"Nick Wilde!" Warden Wolford, a big grey timber wolf, came around his desk to offer his paw. Nick gave it a quick shake and sat down, uninvited, in the chair in front of Wolford's desk. The warden narrowed his eyes but maintained a cordial tone as he sat in his own big chair. "Mr Wilde, before Leodore was arrested, he and I worked very closely together on ideas to improve the prison."

"Really?" The fox sounded surprised. "I did not know that. When might some improvement be made?"

Wolford's smile froze, then he managed a small chuckle. "Prisoners never appreciate the work that goes into this place. Be that as it may, Leodore thinks you would be a good test case for a rehabilitation program. As a police officer…"

"I'm not a cop anymore," said Nick swiftly.

The wolf bowed his head. "Of course. I should have said ex-police officer. You were a public servant, Mr Wilde. If you still have any concern for the public, you should do what you can to help rehabilitate animals who can benefit from a second chance."

"And just what help would you like from me?" asked the fox dryly.

"I've read your file," answered Wolford. "You were quite the actor, running cons all over the city for twenty years. When Officer Hopps met you…" Nick gave no reaction at the mention of the bunny's name and after a moment the warden went on. "She wrote an incident report that day. It seems you were masquerading, very successfully, as a loving father who only wanted to buy his little boy a popsicle. She was quite touched by your performance. Also rather irritated when she discovered it was a performance. Then there was your act in the museum, pretending to go savage to trick Mayor Bellwether into revealing her scheme to start a war between prey and predators, actually going so far as to bite your partner on the throat!" Something came and went in Nick's eyes and the wolf paused. "Something wrong, Mr Wilde?"

"Not at all," said Nick evenly. "This all sounds fascinating. Do go on."

The warden hesitated, then said slowly, "Perhaps with your gifts, you might head up a drama club. The prison psychologist thinks it could be beneficial to the animals to participate in drama, using fictional situations to express their real feelings."

"That does sound like something I could work on," said Nick. He stood up. "Do you mind if we talk about this more at another time? I'm not feeling well...probably something I ate at lunch." He smiled apologetically. "Maybe the menu could be one of those areas of improvement."

Wolford laughed with genuine amusement. "That suggestion has been made before, Mr Wilde, but I will certainly take it under advisement. I'll send for you again." He pressed a buzzer and two guards, a reindeer and a moose, opened the office door and escorted Nick back to his cellblock.

He ran into one of Mr Big's polar bears, then wandered down to the TV room. Lionheart was there, holding forth to a bored group about the snow leopard anchor of the news show they were watching. "Fabienne Growley was always one of my favorite reporters. Fair, balanced…" Lionheart sighed at the screen. "And easy on the eyes." He caught sight of Nick and hurried over. "So how did it go with Wolford?"

The reindeer and the moose peered in the door of the TV room and came in, heading straight for Nick, who gave Lionheart a sickly smile. "Not very well." The fox looked around but there was no other door to the big room. "It's been nice knowing you, Lionheart." The prisoners scattered as the guards grabbed Nick and dragged him away, leaving the lion standing there with a bewildered expression on his face.