Ladies, gentlekin and cryptids of all shapes and kinds, welcome to chapter eight. Here, we see the effects of the previous night come into effect as assignments are distributed and things start falling into place. Judy and Nick seek help from an unlikely source. Until next time...

I remain your obedient servant,

Thrash Evaine Lovelocke

"Have you rolled anything other than deuces?" Judy asked Bucky as she and her neighbors tried in vain to play Hearts.

Bucky looked across the table to his husband and shrugged. "We don't really know what we're doing," he confessed. A short nod from Pronk confirmed this.

With a quick sigh, Judy shook her head and stood up. "It's okay. I'll teach you guys to play Hearts some other time. I've got to get ready to go to work now. I'll see you later, boys." Bucky and Pronk nodded and shared farewells with her as they stepped out into the hallway and over to their apartment. Judy closed her door and locked it so she could get dressed in peace. Through the wall, she could hear an escalating argument between the irritable ungulates about whether they were playing a weird version of Go Fish or Prench Tarot. "Hearts, you goofs. We were playing Hearts," she muttered with a laugh under her breath. As they continued arguing, Judy walked down the hallway and downstairs. She could hear them at least a little all the way into the street.

By 7:42 AM she had arrived at Precinct One and met Nick in the foyer. He had a frown on and Judy sighed. She did not bother to say anything. She just gave a gesture asking him to speak. Nick sighed, "The Good Chief says there's some big stuff on the dockets today. Works out well since no officers called in sick for this shift. Still, how much you want to bet this is about to go horribly sideways for us?"

"Recently, big has meant very little. How big did he make it seem?" Judy asked. Nick spread his arms wide as a general indication and Judy smirked. "Sounds like we're about to have quite the day."

Her partner chuckled dryly. "I knew you would be excited about this. First chance in a while to drink from the chalice of justice, huh?"

"I'm gonna slurp it all!" Judy laughed. Nick rolled his eyes at her, but at least she was in good spirits. "Any idea what this big thing is that Bogo has for us?"

For a moment, Nick searched his memory. Then he shook his head. Judy grunted quietly and nodded a bit. "Oh, hey, I forgot. There is actually one officer who didn't come in today," Nick said as he stopped in front of the bullpen, "Shenzi. I'm not sure what's wrong, but Nala said she called in sick to the front desk this morning."

If there was any officer at the ZPD who preferred work to being stuck in at home, it was Shenzi. Although she was still relatively new to police work, she had missed very few days thus far, perhaps only three or four in total. Without her in the bullpen, things would not have quite the same level of energy. Her antics were something like a drug to the other officers and they had become quite adapted to having it most of the time. With Nick Wilde and Shenzi-Marie ya Fisi in the same room, the atmosphere became not unlike a storm. Today, there were still the usual murmurings and arm wrestling happening while everyone awaited the arrival of Chief Bogo. Nala sat talking to Bridgette Kodia but she seemed more focused on her phone than she did with her conversation. Judy could not make out specifics, but it looked as though Nala was asking Bridgette to repeat herself quite often. "Whatever Shenzi got, she must have gotten it bad. Looks like she isn't answering her phone."

Nick nodded and was readying a response when Higgins called out his daily "Atten-hut" from the front of the room, signaling everybody to take their seats. Chief Bogo did not look as bored as he normally did. While the large buffalo opened his assignment dockets, Higgins returned to his seat. A look around the room and Bogo nodded as if agreeing with himself on something. "It is good that you are all here. We have a lot to cover today. Four calls of note over the course of the graveyard shift, two from last night and two from very early today, and one more just before I came in here. Surprising as this may seem in and of itself, more surprising is the fact that two calls were made from right here in Savannah Central. Most of these calls were made regarding suspicious activity with very few leads, but one is a report of a highly extreme level of violence. Now, as Precinct One is the presiding office of the ZPD, we have been called to assist the other districts as well as doing work here. We may be spread thin for the next while. Officers Fangmeyer and Wolfard, you two will report to Finewater and speak with Police Chief Jawson at the shores. He will tell you what to do from there. Officers Nobleheart and Kodia, you will be focusing on the two reports from here in SC. Hopefully, you will be joined by Officer ya Fisi starting tomorrow if you still need her. Officer Snarlov, you will be joining me to the precinct office in Tundratown. Chief Reinor has requested my personal involvement with something. With that, you are all dismissed."

Officers began standing and departing from the room. Judy and Nick gave each other a glance as they walked out near the rear of the small herd. Judy whispered to him, "There's no way, right? We only just discovered them last night and they've been hiding for so long. Why would they become so careless now?"

"I mean, their little hideout was already discovered once. Who's to say it wouldn't be again? Maybe they're trying to set up shop in another part of town. I know I would if I was ever busted for any sort of dangerous operation against the city," Nick replied quietly with a shrug.

"Hopps! Wilde!" Bogo called after them. "Come here. I have an assignment for you two as well." Although they expected to be given one of these special cases, they were hoping to be in the clear after the Tundratown assignment. Standing in front of Bogo's podium, the two of them looked up intently. They were surprised when Bogo took off his glasses and came around the podium to face them directly. He gave a deep breath and put his hands behind his back. "You two are familiar with the name Lyyia Furheardt, right?"

Although it was a name they had not heard in a long time, they did know it. "She's a boss in the Rainforest District. Operates pretty openly, but the entire office of Precinct 4 cannot seem to track her down, no matter how desperately they try to. Some people theorize that she has influence over a lot of businesses and how well they do in the Rainforest District," Judy explained and then looked to Nick.

The fox raised his arms up in defense. "Hey, I never knew her."

Chief Bogo gave a smirk at them and motioned for them to stop so he could continue. "Well, one of the calls of note was from Brian Gatinheiro, Chief of Precinct Four."

"They have a lead on Furheardt?" Judy asked.

"No. Listen. It involves her empire, in a way. The owner of a local restaurant, Vicente dos Santos, found a young wolf with Furheardt's symbol on his jacket in his kitchen this morning. There were wounds of all unpleasant sorts everywhere from his neck to his legs. He was brought into the Felix Mourãol Memorial Hospital and Gatinheiro wants you two, specifically, to report there and aid in the investigation. He did not say why."

Of course, the fact that Chief Gatinheiro had not said why was driving the poor Chief Bogo up the wall. He disliked being left out of the loop, but he also trusted Nick and Judy implicitly and had faith they would keep him informed as best they could. Since Nick did not seem happy about what Chief Bogo was saying, Judy responded, "Well, we'll get right on it."

Chief Bogo nodded. "Good. You two are dismissed."

Then, the chief left and Nick and Judy made their way to their car. After igniting the engine and arranging her seat the way she wanted it, Judy sighed and looked across the seat at her partner. "Do you think there's even a chance it wasn't a naga?"

"Hardly," Nick answered quietly. "I just want to know why Chief Gatinheiro specifically requested us. Him, that is…"

"…and nobody else," Judy finished. "To be fair," she reasoned, "the manner of this attack sounded somewhat similar to the way people were attacked by the predators who were influenced by the night howlers."

Nick nodded. "I guess that's true. I don't know, though. What are the odds that someone would be stupid enough to try the exact same thing as the last major criminal scandal only a few months later?"

"Maybe the naga are hoping to link this back to Bellweather? Earn her a longer sentence, keep her out of the way, take over from the shadows?"

"Sounds complicated for an entire race of massive reptiles armed with lightning powers and big, big muscles. They looked like they wanted to fight."

Once more, he was right. Judy decided to quit hypothesizing and put the vehicle into drive. Exiting the lot right behind Nala and Bridgette, they made their way to the Rainforest District. Along the way, Nick grew thirsty and proposed they stop for coffee. These detours to Buckstars were hardly even outside of their daily routine anymore and Chief Bogo either did not check the location logs in the cars or he did not care. Again, Judy ordered exactly what she wanted and, again, Nick ordered his and tampered with it afterwards. They were mostly quiet for the rest of their drive with Nick humming a song almost inaudibly and occasionally muttering the lyrics "under alabaster moonlight with you."

"Siobhan O'Terrapin?" Judy asked as they neared their destination.

"Huh?" Nick asked cluelessly.

"That song you've been humming. It sounds kind of like Siobhan O'Terrapin's kind of lyrics. Is it that new single of hers you've been on about?"

"Oh, yeah! Yeah, it is," Nick said after taking a little too long to fully comprehend what was being said to him. "It's called 'Alabaster Moonlight'. Combine the title with a few five buck words and gorgeous poetry and you have a romantic candlelit dinner for two."

Judy raised an eyebrow. "I'd think the food and candles would be important too, but okay."

"Hey, look, Carrots, I know my way around romance and the right music for the mood is always paramount," Nick countered.

"Try telling that to any average hippo or gerbil. They'll say the lighting and food are important."

Nick gave a confused look and shook his head as Judy stopped the car in a parking spot and cut the ignition. "No, I mean in general. It's the music. It gets you to relax and mellow out."

Wincing, Judy shrugged and exited the car, followed by Nick. "I dunno, Nick. Even if dinner isn't involved, I'd put more stock in the lighting. You'll always have lighting. Music can come or go."

"Which is why it's more important," he argued. "Lighting is more throw-away. Music is more occasional and, therefore, more influential."

"Only if it's there in the first place." Judy approached the front desk of the hospital and left Nick just to roll his eyes in frustration at her stubbornness. "Hello!" She exclaimed happily. "Officers Hopps and Wilde of Zootopia Precinct One. We're here to question a Mister Vicente dos Santos and a Mister…" she paused and looked at the docket again as though she were misreading something. "Um… a Mister Sober Fenryrson."

The squirrel at the front desk nodded and looked through his information. "Oh, right! Mister Fenryrson is in Room 250. Elevator is right down that hallway," he said in a high-pitched voice. Judy thanked him and went with Nick to the elevator.

"So, who's going to do the talking?" Nick asked as they waited for the compartment.

Judy put a hand on the back of her head for a second and entered the elevator. She waited for him to come in and for the door to close. "You have more experience with the Underworld than I do. Maybe you could get a little more out of him than I could. He might trust you."

At this, Nick put his hand up. "Hey, I told you I never knew her!"

"But you know how to… talk… to criminals a little better than I do. You have that weird charisma thing!"

"'Weird charisma thing'? Aww, come on, Carrots! I had to talk to the last one."

"Talk to this one and I'll repay you however you want," Judy said with a dealmaking look.

Nick put some thought into this. He looked back down to Judy. "Fine. Hundred bucks."

"Make it fifty."

"Done."

Their agreement finalized, the elevator door opened like it had been waiting for them patiently. Room 250 was towards the north end of the hall and Judy and Nick were both a little nervous at the plain and monotonous surroundings of the hospital. These kinds of places were not exactly the most welcoming. There was never a kindly reason for being in a hospital. It was the most bittersweet mixture of despair and hope that clouded the air when family or friend was brought in. As Nick and Judy approached Room 250, out came an antelope in a nurse's attire who looked down to them from over a clipboard. "Officer Judy Hopps? Officer Nick Wilde?"

"Yes," Judy affirmed. "We're here to see Sober Fenryrson."

The antelope nodded and pointed to the door. "He has another visitor right now. She claims to be very close to him."

Judy and Nick nodded their thanks and the antelope departed to a desk a little further down the hall. Nick put his hand on the door. He and Judy looked at each other, breathed in deeply, sighed and opened it gently. Stepping inside, they were presented with the sad sight of Sober Fenryrson. His stomach was wrapped in bandages around the middle and there were sizable scratches and gashes on his arms and torso. If the report was to be believed, there were probably more on his legs.

"Judith Laverne Hopps and Nickolas Piberius Wilde in the flesh." To this point, they had not looked away from the ravaged victim. Sitting in a chair with a book in her lap was another wolf. She was a beautiful, silvery gray and had a black thigh-cut dress with a curving purple design near the bottom. "It is a pleasure to meet The Spears of Precinct One. My name is Lyyia Furheardt. I have no doubt you've known about me for a long time."

When the wolf did not stand, Judy and Nick looked at each other in confusion for a minute. Judy took the initiative. "Yes, we have. We also know that Precinct Four has been after you for a long time."

"In other words," Nick added, "what reason do we have not to turn you into Precinct Four, right now?"

The calm and calculating Lyyia placed a bookmark on her page and closed the book. "Firstly, because I am nearly twice as large as both of you combined and I am not stupid like most thugs. In other words, as you would put it Officer Wilde, I know how to fight. Secondly, if you incarcerate me, you may never know what befell poor Sober."

"He would tell us, wouldn't he?" Nick asked.

"Not unless The Godmother tells him too," Lyyia smirked, "and she hasn't. And she won't." The frustrated appearance on Nick and Judy's faces seemed to entertain Lyyia. She gave a quiet and devious chuckle. "It would seem I have defended my position and we are now at a deadlock. You can turn me in to the good Chief Gatinheiro, or we can continue this conversation in a civilized manner."

Reluctance clouded their movements, but Nick and Judy slowly sat on the couch next to Sober's bed. Judy opened the notes on her phone and locked the file behind a password. She gave Nick and short nod and he turned to Sober. "Mister Fenryrson, can you understand me?" He nodded. "Okay, I need to ask you a few questions. I want to know exactly what happened. Who attacked you?"

Weakly, Sober turned to look at Lyyia. She gave him an assuring nod. He turned back to Nick and Judy. "I… I don't know what it was."

"You couldn't tell who it was?"

"Not who, what! It moved so… quickly that… I couldn't see it," he began to cough roughly. "It was too dark."

"A savage predator?" Nick asked him.

"I, uh…"

"Tell him, Sober," Lyyia said reassuringly.

"I think it was. I… I do know it was very big. Not like a bear, but bigger than either of you and bigger than me."

Judy kept writing down notes with great speed and Nick looked at Lyyia. "I know what it's like in the underworld, Furheardt. Do you have any enemies who would want to eliminate you or your allies?"

"Of course I do, Officer Wilde. However, if this is a savage attack like you suggest it was, isn't that irrelevant?" Lyyia responded calmly.

Nick nodded a little. "Unless you have enemies who know how to use night howlers?"

Scoffing, Lyyia rolled her eyes and looked at Nick with a humorous gaze. "If you know the Underworld so well, Officer Wilde, then how stupid do you think the people in it are? The Bellweather Scandal is hardly even a memory yet. Anyone would have to be extremely stupid to try and smuggle, grow or use them for anything right now."

That was the same conclusion that they had reached earlier. Hearing such a thing from someone who was active in the Zootopian Underworld put away any doubts they may have had on the matter. "So you think this was a calculated attack?"

"No. Our enemies operate outside the Rainforest District. Anyone else within it either bows to us or is afraid of us. I suppose there are some who might have the audacity to try something like that but nobody we couldn't find. You see, I'm a dealmaker, Officer Wilde. If I wanted to hurt people, I would not spend so much time hiding. My enemies are only enemies because they are afraid that I will eventually have enough money to buy them out. Their concern with me is not physical but fiscal in nature."

"Your efforts in money laundering must make up a large part of that problem," Judy snorted with disdain.

Lyyia's ears perked up and she smirked at the rabbit. "Be careful. I may not want to hurt people, but with the right amount of money I could find someone who would. Location is a very important thing and I am never far from my friends, Carrots," she whispered balefully. Judy and Nick shared a glance and the former took a very swift, almost unnoticeable glance to the door. She saw no shadows in the hall. "Oh, my dear Officers, relax. I mean you no harm. At least not now. I need your help, after all. We simply don't have the time to go into a full investigation on the creature that attacked poor Sober here."

Taking the opportunity to segue the conversation back to where it belonged, Nick looked Sober in the eyes. He could still see the remnants of helplessness and fear. It was that look that stopped him from diving deep into the Underworld after his association with Mister Big. That was the look of someone who had been walking on a frozen lake and nearly drowned in the frigid rushing water; the look of someone who had been diagnosed with a terminal disease; the look of someone who had been on the receiving end of physical abuse by animals much larger than he who had a twisted view of what was right. "Mister Fenryrson-"

"My name is Sober. It's the name my mom gave me, and it's still my name."

Nick sighed with sadness. "Right. I'm sorry. Okay, Sober, I know that these are not really things you want to think about, but you have to tell me if the person that attacked you was with anyone else. Did there seem to be any hints of savagery before you were attacked?"

"No. Um…" He looked to Lyyia who nodded. "They didn't seem to be. There were two people. They were both saying stuff, but I couldn't understand them. Then one of them said something that sounded like a… like a question, I think. Then the other one said something really snappy. Then I heard a garbage can get knocked over. After that, I don't remember much. I started running. One of them caught me on a street. I tried to look at it but it was too dark and I was too scared. It scratched and scratched me and…" he began to whimper in fear at remembering. "Then… then I… it… I was so scared. I kicked it in the back, I think. I knocked it off, though. Then I ran some more. I ran to that restaurant on Rafflesia Lane. The door… the door was locked. I couldn't help it, I had to turn around to see if I could see it. It… it was like it stabbed me. I fell through the door and onto the floor. Then I ran into the kitchen and… and I cried. I just cried and I was scared. I didn't know what to do."

Lyyia stood and walked over to the heavily breathing young wolf. "Sober, sweetie, it's okay. You're in the hospital. You will be okay." Slowly, the young wolf calmed back down and, whether from exhaustion or fear, Sober passed out. Judy and Nick shared another look, this one long and thoughtful. "Officers, I know I am not really in your good graces; however, I have something I must ask of you. Might I ask you two to join me in the hallway?" Judy and Nick agreed with quiet nods and the three animals stepped out into the hall with Lyyia taking up the rear to take one last hopeful look at her injured ally while she grabbed her book and purse. She closed the door quietly. "Judy Hopps, Nick Wilde, you two know as well as I do that this was not a savage attack."

The amount of confidence in that statement made Nick and Judy on alert. "What makes you say that? You said you have no enemies who would attack your people so abruptly," Nick said inquisitively.

"I don't. However, what did you notice about Sober's scratches?" The two officers did not seem amused by Lyyia's cryptic question. She sighed, "They were all facing the same direction. They started from the left and gashed in a down-right slant."

Judy raised her eyebrow and folded her arms. "Tell me what exactly that proves."

"One of two things. Either the attacker was extremely particular about how he was hurting Sober, or he was only using one hand."

The significance of such a thing was lost on Judy for a minute and Nick just looked into Lyyia's eyes like she was crazy for a moment. Then, both of their eyes widened. "Using one hand to scratch," Judy began.

"He said he felt a stabbing sensation at the door of the Cape and Bar," Nick continued. They looked at each other again and Lyyia nodded. "The creature had a weapon."

"Exactly, dear officers. Now, listen. I am already less than friends with the Zootopian Police Department and I know that I won't be on her good side until I have done something I have no intention of doing. That is why I told Chief Gatinheiro of Precinct Four that I would only speak to you two. He won't know you've finished speaking to me until after I'm gone. I digress, though. My point is that you and I are friends for the time being. Sober is one of my most amiable faces and one of my favorites to do business through. Whoever did this must be brought down. I would either see them dead or see them put away. I would prefer the former but I don't think that will be happening, so I'll settle for second best. The bottom line is you two and I are friends now. Every now and then, I may keep in contact with you through my friends. Who knows? If things get serious enough, you may be lucky enough to see me again. For now, though, I bid you both farewell. I'll be keeping in touch."

Calmly as she had been up to now, Lyyia Furheardt turned about and stalked down the hallway elegantly to the elevator. Once she was out of sight, Judy and Nick leaned against the wall and sighed. Nick sputtered again and Judy looked at him. "So, it was the naga. Each and everyone was probably the naga."

"No way it wasn't. Not anymore. I definitely didn't think I would be doing business with Lyyia Furheardt, especially not from this side of the Law," Nick laughed. "Think we should see if Chief Gatinheiro knows anything else?"

Nick shrugged at first and then nodded. "Might not be a bad idea. If the attack happened at that Cape and Bar restaurant, maybe they'll still be there investigating things."

At that, Judy scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah. All the wrong things. Which we can't prove with no evidence they exist except a potentially delusional series of eyewitnesses and a video that doesn't exist anymore."

"Still," Nick said soothingly, "it might be worth it to see what Precinct Four can dredge up from what we already have."

Down the hall, down the elevator and out the door they went. Although their lead on this was small, it was taking them somewhere. Chief Gatinheiro was known for being one of the shortest police chiefs in Zootopia but he was still a tough person. He had little tolerance for failure in his investigations. If anyone would be thorough, efficient and open to ideas, it would be him. By now it was 9:37 AM. Gatinheiro would be expecting them.