The drive to the school wasn't long. The morning rush hour had already died down, so they didn't need to deal with huge lines of cars filled with angry mammals. Fortunately, they didn't have to deal with any idiotic driver along the way either, so aside from a few red lights and a sirening ambulance, there wasn't anything stopping them from reaching the school. After about half an hour of drive, they finally stopped and got out of the cruiser.
"Ahh, the high school, where students are praying more than in the churches," Nick said, taking a deep breath. "Can you smell it? The tears of kids that didn't learn for the test."
"What kind of student were you?" Curious, Judy came up with the question. "We never actually talked about that."
Nick was thinking a bit then said, "Between A and B. Mostly A… Okay I sometimes got a C too, but you get the idea."
"Really?" Judy asked, doesn't believing any of that. Nick barely passed the law learning parts at the academy. Judy had to help him through that by giving private lessons. "Come on, tell me the truth."
"Uhh excuse me!" Nick said like this question had hurt his feelings. "I was a hard-working student… When it got to stealing the test questions."
"Ahaa! I knew it!" Judy let out a victory shout while pointing at Nick
"Not that I would have needed them of course!" Nick shrugged innocently "You have no idea how much others were willing to pay just to have a glance at the questions. I made a real fortune out of chemistry and physics classes. Oh! And biology too! That one was my favorite because we wrote quick tests every week. Free money baby! They just called me the Red Ninja!"
"No, they didn't!"
"Okay, you are right." Nick chuckled "But I did make some friends along the way… Well, friends that never contacted me ever again after high school, but I kept them for the money anyway, so… I guess we are even. How about you? Which district did you go to?"
"Really Nick?" Judy asked "Which district? It might surprise you but we have a high school in Bunnyburrow too. It isn't just a plain farmland with 19th-century houses. It's more modern than everyone thinks. Aaaand… Listen closely! We have a university too. Shocking. I know."
"Alright, alright!" Nick threw his paw up. "No need to bite my head off! Geez. So what kind of student were you? Wait let me guess. Straight A? Top of your class?"
"Harr harr very funny. No, I wasn't the class leader. And in contrast with you, I never liked biology. For instance, why would you need to know the differences between the canine and feline jaw buildup? It's just stupid. Nobody was there to give me the answers I had to learn that! It's still buried deep down here." Judy pointed at her head "I will never need that information ever and it's only occupying the place of something more usable information."
"What a shame I wasn't there." Nick gave a dramatic sigh "I would have gladly given you the answers at half the price."
"Half the price? Not even for free?"
"C'mon, let's be honest here. Where is the business in handing out something for free, when you can sell it for money? Even my so-called 'friends' didn't get any discount."
As they reached the door, Judy suddenly stopped. "Nooo! Oh nooo. Not again!" Judy cried out loud while looking through the glass
Curious, Nick looked inside to see what Judy's problem was, and after spotting a sloth as a receptionist, he smiled. "What is it? Sloth can't be fast?"
"Just… Keep your mouth shut up and don't tell any jokes!" she warned the fox and stepped inside with a forced smile. "Hey! We're from the ZPD. We received a report about a missing student, can you let us through?" Judy rushed through the request, hoping she could skip the annoying small talk.
The sloth slowly looked up from her work, and looked at Judy with bored eyes "Teacher….. I….. D….. Please."
"Ahh, Nono! You misunderstood me. We're police officers." She pointed at her badge to emphasize her statement. "We are here because of a case. A kid is missing."
Without any expression changement, the old lady just slowly opened her mouth and repeated the same sentence "I….. D….. Please"
Judy looked at the ceiling in pain, and muttered: "Are you serious?"
"Step aside darling." Nick chuckled. and brushed aside Judy with two paw waves "I'm sorry about my partner. She didn't have her morning coffee yet and had a really bad day so far. But I bet you know about bad days, Ma'am. I don't think anything's more annoying than dealing with disrespectful, rushing students every day."
Giving a slowly raised smile, the receptionist nodded "You.. Have.. No.. Idea.. How.. Annoying.. It.. is"
"Yeah. Ohh! I actually have a great JOKE about students." He deliberately looked at Judy, who mouthed a 'Don't you dare!' with killing eyes, but it was already too late
"Sure." The receptionist nodded
"Alright. This is a good one. Why was the student's report card all wet?"
"I don't.. Know.. Why was.. the student's.. report card.. all.. wet?"
"Because it was below C level."
Nick gave a howling laugh after his joke. Judy had no idea if the fox found it this funny or just wanted to dance a bit more on her nerves. As much as she wanted to hide her expression, she couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the stupid oneliner too. She patiently waited for the receptionist's laugh to end too.
"I gotta ask. Ma'am do you know Flash?" Nick leaned to the reception desk while keeping eye contact.
"From..D..M..V..?" her bored expression completely changed.
"Yes, Yes. He is the one. We are good friends. Does he still go to the meetings?" he said
"Yes.. He.. Does.."
"Ahh, that trouble maker…" Nick shook his head with a smile. "Can you give my greeting to him? Haven't met with him for a while."
"Sure.. I Will.. mention.. you." The sloth nodded
"Thank you, ma'am! I'll really appreciate it! Oh, and can you let us through? We're from the ZPD and we have some important matters to discuss with the principal."
"Go.. Ahead.. sorry.. for.. the.. inconvenience." She slowly pushed the button, and a quiet buzz was heard from the gate.
"Officer Hopps. Ladies first." Nick said with a smug smile and waited for the rabbit to go inside.
"Trust me, you want to be friends with the sloths if you want things to be done quickly. They can intentionally hold you up if you are rude to them and they wouldn't get punished. The mammal rights institute will definitely help them win any lawsuits. Remember when Wolfard brought in a sloth, saying he held up the investigation?" Nick asked and after receiving an unsure nod from Judy, he continued "Yeah, Bogo was forced to get our big bad wolf off duty for 2 weeks. So lesson to be learned: Don't bring in a sloth for being slow."
"Ways to abuse mammal rights…" Judy shook her head disapprovingly
"Well, what can we do?" Nick asked "So sloth rule no 1. Don't rush them. They know they are slower than the average, no need to remind them that. Don't talk too fast, or too slow. Talking too fast can mean you want to rush them, talking too slow they would think you are making fun of them. So basically just talk to them like you would to any other mammal."
"Oh… So Flash hated me too? I remember that I kinda… Well… I was in a really big hurry."
"Nah, don't worry about that." Nick threw his paws "Flash is an exception. He is a cool guy, who tries his best with every customer, and fun fact: he is actually taking courses on how to be faster."
"Wow. Wait…" Judy furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Nick "Sloths can learn that?"
"I don't think so. But even a sloth can reach a certain 'top' speed, so working on that doesn't hurt. OH, Sloth fact no 2. They LOVE jokes. If you want an icebreaker, just pick a oneliner."
"So... You helped me back then?" The unsure question was heard from Judy,
"No." Nick laughed. "That camel joke was for the sole reason to mess with you. But other than that, it's a nice way to get on their good side."
"Huh… I never knew that. How many other mammal tricks do you know?"
"I know this and that about most species. Wanna hear one from rabbits?" He glanced at Judy with a grin
"I… don't know if I do. No…" Judy quickly shook her head but the question remained inside her head, mocking her and too stubborn to leave "Maybe… Just one."
"You guys usually decide if you should interact with a predator by the first look. So if someone, for example me, wanted to rip off a rabbit with some money, WHICH I would never do by the way…" Hearing that, Judy gave a knowing look towards Nick "But in case I did want to do that, I would need to show the least aggression possible. What's the best way to do it?
"Pretend to be a father?" Judy said
"Bingo! Finnick was a nice business partner regarding that. He melted all hearts. Who would have been so rude to say no to him? Where was I? Oh yes, rabbits. So… You have a kid, top it up with proper body language. No teeth showing, keep the voice down, and avoid straight eye contact, except if it was the rabbit who accosted you on purpose. You guys are one fluffy ball of caution."
"That's not… It's not… It's… huh.. actually true."
"Yeah... I had a lot of rabbit 'clients' before, and they fell into my trap one by one. Oh boy, I hope you didn't record this. That can sound really bad out of context"
"And... What about foxes?" Judy got the idea "Are there some special things?"
"Woah, slow down there!" Nick raised his palm "I'm not going to tell you the key to foxes. That's not going to happen"
"Come on, just for me!"
"Nope." Nick gave the quick and straightforward answer "Plus… you will most likely laugh."
"No! I promise I won't!" Judy wasn't even looking where they were walking. Her stare was fixed on the fox to pull an answer from him
Without looking back at Judy Nick just kept on walking with his trademark grin "You need to earn it. What would you be willing to sacrifice for the good cause?"
"I'll make your paperwork for a week!"
"A week? Hah! That information is priceless! You can't just buy it with 1 week of paperwork…" He suddenly pointed in front of Judy "Also wall."
"What wall?" She asked, but the feeling immediately answered it, as she bumped straight into it. They walked from a big hall to a smaller corridor, and Judy managed to walk straight into the part where the wall closed in.
Nick just kept on walking, and only glanced back to see the results. "That one," He said with a smug grin. He knew this collision could have been avoided but who was he to turn off an opportunity like this?
"Yeah, yeah very funny." Judy rolled her eyes, and hurried next to Nick "But you won't escape this question easily! I... I'll make your paperwork for one month"
"Now we are getting somewhere. But I'd rather have it one year, thank you!"
"No! I'm not going to do your work for a whole year!"
"No info then." He shrugged
"Okay, okay! Maybe… three months?" Judy asked cautiously three months seemed reasonable in her eyes, but her hopes were crossed by Nick's headshake
"Nope. One year."
"Okay, six months but that is my last offer!" Judy finally gave in. There were many other things she'd rather do instead of the fox's paperwork, but curiosity is an annoying companion.
"One year."
"You greedy little…"
"I told you." Nick chuckled. "You can't buy this kind of information. I'm committing treason to the fox community just by making you an offer."
"We are going to get back to this." Judy pointed at Nick and closed their conversation, as they got to the teacher's room. She will get that information in one way or another
After opening in, Judy greeted the teachers "Good morning, I'm officer Judy Hopps, this is my partner Nicholas Wilde. We would like to talk to the form-teacher of Lucy Spotts."
"Lucy Spotts?" A stag asked back. "Her form teacher is currently with a class. Would you like me to inform him?"
"Yes. That would be great, thank you."
"Guess I'm going to go substitute him again." The stag joked to her colleagues and received a few chuckles as he left the room.
"Again?" The confused Judy turned to another teacher.
"Yes. "A panda informed the officer next to her "There were officers here yesterday too, regarding an accident. Crows attacked a student."
"That's horrible! Is the kid okay?"
"Yes, but he received some bad injuries and was in a bad condition when they took him to the hospital. Now it seems he will get better in a few weeks. The headmaster asked for bird sonars years ago, yet we were still here without any. Now after the accident, we got the letter that our request was approved. It's sad that you need an accident in order to get anything done."
Bird sonars have been around Zootopia for years now. The main goal was to keep birds of prey outside, for the sake of smaller mammals. Little Rodentia was the first to get those sonars and with time the little mechanisms got popular everywhere. It could be bought in shops but was also quite costly. The other way to get one of those was with sent requests. Someone reviews that and in case it's needed there, they can get it for free.
"Schools should be a high priority with requests." Judy shook her head.
"Well, what can we do? Everything is about money nowadays. There isn't any business in handing out complex machines for free when you can also sell them for a high price. We've been having bird problems since the school was opened but nothing like this ever happened, so I guess we were on the bottom of the request list."
While waiting they were offered coffee which Judy gladly took. Just as Nick said, she forgot her morning coffee, so right now the hot liquid was lifesaving. It was better than the ones they can get from the machine back at the station. Not long later a bison arrived and headed towards the duo.
"Good morning." He nodded as a greeting gesture. "How may I help you, officer?"
"You must be the form teacher of Lucy," Judy said
"Yes. What happened to her?" He furrowed his eyebrows and witched his stare between the fox and the rabbit.
"She is missing, sir. When was the last time you saw her?" Judy said
"Yesterday morning. We haven't had a lesson with the class since."
"Was she nervous?"
The bison chuckled with crossed arms. "The whole class was. We had an unannounced quick test. But aside from that, I don't think so. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary."
Nick suddenly took over the questioning once again "Do you know anyone called 'Terrence'?
"Terrence?" The teacher looked at Nick. "No. Maybe in another class, but I don't know anything about any Terrence."
Judy asked again. "What kind of student is she?"
"One that doesn't make any trouble. She is a good learner and a good kid. Sometimes she misses classes but always tries to keep up with the topics."
"Misses classes?" Nick asked back "How frequently does she do that?"
"Happened once or twice but she always managed to explain why she was away. The last one was during a history lesson, 3 days ago. She said she wasn't feeling well."
"Can you give us her lesson table?" Nick gave the request. "We can ask each teacher one by one to see if she finished yesterday or hurried off sooner. We could get a good picture about when she left."
"You don't need the table." The teacher quickly shook his head. "Every student has a pass card. We can see the exact time they arrive and leave."
"Really? Thank you!" Judy said enthusiastically. "That would be a huge help."
"You can get the information from our receptionist."
"Oh…" Suddenly the rabbit wasn't that eager to get the information. Her ears ducked down and looked at Nick. "Umm... could you go for it?"
"So you don't want to raise your fame with the sloths?"
"I'm gonna let you do the honors."
They were about to leave when Nick suddenly stopped in his track. Judy did the same but didn't know what was the holdup. "Is Lucy familiar with any encryption methods?" Nick turned back to the teacher.
"Encrypting? Oh! Yes, she was a really big fan of vigenère cipher. It was mentioned in class and she was just obsessed with that after."
Nick took a meaningful look towards Judy, and gave his next question "And… how exactly does that work?"
"Well. It's like a… multiplying table for letters. You need a keyword and the text you want to hide. Take the first letter of your keyword, the first letter of your text, look at the correct row and column and you will get a result. This method just repeats with the second, third letters and so on."
"Is it possible to decode without… the keyword?" Nick asked
"Well, there are some methods, but that requires serious probability analysis. I'd say it's nearly impossible to solve that without having the chosen cipher. I'd say computers have no problem decoding it"
"Yeah, that's what I thought…" Nick sighed. At least now they had an idea on how to look at the diary. All they need now is the proper word. "Thank you for your help."
"You're welcome. If I'm needed just let me know. I think the kids are more than happy to have a few minutes cut off from the lessons."
Judy smiled. "I have no doubt, sir. Come on partner, we have a lead to follow."