So for this chapter, we'll go back in time into Bogo and Black's past to the very day Bogo was referring to at the end of the previous chapter.
There's a fair amount of content I wanted to cover in this one, so hopefully it'll be clear enough to keep track as you read it.
As always, enjoy! :)
November 4th, 2008 - 8 years prior to the events of the story
"Major Bogo. I'm sorry for constantly prodding the subject over the past 4 months, but we need to be absolutely certain, one last time.", the lion who was the Chief of the ZPD spoke to the buffalo officer in the interrogation room.
"We have no doubts your account of the events is truthful, we all trust you. We just need to make sure you remember as much as you can from that day since you're the only witness we can rely on.", the Chief sighed before asking the dreaded question for the thousandth time. "From what you remember, did you see where James Black was taken, and by whom? Was he kidnapped from the crime scene?"
Bogo hesitated momentarily. The Chief of Precinct 1, a lion by the name of Alex Manes looked at him directly in the eye. He wasn't threatening him, however, he was trying to ensure the Major remembered everything from that fateful day. He knew the buffalo had lost a close friend, and he didn't want to push the subject more than he had to. This would be the last time they would ask him this question.
After a moment of hesitation, Bogo spoke.
"Chief Manes, I'm absolutely certain of what I saw, and that is that I saw nothing of what happened to him. By the time I got there, he was already gone - the blood was the only thing I saw. I honestly can't tell you more, there's nothing else I can remember."
The lion sighed, bowing his head.
"Well, Major Bogo, in that case we've done all we can. We've been intensely searching for him for the past 4 months and gotten nowhere and we still have no leads to go on. I'm sorry. As unfortunate as it is, our resources at the ZPD are limited. If we get a lead in the future, we'll take it, but for now we'll have to wave off the search efforts and work on other cases."
Bogo simply nodded, trying to keep all the guilt out of his voice.
"I understand Chief. Just give me some time to let all this settle in."
"Don't worry Major. Take all the time you need. I know it's a tough loss and it's been difficult for all of us. At this point we just have to let him go for the sake of our future operations. You're dismissed." Manes replied with a tone of understanding, no hint of anger or frustration in his voice. Clearly the old lion had gone through similar situations himself.
The buffalo saluted his superior and dismissed himself from the interrogation room, thankful to finally be out of that damned, bleak space.
Even after all these months, he still felt guilty and wrong. He was questioned several times on the events, each time the investigators hoping something may jar his memory and help him remember more details, but time after time his response was the same, and he knew it wasn't truthful despite convincing them otherwise.
Bogo knew it was his duty to report what he actually saw and he was ashamed for not stepping up to tell the honest truth. Yet, James Black was one of his closest friends and despite the horrible things the mink had done that day, he still couldn't get himself to recount the events. He just couldn't bring himself to do it.
4 months earlier
The cruiser rolled down the streets, the 4 mammals inside busy chatting away the ride, preparing for whatever was waiting for them at their destination. All they knew was that a body was discovered in a courtyard of a particularly shady part of town, with no witnesses and no cameras in the area to catch any of the action. It was their job to find any potential clues. The neighborhood was dangerous to such an extent that the Chief even requested the officers carry lethal weapons with them for self-defense, in case they run into a gang or any other hostile and violent crime groups, which happened fairly often at the time.
Bogo drove the vehicle, with Black in the passenger seat and two mammals in the back - Officer Fischer, a grey otter and Officer Woolston, a ram, both getting ready to deal with their very first homicide case. The two mammals were partners on the force, while Black was the investigator for this case. Bogo was without his partner, Greyson, for the day, so Chief Manes opted to let the buffalo work with the 3 mammals on the case that afternoon. Major Greyson himself was getting ready to be transferred to Precinct 4 for a potential promotion, thus he couldn't be with the group for the day.
Bogo, Black and Greyson had become good friends over the past years, despite the buffalo and wolf being partners as field officers and the mink being in a completely different department. Nonetheless, they seemed to get along almost instantly when they first met, spending much of their free time on and off the job as the trio, chatting away the hours and occasionally pulling a prank or two in the precinct. It was a pity Greyson was leaving their precinct, but it was tough to deny that the potential of being promoted to a Chief was a once in a lifetime opportunity, which everyone encouraged the grey wolf to take.
In the end, this brought them to where they were now.
"Hey buddy, you seem a little quiet today. What's up?", Bogo addressed the mink sitting next to him. Normally, James would be the talkative one of the group, always having a joke to crack or a story to tell. Today, however, he seemed uncharacteristically nervous and kept to himself.
"Oh it's nothing. Don't worry about it.", Black brushed it off before a small smirk spread across his face as he turned to Bogo. "Still more upbeat than you on your average day, big guy."
The two officers in the front seats chuckled. The mink did have a point, Bogo was the more serious one of their trio of close friends.
"Though I have to say...", the mink continued. "You know how sometimes you just get a bad feeling about a new case? Like something's off or shit will just go down? Yeah, that probably sums it up right."
"Oh don't worry", Fischer piped up from the back seats. "We all have those days. Just gotta get through it ya know?"
Black nodded and continued staring off into the distance, as if deep in thought.
Bogo was a little on edge, however, not letting this incident slip. Over the past months, the mink had gotten a little distant, but never quite lost his usual self. He still chatted a lot, cracked plenty of jokes, but something just wasn't the same. He began to call into question the ZPD's methods, sometimes even arguing that City Hall wasn't going about things properly, even questing why it exists at times, saying life might be better without it after all, albeit usually in a more joking tone.
Despite these occasional episodes, the precinct still had plenty of respect for him. Black was a great mammal overall, and when it came to cases, nobody could deny he got the job done, even though as of late he began to deviate from orders. To most, it simply seemed like a classic case of an officer wanting a promotion to a position of higher authority. The behavior seemed to be characteristic of that, and rising up the ranks usually gave the officers more freedom to do things their way. With the mink's work ethic, a promotion wasn't far off at all, so he'd be more content with his work soon enough.
The cruiser finally stopped near an apartment complex behind which lay the courtyard where the crime had taken place. The animals walked through a small alley, careful to check for any dangers on the street before coming up on a large, concrete space. It was tough to call it a courtyard, having only a few benches and tables, with almost no trees or plants to brighten up the area. Nonetheless, it was well-lit by the afternoon sunlight, allowing them to get a proper view of the scene.
A moose lay on his side among the cracked concrete and sterile surroundings, a pool of blood contrasting the bleak, grey color. They approached him, careful not disturb the scene, trying to find his ID. The body search quickly turned up his wallet, giving them a name they knew rather well: Zachary Antle. Deputy Chief Zachary Antle.
He was essentially the heart of Precinct 1, representing all the best values of the ZPD, not mention his charisma. In fact, it was already known he would become the next Chief of the precinct after Chief Manes retired within the next few years - something everyone was looking forward to. Alas, it was not meant to be, as the moose lay there in his civilian clothes - a casual green dress shirt and black jeans in a pool of his own blood, with several stab wounds to his chest and neck. Clearly his death wasn't a pretty one and certainly not the right way to go for a hero.
The mammals stepped back, pondering the next steps.
"Major, mind sealing off the area?", Black addressed Bogo, "I'll work with Officers Fischer and Woolston, show them the ropes here. From what I understand this is your first real homicide?"
The pair nodded.
"Well, you're in luck today fellas. I'll give you a bit of a rundown on how things work here. Okay, so first things first, we're going to need..."
Their voices faded into the background as Bogo stepped back into the alley to grab some yellow tape from the cruiser. Black was known to enjoy showing rookie cops how to deal with various crime scenes. Being an investigator, the mink had plenty of experience over the past few years, and loved sharing it with others. To add to that, everyone could agree he was a great teacher.
As Bogo was about to reach the cruiser he suddenly heard the distinct sounds of gunshots, albeit silenced ones. He turned on his heels and ran to the scene, an arm on his pistol. His eyes widened at the sight in front of him as he entered the courtyard once more.
Woolston lay face first on the concrete, blood pooling at his head. Fischer was just off to the side, writhing in pain on the ground from a gunshot wound to his stomach. James Black stood over the two, a silenced pistol in paws, evidently not a standard-issue police weapon. Where he managed to get it from was beyond the buffalo.
Fischer slowly turned his head towards Bogo, pain and fear in his eyes. He managed to mouth "run" to the buffalo, before the mink raised his gun paw again and fired off two shots into the otter's head. The officer was killed instantly, blood splattering across the concrete, his eyes blank and mouth slightly open.
Bogo was at a loss for words and actions. One of his closest friends was standing in front of him, having murdered 2 fellow ZPD officers in cold blood.
"James, what the hell are you doing?!", he finally managed to say, his tone a mix of anger, confusion and pain.
In response, Black aimed his weapon at his friend, tears starting to pool in his eyes.
"I'm... I'm sorry Bogo", he stammered, trying to keep his voice even. "I started on this path and I need to finish this. I've come to learn the truth about everything over the past months, the ZPD, City Hall, everyone who governs us. Our world is fucked up and I need to fix it - this is my first step to doing so. Please... please forgive me."
Bogo was shocked upon hearing those words. He looked down to the 2 dead officers on the ground and back at the mink.
"Fixing it? You call THIS fixing it?"
"He knew...", James continued, pointing at the body of Deputy Chief Antle. "He suspected something, and I couldn't risk him finding out the whole plot. It's too early to be exposed like this. I had to do what was necessary. It's all for the greater good. It's all for freedom."
Instinctively, the buffalo pulled his weapon out. Black immediately pressed his trigger down, only to have the gun click. It was jammed.
Bogo kept his weapon up and trained at his friend.
"James, surrender and come in. Please, we don't have to do this. You're my friend, I don't want to shoot you."
The mink holstered his weapon, his face turning deadly calm as he pulled out a small blade.
"I'm sorry Bogo, but the only way I'll be coming back is in a casket. You're not taking me alive. I can't expect you to come with me, you're too committed to the ZPD and close-minded to see the big picture. There's no way in hell we'll ever be able to live a complete life as long as these bastards sit at the top. You don't know what I've learned, what I've seen..."
As Black spoke, he made an incision in his arm, allowing the blood to drip down onto the concrete below. Even though no words were spoken to explain his actions, it all made sense to Bogo. Black was going to make a run for it, leaving a bit of his blood at the crime scene, making it seem as if there was a struggle and he was abducted. That was unless Bogo stopped him.
With the mink's knowledge of all the methods used by the ZPD to search for suspects, if he were to escape right now and go into hiding, finding him again would become a very difficult task. He knew how to get away from them.
Despite this, the buffalo simply stood there. He realized he didn't necessarily have to kill the mink. He could simply shoot him in the leg, or wound him somehow and prevent him from escaping, but he couldn't bring himself to even do that to his friend. His gun hang shook as he struggled to keep his aim. Suddenly, Black took off, sprinting into a nearby alleyway across from the one Bogo was standing in, before disappearing from sight, keeping his injured arm pressed against his uniform to prevent a trail of blood from forming.
It was over.
Bogo felt blank as he lowered his weapon, still staring at the spot where his friend stood just moments before. He barely managed to find the energy to return to the cruiser and call in support. Within hours, he was in an interrogation room with Chief Manes himself.
He could tell them the truth, tell them what Black did. His ethical side screamed at him to do it. All it took was the truth and the ZPD would try to hunt James Black down and bring him to justice, no matter how difficult it was. There was, however, one thing that stopped him. Hearing the mink's response, Bogo knew he would fight to the death. He'd rather die than be taken back into custody. He wouldn't be coming back alive and that prospect pained him.
The James Black he knew may have been long gone, but fundamentally, he was still his friend, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't muster up the energy to tell them the whole story.
As a result, when the initial forensic tests came in revealing traces of Black's blood on the concrete and no camera footage and no witnesses to capture what happened, the main suspicion was an attack on the officers and the abduction of the mink investigator while the buffalo was away at the cruiser's parking spot. Bogo hesitantly agreed to it, feeling the guilt eat away at him. The buffalo would state that by the time he arrived, the scene was empty and Black was gone. On the outside, he seemed calm and confident in his response, convincing the investigators. On the inside, however, he was torn between doing his duty and saving his friend's life, even though the friend he knew was overshadowed by whatever monster James Black had now become.
Weeks passed, and no word was heard from the mink. He even tried calling him several times, but nobody picked up. Over time, the precinct started losing hope. Nobody could find him, as if he disappeared into thin air.
Present day
Bogo stood outside the warehouse, watching Judy and Nick head back to the cruiser.
For 8 years, one of his closest friends was missing, even presumed dead by most. Today, it seems he finally turned up again, only this time, the buffalo finally understood, after all these years what the mink was doing, and the terrible plot Deputy Chief Antle was on the brink of uncovering, only to be silenced before the truth could get out into the world.
He was not looking forward to dealing with this case.
