The new year had just started and already there was a major challenge ahead of the Wilde Family. Nick and Judy on their first day back to work since New Years and the first thing they saw was the mink who delivered their son, standing at Clawhauser's desk, crying.
"Lucielle!" Judy called, "What's wrong?"
"It's Alex. He vas arrested last night," she sobbed, hugging Judy.
"What!?" Nick shouted.
That shout laced with anger and panic caught the attention of every officer in the precinct, including the chief in his office. He came out to the scene of Clawhauser trying to calm both Wildes down.
"Ho-*ahem* Wildes, come to my office please. And bring your plus one," Bogo instructed from the overlook.
Once in his office, Bogo offered them the seats. He didn't seem angry but more sullen than anything.
"Chief, please tell me this isn't happening," Nick asked.
"I'm afraid so, Alexander Wilde was arrested yesterday evening in connection with a reported homicide," the chief sighed.
"No, no zis cannot be…! Alexander… Alexander vould never…!" Lucielle sobbed.
"Mrs. Wilde, I'm sorry but until your husband's name is cleared, we have to hold him…" Bogo replied sadly.
"You don't believe he did it either, do you sir," Nick asked.
"Of course not! I may have a professional distaste for him but I know your brother is not the kind of mammal to kill," Bogo stated matter-of-factly.
"That means we HAVE to look into it!" Judy exclaimed.
"Sorry Ho-*ahem* Judith, you and Nicholas are too close to this case. I have Internal Affairs breathing down my neck about you two as it is. The only thing I can do is let you sit in on the interrogation," the buffalo replied.
"Well, can you at least let Lucielle see her husband!?" Nick asked.
"I thought you'd never ask," he replied, handing a visitor's pass to her.
"Chief please, at least give us the victim's time of death," Judy pleaded.
"I'm not supposed to… But I can't help it if you happen to over hear that it happened on December 26th at 12:20 am…" he sighed.
"Not possible," all three smaller mammals replied in unison.
"How so?" the buffalo asked.
"Chief, all three of us, and about 300 more, are his alibis. He was out of town on the 26th at 12:20 am," Nick replied.
"Where?" Bogo asked.
"Bunnyburrows, it's at least a three and a half hour drive, not factoring for traffic," Judy replied.
"There's no way the prosecution's timetable lines up… I don't suppose you have evidence as well?" he asked.
Lucielle showed the photos on her phone, complete with each photo's timestamp. The photos and timestamps were unmistakable. The one exonerating photo was timestamped at 12:27 am and showed Alexander holding his newborn nephew.
"And the child in this photo?" he asked.
"Mine and Judith's son, sir," Nick answered.
"When can we testify to my brother-in-law's innocence?" Judy asked.
"The court date has already been set. A week from Thursday, Alexander insists on going pro ce. I tried to advise him against it but he won't allow anyone to represent him," Bogo sighed.
The three were brought into the waiting room to speak to him. He was brought into the waiting room in cuffs with a guard just outside the door.
"Mon amour!" Lucielle ran up and hugged him.
They sat in silence for a few moments, with him just holding his wife as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Finally, they parted from their embrace.
"I'm sorry Alex, this shouldn't have happened," Nick sighed.
"Nothing to apologize for, Nick. I must've made an enemy somewhere along the lines that wants to see me behind bars. They're gonna' have to try harder than this though," he stated confidently.
"Yeah, we heard the details," Judy confirmed.
"December 26th at 12:20 am, laughable. The prosecution truly believes they have a case against me," he stated, "I've chosen pro se, there's an old chant about lawyers who represent themselves having foolish clients but it would be the understatement of the century to call me a fool if I lost such an open-and-shut case!"
"I'm gonna' get Luke's birth-certificate copied and submitted to evidence," Judy announced.
"How would that help?" Alex started.
"Because, you're listed on the addendum page as a witness and the main page lists his time of birth, at midnight, and his birthplace," she replied.
"You're a very shrewd rabbit. I would love the challenge of arguing against you in court," Alex chuckled.
"If you like arguing, why are you against playing mediator in Debbie and Danny's arguments?" she asked.
"Too easy, either that or I'm just too used to it…" he sighed.
"Aren't you worried at all? You could get a life sentence for this," Nick pointed out.
"Could, if the best evidence wasn't overwhelmingly in my favor. The prosecution has forensic evidence against me but that aside all the rest of the evidence is on my side. I have photographs, home video footage, witness documentation, and several several eye-witness alibis. The cherry on top is that it's on the prosecution to establish motive. Also impossible, even if I had some grudge against my former law instructor, murder is not how I would resolve such a rivalry," the older tod explained.
"You knew the victim?" Nick asked.
"Of course I did! I just said that he was my law instructor in college," Alex explained.
"Aren't you worried that the prosecution will use that connection against you?" Nick asked.
"Not really. They'd have to be desperate to grasp at that. I haven't had contact with him in years. I've only seen him once since my graduation and that was at my wedding," the older tod answered.
"Still even with the overwhelming evidence in your favor, even though we both know you didn't, a single shred of evidence, even falsified, from the prosecution can bring it all down," the younger stated.
"I know that. Every professional, in just about every trade, knows the value of proper timing. Whoever set me up, they had good timing, their screw up was they didn't know my whereabouts on Christmas," Alex stated.
"Any ideas as to who would set you up?" Nick asked.
"No idea. It could be that I was just a patsy for someone to take out the old cat," Alex answered.
"That answer doesn't sit right with me…" the younger fox stated.
Lucielle's cellphone rang out the tune of a violin playing the La Marseillaise.
"Mon ange, your phone is going off…" he told her.
"Merci," she replied quickly before answering her phone.
Words were exchanged with her over the phone with someone as she spoke in French only Alex could understand a lot of what was said. Her fluency meant that she spoke too quickly for Judy to pick anything up. Finally she hung up, looking irritated.
"Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas, ma cherie?" Alex asked.
"I must go… I have a photoshoot…" she stated sadly, "I tried to tell ze manager zhat I cannot make it but he insists…"
"Hey Nick, why don't you take time off today to go with her?" Judy asked.
"No, it's very important that you and Nick get back to work," Alex protested, "I'll ask Daniel to be there today. He owes me a favor anyway."
Alex pulled Lucielle into a kiss and in spite of his currently rough appearance and the fact that no doubt his breath was horrible, she returned the embrace.
"J'taime, mon ange," he muttered just loud enough for her to hear.
"J'taime," she returned likewise.
With that the white mink left the visitation room. Alex searched himself and remembered that not only was he not wearing his casual or business clothes but his keys, cellphone, and wallet had been confiscated. He looked at Nick as if to ask, to which Nick obliged. Both foxes knew the bunny in the room wasn't happy about it but she decided to let it go and try to excuse the behavior if it came up later.
"Daniel?" Alex started, "I'm calling in that favor. I'll text you the address, just head over to the photoshoot and keep an eye on things for me there, will ya'?"
There was some protesting on the other end but eventually the older tod resigned to his fate when he realized that Alex's presence at these shoots helped dissuade any unsavory ideas about Lucielle's contracts. After sending the text, Alex returned his brother's cellphone.
"I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have to get back to my cell and review the case-files," he stated.
"It's alright," Nick replied.
Nick and Judy left the visiting room and an officer came and took Alex back to the cell he was staying in.
In about an hour Daniel pulled up to the modelling studio on his motorcycle. Lucielle was waiting outside and heaved a worried sigh when he pulled up.
"What?" he asked, not trying to sound curt but probably coming off that way.
"Your choice of vehicle, monsieur. Are you not vorried zhat you will be hurt?" she asked.
"You sound like mom," he grumbled.
"Pardonne moi, I am merely concerned…" she stated.
"Yeah, mom said that too. Worried that with a lack of depth perception, I'm gonna' end up hurting myself. I get it, motorcycles are dangerous vehicles, more so when ya' only got one eye to work with," he griped, "And for cryin' out loud, Jane's been givin' me grief over it too."
A moment passed in silence, the two in-laws not really knowing what to say to each other. Daniel hadn't spent much time with either of his sisters-in-law, so he was a bit on edge about it. He followed her into the photography studio, he'd never given much thought to these kinds of things so he had never imagined just how complicated they could be. He didn't think such complex cameras and lighting technology even existed but here it was.
"There you are, Mrs. Vison Wilde, we're just about ready to begin," the director stated irrately.
"Hey, cut her some slack, her husband was arrested suddenly last night on false charges. Not everyone has an easy life y'know," Danny growled.
"Who is this?" the director growled in response.
"He is my husband's brozer, Daniel, he is here to fill in for Alexander," she introduced, trying to break up the fight before it started.
"I still don't know why Mr. Wilde thinks you need a babysitter," the director groused.
Daniel was about to say something in return but he felt a light tug at his wrist, when he looked she shook her head. He heaved a quiet sigh and relented, before finding himself a quiet section of wall to lean against where he would be out of the way but still nearby if she needed his help.
"Places, everyone, let's get started! We only have a few hours to get this shoot over with!" the director called.
Lucielle and the other three models took their places while the photographers began taking their pictures as the director called orders. The director wasn't exactly pleased with Lucielle's forced smiles but went about the shoot anyway. Daniel wondered if it was just his imagination that one of the cameramen, a bobcat, seemed particularly fixated on Lucielle.
"Everyone take five!" the director called.
He retreated to the editor's room to review the photos while the staff took a break for lunch. Normally, Lucielle had a healthy appetite but today she wasn't feeling herself. She stared at her lunch and poked at it with the plastic fork in her paw.
"You have to eat, keep up your strength," the tod next to her scolded softly.
"I know but… Poor Alexander," she sniffled.
"Alex is hardier than you're giving him credit for. Still, not like I can blame you for worrying about him. You are his wife, after all. I'm glad you're worried about him, even if I think you're worrying about nothing," Daniel stated with a smile, "Besides, what's 'poor Alexander' going to think when his wife collapses from hunger-induced fatigue?"
Lucielle gave a slight giggle before choking down as much as she could. The sound of movement caught Daniel's attention.
"Um Lucielle, I uh I heard about Alex. If there's anything I can do to help you through this," the bobcat cameraman from earlier stuttered.
"It is kind of you to offer but Alexander vill be out soon," she stated softly.
Something was off about this cameraman and Daniel could feel it in his bones.
"Oh, alright. By the way, maybe if you have time today after work you'd like to join me for a few cups of coffee?" he asked.
"Hey buddy, y'know that's my sister-in-law right? As in my younger brother's wife? What's the big deal, hittin' on her?" Daniel commented.
"I prefer tea, except vhen my sister-in-law makes it..." she replied, "And I am sorry but I do not feel much like socializing wizh mi amour in jail… He said he vill be out soon, maybe zhen…"
The cameraman walked away with a slump to his walk. As for Lucielle she turned and offered Daniel a gentle smile.
"You're too nice for your own good," he grumbled.
The day ended before long, the director was in a bad mood after getting raked over the coals by the producer for having "no worthwhile photographs to show". In the meantime, Alex continued to comb over the case files and notes late into the night and well into the following day. The exhaustion was getting to him and as much as he wanted to get a cup of coffee, he knew he couldn't.
"Excuse me, can I at least have the photograph of my wife that I keep in my wallet?" he asked the guard.
"What is it now? I'm not getting you any coffee… For the hundredth time…" the guard grumped.
"I only asked once… Besides, all I want is the picture of my wife from my wallet," he replied calmly.
Thankfully, Judy came hippity-hopping her way in to check on him.
"Judith, great timing. Can you get into prisoner possessions and get me that picture I keep of Lucielle in my wallet?" he asked politely, "And I could use some coffee…"
"I'll see what I can do about the coffee, but I can definitely get you that photo," she replied.
As Judy went to retrieve Alex's wallet from the personal possessions locker, she was met by the guard, Marian Swinton.
"Ho-*ahem* Wilde, y'know doing favors for a prisoner in lock-up on the grounds that he's your in-law could get you in trouble with IA right?" she snorted.
"He's not a prisoner, he's a suspect under temporary lock-up on false charges. Or did the law suddenly change and 'innocent until proven guilty' become a thing of the past," Judy replied.
"He's a fox, they're all guilty of something," the pig grumbled.
"Mind your speciesism or I might start taking it personally," Judy replied nonchalantly.
"Why, you're a rabbit," Swinted oinked.
"My husband-to-be and my three-week-old son are both foxes. That's why I would take offense to this rabid bias against foxes. Coming from my grandfather, I can tolerate it, coming from a coworker I already barely tolerate as is I'm not feeling so generous," she lectured.
As Judy retrieved the wallet and removed the picture, making note that someone had opened the box several times and handled the pocketwatch. She removed the photograph in question from the wallet and began to head back to the cells.
"Swinton! Has someone been messing with his possessions?" Judy asked.
"I've been trying to figure out who that fancy pocketwatch really belongs to. I submitted a report but Bogo said to forget it," she whined in response.
"That fancy pocketwatch IS his. His father-in-law gave it to him. If you don't believe that, just ask his wife where he got it," the rabbit growled.
"Oh yes, because weasels are soo much more trustworthy than foxes," Swinted sighed, rolling her eyes.
"How did you even get a job here with such an obvious bias?" Judy sighed.
"This coming from little Ms. 'It-may-have-something-to-do-with-their-biology'," the pig fired back.
"I made a mistake at least I can admit when I'm wrong, unlike some people…" the rabbit retorted.
She handed Alex the photograph through the bars.
"Thank you, Judy. I appreciate it," Alex replied calmly.
"You see? Alexander is well-mannered, unlike a certain coworker of mine," Judy stated in a patronizing way.
"Are you saying I'm crass?" Swinton asked accusingly.
"Well, I dunno' maybe the uniform fits a little too well, ya' think?" Judy replied.
"Are you alright, Judy?" Alex asked.
"Yeah, just… Luke's been fussy at night and hasn't been wanting to go to sleep. And when he wakes up in the middle of the night…" she started.
Alex reached through the bars and placed a paw on top of her head.
"First of all, thank you for bringing me that picture. Secondly, I want you to stop worrying about me. I want you to focus on being a wife and a mother before you worry about my predicament," he stated.
"Y'know, we're still not married yet," she chuckled.
"Yet being the operative word," he replied.
"How are your preparations going, Alex?" she asked.
"Well enough, I should be ready to go to trial before noon," he replied.
"Your trial is next week though," she commented.
"I know but I want to be as prepared as possible," he replied, "Please, go about your day, I'll be fine. It's true this jailer deputy is rather unpleasant to deal with but I've dealt with her sort before. This kind of speciesism is nothing new to me."
"Alright, I'm still worried about not being able to help if something comes up but I trust you. I just hope you know what you're doing," she replied.
"Don't worry so much about me, Nick might get jealous," he joked calmly.
"By the way, something I heard through the grapevine. They're gonna' try to use parking lot footage of your car pulling in to place you at the scene of the crime, but that's not your car. I tried getting ahold of the footage to take it to an automobile expert but they won't let me see it," she explained.
"That's natural, could you inform Bogo that I wish to add a Ms. Audrey Ramirez to my witness list?" he asked.
"Why?" she asked.
"Ms. Ramirez and her father are my mechanics. The only mechanics in the entire city I trust under the hood of my car. As you already know, mine is something of a classic," he explained.
"I just thought you were fond of showing off," she chuckled.
"I have a weakness for classic muscle cars, unfortunately. And the 1985 Cadillac Eldorado definitely counts as a classic muscle car," he hummed.
"You and Nick both," she sighed.
"Yes, I-...*ahem* You should probably think about getting a move on. I don't want you getting in trouble with Internal Affairs on my account," he told her.
"I'll see what I can do about Ms. Ramirez. Just be careful around Swinton, she can be terrible," Judy stated.
"Thanks Judy, and don't worry about Swinton. I know how to handle bullies," he coaxed.
Judy left the precinct's lock-up and headed to the chief's office. Since she was off-duty for the day, she knew he wouldn't reprimand her about her activities. She knocked at the door and waited for the chief to clear her to enter.
"Come in, Judith," he replied.
"Hey Chief, I was wondering if I could get you to pull a favor for me," she started.
"That depends on the favor. I assume it has to do with Alexander," he replied.
"Yes sir. He requested that his mechanic be added to the Defense's witness list," she answered.
"It's possible, I suppose but if you keep asking for favors regarding a case that you cannot legally investigate Internal Affairs is going to start making a fuss again," Bogo sighed.
"I'm sorry, sir," she apologized.
"I'm just warning you at present, don't do anything stupid. As for Alexander's request, I'll see to it his mechanic is added to the witness list. Do you happen to have the name of this mechanic?" he asked.
"Audrey Ramirez is the name he gave me," Judy answered.
"Very good, I'll see to it," he stated.
"Sir, I'm worried about him being down there with Swinton. She's been tampering with his personal possessions. I know I'm the last person who could report anything to IA since I happen to be someone they just love to find fault with but something needs to be done about her," she explained.
"His father-in-law's pocketwatch, correct? I've already told Swinton to back off but if you or Nick report any further tamperings. I'll reassign Swinton until this case is resolved and deal with her later. In the meantime, can I ask you to do something about your husband's behavior here at work?" Bogo responded.
"What has he done this time?" she asked exasperatedly.
"Nicholas has been joining the lunchtime poker table and we believe he's been cheating. If I confront him about it, well plausible deniability, but his wife may be able to force something out," Bogo explained.
"I'll see what I can do about it. I'm not exactly thrilled to find out he's been gambling when he's supposed to be working," she replied.
"Judith, there's nothing wrong with having a bit of fun while on lunch break. It's the cheating that concerns me. Honestly, something else as well. Are you absolutely sure you and Nicholas are right for each other? Far be it from me to tell you who you can have a relationship with but the two of you are so different from each other in personality," he stated.
"Honestly sir, I think that's why we work so well in a relationship," she replied, "We complete each other."
"By the way, who is watching Luke while you two are both working?" Bogo asked.
"Nick's mother, Lillian. My mother comes to help out as well but her experience with baby todds is somewhat lacking," Judy explained.
"One other personal question, when is the wedding? To my knowledge invites haven't gone out yet," he stated, putting a cigar in his mouth.
"We had to put our plans for that on hold with all this going on, sir. We'll let you know when and get you an invite. Just so you know though, it'll be at my family's home in Bunnyburrows so…" she answered.
"That's fine, my brother-in-law has an RV I can borrow for the wedding," Bogo replied.
"Will he let you borrow it?" she asked.
"I've already discussed it with him, he agreed to some time back," he replied.
Just outside the office, Nick waited for his partner/fiancee to finish her conversation with their boss. As she left Bogo's office to head home, he could hear her lecturing the fox and chuckled as Nick struggled to sway her fury.
-Shoutout to my friend, Jose Godines on Amino. I'm still trying to write this!-
