Chapter 25: Hearing (Part I)
The two partners, Judy and Nick were forced to take a side narrow street that led around the first destination they were going to, as all the larger streets were occupied by a mass of protesters who effectively barricaded the roads, thus confronting the army and police who were helpless in the situation. With such numbers against them, the use of aggression would have been completely pointless and would have caused even more rioting, which had already ravaged more than half the city.
"It's a good thing the city is closed," Nick said at one point. The partners didn't speak to each other for a while, Judy was still in a sort of shock at seeing the image of the lawmen facing each other and the ordinary citizens attacking them. It was a completely new sight to her, one that created in her a new view of the situation she might find herself in. In her mind she tried to impersonate the policemen who were defending themselves in the square against the crowd of advancing people.
"Think what would happen if they moved to the centre of Zootopia," replied Judy after a brief hesitation.
"Yes...in general, I expect what you saw impressed you?" Asked the fox curiously.
"Let's just say it was something new...has anything like this happened here often?" Judy asked.
"It depends from what angle. If you're talking about our neighbourhood then no, but if you compare it to Zootopia then yes, yes it is " replied the fox. Judy nodded without answering. She was beginning to understand why Nick, having learned about Zootopia and how it worked, wanted to forget about this place where they were now and never come back.
After 15 minutes of driving, the partners found themselves at 53 Coldroad Street, where the first person to be interviewed was to be. It was a small street that did not have too many interesting places. Mainly the street had blocks of flats on two sides, at the beginning of the street there was a shop, a pharmacy and a small shed, most likely a kiosk. There were Christmas trees planted along the pavements, which grew modestly and did not reach very high sizes. The district was extremely dark. Despite the lights, which made the pavement, which was partly covered with snow, visible, visibility was still very poor, too poor to see anything without a torch. Fortunately, the situation was saved by a dozen flares fired into the starry sky, which effectively illuminated the dark surroundings of the city.
Before they got out of the car, Judy took a quick look at the directory so she could see what flat the person they had arrived at was registered in.
"House number 40." Judy communicated. They both got out of the car, They were immediately greeted by snow, reaching up to their ankles for the fox, making it reach above their feet for the rabbit. Thanks to her tight winter boots, she didn't feel it too much, but her trousers began to slowly get soaked through the white fluff. Fortunately, the entrance to the stairwell of the block of flats was close to their car, so they didn't manage to get cold before they were in the cage of the building. Of course, before they could move on, they had to ring the phone, to flat 40, to have permission to pass. Nick dialled 40 and waited patiently for the phone to be answered. Soon the signal was interrupted, and a female voice could be heard through the receiver.
"Good evening, Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps, police. We'd like to talk to you about..."
"I know what you want to talk about, come in," interrupted the fox woman's interview. After letting out a short beep, the door opened, letting the policemen in.
The stairwell looked quite poor, the walls were cracked in some places, the corridor was not heated, this was felt by Nick and Judy who, after climbing the stairs, still felt the freezing cold that prevailed outside. They weren't bothered because the wanted man's flat was on the second floor, so a few moments later, they were both at the woman's door.
Judy was the first to approach the wooden door numbered 40 and then knocked on it. After several seconds, the sound of the door being opened rang through the corridor, which was opened a moment later. Standing in the passage was a middle-aged woman, a fox, who was dressed in night clothes, a black shirt, with black trousers, on her feet she wore white slippers that seemed grey under the cover of night. She was also wearing a sloppily worn dressing gown that fell off her right shoulder, which she had no intention of correcting. She looked like she had just been roused from sleep and was not quite fully awake yet.
"Please come inside" invited the vixen inside to the two policemen.
The flat was in much better condition than the hallway that led to it. The hallway of the flat itself looked better than the corridor, it was warm and cosy, its brown colours made one feel comfortable and safe when being in it. Everyone made their way to the living room, where everyone could sit comfortably and start the Interrogation. The living room was spacious but also modestly decorated, it looked like a room where a minimalist lived. There were few objects or decorations, but there were the very things needed in the area. The woman sat down across from Judy and Nick, who had settled into armchairs, while the woman found her place on the sofa.
"Just be quiet please, the children are asleep" the woman remarked before Nick and Judy prepared for the Interrogation. Judy took out a small notebook and pencil and Nick took out a small recorder which he fired up and placed on the glass table which was recording the entire interview.
"Also, Mrs Angel Cad, please tell us as many details as you can remember. When was the last time you saw your husband, how he was dressed, where he went, if he may have been acting suspiciously towards you or the children recently...any information is needed" Nick communicated. Angel looked severely stressed, her fingers folded and unfolded every few seconds, her gaze swept over the figures of Judy and Nick and initially she couldn't make out anything.
"Please calm down Ms Angel. We know this is a difficult experience and you must believe us we know how hard it can be. Please focus as much as you can, we are not in a hurry" Judy said seeing the woman's stress. When she saw the look on her face saying that she was tired of it all and that she was scared it made Judy feel down herself.
"I remember when I last saw him it was a week ago...
He was wearing a navy blue sweatshirt, brown trousers, black and white shoes...he was going to a restaurant then, but I don't know why exactly..."
"Can you give me the name and address of this establishment?" Nick asked.
"Yes. It's called Under the Fox Grove, the address is 55 Riverstreet, the restaurant is on the other side of town...further...I don't know, I haven't seen him, nobody has seen him... what if he...?" The woman sighed, but didn't manage to finish. Judy looked sympathetically at the woman after she finished writing her notes. The feeling that her husband was missing and might die must have been really hard to swallow. Nick didn't hide his worry at this sight either, I guess anyone can be moved by the sight of a woman being abandoned by her husband.
"Do you happen to have a picture of him? It would help us a lot," Nick asked. After spilling her tears, the woman nodded affirmatively, then got up from where she was sitting. She made her way to the adjoining room where she kept her wallet. She returned to the living room with the leather wallet, then opened it and took a moment to search through it to find the picture of the man she had handed to Nick.
"Here you go. Please find him, he can't leave us...he would never do something like this..." The woman asked, almost crying. She could barely hold back the tears that were almost pouring out of her green eyes. As much as Judy and Nick wanted to help, they didn't have time. All they did was reassure the woman that it would be okay, then after gathering their belongings and the man's photos, they left the flat. The woman closed the door right behind them, again they felt the freezing cold that was in the stairwell, even though the woman's flat was warm. As they walked downstairs to the car, Judy looked at the photos they had received from Angel. The fox, despite his middle age, didn't seem to be tired of life, rather he was full of energy, joyful in it. His blue eyes were filled with joy and a childlike fascination.
Once they were in the car, Judy sorted through the evidence they had received. She carefully put the photos into a separate folder where she usually kept all sorts of files from the case when needed. Meanwhile, Nick took a file folder of details of the people they were to reach that night. At some point, the fox let out a nostalgic sigh, which drew the attention of Judy, who turned her ears towards the fox.
"Something wrong?" Asked Judy as she finished arranging the photos into a folder.
"I associate those streets...I remember going there often to one friend who lived nearby" explained the fox.
"He still lives there?" Asked Judy to which Nick responded with a short laugh.
"I don't know Judy. Since I left the place Finnick is the only one I've been in touch with, I've cut myself off from the rest" replied Nick. Although it might seem like sad news, Nick said it with a sense of freedom and relief that undoubtedly came over Nick every time he revealed another fact for Judy.
"Let's not waste time," decided Nick a moment later. He put the catalogue away, then started the car to drive out of the small alley.
22 Longstreet was, as the name suggested, a long street that was one of the longest in the whole city. The road to it runs mainly through the city centre, but Judy and Nick didn't have much access to it, as there was no way they could drive through the centre due to the constant riots breaking out. They would most likely get stuck in a crowd of foxholes, and if they realised that the police were standing by them, they would attack the officers' car. With no other choice, the police partners were forced to take the road around the city to make sure that they would not get hurt. The roads were partly covered in snow, so the road was not the easiest or most pleasant, but their task was to gather as much information as possible and they could not discuss the matter too much.
Even though they were quite far from the city centre, they could still see red bursts of flares in the sky, lighting the sky red. Through the empty streets, the echo of the strikers echoed as they loudly expressed their discontent. Because of this, the atmosphere in the car that Judy and Nick were driving was quite chilly, both of them sitting in silence until they entered Longstreet. The street was really long because, the end of it through the fog that prevailed at night could not be seen. The reduced visibility meant that Nick and Judy could hardly see the numbers of the blocks they were driving past. In front of the blocks, there were pavements on both sides of the road with benches scattered about, next to which were lamps that illuminated the nearby area in a warm yellow colour. On the ground floors of the blocks, there were all sorts of shops or services, evident from the glass windows promoting the services. Soon Nick and Judy found a large glass block numbered 22, which caused a slight surprise to the fox. Judy immediately picked up on his signal indicating surprise, she recognised it in him by his eyes, which were filled with awe.
"It all used to be different," Nick said. They got out of the car, but as Judy wanted to walk towards the stairwell entrance, she noticed Nick looking around. Judy walked over to Nick and stared in the same places as the fox, hoping to get the answer to what Nick was looking for, but she couldn't find anything. Even though it was dark, and the only light that offered the possibility of seeing anything was provided by the lamp that stood behind them the fox stood still and looked around with a slight smile.
"At least this place has developed".
"Meaning?" Judy asked curiously.
"There used to be no such things here...ah, now I remember, here , on this street Finnick and I used to hang out a lot when we weren't supposed to be doing things here...see this pharmacy?" Asked Nick pointing to the window displaying the pharmacy's logo. Judy nodded with a movement of her head, even though she could barely actually see it due to the thick fog covering almost everything that could be seen.
"There used to be an internet cafe there, ah I remember spending the last of my money with Finnick to sit there...or even here, it used to be a block away"
"No?" Judy asked in surprise.
"No, there used to be an abandoned house here, before there were blocks of flats there were houses here, there was one abandoned house on this site, Finnick and I often went over like this when we were cold in the winter" replied Nick. He told it with such a nostalgic voice that Judy could imagine the place Nick was talking about. The place of houses instead of blocks of flats in this place caused Judy surprise it seemed to her that the area was very poor at that time compared to now.
"It must have looked quite strange," remarked Judy.
"It did, but back then it suited everyone" replied Nick.
"Ah anyway...We should go now...then we have another Nostalgia trip ahead of us"
"Which one?" Judy asked.
"My house" replied the fox, which surprised Judy.