Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the movie Zootopia are all owned by Disney the great and powerful. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

When Finian's Rainbow appeared on Broadway in 1947 it represented a daring, satirical attack on racism. By the time the movie appeared, in 1968, the Civil Rights movement had advanced so far the film almost seemed vaguely racist itself - as if the caricature of racism it portrayed on celluloid helped perpetuate the stereotypes rather than ridiculing them. Be that as it may, the leprechaun Og has a song... Uh, yes. There is a leprechaun in the play and film. I'd like to tell you it makes sense in context, but I'm not sure it does. Any way, a confused leprechaun, who finds his emotions in turmoil, will confess in song:

When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love... I Love the Girl I'm Near

The weight of her responsibility handling lead in a major investigation was already heavy on Judy's shoulders when the folder hit her desk detailing the brutal murder of one of the animals being considered as a distributor for the drug wilde. It was a grim reminder of the danger the weasel, Ernie, faced if his identity as an undercover officer was discovered. Nick looked ill when she passed him the folder, knowing it was his idea to put Ernie in the position.

With her stress level already too high the last thing in the world Judy needed was an angry panther chewing her butt. And yet, Detective Lylah Nyte, usually a friend, mentor, and confidant, was doing exactly that. Apparently jealous that Judy had been given the case of Zeke Stump, the dead opossum. Judy told the panther to go away for five minutes, to allow Judy time to think.

Lylah Nyte was back four minutes and twenty-seven seconds later. "Well?"

Judy's exasperation level showed in her voice as she snapped, "Lylah, I love you like a big sister. But why are you bothering me?"

"I want that," she said, pointing to the folder.

"It's related to the my case, the wilde investigation."

"It's part of your..." Detective Nyte took a deep breath and tried to regain control. "Judy," she told the rabbit calmly, "you may have something bigger than you realize."

"I did not need to hear that... What are you talking about?"

"The puncture wounds from a curved weapon... Didn't you read the autopsy report?"

"I just got in. And what do you know about puncture wounds? Were you reading the file?"

"Have an animal in the morgue who knows I want to hear about it."

"Hear about what?"

"The kind of wound... This isn't ringing any bells for you? Have you heard of Hook MacKenzie?"

"The name is vaguely familiar... A wolverine? What's he wanted for?"

The panther hesitated before answering. "Okay, I don't think there's a warrant out on him. But he's suspected of... You and Nick, well, you're still kind of new... Some detectives, and I'm one of them, think there's a large and careful short gang responsible for a lot of Zootopia's organized crime. And the rumors I hear are that MacKenzie is high in the gang – maybe even the boss. There are other detectives who think we're flaming paranoid... I hear Carson is on your team?"

"Yes."

"Not sure if he's blind, stupid, or–"

"He seems like a very dedicated detective."

"You didn't let me finish, or he's just so lacking in vision he can't see the picture when you put all the pieces in front of him. Sometimes I think he... Never mind. That's my personal opinion of that wolf, not my professional opinion. He likes working on little details more than bigger issues."

"I'm having a Scope™ session with the team this afternoon. Want in on it?"

The panther hesitated. Carson would ridicule her for pushing the Hook MacKenzie angle, but if the wolverine did belong to the gang then Judy's team might be able to break up the ring – and prove the wolf wrong. Detective Nyte relished the idea of rubbing the other detective's nose in his error. "I'm in. Thanks."

"Alces may not approve you coming onto... You're not asking for lead, are you?"

"No, this is your case. But if it's as big as I think it could be, you're going to need–"

"That's what the Scope™ session is about. It's clear this will be a large raid when we go in."

"Sounds like you're doing great. But when the raid goes down – I want to be there."

"Thank you all for logging in," Judy thanked the other detectives. "Nick will be taking notes for Officer Ernie to read, and you can also see that Detective Nyte has joined the video conference. She–"

"Please, not her," groaned Detective Carson

"What's that supposed to mean," Lylah growled.

"You're going to bring up that Hook MacKenzie theory, aren't you? I have just four words to say, 'We have no evidence'."

"And we're not going to get evidence by sitting on our tails and–"

Judy coughed to regain attention. "We have two or three items on the agenda, and I'd like to keep this brief. First, you've all heard of the death of the opossum, Zeke Stump, by this point. We can't be certain why he was murdered, but a failure to meet the gang's expectations is certainly a possibility. I don't think I need to tell you how careful we need to be to protect Officer Hunter's identity. Detective Nyte has a theory in regard to the possum's death. And I believe that Detective Carson has already said the four words he intends to say on the subject."

Judy nodded at the panther, "If you've read the autopsy report you'll have seen that puncture wounds from a curved weapon were the cause of death," Lylah pointed out. "Hook MacKenzie lost his left paw years ago, uses a hook that gave him the nickname. We've got two other unsolved murders with–"

"And no evidence your wolverine is the killer," Carson interrupted.

"Can you name another weapon that would cause that wound?" retorted Nyte.

"Excuse me," Judy told them firmly. "Detective Carson, you've already raised the point of insufficient evidence. Detective Nyte is not a jury, she's mentioning a suspect who needs to be considered. The puncture wounds would also be consistent with a hay hook. I'm not saying a hay hook was..." Judy noticed the other detectives in the video conference were staring at her with blank expressions.

"A hay hook?" a puzzled Detective Martin asked.

"None of you know hay hooks?" Judy asked in amazement. "They're hanging in every barn in the country. We probably got six or seven in the shed where we keep the tractor."

"So... We should consider a crazed rabbit fresh off the farm?" suggested Parr.

"The point is," Judy told them, "is that Detective Carson is right and we need hard evidence for prosecution, and Detective Nyte is right and we need to consider every angle and possibility while working on a case. But this session is about timing. Officer Hunter has his identity as a college student intact. It appears he will meet with the gang again on Saturday. Wilde and Kane have prepared a method for dealing drugs that should pass inspection. We were told there would be no drug distribution on Saturday. We don't want to go in until we know drugs are present. But we need to have SWAT teams on standby in case plans change or officer Hunter appears compromised. We should plan for the serious raid when the time is right. We need a code word for Officer Hunter. Surveillance has discovered seven entrances and exits for the building complex and the warehouse. And the surveillance indicates this is a larger operation than we initially thought. We need all exits covered, One will be used as the primary entrance for the SWAT team. And it will take a several other officers to secure each of the other exits. Thoughts and suggestions?"

The discussion lasted some twenty minutes, resolving what could be resolved and defining the issues that would require flexibility until the time of the actual raid when Ernie's position in the building could be known through GPS. That would determine which entrance the SWAT team breached.

In the afternoon Ernie sat in the library and copied out the plan for drug disruption Nick and Detective Kane had written for him. Simply giving the weasel a typed copy of the plan wouldn't have fixed it in his mind in the same way that writing it out long-hand did.

Thursday evening. Nick and Judy were to take a turn watching the weasel as he attended the jazz concert with Iris on the college green. The fox stared in amazement as Judy came out to the car.

The rabbit was in ragged jeans, with a tie-dyed top and headband.

Judy got in the car and Nick commented, "You couldn't find love beads? I'm pretty sure college students haven't dressed like that in fifty years."

"It's retro," she assured him. "Very chic." She looked over, at Nick clad in rumpled tweeds, and a pair of glasses. "What are you dressed as?"

"I think I look professorial."

"Plain glass in the lenses? I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to hide contacts from me if you wore them."

"Yeah, just plain glass. Between the way we're dressed and the fact a fox and rabbit together always attract some attention, I think we shouldn't sit together in the concert."

Judy sighed, "Darn, you're right. If anyone saw me sitting with Professor Rick Foxe they'd stare. We need to be like the tanuki ninja and just be invisible."

On the ride to the campus Nick vented, "I wanted to go over and slap that Iris the other night."

"Why?"

"For breaking up Ernie's date, and the chance she could have said something stupid."

"Did she say anything to compromise Ernie's identity?"

"Well... No, but she could have. And Gina–"

"Gina could have slipped too, you know. And you said she was just a cover to make it seem Ernie had a social life."

"But I was hoping she and Ernie would hit it off."

"You said she was just a cover. And I think Iris is really interested in Ernie."

"She's too aggressive. She'll scare the poor little weasel."

"You have something against aggressive females?"

"I really need to be careful answering that, don't I?"

"This handsome, dashing fox I know was socially backward until a rabbit grabbed him by the paw and showed him happiness he'd never known. I think Iris might be exactly what Ernie needs."

"The rabbit in my life had many wonderful virtues in addition to being a pushy little thing. Those were the things I fell in love with, not her trying to lead me around by a ring in my nose."

"Iris has her good points too."

"But all I've seen, and I suspect all Ernie has seen, is the aggressive part. She's liable to send Ernie running back to Bunnyburrow to hide under a rock."

"Ernie has depth. He came to Zootopia to enter the Police Academy and–"

"And be close to your sister, Susan."

"Well, he needs a nice female to get his mind off Suze."

"I agree. And Gina is a nice female. Iris has way too many predator instincts left."

Judy and Nick separated as they left the parked car for the green, but stayed within each others sight. The fox found Thud Crusher who had been thrilled to be included in the surveillance of Ernie, even if it appeared absolutely nothing would happen to threaten the weasel's safely.

"They just got here, maybe fifteen minutes ago," the rhino reported.

"Where?"

"Over there," he nodded, "Maybe thirty, forty meters."

"Okay, I see 'em. Judy and I will take over. Thanks for watching."

"No problem. Judy's here? I don't see her?"

"Easier for a rabbit to blend in. A rhino in a campus security uniform is hard to miss."

The rhino left to patrol the green during the concert.

Nick found a good place where he could watch the weasels, but too far away to hear anything. Judy was close enough she might have been able to listen to the conversation. It appeared, to the fox, that Iris was way too attentive to Ernie, cuddling up to him and nuzzling his ear... Perhaps she was just whispering something so she wouldn't disturb anyone in the audience by talking. Nick suspected she was simply nuzzling. "Too aggressive," he thought with a scowl.

"Way too aggressive," Nick repeated in his mind at the end of the concert when Iris gave the police officer a kiss he was unlikely to forget, ever.

Detective Kane came over to speak with Nick as the concert on the green ended. Nick gave him details about Iris, as best he understood them. As they talked a rabbit in ragged jeans, tie-dyed top and a headband came over and tugged on Nick's sleeve.

"Professor Foxe? You may not recognize me, but I'm in your music appreciation class and–"

"Of course I recognize you, Miss Bun-Bun. You sit in the back and chew gum and play with your phone instead of paying attention in class."

"Yeah, well about that... Daddy says I'm in real trouble if I flunk any classes. I'd do anything to pass your class."

The wolf rolled his eyes, "And that is my cue to play follow the weasel and leave you two alone." Detective Kane departed.

"Did you hear me," 'Miss Bun-Bun' asked in a throaty whisper. "I said I'd do anything to pass your class."

"Anything?"

"Anything," she assured him, and gave him a flirty wink.

"Then I suggest you finish that paper on badger swing you didn't turn in at mid-term."

The 'student' stamped her foot in frustration, "You clearly don't understand free love."

"No... Can't say I do. I always pay the going rate. But, in theory, it does sound more economical."

"Well, you're not getting any free love," the rabbit snapped. "I need at least a passing grade, that's the charge... And if you're feeling adventuresome, I could go for a B."

'Professor Foxe' leered at the bunny, "Want to try for an A?"

"I fear your poor heart couldn't stand it."

Sometime later, in Nick's bed, Judy asked, "Well, do I pass music appreciation?"

"Ummm," the fox sighed in contentment. "Haven't decided if you pass music appreciation. But I'm giving you high marks for neatness."

"You're very luck I love you, Mister Wilde, or you would be singing soprano from now on."

He rubbed his nose against hers, "If you didn't love me, you wouldn't be here in bed with me. Oh, we've been so busy... Is it bad luck to talk wedding immediately after sex?"

"Not for rabbits. Much better than trying to make wedding plans while having sex. I have no idea what bizarre cultural taboos foxes may suffer from. Have you called the fire station?"

"Yep. All weekends booked solid for the next seven months, with some reserved more than a year in advance. I made a list of the available weekends in the next twelve months – there may be half a dozen. Plan for one of those or reconsider options? Oh, did I tell you your mother called?"

"My mother? Called you? Was she trying to locate me?"

"No. She feels a little rejected that the wedding won't be in Bunnyburrow and wanted reassurance you really love her. I promised her I'd tell you that you can change your mind and go with Bunnyburrow if you want."

Judy began laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Did I tell you that your mom called me?"

"Uh, Judy? Were you smoking anything that went with your hippie outfit this evening? I did smell a little out on the green tonight."

"I'm serious, she called me."

"Why?"

"Why did your mom call me? Let me count the ways. First and foremost it was because her neglectful son doesn't call her enough. She figured if she was going to get current information on wedding plans she'd do much better by contacting me."

"That is a cruel accusation to throw at me, Miss Hopps. True, but cruel none the less."

"And, when I reported we still had nothing nailed down she asked me to remind you that your uncle would be honored if we were wed in Fox Ridge."

"Still no. I say he'd just use it for publicity for the town. I think Zootopia is where we need to get married Options... Fire station, we put down a deposit on one of those weekends in eight or nine months... Or try a week-night. We could go with a small wedding at city hall, just us and our parents, then we could have a party slash reception, maybe on the weekend, and invite our friends. You think of anything else on the list of ways to get us hitched?"

"Have you reconsidered Big's offer? It's very generous."

"It is... Do you think it's a good idea for police officers to have a wedding at the home of the most powerful small boss?"

"He's very sweet. He helped us crack the Night Howler case... He considers me family."

"He wanted me dead."

"I'm sure he's forgiven you, or he wouldn't have said we should hold the wedding at his mansion."

"He'll probably poison my champagne."

"Wedding at City Hall, reception at the Big mansion?"

"Poison champagne!"

"Is your life insurance all paid up? I'm sure I'd make a lovely widow. I think we should consider it as an option. Oh, you could suggest to Tom we have a double-wedding with him and Hye... Too subtle?"

"Subtle as a ton of bricks. But I don't want to share marrying you with anyone else; it's our day. And it doesn't resolve our problem with setting a date, it just makes it more difficult to nail down a date when two other animals are suddenly added into the mix."

The next day Nick drove Gina to the university for her movie date with Ernie. Ernie bought popcorn and sodas, and Nick followed a little behind as they went into the Union theater. Ernie had been instructed to take a seat two rows in front of Judy. "Excuse me, Miss," Nick asked "is that seat taken? This happens to be my favorite row."

"You're welcome to sit beside me," Judy giggled. "It's my favorite row too."

He leaned and whispered in her ear. "Any row with you sitting in it is my favorite row of the theater."

"What a coincidence," she whispered in return, "My favorite row is the one with you in it."

The movie didn't appeal to Nick, who passed his time watching Ernie and Gina. It is true there wasn't as much conversation between the two of them as there had been between Iris and Ernie the night before. Of course, the green was louder – which had made talking much easier. It would be rude to disturb the other animals in the theater. And both Gina and Ernie were a little shy. This was exactly what Ernie needed, in Nick's mind, a shy and quiet female for a shy and quiet male. About half-way through the picture Gina began leaning against Ernie, and the fox imagined they were holding paws, as he and Judy were holding paws.

At the end of the film Judy called Fetch™ to give her a ride back to her own apartment. Since Nick was providing a ride for Gina he needed to remain on duty. Kane joined him about an hour after the movie was over. The two weasels sat on a bench, staring up at the night-time sky. The fox and wolf stayed far enough away to be able to carry on their own conversation. Nick's years as a hustler had required him to assume different life stories as a situation demanded. He wasn't sure he'd ever need to take the role of a grizzled former undercover officer, but in case it ever became necessary he tried to pick up anecdotes and details from the wolf's experiences.

There was a tentative kiss between Gina and Ernie to end the night for the couple and Nick drove her home.

Officer Martin played the role of the Fetch™ driver who delivered Ernie to the gang's next meeting. Nick and Detective Lewis were in the bar in the role of customers. Judy waited with a SWAT unit in case it became necessary to stage a raid that evening.

Ernie raised a timid hand as the meeting began, "I, uh, on the television, I saw a story... The possum who was here last time was murdered."

Xhou shrugged, "I heard the story too. He must have had an enemy who really hated him."

"It, uh, made me wonder," Ernie continued. "Do you think I should purchase a gun or something, Sir? For protection?"

The raccoon who was the other animal instructing recruits was of the opinion, "Probably not. We have no idea why the late Mister Stump was killed, so don't waste a lot of time worrying about it. Are college students allowed to carry weapons into classrooms?"

"Well, no."

"Discretion is a key concept here," Xhou reminded them. "Don't draw attention to yourself. If the police stop you, for any reason, a gun can get you in trouble. You are better off not buying a gun. And limit how much product you have on you at any time. And mentioning product provides a transition into tonight's assignment, your distribution plans."

The animals were called forward, one at a time, and presented their ideas.

The red panda frowned and cursed the second animal, one of the two members already in the gang. "What the Hell is this? This isn't a plan! This is garbage!"

The animal looked frightened. "I'm sorry. I didn't–"

"You sure as Hell didn't," Xhou agreed and wadded up the paper and threw it at the offender. "We're hoping for a Tuesday night roll out. We lost one animal, and I need to get you up to speed. You've got twenty-four hours to put something together if you want to remain on the team. Give me a call tomorrow morning if you need some my help getting something put into a form that makes sense."

The red panda felt exceedingly proud of his reply. Perhaps it was actually a good thing that animal two had screwed off. There were no threats of violence made against him, just a warning to work harder and an offer to help. Hopefully it would distract all the animals in the group from the opossum's murder. There was no reason that any animal at the meeting should think the organization had killed the possum. No reason to view the death of the opossum as a warning to the rest of the group. In some ways it had been a warning, but the immediate purpose had been to remove an animal who shot off his mouth too much and represented a security risk.

Finally it was Ernie's turn to show his proposal.

Xhou chuckled at the ripped out notebook pages with hand written explanations. "College animal doesn't know how to use a computer to type things up?"

"No, Sir. Typing things up on a computer leaves information."

"You could delete the file after printing it off."

"Deleting doesn't erase the file completely, Mister Xhou. There is still data there that an IT specialist could retrieve."

The red panda was about to retort the weasel was overly paranoid, but he noticed movement from the corner of his eye and turned to see his partner nodding agreement. "Is that right?" Xhou asked.

"It is," the raccoon assured him. He looked at the weasel. "What are you studying?"

"I'm still taking General Ed classes. I haven't really decided on a major yet."

"You got brains, kid. We set a high value on that around here. Business and IT. One as major, one as minor. Hell, double major. You could go far."

"Thank you, Sir."

"All right," Xhou told them. "With one exception you did great, and I think the animal, who remains nameless, was simply lazy. We have a couple very fine lawyers on retainer. We prefer not to use them. Which is to say we like it if the police know nothing of what we're doing. Doing some final quality control now on a big batch of our product. Time to review what we told you last time. You, the weasel."

"Yes, Sir?"

"Said you could take notes this time. Need paper or a pencil?"

"Thank you, Sir. I remembered you said I could take notes this time and brought my own."

The meeting covered much of the same material presented a week earlier. With a week of thought the five animals remaining in the group had more detailed questions. To the disgust of the detectives listening in, however, every speaker had taken the hint and never said anything that provided evidence which would sway a jury.

The meeting ran an hour and a half. It was long enough for the police around the perimeter to grow bored and frustrated while waiting. The conversation from the meeting suggested nothing would happen that night, but they had to remain in position.

On the other hand, the conversation suggested there would be a resolution to the case in just a few days.

Lewis drove Ernie back to the university, for a silent debriefing in the library. While it seemed unlikely that Ernie was still being monitored it was important to maintain this college student persona just in case. Judy and Ernie exchanged several pages of hand-written notes, then Ernie headed for this dorm room and Judy went with Nick to his apartment.

Nick opened a couple bottles of cider and they sat on the couch. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing great, probably because I'm cautiously optimistic."

"Think it will really be over a in a couple days?"

"I sure hope so. there are investigations that drag on for months – or even years. It must have been miserable for poor Malus, being undercover that long.

"So, are you wrapping things up in record time because you're absolutely brilliant, or did you get lucky. Oh, have I asked which is your lucky rabbit's foot?"

Judy raised her right leg, "This one. Two goals in our last match. But I also have something else going for me."

"And that is?"

"You. I'm not always sure about some of the stuff you're doing, but we always seem to come out on top. My brains and your good looks make a great combination."

"Before we move to the bedroom, so I can thank you properly for the compliment, how's Ernie holding up?"

"He writes he's doing fine. He's playing tennis with Iris tomorrow... She doesn't just play football. Oh, and Monday you'll need to give Gina a ride – she and Ernie are having pizza."

"See! If you just let Ernie make up his own mind he'd go with Gina!"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because Iris invited him to play tennis."

"You're making less sense than usual. I heard the conversation on the green. Ernie played tennis in high school. Not great, but he played. Iris played a good game in high school. He invited her."

"Next you're going to try telling me Gina invited Ernie for pizza."

"Could have. I couldn't hear their conversation that night. But the fact you are wrong about Iris setting up the tennis date means you could be wrong about the other too."

"Nay, never wrong twice within thirty minutes. You'll need to wait at least another hour before I could possibly make an error."

"Error free for the moment?"

"Absolutely, and for the hour."

"So... about a minute ago you promised to take me into the bedroom and thank me properly for saying you had a pretty face."

"That is certainly my intention."

"How properly do you intend to thank me?"

"You have a good heart, right?"

Judy looked slightly puzzled by the question. "Yes."

"After I thank you, I expect you'll give me an 'A' in music appreciation."