Chapter 2

Incident at Zootopia School for the Deaf

Although it was only about 15 minutes' drive from ZPD Central Station to Zootopia School for the Deaf, Judy felt like it was a long drive as Nick and Judy had been quiet during the drive, uncertain whether to talk but decided to be silent to prevent any outbursts from either. It was not easy for her but she has kept her emotion in check as she looked through the case folder. She decided to break the silence by only mentioning about the case, rather than own personal issues as they were nearing the school.

"According to this file," Judy stated, "there are 24 deaf rabbits and 5 foxes along with various different animals from hedgehog to elephant with the total student size of 256. There are other species beside rabbits with short tails such as bobcats, manx cats, bears, deer, and panda, so we need to question them as well. I also heard that some have bobbed tails. That will be difficult to determine which one that did the attack as there are many that fit the profile."

"Right," Nick answered in a monotone voice, "Okay, we are coming up now." Judy understood Nick's feeling as he was a bullying victim of prey animals in his youth so this case must be hard on him, bringing back bad memories.

They entered the campus and parked at the parking lot nearest to the front door. They got out of the car and Miss Manor parked next to them and the trio walked together to the front door. There was a female raccoon manning the front desk. They walked up to the secretary. Nick motioned to Judy that she go first, she nodded as she turned her attention to the secretary.

"Good Morning! " the raccoon greeted, "My name is Alice Ringtail and how may I help you?"

"Good morning, Miss Ringtail," Judy replied, "I am Lt. Judy Hopps, and this is my partner, Lt. Nick Wilde. Our interpreter, Miss Manor, will be assisting us with communication needs in our case. Can we see the headmaster please?"

"Certainly," Ringtail said as she stood up and lead the trio to the door on the left. Just as they arrived at the said door, Ringtail turned to Judy and Nick. "Before we go in, I just want to say that I am pleased to hear that the police send the perfect officers for the case, a bunny and a fox. I have heard about you, Lt. Hopps from the savage situation last year. It was such an honor to meet you two in person!"

"Thank you," Judy replied as Nick nodded in agreement.

Ringtail opened the door and Judy, Nick, and Kate went inside to find the 12 pointed antler male deer sitting at the desk. "Good morning, Mr. Buckbrook," Ringtail said as she let in Nick, Judy, and Kate, "This are Lt. Nick Wilde and Lt. Judy Hopps from ZPD. They brought the interpreter along whose name is Kate Manor." She turned to the officers and Kate, "This is our headmaster, Mr. John Buckbrook." Everyone shook paws and, then Mr. Buckbrook said, "Please have a seat and we will begin shortly," while Mrs. Ringtail left the room. Nick, Judy, and Kate, climbed up the three chairs in front of the desk and faced the headmaster who sat down behind the desk.

Buckbrook begin, "All right, the other officers took in the reports last night and we have separated the foxes and rabbits in a separate location in the dorm building to prevent any conflicts. We have… uh," Buckbrook shuffled the papers on his desk and pick up a paper, handed it to Nick, "the list of foxes and rabbits students so you can question them."

"We need the list of all other students with short tails and bobbed tails as well," Judy requested.

"Oh!" Buckbrook exclaimed. "One moment." He pushed the intercom button, "Mrs. Ringtail," he began, "will you please get me the list of other students with a short tail and bobbed tail beside rabbits. Thanks." He turned his attention to the officers. "Anything else?"

"Yes," Judy said, "We may need to questions other animals beside foxes and rabbits who might witness the attacks as well as any disagreement or disputes prior to the event because of the possibility of someone wanting revenge against… uh," she opened the case file and looked for victim's name, "Lizzie Blacktip, for something happened that night." Judy noticed that Nick looked uneasy, knowing that it brought bad memories back to him. At that moment, the door opened by Mrs. Ringtail, carrying a copy of the list of additional students. Mr. Buckbrook motioned to her to give the list to the officers. Judy accepted the paper and Mrs. Ringtail left the room. Judy took a look at the list, handed it to Nick who also read the list. Nick took a double take at one of the names and species next to it.

Nick looked up at the headmaster and said, "One of the names – Greg Snowtail – on that list is an arctic fox, and how did he get his tail bobbed?"

"Oh, yes," Buckbrook recalled, "I remember that kid. It happened about two years ago and there was cancer on that tail so it had to bob. It was hard for him and his parents, especially when he lost all furs during chemo but now he's fully recovered and got all his furs back."

Nick sighed and looked back at that name, looked briefly at Judy, and then back to the headmaster, "Are Greg and Lizzie friends?"

"Not that I know of, Officer Wilde," Buckbrook, "Why?"

"They are teenagers," Nick answered, "and both are about the same age so it might be relationship problems that could turn ugly or someone is jealous of their relationship. We just want to cover everything and check for motives. Greg has bobbed tail and could be mistaken for a rabbit that night because of his white/gray furs. Or, someone might frame him for this attack. So, that makes Greg a person of interest. He could be guilty or he could be a victim of the frame. Perhaps a love triangle situation?"

"Very interesting detective work, Officer Wilde." Buckbrook sat back in his chair.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Nick smiled, "Is there a room that we can do our interrogation each student? We want to call Greg Snowtail in first and then the rest."

"Of course, we do," Buckbrook stood and lead the trio out of the Headmaster's room down the hall toward an empty room with table and some chairs suitable for small mammals such as fox and rabbits. "This is the small mammals conference room. Is this acceptable?" the headmaster asked.

"Perfect!" Nick answered, "We appreciate your help and have someone bring Mr. Snowtail in." He turned to Kate, "Can you wait out here in the hall for a moment? Let me know when that kid arrives."

"Sure, Lt. Wilde," Kate replied.

Nick motioned Judy to enter the room. She complied. Once, they both were inside, Nick closed the door and turned to Judy.

"I… uh… Before that kid comes in," Nick said, "I… I just want to apologize for last week and what happened to that fox and it just brings back my bad memories and we need to focus on our task so we need to put aside our own relationship problem for now." He raised his paw to stop Judy from replying, "I know you want to talk about it but we need to focus on our case and not our relationship – whether it will go on or not between us. Our relationship can wait. Deal?"

Judy sighed, "Okay, deal." She wasn't happy about it but was relieved that it was a good first step regardless. At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Judy answered, "Yes? Is Mr. Snowtail here, right?"

"Correct," came the answer from another side of the door. Judy looked at Nick, wanting to grasp his paw but decided not to, walked over and opened the door. "Come on in, Mr. Snowtail," Judy greeted as the kid and Kate walked in. They saw Nick standing on one side of the table. Nick motioned to the young fox to sit opposite him while Judy sat next to him and Kate sat at the end of the table between the officers and the young fox.

"Okay," Nick begin while Kate interpreted in signs, "First of all, you are not in trouble yet, Mr. Snowtail. We just want to ask you some questions so you need to answer honestly. All right?"

"Yes," the young fox signed, as Kate interpreted back in verbal, "Call me 'Bob' because my real name sounds too close to color, gray, and I don't like that name. Everyone called me 'Bob' since my recovery from tail cancer. I like it so it stuck." Nick and Judy looked at each other and smiled, while Kate signed, "Cool."

"Of course, we'll call you 'Bob'", Judy said, "If you are uncomfortable with me here, I can leave and wait out in the hallway."

"No," Bob signed as Kate interpreted, "I am fine with you here. I am used to many different interpreters and some of them are rabbits and some are foxes."

"Great!" Nick said, "Shall we begin?" Bob nodded his head.