Chapter 13: Absence and Resolve - Part 2

Nick pushed his way through the center revolving doors of the main entrance into the ZPD headquarters lobby, wearing his spare uniform, which had been freshly ironed to a crisp appearance. It was a quiet morning, with minimal hustle and bustle from the station's usual chaotic atmosphere.

Taking a sip of his third Snarlbucks coffee, his thoughts bounced back to last night's conversation with Judy. For a fleeting moment, he stumbled at the very end, the walls were down, and he let slip a glimpse of his true feelings. Even if the words might have seemed harmless, his tone had indicated otherwise.

Perhaps, he was overthinking it all, but it was enough to cause him to become restless for the remainder of the night, his natural nocturnal tendencies notwithstanding. Nick wasn't sure what he was going to do if Judy brought it up. The fox officer's thoughts were interrupted by an overly jovial squeal as Clawhauser noticed his entrance.

"Oh em goodness! Nick! I'm so happy you're back!" Clawhauser joyfully exclaimed, eagerly standing at attention with both paws on his circular desk.

"Heya, Claws. How's your morning, big guy?" Nick lifted the styrofoam cup and saluted with two fingers while glancing at the Gazelle snowglobe on Clawhauser's desk, now adorned with an autograph from the pop-star herself.

"It's been so great! Gazelle just sent her biggest fans a preview of her latest music video! I've already watched it ten times. You have to see it!" the cheetah gleefully answered, unable to contain his excitement.

"Glad to hear it, buddy." Nick smiled as he took another sip. "I'll take a raincheck and watch it later."

Clawhauser regained some self control as he leaned over the counter, his expression becoming more attentive. "So, you're okay now? The skunk odor is all gone?"

"All gone. One hundred percent."

"That's wonderful!" Clawhauser said with glowing relief. "Oh! Have you heard from Judy, yet?"

That question made Nick freeze in place for a split second. He did his best to form his usual smirk before replying.

"Yup!" Nick answered quickly. "She's great. You're great! Everybody's great! I'll let her know you said hi. Better get in the bullpen before the Chief blows a gasket. See ya, Claws!"

Clawhauser looked slightly confused, watching Nick hightail it away, as he peeked at the clock on his desk. It was still eighteen minutes till roll call. "Bye, Nick." he quietly waved at the rapidly departing fox.

Another surprise awaited Nick as he sauntered into the bullpen. All eyes turned to see the returning skunk parade hero and everyone began to cheer, whistle, roar, howl, toot, or clap upon his entrance.

Feeling an odd mix of mild embarrassment but nevertheless loving the attention, Nick grinned at his fellow officers, placing a paw on his chest and entertained a few small bows. "Too kind, too kind! Appreciate it fellas. I'm here till Thursday."

Once again, he jumped into his and Judy's shared seat and instinctively slid over to one side, placing his half empty coffee in front of him. Fangmeyer swung around the front row and stood in front of Nick to greet him.

"Glad to have you back, fusty fox." she said while ruffling the fur on the top of Nick's head.

"Glad to be back, drippy tiger," he rebuked, doing his best to try and duck away from her paw. After finally swatting her larger paw away, Nick patted his head fur back down. "Thanks for doing my case report, Steph."

"Least I could do, Nick." the tigress smiled.

Wolfard gave an amused look from a few rows back at the playful ribbing. "Careful, Fangmeyer. You don't want to make Hopps jealous," he teased them.

Fangmeyer chuckled and crossed her arms. "It's not like I'm trying to steal him. I know better than that. I've seen Judy angry!"

The entire room snickered. Nick felt a little heated at the implications. Before he could make a snarky comment in his defense, Chief Bogo entered the room earlier than usual.

Noticing the small group of officers gathered at the front row, he pointed with a sweep of his arm. "Alright. Break it up. Get back to your seats."

The bullpen quieted down and everyone returned to their usual spots. Bogo actually peered down at Nick for a moment, causing Nick to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Looks like our fox is back with us," he gestured to Nick before frowning. "Who cares?"

"And here I thought we had something special after the parade, Sir." Nick snarked with half lidded eyes and mockingly clasped his paws together under his chin.

The room once again erupted into laughter.

"Shut it, Wilde!" Bogo glared. "Unless you want to be on parking duty till Hopps returns after your next assignment."

As the room's chatter died down, Nick raised a curious brow at Bogo's statement.

The cape buffalo donned his glasses and raised his clipboard to issue everyone's orders for the day. "Assignments. Officers McHorn, Rhinowitz, Trunkaby… Tundratown SWAT."

The three largest mammals stood and exited the room towards the armory.

"Officers Wolfard, Grizzoli, Delgato… your teams will be assisting the VICE unit today."

The two timberwolves and lion stood and nodded at their orders.

"Officers Fangmeyer, Snarlov, Higgins… you three will be headed to Outback Island. We have increased reports of illegal kangaroo kickboxing rings. Find them and shut them down."

The tigress, polar bear, and hippo stood and proceeded to move towards the exit. Fangmeyer took the case folder from the Chief's extended hoof as she marched by.

Finally, Bogo's unamused eyes settled on his remaining officer, who sat there looking back with his usual smug grin.

"Wilde. With Hopps gone, you are my smallest officer. We have received reports of entire buildings disappearing in Little Rodentia. I need you to find out what happened and find whoever is responsible. Dismissed."

Nick hopped out of his seat and approached the case folder waiting for him.

The fox began a quip as he grabbed the case file. "So Chief, gotta send the fox into the ro—"

"Enough, Wilde. Get your tail over there and find those missing homes," the Chief ordered before exiting through the back door and closing it.

"Yes, Sir!" Nick said with a lazy salute as he looked down at his new assignment.

Making his way to his and Judy's shared desk, Nick found himself staring at one last surprise for the morning. There was a series of cards sprinkled over his messier half, along with a big bottle of cologne, sporting a big pink ribbon around it, and a curious fancy looking bag of treats.

Picking up the cologne bottle, he turned it over in his paws. Someone drew a crude picture of a fox with stinky lines and a heart over the label using a magic marker.

"Very funny fellas! Trying to tell me something?" he chuckled out loud to no one in particular with a smirk on his snout. Although he inadvertently sniffed himself just to make sure.

One by one, Nick read through the welcome back cards left by his fellow Precinct One Officers, until he got to the last card that was attached to the hefty bag and flipped it open.

"Hey Nick! We heard what happened and got you some candies we think you'll like. Let us know if you need anything. Hope to see you and Judy again soon. Love, Val and Nose."

Inspecting the bag, the cheerful logo read 'Sinopa's Sweet Tooth Shoppe'. The sweets were from Valerie's family candy store. The fox's mouth pursed in amazement. He had long forgotten what it was like to have such constant kindness and support from other mammals until he met Judy and reconnected with his Mom. And now there was a whole group of mammals who cared about his well-being and kept him in their thoughts. Like a second family. A true pack. Nick couldn't help but smile so hard, his cheeks began to hurt.

After making a mental note to thank everyone later, he gently put all of the gifts aside and plopped the case file onto his desk and opened it. With a rather atypical serious expression, Nick began to carefully read the details.

It seemed several rodent apartment building managers or landlords reported being approached by different building code inspectors or pest control contractors with official looking city documents demanding that the residents vacate the buildings for inspection or fumigation. Afterwards, once the residents were cleared, each building was reported completely gone the following morning with no way to find or contact the original document issuing mammal.

Nick frowned, ears flattening, as he turned the pages to look at the crime scene photos of the empty lots. Several rodent families could be seen in the background, crying over their lost homes and possessions. The fox narrowed his eyes. He spied Judy's notepad and carrot pen neatly set aside on her very orderly half of their desk. Standing with determination, he swiped the two items, chugged the rest of his coffee, quickly jotted down the information he needed, and strolled towards the vehicle lot. He was going to get to the bottom of this.

Jumping into Z-240, Nick adjusted the seat and steering column, tossed the notepad and pen into the passenger seat, and playfully patted the dashboard.

"Well, Hareraiser, let's go catch ourselves a homewrecker," he smiled.

Zootopia's first fox officer hit the ignition, flicked his aviators on, and merged into traffic, making his way down the main town center avenue towards Little Rodentia.


Driving past his own apartment building, Nick drove west on Walnut Street until he turned south to park on the closest cross streets adjacent to the small rodent district. He grabbed the notepad and carrot pen, proceeding on foot, through the south side of the outer lush green park. It was full of trees, benches, gravel pathways, and a small series of ponds that encased the entire district in a natural barrier from the rest of Vole Gardens within Savanna Central. The fox police officer walked past the peace statue on the main concrete path that lead to the southeast facing clock tower entrance.

Naturally, being too large to fit through the main rodent entry, Nick sauntered along the metallic decorative fence until he came to a special entryway reserved for authorized larger mammals such as himself. Once inside, he double checked the closest address, and entered the coordinates on his phone. The towering fox carefully made his way along the outer edge. Several small rodents meekly eyed the unusual intruder as he passed by. Despite being in uniform, Nick tried to assuage their fears by lifting his aviators to his head, and doing his best to appear friendly and nonthreatening.

The fox officer arrived at the nearest crime scene. Where once stood a five story rodent apartment building, now remained an empty dusty square lot. Kneeling down, he sniffed the area, there was nothing unusual. The air was filled with very faint traces of cheese and peanuts. Next, he reached into his utility belt, grabbed a magnifying glass, and dusted for pawprints, while looking for any signs of claw marks or fur. Unfortunately there was none.

Deciding to look around the adjacent buildings, Nick checked for additional clues and also questioned a few nearby residents to see if they had heard or seen anything on the night of the crime. No such luck. He knew rodents usually needed twelve hours of sleep, and with Little Rodentia's unique curfew times, it gave the would be thief plenty of time for his or her heist.

Finally, Nick took in the immediate surroundings. He noticed that the building was located very close to the main fence, along the outermost street. Looking beyond the enclosure, the nearby main street cameras were located too far away to provide any possible direct video evidence. Regardless, he pinned a few markers on his Zoogle Maps app to cross check the traffic cameras later.

Nick flipped through his notes and found the new contact information and address for one, Vince Mouzholt, who was the building manager for this location. He was now staying with his mother down the street. Making his way to the residential address, Nick found the shorter unit, kneeled down, and tapped on the door with his nail.

"Good morning. This is the ZPD," the fox greeted aloud.

An older mouse, dressed in a simple green blouse jacket and dress with a walking cane, opened the door. She eyed the police officer in front of her with a curious stare.

"Can I help you?" she squeaked.

The fox put on his best smile before answering. "Hello, ma'am. My name is Officer Nicholas Wilde. Do you know a Vincent Mouzholt? Our records say he is currently staying at this address."

"Oh, great. What has he done now?" she replied while crossing her arms.

Maintaining his friendly expression, Nick answered. "Nothing ma'am. I just need to ask him a few questions about a case. My report says he was the building manager for block #A113 on Havarti Avenue."

Before the elderly mouse could reply, a gruff voice came booming from the interior.

"Ma! Where's the cheese loaf!?"

The mouse sighed, as she adjusted her tiny spectacles, and yelled back inside. "It's not done yet Vince! Get your tail out here. There's a cop who wants to speak with you!"

"What!? Tell him I'm not here!"

"He can hear you, you big idiot! Now get out here this instant!" she ordered with a shake of her cane.

A large round mouse, wearing a greasy robe and cozy slippers with an awful case of bed fur, lumbered to the doorway. He suspiciously eyed Nick up and down.

"Mr. Vincent Mouzholt, I presume?" Nick greeted.

"That's me. What can I do you for, Officer? I already talked to the cops the other day when I filed a report," he replied and put his paws into his robe pockets.

"Sir, I'm here to continue the investigation about your missing apartment building. Can you tell me what happened exactly?"

Seeing that Nick was genuinely interested in the crime, Vince appeared to relax, and looked him in the eye.

"Coupla days ago, some gerbil in a hard hat shows up at my office, waving around papers, demanding that I gotta empty out the building for a special building inspection," Vince said while taking out his paw to gesture wildly. "Told me if I didn't do it, I'd be fined by the city. I looked at the papers. They seemed legit. So, I signed them and had all my residents vacate for the day. When I came around the next afternoon to see how things were going… the whole damn building was gone."

Nick scribbled the notes on Judy's pad with the carrot pen. "Did you get this mammal's name?"

"Papers said the name was Jimmy? Johnson? Maybe Jackson? I don't friggin remember. It was on the docs and I left them in the cheezin desk in my office, which was inside the building."

"Can you describe this gerbil for me, sir?" Nick asked, pen at the ready.

"Sure, that guy was one fugly mofo. Face only a mother could love. Big lopsided buck teeth, lazy eye, nerdy glasses, brown fur… could stand to lose a few ounces," Vince spat. "Oh, and he had this huge gold watch. Probably compensating for something."

Raising an eyebrow, Nick glanced back at Vince for a second. It was amusing to hear him be so shallow about this gerbil's looks, considering his own uncouth appearance. Perhaps Vince didn't own a mirror. Naturally, Nick kept these thoughts to himself as he continued to jot down the description.

"Did anyone else see this gerbil or witness the possible theft, sir?" Nick inquired.

"Not that I know. No one was around but me."

"Do you have a picture of the building?"

"Nah. I don't advertise. Rooms always in high demand round here. I had a real keen sense to buy that building. Place basically sold itself!"

Looking like this lead wasn't going to go any further, Nick finished his note taking, put the pad away, and took out a mouse sized contact card.

"Thank you, for your time, sir and ma'am. Here is my contact information. Please, let me know if you hear of anything else," he smiled while carefully extending the tiny card to Vince.

"Yeah. Sure," Vince puffed while stuffing the card into his robe pocket.

"Goodbye, Officer." the other mouse said warmly.

"Have a good day, bye now." Nick said as he stood back up and headed out.

The fox's ears perked as he heard Vince shouting in the distance.

"Ma! The cheese loaf!"

"Shut the front door, Vince!"

Nick chuckled to himself as he punched in the address for his next destination.

The second address proved to provide no additional physical evidence or clues. There was the same hint of peanuts mixed in with usual mouse and cheese scents. Nick took note of the location again and sauntered over to the building owner's secondary residential address.

The second building owner was a friendly middle aged lemming. She was quite chirpy and cooperative, happily answering all of Nick's questions. Her story was similar to Vince's, as she informed Nick that a chipmunk in a white pest control suit had served her the documents declaring the building needed immediate attention and to vacate all the residents from the premises. Upon, returning the next day, it was gone. Luckily, this landlord actually kept some pictures of her building and shared a photo with Nick. He took the clue and renewed his inquiry.

"Miss Lemmington, can you describe this chipmunk to me?"

"I'm sorry, Officer Wilde, he kept most of his face covered with his work outfit and a blue cap. I just remember that he had dark eyes and a twitchy nose," she replied sadly.

"It's okay, ma'am. Do you have these documents with you?" Nick asked hoping for a piece of evidence.

Miss Lemmington sighed. "I mainly stayed in the building with the tenants and left them at the apartment."

"I see," Nick said. He did his best to hide his mild disappointment.

"Oh! I do remember that there was an official seal on the last page. A paw print with a skyline. I've seen it before since I own a few properties. I have a keen sense for real estate," she happily supplied.

Jotting down this new piece of information, Nick smiled at the little rodent. "Thank you, ma'am. This is actually quite helpful. I'll do my best to get your home back."

"Thank you, Officer. Good luck to you!"

The fox left his contact info with Miss Lemmington and waved goodbye. Punching in the next scene's coordinates into his phone, Nick carefully treaded over to the last crime scene. The similarities matched the previous two locations. After surveying the area and noting the address, Nick looked at his final destination. He raised his brow in amusement when his phone pointed him to an old familiar location.

"Oh, boy…" he whispered to himself as he stared at the GPS marker in Zoogle Maps.

After a short trek down Brie Avenue, the fox officer's former place of employment came into view. Located at the corner of a T-intersection, a tall red pole signaled the location of Chez Cheez. The restaurant's name was written on a giant orange cheese shaped sign with a cheese cracker decoration at its base. The fancy fast food joint was modeled after a three story high block of cheese with the main entrance located inside of the cut wedge design.

Nick rounded the tiny parking lot, being careful not to step on any rodent vehicles, and tip-toed up to the drive-through window. A young mouse employee, dressed in a goofy orange and yellow striped vest, peeked outside, only to find himself staring at the face of a large smiling predator.

"Uh… can I like… help you?" the trepid teenager asked.

"Hello, my good sir. What's your name?"

"Um… it's Matthew," came the meek reply.

"Matt, my mammal, is your boss working today? I have a few questions for..."

The officer didn't get to finish his question when a deep voice interrupted him.

"Well, color me dumbfounded, if it ain't Nick Wilde, all grown up. I thought I recognized you coming down the street."

Nick turned his head. Walking towards him from the main entrance was a short, round, gray furred mouse, with bushy eyebrows hovering over his beady orange eyes. A tiny mustache hugged his seedy salesman smile. He was also wearing an orange striped vest and pants, an orange top hat and bowtie, with a green vest. This chubby rodent was a living embodiment of the restaurant.

"A little early for Zoolloween." he said, making direct eye contact with Nick. "Who'd ya steal the uniform from?"

"Chez." Nick greeted back with a smirk. "I'd ask who'd you steal your latest cheese recipe from, but that's not why I'm here."

The round mouse heartily laughed for a moment. "Hah. Some things never change... do they, Wilde?"

"Sure don't. Some things are just timeless," the fox quipped.

Chez grew a bit less enthusiastic and gestured rudely. "So, if you ain't here to order something, out with it already. What do ya want?"

Ignoring the attitude, Nick smugly grinned and replied in his most professional voice. "Well, Mr. Verminoff, I'm here to investigate your missing apartment building."

"Yeah? Well, tell them to send a real cop," Chez spat.

The fox officer kept his composure at the remark, however his ears tipped back by just a fraction. Internally, he cringed, remembering how he hadn't taken Judy seriously when they first met and being uncooperative during her investigation. Ironically, now finding himself in those same shoes, Nick frowned more at the thought of his old behavior, rather than the pompous rodent in front of him.

"Mr. Verminoff, I am a real cop," the fox said, bringing attention to his shiny badge while tapping it with a nail. "This is serious, sir."

"I'm serious too. I ain't talking to you, Wilde. Get off my property."

"Chez, I'm trying to help you. I could consider this obstruction of justice towards this investigation," Nick supplied with a rather serious tone.

Their agitated voices caught the attention of a small gathering crowd of passersby and restaurant patrons, who were now eagerly watching the confrontation.

"I know my rights, Officer." he replied, stressing the last word in contempt.

"Sir, I could come back with a subpoena. But I don't think either of us wants that," Nick pointed out.

"Then I'll call my lawyer," Chez shot back with crossed arms.

Before Nick could reply, a female voice chimed in from behind him. "Chez, what's going on?"

Both Nick and Chez turned to see a petite brown mouse with teal eyes, wearing a white collared dress shirt with a pinned dark tie and pants, eyeing the two mammals.

"It's nothing, Donna. Just an old acquaintance who's about to be on his way," Chez injected, looking right back at Nick with glaring eyes.

Straightening up for a moment, Nick glanced at the growing crowd of rodents, whose eyes bounced back and forth from the mouse in orange to the fox in blue. His lips curled up. If he couldn't get Chez to cooperate directly, then perhaps a little nudging from the other mice might suffice. It was time to be a fox of the people.

"Actually, ma'am…" Nick began in a very friendly demeanor, making sure his smooth voice carried to the entire block. "Mr. Verminoff here, is refusing to help with my investigation. You see, there's been several reported stolen apartment buildings, including one managed by Mr. Verminoff himself, at Carmody Road..."

Nick made an exaggerated gesture with his right paw towards Chez, causing all of the onlookers to look directly at him. Donna and the rest of the mice blinked at the shifty orange clothed mouse.

The fox, using woeful theatrics, shifted his tone to one of sorrow, making a pitiful face, ears down, and placed a paw over his chest, emphasizing his badge. "But, I need his information to help me find it…"

Murmurs and whispers spread among the crowd, and all eyes returned to Chez again, who visibly fidgeted under their judging gaze.

"Wait! Is this true, Chez?" Donna pointed an angry finger at her landlord. "That was my home too!"

"Yeah, I have a friend who's staying with me that lived in one of those buildings!" a random citizen squeaked.

"I saw that fox on the news! He stopped that runaway float! You should be helping him!"

Now the small chattering mob turned against the restaurant owner, who was wishing he could just hide under his hat and disappear. This could be bad for his reputation and business. He glared at his former employee. Nick just grinned back.

"Fine! Fine!" Chez huffed in annoyance. "What do you need from me?"

With a renewed smirk of extreme satisfaction, Nick took out the pad and pen at the ready.

"Did someone deliver to you documents demanding that you vacate the building? A gerbil or a chipmunk?"

"Yeah, but it was some hyperactive shrew in overalls and a hard hat. Said his name was Jake. Came over waving papers in my face and telling me I needed to get my residents out pronto." Chez spoke, adamantly acting out the scene. "I didn't like it, but I didn't want any trouble either. I got a real keen sense about these things. So, I gave everyone notice and got them out. Next day, I got a call here from one of my tenants screaming into the phone that the whole building was gone."

Yes. Real keen. Why did everyone keep using that word today Nick thought to himself.

Considering his luck so far, Nick frowned, and asked the next important question. "And those documents... do you have them?"

"Yeah, I got em. They're here in my safe," Chez said, pointing a thumb towards the restaurant.

A happy smile formed on Nick's snout. "Sir, I'm going to need those documents for evidence."

Glancing at the crowd, Chez sighed, gestured one moment and sulked over to his office inside the restaurant. After a few minutes, he returned with the papers in paw.

"Here," he said, handing over the papers with disdain. "Dunno what use they're gonna be to you. I tried calling that number and it just went to some insurance office down the street. Borough Farm or whatever. They never even heard of a Jake working there."

"Is there anything else you can think of? Any other witnesses? Anyone see where this shrew went? How about a photo of your building?"

"That's all I got, Wilde. You can grab a pic from the internet or something. Now, unless you gonna order a meal, I have a business to run." Chez declared while lifting his hat at Nick to reveal his rather amusing bright orange tuft of hair before heading back inside, not caring or waiting for a reply from the police officer.

Putting the tiny papers away into an evidence bag, Nick turned to the small female mouse who assisted him. "Donna, right? Thank you for your help. Really appreciate it."

"Of course, Officer. I know what it's like to deal with Chez. He ain't a bad guy. He's letting his old tenants come eat for eighty percent off till we get our homes back."

"Well, ain't that generous… wouldn't want to break the lemming bank there." Nick drawled. "You can just call me Nick."

"Okay, Nick." Donna smiled. "You mentioned there was a gerbil involved at one of the other apartments?"

"That's right."

"I met this gerbil at The Big Donut a week ago. Maybe he might know who you're looking for?"

"Really?" Nick said as his ears perked at the possibility of another lead.

"Sure. I'll call him and have him meet us at the shop," Donna offered.

"Thank you." Nick smiled before considering a quick break. "Actually, let's take a snack for the road. It's on me."

"I won't say no to a Squeaky Burger with Cheese Galore!" she chirped with clasped paws and a swish of her tail.

"Then let's make that two," Nick said as he bent back down to the timid teenage mouse at the window. "Say, Matt… I'd like to place an order. Two Squeaky Burgers with Cheese Galore to go, please."

"That'll be sixteen bucks," Matt stated.

"Eight bucks a burger!?" Nick questioned incredulously while reaching for his wallet. "That's highway robbery."

The fox had made sure to say it loud enough as he saw Chez walk by inside the restaurant. His ex-boss heard Nick and casually flipped him off with a smile.

"Stay classy, Chez." Nick drawled before handing over his cash. "By the way Matt, does Chez ever make you clean the cheese filters?"

"Sometimes…" Matt replied with an apprehensive tone.

"Boy, do I have a tip for you about those then…" Nick began with a wicked grin.

Several minutes later, both fox and mouse continued on their way. After simply chomping the burger in one bite, Nick offered Donna a ride on his shoulder, as she happily ate her meal, guiding Nick over to the famous The Big Donut shop located in the heart of Little Rodentia.

The pair arrived at the shop early and waited. Nick kept to the sidewalk on the street corner and tried not to interfere with the vehicle and foot traffic. His gaze eventually landed on the large chocolate frosted donut sign in front of him, adorning the small historic pink roofed bakery, that was built in the middle of the central roundabout.

He remembered Judy sharing the story of how she apprehended Duke Weaselton at this very spot. What a tale of events that turned out to be since she saved Fru Fru's life during the chase, which in turn, later saved their lives from being iced by Mr. Big. Nick smiled with amusement that the shifty weasel was her very first arrest. Part of him wished he could have seen it.

His musings were interrupted by the sound of his name.

"Nick? Nick? Officer Wilde!"

"Oh. Sorry, Donna. I got lost in thought," he said, glancing over to the little rodent, still sitting on his shoulder.

"It's okay. I get distracted at work all the time thinking about this guy," Donna gestured with her paw. "The one we're about to meet. He's such a dreamboat!"

Her excitement made the fox smile. "Yeah, I can see how that might keep you from doing your job."

"You have someone like that too?"

"Um, well…"

"Oh! There he is!" Donna interrupted with a frantic wave and pointed to the street below. "Hi, Dinks!"

Whew. Saved by the metaphorical bell, Nick exhaled. His gaze followed Donna's wave to the sidewalk and set his eyes on this Dinks fellow. When the gerbil in question appeared, Nick couldn't keep his mouth from pursing or his brow from rising.

Dinks wasn't exactly the dreamboat Nick was expecting based on Donna's swooning. The gerbil had a skeevy appearance, wearing a black shirt, a giant golden necklace decorated with a dollar sign in the middle, several pieces of bling on his arms, and a giant pair of black rimmed glasses. Nick shrugged to himself. Who was he to judge? He never thought he'd find himself so attracted to a cute little bunny that… and there was another distracting thought of Judy. He shook himself and returned to the task at paw.

Nick set Donna down and she skipped over to Dinks.

"Hey, lucky girl." he greeted to Donna with an air of overconfidence. "I knew I'd hear from you again. This fox with you?"

"Oh, yes! This is Nick. I thought you might be able to help him. He's looking for a gerbil."

Dinks glanced back and forth between Donna and Nick. The fox noticed he had a lazy eye.

Trying to keep up his cool guy swagger, Dinks gestured with some sort of street paw sign. "Ain't we all? Heh. Heh."

Placing a paw on his knee, Nick kneeled down and decided to warm the gerbil up. "Officer Nicholas Wilde. It's nice to meet you, Dinks. Donna speaks highly of you."

This seemed to perk the gerbil's ego. "What can I say foxy? The ladies love me. Amirite?"

As Dinks spoke, Nick noticed a rather large pair of lopsided buck teeth appear. Boy, this guy sure was a real looker he thought to himself.

Unable to help himself, Dinks had the urge to show off. "Say girl, want to share a donut? I hit payday from a new gig. Easy money. Check out this chain."

The fox and mouse both looked at Dink's bling. He held out his right arm, showing off a shiny new gold chain bracelet on his wrist. The other wrist bore a giant golden watch.

Suddenly, Nick narrowed his eyes. A light bulb had just lit up in his brain.

"Wait a second…" he muttered under his breath as he ticked off a few realizations in his mind, recalling Vince's words. "Huge gold watch, lopsided buck teeth, nerdy glasses, lazy eye, face only a mother could love…"

Nick immediately resumed a poker face. Dinks appeared to fit the description of the gerbil who served the evacuation papers to Vince. And he had just mentioned a payday from a new gig. The fox moved his paw over to his utility belt. A small click could be heard.

"Say, Dinks… if you're buying, could I get a donut too?"

"Yeah, foxy. It's on me. I got plenty of green to go around. You guys love your donuts, I hear." he said taking out a huge wad of bucks.

"Too kind, my good, sir." Nick smiled. "You mentioned a new gig? Looks pretty lucrative. I could always use a few extra bucks myself. What was the gig? If you don't mind me asking."

"Oh, you know, foxy. A little of this. A little of that," came the ever so slight hesitated reply with a forced smile that he held way too long.

The ex-con noticed all the signs of subtle discomfort in the gerbil's body language and a nervous shift in his undertone. The overconfidence was replaced with a hint of anxiety. Dinks had told a little lie. Nick decided to test him.

"Sure do. I know a little of this and that." Nick gestured with both paws before exclaiming in excitement. "Oh! You guys wouldn't mind if I called a buddy of mine to come share a bite, right? Loves this place. Real outspoken fella. Mouse named Vince. Lives just a few blocks away on Havarti Avenue, #A113."

It was plain as day to see Dinks visibly squirm at the mention of the name and address. He broke eye contact immediately.

"Um…"

"I'll take that as a yes?" Nick asked, giving him no time to protest, and clapped his paws together rather loudly in affirmation.

The sudden bang made Dinks practically jump out of his shirt.

"I… uh… I just remembered… I need to go… meet some of my boys. Peace!" he stammered as the round gerbil turned and broke into a comical sprint.

Nick was already preparing for this scenario and bolted right after him. "Dinks! I order you to stop!"

Donna, simply remained flabbergasted, eyes wide, watching Dinks run down the street with Officer Wilde in pursuit. "What? What's going on!?"

"Sorry, Donna!" was all she heard from Nick as he ran down the block after the chubby rodent.

To his credit, Dinks truly ran like his little rodent life depended on it, he ducked into a small alleyway, hoping to create a gap between himself and his pursuer. Nick skidded to a halt and jammed his arm between the buildings. He managed to grasp Dinks but the skeevy gerbil was slippery. Literally. Popping out of his paw, Dinks continued to run, heavy breathing between yelps of terror.

The fox pulled his arm back out, quickly wiping his greasy palm onto his pants, and perked his ears. Between Dink's breathing and the smell of his less than savoury odor, Nick knew he was heading north. Unfortunately for Dinks, Nick knew his way around the area quite well. Lunging into a sprint again, Nick turned a corner and jumped over a few smaller buildings to skip a street, being careful as to not squish any innocent rodents, as several of them began to scurry in panic.

Parkouring over another set of structures, Nick landed right in front of Dinks, who practically fell over in fright. He managed to claw back up and run down another alley. The fox rounded the block with an agile pivot, quickly closing the gap. Just as he was about to reach for the gerbil, Dinks ran into a small pack of smaller mice and shoved several of them into the street.

Nick glanced back, seeing a large rodent garbage truck heading straight for two innocent mice, who froze in terror, as the vehicle attempted to brake and swerve away.

"Oh, no!" Nick muttered as he stopped on a dime, and extended his left leg as far as he could stretch, planting his large foot right between the two mice and the truck. The truck collided with the side of his foot and ankle causing Nick to yip, with the vehicle coming to a halt. Both driver and civilians were okay.

"Ow, ow, ow…" sliding his foot away, Nick growled in pain and ire. The impact sent a minor jolt through his bone. He turned to continue the chase, with a tiny temporary limp, following Dink's perspiring scent.

Dinks managed to scramble between another set of buildings, his lungs giving way and his rodent legs aching from overexertion. He leaned against a large lidded dumpster, trying to catch his breath. Looking at a small puddle in front of him, he froze when ominous thuds echoed throughout the block, causing the water to ripple after each thump. In sheer panic, he frantically looked around, considered the dumpster, lifted the lid, and leaped in.

Curling into a ball, the smelly trash rattled all around him in the dark interior. Dinks quaked in anticipation as the thuds grew louder and then stopped. It became eerily silent for what seemed like an eternity. Feeling a premature sense of victory, Dinks sighed in relief. However, his victory was short lived as the dumpster lid suddenly flew open and the gerbil found himself staring into the smug grin of a red fox in uniform.

"Peek-a-boo! I see you!" Nick menacingly exclaimed in an unsettling jovial tone. "I've always wanted to do that. Another one for the ol' bucket list." His smirking expression transformed into a rather serious scowl. "Dinks. You're under arrest," the fox said as he lunged forward with both paws, capturing the screaming perp.


Dinks found himself, stripped of his belongings, sitting alone inside Interview Room #2 in a special seat designed for rodents. He had no idea how much time had passed. The prolonged waiting was causing his agitation to rise with each passing moment.

Chief Bogo and Nick stood on the other side of the one way glass panel, observing the perp, as he began to nervously look around the gray, drab space.

"You suspect this gerbil is directly linked to the missing buildings, Wilde?"

"I believe he's just an unknowing accomplice, Sir. I have a feeling he may not be aware of what happened to those buildings. My hunch is someone paid him to just serve those documents. We need to find out who," Nick replied.

"Very well. Find out what you can from him," the Chief nodded and crossed his arms.

"Aye aye, Sir." Nick lazily saluted and entered the room, his case file tucked under his right arm.

The gerbil immediately jolted upright, his good eye darting to his captor as he walked in, closed the door, and took a seat across the table. Nick casually placed the case file onto the tabletop, crossing his arms over it, and leaned forward with a smug face.

The continued silence was too much for poor Dinks. "I… I didn't do anything wrong, foxy! I swear!"

Nick almost felt sorry for the guy. Almost. He decided to go with a more pleasant understanding approach toward his potential lead. "Now, now, Dinks. I'm just here to get to the bottom of this. If you cooperate, things will go much smoother for you, buddy."

"What I am in for?"

"Well, for starters… you are suspected of being an accomplice to serving false city documents and theft. Then, you decided to run from an officer of the law, resisting arrest, and endangering the lives of a couple of civilians," Nick stated as he emphasized each charge by uncurling his fingers.

"Accomplice?" Dinks squeaked.

"Let me ask you something, Dinks. What was that gig you were recently paid for that you bragged about to myself and Donna?"

"What gig? Must have heard me wrong, foxy." he squeaked weakly and avoided eye contact.

Nick sighed. He reached into his pocket and held up an orange carrot. Dinks looked confused. Placing it on the table between themselves, Nick hit the playback button and leaned back in his seat.

"Too kind, my good, sir. You mentioned a new gig? Looks pretty lucrative. I could always use a few extra bucks myself. What was the gig? If you don't mind me asking."

"Oh, you know, foxy. A little of this. A little of that."

The fox let the recording continue as Dinks stared dumbfounded at the device.

"I… uh… I just remembered… I need to go… meet some of my boys. Peace!"

"Dinks! I order you to stop!"

The officer crossed his arms. "Lying won't get you anywhere, buddy. You dodged my question and ran. What were you doing on the 12th of last week?"

"Uh… that wasn't me!"

"Really, Dinks? You're going to go with that?" Nick leaned forward again on one elbow. "Look pal. I could call Vince over here to come ID you… and if he does, that would put you in even more trouble. So help me, help you."

Silence was his only reply.

Nick decided to try to appeal to this skeevy gerbil's heart. If he had one. He opened the folder under his arm and removed a few photographs. The fox slid them across the table with two fingers and fanned them for Dinks to see.

Once Dinks finally looked down, Nick softly spoke his appeal. "Listen, Dinks… I know you might be trying to uphold your street cred... but you see these empty lots? You see these mice in the background? Those families? That was their home that was taken. And not just the roof over their heads but everything they owned as well." The gerbil looked up. Nick pointed at the second picture. "See this one? That was Donna's home. Do you care about her? If so, tell me what you did and who made you do it. Please."

Ears perked at the sound of Dinks exhaling, causing the gerbil to slump into his seat in defeat.

"Alright, foxy. I was approached by this guy. Real smooth talker. Told me… hey got an easy job for easy money. Half up front. Half when I got those signed papers for him. Gave me a fake name, clothes, what to say, and an address. Guy was real street. I liked him."

"This guy. Who was he? Where did you meet him? Did he give you a name?" Nick asked. He picked up the carrot pen, eager to jot down the information.

"Didn't tell. Didn't ask. Hit me up outside of lil R when I was rolling the scene. Met up again in the park to get my pay." Dinks said.

"Dinks, what mammal was he?" Nick asked again.

"He was you, foxy." Dinks answered.

"What?" Nick replied with a puzzled look on his snout.

"A fox. Spittin image. Like a bro."

There was a long pause, as Nick absorbed this new piece of information.

The gerbil blinked a few times. "Foxy?"

Nick quickly regained his thoughts. "What was he wearing?"

"Some fly leather jacket, real slick. Jeans. One of them newsboy caps. Keepin it old school."

"Anything else you can tell me about his appearance, Dinks?"

"You know… red?"

"Dinks…" Nick said with a hint of annoyance.

"Uh… oh, he had a chipped tooth. Right in there." Dinks pointed to the leftmost part of his mouth. "That's all I got. I swear."

Scribbling down that last bit of info, Nick gathered the photos, closed the file, and stood. "Alright, Dinks. Thank you for your help. I'll see if your charges can be lessened for your cooperation."

Just as Nick was about to exit, he paused as Dink's spoke up one last time.

"Foxy… I didn't know… about them homes," he said with a genuine sorrowful expression.

Nick responded with a sympathetic glance. "I know."

The gerbil flashed a peace sign which the fox returned in kind and exited the room, closing the door behind him. Outside, Chief Bogo uncrossed his arms and acknowledged his officer.

"Good work, Wilde. I'll have Andersen take care of Dinks. Go and follow your leads," Bogo said with a curt nod. "Find this fox and bring him in."

"You got it, Chief." Nick said quietly as he trudged to his desk with ears down.

Back at his desk, Nick reviewed all of his notes. A red fox had paid Dinks, and probably the other two rodents, to serve fake city documents to vacate three buildings and stole them. Now it was a matter of figuring out how did he steal them and what did he do with them.

Rapping his nails softly on his desk with his chin resting on the other paw, Nick sat staring at a photo of one of the apartment buildings. What would anyone do with a rodent building? What would he do if he was taking them? The first thought that popped into Nick's mind was perhaps deconstructing the homes. A flashback of himself and Finnick selling pawpsicle sticks to the construction yards appeared in his mind. Maybe the parts were worth more than the whole? Could he also have pawned any valuables left inside?

Nick leaned back in his swivel chair and took a deep breath, mumbling to himself. "Okay… I still have time today. Need to head back out and check the construction sites, check some nearby pawn shops, go over those traffic camera feeds..."

His growling stomach interrupted his thoughts. With a heavy sigh, he rubbed his belly. "Guess I better grab some food on the way too, but first thing's first."

The fox reached over to the transparent evidence bag and looked at the tiny evacuation documents from Chez. With his phone's camera, he zoomed in and snapped a picture of the special paw emblem. He would need to find out where that seal came from later. For now he needed to drop off the documents at the crime lab to be examined.

Walking by Clawhauser's desk, Nick took a moment to get the cheetah's attention.

"Hey, Claws. I need a favor, buddy."

"A favor? Sure, anything for you, Nick!" Clawhauser replied with a huge goofy grin.

"Great!" Nick said as he happily tapped away at his phone and then looked back up. "Can you get me a list of all traffic cams surrounding Little Rodentia, especially the ones by those coordinates, I just emailed to you?"

"You got it! I'll get right on that," the bubbly cheetah smiled.

"You're the best, Claws. I'll catch you later. Bye now!" Nick gratefully waved as he headed down to the lab.

Finding himself in the crime lab, Nick surveyed the scene. It looked like the only available technician was a sloth named Hurriet. Simply shrugging to himself, he made his way over and waved to his fellow co-worker.

"Hey, Hurriet! It's good to see you," Nick greeted with a big smile.

The brown sloth, wearing a white lab coat and a striped v-neck shirt with an aquamarine teardrop shaped stone necklace, slowly raised her safety goggles over the top of her blue streaked hair. "Hello… Officer… Wilde. Good… to… see… you… too. How… can… I… help… you… this… afternoon?"

"Listen, I have this piece of evidence here... " Nick said holding up the bag with the tiny papers. "I was wondering if you could analyze it for me?"

"Sure… I'm… finishing… some… work… for… Officer… Grizzoli. I'll… get… started… as… soon… as… I… can!" the sloth said as she gradually raised a giant claw in the air.

"You're aces. I owe you one," Nick said, holding the evidence bag out. "I'll be out following some leads, then I'll be back in the evening."

"No… problem… Officer… Wilde," Hurriet replied with a slow smile as she took several long moments to finally take the evidence bag from Nick's paw.

Nodding with gratitude, Nick waved after depositing the papers into the sloth's capable hands and exited the lab, heading back to the vehicle lot. Jumping into the driver's seat of Z-240, he gunned it out of the ZPD parking lot. There was only a few business hours left in the day and he had several stops to make.


Judy packaged several rolled up newspapers full of carrots, radishes, and cucumbers. She handed the full bag to her customer who thanked her and hopped away with her small family of kits.

With a sigh, she peeked at her phone, which was laying next to her behind the wooden counter. It had been almost two days since she talked to Nick. She tried to call a couple times yesterday but each time it had gone straight to voicemail. Perhaps he was busy working on a case. At least there hadn't been any crazy stories involving the ZPD in the papers or on the evening news. Still, there was this odd uneasy feeling in her heart. Judy missed hearing his bad jokes, his terrible puns, his infuriating teasing, his voice…

His voice.

Her mind skipped to the night of the wedding when they last chatted once again. How her own feelings about genuinely missing him just came right out. The way Nick conveyed those same words back to her. The way he said her name. It felt so different then all the other times before.

"I really miss you too, Judy."

It jolted her sleepy mind awake and somehow made her heart skip a few beats. After Nick abruptly ended the call, she lay awake staring at the ceiling that night, curled up with a fox plushie she bought a few days after Nick had walked out on her at the press conference. At the time, it had been a reminder of what she had lost. A friend she had hurt. A friend she wanted back.

Now, she started to have different thoughts. Those six innocent words were causing a growing desire to return home. Judy's nose twitched mid thought. Was she just imaging things? Was she being a dumb bunny again?

The sound of a loud thud interrupted Judy's thoughts. She looked over to see her parents watching her as Stu dropped off another crate of freshly picked vegetables.

"Hey there, Jude. Your mother and I were just thinking… we appreciate you helping out while you're here but shouldn't you be resting on your vacation?"

"Your father's right, Bun-Bun. You look tired. Why don't you go back to the burrow and get some rest or spend some more time with your brothers and sisters? We can get Maude or Dale to watch the stand," Bonnie said with a concerned tone.

Judy sighed. "I'm fine, you guys...really! I like helping."

Bonnie and Stu shared a glance.

"We're just worried, honey," Stu said with a comforting smile.

Knowing her parents could be really persistent at times, especially her dad, Judy decided to compromise. "Okay. How about I finish up here and then I'll head home in an hour?"

"Okay, sweetheart. I'll let Maude know," Bonnie said while taking out her phone to text her daughter.

"Terrific! I'll unpack these veggies and let's refill the stand," Stu said as he bent down to over the crate of produce.

Glancing at her phone again, Judy decided that she would try calling Nick once she got home. In the meantime, she joined Bonnie in setting the veggies for display as Stu handed them out.

Maude arrived a few minutes before the top of the hour to relieve Judy. She drove her sister back to the burrow before returning to the roadside stand. Judy quickly showered and ate a small meal before making her way back down to her bedroom.

Hopping onto her bed, Judy made herself comfortable and tapped the MuzzleTime quick dial for Nick. It was 6:49PM. Hopefully, he would be home by now. The dialer continued to ring. Just as her ears fell in potential disappointment, her partner's face appeared on screen.

"Nick!" she exclaimed rather excitedly with ears shooting back up and a big smile formed on her muzzle.

"Hey, Carrots." he replied smiling back at her.

Judy's brow shot up. Nick was still in his uniform, with a rather extra large Snarlbucks cup in his paw, and what looked like Precinct One behind him in the background.

"You're still at work!?"

"Sure am. Sorry, I haven't called… lost track of time," he replied with a yawn.

"Oh… am I disturbing you? I could always call you later or…" Judy said, suddenly feeling bad. Upon closer inspection, Nick appeared to look very tired.

"What? No! I could use a break," he sighed.

"Are you working a case?" she asked with a mix of excitement and concern.

"Yeah. Bogo assigned me to find these three missing apartment buildings in Little Rodentia," Nick supplied. "I'm probably the only one who can move around there without knocking everything over."

"Wait… someone stole entire buildings!?" Judy asked with mild shock.

"That's right. I found some early leads but they've all gone cold. Thought maybe they were being stripped down or sold off. Spent the past two days visiting every construction site and pawn shop I could think of. Even asked the cybercrime guys to check the usual websites for any suspicious sales. Then, I spent all night searching the jam cams around the district. Nothing. Ended up falling asleep at our desk." Nick glanced to the side with a frown.

The bunny's ears fell and her frown matched her partner's. Judy tapped the side of her phone in thought. "Maybe I could help? I can just cut my vacation short and…"

"No…" he abruptly cut her off with flattened ears.

Judy paused and blinked. She hadn't expected that sort of response from Nick.

Seeing her expression sour, Nick immediately explained. "I didn't mean it like that… I just… need to do this one on my own, Fluff. I hope you'll understand."

There was a few awkward moments of silence. The bunny's nose twitched. Judy felt a little hurt. This wasn't how she intended the conversation to go. She looked back into Nick's eyes. There was a sort of fire and determination sparkling within them. Clearly, something about this case was important to him.

"Okay, Nick." Judy whispered and did her best to smile for him again. "If there's anything you need, you know I'm always here for you," she added.

"I know, Carrots." he replied with a wink. His smug grin finally returning.

"So… how are things otherwise?" she asked while patting her ears back, trying to change the subject, realizing her question sounded a bit lame.

"Other than myself being half coffee bean now, I'm making do." the fox said as he wiggled the styrofoam cup in his paw and took a big gulp. He decided to switch the topic away from himself. "What have you been up to at the ol' homestead?"

Snorting at his coffee comment, Judy replied, "I was helping at the veggie stand again. My parents kinda scolded me that I should be resting on my vacation."

"Words of wisdom, Carrots. You should listen to them," he said with a quick finger gesture.

"Whose side are you on anyway, Slick?" Judy glared.

"The left side!" Nick declared.

"Wait…" Judy paused as her mind realized Nick's groan worthy pun. She dramatically rolled her eyes at him. "You are such a…"

"Adorable Wiseguy?"

"I was gonna say jerk." she smiled.

Before Nick could quip back, his desk phone began to ring. Judy watched her partner look offscreen to his side.

"Hold on..." Nick said as he picked up the receiver. There was a very long pause and an exchange of words before he hung up. "Well, looks like Hurriet finished analyzing some evidence for me. Almost forgot about those papers. I better go check them out."

The bunny frowned but took a deep breath to force a smile. "Okay, Nick. I know you can do this. You'll find whoever took those homes."

"Thanks, Fluff."

"Call or text me later when you get a chance?"

Nick nodded with a quick two finger salute. "Will do. Take care."

"You too. Bye…" Judy waved as she watched the call end.

Her paws and phone fell in disappointment onto the soft mattress. Judy had hoped they could chat longer but she knew her partner needed to work. The bunny's lips curled back into a pleased smile. She was so proud to see Nick caring so much about his assignment.

Deciding to do her best to patiently wait, Judy peered at her phone, gazing upon their picture for several moments, before placing her phone on her desk and headed back upstairs to spend some time with her family.


Despite a mix of joy and doleful emotions from his brief conversation with Judy, Nick entered the crime lab with gusto, hoping that Hurriet might have found a new clue. The fox officer had temporarily forgotten about this piece of evidence while he chased after those more time sensitive hunches.

Unfortunately, his excitement was premature and short-lived. The sloth informed him that the paper was simply standard 24 lb white acid-free bond paper, typically used by official government and legal offices. The seal itself was stamped in standard ink. There was no other traces of anything else to be found.

Finding himself back at his desk, Nick scowled at his open case file. He absent mindedly took a bite of a handful of sweets from the candy bag with a loud sigh. The fox reached for the notepad and flipped back to his notes from Miss Lemmington. She had mentioned seeing this seal on real estate related documents.

Crunching away at the candy, his mind focused back on the lab results as he chewed. Government and legal offices used this paper stock. Government and legal. Legal. Staring at the bag in front of him, his eyes suddenly widened in realization. Perhaps, the news wasn't all for nothing after all. If the paper was authentic, it probably did come from an office that had to do with city properties.

The fox officer quickly swiped his phone and made a call.

"Hi Nick!" answered the melodious voice after a few rings.

"Val. How's my favorite sassy lawyer?"

"Flattery will get you everywhere, officer. How are you?" she replied.

"I'm good. Say, I wish this was a social call but I need your help with something," Nick stated.

"Shoot."

"I'm going to text you a picture of some documents. Tell me if you recognize the seal stamped on the bottom of the page."

Nick moved the phone away from his ear and tapped the picture over to Valerie.

"Got it. Yes, I've seen this before. It's the official seal of the Zootopia Planning Commission."

"You don't say?" Nick's voice perked up at the thought of a new lead.

"Yup. Been there a couple of times for a court case. Their office is on the second floor of City Hall. The head commissioner is a county clerk named Yolanda Pundamilia. Though you're a bit out of luck… they'll be closed at this hour. And you'll need an appointment."

"How can I get one?"

"You're in luck. Yolanda owes me a favor. I'll call her first thing in the morning and see what I can do."

"If you can get me in, let's use an alias," he suggested.

"Hm. Okay. You can be my brother for a day. What do you say, Joseph Sinopa?"

"I knew I could count on you, Val." Nick grinned with renewed energy.

"Anytime."

"Oh! Thank you again for the candies. You and Nose are the best."

"Don't mention it. Try not to make the evening news again, Officer Wilde." she teased.

"No guarantees, Miss Sinopa. Bye!"

Hanging up the phone, Nick eagerly swiveled in his chair, and logged into his computer. It was time to look up everything he could about the ZPC and Yolanda in the ZPD mammal database. First thing in the morning, he would be heading to City Hall.


Finally, allowing himself to get a full ten hours of beauty sleep, Nick stepped with purpose as he entered the main lobby of City Hall. Attempting to not arouse any suspicions incase it might be a possible inside job, he decided to wear civilian clothes to go with his temporary alias, opting for a regular buttoned white dress shirt, the violet tie, and a dark pair of slacks.

Taking the stairs, he sauntered over to the west wing and arrived at the small ZPC reception area. The fox double checked the time on his phone. Valerie had texted that she secured him an 8AM appointment. It was 7:58AM. Right on time.

Nick glanced down the hall, his eyes fell on a door plaque at the far end that read 'Yolanda Pundamilia'. He found his destination. Before he could take another step, Nick's ears perked at the sound of a voice being directed towards him.

"Phil? Is that you?" a cheerful but baritone female voice called out to Nick.

Turning his head, Nick's eyes trailed up to the secretary sitting behind the reception desk. She was an elephant, with large amber eyes, and dressed in typical office fashion.

Realizing her mistake, she was quick to apologize. "Oh… I'm sorry, sir. You look just like a friend of mine."

The fox wondered if she thought all foxes looked alike. Shrugging it off, Nick simply smiled back. "No apologies needed. I get that a lot. Your friend must be one handsome fella."

The bright eyed secretary chuckled. "Can I help you with anything, sir?"

"Joseph Sinopa. Here to see Miss Yolanda Pundamilia," Nick introduced himself with a paw across his chest.

"One moment, Mr. Sinopa. Ah, yes. I see you right here for 8AM." she said while bringing up a schedule on her computer monitor. She pointed with her trunk. "Down the hall. Far door. I'll let Miss Pundamilia know you're here."

Nick glanced at the secretary's name badge. "Thank you very much, Rebecca." he said with a friendly nod and proceeded down the hallway.

With a brief knock, Nick opened the door and stepped into the office. There on the opposite side of the room behind a very large mahogany desk, sat Yolanda. She was a zebra wearing a pink dress shirt with a simple blue business jacket and a pearl necklace around her neck. Yolanda stood and eyed Nick with her teal eyes before greeting him.

"Good morning, Mr. Sinopa. Please have a seat," she said gesturing to the two large chairs in front of her.

"Morning, ma'am," Nick replied as he hopped into the left seat.

"What can I do for you? Your sister, Valerie, told me this was important but didn't say why. I pushed back my meeting with Herds and Grazing to see you," the zebra bluntly stated as she crossed her hooves on the desk.

"And I appreciate that, ma'am. It is important." Nick said as he reached for his wallet, flicking it open to reveal his badge as he placed it on the desk for Yolanda to see. "I'm actually Officer Nicholas Wilde, ZPD."

Yolanda nearly jumped in her seat. "Am I under arrest!?"

"No, no… but I do need to ask you some questions," the fox officer said with an easy going yet authoritative tone. Nick decided to get straight down to business. "I need you to tell me about this seal."

Nick opened the camera app on his phone, brought up the picture of Chez's documents, and slid it across the desk.

Picking up his phone, Yolanda studied the image, before handing it back to Nick.

"That seal is our official stamp for all building code inspections, large residential remodeling or repairs, and construction projects. They all must be officially stamped before any work can commence," the county clerk supplied. "What were these documents used for?"

"Let's just say someone used this stamp, on official legal paper, to vacate several apartment buildings in Little Rodentia before stealing them," Nick said.

"Oh my god…" Yolanda gasped.

The ex-con watched her body language carefully. Her reaction was genuine but Nick still couldn't rule out the possibility of involvement.

"How do you stamp these papers, Mrs. Pundamilia?" he asked bluntly.

The zebra turned to gesture at the display case behind her. "With these. We keep the official stampers locked away."

"May I?" Nick asked as he stood, gesturing to the case.

"Certainly, Officer."

Nick walked up to the display case and carefully examined it. The case was a plain modern looking frame of black anodized aluminum with a large sliding glass door and a small lock near the bottom. He tugged on the handle to test the slack and check for tampering. The lock appeared to be very simple. Nick bent down to inspect it more closely. If he so desired, it would be easy to pick it with a couple of paper clips.

Standing back up, his eyes jumped from object to object till they landed on the stamper set. A dozen stampers sat neatly aligned in a clear encasement. Each one reserved for use on appropriately sized paper. The seal design was a paw print over an abstract city skyline with an inversed Z in the middle, surrounded by a thick circular border. Exactly like the one on the documents.

He kept his eyes trained on the stamper set. "Who else has access to these?"

"Just myself. I keep the key inside my office safe. My assistant Rebecca, often retrieves the stampers from the display case and handles much of the paperwork." Yolanda said.

Nick glanced in her direction with a considering look.

"You don't think that…?"

"I can't rule anything or anyone out, ma'am." the fox stated honestly. "Including yourself."

"I understand."

The clerk was being surprisingly cooperative.

"Okay, ma'am." Nick began as he pulled out his notepad and pen. "I'm going to need alibis for the following days…"

After several minutes of questioning, Yolanda provided Nick with an entire copy of her digital calendar and schedule for the past two weeks, along with the names and phone numbers of mammals she had seen or contacted outside of office hours. Satisfied with the information, Nick's gut was letting him know that she seemed innocent but he would still need to cross check her information at the station. He flipped the page to a clean sheet.

"Now… what can you tell me about Rebecca. Please start with her full name."

Yolanda leaned back in her seat. "Rebecca Lynn Tembory. Very hard working and professional. She's been with me for many years. No immediate family of her own. She has a brother who she visits often." The zebra paused with a heavy sigh. "I just can't imagine she would ever be involved in something like this."

"But she would know about these specific types of documents, correct?"

"Correct, Officer."

Glancing back at the door, Nick remembered how Rebecca mistook him for another fox. Dinks had mentioned how the fox who approached him also strongly resembled Nick. "Have you seen another male fox visiting this office recently?"

She looked back at Nick with a confused expression. "No, Officer. I have not. But I do not keep track of all personal visitations for my staff."

"If…" Nick began. "If she's involved… I doubt she'd leave any evidence on her computer, but I will need permission to access it. And yours as well. I will get a warrant if necessary."

"That won't be a problem. I'm willing to help," Yolanda offered.

"That's very appreciated, ma'am. I need a record of every document created or printed from the past thirty days from both of your computers."

"Done. I can do that right now."

"If you please," Nick said with a smile.

She nodded and began to sort through the documents on her computer.

Nick came around to observe over her shoulder, patiently watching the various ZPC documents appear onscreen. None of the documents issued evacuation notices to any buildings with Little Rodentia addresses. As he scanned the documents, Nick noticed several Little Rodentia district papers referencing bold nine digit serials.

"Miss Pundamilia, what are these nine digit codes?" he asked while pointing at the latest document on screen."

"Ah these…" Yolanda pointed a hoof. "We place special construction identification numbers inside all rodent buildings since they aren't built the traditional way, in case of deconstruction, repurposing, or relocation. If a building is moved or demolished, we verify its ID and update the entry here in our registry."

"So, all of them have this ID? Would this be a foolproof way to identify the building, even if the outside's been tampered with or modified?"

"Yes, Officer. As long as they didn't destroy or remove the foundation." the clerk answered.

"Where exactly would it be located? Inside?"

"Correct. It would be inside the front right corner. Do you know the addresses of the missing buildings?"

"Sure, do!" Nick said as he flipped to the appropriate page on his notepad and held it for Yolanda to see.

The zebra looked over the addresses and began to enter them in the ZPC portal. Soon the results populated on the monitor. Yolanda turned the monitor so Nick could see.

"Here you are, Officer. 1138 Carmody Road's special ID is ZPC-LR-M416. A113 on Havarti Avenue is ZPC-LR-J716, and 1701 Camembert Street is ZPC-LR-S916."

Scribbling the information down, Nick formed a pleased grin. After another hour of searching and bringing up all requested files, Yolanda copied them all onto a flash drive. Nick sealed it away into an evidence bag he brought with him.

"Anything else?" Yolanda asked.

"When do you and Rebecca usually go home?"

"We close around 5PM. But she often works late most days and closes the office after I leave."

The fox took note of that and looked at the zebra across the desk. "Thank you for your assistance, Miss Pundamilia. Please keep this meeting between us," Nick said as he gathered his belongings.

"I hope you get to the bottom of this, Officer Wilde." Yolanda replied.

"Me too. Good day, ma'am." the fox nodded and exited the building, heading back to Precinct One.

After changing into his police uniform in the locker room, Nick was back at his desk, reading up on Rebecca. She had a squeaky clean record. Nothing unusual or out of the ordinary. Her only living relative was a younger brother named Earl Tembory. The fox officer decided to look up Earl's information. Just as Yolanda shared, Earl lived in Savanna Central off of Herd and Pachyderm. Earl appeared to be a single dad with a young son named Earl Jr. who was enrolled in a local community college.

Not finding anything else useful, Nick decided to drop by his apartment, grab lunch, and get another change of clothes. Once the hour was up, he returned to the station. Clawhauser was on his late lunch break, stuffing a pawful of pastries into his gleeful face.

"Heya, Claws! Are any other officers around on break?"

"Hey, Nick. Officers on break? Oh! I saw Officer Grizzoli taking a doggie bag back to his cubicle. He should still be there!" Clawhauser informed and pointed with a chocolate covered thumb.

"Thanks pal!" Nick said as he waved and headed towards the timberwolf's desk.

The fox leaned up against the white timberwolf's desk space and knocked on the wall.

"Oh hey, Nick!" Grizzoli greeted with a mouthful of lunch.

"Alex, buddy. Sorry to bother you on your break but what time is your shift over?"

"I'll actually be off around three today. What's up?" he asked after swallowing his bite.

"Hate to ask for a favor, but I need your help tailing a suspect this afternoon. There's two county clerks from the Zootopia Planning Commission that I believe could be behind the missing rodent buildings and I won't be able follow both of them. It's no problem if you can't," the fox officer asked.

"It won't be a problem, Nick. I'll help you out, buddy!" Grizzoli smiled. "When and where?"

"5PM out by City Hall. Let's meet outside at 4:30."

"Got it."

"Thanks Pal. I'll fill you in there," Nick smiled and gave a friendly pat on his fellow officers back.

Grizzoli gave him a thumbs up and went back to wolfing down his lunch before having to finish his reports for the day.

Nick went back to his desk and cross referenced Yolanda's alibis, spending time on the phone with all of the mammals who could vouch for her previous whereabouts, and reviewed her documents again. She seemed to check out clean so far and nothing additional was gleaned from her files. As 4PM approached, he headed back to the locker room to change. Instead of his usual pawaiian shirt and tie combo, the fox changed into a rather neutral looking gray shirt, no tie, jeans, and a dark cap.

Exiting the station, he headed to city hall to loiter around the outside. Leaning against the side of the adjacent building, Nick mammal watched the various mammals who were leaving work for the day. Grizzoli soon arrived in civilian clothes and leaned against the wall next to Nick. He informed the timberwolf about his zebra target, Yolanda. Once he was filled in, Officer Grizzoli strolled away to a nearby bench and casually watched the entrance.

Around 5:23PM, a well dressed zebra exited the building. Grizzoli glanced to Nick who signaled him with a nod. Grizzoli stood and followed the zebra as she headed east towards the subway entrance. 7:06PM rolled around. Rebecca finally exited the building, strolled down the stairs, and headed south, unbeknownst that she was now being tailed by a police officer.

Rebecca made her way down to Savanna Central. Nick was in pursuit. He remained well hidden in the crowd, keeping the right distance, expertly drifting through the large herds and packs of mammals around him. Years on the streets, thought him how to stealthily move about the city on foot. Fox and elephant arrived on Herd Street. Nick noticed Rebecca stop and he ducked out of sight as she walked up to a store. She knocked on the door, despite the hanging closed sign, and after a moment, another elephant let her inside.

Biding his time, Nick stayed out of sight for a few solid minutes. Confident that enough time passed, he sauntered along the sidewalk and casually checked out the store front. The signage read 'Earl's Old Fashioned Toy Emporium'. Looks like her brother owned a toy store. He could see some lights upstairs above the store. It appeared the Tembory family lived on the upper level above the business. Three elephant silhouettes could be seen mingling behind the blinds.

The fox's eyes fell back to the windows and gazed upon all of the various expensive looking toys on display to allure window shoppers. Nick saw a gorgeous train set going around a small track. He always did want one of those as a kit. Next, his eyes bounced to the various other large mammal sized toys: a detailed wooden car, giant letter blocks, hand painted figurines, a giant top next to an enormous yoyo. Finally, his eyes fell on some hand crafted dolls that were placed all around a very realistic looking three story dollhouse building. Admittedly, he marveled at the details of the huge toy.

"Wow. That dollhouse sure looks amazing," he muttered to himself. "Looks just like a real building." Suddenly, Nick paused. He put his face right up to the glass and squinted.

"Like a real building…" he trailed off. Gauging the height of the building, he leveled his paw up to his stomach to match the height of what a three story Little Rodentia building would typically be.

He slapped himself on the snout. Could this dollhouse right in front of him be one of the missing rodent buildings? Nick nonchalantly pulled out his phone and snapped a few photos of the dollhouse. Satisfied with his newfound potential evidence, he immediately left. It was time to get back to his desk ASAP.

Entering the building, Nick rushed past Clawhauser and slid to a halt at his desk. He flung open the case file and took out the three photos he had of each building. Bringing up the photos from the toy store, he lay his phone down to compare them.

There was a near perfect match.

The building exterior had been repainted to a more pleasing teal color, the trimmings, railings, and outer decor was repolished, and all outside building identification was removed. There was no traces of any identifiable personal items left inside either. Otherwise the building was an identical design and size. If he was correct, this building was the one that was stolen from Chez and Donna.

Nick needed get a hold of that dollhouse so he could check if it had a ZPC ID number in the foundation. He had enough probable cause to get a warrant but that wouldn't help him catch the fox who was supposedly involved in all of this as well. He also needed more concrete proof of Earl's and Rebecca's possible involvements.

His foxy brain formulated a plan.

Gathering everything he needed, Nick sent a message to Grizzoli to contact him on his cell if anything suspicious came up with Yolanda. Nick exited the precinct, heading south towards his apartment. He picked up his phone once again and dialed his Mom, as he made his way through the crowded evening sea of mammals.

"Hi Mom!...Yes, yes, I know I haven't called you after you dropped off those anti-odor products… I'm fine by the way… Yes, the smell is gone… Listen, I have a favor to ask. Can I borrow your makeup kit? No… No, I can't because she's not here, remember? I don't think she owns any makeup anyway. No, Mom… I don't have any kinks I haven't told you about…"

Nick's last statement caused a few mammals to curiously glance his way from his out of context phone conversation. He simply smiled and looked away.

"It's for a case… Yes?... No, I can't tell you why. Okay, I'll be there in a bit to pick it up… You're the best!... Love you too. Bye!"

The fox exhaled a deep breath. His mom will probably never let him live this one down. All in pursuit of making the world a better place right? Nick let himself enjoy a chuckle. Probably best not to tell Judy either.

Soon he arrived at his complex. Too tired to take the stairs, he rode the elevator up to the sixth floor. He knew Judy would call him lazy for doing so. Nick smiled at the thought of her. Entering his home, he jumped onto the couch and allowed himself a stretch. His gaze fell upon the set of pictures all carefully placed around his living room. Most of them being pictures of him and Judy. Boy, did he miss her so much. Nick kicked himself for not taking the chance to call her, having been wrapped up in this case once again. But it was business first.

Now came the next fun phone call. Nick thumbed the speed dial for Finnick.

"Nick." came the usual growl on the other end.

"Hey, Finn. How are ya, big guy?" he said with a smirk.

"Whatcha want?"

"You mean I can't just call my old buddy and see how's he doing?" he feigned sadness.

"Out with it, Wilde."

"Okay. Okay. Do you still have the elephant suit?" Nick asked with perked ears.

"Yeah, I still got it. Why?"

"Are you free tomorrow?"

"Thought you bailed on the pawpsicle business. The boy scout pay not enough for you all of a sudden?"

"No, no… I need your help for a case," the red fox said with a devilish grin.

"What the hell makes you think I'm gonna do that?"

"Please, Finn." Nick pleaded. "I'll make it worth your while!"

Nick heard a loud angry sigh through the speaker. "What are we doing?"

"How do you feel about being my daughter for a day?" Nick said while bracing himself for the response.

"You want me to be WHAT for a day!?"

"C'mon, buddy. We've done worse. I really need you on this one," he stated with a sincere tone.

There was a very long pause before Finnick finally replied. "Fine. But you owe me big time, Nick." he spat. "And if you kiss me tomorrow or act all mushy… I swear I'll kick your tail right in front of whoever we hustlin."

"You'll always be number one in my book, Finn. Come by my place tomorrow morning," Nick said with a victory smile.

"I'll be there. Ciao." Finnick said before quickly hanging up.

Satisfied with his plan coming together, Nick rubbed his paws with an evil smirk. Looking at the time on his phone, it read 8:49PM. It wouldn't be too late to call Judy for a few minutes before heading over to his Mom's. Punching her MuzzleTime contact, he leaned against his cushy couch and waited.

It barely took one ring before she answered.

"Hey Slick!" came the joyful greeting with lots of little voices in the background.

"Hi, Carrots. How's ZPD's finest doing today?" he teased.

He could hear her scoff. "Well, I believe I share that title with a certain dumb fox. I'm actually babysitting a few dozen of my brothers and sisters while my parents are in Podunk visiting Dawn's parents. We're playing cops and robbers!"

"Of course you are. Just can't stay away from anything police related, huh?" Nick chuckled. "And I knew you wouldn't be resting, Officer Fluff. Hopeless bunny."

"There's nothing wrong with being passionate about what I love to do, nettling fox," she shot back.

"Oh, that's a new one. You're getting better at this."

"And you're getting worse," she stated. "How's your case? Did you crack it?"

"Not yet. But I have a new lead I'm following up in the morning."

"That's exciting! So, do you know who might…" Judy abruptly paused. "Hold on."

Nick's ear twitched as he heard an excited girly voice interrupt their conversation.

"Judy! Judy! Who are you talking to?"

"It's my partner, Nick!" she said looking offscreen.

"The fox we saw on TV!?"

"Yup..."

"Can I see?"

Judy chuckled. "Of course. Come here."

Judy extended her arm and a small cream colored, green eyed, bunny in a powder blue dress with a purple star in the middle hopped into her lap. She was also wearing a giant police hat. Judy's sister curiously pushed her face up to the front facing camera with a twitchy nose."

"Well, hello there little lady." Nick smiled at the new face on his screen.

"Hi! I'm Cotton! I saw you on TV! Are you Judy's boyfriend?" the little bouncy bunny blurted, gazing up to her sister behind her.

Both fox and rabbit became speechless with wide eyes at the surprise blunt question.

"Cotton!" Judy said turning red under her fur and glaring at her giggling sister.

"But you talk about him all the time, Judy!"

With a nervous chuckle, Judy scrunched her face to peek at the phone. Her heart managed to beat a little faster. She could already see the smugness forming on Nick's face.

"Does she now? So, what does your big sister say about little ol' moi? I wanna hear all the juicy gossip."

"She said…"

"Oh, would you look at that… she says the silliest things..." Judy interrupted. "Why, don't you tell Nick about how you solved the case of the bunny bandits?"

"Okay! I caught my brothers the bandits stealing all the carrots! They tried to hide in their closet but I found them!" Cotton said proudly with paws in the air.

"I see slyness runs in the family," Nick directed a wink at Judy.

His partner just glared back and stuck her tongue out at him.

Cotton chimed in. "Do you and Judy play cops and robbers?"

"We sure do. We catch the bad guys in the city," Nick replied.

"Grandpa says foxes are bad guys!"

Judy gasped. She couldn't believe Cotton shared something like that with Nick. Her ears fell and she looked at Nick with a hurt expression.

Nick's expression never changed. He simply kept a smile on his snout and titled his head. "Do you think I'm a bad guy, Cotton?"

The bunny peered down at her little sister in anticipation. Cotton didn't hesitate at all to answer. "No! You helped those mammals on TV." There was a brief pause before she added, "And you help, Judy!"

Not realizing she was holding her breath, Judy released a sigh of relief with a warm smile.

"That's very kind of you to say, Cotton. Thank you."

"You're welcome!"

Judy wrapped her paws around Cotton and squeezed her. "Hey Cotton, I want to talk to Nick for a little bit. Why don't you go see if your brothers are trying to hide again, okay?"

"Okay! Bye Nick!" she waved furiously before jumping out of Judy's lap and disappearing.

"Bye now, little lady!" he waved back.

Wasting no time, Judy began to apologize to her partner. "Nick, I'm so sorry about what she said earlier, I didn't think…"

"Carrots," he interrupted with a smirk. "It's okay. She didn't mean anything by it. She's a sweet little kit. I like her."

"I think she likes you too."

"Guess that also runs in the family," he teased with a flirty tone.

Normally, Judy would give just as good as she got, but this time, Nick's comment made her pause. The bunny looked away for a moment. This of course didn't go unnoticed by the fox.

"Carrots?"

"Nothing. It's nothing... " Judy said as she brushed an ear back. "I'm glad you were able to call again. That case has really been taking up your time."

"Yeah..."

Before either one of them could say more, a notification beeped on Nick's end. Judy could see him squint at his screen before his eyes widened.

Nick sighed. "Forgot I need to need to swing by my Mom's tonight before it gets late. She just texted me. Have to borrow something from her."

"Oh?" Judy whispered in disappointment. "What are you borrowing?"

"Nothing important," he quickly shot back.

"Nick… remember I can tell when you're hiding something from me," Judy said in a rather low authoritative tone.

"Um… well, it's related to the case… so… I can't tell you because you're on vacation," he smirked.

"Ugh! That isn't fair!"

"Maybe I'll tell you later. I have a case to crack," he winked. "I better go before the other lady in my life won't let me hear the end of it again. Bye, Carrots!"

The fox was already beginning to wave with his fingers.

"Bye, Slick..." Judy sighed as she watched Nick's image fade away.

Judy frowned. Once again, their conversation was derailed and interrupted. Once again, Nick had to go. It was frustrating. The bunny's ears perked towards the loud sounds of sibling rivalry and agitation. Rolling her eyes, she hopped up to go break up another screaming match or pillow fight.


Finnick sat on the big navy couch in the old elephant suit, grumpy as can be, with a beer in paw. It was the only thing keeping his mind from wondering about some of his life choices. Especially the choice of agreeing to this ridiculous hustle.

"Hold still Finn, I still gotta apply the eyeliner to pretty you up. Now close your eyes." Nick said as he leaned over with the small pen.

Finn grumbled. "Watch it. You better not mess up my eyebrows, Wilde!"

"Wouldn't dream of it, tough stuff." Nick chuckled.

With dexterous paws, Nick darkened Finnick's eyelashes to give his face a more feminine feel.

"Okay, now just a little blusher for your cheeks… a dash of this nice perfume… and voila!" Nick exclaimed with a paw under his chin. He was very satisfied with the results. Grabbing a mirror, he held it up for Finnick. "Look how cute you look, my little Finola."

The fennec fox slapped the mirror away with a growl. "Don't push it, Wilde. And that's the best name you came up with?"

"Just trying to keep it easy to remember. Would you prefer Fifi? Flora? How about Flavia?" Nick suggested.

"I'd rather go with Faye."

Nick raised an eyebrow while Finnick glared icy daggers at him, just daring him to open his mouth and say something stupid.

"Faye it is!" the red fox relented with a gesture. "Let's go grab our ride."

The pair of foxes took the elevator down and exited the building. Naturally, Nick picked another plain collared shirt and tie with some dark khakis. They both strolled over to a fairly nice looking white mid-size sedan that Nick checked out from the ZPD impound that morning. Unlocking the car, they jumped in and buckled up.

"What's wrong with my van?"

"Seriously Finn? I'm trying not to draw attention to ourselves. And I can't have you be seen driving," Nick explained.

"This jellopy better have airbags then cuz you drive like a chump."

"Very funny," Nick drawled, flicked on his aviators, hit the ignition, and merged onto the street heading north.

They arrived at their destination, parked the car next to a meter in front of the shop, and hopped out. Luckily the dollhouse was still there. Nick put his aviators away. He extended his left paw to Finnick.

"Gimme your paw, Faye." he ordered.

"Why the hell do I need to hold your paw?" Finnick growled.

"Because it'll look more real. You know… father, daughter bonding. C'mon!"

Finnick gave him his right paw. "Remember what I said yesterday, Nick…" he warned before putting the trunk with the trumpet over his muzzle.

"Yeah, yeah… I remember," Nick whispered. "Now stop talking. It's show time!"

Before entering the toy store, Nick double checked his right pants pocket. Judy's carrot pen was stowed away and ready for action.

Earl Tembory sat on his counter stool behind the register, reading the morning paper, as per his usual routine. He sighed. As he turned the page, the little bell above the door signaled that a customer just walked in. Adjusting his large glasses with his trunk, he stood up to see a fox and his little kit, dressed like an elephant, enter the toy store.

"Good morning! Can I help you with anything, sir?" Earl greeted with excitement.

Nick took a moment to size up the store owner. The elephant was wearing large black rimmed glasses, a simple yellow t-shirt and baggy gray shorts. He had a warm smile and didn't seem to have an aversion to the fact that a fox just entered his place of business. The fox's nose wrinkled at the pungent smells of wood, plastics, paint, cardboard, and peanuts. Nick remembered there was traces of peanuts at all of the crime scenes.

"Good morning, sir! Yes, I'm actually shopping around for a gift."

Earl looked curiously at the small fox child dressed up as an elephant.

Catching his gaze, Nick commenced with the theatrics. "Ah, you're probably wondering why she's dressed as an elephant? You see my daughter…" he paused to ruffle the top of Finnick's head. "This sweet little cutie pie has a big imagination. Loves to pretend to be other mammals! Elephants are her favorite!"

Finnick took the opportunity to smile and bat his stylish eyelashes while emphasizing Nick's story with a little toot-toot from his trunk trumpet.

"I want to buy her a special elephant-sized present for her birthday today!" Nick declared in his most charming tone while bringing Finnick closer in with a hug.

To their surprise Earl bellowed a hearty laugh and smiled. "How wonderful! Happy birthday to you!"

The elephant bent down and held out a fairly large lollipop. Finnick gratefully accepted it, nearly falling over, and tooted again.

"It's wonderful to see your daughter using her imagination. These days I mostly see children with their muzzles buried in phones and tablets." The owner looked back to Nick. "You remind me of my son's best friend. Great kid. So, what can I help you find, Mister…?"

"Dooley. Michael Dooley." Nick introduced himself and extended his paw. "Faye here has been in a bit of a dollhouse phase. Do you have any really nice ones?"

"Call me Earl. And yes, I have a few great selections in stock for you to see," he said excitedly while shaking Nick's paw with his trunk. "Right this way, please."

When Earl left his seat, Nick spied a family portrait on the wall behind him. It was a high school graduation photo. Earl was proudly standing behind his son, who was wearing his blue gown and cap, with Rebecca to their side. He noticed Earl Jr. smiling down at another mammal in front of him. It was a red fox, also dressed in a cap and gown, smiling up to the younger elephant. The officer wondered if this fox was Phil. Perhaps the same fox who hired Dinks and the other rodents. The younger fox really did look like Nick, green eyes, and all.

Snapping out of his observation, Nick took Finnick's paw again and followed Earl. The elephant guided his customers over to the street side wall. The three mammals passed through countless shelves and aisles of toys, trinkets, board games, and accessories. It was quite the children's wonderland. The elephant presented Nick with a pawful of really nice dollhouses along the bottom shelf. However, the one in particular he wanted was in the window display.

The red fox haunched over and glanced to the fennec. They exchanged a discreet nod.

"These are really beautiful, Earl." Nick began, then turned to his daughter. "Which one do you like, sweetie?"

Finnick waddled away towards the supposed rodent building and pointed excitedly at it with the lollipop and a small toot.

"Looks like your daughter found one she liked, Mr. Dooley. That one, however, is a little pricey, but it's very high quality," Earl informed.

"Really? How much?"

"Nine hundred bucks."

It sure took a lot of effort for both foxes to not scoff at the price. Nick maintained a perfectly neutral face. "I always knew she had expensive tastes," he said, walking over to pat Finnick on the head. He still decided to try a little haggling. "It is really nice like you said. Expert craftsmanship. Maybe a little birthday discount? Eight hundred bucks?"

"For you, Mr. Dooley… I can do eight-fifty. But no less. It's the last one."

"Well, I know once she sets her heart on something, I can't say no. Deal," Nick said with clasped paws.

Pretending to jump excitedly, Finnick let out a few more toots.

"Wonderful! Would your daughter like any accessories? Or perhaps a few dolls to go with her new dollhouse?"

Nick pretended to consider the idea with a paw under his chin. He leaned over to look at the various items next to the building. There was a tiny hamster wheel, some furniture, silverware, even a few tiny appliances. Nothing that could really help further identify the building.

"No thank you, Earl. Just the dollhouse. Please," Nick said with a smile.

"Let's ring you back up at the register!" the elephant joyfully exclaimed.

Watching Earl tap away with his trunk at the old dusty register, Nick watched the price appear.

"How will you be paying today, Mr. Dooley?"

Reaching into his wallet, Nick opened it and took out a rather hefty lump of cash. "Here you are, Earl. Eight-fifty."

"Receipt?"

"Please."

The store owner handed Nick his purchase receipt. After neatly folding the piece of paper and sticking it into his pocket, another idea popped into Nick's devious mind. He reached into his right pocket and activated the recorder on the pen.

"It was a pleasure, Earl. Say… you said the dollhouse was your last one? Will you be expecting any more?"

"You'd like to purchase another, Mr. Dooley?" Earl asked with a surprised tone.

Nick made an exaggerated glance towards Finnick and signaled to Earl that he wanted him to lean closer. Earl did so.

"Between you and me…" Nick whispered. "I'm a sucker for spoiling my little girl. I know she's going to want to have a nice set and I'd love to surprise her with another one."

"Well, I'm not sure when I can expect another. My son, EJ, is the one who found the artist who built it. When he's back from school, I can ask him to contact the artist and place an order for you, if you'd like?"

The red fox couldn't grin any wider. "I'd love that, Earl."

After Nick provided his number under his fake alias, Earl wrapped the dollhouse in protective wrapping and helped his new customer by lifting the dollhouse, placing it on a dolly, and wheeling it out to their car. The elephant carefully lowered it into the trunk, face up. The three mammals waved goodbye as Nick turned on the car, and drove away.

Once they were a few blocks away, Nick turned down a low populated area, and parked in a vacant alleyway. He popped the trunk and both foxes jumped out.

"Another successful act, Finn." Nick said with a thrilled exclamation.

Finnick finally removed the trunk mask. "Damn Wilde, where'd you get all that money?"

"ZPD petty cash fund. It's there for undercover jobs… just like this one. Now, let's check our prize, shall we?"

Nick watched Finnick hop onto the bumper and stand inside the trunk looking over the building. He was rather amused that his old buddy seemed to be getting into this investigation a little bit. Finnick then tore off the wrapping and looked over the entire building.

"Heh. I wonder if this one is made from our red wood?" Finnick laughed to himself in amusement. "Wouldn't that be funny."

The comment made Nick's ears momentarily flatten. It was a brief reminder of another past act he actually wasn't very proud of anymore. "Yeah, real funny…" he muttered.

"So, how we gonna know if it's legit?" the fennec asked as he poked various parts of the building.

Snapping himself from his thoughts, Nick reached into the side of the trunk, and held up a small chisel and rock hammer.

"A clerk from the ZPC told me that rodent buildings have a special ID hidden right here," he tapped on the front right corner of the foundation.

"Whatchu waitin' for? Get to it!" Finnick ordered.

"Gee… so helpful, buddy." Nick drawled as he began to tap away at the inside corner.

Several minutes passed, until Nick hit a hard metal clink. He began to clear away around the area to reveal a plaque with a series of numbers etched into it. Finnick leaned in to take a closer look.

"What's it say, Finn?"

"ZPC-LR-M416."

"Bingo. We have a winner!" Nick declared in victory while snapping a photo of the ID. "This is Chez's building!"

"Chez!? Maybe we should ditch it in Icy Lake instead," Finnick suggested with an evil grin.

"Finn…" Nick chastised with a scowl and flattened ears.

"So, now what? You gonna head back there and bust that chump?"

"Not yet. There's another mammal involved. A fox. And I need to catch them in the act. I suspect he might…"

"WHAT!?" came the sudden outburst. "You didn't say we'd be bustin' one of our own."

"He's breaking the law, Finn," Nick pointed to the building. "This was a whole lot of mammals' home."

"Yeah? So what? I ain't got no home. I live in a van. Why should you care about a bunch of rodents? You remember how they used to treat us?" Finnick spat.

"I have to care about every citizen now!" Nick growled. "I seem to recall you laughing it up when Judy threatened to jail both Mira and myself," the red fox said with crossed arms.

"Cuz bunny cop was just hustlin'. Doesn't look like she turned in your tail for that tax crap. Especially with how you living it up now." Finnick pointed an angry finger at Nick. "You look like you gonna bust this guy for real. Maybe you'll bust me for something too?"

"Oh, so it should be selective then, huh? And why would I bust you? You haven't been doing anything illegal for a long time. I transferred my permits and receipt of declared commerce to you. You don't even have to con the shop anymore and you told me, you sell the popsicle sticks to a recycling center now." The former con sighed before continuing. "Besides, you don't even know this guy, Finn. I have a testimony that he's involved," Nick pointed out.

"From who?" Finnick crossed his arms and scowled.

"A gerbil named Dinks," Nick stated.

"So, you just gonna believe some chump gerbil? Fine. We done, right? I'm outta here. You can go finish playing boy scout on your own," Finnick said as he tore off the suit and threw it haphazardly into the trunk.

Nick silently watched Finnick stomp out of the alley with flat ears. He never looked back. With a heavy sigh, his own ears down, he closed the trunk. Pulling out of the alleyway, Nick headed back south to Precinct One.

With Officer McHorn's help, the two officers brought the rodent building into the precinct to be held as evidence for the time being. Nick returned the rest of the borrowed cash along with the receipt. Grizzoli emailed Nick a detailed report of Yolanda's activities from the previous evening. She left work to go shopping, have dinner with a few mammals, and spent the evening at her place with another zebra. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Now, Nick had to prepare for the next part of his plan. If Earl was going to order another dollhouse from his so called 'artist' then he would need to stake out Little Rodentia and catch them in the act. It became a matter of when. He needed to see the Chief.

Updating his case file, Nick sluggishly pecked away at his keyboard. What was supposed to feel like a moment of triumph, felt hollow. He couldn't blame Finnick for feeling the way he did. Nick picked up his phone. His thumb hovered over Finnick's contact number for several long moments. With a weary sigh, he let the phone flop onto his desk.

Instead, he found himself with his head between his arms, staring at the picture of him and Judy. Her large bright eyes and cheerful smile brought him a fleeting moment of joy. What would she do? His mind lingered on the thought before he narrowed his eyes. No he told himself. It should be about what I should do. What I want to do.

With that moment of clarity, Nick finished his update, copied the pen's recording file into the case folder on his computer, and printed a new set of papers for his file. Logging off his workstation, he took the report and headed to the fourth floor.

"Enter." ordered the gruff voice behind the door.

Nick walked in and took the seat in front of Chief Bogo. He leaned over to slide the case file on his boss's desk. Bogo silently donned his glasses on and began to flip through the pages.

"What's your progress, Wilde?"

"Sir, I found one of the buildings. It was being sold in a toy store as a dollhouse," Nick answered.

"What?" the Chief looked surprised. "You're absolutely certain, Wilde?"

"Yes, Chief. I located its special building ID thanks to the information provided by the commissioner of the Zootopia Planning Commision. It's a one hundred percent match."

"I never would have suspected..." Bogo mused. "Do you have enough evidence for an arrest?"

"Not completely, Sir. I need to catch them in the act and verify all parties involved. I don't think the toy store owner is in on it, Sir. Just a hunch. My suspicions point to the owner's sister, and possibly his son. Along with that fox that Dinks informed us about."

Bogo nodded while Nick continued.

"I managed to buy the building and showed interest in purchasing another. He told me that he would be in contact with the 'artist' who makes them," Nick finished with air quotes. "If he's contacting this fox, I'll need access to their phone records. Then I'll know when they'll be attempting to steal another building."

Chief Bogo considered his officer's request. "Very well, Wilde. Leave this copy of your report with me. I'll get you a subpoena for the ZT&T Corporation and put you in contact with them ASAP. Good work, Officer. Is that everything?"

"It is, Sir." Nick replied with a rather neutral tone.

Bogo eyed his fox officer for a moment. Wilde wasn't being his usual smartass self despite providing progress of a solid investigation.

"Wilde, I need you to assist Wolfard and Delgato with their current assignment since we are a few Officers short this week. Clawhauser will provide you with more information. I'll have him radio you right away when we get the records. Dismissed." the cape buffalo ordered before returning to his own pile of reports.

"Aye, aye, Chief." Nick said with a lazy salute and exited the office.

Chief Bogo observed Nick leave. He punched the intercom down to reception.

"Yes, Chief?"

"Clawhauser, call the Zootopia Municipal Courthouse and get Judge Baram on the line," Bogo requested.

"You got it, Chief!" the cheetah happily replied.


Earl was upstairs in his kitchen cooking a nice grass, roots, twig, and peanut stew with a side dish of fruits. The door to his home opened. He turned to see his son, Earl Jr. walk in. The younger elephant tossed his backpack next to the doorframe before closing it.

"Hey Pops! That smells great!" he said as he took in the aroma that filled the entire living space.

"It's your favorite stew, EJ!" Earl announced.

"Special occasion?" his son asked.

"Definitely! A customer bought the last dollhouse today. The really nice one made by your friend. He was so impressed that he wanted to buy a second one for his daughter. So, I told him I'd see what I could do about ordering another," the older elephant tooted.

"Wow. That's awesome!"

"Sure is. Think your friend will be able to make another one soon?" Earl smiled at his son.

"Uh… sure. I'll ask him right away. Might take a few days to… make another one. Ya know?" EJ explained.

"No problem," Earl said. He turned to point at a small pile of bucks sitting on the counter. "That's the artist's commission over there."

"Thanks Pops," EJ said as he picked up the cash with his trunk and stuffed it into his jacket. "Can, Phil join us tonight?"

"Of course! You know you don't need to ask. He's always welcome. Your aunt texted me earlier. She'll be home soon. Set the plates for me?"

"Sure thing," the son said as he began to gather all of the appropriate silverware and neatly set the table for four.

When he was finished, EJ walked into his room and took out his phone. He poked his head out to make sure his dad was still occupied and closed the door. He tapped a contact on his phone and held it up to his ear.

"Yo, Phil. Guess what? My pops sold the last building!... I know, right?... He told me that the customer was interested in another one… Yeah… I know, but what do you say? I've never seen him so happy… We gotta get one more… Okay… Sure… Awesome! Oh, and come over for dinner. Pops is making his famous stew… Sweet, see you soon!"

Hanging up, EJ made a victory trunk pump, going back into the living room to mingle with his dad till his aunt and best friend arrived.


Author's Note: Hi everyone! Sorry for another lengthy break in between updates but this case took several large rewrites both on the mechanics of it, pace, motivations, characters, etc. I am pretty happy with how it organically turned out as I wrote it. As you can see it's a much more grounded and down to earth case compared to PH&CR.

For those of you who have played the Zootopia Crime Files mobile game, you'll see I've adapted a few characters from there into this story such as Donna, Dinks, Earl, and Yolanda!

A big special thanks to two good buddies of mine who donated their time: listening to me bounce ideas off them, reading various drafts, nitpicking, and offering input, especially on the investigation bits. Also, thanks to XinyiC from Ao3 for volunteering and taking time to read the first full draft and editing it.

I'd love to hear feedback on what you guy's think of Nick's first solo case debut. Also, some e-cookies for all of you who notice some of the little references and easter eggs planted among the story.

As a little bit of side humor, and I'm dating myself here, I totally listened to and envisioned this as a solid theme song for Nick doing his police work - the theme for Beverly Hills Cop.

Part 3 will not only conclude Nick's case, we will spend some time in Bunnyburrow with a focus on what the continued absence has in store for Judy.

Once again, thank you all for reading and commenting! And for those of you in the US, hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday!