"NOTHING?!" Chief Bogo's voice boomed causing the two to jump in their seats at his office.
"There just isn't that much to go on, Chief!" Judy insisted.
Nick mentioned, "We've questioned the classmates that were still in Zootopia but no one has shown signs of them being the suspect we're looking for. All we have is a ring and so far all of them have shown their rings except for Gina Grazer and Vivian Foxworth."
"Then you better go back to them and demand to see their rings!"
Judy pointed, "Sir, with due respect that would be bordering on police harassment."
"You definitely don't want to have to deal with a lawsuit."
"Well I'm losing patience! What do you think is going happen if word gets out we can't find the most famous singer of Zootopia's attacker?! Citizens will question the force's ability to protect. They'll want new animals serving in the ranks; we could all lose our jobs! Now do you understand why I'm demanding that the attacker be found and brought in?"
"Crystal clear." said Nick.
"We won't fail, Chief; we will find who's responsible."
They got up and left.
"Sure you're alright coming back here?" Nick asked as they headed up the steps of Vivian's house.
"Nick, after you toss in that box and tore your picture I have complete faith in you."
He smiled as he knocked the door.
Vivian answered, "Nick! Judy! Did you find whoever was attacking Giselle?"
"Not yet." said Judy.
"We really need to see your ring, Viv. The chief is practically demanding we find the culprit soon."
"Uh… I… I would gladly show you, but…" she sighed, "I can't."
"What do you mean?" Judy inquired.
"I sold it. I needed the extra cash."
The cops exchanged concern glances.
"Oh, Viv, this is really bad, if you can't prove you have your own ring…"
"Now wait-a-minute, Nick, we were with her when the kidnapping happening, surely she can't be a suspect."
"Yes, but remember no one could get into that party without being on the list, that they could have hire someone to mess with the chandelier, they could have also hired someone to do the kidnapping…"
Vivian gasped, "Nicky! You can't be suggesting…"
"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm just trying to put all the pieces together in this puzzle."
Judy turned to the vixen, "Vivian… do you swear that you sold that ring?"
"Yes."
"Then who did you sell it to?"
"A Mr. Craver, he owns a pawn shop. Near the beaches of Savanna Central."
"We'll check it out." Nick said as they headed back to their car.
Judy was about to get in when she heard someone running. She looked around the area but there was no one in sight. She got in and drove.
They found the pawn shop, once they got inside. Judy called out, "Hello! Mr. Craver?"
There was rustling in the back before a platypus appeared to the front. Assuming they were just ordinary customers since Nick and Judy didn't have their uniforms on, he greeted them in a cheery tone.
"Welcome! Welcome! How can I be of service to you?"
Nick started, "We're looking for a ring."
"Rings! Oh, that is so beautiful, you're such a lovely couple heading down the path of happiness and marriage, of course you need an engagement ring!" he started getting a large jewelry case full of rings.
Judy tried to say, "Oh, but you don't understand, we…"
"Want it to be perfect! Of course! Don't worry, I have only the finest selection!"
She could see Nick's tired expression that was saying, 'This is getting ridiculous.'
She nodded in agreement. And quickly yelled out, "Stop!" she showed her badge, "We're only trying to find a class ring that was sold to you!"
Mr. Craver blinked and gapped, "Oh! Oh, I am so sorry! When you said you wanted a ring, I just thought…"
Nick said, "Well, you weren't too far off, we are a couple but we're not engaged. Right now, we're officers trying to find a class ring that Vivian Foxworth sold to you."
Judy took out the evidence ring, "It looked like this."
"Let me see that." he put on a loupe and started inspecting it, "Hmm… interesting… very interesting…"
"What's interesting?" both of them asked.
"That is indeed the very ring I received from Ms. Foxworth."
"WHAT?!" they gasped.
"It's true, I keep records of all the items I get and I recognize the markings from when it was here."
The cops were stunned.
Nick slowly said, "But how…?"
Judy motioned, "The culprit must have found the ring and bought it, no doubt as a way to keep us off their trail…" she turned to the pawn shop owner, "Do you remember who bought this?"
"Alas, I don't. I have many customers, so I don't remember faces or the purchases they made."
"You don't keep a list of things sold?!" Nick practically yelled.
"Why should I? The idea of a pawn shop is receiving and selling things. I'm sorry I can't be of more help."
"We understand, it's just I'm afraid we've hit another dead end, that's why my partner's feeling frustrated."
"Don't blame him, I would be too."
"Thank you for your help." the bunny smiled as they set off.
He called back, "You're welcome! And if you do change your mind about the rings, let me know!"
Nick mumbled under his breath, "For the record, I wouldn't get you a ring from a pawn shop."
"Did you say something?" she questioned while she kept her eyes on the road.
"I'm surprise you didn't catch it. I thought you were supposed to have really good hearing."
"One, I'm busy driving, and two, I'm concerned for Vivian, we're back to square one and it turns out it was her ring in the first place. The chief had the right to yell this morning, if we can't prove Vivian had nothing to do with those "accidents", then she'll likely end up in jail!"
The fox frowned, "And Joel would be without his mother… we can't let that happen!"
"The only thing left to go on is the missing bolts from the chandelier. If we find them we find the attacker."
"Carrots, what makes you so sure they would keep incriminating evidence against themselves? Those bolts are long gone."
"It's the only thing that can prove Vivian's innocence."
"Not necessarily… I know you're not going to like this but it's time we step up our game and catch this guy in the act!"
She gasped, "No! Our job is to protect Gazelle, not have her as bait!"
"What else can we do, Judy? We've been hitting road block after road block. The only way we're going to catch this attacker is that Gazelle makes an appearance. They haven't attacked since we've put her into hiding, giving us no further clues to finding them. This is a risk we have to take."
Her ears drooped, she didn't want to admit it but he was right, what choice did they have at this point? She sighed, "We'll do it only if Gazelle wants to."
He nodded.
They entered the house when they heard Gazelle talking.
"A concert in the park?"
Carlos' voice could be heard, "Yes! This is your chance to show Zootopia how fine and strong you are from these awful occurrences! How you can rise from tragedy!"
"Hm… I do want to show my fans that I'm alright but I don't think Officer Hopps and Officer Wilde are going to like it."
"Let me talk to them. I can explain to them that animals are demanding to see you again. And the numbers just keep growing."
While still being unseen, Nick gave Judy a smirk.
She rolled her eyes, Yes, I know, this works well with what we were talking about…
Nick winked as he walked in the room, pretending he didn't hear the conversation, "What keeps growing?"
Carlos faced the cop, "Officer Wilde! We were just talking about you and Officer Hopps!"
"Oh? Is that so? Hope it was good stuff about us."
"While it's true you two are capable officers, but we were hoping to discuss of Gazelle making an appearance at the park."
"Really? Well, it's certainly something I must talk over with my partner."
"Surely, with the two of you there, Gazelle will be safe."
"Very true. So I see no reason why not for Gazelle to have a concert."
"Good! Very good! I shall make all the arrangements then. Good day." he went out.
Nick couldn't help but laugh.
Gazelle had to ask, "What's so funny?"
Judy sighed as she explained, "I'm afraid Nick was leading him on like the ex-con artist he is. It shames me to admit it, but we're getting desperate to catch your attacker, you wanting a concert helps us proceed with it. We were going to ask you until we overheard."
The singer gave a small smile, "Frankly, I was getting desperate myself. I can't sit around waiting anymore. I need to get back to what I do best."
"But our objective is still your safety, and I just know the chief is going to blow a fuse when I have to tell him, we need you to catch the animal responsible. If we had a double, we would still keep you safe."
Nick suddenly said, "Wait-a-sec, why didn't we think of this before?! Gina! She's Gazelle's impersonator!"
Judy gasped, "You're right! She would be the perfect body double!"
"Gina? I haven't seen her since… But wait, she's impersonating me?"
Judy clarified, "That's what she does, she performs in a nightclub acting like you to give animals a chance to experience a Gazelle-like concert."
"Oh. That's… good, I guess?" she gave an uncertain look.
"Something wrong?" Nick questioned.
"Well… Gina is my oldest friend, it was a tie between her and Harry as my best friend, but Gina and I were practically sisters. Sadly, though, she was the one that started the bullying and I followed. But once I made the first move to stop it, she started following me. We still did everything together until Carlos saw the concert and heard my solo. He came straight to me and offered my chance to stardom. I never saw my friends again after graduation. I wondered what happen to them but between learning Harry is in prison and Gina impersonating me, I wonder what I could have done to help them…"
The partners exchanged looks as Judy gestured, "Sometimes… you can't, some things just happen for a reason. Take me and Nick for example."
The fox took over, "I never thought a bunny, much less a cop bunny, would blackmail me to helping her solve a case and end up loving her." he glance lovingly.
"And I never would have thought I would fall for a fox." she smirked.
"So… it's just the way it is?"
They nodded.
Gazelle sighed, "Well, at least I'll be able to see her again."
Judy said, "I'm sure she can't wait to see you again too."
Nick pointed, "Come on, Carrots, we better get back to the station and tell the chief of our latest plan."
"Do we have to?"
"Oh, yeah."
When they got to the station, they noticed that things seemed dark. The mood was gloomy as they got inside. They got to the front desk where they saw Clawhauser was blowing his nose.
"Ben?" Nick said.
"What's going on?" Judy asked in concern, "Why is the station so dreary?"
"Oh, guys… it's Francine and Roy… they… they were trying to stop an armed robbery and… they got shot!"
They gasped.
"They're alive thank goodness, but they're in critical condition. Chief's with them at the hospital right now, if you have something to tell him, you better go there."
Judy motioned, "While we're at it we can see Francine and Roy."
"You want to WHAT?!"
The nurses around them shushed the large police chief.
Judy started, "Sir, we won't be putting her direct danger, we'll be using a double to fool the attacker."
"Admit it, Chief, it's a good plan."
"Stuff it, Wilde. I'll say whether or not it's a good plan." there was a pause before he stated, "It's a good plan but you better be warned, now that two of our larger officers are badly wounded there wouldn't be much back-up. So you better keep on your guard."
"Thanks Chief." said Judy.
"Yeah, thanks Chief."
"We're going to pay a quick visit to Roy and Francine and then we'll go get some sleep for tomorrow."
"Good. I'll expect to see that attacker in jail tomorrow." and he took his leave.
They went into the room where their fellow officers were and had a nice chat with them. As Francine told them what happened with the robbery, it made Nick think of what Finnick told him.
"Dating is fine, but you better not wait too long…"
Suddenly those words made sense when he saw Francine and Roy lying in those hospital beds. That could be me… or… Judy… He glanced down at the rabbit who was focusing on the elephant's tale. We risk a lot being on this job… if something happens to her… I… I don't know what I do without her… But how would I be able to live with myself if I never took the chance to propose… We been through so much already, we know how much we care for each other. What's stopping us? My dream, our friends wanting us to marry, and Judy's confession, and just today that pawn shop owner offered us rings, the signs have never been clearer… I'm going to ask Judy Hopps to be my wife.
