The Possum Springs Police Station was worn down, its brick exterior featuring a myriad of cracks and chips taken out of it over the years. Still, the three-story structure was in far better condition than several of the clearly abandoned buildings Nick and Judy had seen on the drive to the station. It was weathered, but well looked after. The windows were intact, the exterior freshly cleaned, and the shingles on the roof appeared to have been replaced in the last couple of years.
It was a far cry from the comparatively lavish structure that was Precinct One back in Zootopia, but it was likely all Possum Springs really needed as far as police presence went. There was an order of magnitude difference in terms of total population (and thus budget) between Possum Springs and Zootopia; a single station with a couple dozen officers was probably plenty enough to serve the people of Possum Springs under normal circumstances.
But evidently the situation was far from normal, hence Nick and Judy's presence.
The rabbit and fox duo hopped out of the back of Molly's police cruiser after she parked it out on the front curb. Shutting the door behind them, Nick and Judy turned their attention to Molly who was walking around the front side of the vehicle.
"Alright, follow me," the cat said, taking up a quick stride towards the station. "I'll get you two briefed on what's been going down."
Nick and Judy nodded, falling in line behind Molly as she approached the entrance.
Nick was amused to find that the interior looked straight out of a 90's tv crime drama. Behind the front desk was a middle-aged, frumpy-looking deer with thickly framed glasses resting on her muzzle. She was idly adjusting them with a hoofed finger as she spoke to someone on an old, beige, spiral corded phone. Deeper in the building was a scattering of two dozen messy but uniform desks. Atop each one sat a bulky, tan, CRT computer monitor, along with several piles of paperwork that varied in size from desk to desk. The officers that occupied these desks were mostly in plainclothes - their badges clipped onto their belts - but a small number of them were in full uniform like Molly. Almost all of them seemed to be in various states of exhaustion, frustration, and confusion while hurriedly typing away, making calls on the phone, or dashing across the room with a folder in hand.
Neither Nick nor Judy were surprised that the rest of the town's officers were so preoccupied. Considering that their own Sheriff was apparently amongst the missing, it was probably an all paws, claws, and hoofs on deck scenario.
The doe behind the front counter noticed the three mammals approaching, tucking the receiver of the phone into her shoulder and turning to Molly.
"Welcome back, Molly," she said with a husky, raspy voice that could only be achieved by a lifetime of heavy smoking. "Are these the ones you were telling Hirsch about?"
Molly nodded. "Gonna give 'em a quick rundown on what we're dealing with. Is he in yet?"
"Nuh-uh, he's still out on the trail. Should be back in about an hour."
"Hrmph… Great…" Molly grumbled, though she still kept her serious and resolute composure. "I'll just fill 'em in on the basics until he gets back." She then turned to face Nick and Judy. "Let's get you some visitor's badges."
After signing a few documents, clipping on some plastic badges, and passing through a metal detector the fox and rabbit stuck close to Molly as she weaved around the workspaces of the other officers. Several officers looked up to watch the pair with mild interest as they passed before quickly turning back to their own tasks. Molly took a seat behind a desk at the far side of the room, only a few feet away from the door that led into the Chief's office. The cat gestured to two plastic chairs on the opposite end of the desk, which Nick and Judy were quick to occupy.
"Ok, before we get into the details here, I just wanted to say thanks again for agreeing to hear me out," Molly began. "I know that this is far from standard procedure."
"After you saved us from being stuck on the freeway, hearing you out is the least we could do." Judy said.
"Again," Nick quickly chimed in. "we haven't agreed to anything yet, but by the sound of it this is all pretty serious. What exactly has been going on in Possum Springs?"
"Well, I'm afraid that I can only give you some basic details for now. I'm under strict orders from Deputy Sheriff Hirsch to wait until he's able to deputize you both until filling you in completely. That is, of course, assuming you want to be…"
"Alright," Nick said, sharing a quick glance with Judy before turning back to that cat. "So run us through the bullet points."
"Okay then…" Molly said, taking a deep breath and resting her paws in her lap. "Over the past seven days, our town has had approximately fifteen confirmed missing persons cases."
"Fifteen?" Judy asked, leaning forward in her chair.
"Yup. Got three the first day, and the rest trickled in over the course of the week."
Nick furrowed his brow in worry. Missing persons cases weren't uncommon in a city as big as Zootopia, but when they did happen it was almost always limited to one or two individuals at a time. The Night Howler case was the last time this many mammals went missing at once in Zootopia, and it was treated as a very serious case even before Bellwether's conspiracy was uncovered. Considering the size of the town, this was proportionally a much more serious problem.
"At first we didn't know what to think," Molly said. "When it was just a couple folks, we figured that we must've had the mother of all coincidences on our hands. But as the days kept going and the information continued to pile up, it became clear that every person that was missing had last been seen on the same day."
Nick and Judy shared a worried look. When they'd heard from Bogo about an "outbreak of missing persons" neither had expected the phrase to be so accurate. If such a thing were to happen back in Zootopia - isolated to a section of the city approximately the same size as Possum Springs - the press would be all over it within days, hours even. Considering how none of the townsfolk had seemed particularly worried, the news about these disappearances must not have gotten out yet. It was a wonder that they'd managed to keep a lid on it so far.
"And your Sheriff if one of those missing, is that correct?" Judy said.
Molly's brow rose in surprise.
"How did you hear about that?"
"Our Chief told us when we called in this morning," Nick said. "He was rather light on details, but he told us about that at the very least."
"Well, it's true. Sheriff Villisika is among the missing. She was last seen by her husband in their house on Mulberry Street. He works the overnight shift down at the railyard, and said that she'd been asleep in bed when he left. When he got back in the morning, she was gone."
"Any signs of forced entry? Or a struggle somewhere in the house?" Judy asked, her ears perked and attentive.
Molly let out a soft sigh and shook her head.
"Nothing. All her personal effects were still in their house. The front door was even locked when her husband came back. It was like Sheriff Villisika vanished in her sleep."
Nick leaned back and ran a paw through the fur on his head. Such a scenario would be strange enough if it happened to any poor citizen, but to the head of the town's law enforcement? That was way too high profile for a little podunk like this.
"What have you been able to find out so far?" Nick asked.
"Like I said," Molly began. "I'll have to hold back some of the details until you two are officially on the case. But to be frank, I wouldn't have asked for your help if we were on the cusp of solving this thing."
Out of the corner of his eye, Nick saw the faintest of twitches from one of Judy's ears. Most people wouldn't even notice it in the moment, but his time as Judy's partner had made the fox quite adept at noticing her little ticks. He'd seen that one in particular a hundred times whenever she'd been working a case and trying to connect all the dots together.
"When we took a walk through town yesterday, we saw a missing poster for a cat named Casey Hartley. Is that connected at all?"
"The Hartley kid?" Molly asked with a raised brow. "I seriously doubt it. He went missing back in June. And to be honest, that one is more than likely just a runaway scenario."
"What makes you say that?"
"Casey was always a…" Molly paused, seeming to think carefully over her words. "He was a troublemaker, and let's leave it at that. The kid never felt like this place was really his home, you know? Granted, most kids don't nowadays - but Casey especially didn't. We talked to his friends after he went missing, and they said that he'd talked about hopping a train one day and never looking back."
From the corner of his eye, Nick noticed Judy frown.
"And this was back in June, right?" Nick asked, prompting a quick nod from Molly.
"That's right. Never were able to find out where he went, but he at least had a known reason to leave town. Everyone missing now is an established lifer here in Possum Springs."
Nick hummed in understanding. He wasn't entirely convinced by Molly's argument, but he at least could grasp at her reasoning. But even then, the details of the case so far seemed far too unusual to rule anything out.
"Wait, that's it?" Judy said. "A kid goes missing in your town, and you just hope he hopped a train? Did anyone follow up with ZNW or any of the other railways?"
Molly was visibly taken aback by the forcefulness of Judy's tone. But seeing that Molly was about to get defensive, Nick spoke up.
"I'm sure they did everything they could, Carrots. Let's get the full picture before we start getting into specific cases."
Judy turned to a glare at Nick. The rabbit and fox had built up a subtle rapport over the course of their partnership, and the fox used a careful series of expressions to try to tell Judy that he didn't disagree with her frustration, but that he didn't think this was the time for it. The rabbit picked up on his meaning, but Nick knew from the narrowing of her eyes that she was far from happy about it.
"Sure, let's get the overview," she said, looking back at Molly. "Sorry to interrupt."
"Don't worry about it, I can see why you two are so highly accomplished," Molly said diplomatically. "It's my hope that you will be able to help our department make some actual headway in this case. With the both of you on our side, I believe that we can-"
Molly stopped and looked past Nick and Judy to something further behind them. The cat's brow furrowed slightly and gave her head a quick nod to the side, like she was signaling someone to beat it. When the two mammals turned around in their seats, they saw three other officers looking straight at them. All of them quickly put on an unconvincing pantomime of having been in the middle of some other task, or having been simply walking through the room. The other officers then made a hasty retreat, save for one wombat that turned back towards them and gave an awkward wave before disappearing around a corner.
After sharing a brief look between each other, Nick and Judy turned back to Molly.
"So… we have some fans, it seems," the fox joked.
Molly let out a deep sigh and clasped her paws together on the desk in front of her.
"My apologies. When word got out at the station that a couple of big city celebrity cops were in town, there were a good chunk of officers that were dying to meet you. I think a few of them might even want your autographs."
"Oh, come now," Judy groaned, her ears drooping behind her head. "We're just patrol officers, we're not all that special…"
"Yeah, some patrol officers who single handedly cracked the biggest case of the decade, possibly century! You two don't need to be so humble about it."
"Worry not, she's humble enough for the both of us." Nick said, pointing a thumb over at his partner. "We are pretty awesome, it's true."
Nick felt the soft nudge of Judy's foot hitting his leg, causing his smirk to only grow.
Molly opened her mouth to speak again, but seemed hesitant to let whatever she was thinking roll off her tongue - her eyes darted back and forth in consideration. Then suddenly, her stern expression faded somewhat, like something finally broke within the cat, and the corners of her mouth faintly tugged upwards in excitement.
"Now, I don't want to seem like I'm prying here, but…" Molly began. "How in the hell did you two actually manage to solve that thing? I mean, you cracked that thing open in two days when no other officers in the city could get anything!"
Judy frowned and awkwardly rubbed at the back of her neck. "Well, it wasn't easy, we can tell you that much. We really just kept following leads until the truth revealed itself to us. Truly, any officer could've solved it."
"Pffft," Nick let out. "Don't sell yourself short, Fluff. Molly, the real reason the Night Howler case got wrapped up with a nice little bow was because she -" the fox pointed at Judy "- is quite possibly the most determined mammal on this earth, and I am just dumb lucky."
"Uh, I'm sorry. I'm the one selling myself short?" Judy said, then turned to face Molly. "I can't even begin to tell you how instrumental Nick was to that case. Without him, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere."
Nick dismissively waved a paw at her.
"Please, you would've figured it out eventually. I only helped push things along."
"So it sounds like it was a real team effort then." Molly said.
Both Nick and Judy nodded, glancing briefly towards each other.
"You know," Nick began. "I bet a bunch of the other officers have some burning questions of their own they'd like to ask us."
"Thats…" Molly said, glancing behind them once again. "That's nice of you to offer, but you don't need to humor them. They all have their own important work they need to be doing.
Sensing the numerous pairs of eyes on them, Nick snapped his head backwards and cause the group of officers leaning in from around the corner to try and hide away out of sight, only for one of them to stumble over another and fall onto his back out in the open, then quickly getting to his feet and dashing to another room.
Molly let out a light groan.
"At least… they should have important work to do… but like I said, the department is pretty stumped on this one, and there's only so many times we can follow a lead before it becomes a dead end."
"So, let's humor 'em for a bit. It's not like we're doing much anyways. Gotta wait for the Deputy Sheriff to sign us off, right?"
"Yes, but…" Molly started, clearly thinking over the proposal. After a few moments of consideration, the cat let out a soft sigh and shrugged. "Alright, why not? The boys could probably use the morale boost anyway."
The next hour consisted of the both of them being barraged with questions by any unoccupied officers at the station. Judy was as diplomatic as ever, managing to turn every story told into an important lesson on how every officer matters, and the importance of working as a team. Nick did his best to bring some levity to the discussion, culminating in him joking that the "real" Night Howlers were the friends they made along the way.
As they talked to the officers, Nick quickly noticed that Judy was not as lively as she normally was; something was clearly eating at the bunny, so Nick decided he'd give her some cover by taking the lead in answering questions. Judy seemed grateful, and her mood began to improve slightly. She even struggled holding back laughter at the inaccuracies that some of the local officers believed were the facts of the case. There were rumors about ZBI involvement, secret societies, and a hundred other insane rumors that made Nick fight the urge to roll his eyes and laugh.
His favorite was when the rookie of the station had asked Nick if he'd really been shot with an actual Night Howler pellet and had managed to stave off the drug's effects through pure force of will. Before Judy had the chance to interject and correct him, Nick nodded in confirmation, then said completely deadpan that the real reason he hadn't gone savage was thanks to the power of love. Amazingly, the guy bought every word of it.
After a while the questions became more sparse, and the other officers trickled back to work. Nick and Judy talked with Molly idly for a while, but quickly began to wonder what was taking the Deputy Sheriff so long to get back to the station. Eventually, Molly got a call that he wouldn't be back for another couple of hours at least.
Judy Hopps was a creature of action, and Nick knew from experience that if the rabbit didn't have something productive to do soon, she'd start bouncing off the walls in frustration. Noting the time, Nick suggested that they break for an early lunch while waiting for the deputy Sheriff.
Molly suggested that the two of them try out the pierogi stand down in the old trolley tunnel, explaining it was both a local favorite, and about the closest thing the town had to an actual tourist attraction. Curious as to what exactly a food stand was doing in the middle of an old mining tunnel, Nick and Judy both agreed to check the place out.
As the duo walked down the sidewalk, Nick gave a sidelong glance to his partner. The rabbit's ears were limp behind her head, and her brow sat a good half-inch lower than it usually did. It was hard not to notice the faint scowl that was present on Judy's muzzle. Despite his earlier attempts, it was clear to him that she was still in quite the sour mood.
"Hey hey," Nick said, hovering his paw over the top of her head and giving it a couple of soft knocks with his knuckles. "Feeling alright?"
Judy let out a low sigh, the corner of her muzzle twitching upwards ever so slightly. It wasn't much, it was enough to make Nick glad that he'd thought to ask.
"If I'm being honest, not really," she replied.
"Anything I can do to help out?" Nick asked, placing a paw gently around her shoulders. As he did so, Judy turned to face him as they walked. Nick was amused to see the faintest hint of a playful expression from his partner, though it was heavily clouded under a layer of frustration.
"Can you solve this crazy case and get the car running by the end of the day?"
Nick chuckled and gave her shoulder a light squeeze.
"I doubt it, but that won't stop me from trying if it'll make you feel better."
The rabbit let out a light huff and brought her paw up to her shoulder and ran her thumb along Nick's paw.
"Thanks, Slick. But I'm fine, really."
Nick simply nodded and squeezed again. He wasn't entirely convinced of that, considering that she still had that bitter look of annoyance peeking through the cracks of her otherwise neutral expression, but their time together had taught Nick when to push things and when to let them lie. At the moment, the latter felt like the right call.
Midway through their walk through the town, just as they passed by the Video Outpost Too, Nick remembered the atrocious movie that he needed to get back to Lori M., along with her bonus for having it live up to the hype. After briefly stopping by The Empty Nest to retrieve the DVD, Nick and Judy made their way back to the Video Outpost and walked through the front door. The atmosphere was slightly more cheery than the last time they'd been here, though that was only because the natural sunlight coming in through the windows helped to make the place seem slightly less barren than before. The only other mammal in the store beside them was a bear that stood behind the counter.
"Hello," the bear said cordially as soon as he noticed them through the circular spectacles that shielded his eyes from a clear view. "Can I help you two find something today?"
"Not at the moment, pal. Is Lori M. in today?" Nick asked.
The bear's facial expression remained neutral, though he did tilt his head slightly to the side at Nick's question.
"Not until the afternoon. Can I ask why you're looking for her?"
"To give thanks for this, mostly," Nick said, plopping the jewel case containing Twisted Hare down onto the counter. "We popped in last night to look for some garbage and boy did this deliver."
The bear looked down at the jewel case, his brow raising slightly above his glasses when he noticed what was written on the disk inside.
"Oh wow, you two made it through the whole thing? My partner and I tried and we couldn't even make it past the twenty minute mark. It was just that bad."
"Well yeah, that's the point!" Judy said, stepping up next to Nick. "We wanted a good laugh and this, er… 'film' did an excellent job on that front."
Looking down at the two smaller mammals, the bear simply gave a soft shrug.
"To each their own, I suppose. I'll be sure to give it to her when she comes in later."
"Appreciate it. Oh!" Nick said, pulling out his wallet and slapping a twenty down onto the counter. "Be sure she gets that too. The kid earned it. She's a good worker, knows her stuff."
"Can do," the bear nodded, sliding both the jewel case and the twenty behind the counter. "Anything else I can help you with?"
"Yes, actually." Judy chimed in. "Where exactly is the trolley tunnel at? We were hoping to get some lunch down there."
"It's pretty close. The stairs are right down the block westward of here. Just head right as you leave the store."
Nick and Judy both nodded in appreciation.
"Thanks a million, pal" the fox said, beginning to make his way towards the door, then pausing about halfway there. "Though now that I think about it we might be back later for some actually good movies, so try not to run out, yeah?"
The faintest of amused smiles grew on the bear's mouth, with his head turning to inspect the empty store.
"Oh, I'll do my best."
Exiting the Video Outpost, the two mammals followed the bear's directions and quickly found the staircase that was the west entrance to the trolley tunnel. As the pair descended the staircase, Nick noticed a gradual drop in temperature. The colder air wasn't unbearable by any means - Nick's growing winter coat would've kept him plenty warm even if he hadn't worn a sweater - but the change was noticeable enough to cause a quick shiver to run down his spine.
Stepping off of the staircase, Nick and Judy looked quizzically at an otherwise bright and vibrant mural that ran along the entirety of the wall to their left. What appeared to at one point been a rather quaint depiction of a group of animals with hardhats and pickaxes heading off triumphantly towards a nearby mine was now haphazardly plastered across with black paint. It was clearly vandalized and rather recently by the looks of it. The initial strokes of paint spelling out " NUKE POSS" before the "artist" gave up on spelling entirely and opted to run their paint roller haphazardly along as much of the wall as they could. A couple of mammals stood atop two stepladders, appearing to be in the middle of attempting to repair the damage.
Nick and Judy shared a look and a quick shrug as they made an easy pace through the tunnel. The trolley from which the tunnel derived its name was nowhere to be seen, nor were the tracks that once guided it to its destination. Instead the entire lower platform, and the majority of the tunnel itself, was flooded with water. Briefly peeking over the edge, Nick could see his reflection staring back at him clear as day, along with the faintly perceptible outline of a fish just before it scurried through the water. The place was definitely unique to say the least.
As they walked further along the tunnel, they passed a group of teens grouped near the edge of the platform with their legs lazily dangling over the flooded tracks. Nick nodded politely and the four teens glanced at Nick and Judy with a quick uncaring stare before turning away in disinterest. Soon after, the two of them reached the pierogi stand at the end of the tunnel.
The small metal building looked like it had materialized into the tunnel directly from the 1960's, albeit with more scratched paint and flickering lights. A sign above the stand read "Trolleyside News" in red neon lights. An addendum underneath read "Pretzel - Pierogi". Nick inhaled deeply, enjoying the rich scent of a rack of freshly baked pretzels displayed on the counter. The dog inside the stand had his back turned to them as he kept his focus entirely on the pierogies he was cooking. Nick couldn't remember the last time he'd had a pierogi - their usual lunch spots back in the city didn't serve them, and it wasn't one of his go-to-food when he was hungry. However, he did have to admit that the smell coming from the stand was rather appealing. The fox looked up at the menu and quirked his brow at what he read.
"Pierogi Platter, Pierogi Pouch, Pierogi… Sandwich?" Nick chuffed. "How the hell do you make a sandwich out of a pierogi?"
"Heh, I'm not sure," Judy replied. "You wanna find out?"
"Yeah, consider my curiosity piqued," Nick said, taking a step forward and leaning against the stand.
The dog turned his head towards the duo, slowing but not outright stopping his cooking.
"What can I getcha?" he said, turning his attention back to his culinary works.
"Question for ya, pal. The Pierogi Sandwich; is that a pierogi between two pieces of bread, or is it two pierogies with something between them?"
"The latter," the canine replied. "And unfortunately we're out. Supply truck never arrived this morning, so all I can getcha is pure pierogi or pure pretzel. Take your pick."
Nick glanced back towards Judy, who gave him a shrug.
"How about one of each?"
The chef grumbled something unintelligible by way of affirmation and nodded, quickly plating the food a moment later. Nick paid for the meal and the duo quickly sat down at a table that sat along the edge of the platform. They both ate in relative silence, only occasionally speaking up to ask the other for a bite of their respective item. Finally, Judy let out a polite cough and spoke up.
"So… what do you think?" she asked.
"Hmm… not bad," Nick said mildly. "Could've used more onions in the filling, but it was still a solid snack overall."
"Nick, you know what I mean…"
"Yeah, I do… Can't say I have anything right now. You got any ideas?"
"About what happened to them?" Judy asked, absently wringing her paws under the table. She then looked around to make sure that nobody else was close enough to overhear them "I haven't a clue. That many animals going missing on the same night? That's too bizarre to not have them all be linked."
"Agreed. And the Sheriff being among the missing is a whole other can of worms. Honestly, I'm surprised the local PD have managed to keep the case under wraps from the townsfolk."
"No kidding… I'm not even sure where to begin on this one…" Judy said.
"Hey now, take it easy, Carrots. It's not our case to solve. We haven't agreed to help yet." Nick said, slouching slightly in his chair.
"You're right, you're right…"
Nick didn't try to fight the smile that appeared on his muzzle as he saw Judy continue to fidget in her seat, her brow furrowed deep in thought. No amount of soft reassurances would be enough to dissuade her from trying to figure this thing out, even with no evidence or witnesses to speak of.
"But…" he began for her.
"But I think we could really help here. This is all a bit much for a small town police force to handle on their own."
"Okay, why not?" Nick replied, making no attempt to dissuade her. He'd be a liar if he said he wasn't damned curious about what was really going on in Possum Springs either. "So where would you start if you were heading this thing?
"I don't know…" she began. "I'd need to get a proper look at the case file first. But I've got a hunch.
"Lemme guess; the Hartley kid?" Nick asked.
Judy glanced over at the fox. "Uh-huh. You too?"
Nick nodded. "A gut feeling more than anything. This place reminds me a lot of where I grew up in Happytown. There were plenty of other 'troubled youths' that I knew in that part of the city. A few of 'em over the years beat feet, and everyone just assumed that they were trying to find greener pastures. Now that was probably the case for most, but enough of 'em turned up dead for it all to really stand out."
"Oh my… Were they connected?"
The fox shook his head. "Nah, OD'd or just got unlucky. Wrong place, wrong time. Anyway, my point is that whatever the hell is going on in this town, I'm guessing that Casey is probably an early symptom of it. Now whatever the hell it's a symptom of, I haven't the foggiest idea. But you're right; it seems like more than the usual societal problems that lead to troubled kids vanishing."
The rabbit didn't respond, instead turning her head towards the long tunnel they'd just walked down and furrowing her brow in thought. Nick could hear the soft thumping of Judy's heel bouncing under the table. She was still incredibly frustrated about all of this, that much was obvious to him. It was just in Judy's nature to try her darndest to solve every problem she came across, even when she didn't really need to. Just one of the many reasons he loved her.
Nick leaned back in his chair and took a final bite of his pierogi while idly glancing around the tunnel. He did have to admit that the place was strangely cozy. There was a decent amount of foot traffic that had moved through the tunnel since they'd started eating, so it must be a sentiment that is shared by the rest of the town. A deer a short way down the platform was sitting on the edge and was in the middle of assembling a fishing rod while humming some tune to himself. The teens they'd seen earlier were headed up the staircase next to the pierogi stand, passing by a young black cat that was coming down from the entrance to the tunnel. The cat reached the bottom and half-skipped-half-jogged past the stand, only to circle back the edge a second later to approach the counter. An impulse buy, by the looks of it.
Except that couldn't be it. She was sticking far too close to the display stand for the pretzels, nowhere near the actual counter itself. At the cat's side, her paw nervously shook in anticipation. It was a look that Nick had learned to recognize quite well over the years.
She's not going to try to …
While the tunnel was far from the hustle and bustle of Saharra Square, there was still enough foot traffic that you couldn't consider the place to be deserted. Judy and Nick were sitting no more than ten feet away from where this was going down - there was no way this cat was going to get away snatching something this blatantly.
And yet as the seconds rolled by, the cat raised her paw little by little, inch by inch. The dog in the stand even looked in her direction a few times, prompting the cat to freeze in place and not move an inch. Even when her paw was raised towards the pretzels mere inches away, the chef didn't seem to notice any of it. It was a miracle that nobody walking by had seen it either, with the exception of Nick himself. He recognized that he probably should've tried to stop the cat from doing it, but this wasn't his jurisdiction and he was damned curious to see if she could actually pull it off.
Nick kept his eyes on the cat as he leaned over the table and lightly shoved Judy's shoulder.
"Hey Carrots, check it out." he said, pointing over at the would-be thief.
Judy's eyes quickly fell upon the cat, widening as soon as she realized what she was seeing.
"Is… Is she…" the doe began, too focused on watching to actually finish the sentence.
The pair looked on in abject fascination as the black feline inched closer and closer to the pretzel display. Nick was convinced that she was done for when she finally grabbed hold of a pretzel and began to pull it back, only for the chef to catch a glimpse out of the corner of his eye, but as soon as he did the cat froze in place like she was trying to hide from a hungry velociraptor. Miraculously, the chef soon after turned his attention back to his cooking, seemingly oblivious to the heist in progress.
This continued on until the cat somehow managed to get the pretzel all the way to her pocket and slip it inside without the chef noticing. As soon as she did so, the cat straightened herself out and made a calm and relaxed pace towards the far end of the tunnel.
"Wow," Nick said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I can't believe that actually worked. Is the guy just blind, or-"
He stopped as he turned back to his partner, only to find the space where Judy had been two seconds earlier empty. Nick watched with mild fascination as the chair that once held the rabbit teetered and toppled over an instant later.
"STOP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!"
Having leapt from her seat, Judy was charging and shouting after the black cat. The cat looked back in shock for a second, pretzel still tucked in her pocket, before yelping in surprise as her flight-or-flight instincts kicked in and she began sprinting away from Judy down the tunnel. Nick watched this, dumbfounded, before leaping to his feet and chasing after his partner.
The cat scrambled up the stairs leading out of the tunnel with a surprising amount of agility and speed, forcing Judy to leap over several steps at a time to keep pace. As she hopped, Judy looked back briefly to see that Nick was a short way back running to catch up.
"Carrots, wait!" she heard Nick shout, but she ignored the plea. The cat was fast - incredibly so - and if Judy stopped for even a second she'd lose her chance to catch the thief. It wasn't the first time that Judy'd been dogged about pursuing a suspect, and she trusted Nick would find a way to catch up. He always did.
The thief looked back as she scrambled to the top of the stairs, shouting "Leave me alone! What the hell do you want!?"
Panting from the exertion, Judy said, "This is the Police! Stop running!"
"No way, screw you!" the cat shouted, running out of the tunnel onto the street "You want revenge, come and take it!"
Hot on the cat's heels, Judy emerged from the dim tunnel back out onto the street. She was momentarily blinded as her eyes adjusted to the sudden change in brightness. Blinking through the discomfort, she looked to see where her quarry had gone, eventually spotting the cat sprinting down the street past Taco Buck and heading towards the Video Outpost Too.
A few people walking on the sidewalk were forced to step aside as first a frantic cat and then an angry rabbit dashed past them, leaving a swirling flurry of dry leaves in their wake. Judy was forced to dart and leap around pedestrians and cars as the cat wildly weaved around, knocked over trash cans and ran over the porch of a townhouse. It took all of Judy's considerable skill to keep up with the thief, and at the speeds they were running she was aware of how nasty the fall would be if she lost her footing.
The chase led them quickly past the war memorial in the center of town, past the Ol' Pickaxe and steadily towards the crest of the hill that led towards the Empty Nest. Judy was steadily gaining on the cat, only a few hundred more yards and she'd-
Judy skidded to a halt as she watched the cat rush up a flight of stairs that looked to be heading towards a distant church, only to double back and leap up and onto a lamppost that hung off a nearby telephone pole.
"Seriously, what the eff?!" the cat shouted down at Judy.
"There's. Nowhere. To. Run," Judy yelled back between heavy breaths. "Get down here!"
"Get bent!" the cat responded as she climbed up to the top of the pole. Judy was surprised when the cat stepped off the pole onto the electrical wires, arms outstretched like a tightrope walker. The thief began to carefully, but quickly, walk the length of the electrical wire back up the hill towards a brick building in the center of town.
This was a first for Judy; nobody had gone to quite these kinds of lengths to avoid her before. Looking around for a way to get up to the suspended cat, Judy saw Nick sprinting towards her a short ways away. She made a snap decision and called back to Nick.
"She's using the wires! I'm going to follow her, go find a way around!"
"Carrots, stop! What the hell are you-" Nick shouted.
But Judy was already moving; she bent low, using every fiber of muscle in her powerful legs to launch herself into the air towards the overhanging lamp post. She caught the post and used her excess momentum to help swing herself on top.
The pretzel thief was on the other end of the telephone wire glancing back at Judy with wide eyes. Clearly the cat wasn't expecting the rabbit to follow her, and began to move as quickly as she climbed up another adjacent wire that continued towards the brick building in the center of town.
Judy debated copying the cat's trapeze artist approach to crossing the wire, but quickly decided against it. She vividly recalled enduring the onslaught of rain and mud while having to swing across slick vine ropes during her academy training for traversing the Rainforest District. She figured that a single telephone wire was not that different. She grabbed the wire and began to swing herself up and along it.
"God damn it, Carrots!" she heard Nick growl in frustration below her, but didn't have time to focus on it. She was vaguely aware of the fox turning to run to the base of the building the thief seemed to be moving towards.
Ignoring the burning ache that began to build in her shoulder muscles as she swung along the wire, Judy noted with grim satisfaction that she was gaining on the cat. But as she began to ponder what she was going to do to apprehend the thief while the two of them were suspended on a wire, Judy watched the cat leap onto a window sill of the brick building, then opening the window and darting rabbit was able to close the distance to the window a few seconds later, grunting as she swung herself through the newly opened window.
Judy landed in a crouch, ready to react if necessary. She found herself in a small empty room with a single door opposite her. The walls were covered in plain striped wallpaper, and the only light came from the open window behind her. Judy sidled up to the door, pausing to listen. With her keen senses, she just picked out what sounded like hurried footsteps and the sound of a door shutting in the next room.
Carefully turning the door knob, Judy peeked inside. Just outside the door, a small flight of stairs led down into a dark storage area. She could just make out a pile of cardboard boxes and old rolled up posters. Peering into the darkness, Judy cursed herself for not waiting for Nick; the fox would have no trouble seeing clearly in the gloom.
The fur on the back of Judy's neck suddenly shot up as she became aware of just how isolated she was from her partner. Every ounce of her training screamed at her to back out and wait for Nick, and she turned to look back at the open window. She frowned in thought for a moment, before she resolved to press on; this wasn't the city, and there wasn't anything about the cat that struck Judy as particularly dangerous; she'd managed to take down animals much larger before, and ones with more deadly claws than a cat's. After the frustration of the last two days, Judy needed a win and knew she should be able to handle one juvenile shoplifter.
The rabbit opened the door and carefully stepped down the flight of stairs. Her ears were perked high, unconsciously swiveling to catch any stray sound. She heard the rush of water through a web of pipes that crisscrossed under the low ceiling in front of her, but didn't notice any sign of the thief. Judy might not stand a good chance of spotting a black cat in a dark room, but she was confident she'd be able to hear the sound of their breathing.
In front of her the storage way turned into a slightly longer flight of stairs that climbed up to a small landing. At the top, Judy could see the red glow of an exit sign that she figured led to a fire escape and saw another door at the top of the stairs. She carefully made her way up the stairs, pausing in front of the door at the top to listen.
"I-I dunno, I think they're outside. They … no I'm not sure. I'm in Mallard's Tomb and I … Mallard's Tomb! You know, in the Telezoft building with the decorations?"
It was the muffled voice of the thief speaking in hushed tones. Judging from the cadence, Judy guessed the thief was probably on the phone with someone.
"This is the Police, I know you're in there!" Judy called out.
Judy swung the door open to reveal the towering presence of an old, decaying parade float in the shape of a duck. It was easily three times her height, wearing a strangely festive conical hat, and was slumped in the corner of a warmly lit room. Crouched in front of a stack of boxes that surrounded the titanic display was the thief. In the split second that passed after Judy burst into the room, she got a good look at the feline.
Judy guessed that the cat was in her late teens, maybe early twenties. She had a solid coat of black fur, short but for a scruffy fringe of fur on the top of her head that was dyed a fading red. The cat was wearing a two-toned orange shirt that matched the round, wide eyes that dominated her face, staring in shock at Judy. The rabbit and cat stood stock still for a moment, save for the slightest twitch from the cat's lightly bandaged tail.
"Well, crap," the cat said after a beat, shoving her phone into her pocket and suddenly throwing something in her hand at Judy.
Judy rolled to the side to dodge and the cat sprinted for the door. As she came back to her feet, Judy saw what had been thrown at her - the stolen pretzel.
Rushing after the cat Judy called out, "Just stop already, for beets sake!"
The cat was pushing her entire weight on the fire escape door in a desperate attempt to flee.
"The exit sign is a lie!" the cat yelled. "How is this even legal?!"
The cat yelped as the exit door suddenly swung outwards.
"Ha, take that!" the cat cheered as she scrambled to keep her feet. "Eff off!"
She flipped Judy off as she backed out the door, only to bump directly into where Nick Wilde was standing on the fire escape with a set of lockpicks in his paws.
"Whoa, easy there kid," Nick said as the cat jumped back and looked desperately between the fox and rabbit. "Let's take it nice and slow now, ok?"
"There you are Nick," Judy sighed in relief. "Now will you stop running? There's nowhere to go."
The cat was flat against the wall, eyes darting rapidly between the fox and the rabbit.
"Who the heck are you guys? Just leave me alone!"
"I told you, we're police!" Judy said. "And you're in some serious trouble. After the chase you gave us, we ought to-"
"Judy, stop."
Nick's tone was direct, even, and extremely measured. It immediately grabbed Judy's attention; he only used it when he was being deadly serious. The fox was staring at Judy with an intensity she'd last seen in the aftermath of the Cloven Hoof.
The fox crossed the room to stand next to Judy, careful not to crowd the cat. He leaned down to be head height with the rabbit.
"Look at this kid, Carrots - she's terrified," he said quietly.
"I just …" Judy said, but found the words sputtering out before she could begin to explain.
"We don't even have jurisdiction yet and even if we did - look at her! All this over a stolen pretzel?"
Nick stood up straight and took a tentative step towards the cat.
"Ok, so that was possibly the dumbest theft I've ever seen in my life," he said. "What on earth possessed you to steal a pretzel in broad daylight? … Other than the criminal price that guy was charging, I mean."
The cat was still flat against the wall, eyes wide.
"Relax," Nick said and held up his paws. "We're not going to arrest you, you'll be free to go in just a second, ok?"
"What, really?" the cat asked.
"Really?" Judy echoed.
"Yeah, no worries, kid. The paperwork we'd have to do for arresting you sure as hell wouldn't be worth the hassle, so let's just call it even."
Nick nodded to the door.
"Some moron locked that in violation of fire code, but I think I took care of it."
The cat glanced tentatively at the door.
"Oh, just a word of advice for you before you go," Nick said through his usual disarming smile. "Next time don't run. Ask if you're being detained, and if the cops say yes for the love of god keep your mouth shut. Ask for a lawyer immediately, and make it clear you're invoking the fifth. And again - shut up and don't say anything. Pretty simple, right?"
The cat stared incredulously at Nick for several seconds.
"If you guys actually are cops, you're either the worst or the weirdest."
"Probably both," Nick nodded in agreement.
"Ok, I'm leaving," the cat said and quickly dashed out the exit door to the fire escape.
After a second, the exit door shut behind her leaving Nick and Judy alone in the dark storage room.
Judy was expecting Nick to get angry at her, and she summoned up all her justifications for why overlooking petty theft constituted a dereliction of duty. As she prepared her arguments and braced for conflict, she was completely blindsided by the look of deep worry and concern on Nick's face.
"Carrots, you've been keyed up all day. Did I do something wrong?" the fox asked quietly.
Her desire to argue vanished in an instant.
"What? No, you didn't- " Judy sputtered. "It's not you, I just … she stole it right in front of us and I … I dunno, I lost it."
Nick stepped slowly up to Judy and wrapped his paws around the rabbit. She accepted his embrace, but stared down at her feet.
"Between missing out on our cases back and the city, and then getting stuck here … There's just so much to do and I keep getting held back from actually doing something to help anyone," Judy said. "Assuming they even want help - I mean, did you see how Molly just dismissed that missing kid? It pissed me off something awful, and I … I guess I didn't realize how mad I was until I was halfway across a telephone wire."
Nick frowned slightly. "Yeah, not your finest moment for sure. Look, next time talk to me before you go dashing off like that, Fluff. Okay?"
"I know, I know," she said, sighing.
The pair were quiet for a long moment. Nick pulled his paws back and gently placed them on Judy's shoulders as he crouched down to look her eye to eye.
"So there's some stuff I want to say about our job, seeing as how you're hell-bent on taking on the sum total of this town's problems on your shoulders," he said. "Which, I mean - that's one of the things that I absolutely love about you. You care about people so easily and so freely, but most importantly so genuinely . But that compassion is going to stretch you out if you're not careful."
"Like today," Judy mumbled.
"Yeah, exactly," Nick said. "So look - I know this rural town looks a lot closer to Bunny Burrow than Zootopia, but you can't think of it that way. And when we get deputized, we can't approach things like we would in Precinct One either."
"What do you mean?"
"Our day-to-day beat rarely takes us out of the heart of the city, Fluff. Sure we get some dramatic things like robberies or big car accidents, but most of our day-to-day beat is 'high-visibility patrols' and traffic enforcement."
"Don't remind me," Judy grumbled. "The sooner we can make detective the better."
Nick shook his head. "I'm not talking about what our job title is, Carrots. Policing in an enormous city as part of a precinct with a big budget is a completely different world than what Molly and the cops around here do."
Judy sighed. "Ok, look, I know I was rude to Molly about the missing kid. I get that they don't have the resources we do, and I shouldn't have implied she was being negligent."
"Probably not," Nick agreed. "But I haven't gotten to my point yet. It's not even about resources."
The fox paused for a moment, and Judy saw a flicker of emotions pass over his face. There was something personal about this, something important to Nick. Judy knew she needed to wait for him to find the words.
"So like I was saying, this place reminds me a lot of Happytown" he said after a long moment. "Don't you find it strange that despite increases to its staffing budget almost every year, Precinct 41 has the lowest retention rates for officers in the city?"
"I hadn't really thought about it," Judy said. "I've just heard its the roughest part of town-"
She stopped herself and frowned.
"It's not, is it?" she asked as she started to grasp why he'd asked.
Nick smiled brightly for a second as he saw that recognition on the rabbit's face.
"It's not," he said with a sigh. "At least not statistically. Crime rates there aren't really any higher than anywhere else in the city. But the perception of the neighborhood being the roughest part of town leads so many officers to avoid transferring there as much as possible. And when cops get sent there when they don't want to, they overcompensate and end up trying to be as hard-ass as possible."
Judy nodded along, mulling over what he was saying.
"The reason nobody in Happytown likes the cops - one of the reasons, anyway - is because so many of the officers on duty are convinced that the neighborhood is rife with dangerous criminals who are ready to pull out edged weapons, claws, or fangs at the drop of a hat. The fact that the neighborhood is like 80% predator doesn't help, either."
Judy felt a tinge of discomfort at the mention. Though it was now years ago, her actions in the aftermath of the missing mammals case still weighed heavily on her. It had been a vital experience which helped shape her worldview today, but Judy never failed to feel regret whenever she was reminded of it.
"Ok, it's a bit like this: what's the name of that other town your folks hate? The one that everyone was celebrating beating in football? The one that's got that really dumb name for its team?"
"Meadowlark?"
"Yeah! Right, the Meadowlark Pansies!" Nick snickered for a second before continuing. "Ok, so imagine a bunch of people you don't know from Meadowlark came over to Bunny Burrow and were in charge of the police. Now imagine that they all hate being there and treat you and everyone you know as though you're about to stab them."
"Yeah, I can definitely see how that would foster resentment. Do you think the Possum Springs department is that bad?"
"No, they're not - which is exactly my point," Nick said. "We can't afford to be the Pansies from Meadowlark in this situation."
Realizing what he'd just said, Nick and Judy stifled a laugh.
"Or rather, we can't be like the cops at Precinct 41. We have to understand that policing a community is completely different than patrolling a district. It's easy to forget the impact of things we do to enforce the laws when we'll statistically never see the perpetrators ever again. But someone like Molly can't just forget about it; if she arrests someone today, she'll run into them at the supermarket next week."
"That's not an excuse to not enforce the laws, Nick. Our job is to keep people safe!"
"I'm not saying it isn't, Carrots," Nick said. "But we've gotten lucky working at Precinct One. We've never been forced to confront the fact that enforcing the law is not always the same thing as helping the community."
The fox sighed and rubbed his temples.
"Look, don't get me wrong. I love working the beat with you - patrolling around parts of the city I couldn't afford to live in a thousand years, helping old ladies cross the street, and getting coffee at yuppie cafes … it's great. But half of our job is kinda bullshit. I mean, ticketing parked cars and people who forgot to update their registration? Not exactly changing the world for the better."
"I'm not a fan either, Nick. Why do you think I'm so gung-ho about getting to be a detective?"
"Oh no, Fluff," he said with a smile. "I know you're doing the job for all the right reasons. Like I said, you really do care about people. And it's a big part of the reason why I can stomach the bullshit parts of the job."
The fox put Judy's paws in his.
"Things are really hard for the people in this town, and we have to be really careful not to make things worse accidentally, especially since we're not locals. If we had actually arrested that cat, not only would we have been at the very least ruining her night, but we'd be acting just like-"
"Pansies," Judy said.
"Right," Nick said gently. "I have absolute, unconditional trust in your resolve to do the right thing Judy. I love you for it."
"Do I sense a but?" she asked, half teasing.
"Well, you did get pretty pawsy last night."
"Nick!" she laughed. "Wrong kind of but."
"No need to be rude, Fluff," Nick said. "I just want us to keep in mind that things are seldom straightforward in a small town. So let's just be careful to make sure we're always making the world a better place."
"Hmmm," Judy said. "That has a nice ring to it. Who told you that?"
"Oh, this naive little bunny from the sticks," Nick said. "Kinda cute, though. I think you'd like her."
"Flatterer."
The rabbit and fox shared a warm embrace for a few moments.
"Wait … Nick," Judy said at last. "Why do you have lockpicks?"
"Uh, I can explain …"