Hey fellas! Everyone been doing fine? I'm back with a new chapter of the story. By the way, this chapter has connections to the previous one. Think you can spot them? Hope you paid attention last chapter. ;)


Earlier that day, 8:45 am…

"Ah, good ol' Sahara Square, dry as a bone, sand and dust that gets everywhere, and topped by scorching heat. An absolute paradise on earth!... if you're a cactus…" Nick finished the last part in a sarcastic, deadpan voice, turning his head to address the lynx officer sitting in the backseat of the police cruiser, wiping away any traces of sweat off of his head with a handkechief. "Stark contrast to the rainforest, isn't it?"

"Q-quite sir. I don't know i-if I could ever get used to t-this much heat. I-I hope I don't end up g-getting a heat stroke… or dehydration… or asthma f-from all that sand."

"Relax Jitters, we're only here to familiarise you with the place, then we're outta here. The chances of that happening are low. But if it does happen, Hopps is the best driver on the force, she'll get you to the hospital real fast, though not necessarily in one piece. Right Carrots?" He teased, looking over to his partner in the driver's seat, who was staring straight ahead with a serious expression with her ears drooped, apparently deep in thought. She didn't respond.

"Judy?" He repeated, getting her attention this time around.

"Huh? What?"

"Something on your mind, Fluff?"

"Oh… sorry. I was just thinking about the funeral yesterday."

Nick sighed. "Still? Look, what happened was tragic and unexpected, but you can't stay upset over it. With the good luck the ZPD was having all these years, I guess something like this was bound to happen eventually."

"It's not just that. I can't help but keep thinking back to Kellaway's family… the looks on their faces… how miserable they were… what they must be going through. And… and it makes me wonder about my own family… how they'd be feeling the same way if something happened to me. Or your family if something happened to you. And what about Eli? What if something happened to me, or you, or both of us? God, he'd be devastated! What would he do?"

"Calm down Judy. You're overthinking things. Nothings gonna happen to us. The odds of that are way too small. And besides, we've got each other to watch our backs. And I think you're underestimating Eli too. He's old enough now and he's a smart kid, he can take care of himself. And he'd never be alone. He's got an infinite supply of family members after all." Nick joked with the last line. It was enough to make the rabbit giggle, just as he had hoped.

"Not gonna stop tormenting me with your rabbit jokes, huh?"

"Not anytime soon." He replied with his usual smug grin. Their conversation was cut short by the crackling of the car's police radio.

"To all units in the vicinity of Sahara Square, we have a report of a robbery at the Palm Oasis hotel, suspect presumably still in the building, any available units please respond." It relayed. Moments later, three different squad cars reported that they would respond to the call.

"Woah. A robbery at a secured place like the Palm Oasis? Someone's feeling bold." Nick commented.

"But it does make for a prime target what with all the rich mammals there. It's not too far. Maybe we should join in." Judy asked.

"You sure? It's not really part of our beat. Besides, they've got six officers heading on scene. They should be able to handle it." Nick replied, and Judy seemed to agree, continuing on their tour of the district. He turned around to look at Kevin, a bit annoyed at seeing him busily typing away on his smartphone.

"You'd better be taking notes back there." Nick spoke, startling the lynx.

"Oh!... uh, s-sorry sir. I-It's my mother. She's always worrying about m-me. She, uh, w-was just wanting to make sure I took my, uh, v-vitamins this morning."

"Oookayyy." Nick dragged out the word, quirking a brow. "Just pay attention, we're here for your orientation after all." He reminded.

Meanwhile, at the Palm Oasis hotel…

Sirens blared outside the hotel as three squad cars screeched to a halt right in front of the entrance. Moments later, six officers brandishing dart guns barged in and made for the reception desk, mammaled by a deer.

"We got a call about a robbery in this hotel. Any idea who called it in?" The senior officer amongst them, a sergeant, asked.

"Uh, Yes. O-on the penthouse floor, suite number 8." He responded. It looked like he wanted to say something more but chose not to. The sergeant ordered two officers to stay and guard the main doors just in case, then took the rest with him to the elevators, taking one to the topmost floor where the penthouse suites were located. They rushed to suite 8 where the door was open and a panda, no doubt the guest, was arguing with a staff member.

"Alright, break it up! Are you the one who called to report a robbery?" The sergeant spoke up again. The panda nodded and told them the whole story of how he woke up to find his precious jewel missing. After confirming that he hadn't simply misplaced it, the sergeant turned to address his partner, a corporal.

"From the sound of it, it looks like the gem was stolen recently, so it's best we start with the nearby rooms and cordon off the place. We're gonna need more officers for that. Get on the radio and call for backup, and follow me." He ordered. After searching suite 7 and 6 and interrogating the inhabitants, he caught up with the two officers watching the hallway and ordered them to search the rooms in the other direction, himself proceeding to the door of suite 5 and knocking on it.

"This is the ZPD! We're investigating a robbery and need to check all the rooms on this floor. Open the door please." He demanded, his patience growing thin the more time that passed and the door didn't open. He tried the handle but the door was locked. There was definitely someone inside. He gave a final warning which seemed to have gone unheeded, so he finally decided to use force. With the help of his partner, they rammed the door a few times until it finally caved in and smashed open, both officers scanning the place with dart guns pointed at the ready.

"What the?... The room's empty!"

"It can't be! The door was locked from the inside!"

"Search the place! Maybe they're still hiding here somewhere. Did you call for backup?"

"Yeah, they should be getting here any moment now."

Back in Sahara Square…

Nick took another sip of his coffee that he had bought for himself. The trio had stopped at a Snarlbucks in their route to grab some drinks and snacks. Nick had also picked up a chocolate chip cookie to munch on, while Judy had grabbed a blueberry muffin along with the usual coffee. Kevin on the other paw, had taken a ridiculous amount of time deciding his pick, mainly since he was concerned about avoiding any ingredients that he might be allergic to, which, much to his superiors' frustrations, as well as that of the mammal behind the counter, seemed to include virtually everything on the menu. He finally decided on a very plain looking sandwich that was little more than just bread, but Nick and Judy were more than happy to finally be able to move on. They had just barely finished their meals when the car's radio crackled to life.

"This is Dispatch, officers are requesting further assistance at the Palm Oasis hotel. Precinct four is prepping additional units to support but they'll take some time. Any officers in the vicinity available to respond immediately?" It said. Nick and Judy looked at each other.

"Boy, must be something really serious if they still need backup." Nick said as he picked up the transmitter to reply.

"This is officers Wilde and Hopps, we're just a few blocks away from the hotel. We're on our way there." He said, then placed the transmitter back, turned on the sirens and lights and looked back at the lynx in the back seat.

"Better buckle up and hold onto something if you value your life!" He warned, then immediately wrapped his seatbelt around him, paws clutching the dashboard and door handle. The lynx was confused, but understood what he meant the hard way when Judy stepped on the gas and sent the cat flying into the seat back behind him. The poor cat clutched onto it with all four clawed paws, his expression one of extreme shock and terror as Judy swerved around turns and curves and weaved through traffic on their way there.

While Judy was focused on getting there as fast as possible, Nick was more interested in taking the sight of the iconic structure getting larger the closer they got. Past the entrance gate it seemed like an entirely different world, and Nick was awestruck. Judy parked the cruiser next to where the other officers had parked and hopped out while Kevin had to pry himself off the back of the backseat, shaking violently from his experience. Nick took in the luxurious surroundings and whistled in awe as he stepped out.

"Would you take a gander at this place. If only they spent as much money on the ZPD as they spend on this place…"

"Yes Nick, I know this is all very beautiful and captivating, but we don't have time to take in the view. Let's move." Judy said. The three of them made their way to the main doors beyond which they met up with the two officers standing guard there, trying to control the small crowd of concerned hotel patrons demanding to know what was going on and why they weren't allowed to leave.

"Well well, dispatch notified us we'd be getting backup, but they didn't mention it'd be you two." One of them said.

"Where are the others?" Judy asked.

"They took the elevator to the top floor where the robbery was reported. Talk to the sarge once you get up there. Elevators are back over there."

Judy thanked the officers and headed towards the elevators with the fox and lynx in tow. Nick's head was on a swivel, gawking at the lavish surroundings of the building's interior. He sighed.

"If only Eli was here. I know he's always wanted to see this place. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. Instead he gets to spend his day sitting in an office cubicle. I bet he's having the time of his life." Nick said the last part sarcastically.

"It's a shame we'll never be able to afford this place. But who knows, maybe Eli ends up earning enough to spend time here." Judy said as the three stepped into the elevator and headed to the top floor.

"If he does, he'd better remember to treat us to a nights stay here." Nick smirked, earning an eye roll from Judy.

"I wonder how a thief managed to enter the hotel anyway." She asked to no one in particular after a moment, changing the subject.

"I-It could have been one of the g-guests." Kevin suggested as the elevator stopped at its floor and the doors opened.

"Brilliant deduction Sherlock. Heck, keep that up and you could make detective tomorrow." Nick finished sarcastically.

"As obvious as that is, he could be right. That's the only way anyone could get in." Judy added as the three rounded a corner onto the long hallway containing the doors to the various suites, as well as a door on the opposite wall leading to some kind of maintenance room.

"Maybe so, but rooms here aren't cheap, so that means our crook would already have to be well off to start with. But you know what I think? I bet the guy just misplaced his stuff and didn't bother to look before calling 911." Nick said.

"Look, just because the last few robbery calls were false alarms doesn't mean every one of them will be the same. We could be looking at the real deal here! Maybe if we're lucky, the thief's probably still here since they've cordoned off the entrance." Judy replied hopefully.

"You hear that rookie? The mean ol' robber's still around. Think you've got what it takes to bag your first crook?" Nick addressed Kevin.

"O-Oh dear! T-that sounds… *gulp*… dangerous! M-maybe I could… uh… I dunno… head back down a-and, uh, guard the entrance… w-with the other officers… where it's safer?"

"Oh no you don't! C'mere! You've been training for this after all. You're gonna be the one to say hello to the perp… with your tranquilliser gun!..." Nick grinned and pulled the lynx alongside him, slinging an arm over his shoulder like he was his best buddy. The lynx only seemed to tremble more at the prospect of facing a possibly dangerous criminal.

"Wait a minute!" Nick suddenly stopped, his nose sniffing the air. "Do you smell that?"

Judy stopped, confused, but sniffed as well, eventually realising it was something that only Nick's nose could detect. "What is it?"

"For… for a second there I thought I picked up… Eli's scent…" he explained, looking baffled. His eyes and head instinctively darted around trying to find the source of the scent. Judy frowned and placed her paws on her hips, her foot tapping.

"Nick, you do realise Eli is all the way over in his office at the business district, right?"

"Yeah but-"

"Then how in the world do you smell him here?"

"I… I don't know. It was very brief though, I'm not picking it up again anymore."

"Hmm… maybe it's the mixed scent of a couple of mammals that might have mimicked Eli's scent. This is a hallway after all. All kinds of guests and staff move around here."

"Maybe you're right. It was probably just a false alarm." He concluded, moving on. The three eventually came upon a suite door that was open and two officers emerged from inside. They noticed one of the officers was wearing the rank of sergeant.

"Hopps and Wilde? Huh, wasn't expecting you two to be my backup. Still, it's a relief to see more officers here."

"At your service sir! Where did the robbery take place?" Judy asked.

"Suite 8, but we're investigating the other rooms just in case. I need you two to help check the remaining rooms first." He ordered, and the three complied, going room to room until every suite on the floor had been searched. They regrouped at suite 8, where the sergeant briefed the newcomers about the crime, after which he along with three other officers decided to head to the ground floor to cover any back doors while they waited for more backup, leaving only Nick, Judy and Kevin to secure the crime scene.

"So this is where it happened." Nick said absentmindedly, looking around the large room in awe and taking in it's luxurious amenities. "What a beaut! I'd give an arm and a leg to spend a night here." He marvelled.

"And that's pretty much what it'll cost you." Judy retorted. "Along with the remaining arm and leg, and both kidneys too." she grinned. Nick, Judy and Kevin had split up to explore. Kevin suggested that the thief could've entered through one of the ventilation openings in the room, but they were too small for anything larger than a rodent to crawl through, and their covers looked intact and too firmly locked in place for a rodent to be able to open them.

This was one of the things that made investigations so complex in Zootopia. Since criminals came in all shapes and sizes with varying abilities, investigators had to consider things in meticulous levels of details. It was part of the reason why Nick and Judy were glad they were not detectives.

"It looks like the only way into the room is by the main door. But the guest said the door was locked all the time, even when he wasn't in the room. So how could the thief get in?" Judy pondered as Nick went over to explore the balcony nearby.

"Maybe he came through the balcony?" He suggested. Judy came over to join him and took a look around, hoisting herself over the edge railing to look down.

"It's hundreds of feet down below! Besides, there's no way anyone could climb the side of this building."

"What about the other balconies? Could be someone staying in one of the neighbouring rooms."

"Hmm… they look too far to jump over from there. And we just searched all the rooms and interrogated the guests and found nothing."

"There's still the mystery of suite 5. The sarge said the door was locked but no one was found inside."

"I'll admit, that one has me stumped too, but is that even related to the theft?"

"I don't know what to tell ya then Fluff…" Nick began as they walked back inside. "…It could be any number of possibilities then, ranging from the thief being small and fast enough to not be seen getting in and out of the room, to there being no thief at all."

"What do you mean by that last one?"

"I mean it doesn't look like anyone could get into the room unseen, so maybe there wasn't any thief and there wasn't any theft. Maybe our 'victim' stole his own gem in order to claim some kind of insurance or something. I guess the investigation team might have better luck figuring out what happened but one thing's for sure, there's something fishy going on here."