The floor underneath Nick's feet rumbled. The seat he sat on was leather, and it felt a little different than what he was used to in a cruiser. He'd never really thought about how it felt for the criminals he carried once in a while in the barred back seat. Wolfard sat in the front seat and drove, and Chief Bogo sat in the other seat, his gaze fixed out the windshield. Neither mammal talked, and the only thing that accompanied them was the hum of the engine and the whoosh of air around the car's frame.

Even trying to distract himself with the strange feeling of the mini jail cell from Judy's disappearance only worked for a couple of minutes. Thoughts then began creeping in gradually, taking over his mind and pulling his focus from the present. Eventually he was sucked into a daydream about finding her again. He closed his eyes and felt her close to him again. Her gorgeous eyes, those long, beautiful ears. Her irresistibly pleasant smell.

And then those were ripped away. His eyes shot open. She wasn't there. She's gone, he thought.

"Wilde."

Nick looked up from staring into the floor and focused his gaze on the back of Bogo's head. Despite saying Nick's name, Bogo still didn't move from where he was before. "Yes, sir."

"I assume you realize the consequences of what you've done."

"I'd like to think so, sir."

"Escaping custody and assaulting a police officer are serious crimes, Wilde. I have reason to jail you."

"I'm trying to find Judy," he said calmly.

"I don't believe you heard me right."

"Yes, sir, I did. All of you are getting in my way—"

"Shut it, Wilde. You're a danger to this investigation."

"Sir. Just let me go. I know how to find her."

"Being a police officer, I'd assume you'd know the standard procedure for arrest. Once we arrest you, we can't let you go until we have reason prohibiting it."

"Exactly. If you keep me here, Bellwether's going to kill her."

"We already have half of the precinct on the case. We don't rely on you."

"They don't know Bellwether as well as I do. You said it yourself when you gave us this assignment."

Bogo was silent for a moment. "Our priorities have changed."

"Right. At this point you're just wanting her dead. Just slit her throat yourself."

"Nick," Wolfard said, glancing into the rear-view mirror. "Stop."

He ignored him. "At this point you should just send me out. The worst I can do is die. Then you don't have to worry about all of the criminal crap."

Bogo didn't answer. Nick's fists curled up and he moved his snout close to the jail bars. "Every minute she's closer to death. She might even be dead now, and it's all your fault."

"Wilde, stop this instant," Bogo said.

"But you're wrong, Chief. She's going to die because of you."

He fell silent, and the words hung in the air. She's going to die because of you. He opened his mouth again, but he quickly shut it. He'd made his point. His lips were still frozen in a frown, but gradually this lightened. A smile grew on his face. He'd conned his way out of basically everything under the sun. This was just going to be another one to add to the list.