Set One

Idris Bogo shut the door after Assistant Mayor Bellwether said goodbye. This was not something he wanted to say in front of Mrs. Otterton.

He gave Officer Hopps forty-eight hours to find Mr. Otterton. He didn't want her to have the case at all, but she'd volunteered for it in front of Mrs. Otterton and then Bellwether had texted the mayor about it. Hopefully, Hopps couldn't do too much damage in two days.

Hopps was happy about this, but then Bogo said, "But! You strike out, you resign!" That way the hare would be out of his hair in a couple days. And if by some miracle she actually solved the case, well, that would be one down and thirteen to go of the missing mammals.

Hopps agreed to the deal, not that she had much choice of course. And considering he would've fired or at least suspended her if Mrs. Otterton hadn't burst in, she should consider herself lucky.

He sent her to get the case file from Clawhauser, not that there would be much in it. Idris had reviewed all the case files of course, and this was one with no leads or witnesses, which was why it had remained unassigned.

He went back to his desk and put his head in his hooves. These rookies wore him out sometimes, and Hopps was worse than most, so reckless and eager to prove herself. Yes, she was top of her class at the Academy, but Bogo didn't believe, no matter what the Mammal Inclusion Act said, that bunnies could accomplish much in the ZPD. He wished she'd been assigned to another district, maybe at a desk job.

She came back a few minutes later, holding the case file. He expected her to ask if she could get access to the computer system, which he would've said no to. Let her use her boasted cleverness.

Instead, she said, "Sir, when you said I had forty-eight hours, was that starting from that moment or from the moment I got the case file?"

He sighed. Why did he have to put up with this? And yet, some part of him both felt sorry for her and admired her persistence. "I'll tell you what, Hopps. If you don't screw things up too badly, you can start the clock at midnight."

"Oh, thank you, Sir!" She gave a little jump. Then she sobered and said, "And if I do?"

"Then the countdown starts from the moment we made the deal. Which was around four o'clock."

"Thank you, Sir. I won't fail you."

He waved his hoof to dismiss her. He didn't want to deal with her anymore that day. As for the extra eight hours, well, it wouldn't make much difference in the long run. And maybe it would keep her a little in line to have that added to their original deal.

OK, so she had eight extra hours and a lead. Nick Wilde had apparently sold a Pawpsicle to Otterton before the otter's disappearance. Now she had to track down the fox. But she wasn't going to go rushing off. He could be anywhere in Zootopia.

Also, she couldn't just confront him when he'd probably talk his way out of things like before. She needed a bargaining chip.

She thought about how he'd done the paperwork and had a food permit and a receipt of declared commerce. She couldn't get him on that. But what about the way he split the money with his partner? Were his finances all in order?

She didn't know tax law as well as food law but she knew someone who was an expert in the tax field. She got out her phone and checked her social media. Bingo! Javier Jaguar, her classmate who wanted to be an actuary, had ended up in Zootopia, working for the ZRS.

She IMed him, asking if she could discuss a tax question with him, something that might be a little outside the law.

He replied, "In that case, why don't you swing by my office after closing time, 6ish."

"Sure, thanks!" she answered.

It was not quite 4:30. She had the feeling she could sign out now and that Chief Bogo wouldn't expect her to issue any more tickets that day. (She'd made it to 400 before she chased after Weaselton.)

She decided that she'd kill some time by going shopping. She still wanted to get some home furnishings besides the welcome mat. She didn't have her first paycheck, and it was entirely possible she'd be fired in a couple days, but she decided to be optimistic and splurge.

Meanwhile, Nick completed the day's hustle, with a tidy profit. He and Finnick went to Divar's to celebrate, since it was their favorite restaurant in Tundratown.

Set Two

Judy was surprised to hear that Bellwether saw herself as a glorified secretary and that Mayor Lionheart had only wanted the sheep vote. It was clear that the mayor didn't respect his assistant, since he called her "Smellwether" and yelled at her for not canceling his afternoon appointments.

Bellwether excused herself and scurried upstairs to explain to the mayor.

As soon as she left, Nick dryly joked, "You think when she goes to sleep, she counts herself?"

Judy shushed him and sat in Bellwether's chair. She found the footage for Tujunga and Vine and the right time period. She remembered from her training at the Academy that the ZTN used Henwich Mean Time, which was six hours ahead of Zootopia. So when it said it was 11:27:16 for the footage where Nick had told Manchas he was going to give him some space, it was really only 5:27 a.m. local time. (This had to do with the invention of traffic cams and industry standards. Judy remembered taking a test on it.)

She watched herself and Nick fall off the sky-tram platform, but as they clung to the vine, someone arrived in a van! It was two timber wolves, who captured Manchas and took him away. No wonder he was gone by the time Bogo and the other cops arrived.

Nick remarked on the tendency of wolves to howl, and then it clicked for Judy. That's what Otterton was trying to explain: "Night Howlers" were wolves!

Judy clicked through footage, trying to follow the wolves' van. But it disappeared somewhere in the tunnel from the Rainforest to Tundratown.

Nick was now sitting beside her and he took over the mouse, saying, "You know, if I wanted to avoid surveillance because I was doing something illegal, which I never have, I would use the maintenance tunnel 6B, which would put them out, right there."

Sure enough the van appeared in tunnel 6B.

Judy crossed her arms and leaned back. She was impressed. Nick may think he was just a sly, sneaky fox but he could use those qualities for good. She said, "Well, look at you, Junior Detective. You know, I think you'd actually make a pretty good cop." She was teasing but she sort of meant it.

He joked back, "How dare you?" Then he kept clicking through footage, tracing the van's path through Acacia Alley, Ficus Underpass, and South Canyon.

Judy of course didn't know Zootopia as well as Nick did, but she could see that the van was heading out of town. They reached the end of the footage.

"Well, now what?" She didn't have her meter maid cart and she didn't think she could get it back from Bogo. What if the ZTA didn't go to that area?

"Now we get some food because I have the feeling that this is going to take us awhile."

"But, Nick, it's already after four."

"I don't think Bogo is going to track you down and take your badge away just yet. We'll get further away from the ZPD first and then grab a quick late lunch/early supper."

He was right. They hadn't had anything but the energy bars in hours, and it wasn't like she'd eaten much at the wedding. She did need to keep up her strength, especially if, as seemed likely, they'd have to do some walking.

So she took him to the Golden Starches, her treat.

Set Three

Nick and Finnick kept hustling, while Judy kept reading and taking notes.

Set Four

Nick and Judy slept.

Set Five

Nick and Judy slept.