12.18 pm. Thursday, August 29, 2020
To say that in last forty-eight hours the city went insane, would be to say nothing. Despite ZPD's best intentions, media caught in this short time trails of bountiful questionable incidents from: police search and invasion on Jennifer Tompkins' house, explosions in the Watering Hole Port, crash of a police car on the island of Tundratown, massive police and medical intervention in canals at Crevasse Street, arrestment of both Joshua Morrows and Donovan Jacobs and finally, Detective Nicholas Wilde ending up in the hospital. He, together with Judy Hopps, Kaylee Crane and Maximilian Reynolds were taken to a closed ward of Zootopia General Hospital, even if neither Hopps nor Reynolds were in state requiring any serious medical intervention. With heroes of recent events beyond reach of media, ZPD gave only a short comment to whole the situation: Nicholas Wilde had been framed and now was being cleared of charges of murdering of Thomas Reynolds. His real murderers have been identified and arrested except for one: Spencer Young, who was now wanted.
This all was Chief Bogo's doing: he had taken control of the situation since the first explosions in Watering Hole Port and was now performing all the damage control he could. He'd have a lot of work in following weeks and, having covered most of the leaks, he started with the most important part: Wilde, Hopps and ZIA.
Chief met with Judy Hopps, Max Reynolds and ZIA Agent Gwyneth Skye outside the ward, but beyond reach of the intrusive news reporters. He greeted the three of them, treating Skye rather coldly; he couldn't be happy about how she waltzed into ZPD's business without informing them, even if she intended to tell them eventually. And even if she was the one to personally arrest Donovan Jacobs and deliver him to ZPD after he tried to slip away.
"What's the situation, Chief?" Asked Max.
"We're in control. It's good thing Wilde's in state bad enough to explain hospital. Otherwise, we'd probably have to arrest him temporarily," explained Bogo.
"Good thing. Mayoral poll results could not bear it," Judy noticed cynically. Mayor Ketchikan was known for his insistence on quick investigation of Reynolds' death. With whole the thing going messy and lack of any other source of information, media had no mercy for him. Bogo just stared down at her angrily.
"You are too cute to be cynical, Hopps," he warned her.
"Understood, sir," she replied, but couldn't help a smile. They entered the ward together and saw all three patients. The one that suffered most was absent Jack Savage; since identity of both agents involved in the mess was kept secret, he remained in another hospital. Kaylee Crane, who suffered a slashed wound of her leg and massive blood loss, needed time to recover. Nick Wilde's state was a bit more complicated: severe blood loss and lots of badly healed wounds that he sustained during first fight with Greymane took their toll. He had already been through an operation of paw that would help him regain full dexterity and was now advised to check in at hospital regularly.
"Hey, Chief! Good to see you!" Nick greeted Bogo and Kaylee waved her paw weakly. Max, Judy and Gwen took places by the beds and watched Chief expectantly. Whatever was going to happen next, depended on him. The water buffalo took a deep breath.
"First off, I want to thank Agent Skye and Agent Savage for their help in arresting Donovan Jacobs and Joshua Morrows, but would suggest consulting it with ZPD next time," he started watching Skye carefully. As much as without her, Jacobs would most likely slip away, he certainly wasn't pleased with ZIA walking into his field of operation without a word of warning.
"It was an action approved by the director and I would suggest you deliver the complaint to him personally," Skye noticed politely and both of them decided not to touch the topic again, at least for the time. They had enough on their heads as it was.
"And second off, I should update you on the situation," continued Bogo. "Out of six members of Spencer Young's group, Calveit, Morrows and Jacobs have been arrested. Greymane and Wool have been confirmed dead. Spencer Young is wanted, but we've failed to find him or his body this far."
"Is it really possible that he's still alive after that jump?" Max asked doubtingly.
"He had already survived one fall earlier that day. It's plausible and the body has not yet been found," Bogo stated, but from his voice you can tell he didn't really believe it. "Wilde has been officially cleared of any charges and evidence against Hamilton is already being collected. The location of content of Reynolds' briefcase remains unknown."
"Duchess should still have it," Judy assured and saw Chief's expression changing.
"Yes, I know and there have been already made… steps toward retrieving it," Bogo confirmed and all five of them watched him carefully. They had been cut off from most of the news for last two days and had not a clue what he meant.
"When?" Judy asked carefully.
"On Tuesday morning, when you were busy with Young and Calveit," explained Bogo. "Two officers from Tundratown assisted by two from Happytown searched Jennifer Tompkins' house. Officer that applied for the warrant was, already dead at the time of signing the application, Detective Sullivan. After officers found nothing, one of Tundratown officers forgot his hat and left the gate ajar, thanks to which, four thugs could break into her house and force Mrs. Tompkins to reveal briefcase's location. No one died only because the Happytown officers felt something was off and returned, arresting all four of them. Lady Tompkins left the hospital yesterday in the evening. She refused to give any details on documents' location and denied its possession," Chief Bogo explained. Those weren't good news for ZPD, especially given the implications.
"Are we sure that it was a police officer that left the gate open?" Judy asked carefully.
"We have Mrs. Tompkins, Officers Osbourne and Riverton from Happytown and house's security monitoring confirming it. Besides, the way thugs used the hat indicates it was no accident. As we speak, the guilty officers are being questioned and their Chief Blizzard is being chewed out by the media for what they believe to have been Blizzard and Thunder's attempt to get rid of the Duchess," confirmed Bogo.
"So for the moment, all the media are speaking about is ZPD blaming Nick for Max's father's murder instead of Spencer Young, our failure to find or arrest the latter, a bribed police officer from Tundratown and apparent police assistance in attempt to murder a known entrepreneur?" Kaylee summed up gloomily. One could only imagine in what light it viewed ZPD.
"Yes," confirmed Bogo tersely. There wasn't much more that could be said. Realizing their previous mistake, the media switched from blaming Nick or foxes to blaming the ZPD and they had a lot of arguments this time.
"And the documents haven't even leaked yet," added Max. He didn't know their exact content, but was aware that the papers contained a lot of dirt not only on his father, but also Tundratown ZPD in person of Chief Blizzard.
"So, what do we do now?" Judy asked. "We can try and fix it, right?"
"Tundratown ZPD will be cleansed, we've been through it before with Bellwether. Nobody's going to cover Blizzard or his nearest surrounding. Condemning their actions is the best countermeasure we have now. Not much more can be done about Spencer Young; we will either find his body or not. What we can do, is cleaning up after the disastrous case of Thomas Reynolds' murder," Chief suggested and slowly, all sights turned to Nick. After a moment of hesitation, fox just shrugged.
"Honestly, Chief, I am fed up. For last week I watched whole the city, ZPD included, dragging me through the mud calling me all the things I never was. I barely heard any police official questioning my guilt when Sullivan was in charge," he blamed Bogo, staring him straight in the eyes.
"You know how it works, Wilde. Sullivan was in charge. If I tried to protect you then, it'd look as if I'm siding with you simply because you're my officer, not for actual reasons," the water buffalo argued. "Now that I'm in charge and have decent proof, I've cleared your name immediately," he added and Nick sighed deeply.
"I know, I just… What do you have planned for us? Some conference?" Wilde asked finally. Chief's relief was almost visible.
"Yes, I want to organize a press conference with you, Hopps and Reynolds. All three of you played major roles in the investigation and each of your stances is worth highlighting to the city. So that we can show Zootopia, that their police is not just Chief Blizzard or Officer Hamilton," Bogo told them. Chief couldn't drag ZIA agents in whole the thing without compromising their identities and leaving Kaylee out was just as reasonable; she was a victim of whole the situation, rather than a hero.
"I'll run along with it, if it suits Judy and Max," Nick assured and, when neither of them protested, continued. "But I'll be there in civvies. I lost my badge anyway. And afterwards, I want a leave for an indefinite period. For medical reasons or whatever. I have mess in my head and I need to figure it out before I can return," he demanded.
"You do intend to return, then," Chief noticed.
"I don't know myself," Nick shrugged again. "I need to put things back together. Then, I will know," he explained and met Judy's concerned sight. She wasn't angry or disappointed with him, just really, really worried. She understood him and his confusion completely.
"When will the conference take a place?" Max asked.
"Tomorrow at 10 am at our station, but I will send for you much earlier," answered Chief. "You'd better prepare for a long conference with lots and lots of awkward questions. They'll want to know everything."
"Of course, Chief," all of them confirmed. They'd been through it before, they knew how it worked. With that established, Chief nodded with satisfaction and was about to leave.
"Wilde, can we speak in private?" Bogo pleased. Nick nodded, jumped off his bed and followed the Chief out of the ward. They walked an empty corridor of a closed-off section of the hospital, where almost no one could see or hear them.
"What is it, Chief?"
"You deserve an apology. An official one, in front of the cameras and all," Bogo started. With Wilde not protesting, he continued. "You will receive one from me tomorrow, but that's about all you can count on. Sullivan is dead and everyone wants to forget about Hamilton. You could probably sue couple newspapers for all the bad press they gave you, but it is a road to nowhere."
"I know, Chief," assured Nick. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I don't want you to be disappointed tomorrow. You're a good cop and everyone will want to be on your good side, but…"
"As long as they don't have to apologize," Nick finished for him. "That's exactly why I asked you for the leave. It's not whether I'm cut for the job. I just need to answer myself why I am even here, if all I get in return is… this," he explained. It'd be easy to say that he was there for Judy. By all that's good and holy, he loved her. He'd jump in fire for her without a second thought. But if she was going to be the only thing that kept him in ZPD, sooner or later, something would go wrong. He would hurt her or himself and everything would fall apart. No, Nick couldn't have such a burden on her back; he had to find a reason to carry it himself.
"The door will be always opened. And if you decide to come back, don't worry about the badge. We'll get you a new one," promised Chief Bogo with a smirk. "Until tomorrow, Wilde."
"Until tomorrow, sir," Nick replied, as the water buffalo vanished in the crowd of the journalists swarming on the other side of ward's glassed door. And then he saw someone making his way through the crowd, dodging two hospital workers and falling straight in Nick's arms to hug him warmly.
"Nick!" Exclaimed Mrs. Wilde, nearly lifting him in the air. Nick chuckled, surprised.
"Hey, mom! How are you?" He asked casually and she giggled joyously, as she continued to hug him.
"They wouldn't let me see you, those goons!" She complained, sniffling and continuing to hug hum. Nick watched the wall of reporters; everyone were taking the photos.
"Mom… people are staring," he said awkwardly.
"Are you ashamed of your own…" She was about to scold him, but then paused and saw the crowd behind her, flashing with their cameras annoyingly. "Yes, let's go somewhere more discreet." She released the hug, but wrapped her arm around his shoulders and ruffled his head's fur playfully as they disappeared from cameras' view. The Wilde family was united once again.
9.47 am. Friday, August 30, 2020
Nick Wilde, Judy Hopps and Max Reynolds slipped out from the hospital with a back exit and from there, a police car took them to the police station of ZPD Precinct 1. On place, Judy and Max changed into uniforms, while Nick was given his favorite green Hawaiian shirt and grey trousers. At the sight of them, he could hardly contain a laugh.
"What?" Judy watched him carefully, as he leaned against a wall and watched a shelf of the golden trophies. All that he missed was a pair of shades and Nick, the Slick would be complete.
"I just remembered the last time I came to station in the civvies. You know, the Nighthowlers conference."
"Will you ever forget about it?" Hopps rolled her eyes.
"He'll not, Judy. You'd better find some hooks on him yourself," Max suggested appearing from nowhere. His uniform looked as if it had just been ironed. For some reason, Judy found it amusing: back when he lived in the mansion, she assumed he had service looking after it, but after he moved in with Kaylee nothing changed in that department, even today. Was he ironing them himself? Did he even know how to use an iron?
"Chief says it's time, by the way," Max added before either of them managed to say anything. "He wants to discuss couple things before the actual conference," he explained and all three of them went to meet Chief Bogo in his office. The conversation was rather short and revolving around technical issues, such as on general course of the conference, when either of them would be given the voice and short instruction on what to say that could be summed up to speaking truth and viewing themselves and ZPD in good light, in this specific order. With those instructions, Chief and three of his officers walked down to the main hall, where a crowd of journalists was already waiting. Everyone was curious of them, especially Hopps and Wilde, but they waited patiently. They knew they'd get to ask them everything later during the conference and if not, they could try afterwards.
At first, Chief stood at the scene alone with three officers waiting at the side. He started with usual greeting and terse announcement revolving murder of Thomas Reynolds and status of the group that committed it. He viewed Spencer Young as a presumably dead fox, expecting to find rather his body, than Young himself. Afterwards, he proceeded to what he found the most important part: an official apology to Detective Nicholas Wilde who had been accused of the said murder a week earlier. Nick accepted the apology, said couple meaningless, but catchy truisms and answered couple questions, the most important one, revolving his civilian dress-up, dismissing with a joke about how he lost the badge. Afterwards, Chief Bogo thanked him and continued to answer the questions himself until he invited Judy to the scene. She referred shortly the events between the murder of Thomas Reynolds and the one of Detective Sullivan.
"Detective Hopps, why were you cooperating with Detective Wilde when he was wanted instead of turning him in?" Asked one of the journalists finally. She had been waiting surprisingly long for this question.
"Both Detective Wilde and I doubted in pure intentions of officers leading the case. I decided that I could learn much more about the real murderers through cooperation," she explained.
"It wasn't by the book, though, was it? You had no official approval for such actions," someone else pointed out and Judy giggled.
"Well… ZPD has its procedures that have been carefully crafted throughout the years. Their intention is to guarantee safety to the officers while allowing them to maximize their efficiency and let them do what they're meant to do: to serve and protect the citizens. We abide them practically all the time and for ninety-nine percent of situations, they work just fine," she said, glanced at Nick quickly with a smile and continued. "But there are incidents, when they could have failed. Incidents with the intrigue running so deep that letting things take their natural course could hurt mammals and their names. In situations like this, you calculate the risk and make your own choice and then, deal with its consequences," Judy explained to the cameras. She gave her answers to couple more answers until she returned the microphone back to Chief Bogo. The water buffalo only then fully revealed details of Kaylee Crane's kidnapping and featured actions of Max Reynolds. He praised him for his considerate, but immediate decisions, trusting his instincts and taking properly calculated risks. With this introduction, he invited Max to the scene and gave the voice to him. After a short foreword, Reynolds started replying to journalists' question, most of them touching awfully personal subjects.
Just like Nick, Max handled cameras with natural easiness, even if in completely different manner. Instead of dismissing awkward questions with jokey responses, he either took them head-on, or circled around the thing long enough to satisfy everyone without actually answering questions. And, unusually for Max, he remained cool and composed, completely unprovoked by any of nasty questions he was challenged with. And then, one of journalists left him completely dumbstruck.
"Timothy Fares from Zootopia Times. I've just got info that Zootopia News Channel has just started airing some new, yet unrevealed material revolving the case, some real bomb. Could we perhaps turn on television and see it?" He pleased. Max stared at him for a moment and slowly turned to Chief Bogo.
"Well, technically… What do you say, Chief?" He asked.
"If it's a real bomb, they should give it to police first," muttered the water buffalo. "I'll switch the monitors to ZNC in a moment, if it's nothing of importance, we'll continue the conference," he agreed, reached for a pilot, clicked couple buttons and then, screens behind turned from photos of the case to the Zootopia News Channel. For a moment, they saw the news anchor, but before anyone caught the context of her announcement, the news took them to some small, shabby room. On a single bed with metal frame, sat a red panda dressed in messed up, but elegant black jacket. She looked nervous, but tried to pretend everything was alright.
"Good afternoon. I am Megan Roth from the Voice of Tundratown, here invited by Spencer Young to talk about the recent events revolving around murder of known millionaire and philanthropist, Thomas Ezekiel Reynolds. Mr. Young, could you tell a bit about yourself?" she said to the camera and everyone felt chills. All four police officers and most of the journalists recognized her: she had gone missing almost two weeks earlier and hadn't been heard of since then.
The camera view changed suddenly and was now focused on the fox. Spencer smiled politely and nodded. He stared straight at the camera. Wilde shivered at that gentle confident smile, as the realization struck him. Spencer Young deceived them all, even him. He did deliver his message. And thus, he won.
"Greetings, everyone. My name is Spencer Young and by the time you're watching this, I am long gone. Recent days were full of the most disturbing events that stirred Zootopia like rarely before, but I'd like to present to you quite a new view on it: the view of the perpetrator," he explained and Chief Bogo huffed angrily.
"Reynolds, call ZNC, tell them to take it down," he ordered quietly.
"They're not picking up," replied the wolf. "And besides, someone's streaming it on ZooTube. Everyone'll see it anyway," he added and Chief Bogo cursed under his breath. There was no point interrupting it here, everyone was going to see it anyway. He glanced at Wilde. Should he have him out? No, it'd look even worse. He could only pray that Wilde wouldn't do anything stupid.
"I should probably start my story at the very beginning," said Spencer. "I come from Happytown. My father's name was Zachary Young. Couple years before I was born, he owned Young Builders, a small business company, but was forced to sell it during the Happytown recession."
"Could you elaborate on it?" Asked Megan Roth and he nodded.
"But of course," he assured and continued. "Like most of you probably already know, thirty years ago, Gregory Reynolds together with his son, Thomas Reynolds and his friend Frederick Thunders were making large investments in Happytown. They contracted over twenty small building companies to execute their contracts. But then, an accident happened. Thomas Ezekiel Reynolds, speeding on the brink of Happytown, slammed in side of a taxi car with speed of, basing on initial police estimations, over 100mph, resulting in immediate death of a taxi passenger: Jonathan Wilde, an local tailor on his way home. He was a known and respected mammal in the district and his sudden death raised lots of turmoil. Even more of it, when the public learnt that Thomas Reynolds was responsible for the incident, but was going to avoid punishment."
"Wasn't he pronounced innocent?" Interrupted him the journalist. Spencer smiled and nodded.
"He was, but only due to the machinations of his family," he replied. "But back to the subject. Happytown was mad. They started massive, but peaceful protests, including halting work in any of Thunders and Reynolds' investments and a march through the district. Unfortunately, media caught the attention of it and started viewing it in negative light. Several provocations were enough to view them as actual riots and Thunders and Reynolds suddenly declared they had been forced to back out on their investments. Suddenly, all the small company they contracted had been left with nothing. They invested lots of money and time, but no one was willing to pay them for it. They went bankrupt one by one. And then, Reynolds and Thunders waltzed in yet again. They bought every single one of them for a song. Those who opposed, were forced, sometimes even killed, by Wolf Pack, local Happytown gang, who had been executing Thunders' errands since the day they were born," Spencer explained emotionlessly. Max clenched his fists. He knew all of it. Judy had told him a day earlier. But to hear it from the murderer of his father, was much, much worse than he'd ever expect.
"So your father was ruined. What did he do?" Wondered Miss Roth.
"At first, he simply lived on. Found himself a job in factory, married mom. Somewhere in back of his head, he kept his previous downfall, but didn't think much of it. But then, I was born. My mother died due to the birth complications: she was in a low-class hospital where doctors didn't have much time for their patients. They failed to notice in time that something was wrong, but again no one was to be blamed. At that time, something broke in my father. I think he blamed Reynolds and Thunders for everything that happened," said Spencer sadly. One could feel that the fox felt partially guilty for his mother's death too.
"Do you think he was right?"
"Maybe. Partially. But he believed it fully and devoted himself fully to prove it. Between work and raising me, he started gathering evidences of their role in the recession. Everything he could put his paws on. Since ever I remembered, he worked on it constantly, while making sure to be the best parent I could have. And then, one day he just…" Visible creeps ran through Spencer's body. "I was in first class of elementary school. My house was just a street away, so when dad didn't come after me or pick up his phone, two teachers walked me home. Inside, we found my father. He had hanged himself," Spencer confessed, took a deep breath and continued. "He left a suicide note addressed to me, apologizing and explaining that he couldn't live with his failure anymore. Police labeled the case as exemplary suicide. There were some ambiguities, but no one cared enough about some random fox. I was put in an orphanage outside Happtown. As a predator in mostly prey group, I had some real tough time, but life went on."
"For a time," guessed Miss Roth.
"For a time. At my eighteenth birthday, I received a small package: a key and code to a safe in Zootopia National Bank. In there, I found copies of all of my father's findings together with a short, explanatory note: he knew he had made a mistake and Thunder's men were on to him. He wanted me to take what he had found this far and do whatever I wanted with it: burn it, publish it, continue his research. Just don't let them find that I had it before it goes viral."
"Was it when you decided to murder Thomas Reynolds?" Asked the journalist, but he just shook his head.
"No. I was furious, but I was even more terrified. These mammals murdered my dad and I wanted to live. I had a girlfriend," he explained and laughed at how trivial it sounded. "I've just got a scholarship, so I could go to a course of my dreams in Zootopia University. I had way too much to live for. I just put the files back in the safe, locked them and tried to forget about them. It lasted for most of the studies."
"Until the Mauler case?" The journalist guessed and Spencer confirmed.
"Precisely," he nodded. "Everyone surely heard of it, but I was a student of Zootopia University and ended up in middle of everything. Out of first six victims, I personally knew four, two of whom were my close friends. Everyone was terrified. University decided to close their clubs since it was near them that murders were committed, but murders kept occurring. As the chairman of Student Circle of Robotics, I decided to act. I started organizing mammals from my nearest surrounding so that no one would come back alone. It worked: no one else from my friends or SCR was murdered, even if Mauler continued his attacks. And then, I made a mistake of staying late at university and coming back on my own. Mauler found me and attacked. By sheer luck, he didn't kill me with the first blow, but he had me cornered. I don't know if you've ever experienced it, but when you're cornered, when you realize that if you do nothing, you will die, something breaks in you. On that evening, I fought like a beast. Eventually, I fended him off somehow, but ended up in the hospital."
"You were the last victim of the Mauler, weren't you?" Realized the reporter.
"And the only one that survived actual confrontation. There was one rabbit that managed to flee him, but didn't really see the guy. Detective Sullivan who was in charge had questioned me throughoutly, but except for his general description and certainty that he was too old to be a student, he didn't learn much. Probably nothing that he didn't already know. My memories were blurred."
"That is understandable," assured Miss Roth.
"But I remembered that I fought him off. I figured that if I did it once, then maybe if I had an element of surprise, I could get him. It was a naïve thought, but I started investigating on my own. Finally, I found a pattern of his attacks."
"What do you mean?" The journalist sounded intrigued.
"First several kills before University closed some of student clubs were random. But afterwards, the victims seemed to have been pin-pointed: they were mammals that would often return late and alone and Mauler would often hunt for them far from the University itself. He couldn't be so lucky to find so many victims without anyone noticing him lurking around, which meant he had intel from someone who knew all the victims."
"A student?" Guessed Miss Roth.
"Precisely. I started to look for someone that could know all the victims. Eventually, I found him: a sheep named Lucas Wool, a construction student my age. I followed him around for a moment and eavesdropped his phone conversation with Mauler: he was promising that he'd set me up again. Few days later, I confronted him."
"Why didn't you go to ZPD?" Asked the journalist.
"I wanted to know for sure before I give them anything. Lucas was a coward. He confessed everything, especially how Mauler, a wolf named Gerard Greymane, threatened to kill him if Lucas wouldn't help him finding new victims. With this knowledge, I was left with two options: to go to ZPD like you suggested or deal with Greymane on my own."
"You didn't go to ZPD, did you?"
"No. I wanted to kill Greymane with my own paws," Spencer confessed shamefully. "I made a mistake of coming to his flat. I had a kitchen knife with me and pepper spray, thought that it would be enough. I sneaked into his flat around the dawn and, pretty sure he was in his bed, sneaked to his bedroom. But before I drew knife, Greymane appeared at the entrance door and locked it behind himself. I was trapped with Mauler in his tiny flat."
"Did you kill him?" Miss Roth doubted, but he shook his head.
"I realized I wouldn't have a chance. So I did what I do best. I started lying. I sold him some made up story, claiming that I had some messed up Stockholm Syndrome, that I was actually impressed and that I wanted to help him. I claimed to him that I'd be better than Wool in finding new victims and he believed me. Greymane wasn't really smart and it saved my life. I walked out of his flat having promised him that I'd give him Wool soon and then, continue to find the new victims."
"You talked yourself out of breaking someone's flat with a knife?" The journalist could hardly believe it.
"Like I said, Greymane wasn't super smart. The Mauler just wanted to maul. Thanks to that, I had some time to make a choice: to turn Mauler to ZPD or kill him myself. But I wasn't given to choose."
"What happened?"
"ZPD," Spencer spat these three letters. "Detective Sullivan arrested me during Student Circle of Robotics meeting in front of over one hundred of my colleagues and my girlfriend. When I tried to ask them to wait half an hour to finish the meeting, they tranquilized me, handcuffed and walked out like a criminal."
"Why would they do it?" Asked the journalist, even if those details were known to the public.
"I later learnt that ZPD had been watching me since Mauler attacked me. They thought that I either killed or was the Mauler. Detective Sullivan tried to intimidate me into a confession that would allow him to close the case one way or another. But even if I knew who Mauler was, I told him nothing. He despised me just because I was a fox and he didn't bother hiding it. I couldn't allow someone like him have all the glory for something he did not find out. I told him nothing and they released me due to the lack of evidence. I returned to University to realize mammals such as Lucas Wool were spreading gossips that I was the actual Mauler. I was nearly detained over the situation."
"You must have been furious."
"It was my tipping point. A straw that broke camel's back. Everything I endured so far: loss of parents, tough years of orphanage, learning of Reynolds' intrigue, having lost close friends to the Mauler, was now topped with this ridiculous accusation and the gossips that were born with it. I was sick of the world looking down on me and the likes of me just because we were foxes. Because it's easy to blame us. I decided it was time I proved Zootopia that they were wrong."
"Why didn't you go to the media with what you had?" Wondered Miss Roth.
"Because it was not enough. My story wasn't earth-shaking enough and dad's work on Reynolds and Thunders was incomplete. It lacked very, very much at the time, especially in matter of actual proof. I needed to create my own story employing what I already had. I had Lucas shut up with a threat that I'd give him away and persuaded Greymane to give it a year or two for things to quiet down. I withdrew father's materials from the National Bank and studied them. I hired a trusted detective to dig around with some of the documents I gave to him. I learnt that Thomas Reynolds had his own collections of the dirt on his pals somewhere in the mansion, later I learnt where. And then, Donovan Jacobs was arrested and set a reward for his freedom. I started conveying my plan and all pieces started falling into place slowly. I approached Officer Hamilton and bribed her, had Lucas Wool, Greymane and my girlfriend, ice-hearted Scarlet Calveit working with me for, as they believed, money. But in reality, I had three quite different purposes. Firstly and least importantly, old good revenge. I sought death of the ones that were everything that was wrong with the city: cowardly and backstabbing racist Lucas Wool, a rotten, biased cop in person of Detective Sullivan, the insane murderer Gerard Greymane aka "Mauler" and finally, Thomas Ezekiel Reynolds: wolf that murdered and ruined for money more mammals than one could even imagine. Secondly, I intended to ruin plenty other mammals that were inflicted in my plan: Officer Victoria Hamilton, Donovan Jacobs and Fredrick Thunders to name the few. None of them deserve more than misery. Thirdly and most importantly, I was going to prove Zootopia how wrong it is in creating its own heroes and demons. I wanted to give them a paragon and a villain, let them glorify the former and condemn the latter. And then, I wanted to show them that they mistook one for another."
"Who would they be?" Asked Miss Roth and Spencer chuckled. Everyone watching him felt chills down their spines, as they realized whom he meant.
"Isn't it obvious? Thomas Reynolds and Detective Nicholas Wilde. In act of personal vengeance, I murdered Thomas Reynolds and burnt all paintings of his wife but one that I claimed I intended to sell. I lured Wilde to Reynolds' mansion that night, tipped Hamilton off and from then on, let the things go with their own course. I stepped back and started preparing my petty vengeance allowing you to do the rest. Mind you, it was Detective Sullivan that was in charge of the investigation, not bribed Hamilton. It was him that announced Wilde was the murderer before they even managed to arrest him. It was the newspapers and other media that spread the accusation throughout the city and reassured it in everyone's minds. And in meanwhile, you made a martyr out of Thomas Reynolds. A saint of Zootopia!" Spencer snorted with disdain. "Those few that knew the truth behind him concealed it deeply and allowed the others to raise him to the skies. But you were all wrong. Wilde was the hero here. He thought Reynolds was in danger, so he charged in without a second thought. Despite how city kept scrutinizing him, he worked hard to find the true killers and clear his name. Despite the odds. And Reynolds…" At that moment, Spencer reached for something and then, shown to camera thick pile of papers. "This is a copy of all evidence my father and I gathered against Reynolds, Thunders and others, confirming truthfulness of my today's testimony. If everything goes according to my plan, the moment you see this video, copies of it will be reaching every single newspaper and news station in the city with the originals hopefully ending up in ZPD's paws. Verifying it will obviously take time and not everyone will believe me, but truth will be eventually unveiled. You have mistaken your demons for your heroes, city of Zootopia. I hope you learn from this mistake to commit it never again." Spencer paused and looked toward the camera with cold satisfaction. And then his expression changed suddenly to much light-hearted one.
"To the innocent ones I hurt in the process, especially Detective Wilde and Miss Roth that's been holding this interview, I apologize deeply, even if I don't expect either of you to forgive me. And, I'd have forgotten, Miss Roth can be found in the cellar of an empty house at Drift Street 182. The supplies I'm leaving her with should suffice till middle of September, but I'd suggest you to hurry anyway. That would be all. Thank you for attention, city of Zootopia," Spencer finished and then, the screen went black. Chief switched TVs back to photos from the case. He was visibly furious that someone even allowed such material to be published on public television.
"What a madman," gasped someone in the crowd interrupting the awkward silence.
"Maybe he is," Wilde muttered, but some mammals in front heard him and their sights focused on the fox slowly. His expression was serious, but as enigmatic as always.
"Detective Wilde, do you approve Spencer Young's actions?" One of the journalists asked carefully. Nick approached the microphone, excused Max and took his place on the stand. He watched all the journalists emotionlessly.
"Spencer Young murdered or orchestrated deaths of four mammals. He caused two blackouts, kidnapped two mammals and prepared a prison break. When he lost control of the situation on Tuesday morning, he threatened lives of at least four police officers. None of these actions is anyhow excusable," Nick declared firmly and took a deep breath. He knew no supervisor of his would ever approve what he was about to say, but the moment was right and he would not be given another chance. "But in all the evil he has committed, he was right in one thing. It wasn't Spencer Young that called an innocent mammal a murderer. It wasn't Spencer Young who dragged him through mud in front of whole the city simply to boost their viewer ratings. It wasn't Spencer Young that, once the truth was revealed, is pretending that his actions brought no harm. Ladies and gentlemen, it was you," Nick threw the accusation right in their faces and for a moment, everyone fell silent. Chief didn't take his microphone away only because it was already too late. Max and Judy watched him in complete silence. And then, journalists started protesting all at once. Nick looked down at them. He knew it worked like Bogo had said back in the hospital: no one was at fault personally and no one was going to apologize to him. It was the city that accused him and considered guilty. Still, it felt no easier at all. In fact, it felt only worse, as if 'they' were getting away with it.
"That would be everything from me for today. Thank you for attention," Nick said finally and walked down the scene. The crowd of journalists surrounded him demanding more explanations, among which was the answer if he was going to continue serving in ZPD, but Nick Wilde left the station without a word more. When mammals stopped crowding around him finally, Judy appeared at his side from nowhere. He smiled at her sight.
"You left them on their own?" He worried.
"I couldn't leave you on your own, could I?" She pointed out and for a moment, they walked in complete silence. "How are you feeling?"
"I snapped. Spencer hit me right in the soft point," he confessed shamefully.
"It wasn't that bad. You didn't cause riots like I once happened to," Judy pointed out with a smirk, but he barely smiled. "You were right to be angry with them."
"I need a break. A week or two with none of Zootopia," stated the fox.
"What would you say for Bunny Burroughs?" Judy suggested. "I'll talk to Chief and we could leave even today," she offered and Nick smiled. Of course, she was going with him. He wouldn't dare to ask her, but he knew there never was a need.
"Tomorrow. We have couple places I need to go before we leave," he insisted. There were at least three mammals that he needed to see, but he already knew what meeting he couldn't miss. The only mammal in whole Zootopia that would help Spencer Young deliver his message throughout the city: Lady Jennifer Tompkins.