The new tales from Zootopia

by Vindictive456

This story is a well thought out work of fan-fiction that will cover in moderate pace how Judy came back to the force and convinced Nick to be her partner, Nick's training to become an officer and his days at the academy, a weird new case involving corrupt mammals and a new dangerous drug, all of that sprinkled with the growing love between Zootopia's favorite pair of officers.

19. Episode 19: Get a clue

Author's note: Salutations, everyone. It is I, Valiant, and I am finally back with a new chapter of Zootopia. So much has happened and my days have been filled with inumeral distractions aver since we last spoken. It feels like my writting has gone way past my self stablished deadline and I apologize for the delay. I have been getting busy with some planning and some quality times with my family here at home, but I still set aside the time I need to sit mu butt down and write more pieces of the stories you crave for.

This chapter is the beggining of the investigation that will take Nick and Judy through the path leading them to new intrigues down the line. I am not experienced inwritting down police cases but I do have a great deal of imagination for story telling and I do hope this part will be satisfactory for you all. Soon, the next chapter will emerge with action, intrigue, drama, and far deeper dive into the minds of our two protagonists. I shall also publish a new chapter of my Spyro Fan-fic which will be coming out in a few days if I keep a steady pace.

Enough Stalling! Have a great reading and remain awesome as you are.

Episode 19: Get a clue.

Zootopia had woken up to a new and, seemingly, calm day, unfortunately that was clearly not the case for precinct one. There was no morning assembly by the bullpen on that Friday since chief Bogo asked to be left alone in his office while he went over a few new piles of paperwork that had arrived that day, giving the permission for the other officers to answer to dispatch calls given off by other precincts as soon as they arrived. Benjamin remained by his usual spot for most of the morning, forwarding calls and handing out dispatch orders before logging them on to the system, as it was protocol, there were only a few officers waiting on standby inside the precinct one building and that included Nick and Judy.

Nick was taking a relaxing time inside the cubicle that he and Judy shared, the squared space was clearly divided between them but they didn't mind it too much as long as they committed themselves to finishing their given office work on time. The left side of the cubicle was reserved for Judy, her adjustable chair was left on a lowered position so she could always modify its height for a more comfortable working position at a later time, her computer had its desktop screen littered with software that were separated by category of use and presenting a picture of a nice open field as a digital wallpaper. The right side of the cubicle was reserved for Nick, the fox was left alone in the cubicle as he got himself some paperwork done, it was going rather slowly since this was not his favorite task to complete but he decided to get on with it as to not let it all pile up out of control. Nick's desk was a far more chaotic dominium with distracting knick-knacks and random papers scattered all over it, his computer space was a far more organized domain with only a single software icon over the desktop and an astonishing picture of a faraway star cluster as the digital wallpaper.

Nick was stuck in a monotonous cycle as he kept gathering documents and files over at his desk, signing on to them after meticulous reading reviews and placing them in organized stacks at the other end of his work space. After more than an hour doing that as he waited for Judy to come back, his patience was rewarded as he hear his partner entering the cubicle and grunting with effort as she brought over a filing box with a date and a serial number written with black marker on the side. Judy placed the cargo she was bringing with her next to her computer and released a sigh of relief before saying:

- I didn't expect that today was going to be filled with so much archiving and paperwork. This is kind of an office nightmare.

Nick placed a pile of freshly signed documents over the side and agreed with her by saying:

- You're telling me, carrots. This is like fighting a hydra made of paper and ink toner, I sign off one file and two more take its place. My wrist is starting to cramp up.

Judy smiled and sat herself over on her chair, the welcoming feeling of the cushioned seat over her back was very relaxing but she did not let that feeling take complete control of her as she reached for the lever under the seat to augment its height just enough to get a look over her desk and leaned closer to the box she had just brought with her, opening the lid before roaming through its contents. Nick took a small break as he turned his seat around to look over at Judy and maybe get some conversation out of her:

- What you got over there, fluff?

Judy directed a side glance over at Nick before she continued searching inside the box and pulled out a small stack of notes that were placed inside, she brought it to Nick's attention before answering to him:

- Just the archived remnants of an old case that has gone cold. Chief Bogo often asks Grizzolli and I to send these to precinct five in Sahara Square. Grizzolli is busy right now so I'm left to pick up the slack but I don't mind it too much, I do enjoy reading bits and pieces on how investigations took place before I joined the ZPD.

Nick took quite a bit of interest in that, to him anything that Judy may have been studying was far more interesting than just reviewing some document over his desk. Nick raised from his chair and walked three steps across the cubicle until he was right beside Judy, he leaned a little closer before asking:

- Did you find something noteworthy in that old case?

Judy scrolled around the papers and old notes that were left behind by the officer who investigated the case in question before her, nothing too interesting popped up since there was a severe lack of hard evidence as described in the lines of the file in her paws. The bunny released a sigh before answering:

- Nothing much. These reports speak of a continuous case of robberies around the city but the thief or thieves in question managed to make their way out of the scenes without being caught. On the upside they moved so fast they could only steal a pittance worth in goods, at least compared to any other reported case that was recorded up until now.

Nick took a glance on the notes for himself and he took the time to check the date that the report was written, he spoke up without taking his eyes away from the paper, making an educated observation:

- It does appear to be some noticeable differences on the response times of these reports. Most of these scene descriptions took place only a few days apart from one another. Never knew there was such a thing as a crime that was too fast to be reported.

Judy took the piece that Nick was holding in his paws before placing it inside the evidence box once more and saying:

- Maybe there was a reason behind such a rush. Maybe there was a stablished plan to rob multiple targets that was put into action. This does sound far from a random burglary.

Nick thought hard about that as he watched Judy close the box over her desk, the fox leaned himself over the side wall of the cubicle as he thought out loud:

- If there was a set value to every stolen item combined into a single sum there may have been extorsion in play.

Judy's ears twitched and placed in parallel to one another as she heard that, she turned her head over to Nick once more and asked of him:

- What do you mean by that, Nick?

Nick pushed himself away from the wall he was previously leaned against and gestured subtly with both his paws as he explained:

- Think on it, fluff. The thieves were reported to only get away with simple objects, run-of-the-mill items that could not be traced to them and that could fetch a mint of a price if put together. To make off with items that could fetch some nice coin in one of the dozens of pawn shops around town sounds like quite the investment for any burglar not wanting to leave a trail behind. On another angle, robbery in such scale can be seen as a sign of desperation on the part of the thief. Maybe, whoever it was that stole all of those things and possibly sold them off, owed money to someone who was no joke in terms of collecting. I have known of a few mammals who would cross the line to get a pendent account squared away.

Judy heard Nick's words and was rightly impressed as it sounded like the fox had implemented his detective skills to assemble a comprehensive puzzle in his head that would explain in some manner the reason behind the reported robberies. Judy watched her partner in silence as it looked like he was not done talking just yet, sure enough, Nick continued to speak after giving a single step to the left:

- I did hear quite the word out on the streets way back when I was just starting out as a hustler about groups and gangs that extorted mammals out of their hard earned money. Every punk with the guts to defy the law wanted to stand up from the crowd and they did that by finding enough gullible mammals to band together to reach their goals, there were rumors about pickpockets, home invasions, protection rackets, there was even word about cars being taken away from parking spots and stripped for parts in the middle of the night. Even if most of these tales were greatly exaggerated, some old folks even say that crime was like a wave that washed over the city and every one that didn't manage to stand their ground ended up washing away and making the reported problems: Violence, theft, extortion; bigger than before.

Judy's eyes had something akin to dread, almost disgust. It was very hard for her to believe that Zootopia had ever lived through something like what Nick had just described to her, she grasped her paws over her legs as she was sitting down, it almost felt like her body was in the verge of an outrageous burst after hearing that. Judy let her ears fall back a bit as she spoke up:

- That's… awful.

Nick looked like he merely shrugged that off as he raised his shoulders after hearing her words. The fox walked a single step in her direction before saying:

- It is hard to argue with the fact that, for a lot of mammals, crime was an everyday reality. Word of power and the opportunity for an easy life can be very enticing and the chance to seize more can often be the spark that lights a much bigger fire. Life can get rough, carrots. Some mammals just refuse to take on the effort to make a better life for those around them.

Judy turned around and directed her body over the chair to face the box over the desk once more, she took in one deep breath through her nose as her mind took anguish on those words. Judy knew all too well that there were certain challenges that most mammals faced in their lives and the choices that they have to make, she raised from her chair while picking up the cardboard lid to place over the box and spoke up:

- I suppose some mammals have figured that there are ways they could make life easier, but I still believe that it doesn't make it right. Conviction and good will always open the paths to make life better.

Nick showed a smile at her but it quickly faded away, he followed with his eyes as she exited the cubicle and, just as she stepped fully outside, he spoke up:

- I do know what you mean , carrots, but change is not something that… sinks in the minds of other mammals just like that. I'm not saying that the world itself is forced to change, but I do suppose that it's never going to get easier to make the change happen.

Judy took in another breath of air while having the box of evidence neatly sealed over the desk before saying:

- Then we must all be the change.

Judy began to make preparations to get a move on in her schedule, she had to move quickly to get more work done for the day, for some reason that was how she operated, getting more work done even during a slow day. Nick continued to observe her from his stablished spot in the cubicle, Judy felt the fox's eyes placed over her and inquired what was it that he was so interested in:

- You want to ask me something, slick?

Nick gestured with his left paw, pointing all of the finger of his paw at Judy as he said:

- There is something… different about you today, carrots. I just can't quite put my finger on it.

Judy smiled and turned her attention away from the box of evidence as she placed her paws over her hips and posed as if someone was making a portrait of her, she looked over to Nick and asked almost as if suggesting a challenge to him:

- Is that so? Do you think you can tell exactly what it is?

Nick figured solely by her tone that Judy really did have something that distinguished her stance and appearance from any other day, he only got a feeling from that earlier but apparently he was right. The fox placed the pointing finger of his right paw under his chin as he attentively searched for anything that may be out of place figuring that Judy was taking that chance to further put his recently shown detective skills to the test in a more practical and evident way. Nick began to think out loud and listed a few things that were definitely not the targets on his search:

- Well… your ears look about the same, there is nothing different with your fur, your uniform is spotless as usual, it's definitely not the smell of your shampoo…

Judy showed some small surprise in her face after registering that last part and asked of him:

- You know the type of shampoo I use?

Nick gestured with his right paw as he bragged with the answer:

- Sure. Lavender scented. It smells really nice.

Judy's eyes deviated to a far off wall to the left as she heard that, Nick's complement made her a tad bashful but it was also very comforting to hear that. Nick continued to look for the one specific detail that was different and his eyes landed square on Judy's right side hip as he noticed the new tool in her belt, a holstered tranquilizer gun that was very different from the model the bunny showed him a while back right after he joined the force, instead of the usual bright yellow and black the weapon was colored in a vivid blue with slight tones of dark green, it looked highly customizable. Nick pointed a finger of his left paw at the item and said delivering an iffy answer:

- That is definitely new.

Judy reached for her tranquilizer, she calmly unholstered the weapon and showed it to Nick as she spoke up:

- Congratulations, slick. You got a really good eye on you. I was planning to show it to you in more detail when we would be off to take our break. I got it from shipment just yesterday after our shift ended.

Nick leaned closer and took a long hard look at the new tranquilizer that Judy was packing, the new weapon had a nice look to it and the handle fitted very neatly in Judy's paw. Judy used both paws to show off her new piece of equipment as she explained:

- This is the model six pacifier. It is one of the newest models of tranquilizer weapon in the market for security officials and law enforcers. It takes a page from bigger weapons of its kind to support a clip with up to three shots. I put in the requisition for an upgrade and it finally came through. Maybe I'll visit the shooting range to test it out later.

- We have a shooting range?!

Nick asked as such with a moderate degree of surprise in his voice as he spoke of the one topic that called to his attention in her words. Judy placed the weapon back in the holster after making sure that the safety was turned on and her eyes turned to Nick as the fox asked of her:

- It is quite the upgrade from the other tranquilizer you used to have. Are you fixing to get into any big fights, carrots?

Judy gestured dismissively with her paws and answered:

- I'm not going to actively look for a fight, Nick. It is, however, prudent to prepare for the worst case scenario. Besides, my old service weapon had a manual reloading and it was not safe to just carry around since the needle of the tranquilizer dart was so easily exposed.

Nick nodded his head affirmatively as he remembered those details about the standard small-sized weapon that Judy received from the force, most officers carried upgraded models but it was hard to find a serviceable weapon that would be suitable for Judy since there weren't many effective defensive items for mammals of her size in the market. Nick leaned back over to a straight stance as he asked:

- Hey, when do I get a tranquilizer of my own?

Judy smiled and answered confidently:

- You will receive one soon enough, slick. All you have to do is fill up and provide the proper paperwork and visit the item storage and maintenance downstairs, Ellegard will be more than glad to provide you with a tranquilizer that best suit you.

Nick watched as Judy gave a few slow steps in the direction of the box she had brought over, she placed her paws over the sides of the box with the clear intent to carry it off to its intended destination. Nick raised a brow and asked:

- Who's Ellegard?

Judy hoisted the box up and turned her body in the direction that she would be taking to exit the cubicle, she turned her head over to Nick and answered his question:

- He takes care of the item lock-up and the gun range. Wolford said that he used to be a member of a special task force with chief Bogo a long time ago but I'm pretty sure those are just rumors.

Judy began her walk with the box of evidence in her paws and Nick followed her closely as it was to his understanding that the conversation was still going strong. Nick walked slowly to match paces with Judy while having both his paws placed by his back side revealing how relaxed he actually was while having that talk with Judy along with a well apparent relief for finally being out of the cubicle and away from his paperwork duties. Judy carried the box firmly on her arms and her ears caught the sound of Nick's steps following her around, she didn't mind the company at all, she was well on her way to place the box in a secure lock to be sent away. Nick leaned closer as they kept walking through the hallways of the precinct and decided to ask out of simple curiosity:

- I recall you saying before that cold cases like the one in that box are sent to precinct five. That's in Sahara Square, right?

Judy turned her face to the right and answered to Nick's question, she didn't turn her face or her ears completely in his direction as she kept her focus placed mostly on the path ahead but she still showed a little smile and a positive nod of her head as she spoke:

- That is correct.

Nick asked another question in correlation to the previous one:

- Why precinct five? Is there anything special about the work they do over there?

Judy made a right turn on the hallway and Nick kept following her, the bunny turned her face slightly to the right once more and answered:

- Not a lot of officers know about this but the Sahara Square main precinct is the one with the largest basement and the biggest storage of hard evidence in the entire police force. The original founder of the precinct was thorough on the recording of data and convinced the engineers to build a suitable storage department for all the information that could be gathered and poured over from other precincts.

Nick raised his brows as the image of all the information regarding all of the recorded criminal incidents in Zootopia placed in physical form popped in his mind, the vast collection of printed out reports, file organizers, evidence boxes amongst other crime paraphernalia stored away in some secure underground vault right under some precinct somewhere in the city. Judy imagined how Nick's jaw must have dropped after hearing that and the confirmation came as she turned another corner and caught a glimpse of his face, his eyes sparking out with surprise and his muzzle hanging half-open. Judy smiled and said:

- I know, right? It is really impressive. I heard they even have floppy-disks in storage down there with old reports typed by some of the most renowned officers in Zootopia.

Nick's muzzle showed a little smile as he recalled a long time past when he actually saw a floppy-disk and how it actually worked, he found it a little hard to believe that something like that was ever considered top-of-the-line at one point. Judy and Nick were just about to reach the end of the hallway when a well-known voice called out, it was chief Bogo coming over through the same path they had just taken and holding firmly to a clipboard in his right hoof as he continued to walk in their direction. As soon as the caped buffalo got closer to the pair he was saluted accordingly by the two mammals, Judy would have offered him a proper salutation but both of her arms were busy and Nick gave him a casual salute with two fingers over his forehead. Bogo stood tall in front of them and asked:

- Hopps, can you spare a moment?

Judy adjusted the box in her hold before she looked straight at the chief and answered:

- Sure, sir. I was just out on my way to handle this box to Grizzolli. He is going to make his scheduled trip to the sub-basement of precinct five.

Bogo tapped the paper that was placed on the board in his hoof and retorted to that:

- Very well. Once you are done with that report to my office, we just got something that we need to discuss. Also, bring Wilde with you.

Chief Bogo began to walk off in the direction of his office and Judy answered to his summons by raising her head up high, placing herself almost in the tips of her toes and speaking up:

- Roger that, sir. We will be on our way shortly.

Bogo went uninterrupted on his way and Judy went back to her original task. Judy did not spend a lot of time as she went right to the carpool and found Grizzolli as he was loading up his cruiser to take off to Sahara Square, he thanked Judy for helping out with the loading up of the filing boxes since she was one of the few officers aside from him that actually volunteered for such a tedious task. Nick left Judy to do her own thing as he skipped out real quick to grab himself a glass of water, as soon as he saw Judy walking through the main lobby of the ZPD with a rushed pep in her step he tossed the used plastic cup in the trash and walked in her direction so that the two of them could arrive in Chief Bogo's office to see what he wanted to converse with them.

This was Nick's first time inside the office of the chief and it was not at all as he imagined. In his mind Nick had envisioned a dim lighted room filled with awards and walls crammed with newspaper clippings reporting the tireless efforts of the ZPD, he imagined that room as a testament to the buffalo's unmatched glory in the police force, the sort of place a hard-boiled defender of the law would take pride but it was all so bland and normal and that actually put the fox at much ease. Bogo was seated on his chair on the other side of a modest desk and he asked Nick and Judy to grab corresponding seats for themselves so they could talk.

Chief Bogo didn't have his customary reading glasses as he roamed through a line of files on his computer screen, he continued typing a few words at a time as the two other mammals in his office awaited patiently and with great expectation on what he had to say. Chief Bogo turned away from the screen and directed his eyes at Judy as he asked moving straight to the point:

- How's the rookie doing, Hopps? Is he getting used to how things work here in precinct one?

Judy figured that this was a question referring to Nick and the fox immediately came to the same conclusion, it did bother him that the chief did not direct that question directly at him but he just remained quietly seated on his chair. After properly registering the question asked of her, Judy gestured with both of her paws and answered:

- Nick has been adjusting to the police routine very nicely, chief. Every patrol up until now has been going very smoothly and Nick also gets along with the other officers.

Chief Bogo reached down to one of his drawers on the left side of the desk as he released a retort:

- That is very good to hear. I assume that his "routine" can move far smoother without the childish comments during role call during every discerning chance?

Judy directed an inquisitive gaze over at Nick as she found the fox chilling over his seat with a coy smile on his face, she squinted her eyes and spoke with a tone that was clearly meant to call to her partner's attention on the mentioned matter:

- We… already talked on the subject and there won't be any more problem like that, Sir.

To which Nick replied:

- I recall making no such promise.

Judy's ears placed parallel to one another, she pressed her teeth together and spoke nervously as to say with a single word that this was not the time for jests:

- Nick!

Bogo placed a pin on that subject as there were far more important things to be discussed. The buffalo presented in his paws a small file that he had retrieved from the drawer, it was fairly new and Nick could sense the smell of freshly printed paper from it as soon as Bogo waved the object in the air a single time to emphasize the true focus of the conversation. The chief saw that the two officers were looking directly at him and placed the folder over his desk before sliding it over in Judy's general direction. Chief Bogo kept the tip of his right hoof over the folder as he said:

- Jokes aside, you two better keep your friendly dynamic on the back burner for today because we received a new call and we already have the precedents for a crime scene.

Nick's posture over his seat was disturbed after hearing that, his back pushed against the repost of the chair and accentuated his focus as he placed himself straight over the chair while his ears darted upwards and he placed both his paws over his knees. Judy did not change postures over her seat but it was evident that she was very excited to hear that, the bunny was doing her absolute best to look and act professionally as she took a deep breath and placed her legs together over the edge of her seat. Bogo opened the folder and showed the reports of a curious case that was reported in Sahara Square only a few days before:

- Three days ago the officers of precinct five in Sahara Square reported that somebody broke in a store in the middle of the night, the owner was shocked to arrive for work and find that the front window was shattered and the robbers made off with all the money in the cash register. We just received a report of another store that has the same M.O. and I'm about to send the two of you to make a thorough investigation of the crime scene.

Bogo slid the folder over the desk so that Judy could lean forward, reach for it and take it with her, Nick watched and he was a little perplexed with the rhythm that the conversation was advancing. The fox didn't feel like throwing off some witty remarks as the tone that the chief chose to deliver that case was very serious and so he did his best to not embarrass Judy or throw her off from the general vibe of the conversation. As Judy raised from her seat and held the folder in her paws, chief Bogo pointed his right hoof to the door of his office and relayed a fe more instructions for the officers:

- It should be a routine investigation for the two of you. Get over to the scene, isolate the location, gather intel and evidence and report any major findings as soon as possible. Gather in as much info as possible until the forensics arrive to get their own data gathering started Show the new guy the ropes, Hopps.

Judy gave an enthusiastic salute to the chief before getting on her way, Nick saw Judy heading for the exit and followed close right after he jumped off of his seat and showed a wave of goodbye to the chief. Bogo returned to his normally schedule distractions and obligations for the day while Nick and Judy were already off and on the main lobby of the precinct, Judy was walking ahead with her eyes over the opened folder in her paws, going over every line of important data regarding the crime scene that they would have to investigate, Nick tried his best to rush over and catch up with her. Sensing that Judy was not paying attention to everything else around her, Nick matched paces with her positioning himself by her left side as they continued to walk and spoke up:

- Hey, carrots. Wait up!

Judy directed a side glance at him and asked:

- What's up, slick?

Nick took a quick second to get some air in his lungs before speaking out:

- Could you slow down a bit? I was half expecting to have a casual conversation in that office and we just got a case handed to us, next thing you are going out the door and I don't even have all the details on where we're going or what we're doing.

Judy looked to the floor as she felt a little out of sorts from just walking off without saying anything to Nick. It was their first official investigation together and she acted like a lonely cop like it was no big deal. Judy had her ears lowered to the back of her head as she looked straight at Nick, turning her whole body around in his direction and saying:

- Nick, I'm really sorry. I walked off without thinking, I'm just… it was automatic for me. I want to get to the scene as fast as possible.

Nick shook his head slowly from side to side as he understood Judy's way to blast ahead when taking on a challenge whatever it may be, it was one of the reasons he respected her as a mammal and as a police officer. Nick gestured with his right paw, pointing in the general direction of the carpool, he showed a smile that was somewhat different from his usual cheeky grin and said:

- Then we better get going. You check the file, I'll drive.

Judy suddenly placed the folder over Nick's chest, she didn't placed it forcefully over him but the fox got a quick mental notice on what she did and turned his eyes over to the file and then to her once more. Nick saw Judy with a nice smile on her face as she handed the file over to him and answered quickly:

- Nice try, slick. I'm driving.

The pair moved ahead to the carpool, Nick had the file now closed and safeguarded in his paws while Judy was already reaching for the car keys in her pocket. As they moved forward, now with resynched steps, Nick pointed ahead and spoke loud and clear with a controlled but still dramatic overtone:

- I will occupy that driver's seat one day, fluff. Mark my words!

Five minutes later, Nick and Judy were already on route inside the police cruiser, Nick opened the folder Judy had given him and he nearly let some of the papers with information fall off as he did so, he saved the documents from falling over and proceeded to complain on how chief Bogo should have placed the papers more carefully inside with a clip. As Judy kept her eyes focused on the road ahead she put a stop to Nick' shenanigans by speaking up:

- Nick, keep your eyes on the file so we can synchronize the information we already have on us. Read up on what we are most likely to find.

Nick turned his eyes back over to the paper and he found a little difficulty in reading such small letter printed over the document while the cruiser was in motion but he made an effort so that his eyes would quickly adapt and started to read out loud:

- Says right here that a morning patrol right by precinct five was alerted to a regular call about a breaking and entering…

Nick turned to the next page of the report and continued his reading with a very different tone:

- Uh… except there was nothing 'regular' once the officers got there.

Judy's right ear twitched as soon as she took notice of the tone Nick used to deliver that line, he let an excessive amount of air escape his mouth as he spoke letting her know that the circumstances surrounding the robbery were not regular by any means according to his point of view at least. She leaned a little to the right and asked while she kept facing forward:

- How so, slick?

Nick pulled a picture that was taken from the first crime scene in Sahara Square and decided to study it before saying any other word, the photo portrayed the front of a luxurious bakery that was broken into with an unusual method of entry, the entire display window at the front of the bakery was gone and the next picture in the lineup revealed that the entire interior was turned into a scenario of chaos, evidence that whoever the culprits responsible for that were they showed overconfidence in the fact that they knew how to enter without leaving a discernible trace in clear contrast to their apparent rowdy nature to destroy a establishment. Nick continued to look over the picture until his left ear twitched as he heard Judy's voice asking of him:

- Anything you wish to share, Nick?

Nick turned over to face Judy, finding her still very much focused on the road and came to realization that he had been staring silently over the file for an entire minute without reading it out loud any of the information presented to him by the papers and pictures like he was initially doing. Nick shook off his dazed state and apologized at Judy who just shrugged it off with a little smile before gently turning the cruiser to a street to the right as they continued their route. Nick made a sound to clear his throat and began to speak about all the information he had gathered during his quiet reading:

- The place that the thieves broke into was a popular establishment for pastries and sugary goodies by Sahara Square, I have never been but apparently mammals only say good things about the place. The thieves tore the pace up pretty good but they managed to circumvent all of the alarms and security measures, which really surprised me since the display window had been removed.

Judy's brows raised and she directed a side glance at Nick as she asked, referencing his words:

- 'Removed'?

Nick pointed at the first picture he saw and answered:

- Yes, removed. I took a look at the picture that came with the file and the display window at the front of the place is just gone.

Judy found that a little hard to believe but she also figured that they would have more information once they got to the scene in due time. Judy asked of Nick just to make sure they were heading the right way:

- Where is the place we were called for as the new crime scene?

- Hang on, I'll check.

Nick turned to the next page of the file and saw the address that they were sent to investigate:

- Says here… number 307, Merik avenue. The name of the place is Susano's.

Nick didn't have to search too hard in his memory before he recalled that the place that was written on the report was kind of special. The fox showed a frown and released a clicking sound between his teeth as they pressed together and he spoke up afterwards:

- Oh, I know where that is. The prices are criminal but the deserts that they make are out of this world. They make amazing croissants.

Judy directed the cruiser straight and spoke in response to that:

- Better keep alert and hold on tight, slick. We got the green light to speed things up.

Judy said so as she changed gears in order to speed up in a more controlled manner and turned on the cruiser's siren. Nick felt an amazing rush as they sped around the streets, lots of mammals directed their eyes at them and the cruiser crossed block after block roaming fast and precise through the streets. It was hard for Nick to hold a straight face through that thrill ride since Judy usually drove around so slow and methodically, he had a wide smile on his face as he hung tightly to the seat beneath him with both paws. For but a moment he didn't even believe it was the same bunny at the wheel. In just a few minutes, they were just one block away from the scene that they were assigned to investigate.

Nick suggested that they should park the cruiser a few spots away from the front of the store so it would be easier to place a safe zone for tracking and investigation, that way the forensics personnel would have plenty of room to work once the initial sweep was done and it would also be better to not disrupt any traffic that might have been still circulating on that street, Judy agreed and parked nicely at a vacant spot near the front of an empty alley, she halted the engine before getting out of the cruiser with all of the tools she would need to get the investigation going. Nick watched his partner get out of the cruiser and followed up soon enough, they walked on the sidewalk as they continued to discuss the nature of what Nick had read on the file, Judy began by saying:

- You said that the thieves, whoever they were, managed to circumvent all the alarms in the store by Sahara Square, same case with this one. How do you think that's possible?

Nick raised his shoulders and lowered them as he admitted to being stumped by that question:

- Beats me, carrots. Most places with display windows have sensors that trigger an alarm in case an impact is strong enough to shatter the glass. The pictured showed that the display window of the store was just… gone, maybe the electrical system was tempered with. There is something really weird in this case, I can just feel it.

Judy turned her head to the left to better face Nick as he was following only half a step behind her as they walked, the bunny spoke up in order to get her partner more pumped for the investigation:

- Don't worry. It is standard procedure all the way through these things. We get there, collect all the evidence we can find, make questions and report back to the station, simple as that.

Nick figured that Judy was trying to sound cool and appear as if she had been through that same kind of thing more than a thousand times before but he knew better than that. The fox made a dismissive gesture with his left paw as he spoke about one of the first things that was spoken at the ZPD academy:

- Yeah, I know this one: "The crime scene is a puzzle. If you solve it you get a clear picture of the perpetrator."

Nick had a small tinge of enthusiasm in his voice as he said that and Judy was satisfied in hearing that he had a clear line in his head that pointed them to the main objective set for that morning. The bunny spoke again with confidence as she pointed a finger to the air and said:

- Exactly. We take this slow and we will be done in no time.

Of course, Judy's opinion changed as soon as she turned her face to the destination address that was hit and her eyes landed over the front of the place which made her question her previous affirmation. She took a breath that was very close to a gasp of surprise and spoke up:

- Then again… I could be completely wrong.

It was just like Nick had described to her earlier. Judy felt her jaw dropping for a short second as she looked over and saw that the display window was not just gone but reduced to pieces, the glass frame was empty and the window was reduced to a trail of glass grains sprinkled around the front of the store. Judy felt a little shard of panic entering her mind as she immediately wondered what could have caused the glass to crumble away like that, Nick walked a single step forward and positioned himself right by her right side as he leaned a little closer to her and asked:

- What do you think?

Judy turned to face him and returned her face forward once more as she admitted:

- I guess you were right, Nick. There is definitely something 'irregular' in this scene.

Nick didn't even had the time to feel satisfied with Judy's words admitting that he was right from the beginning as the bunny slowly walked off in the direction of the store to get a closer look at the enormous gap that was left by the destroyed window. Nick followed with a slower pace as he saw Judy take absolute care of where she was stepping and halt her moves as she reached for her phone and took a picture of the window for herself to add to her own personal notes later. Judy kept turning her phone around and getting more visual evidence of the scene until she lowered her phone while still looking at the screen and asked out loud:

- What could have done this to the glass?

Nick took a single look before answering:

- Not really sure I got a good answer for that, fluff. I heard that a high enough sound pitch can shatter glass and crystal, but I don't think that is a viable theory for what happened here.

Judy turned over to Nick and asked:

- Why is that, Nick?

Nick gestured with his left paw swinging it around over his wrist for a short while as he pointed around and answered:

- A pitch high enough to shatter a glass this thick, somebody should have picked up on it or might even had ended up in the hospital if listening to such a sound without protective gear. I have no idea what could have caused this aside from strong impact or sonic weaponry but neither sounds like the kind of stuff that would fit in this case.

Judy continued to look over the scene with a perplexed and focused look on her face, her ears lowered over her head and eyes traveled around in order to pick up on any detail that could lead them to a logical answer behind the cause of the shattered window. Nick leaned closer to Judy once he noticed how deep in thought she was, he gave her a few more seconds to absorb all that she could about the picture in front of her before he asked:

- So where do we start here, carrots?

Judy turned around and faced Nick, finding the fox awaiting for instructions on how to proceed, her nose twitched for a second and her ears darted back up as she heard the voice of her partner. Judy could already see the mammal she assumed to be the owner of the place roaming through the inside and trying to cope with what had just happened to his establishment, Judy turned her entire body around and spoke up to Nick as she gestured with both her paws:

- Nick, I need you to go back to the cruiser, open the trunk and retrieve a role of yellow tape that is stashed in there by the left side. Grab some standing supports as well so you can anchor and place them in a small perimeter around the entrance. Get back here as fast as you can so we can get things done.

Judy handed out the key to the cruiser to Nick and the fox got the general gist of what he was supposed to do, he darted off to the end of the block where the cruiser was parked and retrieved all of the items Judy had requested. As Judy continued to study the outside of the shop, she waited for Nick who returned only a short time later carrying the big role of yellow safety tape in his left paw and a bundle of flimsy metallic poles under his right arm. Judy nodded before she pointed out to the area around the front entrance and said:

- Place the tape around and take your time on getting any detail that can help us get a good idea on what happened on the outside. Any detail can be crucial.

Nick took heart in all of the things that Judy said to him, he nodded affirmatively and got on to do his tasks with attention and efficiency. The fox began setting the first pole that would serve as a vertical support for the tape, he shot a side glance at Judy and asked of her:

- What are you going to do?

Judy walked inside and answered:

- I'm gonna take more pictures of the inside and get a few words with the owner of the place. Focus on what you're doing and make sure to keep any onlookers off the scene. That includes mammals that may want to get a picture for the news.

Judy's voice relayed instructions but they didn't feel like flat out orders. Judy's tone conveyed what she said very much like a polite request and Nick was glad to oblige, he moved around and completed the perimeter around the front door and destroyed window before moving back and forth as he made absolute sure that the scene would remain immaculate for further examination. Judy stuck to her own objective, she walked inside the establishment with her carrot pen on one paw and her little notepad on the other, she approached the owner of the place, a tall black bull sharply dressed in a silky red business suit with very thick horns over his head that were trimmed down to appear less sharp and threatening. The bovine was having a long conversation with a thin looking deer dressed in a uniform of a security firm and Judy could overhear some of their conversation as the bull aired his clear dissatisfaction for the alarm system that did not activate once the perpetrators invaded the restaurant. The deer excused himself and the bull turned around to meet eyes with Judy.

Judy called to the attention of the bull and presented herself officially as an officer of the ZPD, the bull crossed his muscly arms and introduced himself as Carlos Meredion, head investor and owner of the Susano's which was to be made a chain of eateries across and out of Zootopia, Judy let him finish even if she could dispense the rest of that bragging introduction. Judy began to make her questions and she wrote down all of the major points that she felt like recalling for later on her report on the pages of her notepad, meanwhile just outside, Nick was just finishing with the isolation of the crime scene by use of the yellow tape, his finishing touch was to place two final strips of tape on the main entrance that crossed in the shape of an 'X'.

After being done with the police tape, Nick set the remainder of the role aside so that he could store it back in the cruiser later, the fox turned his attention to the street in front of him as he saw the other stores on the opposite sidewalk to the one he was standing on, he didn't give a lot of thought about the names of the stores or about the various mammals of different species and sizes walking by and directing occasional glances at the scene that he was now a part of, Nick adjusted the neck piece of his uniform shirt with a finger of his right paw and thought:

"Phew! It is hot out today on the Savanna. Maybe I shouldn't have drank that extra-large of coffee this morning, I can still feel it pumping warmth from inside my stomach."

Nick looked around the sidewalk before he continued his previous line of thought by adding a few new ones:

"I wonder how Judy is handling things in there with this heat. Maybe I should invite her to get some ice cream later, that will sure beat this heat."

After his eyes landed over the yellow tape by the front door, Nick clapped his paws together and got his mind back in gear as he thought:

"Well… back to work."

Nick leaned down on one knee, getting himself closer to the ground to make sure that there were no tracks, shreds of clothing or samples of fur left by the shattered display window, no such luck. Nick then tried sniffing around to try catching any whiff of something that did not belong around there, he didn't figured much out by doing that since the only thing he could smell was himself, Judy and the unmistakable scent of a well-stocked kitchen on the back, no suspicious smells but then again there was no way he could simply identify such a thing by being there for more than five minutes or so. Nick turned his eyes back to the window frame next to him and found something strange by the corner of his eye, he approached to investigate.

Nick leaned a little closer to the right inferior edge of the window, he noticed that there were still some remnants of the glass frame that used to be there and he also saw a small white blemish that stained the dark wooden frame. Nick wasn't sure if that weird marking was a remain of paint or some marking that had been there for a long time in the restaurant's history, he decided to save that detail in his memory banks and continue searching. The fox leaned closer to the ground once more and passed his sight over the broken glass sitting by the sidewalk, it was easy for him to figure out that the window was a preferable point of entry but the method used to destroy the glass in such a way that its pieces would lie mostly outside the restaurant made it feel like a harsh impact from the outside area was way more of a farfetched idea than the actual truth, whatever it may be. Nick squinted his eyes and scratched the bottom of his jaw as he examined the glass a little closer, he was starting to connect a whole new set of dots in his head when he heard a set of clopping steps getting closer and a female voice that called out:

- Excuse me, sir?

Nick turned his head abruptly to the right and found that there was an elderly female sheep walking very close to the limits stablished by the yellow tape, she had a full coat of gray wool that was well covered by a cream colored dress with a few floral adornments over the fabric, big glasses over her muzzle, a small green purse being suspended by a strap on her left arm and she was holding on to a big paper map of Zootopia on both of her paws. Nick raised from the ground, using mostly his right leg to support most of his weight and push himself up to a straightened up stance, he walked in the direction of the elderly sheep and spoke up, showing the palm of his left paw without shoving it on her face and politely explaining to her:

- Ma'am, I'm sorry but this is an isolate crime scene. I'll need to ask for you to take a few steps back.

The sheep understood him promptly and took a wide step back as Nick got under the yellow tape to approach her. The sheep apologized for coming closer without permission and explain her reason behind calling to Nick's attention even if he looked rather busy at the time:

- I'm sorry dear, but me and my husband are trying to find our way to the Iangra building in central Savana. He has an optometrist appointment and we are already running late.

The sheep said so as she pointed to a random spot on the paper map in her paw, Nick took notice of how the paper had various folding wrinkles all over it and figured that the sheep must have been relatively new to the big city environment. Nick decided to assist her in finding her way to the described destination and he didn't even look at the map as he spoke up in a calm and comprehensive manner:

- Oh, that is easy. What you want to do is head off a single block that way and make a sharp left, you will meet with a big square with a flag pole in the middle, from there you just need to look for a building that has the mark of a big triangle over the front entrance, that is the building you are looking for. If you find the one that is marked with a dark pillar by the left, that means you went too far.

The sheep folded the map back up again and made sure to save all of the instructions that Nick had told her, she performed a subtle bow with her head and thanked Nick for his kindness:

- Oh, thank you very much.

Her tone changed, however, as she turned around and yelled out the name of her husband as she called out to him:

- MARTY! I JUST FOUND OUT THE WAY WE NEED TO GO! IT'S THAT WAY!

Nick's face squinted and turned around as the sheep walked away yelling those words, her senile voice with a soft volume grew to near shrieking levels as she called her husband with the good news. Nick waited for the mammal he just helped out to walk off on her way accompanied by her husband to get back to work, he turned around to get on with the investigating of the glass as he was doing before when he heard Judy's voice calling out to him from inside the restaurant:

- Hey, slick! If you're not too busy out there come over here, we got more scene to record on the inside.

Nick halted his step in the direction he was heading previously and turned his body to the inside of the scene, he entered through the front door and made his way past a few turned tables and tossed chairs around the floor as he took note of how the situation in the restaurant actually was. Nick approached Judy and asked of her:

- What did you managed to find out, carrots?

- Not a lot. The owner of this restaurant said that he is ensured for robberies so there won't be too much trouble rebuilding this place and repurposing what the thieves didn't break. There is more for us to see on the main office, let's go.

Judy had barely given two steps in the direction she pointed out over her right shoulder when Nick decided to ask:

- Hold on a sec. There is a space exclusively meant for the owner's office inside this restaurant? Now, I can't tell if that is just ostentatious or overzealous.

Judy turned her head to the right as she continued to walk and spoke with Nick:

- The owner bought this place about three months ago, he had a lot of the original establishment rebuilt and repurposed, including the storage area and the main office. We're heading out to check on the main office because that is where the second hit happened.

Nick raised a brow and asked:

- There was a second hit?

Judy's left ear twitched as she spoke up with a serious tone of voice:

- The safe-box that belonged to the owner was cracked open but it was a recent addition to his office so he didn't keep a lot of the restaurant's earnings in it, he said that it was mostly used to keep physical documentations. It is a good thing our thieves were more interested in cold hard cash than information, documents could be vital on building a case in terms of hard evidence, we could use it to pinpoint if the thieves had a set stablished time to rob the place or if it was purely circumstantial.

Nick figured by those words that Judy had the gathering of data from inside the restaurant well in hand but he was still focusing a great deal of thought on the scene just outside. The weird splot of white on the wood frame, the weird way that the glass crumbled over the sidewalk, it all looked so overwhelming but he put that on the back burner to share and compare notes with Judy later. The two mammals ventured deeper into the restaurant, they walked past the kitchen where Nick took the chance to sniff out a little more of the pleasant smell of food he detected earlier, they entered a wide hallway that took them on a straight path to the main office.

Judy reached for the knob of the main office with a short hop and Nick followed close behind. As Judy entered the room, her partner stayed behind for a moment, he leaned a little to the left as the door swung open and he noticed a major detail right below the round metal knob:

- This lock was picked.

Judy turned around after hearing that and asked:

- How do you know that?

Nick pointed his right claw over the spot that called to his eyes and, even with the dim illumination by the hallway where they were previously located, he could still point out the detail:

- There are some small scratches on the surface of the metal and a few short indentations by the hollow slot in the lock. This has all the signs of a lockpicking kit being used to scruff the door open. This lock looks like an easy pick but this also has the signs of a rushed job.

Nick stood straight as he continued to study the lock, Judy gave a single step out of the room to get closer to him and to the current subject of his investigation, she took out her cellphone to snap a picture of the lock with a max zoom setting to capture all of the small details on the metal lock. Judy directed a look at Nick and saw as he squinted his eyes and showed a bit of a frown as he continued to stare at the door knob, he turned his face around and began to walk into the office, she followed close and inquired of him:

- What are you thinking, Nick?

Nick didn't turn to face Judy as he looked around the office and multitasked between talking to her and continuing the investigation. The fox noticed that the room that they were now located was small in size but it was just spacious enough to accommodate a mammal that wished to remain at peace while checking on documents and profits for the great duration of a business day, he thought about how that office resembled chief Bogo's work space only with a less than vibrant vibe and a more lively wall paper. Nick took a breath before he turned his sight and got around to answering Judy's question:

- I thought about a few things while we made our way here: How the thieves broke the glass without triggering an alarm, why they chose to make a mess out of the restaurant… that sort of thing. It gives me this itch on the back of the skull that is bugging the hell out of me.

Nick finished talking as he turned around to face Judy and found her just a few inches in front of him, she took a short breath before agreeing with his words:

- I know what you mean. The security firm is also perplexed about the alarm not triggering when it was supposed to. I overheard one of them saying that it was meant to sound off when detecting harsh impact over the glass window and there was no sign of tempering with the detection wires.

Nick placed that new puzzle piece in his mind as he thought out loud:

- So, the window didn't break by use of blunt force. By the looks of it, the glass was too thick to break like that without triggering an alarm; There was a mammal strong enough and peeved enough to flip the place over and there was also someone else that was efficiently capable of picking the door lock to the main office to get to a hidden vault somewhere in here.

Judy thought how intimidating that all sounded when spoken in sequence and in perspective like that, she wondered if they might be a little out of their depth with that case but that thought quickly left her mind as she saw Nick walking more into the office and analyze more of the environment. Judy followed closely until they caught a glimpse of the hidden vault that the owner had disclosed to her and the state in which it now found itself. The metal container was a more compact and recent model, it was molded in a rectangular shape to be well-hidden as a fake drawer belonging to the work desk inside the office, the lock was electronic and made to open once a combination of four digits was pressed on a chrome colored keypad, overall very practical in design but it did not stood a chance against the thieves.

Nick and Judy released a collective gasp as they saw the door of the safe busted open, its inner latching lock was destroyed and all of the contents were scattered about. There was a single shelving divide inside the vault to separate the contents and it was easy to see that the space where money was kept was completely pilfered, the top right corner of the threshold that previously fitted the thick metal door had signs of scratches that coincided with a crude tool that was used to force it open after the lock was destroyed, but the most gruesome detail came into perspective as they saw the remains of the vault lock which were deformed and cracked apart like shreds of cheap plastic. Judy kept taking picture after picture of the cracked safe as she kept wondering what could have done that.

Nick leaned himself a little closer but he did not wish to interrupt Judy as she continued to take visual note of the safe so he walked around her, sidling about from a short distance until he was positioned just by her left side and had just enough space to bent down on one knee and get a good look at it all. Nick squinted his eyes and opened them with shock just a second later as he noticed something very familiar in that scene: There were white splats all over the metal frame of the safe, over the side frame of the desk which previously hid the container and a few more splattering over the carpet, just like the little splot he had seen before over the wooden window frame earlier. Nick took a breath that was very audible to Judy as her left ear twitched in his direction and she turned her head around to ask of him:

- What's wrong, Nick?

Nick pointed all over a limited area right in front of him, his right claw called to Judy's eyes with a circular motion as he spoke up:

- I've seen splotches like these ones just outside, one of them at least. It was over the wooden frame of the front window and I have a feeling they are directly related to what our thieves used to get in the restaurant and crack the safe open.

Judy noticed the serious tone that Nick was using to convey that single piece of information that, apparently, seemed vital to him. Judy began to wonder something that scared her for a moment but Nick reached the same conclusion and aired it out without hesitation:

- It's the mark of a chemical, no doubts about it. This explains how they got to tear the lock on the safe door away with ease.

Judy waited and spectated in silence so that Nick could continue with his line of thought:

- The thieves used some kind of… acid and applied it through the seams of the safe door, it left a trail that sprinkled on the wood and on the floor. That can possibly explain how they shattered the glass outside and how they broke the reinforced hinges.

Judy thought that theory was very plausible, but she also believed it to be somewhat farfetched. Judy raised her left paw slightly to call to Nick's attention and asked:

- Nick, if they had an acid that could eat through glass and metal, why not just use it on the door? Why have someone else pick the lock?

Nick looked over to the entrance and said:

- Maybe… they have a limited supply of it. They wanted to save all that they could to use it on the safe.

Judy figured that explanation was acceptable but it still didn't fit in all the angles of the scene, to her the image shown by that theory just didn't fit. She gestured with her left paw, pointing a finger over at the floor and asking:

- Are you sure an 'acid' is what caused this? I don't believe that acid can really crack through glass like that. Also, if it's such a strong dissolvent, why didn't it burn through the wood or through the floor?

Nick showed a frown as his face frizzled up while he overtaxed his mind and tried to think of a congruent explanation for that, Judy had some good counterpoints in her words. Nick thought that he had all figured out on the method of entry right from the get-go but his thoughts lost a bit of footing after he heard Judy's question, his theory about acid sounded far less probable by the second. Judy figured that there was still some steady footing backing Nick's thinking but there was something they still couldn't see and she was determined to find out what it was. Judy raised from the ground and said:

- Let's take another look around to figure what else we can report as evidence before forensics gets here.

Nick looked over at Judy and nodded affirmatively before raising from the ground and walking around the office once more. Nick and Judy looked over at the wallpaper, the desk and even the computer that was placed over the work desk, nothing note worthy was found, as far as they could tell, the safe was the only target that called to the thieves' attention. Judy was standing near a metallic bookshelf at the far right corner of the room, she picked one of the notebooks by the lower shelf and was taking a look over the pages to glimpse over at any annotations that might serve as a lead, Nick continued to pace around until he looked up and saw a metal grate with vertical dividers placed high up on one of the walls, he took an interest in it and decided to investigate.

Nick directed his nose upwards and took a few whiffs of the air, he figured that if the safe was the only thing to be hit in the office then the thieves would've had a good idea of where it was located, the grate was not big enough to fit any type of mammal that did the kind of damage seen at the restaurant but it was just big enough to fit a small rodent that could have been sent to scout the location before it was hit, a crazy idea he got after watching a few too many heist movies. Sadly for Nick, no scent was detected from the inside of the air vent, just fresh air and a few specs of dust. Judy approached Nick after he signaled to her that he was done with his scouring of that side of the room, she placed her notepad in her pocket and the two mammals exited the office, making their way back out to the main entrance.

Judy checked the time and saw that the forensics team was scheduled to arrive in about five minutes, she turned around and saw Nick walking out the front door and making a turn before leaning closer to the ground and looking over the small shards of glass scattered all around. Judy walked outside and stood right behind Nick as she waited to hear if he had any more to say about that scene, she leaned a little closer to him and asked:

- Got anything more to examine over there?

Nick turned his face to the left and looked over his shoulder with a smile on his muzzle, he pointed to the ground and answered:

- I was taking a closer look at the front scene before you called on me. I feel like this may give us a more tangible answer on what was used to break the window and the safe. Care to join me?

Judy thought about what Nick said for a second and decided to leave the fox to draw his own conclusions since it was his instincts pointing him in the direction of a possible clue, she took a step forward as she noticed that he had turned his face back over to the shards of glass on the ground. Nick noticed her step as his left ear twitched and he spoke to her:

- Careful where you step over here. There is glass everywhere.

Judy took another look at the ground right beneath her and tiptoed around just in case there was any piece of glass that she was not seeing around her. Nick scratched his chin with his right paw and tried to recall the line of thought that he had just before investigating the inside of the restaurant along with Judy, as he continued in silence, Judy felt a little impatient to hear what was he thinking about. After half a minute standing still in place, Judy approached Nick again and asked:

- What exactly are you doing over there, Nick?

Nick gestured over the glass and answered:

- Look at all of this, fluff. I broke plenty of glass when I was just a young fox and I have never seen it behaving like this. This window was not just shattered, it was straight out obliterated.

Judy remained silent in face of Nick's answer, the fox turned to look at the small pieces of glass on the ground once more and he asked:

- I need a better look at it. I don't suppose you carry a magnifying glass with you?

Judy reached her left paw into a side pouch on her belt and retrieved a lensed tool that she promptly handed over to Nick while saying:

- Will this suffice?

Nick reached for the item and thanked Judy for it:

- Thanks, carrots.

Nick used the magnifying glass which was, additively, small but it was enough to get him a better look at an individual shard of glass on the ground, the glass had small ripples that crisscrossed inside itself and that was the thing Nick was looking for, a trail in the glass itself that could lead them to a solution. Nick gestured with his right paw over his left shoulder and asked of Judy:

- Hey, do you also have one of those little plastic bags to collect evidence there with you?

Judy looked inside another pouch and handed off just the thing Nick was asking for as she spoke up:

- Never leave the precinct without one.

Nick held the little plastic bag with two fingers of his right paw while he gave Judy her magnifying glass back with his left paw. Before collecting the evidence that called to his eyes for such an extended period of time, Nick turned to Judy to ask her:

- Hey, do you also have… ?

Judy showed to Nick a pair of metal tweezers that she just handed out to him before he even asked for it while asking:

- One of these?

Nick smiled and took the tweezers from her to collect with the outmost care about five small shards of glass and place each of them inside the plastic baggie. Judy wanted to see where that might lead so she just watched as Nick raised from the ground, closed the plastic bag ad turned over to point at the end of the block and say:

- Looks like the forensics team got here just in time.

Judy turned around and saw a ZPD van that carried a group of mammals with specialized investigative gear for the scene, she also caught a glimpse of Grizzolli as the officer leading the pack and pointing them to the scene. Nick and Judy approached the bear and gave him the summation of what they had found, Grizzolli thanked them and assured that he and the rest of the analysts would take it from there. Back inside their cruiser, Nick and Judy prepared to leave the scene but there was still more to do, Judy didn't turn on the ignition key on the cruiser as she turned to face Nick on the seat beside her with the bag containing glass in his right paw being held close to his face, she leaned her head in his direction and asked:

- What is it about that pile of broken glass that calls so much to your attention?

Nick stored the baggie of evidence away and answered:

- You were right earlier in the office: There is no way a mere acid could take the glass or the safe door like it did, even if it was the same substance. It was something else, but to make certain of it we are gonna have to investigate this thing a little deeper. Are you up for it?

Judy smiled and bounced over her seat as she placed her paws over the wheel and asked:

- Where are we heading, slick?

Nick pointed forward and answered:

- Sahara Square, Dominique's bakery on fourth. I want to see if the mode of entry was similar to the restaurant and if I can get more glass that looks like this. It may give us a little more leeway on what was used to bust the glass and the safe.

After getting the confirmation of the direction they were to follow, Judy turned the wheel and the cruiser went off towards the southwest road of the savanna, leading them to the Sahara Square wall. Judy drove a few blocks without saying a word, she turned the cruiser to the left and saw that there was a traffic light just ahead, the light turned red and she stopped the cruiser to wait until the signal turned green. While they were waiting, she turned over to Nick and spoke up:

- I saw how you handled the approaching civilian back at the scene. That was some great manners you showed back there.

Nick placed both paws on the back of his head as he reclined over his seat showing that he was very relaxed during the ride, he didn't want to sound like a bragging hotshot so he just sounded off a retort with a normal tone of voice:

- That was no big deal. That lady needed some directions and I was glad to help.

- You still did an excellent job. You are really on point with the investigation work, you are very "take charge" with it all. If I didn't know any better I would guess you have been doing this for a while.

Nick smiled and felt mildly flattered with Judy's words, he didn't let it all go to his head however, as he was still aware that there was much more to do. The light turned green and Judy slowly stepped on the accelerator, making the cruiser go forward and taking them to a high road junction which would lead them right to Sahara Square, Nick was very impressed with Judy since she was making her way around without asking him for directions, but, as soon as they had entered the desert district, she shot a side glance at him and asked:

- Which way is the bakery on the address? I'm… still not too keen on navigating around here.

Nick pointed out to the windshield and answered:

- We're not too far off. Take a right on the next block and keep going straight.

Judy nodded affirmatively and followed Nick's given direction. After ten minutes of driving across the sandy district, Judy looked at the window on her side of the cruiser and noticed the sign marking the street that the address they were looking for was located, she looked for a nice enough spot to park and slowly guided the vehicle near the nearest sidewalk, the sound of the rubber tires crushing the specs of sand scattered over the asphalt became noticeably loud until the cruiser stopped completely. Nick and Judy exited the vehicle at the same time, and that is when the heat of the sun hit the two of them at full force making the fox place his left paw over his forehead and speak up:

- Holy crap! I'm cooking up under this heat!

Judy turned over to look at Nick and projected her voice in his direction as soon as she noticed that the wind was picking up a bit and making hard for them to effectively communicate:

- Well… it is close to noon and there isn't a cloud in the sky today. The sun is blasting full force over us.

Nick reached into the lapel pocket of his uniform and pulled out his aviator sunglasses so that his eyes would be better used to the bright openness of the desert. He turned over to Judy and said:

- We best handle this quickly. The heating asphalt is going to be utter havoc on my feet.

Nick walked across the street and Judy followed him as soon as she certified herself that she had everything she needed with her, she locked the cruiser and crossed the street to find Nick standing in wait for her just outside the bakery. Nick looked over his right shoulder and found Judy fiddling around on her phone, he leaned a little closer to her and asked:

- What are you doing over there?

She quickly answered him while still looking over the screen:

- Just texting over the pictures I took of the scene at the restaurant to chief Bogo. He made me promise to always keep him in the loop during an investigation.

Judy waited to receive the signal of a notification, she put the phone in her back pocket before continuing with her answer:

- I also told him that we are going to check on this scene for any residual traces that the other officers missed during the previous sweep. He just wished us good luck.

Nick smiled and turned his eyes back to the scene in front of him before delivering a little joke at the chief's expense:

- He is just a big ol' sweetheart, isn't he?

Judy giggled and spoke up:

- That he is.

The two officers stood one beside the other just outside the bakery and the new scene had a lot of similarities with the one they had investigated just earlier. The glass of the front display window was completely gone safe for a few small remnants left in the out coves of the window frame, the inside of the place was messy and turned over but not as much as the restaurant by the savanna, the innermost environment was less spacious and most of the tables were bolted down to the ground. Nick leaned his body forward and took a little sniff of the air, there was still a perceptible scent of baked goods still present inside the bakery, even if was left unattended for almost a whole week. Judy looked around and her ears moved in various directions trying to pick up on any sound in the surrounding area, she only heard the wind, moving about and picking up slightly. There was nothing to make note of at first glance, they needed to look more.

Nick leaned closer to the ground and began to analyze the empty window frame to see if there were any traces of white stains on the wood, he remained there for a moment while Judy began to look around on the ground in search for any trace of glass shards like the ones Nick collected at the previous scene, unfortunately, neither of them found what they were looking for. Judy leaned herself in Nick's direction and spoke softly, almost as a whisper:

- I don't think we are going to find anything like this.

Nick rose up and stood straight before looking around a little more and suggesting:

- Then let us take a closer look.

The fox walked a couple of steps in the direction of the front door and Judy took that as the cue to halt his movements by quickly stepping right in front of him and saying:

- Nick, stop! You can't just go in there. There is a protocol that we need to follow. If we disrupt anything inside this place without the proper permission we run the risk of suspension.

Nick stopped his walk as soon as he saw Judy getting in his way, the two mammals were just in front of the door leading to the inside of the bakery when Judy spoke that if Nick were too rash they might be in serious trouble. Nick leaned back as he reacquired a straight stance for himself and asked of Judy:

- So… what should we do? Call the officers who collected the evidence around here and ask them to compare the ones we got from the restaurant?

Judy placed her right arm over her chest while her left paw was placed under her chin, she contemplated for about two seconds before answering without undoing her thinking pose:

- That would be the best way to do that, however that would require a great number of forms to request an evidence transfer from one precinct to the other. Without a new search warrant or the approval of the proprietary of this place, we won't be able to compare what we have found.

Nick released a sigh between his teeth that sounded a little frustrated with those words, he was not looking forward to filling out any amount of paperwork for something that could've been so simple. Nick crossed his arms and tapped his toes on the floor before he looked over to Judy and asked:

- Is there any other way?

Judy thought for a bit as she searched in her memory for anything that could shorten their time in the investigation at hand, there were a few exploitable loopholes but it all seemed so risky and one mis step could cause the investigation to spiral out of control and increase tensions between the precincts or put them out of the investigation completely. Nick could see the look on Judy's face, he leaned his body to the left in a small angle to the right so that he could see her face more clearly, she was apprehensive, her left ear fell a little to the side, it usually happened when she thought hard about something, Nick looked over the distance and noticed that there was someone walking closer to them, he called to Judy's attention while pointing to a spot right behind her with his right claw:

- Heads up.

Judy had her thoughts interrupted by Nick's words, she turned her body around and saw the mammal that Nick was pointing at. There was a dromedary crossing the street near them, a young figure with a sky blue T-shirt with some simple leafy prints over its fabric, a cream colored pair of shorts with a textile composition that looked heavy at first glance but was actually mildly comfortable, a medium sized duffle bag being held by his left paw and placed over his shoulder and a small pair of glasses over his nose, helping him see a little better as he fiddled around on his cellphone. The mammal walked closer to Nick and Judy, he didn't even realized they were there at first, he only saw the tow mammals parked in front of the store once he stopped looking at the screen and stored the phone in his side pocket. The dromedary directed his eyes at the two mammals in uniform and asked:

- Can I… help you?

Judy wasn't sure about how to answer that question at first but Nick picked up on it in a second as he answered:

- That depends. Are you the owner of this bakery?

Judy turned her head to look over at Nick, she noticed how he just took charge of the moment and wasn't sure how to feel about that, at any case it did got things moving much faster compared to what she was thinking previously. She turned her sight back to the tall mammal that approached them as he took a short breath before introducing himself with a pat over his own chest and answering to that question:

- Mike Nominite, I have been managing this bakery for about four and a half years, then this happened.

Judy saw the look that he was giving, he looked morose, she give one step forward and introduced herself and Nick to him:

- Mr. Nominite, I'm Judy Hopps and this is my partner, Nick Wilde, we are currently investigating a robbery that occurred by Savana Central and that bares a strikingly resemblance in modus to what happened with your store. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?

Mike retreaded unconsciously after hearing that, he leaned his body forward and answered politely to her words, very willing to cooperate with the investigation:

- Oh, sure thing. I already answered a few questions from other officers that came around here but, if this will help you, I'll be glad to help.

The dromedary walked past Judy who promptly thanked him for his cooperation. Mike pointed to the front door of his bakery and turned over to face the two officers before asking them:

- Would you like to come in? I know it's not looking too great but…

Judy walked in his direction and answered:

- It is alright. We will come in.

Nick and Judy waited for Mike to open the front door and they got a better look for what lied inside the bakery. Nick noticed that a few of the display cabinets for the cakes and treats were cracked open but there were still remnants of battered glass over the curvy metal frames that adorned the front counter of the store. Nick took note of that as he deduced that whatever was used to crack open the front window was not used on any other glass inside the establishment. Judy walked a little ahead of Nick to accompany Mike inside, she prepared her carrot pen and her little notepad before she called to the attention of the owner of the place and asked of him:

- So, Mr. Nominite, do you recall what happened on the day that you found out your bakery had been broken into?

Mike turned his whole body around and looked down to face Judy, the bunny prepared to listen and write down anything noteworthy on the blank paper square she had in front of her. Mike began to gesture with both his paws as he conveyed the story, just as soon as he certified that he had the strap to his bag safely balanced and secured over his left shoulder:

- It's an easy enough day to remember. I was staying at my girlfriend's apartment for a little while, I woke up and walked to work like I had done a million times before, only this time I saw that the display window was gone. I saw that the cash register was busted up and emptied out, I panicked a little bit, understandable, and minutes later two cop cruiser showed up, the owner of the drycleaners on the other side of the street saw the scene and called the ZPD right away. They collected pictures and a few samples that they needed, I didn't see the whole thing, I stayed outside for most of the process, now I'm just coming by to see if there is anything I can do to ease the grand re-opening of the place.

Nick heard all of that and was rightfully impressed with the optimistic tone that the mammal was using to tell those facts, apparently he was shaken by the fact that his bakery was robbed but he was already getting a plan in order to bounce right back up. Judy finished writing on her notepad and asked another question:

- Was your bakery considered a popular place before the hit?

Mike tried to remain humble as he answered to that:

- 'Popular' is certainly one adjective that you could use for my bakery but I suppose it would be somewhat generous. Every day during the lunch rush, mammals from the Sahara district and even from way out would come by to get a nice meal and a refreshing beverage. There isn't a lot of indoors space in here but it was a very welcome spot in the shade for any hungry costumer looking for good food and marginally good prices.

Nick walked closer to Judy as she kept writing on the notepad, she asked the most important question just as soon as Nick positioned himself right alongside her:

- Can you account for anything else that was hit or stollen? Anything that was out of sight and that the thieves in question could have taken an interest to?

Mike only had to think for a short second before answering to that:

- I sure can. The display glass being gone really freaked me out but, once I checked if anything else in the kitchen was taken, I was really shocked.

Nick showed the palm of his right paw as he jumped in the conversation and asked pliantly:

- Let me guess: There is a safe hidden somewhere in the kitchen area and there was something weird with it:

Mike's eyes shot open as he heard that, he looked over t the fox as the canine stood there with his arms crossed and asked of him:

- Woah, yes. How did you know?!

Nick looked over at Judy and spoke up in answer to that:

- Call it an educated guess.

Judy shot a look over in Nick's direction before she tapped the notepad in her paws with the tip of her pen and asked:

- Is there any chance we can see the safe? It might help us identify a critical piece of evidence that we are still missing from our investigation.

Mike turned his body sideways to the right and pointed a hoof over in the direction of the kitchen door just behind him, he gestured and asked the two officers to come right in and get whatever they needed to continue their investigation. Judy nodded affirmatively a single time and thought to herself about how the interactions with the owner of the bakery were going so smoothly, she figured if this would be the case with other investigations going forward but her mind quickly snapped back to the present as she and Nick made their way to the kitchen area closely followed by Mike who went along to point out exactly where they should look.

Nick entered the kitchen first followed closely by Judy and he felt very at ease with the sugary smell that remained in the air, he started to turn his face around and take mental note of how all the kitchen tools were organized, most of the kitchen seemed to be well in order with the exception of a few loose cake pans and trays spread across the granite counter at the center of the huge room and a huge unopen bag of flour that was left to rest by a corner next to a double-door metal cabinet. Judy passed her eyes over the environment as she tried to pick on anything that might be considered suspicious, nothing looked to be broken or tossed around which meant that the scene at the front of the bakery and at the restaurant were just made to throw any investigations off the main trail, all an act to make it look like the thieves had a point to be made. It all looked so crazy but it made sense in a weird way.

Mike walked past Nick and Judy, being attentive to not trip over them as they kept mostly to their own spots as they investigated the kitchen, he pointed out to a far corner and spoke up:

- The safe is right this way.

Nick and Judy directed their eyes over in Mike's direction, the dromedary was giving off an awkward vibe as he walked by and continued pointing in the direction he was heading, he was not holding the duffle bag over his left shoulder anymore as he had left it behind over one of the bolted tables by the front to facilitate his movement as he entered the kitchen. Nick and Judy left their original spots and accompanied Mike as he showed the safe and left both the officers in shock after witnessing the state in which it was left on.

The safe was mounted into the wall and it had its door shaped like a square, it was hidden behind a wooden door with a latch that was camouflaged as part of the wall paper, the locking mechanism of the safe was an old-fashioned combination lock in the shape of a circular dial with numbers ranging from ten to ninety, the metal looked fairly old but also very sturdy but it was the details left over the safe that really called to the attention of Nick as he got a little closer to examine the safe. The door was left unopen, it was covered with white stains that showed in clear contrast to the dark coloration of the metal, some of the white splotches trailed off from the safe and made their way down to the wall showing that the apparent liquid substance used on it was used in excess. Some of the wall cover around the safe, mostly around its lower left side, the seams of the safe door looked damaged by a crude tool in various spots revealing that the substance used to crack it open was ineffective and someone tried to brute force their way in. Nick was stuck in silent thought right in front of the wall safe as Judy asked to Mike:

- Did anyone else know about the safe's location?

Mike answered:

- Only me, my girlfriend Sarah and my main baker Daniel, but only I know the five turn combination to open it.

Nick continued to look over the safe as he said out loud:

- This is weird. There are clear signs that the door was affected by the unknown substance but there is no indication that the thieves opened it.

Judy walked a single step closer to him and asked:

- Are you sure?

Nick turned over to face her and answered while gesturing his right paw over the door:

- Yeah, look at this. There are scrapes along the seams and signs that whatever they used splattered all over the metal, and yet, it's still closed.

Judy thought how that was strange in perspective, back at the restaurant the hidden safe door was practically ripped open from its lock and this one was still well in place. Judy began to make questions that may not have an immediate answer but it did help her lay out different scenarios that might explain what had happened:

"Did the weird substance fail somehow? Did the thieves leave in a hurry? Was this some sort of fluke compared to the restaurant? This whole thing just gets stranger by the second."

After nearly overloading her mind with doubts, Judy turned over to Mike and asked of him:

- Have you been able to open the door ever since the incident?

Mike took a short breath and answered:

- Not even close. I tried to spin the dial in order to put in the combination right after the incident but it's stuck in place. I don't even know if I can open it anymore.

Nick looked a little closer to a distinctive marking indented over the metal safe, he turned over to Mike and asked of him:

- How old is this safe?

Mike wasn't sure if that was of any relevance but he decided to answer that anyway, he scratched the back of his neck before he answered:

- Pretty old. It's sort of a family heirloom. My grandfather bought it to keep all of his valuables, he was the sort of old-fashioned cheapskate that didn't believe in banks. He gave it off to my dad and then my dad gave it off to me, I kept it around mostly for sentimental value. I keep most of the weekly earnings of the bakery, plus a few other things I kept along the years, inside the vault. Including my mom's secret dumpling recipe.

Mike said that last part concerning one of the most vital items contained in the vault as a whisper, Nick showed off a wide smile after hearing that piece of information. The fox turned around and pointed to the safe as he walked a single step closer to Mike and said:

- If that is really the case then you can think your grandpa thrice over.

Judy and Mike were left perplexed with Nick's words but the fox took his time to explain as soon as he got closer to the safe once more and pointed to a logomark that he was inspecting earlier:

- This safe is a Claintonlock two-eighty, I remember a friend of my father having one just like this a long time ago, only much smaller. This model has really shitty hinges but the lock is triple reinforced, I'm guessing whoever our thieves were they had no idea of the perks included in this particular safe model and were unable to open it, too bad that they also managed to seal the lock off permanently with whatever they used.

Judy was very impressed, once more Nick's life experience surprised her during the most unlikely of times. Mike came closer to where Nick was standing and took another look at the safe, he leaned a little closer and released a sigh to make it apparent, even in a subtle way, that he was both surprised and relieved to hear that new piece of information. Nick wasn't done with laying down exposition however, passing a few more seconds and making sure that he had the undisclosed attention of the two other mammals in the room, he continued:

- If I were to venture a guess I would say that all of the things you got stashed away inside this safe are still preserved inside, including your mother's dumpling recipe. All you got to do is get someone to bust it open, shouldn't be a problem if you have the documentation that confirms you had the safe placed in the wall.

Mike thought about how convenient that was, but he also figured that was a significant snag with that:

- I think I still have the document back home, but there is only one problem: I don't know anyone with "Safe-cracking" experience.

Nick placed his right paw under his chin as he searched his memory for some reference that could be useful, he turned over to Judy and asked:

- Hey, carrots. Can you lend me a piece of paper real quick?

Judy let Nick borrow her carrot pen and her notepad as she handed the two items to him and Nick grabbed one in each paw before he began scribbling over the first blank page he could find. After finishing with what he was writing, Nick ripped the page off from the pad and gave it to Mike, the dromedary took the little paper and saw that there was a full detailed address to a place somewhere in the savanna, Nick pointed to the paper and explained:

- Go to this address and look for a mole named Archibald, met him once and he told me all about his profession. Archie is the go to guy in the lobby of a reliable home security firm and he has plenty of experienced testing, opening and ripping up locks of any type that have been damaged or just jammed shut. You explain your situation to him and he will help out, guaranteed.

Mike held the piece of paper tightly in his right hoof before he looked over to Nick and thanked him for the slid piece of advice on what he should do next. Nick showed a smile and a dismissive gesture with his right paw before he handed off the pad and the pen back to Judy who stored the two items back in her side pouches. Nick and Judy were just about done and ready to leave but then, Nick remembered that they still needed to collect the one thing that they had come to collect there. Nick turned back to Mike and asked of him:

- Listen, Mike. You wouldn't happen to have any remaining glass shards that were a part of your window, would you? It may help out on our investigation.

Mike thought for a little bit and had his eyes open wide as he remembered something. He dashed off to a spot right next to a trash can near the main counter of the kitchen and placed his left foot over a plastic pedal right in the front of the small garbage pail, it opened up with no effort at all and he reached inside to retrieve the one thing that was still inside. Mike retrieved a transparent plastic bag that was noticeably made of a thick type of plastic, he shook the bag in the air twice by bopping his wrist up and down a single time before showing it to the two officers, he spoke up before Judy took the bag in her paws:

- I hope this is okay. After the ZPD officers left I had to clean the glass outside all by myself, I worried that someone might come by and step on any of it. Hope this is enough.

Judy smiled with the recently acquired bag of evidence in her paws, she looked at Mike and thanked her with a sweet tone of voice:

- This is more than enough. Thanks, Mr. Nominite.

Mike's heart melted a little bit after hearing Judy's voice thanking him. Judy began to walk out of the kitchen and Nick turned over to Mike one more time to talk to him before also taking his leave:

- Take care, Mike. I'll be back soon, not as a cop, as a costumer.

Mike smiled and answered:

- We'll have the place good and ready in no time. Goodbye and thanks.

Nick nodded once and followed Judy out the kitchen. As the two officers exited the bakery and made their way back to the cruiser parked not too far from there, Judy spoke up with the bag of broken glass still held tightly in her left paw and her eyes directed forward:

- He was really polite.

Nick agreed with her sight also focused ahead:

- He really was. Can't believe our luck with the fact that he hadn't tossed this huge pile of glass out. You sure you're okay carrying that?

Judy turned her head at Nick just to her right and asked:

- Why wouldn't I be? It's not that heavy.

Nick raised a brow at her before saying:

- Carrots, that was in the garbage, it has been in the garbage for about a week. Are you sure you don't need to go wash your paws or just give it to me?

Judy turned her face ahead before answering:

- This was the only thing inside the trash bin, it's not that dirty. Besides, we are police officers, roaming about unlikely places to get clues, even around the garbage, should not bother us. Does it bother you?

Nick made a dismissive gesture with both his paws and he was very nonchalant as he did so, he looked back at Judy and delivered his answer:

- I don't mind it at all, fluff. Plenty of days of my youth were spent amidst the bountiful mounds of metal and scrap of a junkyard, looking for parts and spare items that were thrown out. I didn't mind the rust and grime, I took all my shots.

Judy smiled as she reached for the key to unlock the cruiser, she spoke up while having her eyes over the vehicle:

- That is good to know.

Judy opened the door of the cruiser and got inside, she got comfortable over her seat before fastening up her seat belt, Nick took his time walking to the other door and getting settled over his seat, Judy waited for him before turning on the engine and driving off towards a turn that would lead them back to the savanna. Passing a few blocks, Judy could already see the wall that separated the desert to the savanna up ahead, she could hardly wait to get back to a more comfortable temperature, Nick leaned his back over his seat before saying:

- Oof, I'm getting a little hungry now.

Judy turned the wheel a little to the right before taking the exit that would lead to an opening in the wall, she kept on driving steadily before getting to answering Nick's comment:

- Well we have been going around for a little while. I think we worked past our lunch break. We can head on to Mc Daniel's with a drive-thru that we passed over on our way.

Nick pointed a claw at Judy and agreed with that:

- I am completely on board with that. I'm gonna get myself a big salmon burger, some fries and a big soda pop.

Judy looked over at Nick and spoke with concern:

- Maybe you should go easy on your order, we still have a long day of work ahead of us after all. I'm just going to get a salad for myself, maybe a juice.

Nick showed a dismissive gesture with his paw that Judy didn't see, she had already turned her sight bac to the road ahead. Nick delivered his answer to that as he said:

- Carrots, I got myself a ferocious appetite, only natural for a predator of my stature and strength. In fact, if you're not careful, I might just nibble on that salad of yours.

Judy took her right paw off the wheel and pointed a finger at Nick to make her stance very clear on that:

- You keep your paws away from my salad, mister.

Nick didn't mind that too much, he just smiled and silenced himself, it felt great for him to speak and work with Judy like that. They found a moment of respite and leisure while still piecing an intricate puzzle together and it was exciting, even if the investigation was taking a slow pace and there was still quite a bit that neither of them could begin to understand about that scenario. Nick buried himself in thought for a little while as he tried to come up with a more plausible theory related to what was the thieves final goa if there was one to be had, Judy noticed that he had stayed quiet for a while, she directed the cruiser out of the tunnel leading to the savanna and then reduced her speed moderately before turning over to Nick and saying:

- You are really on point today.

Nick looked over at Judy and asked:

- What do you mean?

- You're so calm and collected, your thoughts and your actions are making it sound and look like you have years of experience as an officer. I would have never been able to analyze the safe's logo or help Mike like you just did.

Nick showed a little side smile before turning his face back towards the cruiser's windshield, he thought over that for a bit on what their next stop on the investigation should be before he asked:

- So… what now? Get back to the precinct and get an analysis going on the glass so we can determine what was used to break it like that?

Judy hesitated for a second before answering that with a short and indirect tone:

- That is going to be a little tricky.

- How so?

Nick leaned forward over his seat as he asked that, Judy turned to look at Nick as the cruiser was approaching a cross walk. Judy stepped on the breaks for a short moment so that the cruiser would slow down and eventually stop, she turned at Nick and explained:

- Dr. Pura is the one that handles the spectral analyzer back at the precinct, she is out of town attending a symposium and she won't be back until later this week.

Nick made a disappointed sound before he aired his worries relating to that:

- By then the trail might have gotten cold or worse, the thieves may strike again and they already got the hang of using the stuff that they had been using to crack windows and safes.

Judy caught the trail of thought that Nick was giving away with those words as she asked:

- You think that Mike's bakery was just a test run.

Nick complemented that line of thought by pointing out her correct reasoning and proceeding to speak:

- Right. That also makes me think that the thieves might also start thinking bigger and hitting other places with more ambitious gains. Mammals might get hurt in the process.

Judy flinched over her seat after hearing that, her ears lowered over her head and she spoke up with a very anxious tone in her voice paired with a low volume:

- Just the thought of that makes me shutter.

Nick looked out the window and asked without taking his eyes away from the passing buildings:

- Is there really nothing we can get to before the doc gets back? Maybe someone in the force that can help us.

Judy tapped her fingers over the wheel as she thought about a simple solution for their predicament, nothing came immediately to mind. Judy looked ahead and found the street that lead to the drive-thru restaurant she had just mentioned, a big sign signed with big letters pointed to the small path that she would have to take to place their order for the staff. She made a left turn and spoke to Nick as soon as she saw the entrance to the eatery:

- There may be a solution that we can get to in less time, but less get something in our belies before we get to that.

Nick shrugged that off but he ultimately agreed with Judy. The two mammals entered through a small side path that lead to a box with a microphone marked so that they could speak their orders, just as said earlier, Nick ordered a full sandwich with cheese, a side of fries and a refreshing cup of soda. Judy asked for a medium salad bowl with a mango juice to accompany it, after getting their respective lunches to consume, Nick and Judy exited the drive-thru path but, only a few meters after taking the exit, Nick asked of Judy to park the cruiser somewhere nearby so that they could exit and eat without leaving any rests of food inside the vehicle.

Judy obliged by Nick's request and parked the cruiser next to a bench on the other side of the street, it was a very inviting spot without much movement and a nice enough shade projected by the tall habitational building right behind them. Nick took a spot by the right edge of the bench so he could accommodate all of his food right alongside him and still give Judy plenty of room to sit close by, as Nick gorged himself with bite after bite of the sandwich, Judy took methodical nibbles of her salad using a small plastic fork. After Judy was done with her salad, she tossed the empty bowl and the plastic fork inside a recycling bin right next to her to get on with drinking her cup of juice, Nick crunched the paper wrap that held the sandwich and offered Judy a few French fries, she accepted and the two resumed their lunch mostly in silence.

After a few more minutes seated on the bench, Judy asked:

- So… what do you think we should do next?

Nick swallowed the fry he was eating and answered her:

- Why are you asking me? You're the more experienced officer between us.

Judy finished a gulp of her juice and released a retort:

- That doesn't mean I don't highly appreciate your insight.

Nick smiled and leaned his back over the repost of the bench, he looked up to the sky and answered:

- I'm actually not sure on what to do next. It is as you said: the doc is out of town and we need to get on back to the precinct and report what we found to chief Bogo. He might be able to come up with something.

Judy leaned her head to the side as she aired her unsure tone of voice to Nick:

- I guess, but it would still feel a whole lot better if we could come back with a concrete answer as to what was used to destroy the windows and crack that safe.

Nick finished snacking on the fires he had with him and placed the empty container aside to toss out later, he grabbed his big cup of soda and asked before taking a single gulp through the straw:

- Is there really nothing we can do to get a conclusive analysis on the glass we collected:

Judy thought for a bit before saying the answer that she had thought through the duration of their lunch break:

- We could get someone at precinct seven by the rainforest to get an analysis going, their lab equipment is top notch, or so I've heard. That would still take a long time and a lot of paperwork.

- I wouldn't mind it too much, we might actually get some answers. Are there no other options?

Judy released a chuckle before she threw an idea out in the air with a coy tone of voice and without expecting an actual response to it:

- Not unless you just so happen to know someone who is a professional at working with glass and could help us out.

Nick remained silent but those words immediately sparked something in his memory as he recalled someone that just might fit in those parameters. Judy turned her head to the left to face Nick and noticed the look he had on him, he knew something. Judy wasn't sure if she should just go ahead and pry a little more on what Nick was thinking right at that moment but she had to make sure if it was something that could help them get some information at all on what could be happening in Zootopia, she scooched just a tad bit closer to where he was sitting and asked of him:

- Nick, do you know someone who works with glass and could help us out?

Nick figured that this might take the tow of them a little out of protocol, maybe a lot out of protocol. He lowered his ears and tried to avert his eyes away from Judy, he figured that doing that may prove fruitless and he decided to just turn his sight back at her before saying:

- Look, it is possible that I might know… someone who might be able to help us. I'm just not sure if…

Nick stopped for a bit, he wasn't sure of the words to use to explain what he was trying to say, Judy leaned her head to the side to get a better read on his expression but Nick didn't give her much of a chance to do that. The fox raised from his seat and walked half a step to the left as he gestured with his paws and answered her directly:

- Look, I do know this one guy that leaves by the Savanna and he is very experienced with glass and crystal, worked with that sort of thing his whole life. The thing is: I'm not really sure that going to hi is a good idea, I haven't seen or spoken with him for the longest time and he may not even want to help me. Besides, we might be stepping a little too much out of the protocol line if we even consider doing it.

Judy raised her brows and twitched her ears as soon as she heard that, it was surprising for her to hear Nick airing so many concerns in a single sentence. Judy raised from the bench with a short hop that brought her feet back to the ground, she walked closer to Nick and reached her left paw to his right arm as she called to his attention and spoke up:

- Nick, if you don't think this is a good idea then I will not force you to take this course of action. You can calm down. We will weigh our options and see which one best suits this situation.

Nick thought a little longer about what was just happening, he still believed that gathering as much information as possible as fast as possible was the best course of action but he was still very hesitant on resorting to seeking help from someone so far out of the ZPD line of resources. Nick turned his attention back at Judy and found her still in place, waiting for his insight on the matter, he was still not sure about taking the lead on the matter, he thought about Judy and how amazing she actually was, how she was the one who should be taking the lead and moving resources and telling him what to do. He walked a single step forward to get his train of thought moving in a much more bearable direction, he signaled towards Judy by making a following motion with his paw and saying without much enthusiasm in his voice:

- Let's get going.

Nick walked towards the cruiser and Judy was left without being sure what his decision in the matter actually was, she rushed to drink the last few gulps of her juice before tossing the empty cup in the bin and then ran across the street to catch up with Nick. Nick was waiting for her to come near while he slowly delighted himself with slurp after slurp of his soda, Judy caught up with him and used her key to unlock the cruiser, Nick got that as a cue to open his door and get ready to step inside but he didn't embark just yet. Nick finished his drink and shook the cup out, he heard a few last scraps of ice rattling around inside the plastic and figured that the weight of the item was just right for him to attempt something, he prepared himself, raised the cup, gave a short hop upwards and tossed the cup away like a basketball, sure enough, it landed square inside a trash can positioned quite a distance away from where the cruiser was parked. Nick showed off a little smile and entered the cruiser, he adjusted himself over his seat before shutting the door on his side and before hearing Judy's comment:

- Nice shot, slick.

Nick looked at her and said:

- It was no big deal, the secret lies in the right flick of the wrist. Shall we get going?

Judy nodded affirmatively and turned the engine on, she made the cruiser move ahead slowly, even if she was ultimately unsure of what their destination was. Wanting to get a straight answer out of Nick, Judy asked:

- Where are we going, slick? Back to precinct one?

Nick took in a little bit of air through his nose before releasing it through his mouth, he wasn't necessarily looking forward to heading off in the direction he had planned but he decided that it was the best course of action. He pointed ahead with his whole left paw and answered:

- We're are heading out to a place called Terracotta Street. It is close to the place where Vinnie had his office set and where we are going to find an old friend of mine, if he is still there.

Judy turned the wheel as she recalled what would be the best path for the general location spoken by Nick, she drove through a street that lead to an exit directed at the southeast market place of central Savanna. Judy didn't actually let it show but she was looking forward to meeting this friend that Nick spoke of so briefly, she figured that might be some interesting story going on there but she didn't inquire any further about it during the drive. Heading southeast across the streets of the savanna proved quite the task since the traffic became more and more dense during that time of the day, there were so many other vehicles occupying the streets that it took them quite a lot of time to get to their destination.

Nick directed Judy to a simple street that had a lot of stores and stands for different business, mammals of all sizes were busy with selling and marketing their wares and there was a great number of mammals walking from side to side of the street in search of good deals. As soon as Judy saw the street, she was surprised with the fact that, even if the street was wide there was no room to maneuver the cruiser through it because of all the different stands and all of the movement happening right there, Nick pointed to a free spot that he discovered among the many other parking spots that were already filled with the cars from other drivers visiting the market place and Judy simply drove to it and halted the engine once she had found a nice position to stop the cruiser and still give herself and others plenty of left over space to exit. Nick opened his door just as soon as he made sure that the small plastic bag containing a sample of the broken glass shards he had collected was secure inside one of his pockets.

As soon as the two mammals left the cruiser behind and Judy locked the door right behind her, Nick gestured with his right paw and said:

- Welcome to Savanna's bazar, carrots.

Nick guided the way as he walked across the crowd and Judy went right behind him with a speedy set of steps to match Nick's pace. They didn't have to walk very far until Nick stood still for a few seconds to scour the area around him and make absolute sure that they were still heading in the right track, he pointed to an alleyway positioned between two medium sized structures that resembled habitational buildings and asked Judy to keep following him with a gesture from his left paw, verbal communication at that time would have been impractical since there were so many other loud sounds all around them.

Judy slowed her walk for a little bit, she looked at that environment and was overwhelmed by the familiar feeling, the fruit and vegetable stands, the frantic movement of the crowd buying and browsing varying products across the street, the mixture of smells, she suddenly thought back to a local marketplace back in Bunnyburrow. Her hometown wasn't nearly as big of a place to handle that kind of movement but such a bustling locale felt kind of welcoming for her, she found herself calm amidst such a storm, even if she wasn't sure why. As soon as her thoughts returned to the present, Judy went in the direction Nick went but she tripped along the path as she was almost trampled by a male giraffe that crossed her path.

Nick and Judy entered the alleyway that was pointed by Nick earlier and the fox reduced his speed as he waited for Judy to take the lead on their walk ahead, Judy noticed that certain spots of the alley were damp and old, some of the original paint belonging to the first building on the right was starting to peel off considerably, there was no trace of trash except for the two huge garbage pails positioned at the far end of the alley and the one thing that called to Judy's attention was a sign right next to her and Nick that lead to a bellow ground place of business. Positioned by the left wall of the alley and right above their heads, there was a simple sign with no flashy lights, simply an arrow pointing to a set of stairs and the name of the place which Judy read out loud:

- "Jebediah's glass emporium and workshop"?

Nick spoke up without moving from the position he had taken right behind Judy:

-That's right.

Nick took the lead once more and got down the stairs, he held on to the metal rail on the right as he approached the door right at the end and Judy followed close while bouncing from one step to the next as she made her way down. Nick reached for the door handle and halted his movement as soon as his left paw touched the metal, he turned to Judy and said:

- Listen, carrots. Before we get in there are a few things I need to tell you.

Judy looked up on to Nick's face, the fox turned to look at her and explained:

- Jeb… he is a great guy but he is a sales mammal, first and foremost. He is going to try and sell you anything in his stock if you let him so try and remain steady once we get in. I haven't seen the old goat in the longest time.

Judy bumped her right paw against the left side of Nick's chest and answered to him:

- Nick, you don't have to worry about me. I'm all set and laser focused to keep this investigation going.

Nick showed a side smile before he finally opened the door and said:

- Fine, you were warned.

As soon as the door opened, Judy became strictly unfocused, much like Nick had warned her. The store was filled with various shelves and stands that displayed glass sculptures and Knick-knacks of all shapes and sizes, Judy walked inside and looked to all of the shelves as her eyes sparkled with intrigued and wonder over every single item she saw. Nick was very impressed as well but with a moderate degree compared to his partner. Judy moved about as she gasped in utter marvel of every little glass item that came into her path, she pointed out a few that really called to her attention: A small sized globe which had a world map inscribed in its frame, a statue depicting the Palm-tree hotel and cassino in astonishing detail, a glass bid perched over a branch that was made of metal and held the fragile sculpture in place and finally the one item that was valuable enough to be placed inside a protective casing t=right at the heart of the store.

- Nick, look at this! It's a chess board and it's entirely made out of glass.

Judy said so as she called to Nick's attention, he didn't give that too much thought aside from a quick side glance as he kept walking in the direction of the counter. Judy came closer and almost smooshed her muzzle to the side of the glass as she insistingly wanted for a closer look, the game board, every pawn, rook, bishop and knight on it, was entirely made of glass and sculpted with amazing detail, the pieces were positioned meticulously on each side of the board and they were made of tainted glass of different coloration to distinguish each opposing team on each side of the board. Nick pointed out towards the main counter as he spoke up:

- Judy, we need to get on to work. Remember?

Judy shook her head and returned her main focus to the place that Nick was pointed at, she walked a few more steps closer to the wooden counter that had a few pamphlets, an opened book filled with notes that she could not make up what it meant exactly and a rusted bell that was made to ring out when in need of costumer service. Judy positioned herself by the counter and right next to Nick, the counter wasn't very high and she didn't even have to position herself on the tip of her toes to place her paws over the smooth wooden surface. Nick reached over the bell with his right paw and smacked the little button three times before yelling out:

- Jeb! Are you in there?

There was no response, Nick kept looking over a dark green door on the other side of the counter and expecting someone to walk through it, but more than a few seconds passed by and nothing happened. Nick rang the bell two more times and that is when he saw some results as a voice came from the other side of the door speaking up in an exaggerated volume that did not sound very overbearing for the owner:

- I'm coming! Keep your wits about you.

The door swung open and from the other side of it emerged an elderly goat with a short coat of gray fur covering his body, a pair of curvy horns over his head and a short ample beard under his chin. The goat had a flannel shirt with a nice pattern over its cloth as well as a brownish vest over his shoulders and a set of thick glasses over his muzzle. The goat moved very slowly on his two hooves, he moved through the door's threshold and came closer to the counter before placing both of his paws over the counter, he adjusted his thick glasses and looked at the fox paced only inches in front of him, he took a breath and asked:

- N… Nicholas?

Nick smiled and answered to him with a jokey salutation:

- How is it hanging old timer?

The goat showed his teeth in a wide smile and spoke up with a laugh in his voice:

- Nick! I haven't seen you in years. You are looking spiffy.

- So are you. Are you still firm and strong?

The goat tapped twice over his left horn and joked around while he affirmed to the question:

- Only the horns.

Nick shook his head and thought how he should have seen a response like that coming from a mile away, the fox did learn some of the best bad jokes from the mammal standing right in front of him after all. Jebediah was in a very good mood for seeing Nick after what felt like a lifetime, the elderly goat positioned his right paw over the counter while he pointed a finger of his left paw over the fox and asked:

- Where have you been all this time, Nick? And… what is up with that silly costume you are wearing?

Nick raised his right paw and brought a claw over the left lapel of his shirt, he tapped over his badge twice so that the metallic sound would be very apparent to hear and then spoke up:

- Sorry to tell you Jeb, but this… is the real deal.

Jebediah squinted his eyes and got a little closer before retreating with surprise and admitting:

- I overheard some mammals out on the street commenting on a fox that entered the ZPD line-up, I had a sneaky suspicion it was you but I didn't want to jump to conclusions. Just goes to show life still has its ways of surprising me.

Jebediah walked slowly as he clamped his hooves against the floor and moved a little to the left until he noticed a bunny that had suddenly entered his field of vision, he leaned a little to the side to get a good look on her, Nick noticed that and introduced her:

- Jeb, this is Judy. She's my partner.

Judy walked two steps forward and extended her right paw forward to properly cumpriment the goat, Jebediah raised his right paw and Judy simply grabbed a hold of it and shook it twice before saying:

- Your store is really amazing. All of this glass figures have such amazing detail to them.

Jebediah looked at Nick and spoke up without worry of being heard by the bunny:

- Oh, I like her already.

Jebediah placed a paw over Judy's shoulder but he didn't force her to go on another direction or turn around in any way, he simply gestured to the shelves right next to him as he demonstrated his sly merchant side as Nick had warned Judy just before they entered the store. The old goat smiled as he showed his vast collection of glass statuettes and spoke with great pride and showmanship to a mammal that could be a potential high class client to him:

- As you can clearly see, my dear, I have figures and symbols of every culture and region from Zootopia and beyond. All of my items are crafted with the most high quality materials I can gather and plenty of them are made of recyclable parts, gives the smaller half of the collection some charm of its own.

Judy walked a single step in the direction he was gesturing and her mind couldn't help but wander off again as she looked over the figurines that were just in her field of sight. Nick shook his head in silent disapproval as he was afraid that was going to happen sooner or later, the fox reached for the small bag of evidence in his packet just in time to hear Jebediah pointing out to the door he had left behind and say with mild enthusiasm:

- I believe I have some newer items stored away in the back. You give me but a moment and I can…

Nick gave a wide step forward and called to his old friend's attention by saying:

- Jeb, we didn't come here to buy stuff. We came here because we could really use your help.

Jebediah stepped back as he turned to face Nick who took a short breath and continued:

- Judy and I are in the middle of an investigation. We are looking into the breaking into a restaurant right here by the Savanna named Susano's, they were just robbed.

Jebediah scratched the fur under his chin and recalled the name of the restaurant as the spot where he and his wife went to when they celebrated their anniversary together. He gasped in surprise and said:

- Oh my, I know that place. They make amazing croissants.

Judy heard that and recalled to Nick's comment on the very same thing earlier that day. She leaned her head to the side and said:

- So I've heard.

Nick showed the little plastic baggie of evidence he was holding in his left paw and continued his explanation:

- You are the greatest glass artist in Zootopia, you got more road walked than anyone in the marketplace could ever hope to get. I came to ask you if you could take a look at this.

Jebediah leaned closer and squinted his eyes as he adjusted his glasses. He directed a glance over at Nick and asked:

- What is that? Sand?

Nick released a short dose of air through his nose and shot his answer:

- This is some of what is left from Susano's display window.

Jebediah retreated with a single slow step backwards as he thought hard about what to do next, he was also showing a small sign of awe in his eyes as he got an answer that he was clearly not expecting. Judy insisted on his consulting as she asked Jebediah:

- We aren't sure what happened but Nick hoped that your expertise would be enough to shed some much needed light on our doubts. This might be very out of protocol for the ZPD, asking the help of a non-deputized civilian, but every bit of information we can gather will be of great help.

Jebediah didn't need all of that to agree with them, he had already made his mind on helping them but it was very nice for him to hear the resolve placed right beneath Judy's words. It reminded the old goat of a time long past when there were more than enough mammals willing to go over their own impediments and make an effort to turn the world into a better place. Jebediah walked past Nick and returned to the spot behind his counter before he took the time to answer:

- I'll help the two of you, no problem. I'm not very busy these days and this can be an interesting challenge for my particular set of skills.

Jebediah leaned down to search for a few tools that would help them analyze the sample Nick brought over. Out of Jebediah's field of vision, Judy bounced excitingly in one place and Nick showed a satisfied smile as the situation unveiled far better than he could have ever hoped. There were sounds of various tools being tossed and turned over from behind the counter, Jebediah kept searching avidly for the one item in particular he had in mind and he decided to kill some time out of his search by asking with a moderate volume to his voice:

- So, Nick, how are things with you nowadays? Is Finnick alright?

Nick shrugged that question off at first but he answered after taking a short dose of air through his nose:

- He's doing just fine. He could still stand to ease up a little bit. Most often than not he gets a little too tightly wound.

- That's to be expected.

Nick leaned against the counter, Judy stood next to him with her paws on her back, also waiting for Jebediah to reappear with whatever it was that he was looking for. It was still a little unsure for Judy how Nick knew so many beings, it was almost unthinkable to her how one fox could draw a connection to so many other individuals, but she knew Nick, he was definitely outside the conventional, he could draw his own lines in life without compromising who he was and that earned her admiration through every other time he managed to make his aptitude known to others. Jebediah kept searching but he popped out of the cover provided by the counter to ask of Nick:

- Hey, how's your mother doing? Is she still setting time aside to donate pillows and sheets?

Nick released a single chuckle before answering:

- You know my mom? Always setting time aside on her busy day-to-day just to help others. She is basically a super-hero at this point.

Jebediah laughed, his laugh was slow as he raised from the ground with a certain degree of exertion, he looked over to Nick and spoke up:

- Heavens bless that vixen. We all could use a few more mammals like her on this earth.

Nick showed a little smile as he imagined for a fraction of a second how more things would get done around Zootopia with an army of "moms" doing all the things that others would deem bellow their recognizing. Jebediah had placed the item that he was looking for over the counter at long last, a massive optical microscope that took both of his arms to raise up and place on a favorable spot over the wooden frame, he took his thick glasses off and put on a new pair equipped with a special cover on the outer lens to better see through the instrument. The goat gestured with his right paw, asking of Nick to see the glass fragments he was carrying:

- Let us see what we got.

Nick opened the baggie and, with the outmost care, used a pincer to take a single small shard of glass and put it over the displaying stand of the microscope. Jebediah stretched his body upwards to reach the scope, he put one eye on it and mumbled to himself:

- What have we here?

Judy and Nick leaned closer, the fox positioned himself ever so closely, supporting his weight over the counter almost like a curious child, that is, until Jebediah spoke up without taking his eyes away from the scope:

- Nick, you're blocking my light. Move over there.

Nick retreated out of the way and moved closer to the direction Judy was standing on, he cleared his throat and spoke up:

- Sorry. My bad.

After repositioning himself, Nick waited for any more words out of Jebediah, the old goat continued to look with much intrigue over that small shard of glass until he finally drew his conclusion. Jebediah took his eye away from the scope and that prompt Judy to ask:

- What's the verdict?

Jebediah took in some air and explained:

- This shard came from a very thick brand of glass window, impact resistant. No mere hammer, or rock could have shattered into pieces like this. I noticed a few marks inside of the glass that resemble cracks, and I can honestly only think of one thing that could have done this…

Nick and Judy were on the edge of their proverbial seats. Jebediah took in a dramatic pause and spoke up:

- Cold.

Nick and Judy were perplexed with that answer. Judy raised a brow in confusion as she asked:

- "Cold"? How is that even possible?

Jebediah placed his paws over the counter and proceeded to tell a story that would, hopefully, explain what he meant by that:

- A while ago, back in my younger days, there was an industrial accident involving a batch of liquid oxygen and a simple glass vial. Oxygen is absurdly cold in its liquid form and it takes specialized containers to manage it but a fraction of the batch was placed inside a beaker and the glass shattered in an instant. This is the result of glass that has come into contact with something impossibly cold. Whatever did this… is very dangerous to the touch.

Judy was filled with dread after hearing that last part, she placed her right paw over her chest and gasped as she immediately imagined a dangerous weapon that could spout cold and even freeze a living being in place. Nick felt short of breath but not for fear, for excitement, so many things felt into place and began to make sense to him and he could not wait to tell chief Bogo what had just happened. After being done with his observation over the glass shard, Jebediah stored the microscope away and shook Nick's paw, reiterating how it was good to see him again, Nick responded with the promise that he would be back to see Jebediah again in the near future, if not to buy something than definitely to talk.

A couple of minutes passed by and Judy was a little more calm as he thoughts transferred to the doozy of a report she was gonna have to write later, there were still so many tings that the investigation would call for and she might need a little help on it later. Nick was propping up to leave but Judy didn't feel like heading off just yet, the bunny gave a few slow steps in the direction of the front door that would lead them back to the alleyway and to the market street but she was halted as she saw one small item that called to her eyes almost like a hypnotic force was imbued in it. It was a small glass sculpture depicting a flower entrapped inside a glass cube and it was very beautiful, Judy picked the item up and felt the need to ask:

- How much for this piece?

Jebediah was satisfied to hear that the bunny would like to leave with a purchase, Nick rolled his eyes and decided to wait near the door until the other two mammals had completed their transaction. Judy and Nick exited the store shortly after with the fox guiding the bunny on their way out of the crowd as she held with extreme caution a paper bag that contained the item she just purchased. After they exited the market place and returned to the cruiser, Nick directed his eyes forward and said:

- You shouldn't had bought anything from him.

Judy thought that the tone Nick used was a little strange, she turned to face him, finding his stern expression facing ahead and asked:

- Why not? It's such a pretty piece. It's gonna look great on my stand back home.

Nick gestured with his left paw as he said:

- That is how Jeb lures everyone into buying his stuff. Before you know it, you just bought a whole pile of glass figurines and gifted them to just about everyone you know. Jeb is talented and clever, that is a dangerous combination for a merchant.

Judy showed a little smirk and stored the piece she had brought safely away to unpack after she got back to her apartment. Nick released a long breath of air from his mouth and said:

- So many things started making sense now.

Judy looked at him and asked:

- They did?

Nick turned his whole body in her direction over his seat and spoke up with the intent of laying down as much exposition as he could:

- Think on it, fluff. Do you know what causes heat?

Judy was not sure on how to begin answering that, the only sound that left her mouth was a long hum of ambiguity:

- Ahm…

Nick realized that Judy might take some time arriving at the same conclusion he had and answered shortly to his own question:

- Vibration. Everything, every molecule, is in constant vibration. More so with heat.

Nick turned his body back to the position it was when he sat down and continued speaking as he gestured towards the windshield of the cruiser almost as if it was a drawn diagram placed in front of him:

- We can't really see it, but every body, every element, gives away heat in a certain frequency. Metal, rock, even the air around us, it vibrates, it transmits heat, same could be said for this glass.

He showed her the bag containing the glass, he proceeded:

- Some weird substance entered in contact with the glass and robbed it of its natural heat. That caused the molecules comprising the glass to lose vibration at an accelerated rate. And what happens when molecules lose vibration?

Judy had the same expression on her face as she released another 'hum' of uncertainty:

- Ahm…

Nick answered his own question shortly as he said:

- Exactly. It compresses! The molecules lose vibration and they come closer together causing the matter in question, the glass, to compact in on itself. Then soon, once the glass gets moderately heated once more, the matter expands and then…

Nick clapped his paws together to present emphasis on his speech, the sudden sound made Judy bounce a little bit over her seat before Nick continued explaining nearly uninterrupted:

- It shatters.

Nick relaxed over his seat and spoke with a tired tinge to his voice as his excitement diminished and he closed his explanation with:

- It just makes so much sense.

Judy remained seated and staring down over Nick, the fox turned slowly after a few seconds of silence and found Judy with her jaw hanging half open and asked of her:

- What is it, fluff?

Judy shook her head as she snapped back to that moment and answered:

- N.. Noting. I'm just…

Judy took some breath before completing her thoughts:

- I'm just… awestruck right now. I feel like I just sat through an entire class. I had no idea you knew all of this stuff.

Nick remained over his seat with his shoulders relaxed and sounded a retort to her:

- It just regular thermodynamics, carrots. It's regular knowledge at most.

Judy made a dismissive gesture with her right paw and said:

- Whatever it is, you will have quite the explanation to help me put on our report. Chief Bogo needs to know about what we discovered.

Judy placed the key in the ignition and turned the engine on, only, before directing the cruiser off back in the direction of precinct one, she directed a side glance at Nick and said:

- This was a good day of work.

Nick looked at her and answered:

- Well, it ain't over yet, carrots.