"Sharla," Nick said, "we want to see your hate mail."
Judy shook her head, but Nick thought there was no good way to ease into the subject. And from what he'd observed, Sharla liked directness.
"You mean the emails and everything?"
"Yeah. I didn't see any of the hostile messages at your website, or the one for your publisher."
"No, it's all been taken down by now. It's bad for publicity."
"Right." Nick wasn't so sure about that. He still wondered if Saiga was exploiting the situation. After all, controversy meant attention, and they might want to play the "read the book everyone is talking about" card.
"But I can access it if you want to see it."
"You saved it?" Judy asked. Nick understood her surprise. Judy wouldn't want to dwell on the negative.
"Well, yes, isn't that what you're supposed to do with harassment, document it, track it?"
"Yeah," Nick said. "And, well, we're pretty good detectives, so we might be able to see if there's a pattern. Or clues that give away who sent it."
Sharla nodded. "I hope so. How about I send you the messages in an email file?"
"That works."
"Um, I do have to warn you, some of it is, well, pretty cruel."
Nick resisted saying he didn't expect hate mail to be kind. Instead he said, "OK."
"I hope it won't upset you, Judy."
The bunny looked torn between wanting to be the soft-hearted, sympathetic friend and the tough big-city cop. She hesitated and then said, "We need to know."
Sharla nodded again. "Do you want me to send it now or after dinner?"
"After dinner," Nick said quickly. He didn't want it ruining his appetite. Also, he knew that Judy would have a hard time facing Sharla right after reading the messages.
"OK."
"Sharla," Judy said, "can we go for a walk?"
"Of course. Let me just get a sweater." Sharla went upstairs.
"Are you going to talk to her about Catmull or something else?"
Judy sighed. "We have a lot to talk about."
"Good luck," he said, giving her a quick hug.
"Thank you."
Sharla came back in a wool sweater. Nick couldn't help wondering if all these things she knitted were from her own wool, and if she sheared herself or had a friend do it. He realized that these were not questions he could ask her, at least not till he knew her much better. He didn't always have the best personal boundaries, although he was better about it than he was before he became friends with Judy. Not that he particularly regretted touching Bellwether's wool without permission. Yeah, it was impolite, but compared to her trying to set him up to go savage and murder Judy, he thought it was a mild infringement.
He wondered if it was safe for Sharla to go outside. Yes, she'd be with Judy, but what if someone fired at her from a distance, like Doug the sniper did with the Night Howler serum? It'd be very easy for someone to hide in these woods. But Nick supposed that a shooter would've had to have been staking out the safehouse for awhile, just waiting for a chance like this, and it seemed like he and Judy would've spotted them by now. Unless they just suddenly showed up out of nowhere at the right moment.
Nick thought back to his police training. They hadn't really covered a situation like this. Mostly it was about procedure, from how to frisk to how to fill out paperwork. Even the crisis training covered what to do if something happened, not so much what to do if it might happen, beyond stay alert.
"Have a good walk," he said.
They nodded and went outside. Nick wasn't sure what to do now. He could station himself at the window, ready to dash out if needed. But he knew Judy would come and get him if she needed him. So he decided to do the dishes. Most of the housework had fallen on Sharla, her choice, but Nick figured he could pitch in more.
As he filled the sink with hot water, he wondered how long they were going to be there. It was like they were waiting for a crisis. If nothing bad ever happened, or at least if it took a long time to happen, how would they know when they were through? It'd only been a few days but felt longer. He and Judy had talked before about this lasting weeks or months. Would they or someone else have to capture the online harassers? And even if they did, would that be the end of it? What if there were other animals who felt that way?
He thought back to their last big case. They'd made a nice, dramatic, tail-kicking group arrest, but in point of fact, they still didn't know, weeks later, who was guilty of what. With their first big case, they'd made two big arrests, Lionheart and then Bellwether. With Lionheart, they were so sure he was guilty. He had the motive, opportunity, etc., including what seemed to be a confession. And he was guilty of a cover-up but his guilt was minor compared to the next mayor's. (The last Nick heard, Lionheart's powerful family was working towards a full pardon.) With Bellwether, they wouldn't have found out if she hadn't tried to frame Nick. And that time they wanted to make sure they had the right animal.
This time? He doubted there was some criminal mastermind orchestrating the threats. And even if there were, it would be like the, what was it? The hydra? You lop off the head and it grows more. Nick sighed and started washing the dishes. He found himself singing, "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" from his dad's old Flea Rex album. He remembered teasing his dad, "Who still uses vinyl?" Nick had been only seven but already a smartmouth.
"...You've got the teeth of the hydra upon you. You're dirty sweet and you're my girl..."
He was glad the girls were outside and couldn't hear him. Then he imagined Judy coming in and catching him, teasing him about it. And maybe he would even sing to her, corny though that would be. He suddenly wished they were all alone and this was a honeymoon cottage. But it was definitely the wrong day to propose to her.
