Chapter 3

Written by Toonsgirl

Edited by BeecroftA

After all the guests (excepting Nick and the predators of Zootopia) had left the party, Mickey had to explain the situation to Judy's family. Unsurprisingly, they were not very happy to hear about Judy working with a fox to solve a case and demanded that the fox leave. Unlike Mickey and Judy, they didn't not show any condolences for King Lionheart. But Judy stood firm in her decision to help Nick find the killer. After saying goodbyes, Judy left with Nick and the other predators to Zootopia.

"I hope you know what you're doing Mickey!" Stu barked at his nephew. "Sending our daughter to work with that beast! How do you know she won't get eaten by him?"

"She won't be eaten," the mouse soothed to his uncle. "We no longer live in a time where predators eat prey. We have evolved from that! And I trust Judy to solve this, and keep the Duke from going to war with us."

"For your sake, I hope you're right!" Stu spat.

"Me too!" Bellwether piped up, nervously. "I mean, what if Judy and Nick find out who did it?"

"Then they will being the animal to me and I will execute them!" Mickey answered. Gazing out to see Judy and the others pass the gates and into the woods of Zootopia, he failed to see the scared look on Bellwether's muzzle.

"I-I see," she mumbled.

When Judy arrived in Zootopia, she shivered. She was surprised at how dark and gloomy the forest looked and felt. The bunny shut her eyes and turned her head away from the gnarly trees. When she had stepped outside of the carriage, Nick kept her close to him. He did not want his subjects to get any ideas of attacking his guest. Usually a prey was not allowed in Zootopia but Nick made her an exception. He needed her help to bring Lionheart's case to justice.

Later, Nick opened the door to Lionheart's chambers.

"This is where the murder happened," he explained as he showed Judy the bloodstains on the bed and floor. (The lion's body had been taken out of the room to be buried in the royal family tomb).

The rabbit analyzed the room and tried to sniff for something suspicious. No luck.

"May I see the killer's knife?"

The fox nodded and gently handed it over to the lapine.

Although the scent on the knife was faint, Judy could tell that this scent smelled something strange.

"The scent smelled like lanolin," she observed.

"Lanolin?" Nick asked. "What is Lanolon?"

"It's a fatty substance that is from a prey animal."

"Which prey smells like lanolin?" Nick wondered.

"Good question," Judy tried to think. "It could be either sheep or goats. Those two animals are the only I know that match that scent."

The fox smiled, relieved that he has narrowed a list of many prey species down to two.

"Great! Now we had to narrow down which sheep or goat did it!"

For the next several days, the fox duke and the bunny princess interviewed many animals, asking questions about the murder. From what Finnick and the predators had already told Nick, the killer was small and dressed up in black, so it was impossible to identify their species. When the couple had asked some of the predator peasants if they had seen anything, they got the same answers: a small figure running away and dressed up in black.

Soon the couple moved onto the prey from Happy Valley. It was easy for Nick to be allowed back in, thanks to Mickey. The mouse had confidence in them, but Sir Bogo had some concerns.

"Your highness, are you sure it is wise to have your cousin with that fox?" The buffalo asked the King while on the balcony.

"Yes, Sir Bogo," Mickey responded calmly. "And don't talk of the Duke like that-it is disrespectful."

"He threatened you with war," Bogo pointed out. "Not a very respectful thing to do."

"Yes, but it was out of anger," the King argued. "Even the royals would lose their temper if their friend and liege was murdered like that!"

"But your Highness!"

"Just give them time!"

While Nick was asking a farmer goat some questions, Judy walked around the farm, trying to find some clues. At the back of the yard, she found herself distracted by some tulips from the tulip field. The blue ones, she thought, were particularly pretty. The bunny was so mesmerized by the flowers that she did not hear someone sneaking up on her. And then that creature grabbed her from behind!

"Gotcha!" a nasty voice snarled. It was a weasel! He was scrawny but strong, and held Judy around her arms, locking his paws over her stomach.

"Let go of me!" the princess yelped, kicking her legs. She tried to break free but the weasel had a tight grip. Finally, Judy bit down on the weasel's paw.

"YEOW!" the weasel yelled, letting go of Judy and nursing his injured paw. The bite wasn't deep, but it was more than enough to hurt. Before Judy could escape, a big ram came out of nowhere and grabbed Judy by her ears.

"OW!" The rabbit yelled. She struggled with all her might to break free. She even kicked the ram in the face with her feet but the ram did not even react! Then Judy saw the weasel holding a blade close to her throat, and her eyes widened in panic. "PLEASE! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!"

"Sorry princess!" the weasel mocked. "But I'm afraid I do!" But before he could strike,, the weasel was suddenly picked up somebody else! "AAAAH, hey, let go of me!" The weasel's pleas fell on deaf ears as he was carried several feet and thrown into a nearby brook. From a distance, Judy was able to see her rescuer:

It was Nick! He had just saved her!

After tossing the weasel in the water, the fox ran up to the ram and, before the ovine could block him, delivered a well-aimed jab with clawed fingers into the hulking sheep's eye. The villain dropped Judy and covered his eyes, screaming in pain. Then before the ram could retaliate, Nick picked up a shovel and swung it against the back of his head and neck, knocking him out.

"All you all right?" Nick asked, helping Judy up. As soon as she was standing, the bunny hugged the fox tightly.

"Thank you!" she whispered in his ear. She could not believe she was almost killed!

Nick hugged her back, rubbing her back with one paw and her ears with the other.

Soon after, while the ram and weasel were being picked up by two of Mickey's knights to be taken away to the dungeons, Nick asked Judy what happened.

"I was just looking for clues when that weasel and ram came out of nowhere!" Judy shivered, the memory still fresh in her mind.

Nick wrapped his arms around her to keep her safe. The rabbit closed her eyes, feeling protected by his strong arms.

"Did they try to hurt you?" he asked. "They didn't do anything else to you, did they?"

"No!"

The fox breathed a sigh of relief. He would never forgive himself if they had their way with her.

"I managed to get a sniff from the ram," Judy added. "His scent smelled like lanolin!"

"Then he must be our guy!" Nick exclaimed.

Later in the evening, Nick, along with Sir Bogo and King Mickey went downstairs to the dungeons. They wanted to talk to the weasel and the ram about what had transpired that day.

Nick faced the two most disgusting mammals he had ever seen in his life. With the two troublemakers behind bars, the fox did not have to worry about them trying to attack him.

"All right you two scoundrels!" the fox snarled. "Why were you trying to hurt Princess Judy?"

When the ram and weasel refused to talk, Nick became angry.

"TELL ME NOW!"

The weasel shook and shivered. The ram gulped. Finally after three seconds of silence, the ram spoke.

"It wasn't just her," he said. "We were sent to kill you as well as Princess Judy!"

"You idiot!" The weasel snarled. "Why did you have to tell him that?"

"Did you see his teeth?"

"Who would want to hurt my cousin?" Mickey asked.

"A good question, Mickey!" Nick said, glaring daggers at the two crooks. "A very good question indeed!"

"What is the name of this mammal that sent you to kill the Duke and the Princess?" Sir Bogo questioned.

"We'll never tell!" the weasel spat. "And there is no way you can make us!"

"Oh yeah!?" the captain of the guard shouted. He immediately grabbed the two crooks by their necks and banged them repeatedly against the bars. "TALK! TALK! TALK! TALK! TALK! TALK! TALK! TALK! TALK!"

"This is getting nowhere," Mickey whined, scared of Bogo's sudden anger. "And getting scary!"

"Don't worry, Squeakers," Nick said calmly. "This is part of an interrogation." He observed that the banging and shouting was not stopping. "Then again, they may get concussions."

As soon as he said that, the banging and shouting, finally stopped.

"Fine!" the crooks yelled. "It was our sheep mistress! She set us up!"

"What's her name?" Nick questioned.

While the interrogation was taking place, Judy was alone in her guest bedroom, recounting everything that happened to her and Nick. When she thought back to how Nick saved her life from the weasel, she felt a sense of warmth and joy. She wasn't just relieved that he had saved her life, anybody would be grateful. 'But why would Nick risk his life to save me?' She thought. 'Not that I did not expect to be saved (although a bit embarrassing since I am a grown lady) but Nick? Several days ago he declared war on my family, now he's protecting me!'

Although Judy did not know why the Duke would save her, she was grateful he did. Plus, by now, she knew that she felt safe with Nick, not just when he was saving her life but whenever they are together. They had spent so much time together on the case that the princess could not help but feel a flutter in her heart whenever she was around him. One thought ran through her mind so naturally: 'Am I in love?'

A life with the Duke sounded very appealing to Judy. For once, in her life, she felt she had found someone who understood her. Someone who saw her as an equal. Someone who saw her as a person and treated her like one. If Nick asked to court her, Judy will accept!

'But wait a minute!' She thought, her happy thoughts replaced with worried ones. 'What am I saying? What if Mother and Father forbid me to see him? What if we ended up missing or dead like Oswald and Ortensia?' A tear ran down her cheek as the thought of a life without Nick filled her mind.

Suddenly, Judy heard someone bumping into furniture from outside of her bedroom. She peeked outside and saw Lady Bellwether, carrying some tools with her.

'What in the world?' The princess thought. 'Where is she going?'

Quiet as a mouse, the princess followed the royal sheep down the hallway. Every time the ewe turned to look behind her, Judy hid behind a vases or a corner. Luckily, Judy did not get caught.

After ascending three more floors, Judy followed the sheep to an ivory door. The sheep took a key from her pocket, unlocked the door and closed it behind her.. Thankfully, Judy knew how to open a lock using a hairpin. Both quickly and quietly, she used one to open the door and resumed following Bellwether.

The room was dark and gloomy. The only lights in it were five candles on a table. Sitting at the table was Lady Bellwether and two different rams.

Judy hid behind a vase and leaned a bit closer to hear the sheep talk.

"This is bad, Sir Jesse and Sir Woolter!" Bellwether complained to the rams. "I sent Weaselton and Doug to kill Princess Judy and Duke Nick! How could they be so stupid, trying to capture them in broad daylight? Don't they know any better than that?"

"Well, why did you send them to kill the fox and the bunny?" Woolter asked. "I thought Lionheart was our target and we got rid of him, didn't we?"

"Yes, I killed Lionheart," Bellwether said. "But that stupid Duke saw me and is hunting me down! And he's got Judy as his partner!"

"Don't worry, Bellwether," Jesse replied. "We'll break 'em out of jail, kill the fox and the bunny, and blame it on...uh...someone else!"

"Good plan," Lady Bellwether nodded. "But don't forget about King Mickey! I want him out of the picture, too!"

Judy felt her heart rate accelerating and her fur standing on the back of her neck. The bloodstains on Bellwether's dress, and the scent of lanolin! It all makes sense! 'I got to tell Nick and Mickey!' She thought to herself. However, because it was so dark, Judy accidentally tripped over the edge of a rug on the floor. Judy had barely fallen down when she felt the strong hooves of a ram hoist her up by the armpits.

"Well, well, well!" Lady Bellwether cackled evilly. "Princess Judy, what a surprise!"

The rabbit princess gulped.