"Thank you for seeing us, Mr. Magawitz."

"Of course. Have a seat."

They looked at each other and then climbed into the same chair, just like they were at the police station. So much of Zootopia was not designed for smaller mammals, although sometimes accommodations were made. But the District Manager was a hippo and his office chairs were hippo-sized.

Judy took out her pen and prepared to take notes.

"That's not a mic-pen, is it?" Magawitz asked.

"Well, um, it can be but I won't turn it on if you prefer not to be recorded."

"Let's keep it informal, shall we, Officer Hopps?"

"Uh, if you like."

"Now, I'm guessing Chief Bogo sent you up here."

"Well, yes."

To her surprise, the hippo chuckled and shook his head. "He's a good policeman, a good leader, but he tends to see conspiracies where there aren't any."

That was not at all Judy's experience with Bogo, quite the opposite. But she knew better than to argue.

"So, Sir," Nick said in his politest tones, with an underlying sarcasm that only Judy or one of his other good friends would've picked up on, "what do you think happened to the drowning victims?"

The hippo stopped looking so jolly. "This is a watery district, Officers. Unfortunately, not everyone pays enough attention to what they're doing in the Canals. And the tourists, Gourd bless them, are the worst. We do what we can but I think there's just not enough water safety training going on in the other districts."

"Yeah, we've started to notice that," Nick said.

"Good. Not that I have anything against tourists of course. In fact, one of my goals is to boost tourism. I think not enough mammals realize that this is a great place for a day trip."

"Or a night trip," Nick said out of the side of his mouth.

Judy tried not to blush, or laugh.

"In fact, I hope you two will come back on a vacation sometime. Have fun, go swimming, boating, see the sights."

"Sounds great," Nick said.

"Oh, and before you go—"

Judy was about to say they weren't finished yet, but Nick shot her a look to just go along with it, so she shut her mouth.

"Here are a couple coupons for a fine local restaurant."

He handed them across the desk and Judy did a little jump to grab them.

"Magawitz's Oyster House," Nick read over her shoulder. "Sounds yummy."

"It's not just seafood, mind you. Our lettuce and carrots are shipped in fresh from the 'Burrows daily."

"Oh, wonderful," Judy said, deciding not to point out that she didn't only eat "bunny food." She put the coupons in her pocket.

Nick looked at her again and then they both hopped down from the chair. The District Manager came around from behind his desk to shake their paws. "Officer Hopps, Officer Wilde. Good to meet you. And let me know if I can be of any help to you."

"We'll be in touch," Nick said.

After they left the building, Judy said, "We got even less out of him than we did out of 'Amanda.' "

"Hey, you're supposed to be the optimist."

"Do you think that was a successful interview?"

He shrugged. "We know he takes a personal interest in tourism, which means that he obviously doesn't want this to be known as the murder capital of Zootopia. What do you say we check out his restaurant?"

OK." She hadn't eaten much that day, not counting the Sunrise Smoothie. (Carrots, pineapples, and peaches, with a hint of blueberries.)

The address was on the coupon and she Zoogle-mapped it. It was close enough to walk to.

Bromeliad Island was flashier and more garish than either of the other two islands they'd been to so far, with brightly colored buildings that rivaled the flowers that it was named for. There were casinos and strip clubs, although those didn't seem to be doing much business in the daylight, judging by the parking lots. She imagined it was very different at night, with the neon flashing and more cars on the street.

"Do you want to stick around till after sunset or head back to Orchid Island?"

"Let's turn in early," she said. "Neither of us has gotten much sleep in the last 36 hours."

"Good point."

"Besides," she teased, "I remember you saying you didn't want to explore the North Side of the CD right off."

He shrugged. "We're just dipping our toes in. We can dive in deeper tomorrow."

"OK." She had seen and heard about as much as she could handle for now.

The restaurant wasn't too crowded. It was about an hour before the dinner rush. They were seated immediately and there was no one sitting at the neighboring tables. Maybe they could talk about the case, and other things beside the case.

After they ordered, he teased, "You're going to have some good stories to tell your folks next time you visit.

She grimaced. "Please, they're barely over the fact that I was on traffic duty."

"Yeah, catching a menacing sloth."

"Exactly. What about your parents? What do they think of your career change?" She couldn't imagine them as anywhere near as protective as hers. After all, he was male and a fox. Besides, he'd been running scams and hustles for twenty years. They were probably relieved to see him clearly on the right side of the law for a change.

"Uh, well."

She remembered that they hadn't gone to his graduation. "I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No, it's OK. I've been trying to figure out how to tell you."

"Yes, Nick?" she said softly.

"My dad walked out on us when I was seven."

"Oh, Nick, I'm sorry!"

"Thanks. He didn't even leave a note. He just disappeared."

"Your mom scrimped and saved to get your Scout uniform when you were eight or nine," she murmured.

"Yeah. She held it together, held us together, as long as she could. Till I was twelve."

That was the age he started hustling. "Did she— Is she—?" She didn't know what to ask, how to ask. Which would be worse, if she died or if she'd left him, too?"

He shook his head. "She's not dead. She didn't leave me. Or not like that."

She remembered him joking that he'd call his mother from the Police Academy. He must've known where she was, but it probably wasn't someplace she could've left for his graduation.

"She's on Harbour Street."

"I don't think I—"

"It's on the Pink Line. You've probably never gone near it. It's in Savanna Central, but along the west coast, below the Rainforest District."

"OK." She could kind of visualize that. "What's she doing there?"

"She's in a, well, a sort of hospital."

"Oh." She didn't know what to say. She wanted to give him sympathy, but he tended to brush off sympathy, like when she'd tried to squeeze his arm the time he told her about his hazing by the other Scouts.

"So now you know."

"Thank you for telling me."

He nodded. "Thank you for listening."

Then the waitress brought their appetizers, crab cakes and voodoo shrimp. After she left, Nick said, "This is such optimistic-sounding food."

She smiled but couldn't laugh, still thinking about what he'd told her. She patted his arm and said, "I really do appreciate it, Nick."

"Hey, we had coupons."