Meanwhile, Nick Wilde had finally gotten into a groove with driving stick. It amazed him how fast anyone could learn something given the right motivation. Of course, the motivation in this case was 'objective terror,' but he decided not to let that little fact get in the way of what he considered a sizeable accomplishment. He had gotten his last text from Carrots about a half hour before and had been driving ever since. Looking off to his right Nick saw the sign for Low Timber, the small town that was supposedly where a certain Buck lived along with his wife Mable. Nick shook his head in silence, how could he hope to find someone with so little to go on? Casually, he looked back at the sign and read off the population for the town. Nick could scarcely believe his eyes when he read off the population of the town, it was only two thousand! Nick knew apartment complexes that had more people living in them than that!
Maybe this isn't going to be so hard after all!
Nick cruised into the small town, arriving as the sun's light changed from the ruddy orange of sunrise to the crisp yellow of morning. The main street of the small town was pretty much exactly what Nick had expected. On his left there was a bank, a movie theater, and several small shops. On his right was the town hall, the fire department and the police station. Spotting the station Nick turned the car into the parking lot and moved alongside one of the squad cars that was parked in front of the police station.
Nick was careful as he parked the car, making sure he had engaged the parking brake and everything else that the tutorials had told him to. As he stepped out of the car he saw an older squad car with a yellow star on its side rolling into the parking lot.
Perfect timing. Nick thought to himself.
The large squad car rolled into the parking lot pulling up next to Nick. Out of the car stepped a massive moose wearing a sheriff's hat. He looked Nick over suspiciously, not quite sure what to make of the fox in the small northern town wearing a black polo and shorts.
"Alright mister, what do you want eh?" Nick gave a sly grin and pulled out his badge to show to the fellow officer.
"Nick Wilde, ZPD I am here following a lead." The big moose snorted unimpressed.
"Little far from your jurisdiction aren't you?" Nick lowered his sunglasses to get a better look at the big guy.
"Look, my partner is deep undercover and I could really use some help finding her, and I would rather appreciate it if you cooperated with me. You know, as a fellow officer of the law and all." The moose motioned Nick towards the station, opening the front door to reveal something out of a campy old TV show.
Along one of the walls they had a line of jail cells, all of which were empty. Sitting behind the desk was a sleeping elk with a suspicious looking bottle next to him. Nick's sly grin had turned to frown upon seeing the state of the night shift. The moose noticed this and chuckled a little.
"Oh come now, do you really think he missed anything important?" Nick was a little incredulous at this statement.
"Someone could have been mugged, or a store could have broken into, or worse. So yes, I do happen to think that he could have missed something important." Nick tried to give the massive moose a hard stare, digging deep to find his best disapproving Judy look. The moose returned it with a mirthless chuckle.
"Look slick, those are problems that you have out in your big city. I promise you that things are different here." Turning around the moose picked up the questionable bottle and sealed it up before stuffing it a drawer in the old steel desk. This jolted the sleeping officer awake who seemed a little surprised, but then immediately relaxed upon recognizing him. The elk cast a suspicious glance towards Nick.
"Whose he eh?"
"ZPD, came out this way looking for his partner who's undercover."
"You don't say."
"You betcha." Nick rolled his eyes a little, thankful that the sunglasses prevented them from seeing his disrespect towards them. At this point though, he was really more interested in finding Judy than chewing the cud with two cops who clearly didn't do anything more important than bust out of towners for speeding.
"Look guys, I understand that things might be a little different here out in the country but I really have to find my partner and hopefully shut down a catnip ring." At this point the moose had grabbed an extra chair for Nick and one for himself and motioned for him to sit down. Nick was now sitting across from the two huge officers, or more accurately the sheriff and his deputy. The moose, who it seemed was the sheriff, started up the coffee maker in the small station and got out some cups. He was the first to speak up after the waiting a few minutes for the coffee to brew and fill the pot part way.
"Alright, what do you need eh?" I don't know, someone who moves faster than a sloth would be nice, Nick thought to himself.
"I need to find a Mr. Buck." Both of the other two officers bust out laughing at this.
"You need to find a Mr. Buck in a town full of deer!? Ha! Well I'll just pull out the local phone book and let you sort the rest out eh?" Nick sighed a little, his patience with these two was wearing thin.
"He is married to a doe named Mable, and drives a nice truck." The other two shut up at this, turning their attitudes around from sarcastic and joking to one of the darkest glowers that Nick had ever been on the receiving end of.
"Buck Johansson is a good man mister; you better not be thinking about trying to drag his name through the mud now you hear?"
Nick got the distinct impression that this wasn't a request. Whoever this Buck Johansson was he seemed to have the law on his side for all intents and purposes. Unfortunately, at the moment it seemed that all the evidence that Nick had to go on circled around this Buck. Therefore, Nick figured that it was worth the risk to press his luck.
"Look, I'm not saying that he's growing catnip or anything. He might not even be aware that he's transporting it!" This did not seem to sit well with the two on the other side of the desk.
"Buck is an upstanding member of the community! He is a little league coach and is a key member of our rotary club! How dare you come in here accusing him of peddling drugs to a bunch of dumb cats over in your dumb city eh!?"
Nick had had quite enough of this at this point and let his temper get the better of him. He stood up and slammed his paws on the table.
"I don't care who he is! He is the only lead I have to follow right now! Not only to break up a catnip ring but also to find my partner! Now are you going to help me or not?"
The other two sat there quietly for a moment and let the silence between the three of them hang in the air until finally the sheriff spoke up.
"If you find out that he is connected to this whole mess that you're talking about, are you going to charge him?" Nick blinked a little in confusion.
"Of course, you commit a crime you do the time." The big elk on the other side of the table simply shook his big head.
"Well then… we would love to help you, but it seems that the phone is just ringing off the hook…" The elk to his right looked like he was about to correct him before receiving a hard stare from the sheriff.
"Oh… Yeah sure… We really don't have the time don't you know?" Nick took the hint and stood up to leave. For the first time in a very long while he felt defeated.
"Yeah. I know."
Nick stepped out of the office and into the cool morning air, it seemed that now he at least had a real name to go with the nice truck and the doe. All he needed now was two address, the house of this Mr. Johansson and the location of the catnip patch. Find the first and he would have one of the individuals responsible for distributing catnip in Zootopia, find the second and he would find Judy. Nick pondered his next move as he walked towards the car. Before he could finish his thoughts however he felt a pang of hunger in his stomach.
I guess breakfast is next.
Nick hopped into the sleek black beast and gingerly put the car into reverse. Unfortunately, he forgot that one of the big rules with manuals is not to dab the gas while in reverse. A slight tap on the gas and Nick went shooting towards the edge of the parking lot forcing him to slam on the brakes and stall the engine.
Next thing to practice, reverse.
Getting his bearings, he turned the car back on and headed out of the parking lot. He wondered to himself how far he would have to go to find a restaurant and thought about consulting his phone for help. As he pulled up to the only stop light in town though his question was answered for him. In front of him and to the right was a diner at the end of main street. Emblazoned on its window was its name and a slogan.
"Mama Doe's, The Only Decent Coffee in Fifty Miles!" Nick sighed a little.
"Right, small towns…"
Nick pulled into the parking lot out back and walked into the mostly empty dinning establishment. It seemed that he was the only customer that they had this morning, and it also seemed that he had walked into the middle of a conversation between the waitresses. Whatever it was that they were talking about the conversation ended when he walked in. At first the three Doe looked surprised, then they looked mildly annoyed. Two of them turned away from him and carried on their conversation in low voices. The third, who must have been the most senior, walked towards Nick.
"What do you want mister?" Nick got the distinct impression that these does weren't exactly the most open minded individuals. Trying to strike his most casual tone Nick decided to try his luck once again.
"Breakfast please." The doe gave him an unimpressed look, but before she could point to the sign that Nick knew they had on the counter he decided to sweeten the deal.
"I'll let you decide the tip." The demeanor of the doe changed in an instant and she brightened up at his offer.
"How about thirty percent?" Nick tried to hide his annoyance but it peeked through anyway as his casual grin was replaced with a slight frown. The doe though seemed to get a kick out of this. Nick decided that he didn't have much choice but to accept the offer.
"That'll work." The doe gave a coy smile and hit Nick with her notepad playfully.
"Right this way honey! I'll make sure that no one spits in your food this morning."
Nick knew that the price of discrimination was high, although he hadn't exactly expected it to be thirty percent of his total meal. He tried to push it out of his mind as he waited for her to come back with the coffee. Without really thinking about it he began to listen in on the conversation that was going on between the waitresses.
"So John didn't come in till early this morning, Buck dropped him off right as I was getting ready to leave."
"They spent the whole night out at Marty's bar?" The other waitress shook her head.
"I thought that they might have but I saw Marge on the way in today and she told me that they never showed up. But I could still smell the suds on him, so I bet they went over to that other bar."
"The Dancing Doe!?"
"You betcha." The other doe was now looking more than a little infuriated by this.
"That snake! I am gonna kill him when I get home!"
"Easy there honey. Don't worry, I've got a plan. If you just go and confront him without any evidence, then he'll just deny everything. What we need are photos. I am gonna go online tonight and see if I can higher one of those private investigators."
"Ooohh, now that does sound nice."
Nick felt the wheels in his mind turning, it seemed that he had just found his newest hustle. Before he could finish putting his plan together his waitress returned.
"What'll it be?"
"Breakfast skillet please, and some coffee no cream."
"Anything else?" Nick contemplated whether or not he should make his move. He decided that it was better now than never.
"Yes. I happened to overhear the conversation between those two and it just so happens that I am an investigator." The doe at first looked a little annoyed, but then leaned over onto the table so as to get a better look at Nick.
"Really? And you would be willing to go and figure out if our Bucks have been going to that dirty bar?" Nick let himself grin a little.
"Yup!" The doe's expression had turned from pleased to questioning.
"And what would you be getting in exchange for all this work eh?" Nick tapped his paw on the table for a moment.
"How about you make this a free meal and promise to treat future predators a little nicer." The doe laughed a little and smacked her hoof down on the table.
"Ha! Deal! You must work for peanuts eh!?"
Nick rolled everything over in his mind as he ate a massive breakfast and tried to process all the information that the waitresses were throwing at him. So far as he could tell there were four Bucks, and thankfully only one of them was named as such. There was Buck Johannsson, John Ferguson, LeRoy Miller and Josh Yoder. Apparently they all 'went out' every work night to some bar and then 'went to work.' Nick knew exactly what was going on now and made sure that he took careful notes about all of them. Finally, he took down their email address and promised to forward them the pictures after he got them. Before Nick left though he had to ask them about the odd animal that he saw being advertised on the window of a nearby store.
"Say, before I leave, what is this Jackalope?" Two of the does bust out laughing while the third gave him a very serious look.
"Quiet you two! The Jackalope is no laughing matter! It nearly got my uncle Stew!" Nick decided that he would play along, based on what he had learned so far, listening to gossip in small towns was a great way to get a bead on the situation.
"Seriously though, what is a Jackalope?" Nick inspected the visage of the creature painted on the general store's window. Proudly displayed beneath the picture read Offical Jackalope Merchandise Sold Here! The creature looked like an odd combination of a deer and a rabbit, with the body of a rabbit, but all black and the horns of a deer. For some reason, it also had fangs. Nick wasn't really sure why it needed them seeing as it looked far cuter than threatening to him. The doe then began to inform Nick about the strange looking creature.
"It's said that hundreds of years ago this land was only populated by Rabbits. Well obviously that isn't true anymore. But the way that came to be is that there was a great war between the rabbits and the deer. The deer drove the rabbits off these lands, all except for one. That rabbit was a powerful witch who cursed the last of the warriors who tried to chase her out of the woods. She cursed them to live in the bodies of the rabbits that they had killed and only wander the night. Ever since, theoe poor creatures have been searching for new bodies for it is said that the only way they can achieve rest is by killing one of their breathen." Nick feigned interest in the story, if nothing else Judy might get a kick out of it.
"Right, so if these things are out for blood then how did your uncle Stew survive?"
"Well he did the ritual!"
"The ritual?"
"Yes sir, if a deer ever sees a Jackalope then what they are supposed to do is put their head up in the air and expose their necks. And start chanting Jackalope, Jackalope do me no harm for I am not a brave Buck but mere Fawn. The Jackalope has to hunt down a buck you see, so if you convince it you're a fawn then it will leave you alone."
Nick tried not to laugh at this as he imagined a bunch of deer freaking out over what was basically a bunny. Besides, right now he had to track down some equipment for this 'investigation' of his.
"Well, I'll be sure to buy a souvenir before I leave. I'll get those photos to you does just as soon as I can." Nick waved good bye and walked out of the dinner, all he had to do now was find a decent camera and he would be set.
Pausing for a moment as he unlocked the car he wondered if Bogo and Carrots would have left some gear of that sort in the trunk. Popping the trunk Nick found pretty much exactly what he had expected. There was a set of massive duffle bags that Bogo had marked in sharpie titled Investigation Equipment (DO NOT TOUCH NICK!). Nick shrugged a little and figured that what the big guy didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Digging through the bags he found exactly what he was looking for, a camera with a telescopic lens, which he then almost dropped. Nick carefully set the camera equipment down and looked at his notes.
Next thing to do I guess is find the Dancing Doe and then wait.