"Sir. Nick would never be involved with anything like this." I try to defend him.

The Chief doesn't want to hear any of it. "Oh really? You care to explain why he has been here almost every night since he picked this up?"

I feel the knot in my abdomen clench tighter and tighter. "Sir, he said you were giving him a lot of extra case work to get him in line. Was this not one of those?"

Bogo scoffs at my question. "Why would I give him a solved case Hopps? I certainly didn't give him enough work to stay after hours! He did that on his own."

I'm in utter shock and disbelief. "...no.. No sir. There has to be a reason. Nick would never hide anything from me."

The Chief looks directly into my soul. "I don't care what he does or does not tell you. Where is your boyfriend bunny?"

I immediately reply. "He's n-" I can't finish. My mind is racing a mile a minute. "Sir. I know where he is. Let me find him."

Bogo stands up and starts yelling. "Absolutely not! He knows something of what has happened here and he is going to tell me."

"Sir. I need to find him. Please." I plead. "You once told me I was a good cop. That this city needs more cops like me. Let me find one, he needs me."

The Chief sighs. "Do you really trust him that much?"

I stare at Bogo directly in the eyes. "With my life, sir."

"You clear him, I'll be impressed. Get out of my office." Bogo points out the door.

I turn around as I'm leaving. "Thank you si-"

"OUT!" Bogo yells.

Where did you go Nick? I don't know where to start looking for him. I head over to his cube to see if there is anything which could point me to where his mom lives or why he had that case. His computer is off and random papers are scattered everywhere. The only pile which seems to have any order is the case files in the corner of his desk. I open each of them and look inside. All of these cases are no more than a week or two old. There is everything from a traffic report to an armed robbery. All of these look to be printed scans of the original reports. He must have gotten them from the case file database. I wake his computer. A password is required.

Hustle... Incorrect Password

Pawpscicle... Incorrect Password

Hopps...

Welcome, Officer Wilde!

Oh Nick… Nothing seems out of place in his files. All of his cases here are still open, but just needed closing reports and then to be filed away. All assigned by Chief Bogo within the last couple of weeks. No sign of the Wall case Bogo said he found here. I re-lock Nick's computer as I leave. I leave a note on his desk in case he returns while I'm gone.

I figure Nick must have physically checked out the case file, so I head down to Records. No one is here still. I enter and look for the check out book for reference and closed cases. Sure enough, Nick checked out the file. Why Nick? What were you doing? There is nothing else I can find of him here.

I head over to the personnel section of Records to see if I can find any information of Nick's mom. Nick's file is still there, good. No parents or family listed? That can't be. I know he has a family. No address listed either. Why Nick? What were you hiding? I can't shake the feeling like I've seen something before though. My first case! I had Nick's tax forms!

I rush back over to the closed cases section of Records and find my Savage Mammal Report case over Emmitt Otterton. I open the evidence box and take out the evidence I had on Nick. There it is, 1955 Cypress Grove Lane. That's not where he lives, not since I met him at least. I bet that is his childhood home. I bet that is where I will find him.

I run out of Records. I need to do one more thing before I go. I run into Supplies and change out my radio. Once I verify it works with the other radios, I fly out the Supplies door. I become a little turned around running everywhere. Where is the… garage! I run into the garage. Keys, keys, keys. Where are the keys? You've got to be joking me. The keys to Nick and I's cruiser is gone. They must be using it as part of the blockade at the Wall. What now? Ooooh noo.. At least I filled the tank…

8:41

I pull out of the garage, lights flashing and all. I take out my phone and load up the maps of the city.

OFFLINE MAPS MAY BE OUTDATED

GUIDANCE DISABLED, PLEASE RECONNECT TO A NETWORK

Thanks, phone. I guess the networks are still down. As long as they aren't twenty years outdated, I should be fine. I enter the address and plan out the route to this place in my head. I'm coming, Nick. I sound my sirens and enter the streets. I begin making my way to the address.

So many animals are on the sidewalks and streets, I slowly make my way through the pedestrians in the street. They all look frightened. I overhear that a couple of news stations have begun broadcasting radio information from news vans. The city is becoming aware of the events unfolding at the Wall. I hear two officers died when debris crushed their vehicle in the initial blasts. They must've been night patrolling in the area. That could've been us.

10:23

As I approach the address I feel more nauseous. I turn off my sirens and lights. I know I must ask him why he had that case. Why he'd hide it. I hope he is alright. The homes around here have not been kept up very well. It seems as if there are only a few residents in the area at all. An occasional old car in a driveway, toys in front of buildings, and wild patches of grass.

I am starting to count down the addresses of the buildings as I pass them by. Looks like 1955 should be up here soon. I stop in front of the place. This is definitely the right size for a smaller animal's home. The paint is starting peel off of the house. One of the windows has plywood covering the it. The front door is open. The back yard fence has half of the boards missing. A large tree resides behind the home. This is the address. I stop my car. I nearly fall to the ground getting out, not because I tripped, because I'm scared. I can't breath. I lean against the jokester for a moment. Do it for Nick. I slowly approach the house.

The smell is unbearable. I push the door open. I don't see anything, just a mess. Everything is thrown about, as if someone was looking for something. There is a living room to my left, an office to my right and a hallway which looks like it connects to a kitchen. I slowly make my way down the hall. The stench is getting worse. I enter the kitchen. I freeze.

There are two bodies on the floor. One is face down and the other is facing away from me. They are covered in blood. They aren't Nick, but I think I recognize them both. I nearly vomit. My heart is beating out of my chest. I reach over to turn the first one over, it is clearly a fox... Nick, I am so sorry. It's Nick's mother, her neck has been completely opened... Oh the stench. I reach over and turn the other one to face me, a smaller sheep . What was SHE doing here? It's ex-mayor Bellwether, there is a serrated knife in her chest and bite marks on her neck. What is going on?

I look around for any answers I can find. I see the blood trail go out to the back door. I see the trail lead over to the tree. There are small planks nailed to the side of the tree. They have bloody paw prints on them. I go under the tree and look up. There is a small structure built into the tree, the leaves have overgrown the structure. I climb the tree. There is an open door into a small room. I hear something inside. I enter. I see him. I see Nick lying on the floor. His paws and mouth soaked in blood, and tears.

"Carrots..."