Author's Note: Ta-da! I used some spare time in the afternoons to write this chapter. Thank god it wasn't supposed to be a humorous one. I've been feeling so homesick. It was pretty easy to channel that into this chapter.
Judy insisted on driving.
Probably for the best. Nick couldn't release his grip on the emergency phone call transcription in his hand.
Responder: 911, What's your emergency?
Caller: My – my name is Olivia Myers, I'm a – [sob] receptionist - at Emerald Isle. There's – oh, god. There's been an – accident, or attack, something.
Responder: Take a deep breath, Ms. Myers. What kind of attack? Are you injured?
Caller: No, not me – it's – oh, god. It's so awful. We just – we found her –
The red and blue lights whirred overhead, blaring too loudly for anyone's comfort as Judy weaved in and out of traffic, moving with all the speed their patrol car could muster. She spared a glance at Nick, who stared straight ahead.
Responder: Who? Do you need an ambulance? [pause] We're sending an ambulance to your address now.
Caller: There's so much blood, please come soon, send the police, send anyone!
Responder: Someone is on their way, m'aam. Can you tell me anything about who was attacked? Is the attacker still there with you? M'aam? Stay on the phone with me until the emergency responders arrive.
Caller: I'm – I'm here. Oh, I'm so sorry... We should have called as soon as she went missing last night.
Responder: Who went missing, Ms. Myers?
[…]
Responder: Ms. Myers?
[…]
Caller: One of our nurses. Melissa.
Judy wheeled the car into the parking lot of the community and jumped out. Nick joined her in an instant, the transcription of the call left behind in his seat, green eyes scouring the parking lot; the normally placid space was quickly drawing the attention of locals and media alike. Nick and Judy hurried past the ambulance workers and into the building housing the lobby, straight to the front desk where they normally checked in to visit Ella.
"Mister Wilde! Miss Hopps!"
A rattled otter called out to them, and they turned in unison, heading to the trembling receptionist. Her hands trembled around a bottle of water. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here," she managed tearfully.
"It's good to see you're safe, Olivia," greeted Judy, sparing a look at Nick to make sure he was alright. His eyes shifted uneasily around the room, which was busy with the community security and staff, though they'd managed to keep the media and public out thanks to their gated entryway. "Where's the rest of the staff?" asked Judy, turning her attention back to the otter. "We'll need to question you all as soon as possible."
The receptionist nodded, brushing away tears from her eyes. "I – I can get them." At Nick's distant stare, she hurried to stand on wobbling legs. "Mister Wilde," she touched his arm. "Your mother…" Nick's eyes shifted to her, his expression frozen in a mask of strangely stoic indifference.
"She's okay," reassured Olivia. "She and the other residents are safe and guarded in the conference building."
Nick's throat clenched. "Thank you," he said after a moment. Olivia looked back to Judy.
"The rest of the staff is kind of scattered," she told her after gulping down some air. "I – I can tell them to gather in the break room until you can talk to them."
"Please do that," Judy nodded. "And tell them not to leave or talk to the media until we release them. I promise, we'll be along as soon as we can." The otter nodded and hurried off, and Judy breathed in deeply before turning to Nick. This wasn't the time or the place to embrace him, but she couldn't think of a time when she'd wanted to do so more. His entire body stood straight, stiff. Nothing about his features looked comforted or reassured. They wouldn't, she knew, until he saw her.
"Go check on the residents," she told him in a no-nonsense tone. "They need to know we're here. And we'll need to question them later. I'll talk with the EMTs, get an idea of what to expect when we go in there."
Exhaling slowly, Nick gave Judy one meaningful look before he nodded. "I'll be there in ten minutes," he promised.
The pair split off, and Judy met with the first responder, who led her away from the lobby and out into the community. Nick hurried down the familiar sidewalk, using every ounce of self-control not to break into a run. When he entered the conference building, the crowded room of elderly residents looked up, many letting out cries of relief to know that the police had arrived.
One voice in particular stuck out.
"Nick!"
Turning swiftly, Nick choked back a sob when he saw Ella Wilde, seated in her wheelchair and still wearing her nightgown, rushing to him. He quickly scooped her up in a hug, almost lifting her out of her chair. It wasn't until he pulled back to look at her that he felt himself breathe for the first time in twenty minutes.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she reassured him in repeated whispers. "I didn't even know anything had happened until the security guards woke me up and made me come in here with all these old bitties."
He checked her over, even as she tried to brush him away. She hadn't been attacked, but 'fine' wasn't the word he would use to describe her. Maybe it was his panic, or perhaps his innate pessimism, but she looked weaker than she had in months. He remembered the nurse's mention of her fatigue, and the tests they'd run after.
No time to think about that right now.
"It's – It's bad, Mom," he told her quietly, stooping in front of her chair. "Just stay in here. We may have to come back and question everyone, okay? But whoever did this is gone."
"My brave son," murmured Ella, touching his face. "You go do your job."
He nodded, pulling away from her reluctantly and looking to the other residents, many of whom already knew him personally. "If everyone will just stay patient," he told them, voice much firmer now. "We'll come back and let you know when it's safe to return to your apartments." A murmur of acknowledgment assured Nick he had been heard, and he turned and left, returning to Judy on the other side of the community.
When he approached, she looked up at him with her features uncharacteristically twisted, large eyes shining and her jaw clenched. Nick slowed his pace as he reached her, his eyes darting to the hallway next to them.
"This is the clinical ward," Judy informed him, as the EMT left them alone. Her voice held just the slightest tremble, but she wasn't afraid, Nick noticed.
Judy Hopps was angry.
"The body hasn't been moved yet. We're waiting on the crime photographers to get here," she said, before turning and moving down the hallway.
"Have you seen it?" asked Nick.
Judy shook her head, her shoulders tight as they moved down the sterile environment, passing block after block of red tile set against austere white walls.
It was here the double doors waited, closed. Judy moved first and pushed them open, stepping into a short corridor which ended in a storage room. She reached forward and opened the heavy metal door.
The room had once been white.
Flinching, Judy pulled back from the scene for only a moment. Then she squared her shoulders and stepped out ahead of Nick, grim expression turning to the stained floor before she looked back up.
The pair of officers paused to take in the sight in front of them.
A skinned rabbit, strung up in the middle of the square room, faced them with features bereft of eyes and fur. Part of its limbs had given out, and the sinewy cords of muscle that had once held it together puddled with blood and tissue on the floor. The scent – it was vile, stomach-turning – was almost as bad as the vision in front of them.
The blood had been deliberately smeared everywhere, and Nick felt something drip on his arm, so he looked up. "Judy," he said softly, pointing up. The bunny lifted her head and her features curled in disgust. The ceiling of the storage room was painted in streaks of red, bloody bits mixed with flesh in some places. In the center, it read two words.
TOO LATE
Nick felt Judy hum with anger next to him, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she breathed in deeply and steadied herself before turning and heading out of the room. Nick's eyes lifted to the message, and an uncharacteristic vehemence brimmed beneath the surface of his skin.
He stepped out with Judy, jaw tightly clenched.
The forensics team arrived behind them, and Nick and Judy filled them on the few details they had before heading to the staff room.
Gathered inside was a small group of mammals, all of whom stood or sat in varying states of grief or mortification.
Together, they interviewed them one by one, away from the others.
"I'm the night-shift nurse manager," said a pig in blue-green scrubs, Marla.
Her eyes turned shamefully to the table in front of her. "We – We only keep a few nurses on at night, since most of the residents are asleep. Some of them stay the nurse's station in case a patient calls for help, others make the nightly rounds to the patient's apartments. Melissa was supposed to be at the front-desk." Marla paused, her shimmering eyes on the table as she wiped away another tear. "She – She went out for a break, about 3 AM. And she never came back."
"Why didn't you report that to the police immediately?" asked Nick.
Marla sighed. "We should have, I know. But Melissa- Oh, I hate to say this. But she was very flaky," she admitted. "She was even pretty close to getting fired. When she didn't come back from her break, we all thought she'd just left and ditched on the rest of her shift."
Judy leaned forward, lavender eyes trained on Marla. "What time was her body discovered? And by whom?"
"It was just after seven AM, when the morning shift was coming in," Marla told them. "Our custodian, Mister Wilkins. He's the one who found her."
The old weasel sat stiffly in his chair, and with every glance from Nick and Judy, he shrank back further against it.
"Don't be afraid, Mister Wilkins," Judy comforted, though it was without her usual warmth. Her eyes remained on him. "We're just going to get some details from you."
"W – Wasn't – nothing I could do, didn't know anything – "
"Just tell us what happened," she broke in. "How did you find her?"
"I – Just trying to do my job, can't think of – nothing – that bunny girl – "
Judy leaned forward. "Mister Wilkins," she spoke over him, keeping her voice calm but firm. "Tell me what happened when you found Melissa."
The elderly weasel looked up at her, eyes darting all over before he finally let out a little noise of hysteria. "I was just trying to do my job! Came in at six-thirty, like I do! And when – when I get to the closet, looking for bleach! Looking, I say! Not enough bleach for that whole room!" He shook his head vehemently.
"That dead bunny was in there. Found her and ran, ran to Stefan. That's all I know!"
"Stefan," Nick greeted from where he stood behind Judy; he couldn't bring himself to sit.
"Nick," the bull nodded to him, before his features pinched and he swallowed over a lump in his throat. "I mean – er, Officer Wilde."
"What happened when Mister Wilkins came and found you?"
The bull straightened slowly and looked out over the pair of officers. "I was just coming in," he told them. "I hear him screaming down the hallway, so I come to meet him, but he's running, and he finds me first. I couldn't get him to tell me what he was going on about. I don't think – I don't think he knew it was Melissa." Here, the bull paused to gather himself before continuing, "I didn't at first. I mean, it's… she doesn't even look… " he sighed heavily. "When I ran down there to find out what he was going on about, I wasn't even sure what I was looking at. There was so much blood."
Judy watched Stefan's face carefully. "Stefan, you're head of security. Who was working for you last night?"
"Alric," he said with a nod. "Good kid, but he's pretty new."
"And do we have access to the security footage last night?" asked Nick, rounding the table.
"Yes," Stefan stood swiftly from the table. "I'll get that for you now, officers."
"Alric Graham," Nick read aloud from a driver's license as he looked across the table at a young male tiger. "Haven't seen you around here before."
"I've only been here a few weeks," said the young tiger quietly, his eyes low. "I – I never thought… I never thought something like this would happen, not at a retirement community."
Judy took a seat in front of him. "Alric, you were working security for the compound last night. Were you alone?"
"No," he answered, looking up. "It was me and Burly. But since there are only two of us at night, we spend most of the night at opposite ends of the community. So I didn't really get to talk to him."
"Did you see anything out of the ordinary?"
The tiger shook his head solemnly. "Nothing. It was a completely normal night until Wilkins found – found Melissa."
"No one out of the ordinary checked in? You didn't see anyone on the grounds that you didn't recognize?"
"No, Officer Hopps."
The grizzly bear watched the two officers with undisguised irritation.
"Why're you questioning me?" Burly asked sharply, before they'd even began. "You should be out there, figuring out who the hell cut up Melissa and left her dead body in our storage room!"
Nick narrowed his eyes but kept composed. "That's what we're doing. And since you were one of two security officers on patrol last night, it's time we heard from you. What did you see?"
The bear grunted and shrugged. "Nothing out of the ordinary."
Nick folded his arms. "Well, then, you must not be a very good security officer if someone gets murdered on your watch and you don't see anything out of the ordinary," said Nick, watching as the bear growled and stood to his full towering height.
"Hey, we did all we could, okay? We can't be everywhere at once! They cut down our hours, and now we only have two officers on at a time! Give us a break, we can't catch everything."
The bear shrugged his large shoulders. "And unless someone scaled the twelve foot walls or the gate, you can bet that any stranger who came by would've gone through the lobby, where the nurse's station is. Ask one of them."
The small coyote lifted his head from his hands.
"There wasn't anyone," said Ellis quietly, claws scratching idly at the table. "I – I don't know who could've gotten in. And I mean, I was there almost all night! I should've gone and checked on Melissa when she didn't come back."
Judy looked up at a knock at the door, and she nodded to Nick, who accepted a small jump drive from Stefan. Nick showed it to her before tucking it into his pocket to review later. At the table, Ellis sighed, rubbing one hand over his face.
"So no one came through the lobby last night?" asked Judy.
Ellis shook his head, expression despairing. "No, we only had two or three calls from residents, so it was a slow night. Night-shift is usually pretty dull. We were just taking turns going to the residents, and there was never a time when the desk was left unattended. Marla was even there most of the night, but she left around two to do her rounds."
"And Melissa said she was leaving to go on her break when she disappeared?"
He nodded, before shrugging. "She's skipped out on her duties before. We really thought she was just going to call the next morning and make up some excuse."
The pair returned to Marla.
"Where does Melissa normally go on her breaks?" questioned Judy, and the pig paused to think.
"Out to her car, I think," she said, pointing. "Employee parking is near the south entrance."
By the time Nick and Judy made it out to the employee parking area, the rest of the forensics team had arrived, and news reporters crowded at the entrance to the lobby, desperate to get inside, hear a word of a conversation, snap a picture. Fortunately, Nick and Judy were able to sneak around them to the employee parking lot, and after taking a cue from Marla, they crossed the asphalt alone, in the direction of a small blue compact vehicle.
Once they reached it, Judy moved away from Nick and rounded the car thoughtfully, her eyes sharp on the apparently undisturbed car. When she came to the driver's side, she reached out a hand and let it hover near the keyhole, where a long scratch ran down the length of the door. Judy's eyes followed it down to the asphalt. When she crouched on her knees, she spotted something shining under the car.
Reaching forward, she pulled a set of car keys, complete with a garish, brightly colored keychain, from beneath the vehicle where they'd been dropped. Nick stopped next to her.
"She made it to her car," Judy said grimly. "This is where he grabbed her."
"The security footage doesn't come this far," Nick informed her. "Stefan said it only covers the corner of the lot closest to the door. There wouldn't be anything showing us what happened here."
The keys shifted in Judy's hand, and she rubbed a thumb over one in particular. It was labeled with sharpie – TRUNK. Turning her eyes over the vehicle, she moved around Nick and rounded to the back, where she pulled the key between two fingers and slowly extended it towards the trunk.
Then she stopped.
"What?" asked Nick, watching her face carefully. "Aren't you going to open it?"
"Something isn't right," Judy curled the keys in her hand, away from the trunk. Stooping again, she peered all under the car, and after several minutes of searching, belly to the ground, she spotted a strange wire across the bottom. It split off in two directions, close to the trunk of the car.
She stood away from the vehicle and pocketed the keys. "I've got a better idea."
Fifteen minutes later, Nick and Judy stood several feet away from the car, both of their hands wrapped around a rope. At the end of the rope was a crowbar, carefully wedged under the trunk lid. They counted, and on three, they both yanked on the rope, jarring the trunk lid as hard as they could manage.
Even from twenty feet away, the explosion knocked them both off their feet.
They both shrieked, landing hard on the asphalt right next to each other, and Judy was the first up, hopping to a stand as she gaped at the sight in front of her, her lips parted.
The car blazed, fully engulfed in a hot, crackling fire that pushed a heat towards them even from a distance.
Their crowbar had worked. The trunk was open. And hanging in the trunk, housed in a pit of flaming metal, was the stretched out skin of Mellissa.
It was also wearing something she hadn't been – a cheap costume-like imitation of a police uniform.
Eyeless, expressionless, motionless against the flames, the morbid caricature loomed in the trunk like a popup page from a children's storybook. Judy advanced slowly, her hands dropping to her sides; she felt Nick move behind her.
"Hopps! Wilde!"
Other officers called for them, but the fox and the bunny stayed where they were, unable to look away.
They each sat in stiff office chairs, securely tucked away in an unused room behind the podium stage at City Hall. Nothing had been said for a long while. The air felt thick.
Judy slammed a hand down on the arm of her chair, the motion sudden and jarring.
"I told myself I wouldn't let that maniac get to anyone else," she seethed, her fingers curling on the edge of her chair. "I promised myself, and what happened? Someone else died. Because we couldn't get to him fast enough, Nick."
The fox looked up from his own hunched position on the plastic chair. "I know," he murmured.
Just then, Bogo appeared at the door then, his features set in hard lines. "It's time, you two."
Judy and Nick looked away from each other to the door, and then, with a great deal of reluctance, they headed out of the room and out into the main hall, where reporters gathered eagerly, anxious for a statement from the star police officers at the head of such a grisly case.
"Don't blame me," muttered Bogo as they walked. "I didn't want to do a press conference, but the mayor insisted."
Bogo stepped up to the stage ahead of the morose pair, but he wasn't the one who introduced them at the podium. Instead, Mayor Pardalis, a female ocelot who had taken Bellweather's place, took to the microphone as a hush fell over the crowd of reporters.
"And now," said the feline, standing on the tips of her furry toes, "I would like to present two well-known heroes, Officers Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde, who will tell you what we know so far about the tragic events of this morning."
Stepping aside, she gestured eagerly to the bunny and the fox, both of whom moved towards the podium under a barrage of camera flashes. Nick barely kept back a wince, but Judy took to the mic with only a small swallow to show her discomfort.
Several hands, paws and hooves shot into the air, and Judy held up a placating hand before the reporters quieted a bit, and she pointed to one.
"Is this murder tied to the death of Marsha Lumens over a month ago?" the ewe asked immediately, not giving Judy a moment to think about the first question before launching into another. "Are there more victims?"
Judy inhaled deeply. "Is there a possible connection to other murders? Yes." Pens scribbled furiously against paper, more cameras flashed. "But nothing has been confirmed," she went on. "We're doing our best to – "
"Does Zootopia have its own serial killer?" asked someone else, before another leaned forward.
"Officer Hopps, is this a cause for panic? Do citizens need to keep their children home from schools, stay away from work?"
"No, no," Judy shook her head furiously. "Caution is always advised, especially right now, but everyone needs to go about with their normal business. What's most important is to pay attention to your surroundings, and if you see anything suspicious, report it – "
"Is it true the latest victim was a female rabbit?" asked a moose. "Do you believe this was a threat made specifically against you?"
Judy blinked, caught off guard, but after a quick glance at Nick, whose eyes narrowed suspiciously, she looked back at the moose and shook her head. "I am not associated with the victim in any way, and this investigation is not about me – "
"And what about the location?" asked the same mammal, and a hush fell over the crowd of reporters as they waited, listening. "Is it not true that Officer Wilde's mother is located at the Emerald Isle Retirement Community?" Judy opened her mouth to respond, but the moose pressed on. "Can you really deny the obvious ties to both of you in relation to this murder?"
"How do you know any of that?" asked Nick, tense expression focused on the unapologetic reporter. "Where are you getting this information?"
The moose observed the pair of officers coolly. "I'm sorry, officers," he said without a hint of contrition, "My sources are entirely confidential."
Judy took to the podium again. She could practically feel Nick's fur standing on ends from where he stood, seemingly passive but fuming inwardly. "Well, your sources are wrong," she said firmly, holding tight to the edges of the podium. "We have no reason to believe this murder or any others were engineered to address us personally. This coward is doing everything he can to throw us off his trail, but it won't work."
Nick stepped forward again. "The location of the attack was a coincidence," he informed the crowd. "And there is absolutely no reason for a criminally insane mammal to target us, so take that off your books already – "
"No reason?" repeated the same moose, his tone derisive, skeptical. "Forgive me, Officer Wilde, but I find that difficult to believe."
Shifting in his spot, the moose looked up at them boldly. "After all, there are still many mammals within the city who have a great deal of resentment towards your…" the reporter's tone shifted here suggestively, " … professional relationship with one another. Particularly as it pertains to prey-predator interactions."
Judy's heart leaped into her throat, but she kept her outward expression calm and unmoved. Her fingers twitched just a bit on the platform before she spoke in measured tones.
"No one in this city," she said, fighting off every tremor that threatened in her voice, "holds enough resentment about the working relationship of two police officers to murder an innocent mammal just to send us a message. Now, if no one else has any relevant questions to ask, we're done here."
Nick and Judy turned away from the reporters, but this only prompted a barrage them with questions, creating a cacophony of voices clamoring to be heard over one another.
"Officer Hopps, have you been threatened before?"
"Could the killer be someone you know?"
"Where will he strike next?"
"Do you fear for your own life?"
From City Hall back to the police station, a fox and a rabbit sat in uncomfortable plastic chairs just outside of Chief Bogo's office door, listening numbly to the muffled shouts from within.
"… set up that press conference and then allowed those reporters to humiliate my officers!"
"Chief Bogo, need I remind you that as the mayor of Zootopia, I am your boss. I can have you replaced by tomorrow morning. Is that what you would like?"
"What I would like, Mayor Pardalis, is for you to explain to me what the point of all that was."
"The point is to keep the public informed to the degree necessary," stated the ocelot staunchly from within, her voice lower and more distant through the heavy wooden door. "And if you had done your job as I asked, today's little hiccup wouldn't have been an issue."
Bogo's angry snort was audible through the door. "I did do as you asked," he growled lowly. "I talked to them about ending their relationship, and to what purpose? For your delicate political image following two criminal screw-ups in office? These are adults we're talking about! Good officers! And don't even get me started on that sly move you pulled, calling in those two shrinks on my day off, without telling me, trying to make my officers feel like they're – sick or whatever you think they are – "
"I do what I do for the good of the city," came the unapologetic tones of the mayor. "And after a time such of turmoil, social controversy and strife are the last things our citizens need. So, in conclusion, I suggest you do your job, Chief Bogo…"
Judy looked up dully at the ceiling. "Huh," she said quietly. "And here I thought I'd already had the worst press conference of my life."
Exhaling slowly, Nick turned his head to look over at Judy. "Are you ready to go home?" he asked in a murmur. Judy tilted her head in his direction and nodded tiredly.
Together, they stood, took one another's hands and left the station.
A day passed.
No further DNA was found at the crime scene, and after spending hours reviewing the security footage from the front desk, no new evidence was found. No one unknown passed through the lobby, and what little they saw of Melissa only confirmed what the other employees had said.
As soon as she left the frame of the outside security footage, she was gone.
For once, both Nick and Judy had to be pulled away from their work. Bogo finally ordered them home, and the fox and the bunny went their separate ways for the night.
That lasted until about 11 PM, when Nick called Judy, who had been waiting next to her phone, staring at the blank screen with no appetite and no heart, because both felt like they'd been left on the streets of Zootopia.
Nick came to Judy's place, another first.
Together, they sat on the narrow bed, listening to the wind whistle at the window, rattling the glass and giving the already decrepit building a more sinister air, cruelly fitting for their moods.
"That reporter was right about one thing," said Nick after a long while, and Judy shifted enough to look up at him, their faces close. He wasn't looking at her as he spoke, his eyes low, unfocused on the bedspread.
"That malicious bastard isn't just leaving some fun surprises for us. He threatened us." Green eyes turned up to Judy's face. "He chose a bunny for a victim. He dressed her up like a cop. And he rigged that car to explode… and he did it all twenty feet from where my mother lives."
The rabbit watched his face carefully. "Do you still think Jumps might have something to do with it?"
Nick fought the urge to curl his fingers tight. "He wasn't at work that night," said Nick stiffly. "It's a possibility."
Judy pulled herself further into the circle of his arms. "Whoever it is, we can't let him get the best of us, Nick. We can't let him win."
Nick closed his eyes and leaned his head against hers, his mother's thinning face appearing in his mind again. The image faded away, replaced with the memory of the bunny skin, hanging separate from its body, dressed in a blue uniform, cruel mockery at its finest.
"Aren't you afraid at all?" he asked in a whisper, knowing he was.
Judy's face turned up against his and nuzzled into his neck. "Of course I am," she murmured in reply. "I've always felt fear, Nick." Between them, her hand moved and closed over his, fingers curling tight. "But it's not all I have. It's not all I feel."
Their joined hands moved up, and Judy silently urged him to open his eyes. He did so gladly, because all he saw was her grey-furred face. "The fear doesn't get to control me," she told him, her lips quirking just a bit, her fingers at his snout prompting him to do the same.
"It's there," she admitted to him tenderly. "But it's not alone. I'm not alone."
The air felt clear, like it hadn't in days.
"You're right," he told her, reaching up his free hand to sweep over her ears. "You're not alone."