Judy's teeth chirred nervously as she drove back to the Maus Haus. Nick sat beside her, his thumbs clicking against this phone's screen.
"Okay, message away," he declared as he lowered his work phone. He gave Judy's shoulder a gentle pat. "I'm not saying don't worry, but Abby's gone through her fair share of bad dates. I don't think she'd be so starstruck she'd put herself in a dangerous situation that might give him an opportunity to hurt her."
Judy scoffed. "Did any of her 'bad dates' ever turn out to be a serial killer?"
Nick hummed in thought. "Well, Norm was a special kind of something and I wouldn't be surprised if his apartment was decorated in scavenged ball-point pens."
"Not helping, Nick." Judy pumped the brake less than smoothly and the car lurched at a red light. She took a deep breath and relaxed the vice grip she didn't realize she had on the steering wheel. "If something happens-"
"It won't."
"If something happens," she repeated, firmer, "I don't know how I'll live with myself."
Nick pressed his lips into a thin line and stared down at the still unanswered text. "Positive thoughts. We either rule him out or confirm his involvement. Once Abby texts back we'll know what our next move is."
"What if she doesn't?"
His frown deepened. "We'll still know what our next move is."
The remainder of the drive to the studio was silent. They pulled up and were climbing out when Judy spotted something down the adjoining alley.
"That's a big truck for this neighborhood, isn't it?" she said to Nick, and pointed at the wide grill she was staring daggers at.
Nick froze mid-step, body angled toward the door of the gallery and head craned to see what had caught Judy's eye. His paw gripped the cell phone it was still holding.
"Sure could use that text back any time now, Abby…"
"Too coincidental not to check out." Judy waved him toward the gallery and hovered her paw over her sidearm. "Divide and conquer. It'll take less time. Meet back here when you're done."
Nick frowned for a moment, then nodded. Trusting Judy came second nature after their years on the force. "I'll start the ball rolling with Dolly and see if she's willing to let us into John's studio without a warrant."
Judy gave a thumbs up and put out her fist to him. "Turn the charm up to eleven."
He bumped it. "Twelve."
Nick watched Judy hurry down the alley and out of sight before turning his attention back to the gallery entrance. Relax Nick; it's not like the killer is here right now. He took a centering breath before heading inside. As soon as he opened the door, his nose was assaulted by the scent of turpentine.
-cough- "Miss Grainger? Are you in here? Do you need assistance?" His ears tracked back and forth as he did his best to not breathe through his nose. He could taste the chemical scent; it made his throat burn.
"Oh, Detective!" Nick heaved a sigh of relief at Dolly's cheery voice. She came into view wearing dish gloves with a dust mask perched on her head. "I'm so sorry, please excuse my appearance. I didn't realize you would be here this soon."
"Sorry to put upon you like this, but we are in something of a hurry," he said and swallowed hard. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes, yes, of course. I realize it smells awful right now. Again, my apologies. I was hoping to air this out before you came. Here, let me just…" She hurried away quickly to her desk area and reached behind it. When her paw came out again it had a small water bottle in it. Dolly hurried back to him, opening it as she did and thrust it into his paw. "You look absolutely parched. Some water will help."
The caustic smell didn't exactly wash down with the tentative sip he was compelled to take, but it did help soothe the burning in his throat. "Thank you, it does."
"Oh, good." She beamed up at him and motioned him to step further inside. She looked behind him and asked, "Where is your lovely partner this afternoon?"
"Detective Hopps will be here shortly, I hope." He motioned toward the back of the gallery. "I won't waste your time. May I have a quick look around Mr. Thimbul's work area?"
"Oh, certainly!" She all but skipped past him and he followed in her enthusiastic wake. "As long as you don't mind stepping around a bit of a mess."
"Mess?"
She indicated the air generally. "Yes, that's unfortunately what I was trying to clear up when you arrived. John left in a terrible rush earlier after he couldn't find one of his painting tools. He knocked over a pot of paint-thinner on his way out."
"One of..." Nick wobbled slightly, "...one of his tools?"
The biting scent in the air notwithstanding, some additional layer of wrongness was causing the fur on his neck to raise. Judy was close by, and Abby was still unaccounted for, so he gave his head a hard shake to focus on trying to pull as much detail as possible from the curator now staring up at him.
"You don't look so good Detective. Why don't you sit down?" Dolly smiled serenely and gestured to a chair. She continued as Nick fumbled into the seat. "Yes, he couldn't find one of his palette knives as he was working on his latest piece. He was quite upset."
-baBloop-
"A... a palette knife." His eyes flickered uncertainly, as he tried to focus through the growing haze, now attempting to pull out his phone for the text he'd been waiting for as he justified what she'd just said. "It wouldn't happen to be a Mont Marten steel canvas scraper, would it?"
"Yes. It would."
The words came at him in a tone that turned his blood cold. He finally caught a clear glimpse of the return text from Abby, tunnel visioning as darkness creeped all around her words.
I'm fine here. What's wrong?
He tried to send a warning text, to Abby, to Judy, to anyone, but his thumb simply slid aimlessly over the keypad before brushing the send key. "Funny. Our break was a Mont Marten steel canvas scraper platta… palalatte..." He paused to stretch his mouth and jaw to pronounce the word, shook his head hard again to wrest just a few more seconds of consciousness back. "I gotta know who your supplier is; this is top shelf stuff." He gave an appreciative whistle before the phone clattered to the ground.
...
Judy kept her steps quick and light, drawing her sidearm only once she was out of view of the avenue. She came around the front grill slowly, using her small stature to crouch low between the vacant building opposite the gallery and the side of the truck. There was enough clearance she could easily duck under it if she wanted to. Looking up, she could see the side of the truck was blank, a stereotypical non-descript vehicle with no discernible distinguishable characteristics like business logos or images.
She did decide to crouch underneath the chassis as she approached the rear, just to get a look at the insides of the back tires. Nothing out of the ordinary yet. She drew her sidearm as she inched slowly around between the mudflap and the back tire, swept it in front of her as she came around the back fully. No one there but her.
Judy kept her weapon out and aimed it up at the back of the truck. The roll up door was down and too high up for her to easily reach. She didn't exactly have probable cause yet to search the vehicle even if she did, of course… until she glanced down at the back right rear tire tread. A jagged misshapen patch just slightly off center…
She grabbed up her radio as her heartbeat began to rev and ducked back behind the mudflap. "Dispatch, this is Detective Hopps requesting immediate assistance."
At your service, Detective, came Clawhauser's voice, slightly encumbered by what Judy imagined was his typical mid-afternoon snack of strawberry glazed with sprinkles. What can I help you with?
"I need a plate run ASAP. Registration owner and address." She stared at the building beside her. "And also a property inquiry, owner of a vacant location."
Ready. Go ahead.
Judy supplied the address first, and then peeked back around the mudflap to read off the plate number. Clawhauser gave a terse, Stand by, and the radio went silent.
Judy steadied her breath and cast a glance at the gallery. Was Nick making good progress? If they were quick enough would they still have a chance to find Abby and get this vehicle to impound for forensics? How long would she have to wait…?
Detective, lot is listed as 'in escrow', but the vehicle has a commercial registration under Maus Haus Gallery.
Judy tensed as her fears started to well up about her opinion of John. Then she paused and took a centering breath. Follow the evidence, don't try to make it follow you, came the first piece of advice her detective Trainer had given her. "Is there a name as to who owns the title, or is it exclusively listed under the Gallery?"
The vehicle is registered under the business, but the individual owner of the vehicle per the title is listed as one Dolly C. Grainger.
Her nose twitched. All the fur on her neck stood pin straight, it felt like she'd stuck her finger in an electrical outlet. All the blood rushing to her ears almost made her miss Clawhauser's next words as she backed herself out of the truck undercarriage.
Uni's are about fifteen minutes out. How copy?
"Send back up to the Maus Haus Gallery address now," she said, zipping out from under the grill. "Possible 10-999!"
I have units on their way to your location. ETA now ten minutes given current traffic conditions. Hold your position until they arrive.
"10-4," was what Judy said to Clawhauser, but Like hell I will was what she said to herself. She was already moving for the loading door at the rear of the Gallery, which was visible from the truck as the radio fell back to silence. She pressed herself against the wall, straining her ears to hear over her thunderous heartbeat. Firearm ready, she turned into the doorway of the loading dock and slipped inside.
The smell hit her first. Not two steps into the big back studio, it felt like she'd run into a wall of noxious fumes. She could only imagine how affected Nick must have been.
Dumb bunny, she railed at herself, sending your partner in here alone! She perked her ears for any hint of either a rodent or a fox as every detail and conversation from the case came rushing through her head: the intimate knowledge of the subject art, the various victims whom John had either been cordial or indifferent to, but who an outsider might have seen as a threat. So happy to help you, Detectives! Of course she was, only too happy to lead them both around by the nose! And now Nick…
Judy swallowed hard, both to try and ease the pain in her throat and keep her voice in check. She couldn't find his scent in what she finally decided must be the smell of turpentine, and neither could she smell the gallery's owner. She put her elbow to her nose in an effort to mitigate the assault on it.
-baBloop-
Judy's ears snapped to the sound of Nick's obnoxious text notification. Her head swiveled around until she saw a flash of black and red fur. Her focus zeroed in on that tiny little glimmer of hope and she bolted toward it. She holstered her weapon as she scampered over to him. His phone on the floor next to the chair he was slumped in was still lit from whatever notification it was sent. She strained all her senses, listening for breath, looking for the slightest twitch of movement from him, she had no attention to spare for anything else. She was nearly to him when…
WHAM!
Judy slid across the tile, a pitched squeak echoing around the open space as she hit the wall below one of the larger centerpiece paintings.
"Well, goodness me," came a strained, yet cheery, voice. "I didn't expect you for a while yet. Already finished corrupting my John, or did he catch wise and ditch you?"
The room swam. Staring up from the rocking floor, the image of Dolly perched on top of a motorized scissor-lift blurred and refocused in and out. She made some oblique movements with the controls and it dipped toward the floor at her command. She left her perch daintily, like she was descending a staircase on her way to a banquet, and hefted a thin wrench up behind her head as she loomed over Judy. The rabbit only had the wherewithal left to try and back away from her advance, but the wall behind her was in the way.
"Now now, don't go anywhere. One shouldn't run from an opportunity to be part of something magnificent, wouldn't you agree?"
There was a dull flash of gray that cut across her vision as the wrench fell like a guillotine. That was the last thing Judy saw before the inky blackness flooded in.