Nick, back in uniform, but coat still pink, looked up from his terminal as Bogo entered the room.
"So," the Chief prompted. "Every gruesome detail."
Nick filled him in, Judy and Lina listening intently.
When the fox finished, the rabbit laid a paw on his shoulder. "It's him, isn't it?" she asked, quietly.
"Yes. Garrett Embers. And he's not changed a bit."
"Tell me about him," Bogo instructed.
Nick checked his notes. "Born to Mary and Ted Embers, during one of the rare periods of stability in their marriage. Spent the first few years of his life being given everything he wanted, because it was easier than actually being parents. This bred a serious sense of entitlement, which turned to resentment when the marriage finally broke up, and as Mary and Ted didn't want him, he went into state care.
"The resentment, coupled with a need to regain control in his life, led him to start bullying fellow pupils at school. By the time I knew him in middle school, he was a sadistic brute drunk on the power it gave him, and cunning enough to avoid any real repercussions for it. That finally changed after he drove Jules Riverson to suicide.
"He was punished, disciplined, put into long-term therapy, the works, and it seemed to change him for the better, enough so that, at the age of fourteen, he was adopted by a family intent on giving him the fresh start, the second chance, they thought he deserved. Part of that was a new name, so Garrett Embers became Gabriel Silverson."
A weight seemed to settle on Bogo's shoulders, while Judy's ears rose and Lina's eyes widened.
"That explains so many things," the tigress murmured.
"The silver fox is his adoptive brother, right?" Judy surmised.
"Patrick," Nick confirmed. "Pat founded the clinic, but obviously isn't in charge of it any more. How, and why, that came about, we can only speculate. What I think we can be sure about is that things started to unravel for Gabriel when Aiden Brindle arrived at the clinic. Aiden and Patrick started a relationship, it drove Gabriel so crazy, threatened him so much, he put a price on Brindle's head, and that triggered the kind of self-destructive cycle he's always been prone to, and now he's so far gone he didn't hesitate to assault a cub in front of multiple witnesses.
"I know you're blaming yourself, sir," he finished, "but you're a better mammal now, and have a golden opportunity to balance things out."
The buffalo's jaw tightened. "And I intend to take it."
"Make it soon, sir," Nick advised. "He'll just keep escalating. I can't be part of it, though. I was arguably already too close, and I definitely am now. And there's a risk he recognised me."
"Agreed. A branch of SmallMart has reported some 'odd little thefts', so I'll assign you to that. Fangmeyer, prepare to pay a visit to the Clinic first thing tomorrow morning. Hopps, you'll be with her." Bogo turned to leave. "Do not let him slip through your fingers."
"We won't, sir," Judy vowed, then gripped Nick's paw, and stared right into his eyes, hers narrowing. "I promise."
Nick chuckled. "Little intense there, Carrots."
"And Wilde," Bogo added, pausing in the doorway, "scrub off that dye or I'll get Trunkaby to do it for you. I expect she'd jump at the chance, after the whole...trunk sleeve incident..."
Nick swallowed. "Let's, uh...let's get you that photo, Fluff, then I think I'd better do as the Chief says."
"Mind me helping?"
Nick nudged noses. "Not at all."