Chapter Twelve:
Revelations of the Past…
Chief Clawson wasn't happy as he entered one of the observation rooms in Precinct Three. It wasn't that often that he watched a suspect get interrogated, but this was a little personal. "Why is she here?" he asked looking at two of the three officers on loan to him from Precinct One.
"She's here because of comments she said about Grace," Officer Grizzoli replied looking at the polar bear commander, "And before you ask, she asked to talk to an officer about something."
"Is that so?" Clawson asked crossing his arms, "So which of you is she going to talk to?"
"That would be Delgato," Fangmeyer said motioning towards the glass, "And it's show time." The three looked over to see the lion enter the room.
"Sorry about the wait," Delgato said before sitting down.
"Its fine," a light brown hare said trying to stay calm.
"Ok. Well Officer Delgato." he said looking at her.
"Nice to meet you, Officer, I'm Victoria Tenant," she said returning his gaze.
"So, what would you like to talk about?" he asked.
She let out a slow breathe before saying, "A few things actually; the first being about Grace and Laura Locksley. While it's no secret that my family has treated the two harshly; unfortunately my grandparents are to blame for that. They believed that no mammal can be trusted and if you deviate from tradition, then they are to be excommunicated from the family."
"And that is what happened to your brother?" he asked leaning on the table slightly, "He broke that tradition by marrying a predator."
"No," she said with a slight shake of her head, "He was excommunicated because he quit the family business to start a detective agency. Because of how good or species is with multiplying, he make some of the best accountants imaginable. But he never wanted to be that. His dream was an officer of the law, but until Judy Hopps became a cop, he didn't think it was possible."
"So becoming a private eye was the next best thing for him?" he asked.
"Because it allowed him to help put away those that tried to take advantage of others yes," she answered, "As much as I thought he was crazy for wanting to do that, I secretly cheered him on. Even when he was supposed to be going over the figures for different clients, he would be able to pick up on things about them no one else in the office ever knew.
"For example: one of the employees walked in one day extremely happy. No one had even come close as to the source of her good mood till he got there. He looked her over once and started rattling different things off about her like he was Sherlock Hound. We found out more about her in twenty seconds than anyone else had in the five months of her working there. Clear up until the day we lost him; he would only smile and walk away when asked how he knew she was pregnant. It was stuff like that out grandfather hated."
"Why are you telling me this?" he asked a little puzzled.
"It's because I think my brother was murdered," she said looking at the lion, "There was a chinchilla my grandfather would go to when he wanted someone to disappear. His name was Victor."
"Do you have any proof?" Delgato asked. Victoria reached into her purse and placed a USB drive on the center of the table.
"That drive contains over four hundred emails between my grandfather and Victor," she said sounding disgusted, "It also has images sent from Victor of the mammals he made disappear."
Back in the observation room, Grizzoli looked at Clawson and said, "I know of the mammal she's talking about, sir. Victor Abbe-Roth, he's a known hit-mammal for hire. Precinct Two has been tracking his location for a few months now."
"Is there anything else on it?" Delgato asked picking up the drive.
"The other two things I'm here to talk about," she said with a frown, "The Company has been helping a few certain mob bosses hide money for the past ten years. That drive contains the actual records and the off shore account numbers as too where those funds are hidden. As well as emails between Grace's former principal and my grandfather concerning a forced dye job come of the students did on my niece. And yes, I'm pressing charges against every mammal involved in that."
The door to the interrogation room opened as Clawson walked in. "Why now?" he asked glaring at the hare, "Why are you acting like a caring aunt when you never have in the past?"
"Because last night, my grandfather decided that everything that reminds him of my brother needs to be erased from Zootopia," she said looking at the head of Precinct Three, "The only thing left is Grace herself, I will not let that happen; especially for some stupid treasure."
"What treasure?" he asked.
"About two months ago, he received a email about a treasure belonging to the legendary Robin Hood," she started to explain, "Supposedly, it was worth more than all the money in Zootopia and the person that found it was willing to split it with however killed the last descendants of the infamous archer. After a little research, it was discovered that Laura and Grace were the last two direct descendants alive."
"And now Grace is the only one that stands between your grandfather and a massive fortune," Clawson said.
"Wait a minute," Delgato said looking at the hare, "According to the legends, Robin gave the money he stole back to the poor."
"True, but both he and Maid Marian where nobles," she said turning her attention to the lion, "The combined value of their fortune would be astronomical."
"Ballpark it," Clawson said.
"Factoring the current financial trends and gold prices," Victoria said before drumming her fingers on the table for a second, "It would bankrupt the city seven times over if the owner cashed all of it in today."
Clawson slowly turned his gaze to Degalto and said, "Get that flash drive down to the techs and have them look it over ASAP."
"Sir," the lion said before leaving the room.
"Grizzoli, Fangmeyer, contact Precinct Two and get Victor's location," Clawson said looking at the other two officers, "I want him behind bars yesterday." The bear gave a curt nod before he and Fangmeyer stepped from the room.
"I hope you don't mind me asking, Chief, but where is Grace?" Victoria asked a little worried.
"Both Grace and Officer Wilde were placed into police protection after it was discovered that Laura was murdered," he answered shifting his gaze towards her, "As it stands, no one knows their current location or how to contact them."
"Until that psycho that wants her dead is found, you better make sure they stay hidden," she said sounding worried, "I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened her."
Clawson walked over and sat in the chair across from her before saying, "Tell me more about the excommunication thing."
"Go against the family norm and you no longer exist," she said closing her eyes, "All photos, awards, anything that indicates who your family is; gets destroyed. Every bank account that is set up for you is drained of any funds. My brother emptied his accounts and placed his money in new ones that were out of our grandfather's reach. He excommunicated himself before it was done to him.
"And before you ask; my grandfather is a mobster, but he specializes in information and blackmail. There isn't a secret he won't exploit to get what he wants. And he keeps every one of those secrets on a two terabyte USB drive." She reached into her purse and pulled out a large box. "Its password protected, unfortunately the password is the word 'money' repeated three times, all lower case," she said placing the device on the table, "But you didn't here that from me."
