Interspecies Relationship Support Network: Tri-Burrows Chapter

by Gabriel LaVedier

The Tri-Burrows may not be a sweeping metropolitan bastion of culture but folks out there still need things, like an organization for folks that love outside their taxonomic category. To that end they've brought the Zootopian network to the Tri-Burrows. Of course... some mammals might not be very happy about that... A Murder, She Wrote style tale of an ever more worldly small town.

11. The Confrontation

I do not own Zootopia, that belongs to Disney. This a fan work made solely for the sake of amusement.

Interspecies Relationship Support Network- Tri-Burrow Chapter

Chapter Eleven: The Confrontation

By: Gabriel LaVedier

Beatrix and Buck pulled up to the space in front of the real estate office, a bit dejected by the approach of the potential end to their investigation. They slid out of the cruiser and stepped into the office, immediately attracting the attention of Rob Hopps, who was slowly and awkwardly pushing his janitorial cart. He was in his coveralls, and checking the trash cans of each cube he passed.

"Mr. Hopps, a moment of your time please?" Beatrix asked.

"Yeah? What is it?" Rob asked, turning toward the two. His features were just as sour as ever, though he was at least scrubbed and brushed well, put together competently.

"I hear you and your working brothers were out at lunch the other day and you happened to hear some choice information from Kenneth. Where did you go after that?"

"Why should that matter? I work very hard around here and my day is my business. I go to lunch with my family, because that's the most important thing in this world, and then I come back here to file or arrange listings or... do janitorial work because they won't hire someone full-time for it."

"Well plenty's sake, why would we? It's a temp kind of occupation. We're tidy mammals and we don't need the trash changed but twice a week or so," Pepper piped up, wandering over and giving Rob a pat on the back, making him grunt and roll his eyes.

"I'm supposed to be a real estate intern, learning the business, like dad wanted," Rob countered.

"What your father wanted was clearly communicated to me and I'm doing what he wanted," Pepper laughed. "Don't you worry. He's quite happy with what I'm doing."

Rob scoffed and winced a bit, as though being hit with a realization in the middle of his petulance. "Wait, he didn't send me to Weaselton's or Dreyson and Manchas because he knew you'd make me clean?"

Pepper laughed long, loud and high, setting her husband off on a small giggle. "Oh, that laugh... I don't need to know the joke, it must be hilarious," Zeke said, poking his head over the cubicle wall.

"You think your brothers do anything different? Jake runs those aisles like nobody's business and stocks shelves that are barely empty, while sweeping, mopping and dusting without being asked, and helping Princess out when she needs paperwork assistance. Kenneth... Kenneth has to be twins that your mother never mentioned. He picks up papers, gets the mail from the main office, gets lunch, mostly for Miss Arctica, sweeps up, vacuums, and also studies law, commerce codes and actuarial tables. Your father, well... you were a special case."

"What does that even mean? A special case? What kind of special case?" Rob huffed.

"Oh I shouldn't be saying anything..." Pepper drew out, looking aside.

"Oh say it, you might as well," Rob insisted.

"You're a remainder, dear," Pepper said gently, patting Rob softly on the arm.

Rob flinched away and hissed a bit. "No! I'm going to get married and have my own property! I can succeed, I don't need any help or pity."

"I didn't want to say it but you needed to know. It's soft work here. And, hey, if you apply yourself, you read up on housing codes and decoration guides and all of that, you can have a good job here. We're a growth area, and we all know that," Pepper said, gently.

Rob angrily turned away and pushed the cart aggressively down the aisle of the office. "I'm going to empty this and go home. I'm not a remainder..."

Pepper shook her head slowly. "I... I didn't want to..."

"He had to hear it. He would have sooner or later no matter what," Buck said, watching Rob walk away. "Surprised he never saw it. It's not subtle."

"No bunny wants to be a remainder. Of course he's going to deny it. He's taking it... tolerably well, I guess. He didn't answer any questions, but we can always see him later. We need to see his brother," Beatrix said with a sigh.

"Kenny back at the office?" Pepper asked. "He passed by on his way to Attie and Martin's place."

"Oh no, Kenny's... Kenny's pretty busy helping Miss Arctica," Buck said with folded-back ears.

"We need to see Jake. Got a few questions, just routine stuff we didn't get around to before," Beatrix explained.

"Did the Hopps bucks see something? I didn't know they were involved, not this much," Pepper mused.

"We have some very important questions about some things Kenny told him. We tried to get as much out of Rob there but... he's really very brittle," Beatrix said with a small shrug.

"Poor dear. He must realize the truth, and he just needs to get his paws under him and move up in life. Judy was supposed to be a remainder, that's what Stu figured. He was a little quick on that harvest, but he recognizes he was wrong. It's why he wanted me to ease Rob into a greater amount of responsibility, to teach him to be a more responsible rabbit and much more mature. I'm having... gradual success."

"No need to candy coat it, Mrs. O'Pogo. It's clear he's just not learning on purpose," Buck said with a nod.

"He might just have a hard time with it. Sorry for bothering your day, Mrs. O'Pogo," Beatrix said with a nod.

"A little ripple on the watering hole, Sheriff. Have a bounteous day," Pepper said with a smile.

Beatrix and Buck left the cruiser in front of the real estate office and strolled their way the few blocks up the main street out to Weaselton's Wares, mostly silent and contemplative as they made their way along.

"Welcome to Weaselton's Wares. We're not new, we're not improved, you know what my dad says," Princess said languidly, resting her head on her paws, elbows up on the front counter. She was in her usual showy attire, black high-cut jean shorts, an orange gingham tied-off shirt without an undershirt, and her rhinestone fish-leather platform sandals, along with a green visor perched on her head. "Hey Sheriff, Deputy."

The two nodded. "Good day, Miss Weaselton. Need to talk to your coworker if we can," Beatrix said. "Taking the counter today? That's a big move."

Princess shrugged and rolled her head to crack her neck. "Dad lets me do the front now and then. Just an extended time today." She suddenly turned toward the back and gave a sharp whistle. "Hey! Cookies-and-Cream! The Sheriff's here and she's got some questions."

A moment later Jake emerged from the back, bundled up in a heavy brown coat, thick brown pants and heavy insulated gloves. "Sheriff, what can I do for you?"

"Working the big freezer today, Jake?" Beatrix queried, pulling out her pad and pencil.

"We got our deliveries earlier. It's been kind of a mess. We were just able to do an eyeball and a nod to the truck. Now I'm counting out the frozen stuff and making sure we got everything."

"It's a big place but normally it works just fine with three, even on delivery days. If we have three," Princess noted.

"Where's your dad, Princess? I don't think I've ever seen him take anything but Blue Moons and the Lunar New Year off," Buck said.

Princess scoffed and rolled her eyes. "How long did he think he could keep that up? Especially since it was just him the last couple of days. I... needed some time after, well..."

Beatrix nodded slowly, scribbling down notes. "Understandable. So he left the store to you and Jake?"

Jake chuckled lightly. "Meister Weaselton take a day off on purpose that wasn't a religious holiday? Princess managed to convince him that he had decided to go fishing so he'd have a good, active day of work out of the store. I'm pretty sure he's out there with some hard cider and a few cans of pilchards, sleeping with a straw hat over his face."

"And he deserves it," Princess said firmly. "I know others took some time off, but... I'm his daughter and he shouldn't have to work this alone."

"You do realize I'm here, right? I'm his right-paw buck," Jake noted.

"Don't make me laugh, Cookies-and-Cream," Princess snorted. "You were over at the house fluffing pillows and getting me comfortable. You ran here a few times but you were catering to me. Buttering up dad is impossible. He gives you exactly what you deserve."

"I earn everything I get," Jake huffed. "Sure, I might have to eat at home and live in a spare bedroom, but I earn my keep."

Beatrix made a small noise, flicking her eyes up to the two and then back to her notes. "We're a little off track. Jake, I need to ask you about the other day. You were at the Grease Trap, right?"

"When I don't bring something from home I join in on Kenny's little fellowship meals. I mean, I do anyway but that day I was begging a few bucks off of Kenny for fried okra and potatoes. He's always good with that for family. But it really gets to me that Rob doesn't ask when he sneaks fried pickle chips. At least I'm up-front."

"And when you were eating, did Kenny mention anything about me?" Beatrix asked, her eyes set and focused, firmly, on Jake's countenance.

"It came up in conversation as office gossip. He said Mr. Dreyson had mentioned that he had heard you were dating a wolf, wondering if you'd be joining the Network."

"Mmm, I see..." Beatrix scribbled a few more things down and nodded. "Where did you go after that?"

"Back to work," Jake answered.

"By which he means, back to my place. He got me fed, went out to lunch and came back in his own sweet time," Princess explained.

"I was hopping from place to place all day. A long lunch with my brothers isn't a crime," Jake retorted.

"You had keys to the truck you all shared, right?"

"Absolutely, it's a big help if I need to haul an order. We don't do that much but there are still some folks who call in orders if they can't get out to the shop for whatever reason," Jake said with a nod.

"Do you get out to Squirrelburrow much?" Buck asked, suddenly.

"We don't deliver that far. Not much reason to go out there often. I went to Old Seedcache's place a time or two. Mr. Weaselton wanted to try moving some of his produce but he shut me down pretty hard. He talked both my ears off about this and that economic and social model that explained why he wouldn't sell us some blighted produce. He's an odd one. But, it must be hard managing a spread like that. Dad has trouble enough managing with all of us helping."

"I get him. A single dad running a business, I get it. But he should have sold us the eclipsed fruit. It's fruit, not state secrets," Princess snorted.

"Been out there..." Beatrix mumbled.

"What's this all about? I thought you were focused on the fire?" Jake asked.

"The investigation went to all kinds of places. There were... incidents that will come out once this whole thing is over," Beatrix mumbled.

Jake squinted, and finally looked past Beatrix to Buck's uniform. "I... well... that's something I didn't expect. I guess you've come to something very big and dangerous."

"There was a fight. That's all I can say," Buck quickly stated.

"That's more than enough, Deputy," Beatrix sharply said.

Jake took off his gloves and dropped them on the counter, shedding his coat as well and revealing his normal long-sleeved uniform underneath. "I hate to do this but I have to go. I have to do something very important."

"Hey, hey, this isn't a charity, Cookies-and-Cream. What's dad paying you for?"

"Ask him about it later," Jake cryptically said, stepping out of the insulated pants and dashing out the front door.

Wordlessly, Beatrix and Buck left the shop, catching Jake driving off in one of the Hopps family trucks. "I don't know what to believe anymore..." Beatrix muttered.

"How's that, Sheriff?"

"I want to think it was a mistake, or maybe he was handling too-fresh fish earlier, but I know I saw the barest hint of blood on his fingertips, near the claws. Him? He's clearly a good one. How could he do this?"

"What? But... but he's... but..." Buck stammered.

"This doesn't make a bit of sense. He went over to Seedcache's place, for work, and he said that the old bigot was an odd one. We need to go, now."

"Where are we going?"

"There's not many places he can go, not really. If he's running we can track him down. But he might be wanting to hide out at the Hopps property. Let's... at least talk to Stu. He might know where he'd go."

o o o

"I can't believe it!" Stu shouted, punching his fist. He was meeting with the Sheriff and Deputy in the front of the Hopps property. Many Hopps children looked over at their father's shout, Bonnie gently patting his shoulders.

"Stu... calm down. You know what the doctor said," Bonnie cooed, whispering close to Stu's ear.

"Bon, they're saying one of our sons tried to burn mammals to death, and beat up a helpless doe!"

"Hayma was not helpless!" Buck insisted. "She was strong and held her own until we got there. She fanged the one that did it."

"We know one of your trucks was at the Seedcache property. We know that one of them heard from Kenneth that I have a relationship that was something of a secret, known only to a small group. That secret got to Seedcache, and his saying it revealed about the only folks that it could have been."

"Was... was Kenny involved? He's so sweet, I can't believe..." Bonnie fretted.

"Oh no, no no no... Mrs. Hopps you can be sure that Kenny was absolutely not involved. He just happened to hear the information and passed it on in conversation," Buck said with a nervous rubbing of the back of his head.

"What do you mean by that?" Bonnie asked with a tilt of her head.

"You'll find that out in a few months, just be patient," Beatrix said. "But we need to focus. One of them, Rob or Jake, is in a lot of trouble. And we need to locate them, if they happen to be on the property. Rob stormed out of work, and Jake kind of rushed off, after... an odd reaction."

"So how can we help?" Bonnie asked.

"Presumably, one or both of them are here but... you've got a spread here. Where they are is the question. Do you have any ideas?" Beatrix asked.

"Hoo, yeah... spread indeed. All the acreage, with little sub-stations for storage or processing or anything else like that. Then the outskirts of the property with woodland. The kids all like to have little spaces for hiding things or getting privacy. We could be at this for a while."

"How long it takes isn't the issue, just finding them is the important part. After that we can sort out a lot of the issues. Mr. Hopps, please give us your insight into where they might be," Beatrix said.

"Let me help you there," Bonnie chimed in. "Oh Stu's a good father, no question. But, no matter how many of them there are, I still remember what the were like, and where they loved around the farm."

"Then lead on. We just want this concluded," Beatrix sighed.

Bonnie took the lead, with Stu walking alongside her, occasionally making a stammering statement about the disbelief that one of his sons was a monstrous criminal. They went out into the farmland, active and fallow, along with the areas of general use. There were flat areas for driving or otherwise moving crops, and other places just for resting and recreating during the harvest, planting or tending. There were also wooden shacks, as on Seedcache's land, used as storage for overflow crops, tools, chemicals or anything of the kind. Bonnie had stories about each place, explaining why Rob or Jake would go there.

Coming around a stand of trees they found Jake, taking a tarp off of a small hollow in a large tree's roots. He pulled out some bloody clothes and small cans that looked like paint or something similar. Beatrix rushed forward, taser drawn, contacts clicking. "Nice and slow, Jake, put it down and just put your hands behind your back."

"Sheriff! This isn't-" He started.

"You filthy scum, I'll take your head off!" Buck snorted, his rush being stopped by Stu imposing himself in front of him.

"Hold it! He might be under arrest but he's still my son!"

"Where do we need to go, Jake? Just the general area," Beatrix whispered.

"Wh-what? Sheriff, I swear..." Jake mumbled.

"I know, I know, but just keep your head. Tell me where we need to go."

"I don't know. I only knew this place because we all used it. Judy showed us this hollow but all the later kits stopped using it. They have other hidey-holes."

"Just a direction. You have to know," Beatrix pleaded.

"March me toward the house. Dad and the deputy are making enough noise to make it clear what's going on."

"Jake Hopps, you've been found in possession of incriminating evidence in several felonious matters. I'm taking you down to the central sheriff's station for questioning," Beatrix cried loudly, leading Jake along, taking a more direct route back to the Hopps home.

Buck and Stu argued vehemently, Bonnie attempting to keep the peace between the two. As they walked along Beatrix deftly unlocked the cuffs, leaving them loosely hanging on Jake's wrists. Even though he was all but freed, and could feel the taser was no longer at his back, he walked on, head hung, ears drooping. His eyes darted side to side, examining the path they were walking.

A short nod from Jake got Beatrix to turn aside and stand in front of both Stu and Buck. Jake shook off the cuffs and made a hard dash for a low clump of bushes, where a scrabbling sound indicated someone trying to dash away while hidden. Jake made a tremendous leap and landed on the hidden figure. "You lied to me! You slimy caput! You said you got rutted up in an accident at work! Of course you were lying, you weren't in that stupid coverall!"

"Ouch! Ouch! Stop it! I'm hurt! You know I'm hurt! Get off me Jake!" Rob's voice screamed out, the pounced rabbit desperately thrashing under his brother's body.

"What in desolation is going on here?!" Stu cried. "Sheriff, I thought..."

"Oh I knew it wasn't Jake. I knew he had done something for Rob, which confused me. Now I know he didn't have the whole story," Beatrix said, separating the brothers and pulling up one of Rob's coverall sleeves, revealing non-professionally applied bandages. "He was just being a good brother."

"But the blood, you said there was blood on his claws," Buck stated.

"Have you ever heard the little puzzle about the two furstylers? You come to a little town and need a style. There are two stylists working in the only shop there. One of them is a mess of against-the-grain clips, bad gel work, uneven trimming, excess shag elsewhere. The other one is perfectly, beautifully styled, looking straight out of a magazine. Which one do you choose?"

Buck thought about it for a moment and snapped his hooves. "Oh! Oh! The first one, the mess! You can't style your own whole body, that's why there are stylists in the first place! They'd have to style each other, and the one with the perfect fur was styled by the one that looks like a mess."

"When a rabbit fights, they use mostly their paws. Miss Sanda was raked and hit in the midsection. Blunt bunny claws would be kicked in the area. All punching would be done with a completely closed fist and never use the claws on the hand. The one who did it would have absolutely no blood there. Maybe their palms from stopping the blood but not the fingertips. He'd only have it if he helped to bandage his brother up, after getting some story about the injury."

"He told me he was taking the garbage out and the big manual compressor malfunctioned," Jake spat. "I didn't question it. Working on a farm is dangerous and we all had to learn how to do some emergency aid. I cleaned him up, washed his face and bandaged his arms as best I could. I didn't even question why he wasn't dressed for work. I checked the little hiding space I knew he knew about. Those clothes, and cans of paint stripper and varnish."

"He either stole them from Leonard Seedcache or, more likely, asked to have them. If he told him what he intended to do or not is another matter, though I doubt that bigoted waste of sun would have cared. He'd be proud of him, striking against dysgenic mammals and pushing the Burrows back decades in terms of relations," Beatrix huffed out.

Stu stepped forward, his face a mask of neutrality as he regarded Rob. Even though he was taller, the other rabbit winced a little. "Dad, dad come on, you have to understand, you have to be smart, you're on the positive side of The Curve, you must-"

Stu silenced Rob with a sharp slap, never flinching as he delivered the blow. "You... I can't even begin to say what you've done. You've brought shame onto this family. Everyone's going to know what you did. You tried to murder mammals. You tried to murder your own brother. Your brother!"

"No! I didn't! He's not like that! He wasn't there! I heard them talking about the list of mammals. It was just all the folks I knew were ruining the Burrows, plus that stupid boss your forced me to work for. I'm not a Remainder! I'm not a Remainder!"

"You're worse," Stu huffed.

"I'm not on the list because I'm not really a member. I never registered but I came around to check it out. And... I was going to register next month," Jake said, extracting something from his pocket. It was a worn piece of paper, browned along the edges from long hours in a pocket, which formed hazy squares as it was unfolded. He moved it slowly, the paper almost seeming slightly brittle at the creases from repeated folding and unfolding. "I've worked for Meister Weaselton on around five months now. And he hasn't paid me a single, solitary cent. It's why I live and eat at home and beg money off of Kenny."

"No... no pay? I told you that card-cheating fish-ripper was no good! Dad! Do something about this!"

"Shut your mouth, Rob. Just don't..." Stu sighed.

Jake shook the paper at Rob, drawing his attention. It looked to be a crude but serviceable drawing of some item of jewelry. "What is that?" Rob asked.

"It's white gold, is what it is. White gold, with an emerald and citrine carrot, crossing a sapphire fish. It's an engagement ring, sized for the perfectly dextrous finger of the most beautiful least weasel in the world," Jake sighed.

Silence reigned, some look of surprise on the faces of Buck, Bonnie and Rob. "She... she hates you," Rob whispered. "She thinks she's better than you. She's always lounging out, always shirking work. She calls you Cookies-and-Cream."

"Not even kind of true. She works just as hard as I do. You realize there are administrative tasks, right? Meister won't be there forever. She's going to inherit the store and needs to be up on as much as possible, and be capable of doing all she can. She does stock and shelve, but in the back. She's there doing paperwork anyhow. And yes, that's what she calls me. Makes me happier and happier every time," Jake said with a slowly softening tone.

"Meister came to me when Jake applied for the job. He and Princess had been... seeing each other, overly casually. No one even knew except him. The usual line is, an engagement ring should be worth three months pay. Jake had demanded something better. He had to prove he was worth marrying. I was against it, until Jake begged me. Then, I agreed to it," Stu said.

"Princess was lone-jilling that night because she didn't know I would even go. We never went before, and she thought I wasn't interested. We're only dating and she didn't know I was planning to pop the question once I had the ring. I was in there. I saw the fear on her face. The abject, primal terror. She grabbed onto me, and I held onto her. I was just as scared, with the smoke and flames licking all around us. But we rushed out, got checked and I took her home. Meister had forbidden her to go out. She took some time to recover but she seems to have."

"All that poison Leonard Seedcache fed you, for nothing," Beatrix stated.

"I sent you over there once, to see about some produce exchanges and marketing. What in the name of Sol Invictus et Sancta Terra did that fool chipmunk put in your head?" Stu sharply asked.

"He's a purist," Buck growled.

"Like blight he is, that's just a story," Stu insisted. "Rob, tell them that's a stupid campfire legend now."

Rob hung his head, ears dropped, eyes low. "Dad, you got rid of Judy, we have a pure family..."

Bonnie suddenly sobbed, pressing in against her husband's chest. "No! No... one of my own flesh and blood, my own little kit is... he's insane..."

"M-mom, no..." Rob rasped. "It's good. It keeps us strong, keeps us smart, it makes us like kings. Rulers rule by their unsullied blood!"

"Let me lose him in the woods," Buck said, dark and slow.

"He's going straight to a cell," Beatrix insisted. "Rob Hopps, you're under arrest for conspiracy, attempted murder, arson, assault, battery and witness intimidation. You have the right to maintain your silence and free speaking will negate the right against self-incrimination. You have the right to legal representation of your own choosing or one appointed by the state prior to questioning."

"Sheriff..." Stu whispered, drawing Beatrix aside slowly. "Please, please... for my family... not like this, not here and with strangers."

"There's no other choice..." Beatrix insisted, further speech halted by whispers from Stu. "You... I can't..."

"Please..." Stu pleaded, tears making his eyes shine.

"This is... there's... fine. I'll do it, but if this comes back to haunt me..."

"It won't. It really won't," Stu insisted. He turned to Rob and pointed out into the distance. "Go. You go right to the train to Zootopia and you take the next one. You go there, see your sister. You may be crazy but you know she won't ask any questions. Just go, get some money from her, set up somewhere."

"Dad..."

"Now!" Stu shouted, sending Rob scampering away with all the speed he could muster.

"Sheriff! No! He..." Buck started, being silenced with a firm motion and a stern look from Beatrix, who was pointing to Stu dialing his phone.

"Dad! What a surprise to hear from you!"

"Judy, just listen. The next train to leave Bunnyburrow for Zootopia is going to have your brother Rob on it. Be at the station with handcuffs. Sheriff Nikostytär is just about to issue a fugitive warrant. He was under arrest at the farm but he got away. I know he's going to you, he's going to say a lot of things. Judy... it's not true. Anything he says, it's him trying to escape justice. I need you to arrest him, hold him in Zootopia until he can be sent back here for trial."

"What did he do? The warrant is going to say it, but please, tell me it wasn't..."

"He tried to kill a lot of mammals out here, including your brother Jake and his future fiancee Princess."

"And possibly another family member, Sylvia Arctos," Beatrix added.

"Really? The secretary over... oh, Kenneth. Really?"

"She might go down the aisle... in bounty, but yes."

"Princess Weaselton from the general store? And what was that about Kenneth?"

"Later, later. Yes. Your brother Rob... fell in with a bad crowd. He did a terrible thing. You'll see it on the warrant. Right now, just assume this is the Sheriff telling you this. That's how you can explain it to that angry buffalo you work for."

"A-alright, dad. I'll get him. Will he be expecting me to be... civil?"

"He thinks you'll at least give him some money so he can disappear into the city. Judy..."

"I know my duty, dad. I'll get him. This... this is going to be an awkward yearly reunion. I need to go. I have to get Nick, get set up... get my head around this."

"Do what you need to. Bye, Judy."

"Bye dad..."

Stu slipped his phone back into his overalls and looked up at Beatrix with moist eyes. "Even if it doesn't make sense to you... family should arrest family if that's possible. I know Judy will be firm but kind to him."

"Whether he deserves it or not," Buck muttered. "But as a fugitive he gets an extra charge. He'll be in prison for a long, long time."

Beatrix looked on the downcast eyes of the Hopps family before her and slowly nodded her head. "That he will. That he will... he earned it, and frankly... I'm glad he's going up."

"Don't mistake sadness for accepting his crime," Bonnie resolutely said. "He's still my son. I gave birth to a monster, an attempted family-murderer. He was my kit and I'll always wonder... what didn't I do for him?"

"At least know it wasn't you. It was that venomous Seedcache. He'll pay too. Him and his little group, they'll all pay," Beatrix rumbled.

"Mr. Hopps, sir," Buck said, placing a hoof on Stu's shoulder. "Have you considered politics? Lawrence Grange is about to become toxic, and we need a solid citizen to replace him on the Board of Supervisors."

"He's... oh, if he's part of this, you can bet I'll run against him! He helped someone trying to ruin my family. I'll ruin him and make it stick."

"Let's all head back. I need to quickly broadcast the fugitive warrant, and then we can rest. The tension of all of this needs to be released," Beatrix said, the whole party making their way back to the Hopps home proper.

Author's Notes

Remainder- A math-based family notation, something that hovers between "something you reluctantly admit like a disease" and "something that doesn't get said in polite company." Families, rabbit families especially, have them in many classes. The positive form is a Bounty Kitten, occasionally laughingly called a Bumper Child. It's a child no one expects to get married, but who will most likely take responsibility for any children that need a sitter or a permanent home, who will care for the parents and likely get the bulk of inheritance, if not control of family property. A Remainder is something else. The family write-off, the child that's probably going to be alone forever, asked to do things that never get done and probably be regarded as the one that doesn't fit in. Judy probably was a remainder, but she's married and successful, so she's out of that shadow.

Caput- Reaching back to my days at Catholic school here. I took Latin for a year, for all the good it did me. The teacher did try to make it engaging and taught us, in a limited sense, some old Roman cursing. I only remember two, and one of them was Caput Caesum, literally meaning cheese head. Given they use a Latin rite at the Solaterra church in Bunnyburrow, they all have some experience with it. Jake's using the best cursing he can manage.

In Bounty- Sometimes the pretext for a shotgun marriage, sometimes a point of pride for a bride, showing how eager she is to start a family, it's the very, very polite and ecclesiastical term for being pregnant while engaged.

I also wanted to note here that though I tossed in some measure of red herrings and divergent suspects this was never properly a Whodunnit. I'm terrible at mysteries even if I love them. It's closer to Columbo, which I once heard called a Howcatchem. Though my primary motivation in the end was the final confrontation. I'm extremely interested in motivations and reasons, so ultimately this all would be a Whydidit.