."
"Miles?" Diane asked and then, she realized what they meant. "Oh no, please don't tell me that you robbed that ATM… Of course it were you. Idiots," she muttered, but then slipped down on the floor just next to James. "So what now? How much money are we sitting at?" With nothing else left to do, she asked casually.
"Two hundred thousand, maybe three. We're still counting," said James ignoring the easiness with which she switched from slandering them to offering help. He did so mostly because for the matter of speaking, they really needed her.
"What will you do about it now? Legalize it, divide it, grab Ryan and drive away?" Guessed Diane, but he shook his head.
"One hundred thousand won't be enough for what I plan, even if we'll be able to legalize everything. Officially, I'll have kidnapped the kid. Someone might connect me with ATM and bombing in time. We need new identities, documents and cash for a nice quiet start somewhere where no one will ask awkward questions."
"Robbing another ATM is pointless. You can't sink three hundred stolen grand in Zootopia unnoticed, leave alone any bigger money," Diane pointed out.
"We don't plan to. Actually, we're preparing something bigger and we won't need more than fifty thousand for it."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, stick around with us and find out. But tell you what, it carries spirit of Reynolds' original idea," smirked James and Ryuk giggled ominously. Diane sighed with frustration.
"I don't even know what was… Alright, don't tell me if you don't want to," she surrendered. "Now, about that ATM money. Where are you going to keep it?"
"I thought my house would be a good idea…"
"They'll find it immediately if they search this place. You need some safe spot. Someplace from where you can take it whenever you want without bringing too much attention," Diane suggested instead and for a moment, they all fell silent, wondering.
"Bury it somewhere?" Suggested Ryuk.
"And dig it out every time you need?" James doubted. "We need somewhere safe."
"A bank," said Diane.
"Now, that's idiotic," refused the wolf.
"I don't mean bank account. I mean a safe-deposit box. You own one after your brother, right?" Diane pointed out.
"Yeah, grandpa put in there some family junk and no one bothered to take it out," he agreed.
"But you're covering for it?" Diane said.
"For last ten years," he agreed.
"Then put the money in there. Pack them in packs of thousand dollars. Give couple to me, I'll launder them. You keep the rest and draw one once in a while," Diane suggested.
"I won't fit all of it in there."
"Just fifty thousand. You said you don't need anymore," she pointed out.
"What about the rest?"
"We'll get rid of it," Diane suggested. "Oh, one thing more. Get back to job. You can't quit just like that. People will start wondering where you have your money from."
"OK… But I won't have time to…"
"You will, don't you worry about it. And about laundering the money, give me couple days. I'll figure out something relatively safe. For now, don't you dare using it," she suggested and none of them really argued. They discussed a little more while Diane helped them counting money and they separated it one-thousand-packs. As they were done, Ryuk slipped away without a word, probably going to drink himself to unconsciousness in order to celebrate, while Diane and James remained alone with over two hundred small packs of stolen money.
"Why are you helping us?" He asked finally.
"Because without me, you'd get caught in a week," Diane explained and he smirked.
"Oh, it wouldn't be that bad. And it's not answering my question," he said and she hesitated for a moment.
"You know the answer," she noticed. It's not that she was ashamed of her feelings. It was just that they had been ridiculed for so many times by him and everyone else that it hurt simply to spell them out. And so, she gave him only this little of an answer. James dwelled on it in silence.
"It's ridiculous, you know? How you walk back into my life yet again after everything I've told you this far like nothing had happened," he said finally.
"Like a rutting boomerang," she reminded him with a bitter smile and he chuckled nervously.
"I'm sorry about it, I just…" And then, she placed her head on his shoulder. He cuddled her and they sat in silence for a short moment. "I've discussed things with Miles and Ryuk. We all agreed to keep you away from the thing and so… we don't want you to have any contact with the stolen money. Nothing that they could really prove to you. We'll go by your advices, but we're doing all the dirty work. Me and Ryuk, actually. They have their eyes on Miles now, it seems."
"It's alright," Diane assured. "James, James, what are you dragging yourself into?"
"Changing my life," he replied. "The one way that I know," he said bitterly and to that, she found no words. They sat in silence for long minutes until Diane began to drift away and James suggested she should be going home.
"Oh, there's plenty of room for me in that bed of yours, isn't there?" She pointed out teasingly, but stood up and headed to the door, aware that he'd rather kick her out than let anything happen. "I love you, James."
"Me t…" He stuttered. "Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve you, you know."
"Have I ever cared?" She asked, leaving him with an answer just as obvious as it was frustrating.
8.25 pm, Tuesday, May 19, 2022
After a heartwarming visit to Nick's mother in the hospital, Nick and Judy ended up in his house. Since neither of them had really eaten for last ten hours, they ordered some pizza and ate it with TV playing some movie in the background that neither of them really paid attention to. Nick went to wash the dishes and Judy accompanied him.
"What are you doing?" She asked finally.
"Huh?" Nick said, confounded as he put down the second plate. "Washing dishes?" He guessed, fearing that he was just about to learn that in fact, he was not.
"That's not washing! You're just sweeping them!" Judy stood by the sink. She had to use a stool to reach it, which looked rather ridiculous. "You should use dish soap, not just sweep them with a wet rubber!" She protested.
"Hey, I've been doing it for always and you haven't…" Nick argued only to pause, realizing that he made it only worse. "They're clean?"
"For always? Seriously?" Judy sighed deeply. "Come, let me show you how to wash dishes. You grab the soap dish…" she stole it before Nick could reach for it, just like the rubber. "Put some of it on the rubber and grab the wet dish…" Judy paused, watching him expectantly. With most theatric roll of eyes Nick could perform, he handed her the plate he had just washed.
"There you go."
"And now, you wipe it clean. Carefully and from both sides. Leave it perfectly clean. Now, you rinse it…"
"I can handle that much…" Nick tried to take the plate from her, but it danced between her paws only to slip away from him.
"And then, you leave it to dry," the bunny handed a clean plate to Nick and he put it at the drier slowly, as she nodded with approval. "Now another one. You…"
"I can handle it," he took the plate from her. He washed it very, very slowly and very carefully and Judy watched the act with satisfaction. Nick put down a clean plate and dropped the rubber. "I think I've spent thrice the water. And million times the soap."
"The cutlery," Judy pointed out and fox reached for it with an annoyed sigh.
"Next time, I'm buying you plastic cutlery and cardboard plates," he declared and she chuckled.
"Oh, you wouldn't dare."
"And plastic cups for children. With carrots painted on them," he threatened.
"You wouldn't dare."
"Consider it done," he replied ominously, as he finished washing the cutlery. With Nick's education on washing dishes complete, they came back to the living room, where the TV was still playing, Nick feeling embarrassed and Judy most amused.
"So… how did the date go?" Nick asked finally and their moods momentarily switched sides. Judy sighed deeply and reached for the pilot in order to mute the TV. She was collecting her thoughts for a long, silent moment, while Nick waited patiently.
"It was excellent from the start. He was so polite and so silly when he picked me up… like he had been reenacting some 30s movie and yet, enjoyed himself perfectly and so was I," she started. "He took me to some nice restaurant just on the brink of Downtown and Rainforest District, had a table with the nicest view. The sort of restaurant where there are no prices and menu is full of some fancy names I had to Zoogle secretly just to know what I was ordering. But tell you what, it was wonderful, just like wine," she explained and Nick chuckled.
"He never struck me as a rich type," he pointed out.
"He's not. I don't even want to know what that evening did to his wallet," Judy shivered at the very thought. "But anyways, the date was wonderful. It's so pleasant with August, he's so bright and witty… and he's a wonderful listener too. And I didn't scare him off!" She exclaimed proudly and he laughed. "Oh, you know what I mean! Whenever I tell someone about my work, how being kidnapped was fun in the end or something like that, most bucks are terrified. And August was the first guy that isn't an adrenaline junkie or ZPD officer, but listens to my stories with admiration, not horror."
"A gem, isn't he?" Nick pointed out.
"Yeah…" Judy sighed deeply.
"So, what happened?"
"We walked out in excellent moods, slightly drunk. August was about to order a taxi when we heard some screams. We followed, saw a thief and then I went… you know."
"Judy on Duty?" Joked the fox and she nodded without a hint of amusement.
"Judy on Duty. I threw my phone to August, told him to call police and I chased the guy on my own. I only didn't expect he'd be waiting just behind another corner. He knocked me out, seemed really pissed off than a rabbit was trying to arrest him. And then, before he did anything to me, August came, mocking the guy."
"Did he?"
"Yeah. He was standing there, terrified with his paws shaking. But he was standing right there, laughing at the thief and the moment he charged at him, August yelled at me to run. I did, of course, but straight at them, not away."
"Don't tell me August beat him," Nick disbelieved.
"I wish he did. No, the thief kicked his tail and he kicked it hard. He would kill him if not for…" Judy trembled.
"You?" Nick hoped, but she only bridled in frustration.
"Oh, as if. Police that August called. They arrived just on time," she muttered. "If it were just for me, he'd be long dead. We both probably would be," she let her head down. "They checked on us and, seeing that we were bruised at best, drove us to Great Pangolin. August was still in shock when he walked me home and… and I think that I broke something in him. I almost had him killed and he was so terrified and he must hate me now and…" She hid her face in paws and her shoulders shuddered, but then, Nick embraced her, trying to find the right words. It'd be easy to just suggest gently to give August some breathing space and for her to leave him alone. It'd be even too easy, but then, it would be just as wrong.
"You can't be sure until you talk to him, you know," the fox said finally and Judy looked up at him slowly.
"Do you really think there's even a point?" She doubted. "Because of me…"
"We're still friends only because you found me under that bridge, back at the Nighthowlers case," he interrupted a bit impatiently. "Talk to him. Make it clear. Maybe he hates you or maybe he just needs you."
"I… I suppose you're right," Judy admitted reluctantly, just dreading at the thought.
"Am I ever not?" Nick asked and, seeing her skeptical sight, rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut it, will you?"
"I never said a word," she chuckled.
"Yeah, well…"
"I never said a word," she repeated and he didn't argue anymore. For a moment, they said nothing, but watched TV in silence. "Thanks," Judy said finally.
"Oh, save it for after you talk with August," he smirked and Judy shivered with dread, much to his amusement. How much she'd give to be through with it.
