Chapter 50: The game

In the evening, after dinner when most had managed to hole up in their rooms so that they could have some time alone to rest and sleep for the next day, Judy persuaded Suzanne to let her borrow her laptop so that she could review the photos she had received from Commander Bogo. Suzanne agreed, but forced a few conditions on her sister that she had to accept in order to gain access to the computer. Suzanne first asked that she be allowed to sit next to Judy at all times while Judy analyzed the photos. Judy had warned her that these might be drastic scenes, but the slightly younger sister didn't seem impressed. It was apparent from her that she would love to get into Judy's shoes by being able to watch her work. With that Judy had no problem, the second condition was that she explain who exactly Nick was. Here Judy resisted, wondering if she really wanted to do this, but decided that if she was going to tell then she saw no problem in doing so. After accepting the terms after dinner they both went to the younger sister's room to analyse.

Suzanne's room was quite in a dark, modernist style. The combination of white walls and black murals gave the impression that it was a modernistic place, but at the same time it was a somewhat gloomy room seeing as it was generally dominated by these two contrasting colours between each other. A large desk standing next to the window provided space for Suzanne's laptop and was a good place to do homework or study. To the left of the desk was a white wardrobe that fitted perfectly into the corner of the room. Behind the desk against the wall was a soft bed, also in black and white, which blended in with the style. Judy could see the contrast between her vibrant, colourful room and Suzanne's dark and somewhat cold one, she didn't want to talk about it. She just wanted to do her job.

Judy took the laptop from her sister, then placed it on the desk. She turned on the lamp that stood on the top of the furniture. A slight yellowish light doused the desk top. Its light perfectly highlighted the range of vision as she stared at the laptop screen, which was quite bright. Judy turned down the brightness of the screen and brought the lamp a little closer so that it illuminated a larger work area. Suzanne at the same time was looking for a chair for herself so that she could sit next to her sister until she finally found a leather armchair that stood in front of the dresser, on which stood the mirror at which she sometimes painted herself for school. Judy, meanwhile, logged on to her computer and to her work mail where she received documents and other files she needed for work. She saw an email from Bogo with 4 attachments, the title "Suicide" emphasized that this was definitely it

"Suicide?" Suzanne repeated with slight concern when she saw the headline of the email.

"Welcome to the Police. Are you sure you want to see this?" Judy replied and asked her sisters straight away just to be sure. Suzanne was still sure of her answer and all she did was nod with a motion of her head. Judy downloaded the four pictures onto her computer then opened them. Their gaze was shocked to see a fox lying unconscious on the ground with its eyes closed, traces of blood were visible from its mouth. His orange jacket was slightly bloodied, as was his grey sweatshirt. All around him a pool of blood, not yet completely dried out caused the sisters to get goosebumps at the sight. They both fainted at this sight which left them at a loss for what to say, only Suzanne plucked up the courage to break the moment of silence.

"So what should you do with these photos?" Suzanne asked with slight disgust.

"Analyse what you see in the photos. Catch any detail that might be important to the case," replied Judy. Although they both didn't want to look at it any longer Judy zoomed the picture in on the body that was in the foreground of the photos. Doe laughed as she saw her sister looking through her fingers at the photos that still gave her a sense of dread.

"How good that we locked ourselves in a room " said Judy throwing a pinched irony towards her sister. After that she concentrated on the photographs that had been sent. At first glance nothing seemed to look at anything more closely. There were no signs of gunshot impact or wounds that could have been inflicted from a firearm, the fact that the body had a few bruises and a bruised head, but Judy assumed in advance that this was due to a fall from a bridge. The only thing that might have puzzled Judy was the question of why the person didn't have any evidence on them and couldn't they be indentified straight away?

"Hm...it all looks like a classic suicide, I don't see that there is anything here to observe more closely...maybe I'll look at the photos again tomorrow, for now I don't see anything special" Judy said.

"Apart from the dead fox" added Suzanne ironically sending an ironic glance in the direction of her sister who reciprocated her gaze.

"That's the job of the Police...there is a need to be prepared for all sorts of sights, even those" replied Judy firmly. Although she had not had a case of potential suicide herself, she had seen similar incidents that made a similarly strong impression to this one.

Suzanne obediently nodded and continued to stare at the close-up pictures, which looked quite frightening, but the young doe looked as if she was also looking for a clue and, like her sister, was trying to find a clue. Judy watched her carefully, even gave her the mouse from the computer so she could have more freedom in what she was doing, until at one point she stopped at one shot from above. With her finger she pointed to the left side of the fox's body at the slightly angular shape of the jacket, near the chest.

"See that? It looks like there's something there," Suzanne said pointing to the image. Judy moved closer to the screen and was herself surprised to have to admit she was right for her sister! The small square piece in the jacket was visible and indeed it looked as if there was most likely something in that small pocket. Judy was on the one hand proud of her sister and on the other disappointed that she hadn't been able to spot it herself, but she didn't call it out.

"Actually...something might actually be there! Bravo! It's a wonder I didn't notice it..."

"See, I'm glad I could help," Suzanne replied proudly. Judy immediately grabbed the phone so that she could make a call to her superior Commander Bogo. Although it was quite late, the doe felt she had to report the find here and now. The sooner the better. After a quick dial and a few moments of waiting, Commander Bogo picked up the phone waiting to hear from the doe.

"Good evening Commander! I think I may have something interesting about those photos!" Replied Judy proudly. All she heard in the receiver was a heavy sigh from the commandant, which confused her. She thought it was good that once again she could be of use at the police station in solving a criminal mystery (although it was more contributed by her sister than herself).

"I'm expecting Judy, but when there was an inspection of the corpse, the staff found a piece of paper tucked in her jacket pocket. On it was the words... [Playing on?] And a signature. We're guessing it's from this kidnapper, we sent the document to a specialist so he can read the signature. Maybe we can get something out of it" replied Bogo resignedly.

"Oh" made a short sound from Judy. Her enthusiasm quickly subsided after hearing the news the commander gave her, which was not the best as expected. The news that the kidnapper was playing games with them already gave them the first signs that the villain was already confident enough in his actions that he wasn't afraid to announce publicly that he was doing it. This was raising some worrying thoughts for Judy, she feared that this might start a classic vicious cycle that would lead to the police soon being helpless.

"Well...and do you happen to have the name of the victim? Who is it?"

"We haven't been able to figure that out exactly yet, we still have our people working on it, we're waiting for information," the commander replied.

"Let's hope they find something, we can't wait for more crimes!"

"They'll do their best. In the meantime Judy get ready for a load of work when you get back. We'll need you very much, good night," Bogo replied, then hung up. Judy put the phone down on the desk for a few moments staring at her reflection on the black screen. Suzanne could see that her sister had most likely heard something she didn't want to hear. She could see it by her worried face.

"What happened?" Suzanne asked.

"Turns out they already found this card and it's paper from the kidnapper who kidnaps foxes in the Fox District. He's playing games with us! It's unbelievable that one guy is playing with the whole police force and we as officers can't do anything about him! He's like air!" Alleged Judy helplessly. Through her emotions she said it in a slightly higher tone, but she tried not to shout in order not to wake the others. It was late enough that most likely some were already asleep.

"This is the same guy who kidnapped Nick?" Suzanne asked. Judy nodded despondently with a movement of her head. She expected that she had asked the question for a reason, most likely hoping to explain who the mysterious figure that turned out to be the final fox was.

"You're not just sitting here to help me are you?" Judy asked. Suzanne lowered her head down and nodded with a modest motion. She couldn't lie, she knew Judy wouldn't fall for cheap excuses and she herself wanted to know the truth already.

"You said you were going to tell who Nick is," Suzanne countered. It was hard to deny, it was a truth Judy would rather not remember. Self-interested in the subject she seemed to obey, waiting for the moment when Judy would tell the story. Doe sat comfortably in her chair wondering one last time if she could trust her sister. She didn't want to think about it anymore whether she could trust her or not, she just wanted to say it already.

"Okay...but this is a pretty weird thing, promise you won't tell anyone about this," Judy said.

"Yeah...sure, I won't tell anyone" replied Suzanne with a little embarrassment. After finding out she was a fox she thought there couldn't be a bigger secret.

"So, Nick, this fox who is my friend is actually...my boyfriend..." Judy confessed. Suzanne's surprised face clearly explained that she was in shock at what she had heard. She didn't quite understand, her sister is in a relationship...with a fox?!

"Wait...are you really trying to tell me that you are in a relationship with a fox?!" Asked a shocked Suzanne. Judy nodded with a motion of her head. Suzanne laughed briefly, but quickly became serious when she saw Judy's gaze, which indicated that this was quite a difficult moment for her. They both didn't know what to say, this was news that Suzanne wouldn't dare think about, let alone know that it could be true!

"Well...that's...quite shocking news...how long have you two been together?" Suzanne asked.

"About 4 months. 2 months after Nick got hired as an officer we got close enough that we decided to be together" replied Judy. Suzanne nodded with a movement of her head. She still didn't quite know what to say, she didn't want to tell her it was a bad idea...just quite original. The problem wasn't with her, she just wondered how her parents would react to it.

"Were you going to tell your parents?" Suzanne asked.

"A few times, but when I look at them I think I'm letting them down when I say that. Let's be honest, they hate foxes, let alone for a fox to be in our family! It's a nightmare..." Judy replied. Her lowered ears indicated that she was bitter, disappointed in what she was saying. The thought that her parents wouldn't approve of it gave her a wake-up call of the bad emotions that accompanied it.

"What do you think?" Asked Judy after a moment of silence. Suzanne had to think a little about the correct answer, after all it was a rather sensitive subject that did not forgive mistakes. On the one hand, no one could forbid Judy from being with a fox, but a relationship with a fox...a rabbit with a fox...it was so strange...

"Well...honestly it's not for me to judge whether it's good or bad. If you feel happy with him then it's probably good that you're with him...though yes, I'm shocked by that fact. It's worse with my parents," Suzanne explained.

"What should I tell them to make them accept our relationship?"

"Maybe just be honest...you can't win by lying and sooner or later you'll have to tell them anyway" Suzanne replied. There was something in that. The lie would come out sooner or later anyway, she would have to tell the truth about their relationship. Judy felt a little better, you could tell. Confessing the relationship gave her the freedom and relaxation of being able to talk to someone about it.

"Heh...maybe you're right...thanks" replied Judy with a slight smile.

"No need to thank me, after all I am your sister" replied Suzanne.

"You're the only one I knew I could trust"

"Heh...nice about that. You know what, I suggest you think about it and tell your parents the truth when you leave, it's the best time" Suzanne suggested. The idea wasn't so stupid. Judy could save herself the argument that would undoubtedly ensue by doing so.

"Hm...I think you're right. I'll go to bed now, I feel tired..." Judy replied. She got up from her comfortable chair, then opened the door leading into the room. The lights were off in the whole house, everyone was already asleep. The only ones left were them - Judy and Suzanne.

"Good night Judy"

"Good night Suzanne"