Two

Judy arrived at work the next morning hopeful and ready to swap apologies with Nick.

Instead she found the police station lacking exactly one fox officer.

One fox officer who hadn't appeared for their morning debriefing, who hadn't taken the squad car, who hadn't so much as stolen a doughnut.

"And I bought extra too," said Clawhauser. Judy looked pointedly at the empty doughnut box. "Well I couldn't let them go to waste!"

"But you did see him this morning, didn't you?"

Clawhauser nodded emphatically. "Oh yeah. Stopped by to pick up his mail. Seemed kind of distracted... Did something happen?"

"You could say that."

"Hopps!"

Judy jumped. Chief Bogo glared down at her from the second floor balcony. "My office. Now."

Great.

She forced herself to keep her steps light as she ascended the stairs. Chief Bogo was seated behind his desk when she entered. He gestured impatiently for her to close the door.

"Officer Wilde called this morning. He informed me that you spoke with a Benjamin Cottontail last night about some suspicious activity happening at his factory."

Judy fought not to react. Suspicious activity. Could Nick have been any more vague? but she couldn't say anything. If her boss found out that they were arguing, or that Nick was blindly taking the foxes' side without any evidence when Mr. Cottontail had approached them first, he would be in some serious trouble. No matter how irritated she was with him, she didn't want that to happen.

So when Chief Bogo paused in clear invitation for her to clarify what this "suspicious activity" entailed, Judy played dumb. "Did he? It's true that we spoke with Mr. Cottontail about some of his… concerns. We are planning on looking into it A.S.A.P, sir."

"And separately too, I hear."

Judy flinched. "Is… is that what Nick told you?"

"'In order to achieve more accurate angles,' I believe were his exact words."

Accurate angles, my furry behind. But Judy could only bite her tongue and agree. Stuck. She was completely stuck.

"Is there anything about this case that I should know?" Chief Bogo asked.

"Um, well…"

"Let me rephrase: Is there any reason, Officer Hopps, that I shouldn't be suspicious of this cagey attitude of yours?"

"Well, that is… the situation is fairly delicate and um… Mr. Cottontail would like to have this dealt with as discreetly as possible, so… being the head of such a large and powerful corporation, Nick and I are merely trying to acquiesce to Mr. Cottontail's wishes as best we can. Therefore—"

"Oh stuff it, Hopps." Chief Bogo shoved away from his desk. "Fine. Investigate how you like. But know that the only reason I'm letting you and Wilde get away with acting like this is because you two have a spotless record. For now. The minute that stops being the case, those privileges get revoked. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

He paused at the door. Judy nibbled the inside of her cheek, inwardly bouncing, anxious to be free of his office. Chief Bogo turned back to her. "You will turn in your paperwork to me promptly once you're finished with this, Hopps. I want everything down in print as soon as this is done. All of it. Every last fact. I don't care if this bunny's name is Goldentail. You hear me?"

"Yes, sir. I definitely do, sir. And rest assured, we have everything well under control."

He yanked the door open. "Then get out of here, Hopps. And check in with your partner, will you? He's acting suspicious even for a fox."

"Yes, sir." She booked it from the room. Once she reached the relative privacy of her desk, she called Nick again. Still no answer. She tried her walkie, but there was no nothing besides a short burst of static.

"Stubborn fox," she muttered, tossing the walkie onto her desk and knocking over a pile of papers someone had left there for her. Judy flipped through them. The top sheet was a brief letter from Benjamin Cottontail, thanking her again for her help and listing all the foxes in question along with their restaurant's address. The pages after that gave the histories, records, and backgrounds of the foxes he had named.

Judy felt her heart give a painful thump. Nick had done this. Come in early, talked to Chief Bogo, and finished all the background checks so he could head out and get started on finding his evidence.

Judy did a quick read-through of the records. The foxes' family name was Corsac. They all had the same shaggy, pale yellow fur with hints of gray down their backs and white bellies. Todd, Reynard, Craven and Marian. All young. Marian was the oldest at twenty-nine. Todd the youngest; only sixteen. Craven and Reynard were twenty-seven and twenty-three, respectively. None of them had any priors. Really, all of them looked too sweet to be criminals, and Judy had to remind herself that that didn't necessarily mean anything.

Cottontail had been right, they did own a herbivore restaurant. It was called Edible Greens, and it was located in the heart of the Burrows. That explained the menu, but not why the foxes had decided to set up shop there in the first place.

The papers started to slip from Judy's paws and she fumbled the stack. A DVD fell out onto the desk. The security footage. It was only half in it's sleeve—not a good sign. Nick must've watched it and not been happy, otherwise he would have taken better care.

Judy tucked the papers back into their folder and took it all with her to the small video room in the back of the precinct. It was empty, thankfully.

Hopping up into one of the creaky desk chairs, she popped in the DVD and hit play.

The security camera looked to be attached to a light pole across from the Cottontail factory building, based on the height and angle of the shot. The time at the bottom right corner of the screen read 2:41am.

Despite knowing it was coming, Judy's heart still dropped when four, fox-shape figures crept around the side of the building. She had been hoping—harder then she'd realized until this moment—that the image would be unclear, fuzzy, or too far away to prove it was them. Anything that could make a strong defense in court. But the image was clear. The Corsacs' pale coats were distinct even with the green tinge of night vision. The Cottontail Corporation had spared no expense on their security cameras, it seemed. The foxes even glanced around multiple times, giving Judy a perfect shot of each of their faces: Marian, Craven, Reynard, and Todd.

Criminals they might now be, but masterminds they were not.

There was no sound, so the window they smashed was a silent action. But Judy didn't need to hear it when she could see it all so perfectly. She watched them slip into the building, and then sneak out again fifteen minutes later, Craven now sporting a limp. She should send forensics in, check to see if he left any DNA.

And ruin them even further?

Feeling heartsick, she ejected the DVD.

Her first thought was for Nick. She imagined him sitting in this dark little room, wanting so desperately to prove that the foxes were innocent, and then seeing this. She should have been with him. They were partners, even if they disagreed. And Nick… where had he gone? After watching the footage, he had still left. Without leaving a note. Without calling her. Did that mean he was still planning on proving the foxes' innocence?

Dumb bunny. Of course he was.

She tried to call him again. Again, no answer.

This time she left a message. "Nick. I saw the video. Call me. Please?"

She thumped a foot against chair seat, debating. Well. There was nothing to do but continue on as she was. She would investigate the foxes to the best of her ability, and hopefully, run into Nick along the way.

And maybe, this time, she'd be able to talk some sense into him.

She didn't like to think of what he might do otherwise.


Since Nick had left their squad car behind, Judy decided she would take it and drive over to the Burrows for some lunch.

It was after noon by the time she arrived at Edible Greens, but the lights were out and the door was locked. A sign hanging from the window simply said CLOSED.

Well, it had been a long shot.

She glanced around. It was nice area. Modest businesses in pastel colors doted both sides of the street, with lots of greenery in-between. She could picture her parents vacationing here, window-shopping at all the stores because they refused to buy anything that wasn't a necessity, and comparing everything to Bunnyburrow. Bunnyburrow being far superior, of course.

She noticed that a couple of floppy-eared bunnies were watching her from a bus stop across the street, their noses twitching with curiosity. Judy smiled brightly and jogged over to them. "Hiya! You wouldn't happen to live around here, would you?"

One of the bunnies, with thick gray fur and a bit of a stoop, pointed a fuzzy paw at her. "You're that Judy Hopps. I've seen you on the news."

"Yes, that's me," said Judy. "And you are…"

"Bunnies around here call me Grandpa Gregor. Marty, look here. It's Judy Hopps."

The second bunny, taller and with fur a darker shade of gray, smiled and nodded. "Yes, I see her, Grandpa."

"What are you doing nosing around old Carol's place?" asked the elderly bunny.

"Carol?" None of the foxes had gone by that name. "Don't foxes own the restaurant? The Corsacs?"

"Own it?" Grandpa Gregor frowned. "Maybe they do now, but everyone around here knows it as old Carol's place. Been in her family for three generations. Well, it used to be."

"Used to be?"

"She passed on—what, been a couple months now, right, Marty?"

"I'm so sorry," said Judy. "Was it sudden?"

"Sudden enough. We had a small RHD outbreak here a few months ago. Lost several good bunnies to it. We thought Carol would manage to pull through, but…" He shrugged heavily.

"How awful." Coming from a large bunny family, Judy knew just how terrifying an outbreak of the bunny virus could be. It came on quick, and was almost always fatal unless it was caught early, and sometimes not even then.

"It was very sad," agreed Marty. "Carol Hopson was a one of a kind bunny."

"How so?" asked Judy.

"Well it's not every bunny who will take in a couple of foxes, is it?" said Grandpa Gregor. "Especially not thirty years ago. Shifty animals, they say. We all thought she was crazy to let them stay with her. A young bunny widow with a baby not old enough to even see yet, and she's inviting predators into her home? We all told her—Carol, better to be a little lonely than dinner, right? But she wouldn't hear a word against them. They didn't make any trouble, though. Pulled their weight at the restaurant and always helped out at the festivals. They would even chase off the birds for us. The larger ones that like to fly over and scare us just for kicks. And their kits do all that and more now, so… I suppose Carol had the right of it."

"I suppose she did," said Judy with a smile. "You mentioned that she had a child. They didn't want the restaurant?"

"Who, Peter? That boy was a regular jackrabbit, pardon my language. Rude to everyone, including his mama. Got into fights all the time... Even picked a few with Marty here, and that takes some doing. We've wondered if it wasn't because he was an only child. Bunnies aren't meant to grow up without at least a few siblings around. It's not healthy. Anyways, he took off when he was sixteen, and good riddance, I say. Carol was better off without him."

Judy wondered if Carol had felt the same. "Do you know when the restaurant will be reopened?"

"Couldn't tell you. The place has been closed since the funeral. Not even Marian's been around, and she practically lived there."

"Marian Corsac?"

Both bunnies nodded.

"So did you know the Corsacs? Spend any time with them at all?"

"Of course. Marty was in the same year as Marian. Even had a crush on her in middle school, didn't you, son?"

Marty ducked his head, rubbing at his ears self-consciously. Grandpa chuckled. "Kids. But they were sweet as could be. All four of them. And I don't mean just for foxes. Did more chores for Carol for free than I could ever bribe my children to do."

"So they were good neighbors then? Never had any problems with anyone that you know of?"

The bunnies shared a look.

"Why are you asking all these question anyway?" Grandpa Gregor asked.

"Marian's not in trouble, is she?" asked Marty. He seemed genuinely concerned. Both bunnies did.

"I'm not at liberty—"

"The Corsacs are good foxes," said Grandpa Gregor, stressing the words. "I don't know what it is you're looking for here, but they would never do anything to bring the ZPD down on them. Now the Swifts, on the other hand…"

"The Swifts?"

"Grandpa, don't cause trouble," whispered Marty, "You don't know—"

"I do know. That Swift fellow is a bad influence on Marian. If she's in trouble, I bet you anything it's his doing."

Judy perked her ears. "What Swift fellow?"

Marty winced and scratched his cheek. "A fox Marian was seeing. Grandpa here is a bit protective of the Corsacs, and he's got it into his head that Robin was, well—"

"Trying to scam us, is what he was trying to do," said Grandpa Gregor. "Coming around asking for money..."

"I told you, Grandpa, it was for a charity fund. For foxes."

"There's not even any other foxes around here!"

Marty looked beseechingly at Judy. "Please don't listen to him. It's really not like that."

Judy nodded, but she still made a mental note: Robin Swift.

The bus pulled up then. Judy helped get Grandpa Gregor on, then did a quick exchange of numbers with Marty in case she had any more questions. Marty was hesitant, but didn't quite have the nerve to say no to an officer.

Once they were gone, Judy hurried back to her squad car. She checked her phone but had no missed calls.

She drove to the Corsacs' last known address. The house looked a bit small for four grown foxes. Still, she supposed it had more space than an apartment. It needed a paint job and a new fence, but even still, there was evidence of care. Neatly trimmed bushes grew under the windowsill and the porch and driveway had been swept of leaves.

Unfortunately, the house was just as dark and empty as the restaurant. Judy peeked in the mailbox and found a notice stating that their unclaimed mail had been taken back to the post office for safekeeping and that they should come collect it before the end of the month or it would be returned to the sender. Clearly, the foxes had gone to ground. It made sense. They knew they were guilty. They had to know the ZPD would come looking for them. They'd be stupid to stick around. Still... something about this case was starting to niggle at Judy. She hadn't felt it when Nick had first pointed it out, but she was feeling it now. Things just weren't adding up properly.

For instance, why would a family whose neighbors claimed they were model citizens go after a company that hadn't, technically, done anything to them yet? Maybe Cottontail's new products would ruin their business, but maybe it wouldn't. That was a pretty big move to make based on just a maybe. Were they simply feeling the pressure from Carol Hopson's death? If, in fact, they were even the owners of the restaurant now. That still remained to be seen. Did their actions have something to do with this Robin Swift character? And what was his motive, if that was indeed the case?

She didn't get it. And she didn't like that she didn't get it.

She pulled out her phone stared at it. If only Nick where here to bounce ideas off of. Maybe the tenth time would be the charm?

A bunny could hope.

Judy crossed her ears and dialed.