Buffalo's Burden
Chief Bogo slammed shut his office door with enough force to cause the blinds to rattle in protest.
"The slimy bastard!" he snarled and stomped to his water cooler. "How did he walk?" he muttered as he paced his office. The mug in his hand shook violently.
He had just returned from a trial involving a short fennec fox named Finnick. The fox was arrested for running a fabric shop with a fraudulent license and for selling stolen unmarked jackets to arms pushers. At the trial, prosecutors failed to produce the evidence needed to convince the jury and the judge that Finnick's business license was fraudulent. Their case unraveled completely when they also failed to prove Finnick sold any jackets at all. A magic trick in court, if Bogo ever saw one.
The chief sat down in his worn black leather chair and drank his water. The cool touch of the armrests on the chair stood in stark contrast to his burning blood. He leaned forward in his seat and looked through his now outdated case file which sat next to a pile of neatly stacked papers and multicolored folders. He scanned through the notes, searching for any contradiction that could have led to the disaster of a verdict. He struggled to avoid glossing over the finer details as he darted his eyes up and down the papers and pictures.
He wearily sighed, unable to notice anything wrong. Chief Bogo briefly closed his eyes, trying to run through the trial in his head. Something foul had transpired. There was just enough evidence to book Finnick. Of this, he was sure. But what went wrong? A heavy ache sat in his chest even after he exhaled. He rubbed his eyes.
Chief Bogo would never confess how he secretly hurt whenever the system failed to do its job. Bogo wondered about who it was the fox had supplied. What were those people going to do with those jackets? They were thick enough to prevent penetration from large claws. Who could need such jackets? All the worst scenarios played in Bogo's mind. A knock on the door forced him out of his racing thoughts.
"Yes?" Chief Bogo straightened up in his seat and watched as a female rabbit timidly walked into the office. Her bright purple eyes glowed in the dimly lit room. She frowned and said in a meek voice,
"Chief? Are you alright?" He quietly groaned,
"Oh no." Judy Hopps; a new recruit. The over-achieving naive die-hard optimist. She proved to him multiple times already that she had barely enough of an attention span to remember to respect the chain of command at all times. Somehow, Judy always found a way to unwittingly jump in on more experienced officers work. With mixed results. He stared at her with just enough patience to maintain a professional attitude. Choosing his words carefully he said,
"My team failed to convict a sleazy fennec fox for illegal sales and collusion with arms dealers. No, I'm not alright. How can I help you?" He hoped his direct response would drive home the point he was trying to get across to her.
"I'm sorry you're having a rough day," she said. "Is there any way I could be of assistance?" You can assist me by going home, he wanted to say. But he knew he was talking to the try-hard over-achiever. And it made him shudder to think of what would happen if he wasn't around to pick up after her errors. But tonight, he couldn't think of an excuse fast enough to push her away. Fatigue blocked off access to his reasoning skills. Before responding, he briefly reflected on how she never ceased to respond politely to him even when he treated her with contempt.
"I have an idea, Hopps." Her cute face stretched into that innocent hopeful smile. Her ears stood stiff and alert. Bogo almost cooed at the sight. She sure knew how to make tongue-lashing her difficult. But for once, he decided to try something different,
"See, I've realized that I don't let you patrol the streets much. You are quite charming. I want you to try and collect information from the friends of the fennec fox."
"Oh, yes!" she said gratefully. Though she failed to respect the authority of her superiors, she craved their approval and was unfailingly polite.
"Tomorrow, I will assign you some persons of interest. Though they are not suspected of a crime themselves, I believe they may provide insight into how Finnick managed to walk free. I will be working on how to rein in the three arms dealers tomorrow. More news to follow in the coming days."
"Sir, I'll do my best."
"Is there any other reason you have come to my office?" The buffalo asked.
Judy turned her gaze away from Chief Bogo and fidgeted with her fingernails.
"I just stopped by because I was curious about the case. And I saw you walking by looking upset." The chief smiled,
"It is past six now. Your shift is over, sweetheart. And I need a moment to myself. Goodnight, Officer Hopps."
"Yes, sir! Goodnight."
Officers Delgato, and Grizzoli, the only lion and polar bear on the force, respectively, left the station in a hurry. Delgato didn't wait for his partner to clock out before he darted to the exit of the station.
"We did our part," Grizzoli said, jogging to catch up to him.
"Shush! Don't talk about it," Delgato replied. The bear was way too brazen for his own good. How could he speak so calmly about the verdict?
"Don't worry. We'll be fine. He doesn't suspect us." Grizzoli stuffed his large paws into his pockets and walked beside Delgato nonchalantly. Delgato couldn't help the trembling as he spoke,
"You don't know that." With a huff, Grizzoli slapped Delgato's right shoulder.
"If you keep behaving like that, you'll draw attention to yourself. You have to calm down."
"I'm a coward, okay?" Delgato spoke in a loud whisper as they speed-walked through the streets. What a big case it was. Delgato still couldn't believe that their trick worked in court. Somehow, Finnick went free.
"I texted Big as soon as it was over. I just want to get home. Tomorrow is my day off so I'll check in with Big and see about our reward for protecting Finnick." Grizzoli pat him on the back,
"Good work. Switching Finnick's bad license with a legit one at the last second helped save his ass. He is one of our better fences. You will be treated right." Delgato couldn't resist taking credit for that one. That was good thinking. For all his cowardice, he knew he was brainy. Grizzoli waved off the frightened lion and split paths with him and headed to Savanna station to catch a train back to Tundratown.
Delgato glanced at his phone and noticed a text message from an unknown number:
"Mr. Big takes care of those loyal to him. Your family will receive a surprise monetary gift for your service. And you will be granted the use of my guards in times of need. I expect to see you tomorrow at 1.00 P.M. Do not be late." Delgato quickly deleted the text message and rushed home.