"If you fail to find your cause, you are searching among branches for what appears in roots. " - Rumi
2:08 P.M
"You okay there, Carrots?"
Nick asked as he glanced over to his partner, whom had uttered practically nothing over the past hour; A relatively unnatural occurrence for the usually cheery and active rabbit.
"I'm fine..." She mumbled just a bit too quickly for Nick's tastes. The fox pursed his lips, thinking over his wife's previous statement with calm, and careful recollection.
Still staring out and leaning against the window of the cruiser, the bunny sighed almost longingly as her eyes traced along the paths of the various cars that sped along the road in front of them. Their vehicle, with them both hidden inside of it, was parked behind a large billboard on the highway that bordered the mountains of the Deciduous-District, quite close to the border of the forest itself. On the dashboard, a radar gun, which was promptly directed towards the nearby street, flickered methodically and beeped every few seconds, with the digital screen lighting up in detection as individual vehicles passed by its range. It was a quiet and peaceful atmosphere, but laced with hanging tension.
"Well, judging by those droopy propellers of yours," Nick started, pointing to her ears. "I'd say you're not really lettin' on all that much."
Judy sighed heavily once again. "I'm just thinking about the last few hours, that's all... Thinking about that stupid case, too..." She claimed, still refusing to meet Nick's eyes.
"You mean the case that we aren't supposed to think about?" The fox quipped with a slight smile, hoping to lighten the mood.
"Yeah..." The bunny grumbled. "That one. I mean, first Chief Urzo asks us for our help, but then he goes out of his way to make sure that we don't help while we're there!"
"I guess it is kinda counterproductive, now that you mention it-" Nick added, but Judy was on a roll;
"He should have just let us finish our patrol in peace instead of baiting us with some real police work! That overgrown teddy bear has some nerve playing us as the bad guys!"
She finished with a loud and frustrated huff, folding her arms against her chest as she leaned into the back of her seat.
Upon the conclusion of Judy's rant, Nick leaned back in his own seat, only for his emerald colored eyes to be drawn to the flicker of the speedometer on the nearby radar gun. He lifted his gaze just as an unmarked white van passed by going roughly five miles per hour over the limit. Nick just barely managed to make out the form of a rather fuzzy looking mammal, a koala, behind the somewhat tinted windows before the vehicle passed out of sight behind a row of thick pine trees, and disappeared as it continued down the road.
The fox narrowed his eyes in both contemplation, and a growing sense of suspicion.
"You know, I've been thinking about it too..." He muttered aloud.
Out of the very corner of his eye, he saw Judy's heard turn and face his own, an expression of curiosity marking her facial features.
"You have?" The rabbit questioned.
"Yeah, I have."
"How so?"
Nick pursed his lips and exhaled through his nose as he took a brief moment to let his thoughts settle down and form themselves into coherent words.
"Well..." He started, putting his paw to his chin, scratching it softly as if deep in thought. "For starters, doesn't the whole robbery just seem a bit.. Odd, to you?"
Judy momentarily thought about her husband's previous statement, and just how it fit into her own current train of thought and overall mindset.
"It does seem kinda fishy, now that you mention it... Like, why would the perps go through so much time and effort just to steal a few thousand dollars worth of items?"
"Exactly. And why would they even bother killing that security guard in the first place, especially when he was so far away from the scene of the robbery?" The bunny added.
"Spot on, smalls. So, that brings up the question of what do we do next, right? Well, I was thinking that after we finish this assignment of ours, we could go through Precinct Seven's criminal archives to see if we can find any other cases of museum thefts across both the district, and the city, that might have the same M.O as our group here does."
His russet-colored ears twitched upon detecting his wife utter an excited squeal.
"That's great thinking, Slick!" Judy exclaimed as her fist playfully connected with his shoulder. "We still have several hours left in our shift, though, so we best get comfy."
"Sounds like a plan, Whiskers." Nick stated proudly, grinning wide with a half-lidded smile, though not above rubbing his aching shoulder.
As he reached forward to pull the speedometer down from the windshield so that he could check up on it, a rhino-sized vehicle zoomed past the cruiser with an audible woosh sound, flashing across the length of the windshield in a blur of gray and blue. Nick swiftly examined the digital screen on the radar device, and concluded that the aforementioned automobile was going nearly twenty five miles per hour over the posted limit. The fox and bunny both looked at each other and grinned in unison.
"After, we catch that guy!" Judy stated as she flipped the switch for the police lights and sirens.
Meanwhile, Nick himself flipped open his new pair of sunglasses as he pulled the cruiser out onto the highway, and the thrilling chase began.
4:30 P.M
Precinct Seven's Archives were rather musty compared to the rest of the rooms and corridors in the expansive building. The constant battle against the humidity in the room left it closed off and sealed from the rest of the building deep down in the depths of the basement, making the air smell of old files, paper, and dust. After they had finished their scheduled patrol, they quickly made way back to the nearby Precinct, where they ventured within the very heart of the building, all the while hoping that Chief Urzo himself had forgotten about his request to speak with the two of them upon the conclusion of their assignments. Nick and Judy both made mental notes to take their findings to him later.
Until then, there was work to be done.
The two tiny mammals had found themselves a smaller-sized seat that comfortably fit both of them, before positioning it in front of a medium sized computer and beginning their search. It was a tedious endeavor at first; Searching through decades worth of cases involving search terms such as 'museum', 'robbery', and 'forest', as well as any and all unsolved murders due to blunt force trauma that had ever been documented in the entire history of the Deciduous-District itself. Just another day on the job, as it were.
It was laborious, time consuming, and so far; Worthless.
After nearly an hour of searching and wracking their minds for any idea that could help them in their investigation, they both were very close to reaching the limits of their ability to look at a buzzing computer screen for hours on end. Most of the time they had lost had been spent scrolling through page after page of data, but no matter how far they searched, it seemed like their efforts were in nothing but vain. So far, they had found very little evidence of interest, as it turned out that the Deciduous-District itself was a rather sleepy place compared to the other districts: Crime was relatively lacking, and what little there was seemed to stem around petty offences and other quite minor events.
With what they had uncovered thus far, it seemed that the Deciduous-District was not the most action packed place in the city: It was no wonder that Bogo had sent them here, of all places. For entire years on end, the most mysterious and enticing case in the forest district appeared to be the likes of an unsolved homicide about a decade past, where a brown bear named Yogi was found dead out in the middle of the wilderness with a blow to the back of his head that was clearly from a nearby blood-stained stone. The only piece of compelling evidence from that case had been an empty picnic basket found at the scene of the crime, and even that wasn't enough to go on for an investigation.
"We have to be missing something..." Judy groaned, tenderly rubbing her temples as she glanced back up at the hazy screen. "We've searched through everything!"
"Hold on now, we've tried murders, robberies, museums, and so on..." Nick listed off, counting the named searches on his padded fingers. "But this one case... Hmm."
Nick suddenly hopped off of the chair and began to pace around the floor of the room, his bushy tail swishing behind him all the while. The fox's agitation was shown through the bristled fur on his head, and sharp sweeps that his body made. To him, pacing was a good way to let off minor amounts of steam and tension, alongside clearing the mind and allowing for more thoughtful thinking. Meanwhile, Judy went back to type in yet again another search term into the computer when she heard a slight "Ooohh..." From behind.
"Do you have something, Nick?" She asked, turning around only to lock on to the likes of her husband as he drummed his fingers against his forehead.
"I might..." He steadily replied. "Though it may be a long shot, and a bit of an odd request, at that."
"I'll take anything at this point." Judy grumbled in response. "Spill it, slick."
"Spill, eh?" Nick repeated with a sly, coyish grin plastered across his muzzle. "Reminds me of that other night..."
"Oh hush, you." Judy chided, though not without a delicate smile egging at the edges of her lips.
The fox cleared his throat audibly before approaching the back of the chair, which he leaned over, and pointed toward the screen in front of them both before stating firmly;
"Alright Whiskers, try a combination search of robberies... And marsupials..."
Judy turned to look at him, her eyebrow raised in seeming confusion.
"Marsupials?" She inquired.
Nick rolled his wrist in a go on sort of gesture. "Just do it, fluff!" He adjured.
Shrugging, Judy did as she was told, and typed her husband's request into the search terms, clicked on the search icon, and patiently waited for the results to come in.
"So, why marsupials, exactly?" The bunny asked again, still wondering as to what may have caused Nick to pursue this route of investigation. "It seems a bit weird."
"Well, I told ya that it's an odd request, you dumb bunny." Nick retorted teasingly.
"This is about as far away from Outback-Island as you can get, save for the Tri-Burrows, and still be in the city of Zootopia. What makes you think marsupials are a part of this?"
"Because I've seen a few of them around here." The fox started, though trailed off quickly before correcting himself. "Scratch that, I've seen a lot of them around here."
"So?"
"Marsupials are rare enough to find in the mainland, so having them appear all the way out here in the Deciduous-District, a completely different climate and about as far from their home turf as they can get, as you mentioned earlier, is a bit strange, don't you think? Doesn't that make you even the slightest bit skeptical, Whiskers? Anything at all?"
"You know, I do recall seeing some marsupials in... Strange, places. Like that wombat we brought in just yesterday for loitering." Judy mumbled in realization.
"Or that echidna we saw roaming the streets way past curfew," Nick added. "The one with all the weird stuff braided in its spines, remember?"
Judy nodded in acknowledgement, recalling back to the night that they had been out on a quiet midnight stroll when they had spotted a sleazy looking echidna skulking around corners, appearing multiple times throughout the night, almost as if it were following them, or something. The echidna had had a number of peculiar objects and items braided into its quills, such as wooden beads and even what looked like small pebbles and rocks. Soon after noticing it, the mysterious creature had disappeared off and into the night.
The bunny was about to bring up the idea that it all may be just some big, strange coincidence, that was, until Nick interjected with a statement that changed her mindset;
"Marsupials rarely leave Outback-Island, even, and yet we've spotted so many here! Way more than usual! Marsupials walking in packs at night, marsupials wandering around in the daylight, almost as if they're searching for something, and I coulda swore that I even saw a gang of them carrying shovels, walking off into the forest, towards the mountains! Shovels, carrots! That's shadier than a fox with a deck of cards on a street corner. Something just doesn't quite add up here, and it makes me feel real suspicious."
"Suspicious? Suspicious of what?" Judy countered. "You don't think that this actually ties in with the robbery and the murder, do you?"
Nick hesitated, as if even he were thinking that accusation over.
"I do." He stated firmly. "The murder, the artifact robbery, the marsupials... I think it all adds up to one guy."
Just as the fox was about to explain his reasoning, the nearby computer dinged out loud, its search having concluded at last, effectively diverting both Nick and Judy's respective attentions to the hazy white screen. Scanning it over, the two of them took in the sight of dozens of different results popping up by the second, ranging from mugshots of criminal marsupials, to a vast amount of cases involving the robbery of various museums, curio shops, and even archaeological dig sites across the entire city of Zootopia, save for the Deciduous-District. Nick personally thought of that detail as intriguing, as if it were somehow connected with this whole thing, though he didn't think of it for very long.
"Well, look at you..." Judy replied, grinning broadly for the first time since they had arrived in the archive room. "Seems like that little hunch of yours paid off."
Offering a grin of his own, they both then promptly refocused on the screen, though Judy was scrolling through article after article so quickly that Nick himself could just barely keep up. Eventually, he gave up and rubbed at his eyes, trying to push away the headache he was sure to have if he didn't look away from the screen sometime soon enough.
"Gees, I don't know how you can look at that screen for so long..." Nick joked with a sigh. "Must be all those carrots you eat, Carrots. I heard they're good for the eyes."
"You'd be surprised." Judy muttered as she shot him a quick little smile before turning back to the monitor and clicking on one of the many listed links. "Check this out, though."
The rabbit crossed her arms against her chest with a contented smile as Nick looked back up at the screen, taking in his wife's discovery.
"I kept noticing one name listed in each and every report regarding these robberies, and I think I found someone interesting..."
Nick peered at the picture on the computer, grimacing at a close-up mugshot of a tasmanian-devil, whose lips were curled back in a snarl at the camera, displaying rows of large white teeth. The scruffy black fur on the top of his head was braided with strands of multi-colored beads, each one intricately designed with patterns of lines and dots. Glancing down at the sign clutched between the marsupial's talons, of which the fox noticed were etched with various lines and dots, he took in the sight of the devil's name, and felt a distasteful pair of words build within his mouth, souring his tongue.
"Iluka Rombahe..." Nick stated aloud. "I figured that it was this guy behind the robbery last night."
"You did?" Judy asked.
"Uh-huh. I'm familiar with his work... A long time ago, a few years before I met you, in fact, I remember doing a con job-"
Nick trailed off as he took note of his wife's disapproving expression.
"What?" He muttered. "I said it was a long time ago!"
Judy rolled her large eyes. "Just finish the story." She instructed him sternly.
Clearing his throat, the fox did exactly that;
"Anyways, as I was saying, a long time ago, I was a part of a very special con job involving a stolen vase for some kangaroo from Outback-Island; One who claimed to be an associate of Iluka's. Not very surprising, considering the fact that crime-lords like him rarely get their paws dirty. I helped the guy smuggle the vase out, and then we parted."
"So how exactly does Iluka fit into all of this, then?" Judy asked, to which Nick inhaled before continuing his explanation;
"The big cheese himself is not the kinda guy you wanna mess with, so I've heard, but he actually has been arrested and charged for his crimes before, which must've really screwed him over: Just imagine losing your entire reputation and credibility in the blink of an eye. He was stripped of all his archaeological titles, uh - He's some kind of archaeologist, by the way - And was sent to prison for some time. In short, Iluka Rombahe deals with just about anything old and dusty that comes from the black market."
"Yeah, I remember doing some research on that event! He lived some sort of double life; An archaeologist by day, and a crooked, no good, treasure hunting crime-lord by night."
"Bingo, bunny."
"Didn't he manage to escape with the help of a crooked cop, though?" Judy inquired curiously, to which Nick expanded upon;
"And he's been in hiding ever since." The vulpine finalized. "Nobody's seen him in ages, but he still keeps up with his old criminal habits, it seems."
"Well, at least I know one pain of a mammal that gave up on his old criminal habits..." Judy mused aloud.
"You know you love me, Whiskers, sleazy criminal or not."
The fox smiled before leaning over to place a quick kiss on the side of Judy's cheek, however the bunny twisted at the last moment so that instead he hit her square on the lips. She hummed into the kiss, giggling slightly as they separated, and taking amusement at the surprised expression that the fox donned. She then turned back to the screen in front of her, all the while listening in on the amused chuckling of her husband. Soon recomposing himself, Nick promptly turned his attention back towards the computer as well.
"I think we may have our perp, and in turn, our killer." The rabbit concluded with a proud grin.
"Yeah, no kidding." Nick's ears drooped suddenly. "Uh, however, we still don't exactly know how that security guard was killed, really." He muttered steadily in disappointment.
"Answers to acquire another day, I'm sure." Judy claimed hastily as she closed off the computer, though not before printing a few of the various documents from the search.
She then quickly turned to Nick and stated aloud;
"For now though, we have to take our findings to Chief Bog-I mean, Chief Urzo! We have to take them to Chief Urzo, right away!"
Hey Everyone!
Okay, I know that I may start sounding a bit like some sort of broken record here, but I simply cannot deny the fact that my motivation has been dropping faster than ever before, at this point, and it has been having an effect on my overall updating schedule for this story. I mentioned it last week, and in the past, but just please do keep in mind that I'm trying as best I can to keep things afloat and running smoothly here at HQ, and if that takes a bit more time in between chapters, then so be it. I do what I can to make this story both compelling and consistent, so I appreciate all given patience and consideration.
When the next chapter rolls 'round, I promise it'll be longer than this one: I got big things planned for the future, and I hope you'll stick around for 'em!
So yeah, I apologize that this particular chapter is so short, especially since the wait for it was just so long... Don't worry, I'll make it up to you lot soon. :)
That being said, I do thank you for taking the time out of your day to read through this latest chapter of ours, of course. I know that it took a bit longer than usual to arrive, but better late than never, as they say. I'm sorry of the inconvenience, and do hope that things will be less so in the near future. Anyways, as I was saying, I certainly hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Do feel free to leave a nice review detailing your thoughts (I love those!), and to favorite/follow the story if you haven't already: Those really do help me keep this story rolling, and all new readers are both highly welcomed and appreciated, respectively!
Lastly, I'd like to ask a single question for the reviewers: What is your favorite aspect of this story? What do you think is its strongest trait, if any?
Just wondering, really... I'm a curious person. :)
Anyhow, that's pretty much all that I have to say for now. Thanks for reading everyone, as always, and do stay tuned for chapter 79, coming your way soon!
'Till next time...
Peace!
PS: Oh, and if you'll check out my account page, you'll notice that I have a brand new poll up, for those that are interested. Just thought you should know.
PPS: I just realized that as of the release of this chapter, it's the one year anniversary of this story! Thank you all so much for sticking with me! :D