Chapter 10: Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe
"Hopps and Wilde – you've got two cases now. The Winters case and the triple homicide on Alpine Way. Fangmire and Francine – you're to handle the house break-in on La Cienega. Reynolds – you get to keep watching those vidoes and try to get some IDs. And this time, Reynolds, hit the damn wastebasket. The video room smells bad enough as it is…" Chief Bogo droned on, handing out case files as he went.
Nick tried to look attentive; Judy was actually paying attention, unlike her partner. Although Wilde did manage to chuckle along with the others when Bogo mentioned the new guys inability to keep his food down while watching the violent porn videos.
Judy gathered up the case files that she'd been skimming and tapped Nick on the shoulder just as Bogo finished. "Let's get moving…"
#
"Have you got the forensics report for the Winters case, Carrots?"
"Yes. The knife used was most likely a double edged fixed blade. If we can find out what position she was in when she was stabbed, then forensics said that it should be possible to duplicate the position, then use that to determine the detailed shape of the blade."
"Ok, I'll bite, Carrots – how?"
"Tina said that she'd duplicate the position with the body, then inject fast setting plastic into the stabbing wounds, and then do 3-D scans of all the results and make up a likely blade."
"'Tina'? Ok, clearly there's someone else I have to make the acquaintance of. What's her full name?"
"Tina Lop. She's a sly rabbit…" Judy said, smirking.
Nick chuckled. "Ok. What's the 'booby trap' awaiting me if I try to look her up?"
"She's a bit … eccentric. I hope you like coffins."
"I'd just as soon stay out of a coffin – at least, as long as I can manage it. But what does that have to do with someone in the CSU lab?"
"She sleeps in one. She also takes naps in one of the medical examiner's coolers when she has to work late…"
Nick looked more than mildly revolted. "Ok, you've just discouraged me completely, Carrots."
"Oh, she's a very nice person. And I thought you liked rabbits now."
"I like a rabbit, Carrots. One. Adeen. Uno. Just one," he shook his head and sighed. "The ballistics from the townhouse killings are here," he said, handing over the sheets to his partner. "Looks like a 25 caliber, 5 grove, left handed twist. Talon rounds, though, so…"
"Cop killers. A female's gun – don't look at me like that, it's a small caliber and would fit in a purse – but with some nasty rounds."
"Did you get the videos from the Pussy Galore club, yet? I sent them to you and Reynolds."
"They're in my in-box. But why send them to Reynolds? That poor canine is going to be watching those horrid kill-videos already."
"Call it a hunch, Carrots. I just have a gut feel on this one. And that 'poor canine' is a Coywolf, and sensitive about it."
"A what?"
"His father was a red wolf, and his mother was a coyote. Coywolves are a distinct minority, but they do breed true."
"So why did you search that bit of data out? Considering other possible hybrids?" Judy asked, and then leered at the fox.
"Get out of the gutter, Jude," Nick said, then laughed. "Though it would be … interesting. If you crossed a fox with a bunny, what would you get? A 'box', or a 'funny'?"
Judy groaned. "Not a 'funny'. No …" she covered her face with her hands, and tried to stifle the laughter threatening to bubble up from her belly.
Nick's phone pinged. "Got a message from our local Coywolf … take a look." He handed his phone over to the rabbit.
Officer Wilde: Please meet me in Scientific Investigations, Computer Crimes Lab. I have something to show you and Lieutenant Hopps concerning the Winters case.
#
"Ok, Reynolds, what do you have for me?" Judy asked.
"I've cued up the tape from Pussy Galore, and another of those snuff videos that came in while you two," Reynolds pointed with his muzzle, "were out pounding the pavement. And … we roll…" he finished, hitting the "enter" keys on two keyboards at once.
The snuff video showed a vixen in a shower, her fur slicked down. "That's Karen!" Wilde said.
"And the same vixen is in the Pussy Galore video – here – with an unnamed male fox, there!" Reynolds said, pointing at the second video and then freezing the video on a clear view of the male fox's face. "Now, just wait for it…"
The second video continued running. A male fox joined the vixen in the shower. "The video only shows the male from the back," Nick said.
"Just wait," Reynolds said. "Just wait."
Judy looked up at the ceiling as the two foxes began to "get together". "Ok, guys, tell me when they stop 'doing it'," she said, her ears flushing with blood.
"Agreed that sex isn't a spectator sport," Nick said, and chuckled.
The camera viewpoint remained pointing over the shoulder of the male fox, but it panned down to show a knife taped to the middle of the dog fox's back. "Wait for it…" Reynolds said, as the male fox on screen reached behind him to pull the knife off his back.
It happened quickly; there was a great deal of blood, and the camera viewpoint shifted to show the vixen's face just as the knife entered below her sternum. The male's face could be seen clearly, gloating, as the life went out of the vixen's eyes.
"Freeze the replay!" Nick called out, and Reynolds froze the replay. "Blow up the image – on both views of that guy – the Galore tape and … this … thing."
"Can I look down, yet?" Judy asked.
"It's over. But wait a second," Nick said. "Crop the images – just show the guy's face. Then we can run facial recognition software on anyone who has been in view of any of the traffic cams."
"I don't know how to do that!" Reynolds said.
"The cropping, or running the facial recognition software?" Judy asked, still staring at the ceiling.
"I can do the cropping, it's that other…" Reynolds began.
"Well, I know someone who can do it," Nick interrupted. "We've got the captures?" he asked Reynolds; when the coywolf nodded, Nick blanked both screens. "Ok, Carrots, you can look again."
Nick jumped up, looking for the arctic fox. "Candi? Where are you?"
A white furred paw stuck up from behind a cubicle wall. "Over here, Nick."
The red fox grinned. "Just a moment, folks…" he said, and made a beeline for the upthrust paw. He took it in his paws, turned it, and kissed the palm. "We have need of your incredible skills, Candi."
"Oh? What do you need, my favorite flirting foxie man?" Candace Anderson grinned up at Nick.
"Everything that can be found from a video…" he began, then stopped as Anderson grimaced.
"I do not want to watch another of those sick vids."
"I promise – you won't have to. But you told me about something – the metadata, I think you called it? We need to know when the video was made."
"Give me a sec," Candi said, and pulled up her copy of the latest video. "This the one?"
Nick checked the title. "'Psycho Redux' – yes, it is."
While he waited, and Anderson worked her technical magic, Reynolds and Hopps gathered around to watch.
"Ok, this file was originally created using a Mimex 230 camera with a 50 millimeter lens between two fifteen and two thirty on Monday morning."
"Ok, that's right in the end of our timeline. But how did you get the camera and lens?" Nick asked. "I understand the embedded timestamp, but …"
"There are a whole bunch of CCD – charge coupled devices – think of it as a two dimensional array of millions of tiny solar cells. The cells have different filters, so that some see red, some see yellow, and some see blue light only. The algorithms used to merge the different color cell readings vary from camera to camera. Whoever shot this particular piece of offal used a high quality camera – with a unique algorithm to get really high definition, high quality images," Anderson said.
Wilde, whose eyes were glazing over, licked his chops nervously. "Ok … Candi. And what can you tell us that helps? And no technical details on how you figured out the lens – just include it in your forensics report."
The vixen laughed. "Fair enough. The Mimex 230 is a high end machine. Costs between eight and ten thousand dollars. As a side item, I can tell you where this video was made. The other vids were made with lower quality cameras that didn't include the GPS information, but … whoever made this one must not have realized that the Mimex has a few added features," she grinned at the tod, then went mad on the keyboard for a few seconds. "There – sent the coordinates to your phone."
"Ahem," Judy said.
"Ok, I'll send you a copy too, Lieutenant Hopps," Anderson said, tearing her gaze away from the smirking male fox. "Since this is the first of the Mimex 230 products, you might want to check on who rented or bought a Mimex recently."
Nick leaned over and kissed the arctic fox vixen on the forehead. "Love ya, babe! Gotta go, though…got perps to catch!"
#
"Hey, we've got the primary – if this vid isn't fake like the others," Nick said.
"Who is to say that the others are all fake?" Judy asked, as she started the patrol car. "And what was that bit with Anderson?"
"It was a hustle, sweetheart," Nick said, smirking. "Did you get the search warrant?"
"In my phone, smartass," Hopps said, pausing for a moment to glare at the fox.
"Ah … what did I do wrong, Carrots?"
"It's Lieutenant Hopps, Patrolman Nicholas Piberius Wilde," Hopps said.
"Middle name … I'm in trouble. Ok, but I just act that way with Candi to move us to the front of the line. And she did get us the information quickly…"
"Did you have to kiss her?"
"On the forehead. Good grief, L-T! It was just in fun!"
"How do you think it makes me feel, Nick?" Judy said, her voice softening.
"It might hurt just a bit – but it's something I do, L-T. To get the job done – as quickly and as efficiently as possible."
"We have to talk … later," the rabbit said.
The rest of the drive was in silence, other than traffic noise and the ever present radio transmissions.
#
"Anderson texted me with the name of the only person to rent a Mimex 230 recently – and, surprise, surprise, he's the same person who rented this house: Andrew Joseph Pelter, aka 'Dirk Dingler' in that last video, L-T," Nick said, as they pulled up next to the house in question.
"You can drop the 'L-T', fox. Forgiven, for the moment."
Nick bailed out of the patrol car and removed the ram from the trunk. "I really want to use this, for once," he said.
"Why, Nick? I thought you were the one concerned with the cost of repairs…"
"You didn't have to watch those videos on Monday. If I can get my hands on the perps who made them…"
"Now, Nick," Judy said, as she walked up the steps to the front door of the house, followed by the taller fox. "ZPD, open up, we have a search warrant!" she yelled, as she pounded on the door.
Nick took a deep breath, and hoisted the ram. There was no response, even after a long ten count. "ZPD, open up, we have a warrant, and if you don't open up, we're coming in!" he yelled, a low growl in his voice. Judy drew her trank gun, checked the dart, and held it in a relaxed, two handed grip while Nick silently counted off the seconds. At ten, he lifted the ram and yelled, "we are coming in!" and slammed the heavy metal ram into the door. Once, twice, three times, and the door finally gave way and sprang open with a resounding crash.
"So much for one door," Nick said, as he stepped aside to allow the rabbit to enter with drawn weapon. He dropped the ram and drew his trank gun, checked the dart, and flipped off the safety.
"Clear!" Judy called out, just loud enough for Nick to hear, after she scanned the entryway. She pointed with her muzzle towards the kitchen. Nick leapfrogged her position, and scanned the kitchen.
"Clear," the fox called out. He then covered the rabbit as she leapfrogged his position and moved into the dining room.
"Clear," she called out, and stopped. "Washroom to my right, take it, Nick."
Nick scanned the bedroom, whispered "clear" as he moved back to take the opposite side of the washroom door. "We're coming in, Pelter – make it easy on yourself!" Nick shouted, and the two officers both heard the sound of a toilet flushing.
"Cover me!" Judy said, and opened the door into the washroom. Pelter was standing over the toilet, pouring a bag of transparent capsules – capsules that contained a deep blue colored liquid.
Nick bellowed, "FREEZE! DROP THE BAG!"
Pelter turned slightly, still holding the partially full bag of capsules. He looked the two officers over, smirked, and popped one of the capsules into his mouth.
"Oh sweet cheese and crackers!" Judy managed to say, as Pelter groaned and doubled over. "Call it in, Nick, get a 'bus out here…" she holstered her trank gun, and started to move forward to provide assistance.
Pelter growled deep in his throat, and straightened up; he lashed out with one arm, striking like a club, knocking the rabbit across the washroom, through the curtains and into the shower.
Nick aimed for the center of mass and fired one trank dart; the other fox made an angry sound and leapt onto the LEO. The two of them crashed to the floor, with Pelter on top. "I could use your help, here, Hopps!" Nick shouted, as he struggled to keep Peter's jaws away from his throat. Let me get through this, I promise I'll work out more, he prayed, silently.
Pelter wasn't weakening, despite the trank dart buried in his ribs. "I could use help, please, Judy!" Nick yelled, as Pelter's jaws inched closer to his throat.
Another trank dart hit Pelter in the neck just as his jaws closed on Wilde's throat.