Argh. Trying to keep up with four story lines, while I'm suppose to be restarting my comic book, ALBEDO, has me neglecting everything. But the egoboo is worth it.
Judy grudgingly woke up to the new day with the demand of the alarm clock. She had not slept well and atypically needed the electric prod. As she got her morning kit together for the bath, she noticed the lack of racket from her neighbors. True, they didn't always make a fuss, but considering the awfulness of the last day, she almost welcomed them for a sense of normalcy. There was a timid knock on the door.
"Hello?"
It was Bucky and Pronks, looking Very Concerned. "We couldn't help but notice you needed your alarm today, and with all the awful things going on, we were worried. Yeah, and we want you to know that we always have your back."
"Thanks you guys." Judy had long expected that the pair, along with most of the rest of the tenants of the Grand Pangolin Arms were something of an extended, though maybe a bit dysfunctional, family, keeping an eye on each other. She gripped their hooves, "Seriously, hearing that really helps."
That was nice.
Then, as she was finally gearing up, another knock on the door. Was that Nick's rhythm?
Yeap, there he was, but in his own tactical kit.
"What's with the suit?" Judy couldn't help but be concerned, as Nick really hated the hot and unflattering outfit, very much not the light, form-fitting custom job that Judy wore.
"There was some more overt violence overnight, pretty bad, and I'm not taking any chances." Of course he didn't say that the extra protection was for him to better assist her.
"Like?" Judy didn't really want to know, but needed to.
Nick grimaced a bit to start, "Rabbits, beaten down then slashed. All I know is that there were 'several' attacks."
Judy was shocked speechless, and Nick offered a comforting hug.
"Okay, Carrots, we got to be strong so we can go out and make the world a better place."
When they got on the metro for the ride to the precinct, Judy was heartened to see a few rabbits in the car as well, though either in groups or obviously with an escort of some fashion. Though it was just a tad sad that it took a public crisis to bring it out, Judy took some real comfort in these kinds of overt gestures of mutual support. Not perfect, but better than nothing. Then she noticed one of the rabbits was clutching a stream-type repellant can with the safety off.
"Excuse me, sir, but - " Then she reflexively shrieked as he nervously pointed it at her. Luckily for everyone in the car that the can was already largely discharged and only a weak trickle sputtered out.
The Rabbit was shocked. That he had mistakenly aimed the can at an officer, who was also a Bunny, and that it had inadvertedly discharged, and that the discharge was so spent. And by the stunner prongs now in his chest and the expectant face of the Fox officer who had his paw over the button that could pump way too much voltage in him any second.
He dropped the can and his hands shot up, "OhMyGlobI'mSoSorry!"
"And that is why you should never have the safety off cans of technically illegal types of spray repellant," Observed Nick." Rather dryly. "You okay, Officer Hopps?"
Judy only took a beat to recover and scooped up the can. This was bad, a high volume container of class F mammal incapacitant. In the enclosed space of the car, had it worked properly, would have dangerously effected everyone in there with just its vapors. She didn't want to think of what might have happened to her if she'd gotten a face full of it.
Announcing to the shocked crowd in the car, "Seriously, folks. This kind of repellant can be dangerous if you're not careful. In fact, this particular can is illegal to own without a permit. And even if accidentally discharged, you could be help criminally liable for anyone who might get hurt by it."
Turning to the Rabbit, "Sir, I'm afraid we're going to have to take you to the precinct. The attempted assault was an accident, and we can ignore charges. But, unless you have a special permit for that can, you'll be charged for that." Then while very carefully pulling the electrode prongs of the stunner out of his chest, explained, "And because you got stuck, you'd have to come with us to help with us in the pile of paperwork on our own conduct, even if you didn't get zapped."
The rest of the trip was rather quiet, aside from the non-stop apologies from the Rabbit, named Harmon, who clearly had no clue as to the proper function of the can, nor the legalities.
When they got to headquarters, the pair could not help but notice the serious tone of the other officers. Even Clauhauser was coolly efficient at his desk, and seemed to be awfully busy, with only the briefest nods in their direction. They got down to booking and began the process. Fortunately, they could take their e-paperwork with them on tablets to roll call.
The Bullpen was already full when they arrived and Judy was dismayed at how many of the other officers were also in their tactical kits. Then, when Chief Bogo arrived, there was none of the typical boisterous greeting, just a stern getting down to business.
"It seems that the anti-bunny campaign has taken a dangerous turn. There were eight major attacks on rabbits over night. All serious, one has died."
Nick flinched in alarm at that.
Bogo saw that, "Not to worry, Wilde, it wasn't yours, though he is still one of the more critical cases."
Judy turned to Nick; he'd seemed a bit 'off' this morning, "Nick?"
Nick whispered back, "Tell, you more later."
Bogo continued, "The basic MO was the same, beat the victim down with some kind of instrument, then slash him or her with a short knife or box cutter type weapon."
"But, because the details of each were different, we suspect that there may have been three or four actors, as the style of injuries were distinctive and the timing versus locales too dispersed."
"All the attacks were in the early evening, all the victims were, in effect, stragglers, last one on the way home for the evening or just out for a second to the corner store for that one missing item. Unpopulated times and places in what would have been considered 'safe' neighborhoods before all this started."
"Also, that there were no attacks later was because nearly no Rabbits were daring to be out late. And now with this, I'm afraid that most will self-curfew until we can get this stopped."
"If this continues in this fashion, the bulk of the problem will fall on second shift's shoulders. Anyone who wants a shift change to help can talk to the watch commander after roll."
"But, for the rest of us, we've got a new problem. And I see Hopps and Wilde already got a taste of it. Nervous citizens with their own self-defense. We've gotten too many reports to count of accidental or panicked discharges of repellant or zappers. Including some real injuries."
"You all know the rules regarding types and ratings, also the laws regarding brandishing without cause. I want to head off anything like the Tagger Gang style action as well" Referring to a rash of robberies using repellants to intimidate or incapacitate victims.
"Hopps, you'll need to be back here at noon and have your dress blues ready, PR wants to do some PSAs about self-defense safety."
Judy made a face and Bogo tried to be sympathetic, "I know, but, regrettably, for today at least, you are our token Bunny."
After roll and assignments, Nick gave Judy a sly grin, "Media Bunny strikes again?"
"Argh! After the Pred Fiasco, I couldn't stand to be in front of any camera of any kind for months, and then, later, I got tapped for some simple general purpose PSAs for the ZPD and public safety and it was a nightmare." Judy pulled on her ears in dismay.
"I saw them, and you looked just fine."
"Urgh. I won't tell you how many takes it took to get them done, though."
They finished their paperwork related to the arrest and then headed out. They had a few more surveillance vids to pick up from the poster action before noon.
"What happened?" Judy was driving, so couldn't give Nick the stink eye he so richly deserved for not telling her about his incident.
"Which what?" Nick was clearly disinclined to discuss the matter.
"The Rabbit attack you didn't tell me about."
"There isn't all that much to tell. I found the victim and called it in."
"NICK!"
"Seriously, I was walking home and found him on the ground, bleeding out. I used what little I had in my med kit to help and called it in. Units and medical were on site in seconds and after things wrapped up, I got a ride home."
"Nick?"
"Judy. It happened and my part is over." He sighed, "I didn't want to tell you because the last thing I wanted to do is think about those minutes. Doubly so that I was up to my elbows in bunny blood."
Judy was not convinced, "I'm sorry. It's just that I don't want you to try to 'protect' me from the nastier facts of life. Not even mentioning it seems too much like babying me."
Nick made a face. Part of him had to agree, he had been over-protecting her. He sighed, "Yes, I didn't want to alarm you, but I really didn't to think too much about last night. It really was pretty awful."
"Well, at least give me a better hint, I need to know how you're doing as my partner, dumb fox."
"Yes ma'am."
Noon came too soon and Judy was not happy about playing the Face of the ZPD. Nick was tempted to tease her about it, but saw how really bugged she was by it and swore he'd not abuse her too much.
While she was struggling with that, he took the time to get caught up with paperwork. He wasn't very good at it, and often relied on Judy to make a coherent report. Though he was getting better with practice, his limited formal education and limited experience heretofore was still an issue.
He was struggling though yet another form when he was interrupted. "Hey, Wilde, we got a break on the Rabbit case. They caught a suspect!"
Sure enough, an attack on a rabbit in the park, thwarted by a citizen and then ran down and held until arrested.
Nick had to see who it was, as did several other officers, and they all stole peeks around corners at booking, since oogling suspects was very frowned upon.
It was Jerry.
Nick's heart sank. Jerry was a lanky caracal he'd known in his early days on the street. Like Nick, he felt disenfranchised and chose the street life, but he fell into escalating petty crime and drug use where they parted ways. That he was even still alive was a bit of a surprise, that life style was often lethal. Though a few years younger in calendar measure, he looked decades older now.
Nick checked to see who was going to be the investigating officer. Detective Post, of course. For a moment, Nick considered passing, but he knew he could likely get much more out of him quicker in interrogation as a one time friend then that nasty-ass Coyote.
Time to suck it up.
"Detective Post. I know the suspect and - "
"Of course You would," The Detective sneered, "One of your low-life pals, no doubt."
Nick paused, let it roll over and fall off, never let them see that they get to you...
"Sir, please. If you go in there, he'll likely invoke and we won't get spit out of him." Wasn't it obvious? "Yeah, I knew him back in the bad old days, and am willing to bank that a little nostalgia will open him up a bit."
Post considered a moment. "Normally, I'd say no way in hailstones I'd let you anywhere near him. But his is the third attack we've had today, and we got to get this clamped down ASAP."
"Third?" Nick was horrified.
"Yeah, and only one matches an earlier MO, so we have more acts and possibly more actors." The Detective was clearly unhappy with things, but, "Okay, Wilde." He'll be in interrogation three in a few minutes. But we need solids now, no old home week chat."
Then, there he was. The haggard Caracal reeked of old street junkie, his fur matted, his teeth, ugh, half were gone and the rest a rotted ruin. He didn't initially recognize Nick, though didn't really respond to the ZPD officer anyway, his arms wrapped around himself, shivering, likely more to do with drugs than his circumstance.
"Jerry."
At that, the cat snapped up in surprised recognition, "Nick? Sonofabitch, so it's true." He shook his head, "Always figured you were too soft to stay on the street." Jerry regarded Nick's reluctance to commit overt crime a sign of weakness.
"Yes, Jerry. I finally sold out to the oppressor class." A little joke between the two that still brought a faint smile to the Caracal. "But I got to ask, what's with the attempted murder?"
"Murder!?" Jerry flinched back from that. "That wasn't the thing at all."
"So tell me about it?"
As the Cat was clearly reticent to continue, Nick gave him a little prod. "Jerry, you have two options here. On one hand, you could do a straight A and B, and with your habit, could get cleaned up and some assistance after." The Zootopian Justice system had recognized, early on, how drug addiction and related issues were more of a social and medical problem than simple 'criminality' and were keen on durable rehabilitation rather than long sentencing for many crimes.
"But," And Nick meant it with real sympathy, "They could do you for attempted murder in a hate crime under the new statutes, even connect it as a terrorist act."
Jerry's eyes got big with that, in the somewhat paranoid world in which he lived, the word was that someone so suspected would be simply 'disappeared' without trial, their fate too horrible to even speculate.
"Damn, Nick! I just needed a fix. You know how it can get." He looked near frantic, "It was easy money, five hundred down, fifteen hundred for the first, and two K for each additional smack down. I was just going to do one, just knock him down, a few cuts, I got the cutter set in just a quarter inch, and the cash would keep me for a good long time."
"So, you had a rule? Instructions on what to do?"
"Yeah, be scary, mess 'em up good, but nothing lethal. Said they already had to deal with one of them that went too far." Jerry wrung his paws, likely more in anxiety over his impending drug dry spell than the enormity of what he had just admitted to.
"Who was it?"
Jerry paused for a moment, "A and B, light time?"
Nick sighed, "I won't lie to you. Any kind of deal would ultimately be out of my hands. A and B is a possibility, but you'll likely get regular time, at least."
A further pause, then, "It was Darren."
"Darren, that raccoon? I though he just did trade in stolen merchandise?"
"He's gotten into 'arranging' things nowadays. He didn't say, but I got the impression he had some big money behind the project, looking for more recruits."
Afterward, Post grudgingly acknowledged Nick's success, "Finally got something to work with. You know this Darren too?"
"Mostly by reputation. Too overtly criminal for my taste. Dealt in stolen merchandise. Speculation that he was commissioning robberies to get some of it."
"If he's now arranging actors for these attacks, odds are that he has experience after all, possibly even a talent list."
"Just thought, after yesterday's 'meeting' shouldn't Jerry be put on ice for a while?"
"Can't hide him, too public an apprehension, but will have to keep him incommunicado. And pass on the tip about Darren."
"So, we won't be going after him ourselves?"
"Nope."
After some more paperwork, Nick was oh so gratefully interrupted by Judy. "Free at last, and only took a half-dozen takes." She chirped.
Nick gave Judy an admiring glance. She looked so sharp in her dress uniform, and the memory of the graduation ceremony was still fresh. But there was something to be said about how her form-fitting tactical kit clung to her - . "Yeah! Got some good news for a change." Nick shifted gears. And filled her in on the new attacks and his interrogation of Jerry.
While the attacks were anything but good news, the rest was, except for, "And we can't go after Darren?"
Nick looked around nervously, "We're likely not suppose to even talk about That."
"I know." The rabbit made a very unconventional growl, "But I don't have to like it."