Chapter 10: Hopping Mad
Happy New Year! I had no time to work on this over the holidays, but I've managed to get three chapters ready to feed out over the next two weeks. There are a few plot twists coming up, and I felt I should release the chapters in pretty short order in order not to lose readers (Cliffhangers suck if you have to wait months between posts). If anyone is still reading Zootopia fanfiction these days, I hope you enjoy!
Chief Bogo carefully squared away the paperwork on his otherwise spotless desk. Judy snuck a look around the office, but as far as she could tell nothing had been moved or replaced since they had last been three three days ago. Only the clock had changed: it announced a relatively civilized 8 AM, and a bright blue sky sat framed in the window.
Judy was back in her oversized chair, while Nick sat in his usual position by the door, fresh uniform in place, fur groomed, and sitting at polite attention. Taking a day or two off had done wonders for his appearance. Not being hit by a drug trip probably had helped him too. Yet she frowned at his crisply creased trousers. Had he actually ironed his dry-cleaned pants? What was he worried about?
"I have some news to give you about the crane," Bogo began, and then glowered at their blank expressions. "The crane. You know, the destruction of thousands of dollars of city property that started this little adventure and splashed Officer Wilde all over the internet? So sorry," he said sarcastically, "I know three entire days have passed. I'm sure this potentially career-ending incident has probably slipped your minds."
"Oh yes, the crane," Judy smiled, buck-teeth gleaming. "Of course. It just seems it's been months since that happened. Um, are things OK?"
Bogo raised his hoof while staring at a form. "Tell you what, I'm going to hold off on that until I understand everything that has happened so far. So, to refresh my memory-" He peered over another report sitting on his desk—"the last time we met I gave you two permission to hunt down your anonymous contact," he snorted in distaste, "to find out what they knew about the apartment complex fire on Dromedary Ave three days ago." He removed his reading glasses. "A terse sentence here states you made contact with this source, who provided you with a tip." His gaze lingered on Wilde's polite and disinterested expression. "So I suppose we will drop the question of this source's identity for now."
"Most magnanimous of you, sir," said Nick.
"Only if this tip is actually a valid lead, of which I have my doubts," murmured the bull. "This source, it seems, directed you to this coyote family hiding in the Meadowlands."
"The Waters family, yes, sir," Judy chirped. A couple day's rest could do wonders for a rabbit's health, although at the moment her diet was still restricted to well, cheese and crackers. "Though I don't know whether they were really trying to hide-"
"Then, on your own initiative," interrupted Bogo, drawing out the last word distastefully, as if he were dangling a dirty diaper from his hoof, "you two decided to contact the family, which caused an incident that led to Officer Hopps' hospitalization." He turned to Judy expectantly.
"My partner and I felt that we needed to follow up on the tip before reporting in," Judy continued. Nick was staring at the pattern on the rug, and she instinctively knew he was letting her take the lead. Thanks, partner.
"So what should have been a routine inquiry degenerated into a chase, after a 29-year old female coyote, Sage Water, attempted to flee out the back window of the apartment." Bogo kept staring at Judy. "Which brings up my first question. Why was it that Officer Wilde, and not you, the senior officer, initiated first contact with the family?"
Judy felt the trap set on the ground in front of her, and advanced cautiously. "As listed in the preliminary report, Officer Wilde had a previous acquaintance with the family, and we judged it would be best if he were the first one to approach-"
"Yes, this 'previous acquaintance'," Bogo rumbled. "Interesting how Officer Wilde neglected to mention this 'previous acquaintance' at our last meeting. I'll return to that point in a moment. My to-do list seems to keep getting longer." The bull flipped up a page of the report and scanned the contents, lips pursed. "I am more concerned at the moment about the medical situation. So a mammal of interest fled the scene, and you, Hopps, followed in pursuit."
"Yes, sir, following standard procedure."
A hoof raised into the air. "I have no issue with those decisions, Hopps, in principle. But I see here that you were exposed to a drug that was life-threatening, and that you still elected to pursue—"
"With all respect, sir, I had no idea that the mushroom powder Ms. Waters blew onto me was hallucinogenic, so I decided to continue the pursuit. I felt we could not afford to lose our only lead, sir."
"And yet the lab report I have here shows that this powder does indeed have strong hallucinogenic properties, as well as other effects. I also see here that Officer Wilde, after some unexplained delay, had to take you to the hospital." He turned to Nick, who sat uncharacteristically meek in the corner. "Care to elaborate on why you felt Hopps had to go to the hospital, and if so, why the delay?"
Despite his quietness Nick didn't betray any nervousness or preoccupation.
"When I caught up with Officer Hopps after the chase, I noticed signs of disorientation and nausea, but no life-threatening symptoms, so after helping her secure the person of interest in the case, along with the family, as a precaution I requested that she and the family travel to the hospital together. Although Officer Hopps felt fine, she agreed to the visit out of an abundance of caution." Judy appreciated that Nick had skirted over the vomiting and undressing part. She felt her ears warm slightly.
"Why take the family to the hospital?" Bogo turned back to Judy.
"I-We-were concerned the family might be a flight risk, and we wanted to finish talking to them, as well as check on the health of the various family members, before we released them. The youngest kit looked underweight, sir."
"So you brought them in for medical reasons, out of the kindness of your heart, and not because of an arrest, since I see no citation or charge filed for this action." The cape buffalo's eyes bored into Judy's neutral gaze. "Do you agree that the action of blowing this mushroom powder in your face could reasonably be construed as assault?"
"Theoretically, yes, sir."
"Then if Miss Water is clearly guilty of assault on a police officer and possibly attempted murder, why don't I see any charges entered here?"
"For the various reasons I outlined in the report, we decided that no charges should be filed in order to secure the cooperation of the family, and because we judged the intention of Sage was not murderous. We feel this decision is justified—we now have a lead on this Wiley Coyote, who seemed to be aware this firebombing was coming, and we believe the family has no further relevance to the arson case, which we judged to be the important priority."
Bogo shifted back to Nick. "She keeps saying 'We'. Do you agree with what she said, Wilde?"
"I think you're nuts! Or more likely, brain damaged from that damn drug, which is the only explanation I can come up with for why you're not pressing charges against Sage. You know that family's going to vanish off the face of the earth as soon as they leave the hospital, right?"
Judy rubbed her forehead tiredly with her paw, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, as Nick growled, actually growled, at her.
"We've been over this, Nick. There's no need to detain them. We've got the information we need about Wiley. I'm fine. No harm done, really."
"No harm done? Just an attempted murder, no biggee? She tried to kill you! She knows what that stuff can do! And you're just going to ignore that? I talked to the doctor, and he said-"
"-Had I decided to charge her, it would have swallowed the rest of the night and much of the morning to process, and hours of my time over the next several days processing an arraignment. Not to mention the hard straits it would have put the rest of her family in. I think her family is better off with her than without her, all things considered. So yeah, I decided not to press charges so we can move forward on the real focus of this investigation: the arson and the possible connection with Wiley."
"Family better off with her…. You've got too much faith in people, Carrots. It's a nice thing. Cu—charming, actually. But old cynical me, who's got nearly ten years on you—I know that some animals are just a lost cause. I tried to help Sage for two years of my life, two years I ain't getting back, and nothing changed back then, and nothing's gonna change now. She's never going to clean up her life or take care of herself. She's going to just burden her mother-in-law, or end up hurting the kids or someone else innocent when she plunges back into her 'shrooms. Maybe we should have put an end to that."
"And throwing her into jail is going to make things better? There's no hidden motive here in you wanting me to charge her, is there, Nick? You're not going to let your past history affect what we do now, right?"
"Thanks for your faith in my professional judgment, Hopps," growled Nick. "It just seems a bit off for Miss law-and-order to just shrug off attempted murder."
"There's a final reason, partner," Judy said, after a moment of hesitation. "When I talked to Watercress, the grandmother, she mentioned that police had visited their apartment shortly before the arson."
Nick narrowed his eyes before she had even finished speaking. Good fox. She was too tired to spell it out.
"Let me guess. There's no record or report of such a visit in the ZPD database, because I know you've already triple checked on the way over here. That's probably why you were on your phone so much when I was driving you in. If you're suggesting what I think you're suggesting, well, first… ", he placed his hand over his rumpled uniform and lowered his eyes in mock sorrow, "let me take a moment to mourn the loss of your country bunny naiveté and optimism about the ZPD."
"You took care of my naiveté my first day on the job, remember? -" Judy started, but Nick cut her off with a swipe of the paw.
"Have some respect for the deceased, ma'am," he said soberly.
"My optimism is still alive and kicking. But if it doesn't hurt to be cautious, weeeell... "
The fox frowned. "OK, I can see where you're coming from, but this all seems really flimsy. Those visitors might have been imposters and not real ZPD cops. You can dress up your decision in all sorts of excuses, Carrots, but take it from someone with a good nose: this stinks. I can only imagine what Bogo's going to say about this. What in the world am I going to do, lie and say I think you made a good decision while coming down from a drug high?"
"I concur with Officer Hopps' decision, sir." Nick smiled smoothly. "I agree that we need to keep our focus on the perpetrators of the arson, and not read too much into the actions of a panicking female that may not have been thinking clearly."
The foxes' words swirled heavily in the air for a few moments, before settling like cheap tobacco smoke over the three mammals. Bogo seemed to be in no hurry to break the silence, happy to let his two subordinates stew in their uncertainty and his implied disapproval.
"I know better not to second-guess my officer's judgments in the field, but I have to wonder if that coyote was the only one not thinking clearly," he finally continued. "The health and safety of my officers comes first, and always takes priority over solving cases. There will always be more cases." His hoof tapped a paper on his desk. "This medical evaluation seems serious, and yet not two days after being admitted into an emergency room, I catch you, Officer Hopps, back in the building". He slipped the sheet from his desk and peered at it. "According to the evaluation, you were diagnosed with nausea, disorientation, and dehydration, as well as a highly elevated blood pressure and heart rate. I see the doctor's notes here stating that your condition was serious, potentially life-threatening, and that you were not fit to return to duty." He stared back at Judy. "Do you dispute this diagnosis?"
Judy smiled brightly and cooperatively.
"Yes, sir. The doctor told me about my situation, and advised me to avoid strenuous activity for a couple of days."
"You've had a close call, Officer Hopps. In my honest opinion, you should stay in bed for at least a week with as little exertion as possible. We're climbing an unknown tree here, with no idea how fragile the branches are."
A tired-looking raccoon looked up from his tablet at Judy, Nick hovering at his side. The rings of exhaustion around the raccoon's eyes were well-masked by the actual rings around his eyes, a useful feature for a doctor. Despite his exhaustion, his beady eyes glinted with interest at his patient.
"However, I've reviewed your latest series of blood pressure and heart rate measurements, Officer Hopps, and I'm happy to say that I think you might be over the worst of it. To be sure, we're going to fit you with a cardiac sensor during your upcoming bed rest."
"Worst?" mumbled Nick, darting a pointed glance at Judy.
"Yes, she was skirting a heart seizure when she first came in. This street drug must have substantial stimulant as well as hallucinogenic properties. Glad you got her in in time—we managed to medicate down her heart rate and blood pressure to reasonable levels."
"So you agree that it was a good idea to get her into medical care as soon as possible?" Nick drawled sarcastically, for Judy's benefit. The rabbit rolled her eyes. Yes, fox, I get the point.
The raccoon nodded his head emphatically. "Yes, I'm glad you brought her in with no delay. This easily could have gone the other way. This is powerful stuff you're dealing with, whatever it is. Now that you seem to be safe, I feel I can say that you've given me a very interesting medical case. I look forward to those cardiac measurements… out of concern for your health, of course", he hastily added.
Judy could almost feel the self-righteous indignation radiating from her partner, and resolutely refused to look him in the eye. She wasn't in pain, but just so, so tired. And sore. And disquieted. Whatever the ER had given her may have settled her heart, but it hadn't settled her mind by a long shot. But she was too tired to sort it out now.
"I'm soooo glad you deigned to let me take you to the hospital, madam," Nick said in a faux-aristocratic voice, "and not dilly-dally around. It looks like I just saved your life. Again."
The fox was getting snarky. Good. That meant he wasn't scared anymore. The furtive, anxious glances he had kept giving her as he had rushed her and Sage's family to the hospital had been unsettling, expressions she wasn't used to seeing on her best friend's face. But now things were getting back to normal. Soon he would be teasing her about how she owed him a dinner for saving her life, maybe two. She hoped so. Tonight had thrown her emotions off-kilter. She feared she would be dreaming about tonight's events for some time.
"How's the coyote family doing?" Time to redirect the conversation back to the doctor.
"Well, at your request I've done some basic health checks and had some preliminary bloodwork done. The results came in surprisingly quickly, and that's why I'm here actually-to report what we found. There's no life-threating condition for any of them, as far as I can tell—but my specialty isn't canid biology"—the doctor exuded a whiff of distaste—" and the little kit seems underweight for his age and species. I'm not sure, because I had to use charts for a generic candid, since there don't seem to be specialty charts for these koy-a-tees?"
"Coyotes," both partners mumbled.
"Coy-otes, right. As for the rest of the family, I wouldn't say that they are undernourished, exactly, but there are hints of a dietary deficiency. Both the teenager and the elderly female seem to be deficient in iron and a couple of important vitamins. At least, vitamins that seem to be crucial for the bulk of mammal species."
"What about Sage Waters, the mother?" asked Nick.
"She's interesting. She still seems to be under the influence of this drug, and she's slightly underweight, but the the bloodwork shows no sign of anemia or any other dietary-related deficiency that the rest of her family shows. Overall she seems in really good health."
"Of course she would," growled Nick. "Given my luck, why would I have even expected otherwise?"
"I assure you sir, that I feel fully recovered from the aftereffects of the incident. The doctor reviewed my cardiac record this morning and cleared me for duty-"
"-I still strongly recommend that you take a few more days off, Officer Hopps-"
"-so, I would feel better if we were allowed to continue on this case."
"Hrrmmmm," grumbled Bogo as he turned and displayed a file on his computer. "That is a question, isn't it? You state here in your report that you think that arsonists burned an entire building down, threatening nearly a hundred lives, just to terrorize this Sage Water and her family, all over something that her brother Wiley may or may not have seen or heard. That is an awfully thin thread to grasp, Officer."
"Sir, I—"
"And Forensics has issued a preliminary analysis of the apartment fire, and found no sign of accelerants or some ignition device." He raised a hoof to forestall Judy's reply, as she jumped up onto her seat. "Yes, it's true, that arsonists can make devices that leave behind only ash, but apparently that takes a bit more skill and effort than a simple Malaclaw cocktail or pipe bomb. Skill that takes money and strong motivation, and I fail to see how a second-rate apartment building would attract either."
"Sir, I've taken the liberty of examining records of other recent residential fires in Zootopia—from my bed of course—" she hastily added, "and about 15% of them cross-check with addresses of coyotes, which seems a pretty high percentage, considering how few of them there are." Nick cocked his ear towards her. She hadn't mentioned to her partner how busy she'd been with Peter Hodge's database app in her apartment the past day or so.
"Yes, I saw that in your report," Bogo grunted. "It looks like you've gotten some practice with database analysis. Or at least some help from Records." He sat in silence momentarily.
"Let's return to a couple of other points. There is still that little matter of that wrecked crane to deal with. He folded his arms. "City Hall has decided once again to shove its nose into the whole situation, and based on their input Internal Affairs has decided this morning to assign a lower priority to its investigation into the willful destruction of city property by you two. They do, however, recommend some sort of disciplinary action in the interim, a slap on the paw, so to speak." Bogo stared steadily at Judy. "I think your lead is too thin to justify spending on-duty officer time on, so for now I'm going to place you both on leave without pay for three days, so you can reflect on your actions, and so that damn fire chief won't trumpet so much in my ear at tomorrow's EMS cross-agency meeting."
Judy's ears snapped to full attention, but before she could speak, she heard Nick reply. "I think I understand, sir. I assume that what we do with those three days, and where we go, are our own business?"
Bogo cracked his neck as he turned back to Nick, who now straightened his posture.
"If you're not being paid, I don't care how you waste your time, Wilde. You can visit the Nocturnal District on your own if you want. Sample the nightlife, so to speak. Off-duty officers are even allowed to carry department safety gear down there, as long as they have been cleared and recertified by Precinct 4."
"I've heard the training facilities at that Precinct are pretty interesting," said Nick.
"That they are, Wilde. Tell you two what, I'll let Officer Hopps remain on the clock til the end of the shift, in case she's curious about visiting it." He rose from his desk. "After six o'clock, I don't want to hear from her for three days. Waste your time all you want".
"What about me?" Nick said.
"Well, at least for now," the buffalo snorted, "you've haven't lost your job—yet." He frowned toward Nick as he said this, as if slightly disappointed that an opportunity had been lost.
"Still plenty of chances for that, sir," Nick chipped in, starting to wiggle down from his chair, and Judy winced. Why now, of all times, did the fox have to get cocky? Why deliberately trip over a root when you were about to escape a collapsing burrow?
"Ah yes, so glad you agree, Officer Wilde," grinned the bull, almost jovially, and it took all of Judy's willpower to keep her ears from drooping. Nick turned calmly from the chair, unfazed. "I'm sure there are other career-ending opportunities just lingering around the corner. Just to pick a random example, suppose that an officer lied about potential conflicts of interest in an investigation. Such as, oh, let's see, suppressing the fact that he had a previous romantic relationship with a mammal of interest in a case. That would be an interesting tidbit to add to your future review file." He cast a sidelong glance at Judy. "Especially if this past relationship with a female was a factor in his partner's decision not to arrest her."
Nick only smiled breezily, leaning back slightly, not showing a hint of embarrassment about his past cross-species relationship.
"Yes, sir, I certainly agree that would be a bad situation. Which is exactly why I disclosed my former co-habitation with Sage Waters as soon as I became aware of her role in this case. Although I just want to clarify that the relationship was never 'romantic' in nature". His gaze never wavered from his boss as he spoke the last sentence.
Bogo rolled his eyes in distaste. "I really don't care what you two did when you lived together, and the law forces me not to judge anyway. When did you file this disclosure?"
"I wasn't certain about Sage's identity until I saw her in the fur in the Meadowlands. After clearing Officer Hopps from the hospital and returning the family to their residence, I logged the association when I filled our preliminary report the following morning- about two days ago."
The buffalo nodded curtly. "So, now that all has been laid bare, so to speak, can you justify why I shouldn't relieve you from further work on this case due to this potential conflict-of-interest? Once you return from your leave, of course?"
"Certainly, sir," Nick replied. "Given that the focus of the investigation has moved on to Wiley Coyote, an individual I have had no previous involvement in, and given that Officer Hopps has declined to press charges against Sage Water, thus effectively ending that individual's involvement in the case, I would submit that any potential conflict-of-interest has been resolved." Pausing for a moment, he then added, "Plus, I have excellent night vision."
Bogo rubbed his chin, staring at Nick as if he were an art critic looking for a flaw to criticize in a painting. He turned toward Judy.
"Hopps. Did Wilde's past relationship with Sage Water influence your decision not to charge her?"
"No, sir," she replied crisply, with a hint of wounded pride that he would even ask.
"Then I'm going to leave the decision up to you. Should Wilde still work on this case?"
She lay on her bed in her cramped apartment, restless. She had lived in this apartment ever since her initial arrival in Zootopia, well, except for that three-month "interruption" when she had quit the force. Luckily, she hadn't gotten around to breaking the lease at the Pangolin Arms; the terms of breaking it had been pretty severe, and even when she had turned in her badge, she had procrastinated breaking that final link to Zootopia. And her reward for keeping the faith was that she now still got to listen to her neighbors argue at odd hours, and figure out exactly how many different vegetables could be freeze-dried and cooked in a microwave.
The odd thing was, during all this past year, she hadn't really noticed how cramped the apartment was. She generally spent little time here, being so busy at work, and when she got home she usually went right to sleep. On those relatively rare evenings or mornings when she had a few hours free time, she preferred to stop by coffee shops, parks, or even sit on a bench at the mall and experience, on a tiny scale, the massive heartbeat of the megalopolis, a small rock surrounded by a steady and powerful river of animal life. Oftentimes Nick or some other acquaintance at work would join her in scouting out the local area, but many a time she had just enjoyed the feeling of being alone, surrounded by hundreds of animals. It initially surprised her how much more alone you could be in a large city than a small town, but when you grow up with a few hundred siblings, you learned to appreciate solitude.
Which made it all the more strange how conscious she was of being alone now, trapped inside her own apartment and her traitorous heart, which at the moment was hooked up to a monitor strapped to her belt. She had been lucky, she supposed, not to have been more seriously injured in her job; really, since her spectacular entry into the force she and Wilde had had more of what she would call misadventures, like that skunk pride parade. Whenever she had been hurt it had been a sprain or flesh injury (she hadn't been sure how to pawcuff a porcupine at that one frat party—well she sure knew now). But even then, when an injury forced her to take a little time off, she had still been able to move around on crutches and leave the apartment for a bit. But Dr. Scholtwitz, the ER raccoon, had been adamant that she wear this monitor for 48 hours, in order to check that her heart rate wouldn't relapse to dangerous drug-induced levels. It had been the best compromise she had been able to reach with the medical profession. So for the first time in years, she had to be still. Try to be still. Grrrr…
And thus the apartment that had never bugged her was bugging her. A lot. And on top of that was this unfinished case and a potential witness lurking out in the Nocturnal district; another itch that she couldn't scratch. And she still had another 24 hours to go before returning to work and updating Bogo. Nick said he would wait for her return before he visited Bogo. That was either considerate or cowardly on his part, probably both.
She shifted onto her back, dressed only in a leotard and sweatshirt. On the plus side of being apartment-bound, she had had plenty of time to talk to her parents, so much so that they had actually suggested she didn't need to call more than once a day, something that she should have been relieved about, she supposed, but somehow it still miffed her slightly. Even her parents were off doing something interesting, like Nick probably was…
She turned back to her phone, her one salvation in her book-less, TV-less room.
"Are you meeting anyone new, finally?" her Mom had asked. "I know how busy you are, but rabbits need to go out and meet others. It's healthy. I worry that you're more isolated in the city than you were ever were in Bunny burrow."
Truth be told, over the past day she had been wondering the same thing.
"No, I'm not taking you somewhere," Nick had said over the phone. "The doc said for you to stay put for two days, and I'm not going to risk killing you just because you're bored". Coward. She had never realized how much time she spent with him, until today, when he refused to be around her. "Don't want to distract you, Carrots. If I make you laugh too hard, you'll die, and then your mom won't send me blueberries anymore." Maybe it was her imagination, but did he seem relieved to leave her alone? Was he ashamed about bringing his cross-species relationship to light? He knew she wouldn't judge him, right? At least she didn't think she would. One long-term victim of the Night Howlers case had been her iron-clad confidence in her own impressions and judgments. Well, if the fox wasn't going to talk with her she wouldn't let him know about the texts she had been exchanging with Laughing Water. Sage's son had been hanging out in the Nocturnal District, and he had been kind enough to let her know Wiley hadn't shown up at the Last Stand Nightclub yet.
Maybe her mom was right. She needed to start opening up her social circle to meet new mammals. But where was she going to bring new friends? Here? Not a place to bring anyone, especially if she wanted to entertain. She hadn't even brought Nick by. The fox had glimpsed her sleeping quarters and liked to tease her about it, so she tended to avoid showing him. Anyway, Nick preferred, like her, to wander around the town whenever they had a spare night. "The whole city is my apartment, Carrots," he once bragged, and she had to agree, especially since she had never seen his apartment. She half suspected that he had lived under a bridge. It would fit in with the tragic mystique he seemed to like to cultivate around him.
She activated the specialized database app Peter had written. There. There was an example a new mammal she had gotten to know recently, and probably could get to know a little better. When her mother had gotten just a little too invasive about her social life (as usual), she couldn't resist dropping the name of a certain acquaintance, just to get her mother to hop off her back.
"What have you done together?" the mother had asked over MuzzleTime.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing. He just wrote me a phone app to help me with a case."
"He wrote an entire app just for you?"
"Not for me, Mom. Just my job."
"Heh," Stu grinned. "I'm definitely getting old. Back in my day, when a buck wanted to impress a doe, he just fixed her car or wrote poetry."
"And you tried hard, dear, you really did," Bonnie smiled, patting her father's paw absently.
"You mean the car, or the poetry, hun?"
"Both."
"It's not what you think, guys," she had responded. But then somehow a clutch of her sisters had decided to shove their whiskers into the MuzzleTime call, and then the matter became a family vote, with her sisters confidently stating that Peter's gift was "nerdy, but sweet," and advising that "he's totally into you, Sis. You'll see."
Peter's regular job must be pretty undemanding, because somehow he had found the time to add some personalized touches to what should have been a pretty dry database. Such as the goofy cartoon caricature of a bunny that kept popping up on the help screens to give instructions on how to enter the proper search terms.
"Do you like him?" her mother had asked. "Is he good-looking?"
Judy had noticed that the goofy cartoon bunny bore more than a passing resemblance to the Department of Records employee. The awful cartoon wardrobe made the point hard to miss. The little avatar wasn't handsome, but it was endearing, in a certain way.
On top of that, Peter would have the app spurt out random facts about Bunnyburrow every few minutes. "I just shoved it in there, cause I thought you might like some reminders about our hometown," he had texted, "but I included an option to turn it off if it becomes too distracting."
As she lay staring at her phone, a little banner, bordered with broccoli, declared:
"BUNNYBURROW* CARROT EXPORTS: 51% grocery**, 35% canned goods, 12% juice*** products."
"*defined as encompassing the southern 45% of the Tri-Burrow region."
"**includes convenience stores, food stalls, and big-box warehouses like Ram's Club and ClawsCo."
"*** incorporates juice, smoothie, and other beverage products."
She hadn't turned off the feature. Oddly enough, the stats did make her feel a little homesick. She noticed she had a new message. Her heart monitor beeped a small alert about an anomalous heart rate. Nope, not from Nick. From Peter.
"Hi Officer Hopps. Managed to get image compression working. Restart the app and now you can search the Benefits photo database remotely. Won't be a real high resolution, but should work. Let me know if useful!"
She had already tried all sorts of stats, and cross-referencing coyote addresses with the fire department had already been enlightening. She had run her mind ragged about every possible connection between arson and coyotes. What more could photos tell her? There was only one name that popped immediately to mind, but a new banner burst onto the scene before she could enter it.
"A doe in Bunnyburrow has an average of 4.5 kits by the time she is 24."
Her eyes narrowed. OK, the app was starting to sound like her mother. Was Peter behind this? She decided it was just an oddly-timed random fact, cleared the window, and entered "Sage Water."
A set of date ranges came up. She selected last year's, and the same photo file she had seen at the ZPD appeared. Tired eyes, tired soul, downcast gaze. Apparently healthy, though, which I guess is a bit of an achievement, given what she's put herself through. This is the face of someone who nearly killed me. Somehow she couldn't seem to muster up much emotion about that. Even her heart monitor refused to register any skip of a heartbeat, or acceleration of her pulse. Just another day on the job, I guess…
What did Nick ever see in you, I wonder? She flicked her claw across the touchscreen, and dates flew by. Looks like Sage had run across the city bureaucracy many times over many years. Let's see, this would be around the date Nick knew her…
A much younger face dissolved onto the screen, and Judy felt a stir of unease. She wasn't much of a judge of canine beauty, but Nick's ex-girlfriend's golden eyes were indeed striking. Even at the low resolution, they seemed to leap of the screen and look right into you. Her ears were straight and perky, which she guessed might be a sign of health. Her coat seemed to have a healthy sheen as well. But it was the eyes, along with some distinctive black markings surrounding the eyes, as well as the structure of her high cheekbones, that gave the coyote a faint exotic air compared to most wolves or foxes she had seen.
I guess I could see how a male could find her attractive, at least superficially. I mean, I suppose that there are very few mammals that look like her, with her being endangered and all. She wondered how many other bunnies in the world looked like her. Exotic in looks she was not. Even her distinctive (she felt) black-tipped ears probably had hundreds of duplicates in Bunnyburrow and Zootopia. Well, all for the best, probably. She wouldn't want someone to like her just based on her looks, she was pretty sure.
Another tap on the app, and a drop-down menu listed vital statistics. Marriages, right at the top. Another tap. A list of names splayed across the screen. Wow, are all these really husbands? You really know how to pick the ladies, Slick Nick. Am I going to tease you about this someday? Yes, yes I am. Maybe. When enough time had passed and things had settled down to what they had been.
She started to scroll through names and dates of the marriages. Claws on Bark (domestic partner), six months. Sniffs the Breeze (married), one year. Wind through Grass (domestic partner), five months. Munches on Blueberries (married), thirty months. Shade under Willow (domestic partner), three months; Starlight in Summer (married), thirteen months; Crossing the River (domestic partner), five months. And so on. What a sad record of a life. Each name hinting at a whole cycle of meeting, mating, and misplaced hopes. Had there been any love in her life at all, she wondered? Was Nick really the best thing that had happened to Sage? Was that why she had been so bitter about him?
She still remembered, roughly, the coyote's words under the moon: "I will tell you something about Munches that I would not normally tell a stranger. He has many names, for he can be many things. But no matter what the disguise, he will always do what is best for him."
She paused, her paw hovering above the small screen. Her heart sensor beeped a warning. Then another. She scrolled back and selected 'Munches on Blueberries (married)'. There was a link to a photo from the Benefits office, ten years earlier.
He was younger, much younger than she was used to, and his tan fur and golden eyes were unfamiliar-she was used to orange and a bright verdant green. But that sidelong gaze, that lopsided grin: she must have photographed them a hundred times over the past year. She could close her eyes and trace every contour of that muzzle.
"He is a Trickster, and he will trick you into thinking that you can trust him."
Her heart sensor was screaming continuously, but she didn't care anymore. Her foot was tapping rapidly, she felt hot blood rushing to her face and ears, and Judy Hopps, who had thought that she knew herself well, now felt a cauldron of rage welling up in her stomach, betrayed by someone to whom she had confided her soul—
"Hopps? Your decision?"
Judy blinked, and realized that both Nick and Bogo were staring at her. One puzzled, the other annoyed.
"Sorry sir, just jumping the gun, so to speak, thinking about how I'm going to spend my time off." She turned to look Nick straight in the eye, her own ears ramrod straight. "If Wilde here says that he has revealed all his past connections to this case, then I trust his word completely, and have no concerns about his continuing to work with me."
Nick's expression softened. He smiled at her, with a familiar sidelong gaze and lopsided grin.
She smiled back.