Judy clapped her paws together as the ZPD precinct came into view in the distance. She glanced over at the digital clock on the dashboard of the cruiser. 7:58 flashed back at her.
"We're going to be on time!"
"Just barely," Nick replied, as he drove the cruiser through the front gate and angled for Judy's parking spot.
Earlier, Judy had rushed to get ready, hurriedly changing back into her normal field uniform, while Nick pulled the cruiser around the front of the apartment to meet her. Now, she finished fastening the straps on her vest and prepared to jump out of the cruiser.
The cruiser lurched to a halt in the parking space and Nick and Judy threw off their seatbelts and leapt from the cruiser.
Judy ran ahead of Nick and into the station. Behind her, Nick called out "it's not that big of a deal, Carrots!" but Judy noticed that he was still following hastily behind her. They ran through the hallway, briskly walked through the lobby, tiptoed past Chief Bogo's office, and finally ended up at the holding cells.
Officer Swinton was sitting behind the check-in desk in front of the holding cells staring at the computer monitor in front of her intensely. When she heard Nick and Judy approaching, she reached for a clipboard, a pen, and a set of keys, and then set them on the counter, all without taking her eyes off of the monitor.
"Officer Hopps. Officer Wilde. Sign in please."
Judy took the pen and looked at the clock on the wall. 8:01. Judy pursed her lips. So close.
"Are you going to be speaking with those two?" Officer Swinton asked, gesturing in the direction of the cells just out of sight around the corner.
Judy nodded, and turned the pen over to Nick to sign in.
"Good luck," Officer Swinton replied, shaking her head.
"What do we have to deal with?" Nick asked as he finished signing the paper.
After a couple of mouse clicks, Swinton turned the monitor toward them.
"Nate and Nicko Cooper, twin brothers. No priors on either. Lots of traffic violations though. Speeding, illegal parking, illegal modification, you name it." Officer Swinton shrugged. "They sure were uncooperative though. I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to their backgrounds than we have here."
"Duly noted." Nick grabbed the keys and bowed under the head-level turnstile that separated the reception area from the cells themselves and turned the corner to where Officer Swinton had pointed.
Judy made a move to follow him, but spun around to Officer Swinton again, remembering something.
"You do have thenicest car on the force, by the way," Judy said, backpedaling under the gate.
"Told you so," came Officer Swinton's reply as she once again became absorbed in whatever was on her computer screen.
Judy joined Nick in front of two adjacent cells. The cells themselves were both wide and tall, being designed to hold even the largest of mammals. They were completely bare inside, except for a long metal bed that ran along the wall. In the leftmost cell, a raccoon lay on the bed with his paws behind his head. The second raccoon stood in the adjacent cell, his head pressed up against the bars. His eyes were closed and he looked almost like he was sleeping. Nick paced in front of them for a couple of seconds. There was no way that they hadn't noticed the two cops just outside of their cells.
Nick stopped in front of the left cell. "Nate," he said, pointing at the raccoon laying down. He turned to the next cell. "Nicko. Did I get that right?"
The raccoon's eyes shot open. He pushed himself away from the bars and yawned.
"Do you hear something, Nate?" he said while making exaggerated stretching motions.
"Let me look." The other raccoon sat up and his eyes darted all around his cell, before finally settling on Nick, who gave him a little wave.
"Oh look, a cop," Nate said, before he noticed Judy positioned behind Nick. "Two cops, actually."
"Ah, they're going to go for old 'good cop, bad cop' routine," Nicko responded. "Which one do ya think is the bad cop?"
"I dunno. They both look like bad cops to me. I mean, look at this. Look at this!"
"I see them! A rabbit cop! Well I never. There's no way a rabbit can be a cop, let alone a good one." Judy began thumping her foot. She did not like where this conversation was heading.
Nicko shot Nick a piercing glare, and his upper lip curled in obvious anger. "And a fox. This one's the bad cop. Lying, deceitful, backstabbing…"
Nick held up his paw, and the raccoon bit his tongue, his jaw still quivering. "If you want to talk about your feelings, we can do it in the interrogation room," he said calmly, not letting himself be visibly bothered by the raccoon's outburst. "I was going to ask who wanted to go first, but it appears that you have a lot to say, Nicko."
The raccoon dropped his head, staring at the floor. "It's 'Nick-oh', not 'Neek-oh.' Do you have a problem pronouncing that?"
"No problem," Nick replied as he unlocked the cell door. "We will have a problem if the two of you don't have your stories straight though. Come on, 'Neek-oh.'"
Nick and Judy escorted the surprisingly obedient raccoon into the interrogation room. Inside was a small metal table with chairs on either side and a single light hanging overhead, leaving the walls cloaked in shadow. Nick guided Nicko to one chair and then joined Judy just outside the door.
"Do you want to do the questioning, good cop?" he whispered to her.
"Well, I wasn't there so you should start and I'll step in if I have to," she replied. "Oh, and I'll take care of the recording too.'
Nick nodded and they went into the room together, with Judy closing the door behind them.
Nick sat down, spread his paws on the table and eyed the raccoon for a moment before speaking.
"Let's go over why you're here. Yesterday, you were illegally parked in a fire lane. When a ZPD officer approached you, you and your brother both took off. One high speed chase later, and here we are. My question is simple. Why? Why would you run?"
Nicko squirmed in his seat and refused to look Nick in the eyes. "Well… uh… you could say that we have had some… unpleasant encounters with your officers in the past."
Nick raised an eyebrow. "You were scared?'
Nicko nodded. "In fact, I can safely say that I have never had a positive interaction with the police. Ever. So I wasn't keen on talking to you guys." He sighed. "But here I am."
"So you're saying that your first instinct was to run? That seems… irrational," Judy chimed in. "I don't understand."
"I wouldn't expect you too, rabbit," he snapped at her. Nick shot him a glare, and the raccoon met his eyes for the first time. "But I thought a fox would understand. I feared that things might escalate. We could, you know, get accused of more than just a stupid traffic violation. Just for being… you know. Us." He pointed at his own face.
To Judy, Nick appeared lost in thought. He didn't move for what seemed like the longest time. Finally, he spoke.
"I do. I understand your hesitation. But I'm not dumb." Nick leaned in closer. "What you did was extreme. There has to be a reason beyond you not feeling sociable."
Nicko sat back in his chair, shying away from Nick. "You tell me Mr. Fox. What other reasons would I have?" When Nick didn't respond immediately, he added, "didn't find anything in the car, did you?"
Nick groaned internally. It was true that neither he nor Officer Fangmeyer had found anything incriminating. The raccoon clearly knew how the game was played; Nick could see him gaining confidence with every passing second.
"Let's see. You definitely have an evasion charge on me, but there was no property damage and no one got hurt. I should be able to plead that one down. Heck, I might not even serve time…"
Nick barely heard the raccoon's ramblings. He was too busy thinking back to the previous day. Nicko had unwittingly reminded him of something that had felt slightly amiss…
"I'll definitely lose my license though. That sucks. It's never stopped me in the past, though. Oh wait, there is that fence. And the fire hydrant. Maybe I can…"
"Alright, that's enough." Nick snapped back to reality. "That's all I need from you right now. You can go back to your cell now." Nick stood up and motioned for Nicko to do the same.
The raccoon stared at him, dumbfounded. "But we just got here!" He stood up and let Nick guide him to the door. "You really are a bad cop."
Judy opened the door for the two of them. As he passed by, Nick noticed that she wore the same look of confusion that Nicko had.
Just trust me. I know what I'm doing. I think.
Nick deposited Nicko back in his cell and jogged back around to the front desk.
"Hey Swinton! I need you to look something up for me." He pulled up in front of the desk, and was very quickly joined by Judy.
"Nick, what's going on? What are you thinking?"
"That raccoon asked me if I found anything in the car."
Judy nodded, still confused.
"Well, that's the thing, Carrots. There was nothing in there. No crumbs on the floorboard. No drink in the cup holder. Nothing in the glove compartment."
Judy squinted at him. "Maybe he just likes having a clean car."
Nick shook his head. "What I'm trying to say is that it seemed new. Or at least not used. I doubt he had it for very long." Nick turned to address Officer Swinton. "Can you give me the history report for both of their cars?"
"Sure thing." As she clicked away, Nick continued.
"It's not only that, but also the type of car it was. Think back. These guys have been hit with countless speeding and illegal modification tickets. If I had to guess, I would say that they are gearheads. And yet, they were driving the most nondescript cars imaginable yesterday."
"Fifteen-year-old Zooyotas, to be precise," Officer Swinton interjected. "Here's your report, Wilde," she said, squinting at her computer screen. "Huh, it seems that you were right. Both cars were purchased just last week from a dealership." She scrolled down further. "Some place called Prestige Used Cars."
"Where?"
"Oh, uh… Outback Island."
Nick flipped around to Judy. "That's where we're going Carrots. Are you ready?"
Nick was in full detective mode. Judy couldn't help but be impressed, although she wondered whether Nick was perhaps taking things a bit too quickly.
"Wait, wait, wait. Our suspects are here. We should follow through with them a little more thoroughly," she said, holding a paw up in front of her as if she were directing traffic.
Nick shook his head. "We won't get anything out of them. Trust me, I know their type. If there's something else going on here, we're going to have to figure it out for ourselves."
Judy studied Nick's face closely. He obviously believed in what he was saying.
"Alright. Outback Island it is."
The glare from the sun was blinding as the cruiser emerged from the tunnel. Judy brought the sun visor down and glanced over at Nick in the passenger's seat next to her. He had his paws behind his head and it was hard to tell whether he was sleeping or not, as his eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.
Sunglasses definitely aren't a bad idea today, Judy thought.
Despite the fact that it wasn't even ten o'clock yet, the sky was a bright blue and it was obviously very hot outside, as there was steam coming off the road in front of them. Just up ahead, the mainland of Zootopia ended, giving way to the straight that lay between it and Outback Island. Connecting the two was a long, pearl white suspension bridge that disappeared into the middle of a cluster of skyscrapers on the other shore. The sleek, modern skyline over the crystal clear water always managed to take Judy's breath away.
The drive from the precinct had been quicker than Judy anticipated, as they had managed to avoid the worst part of rush hour. Currently, the roads were relatively clear and traffic flowed smoothly. Judy contemplated rolling down the window, before she remembered that they were still on the job. A joy ride would have to wait until later.
Judy looked over to Nick and noticed that he appeared slightly uneasy. Actually, now that she thought about it, she was getting really good at reading him. Given his con artist background, this realization was slightly surprising to her.
"What's up, Nick?"
Nick stared out the side window, watching the opulent glass buildings whip by. "I haven't been here for the longest time."
"Did you have a bad experience or something? Here?"
Outback Island had the reputation of being the nicest district within Zootopia, even in comparison to downtown. In fact, the district seemed to operate more or less independently of the rest of the city. The area Judy was currently driving through was a business district not unlike downtown Zootopia, just on a smaller scale. It also had a reputation of being much quieter and safer than its counterpart. In fact, in the nearly two years that Judy had been on the force, she had only been on two other assignments to the district.
"I feel a little out of my element. I'll just leave it at that." Nick fell silent again, still staring out the window. Judy didn't give his comments any further thought.
They continued going straight through downtown until mammals became more and more sparse. Commercial buildings were replaced by residential buildings – still upscale Judy noticed, despite being so far away from the district center – and the flow of traffic picked up significantly.
"Alright, I'm going to need directions, Nick."
"Sure thing, Carrots." Nick pulled out his phone and tapped away for a moment. "Let's see. It says that we'll need to do a one hundred eighty degree turn on Market Street."
It took Judy a second to process what he had just said.
"Wait. It's back there?" There had been no indication of a car dealership anywhere. No sign on the side of the road. No cars sitting out on a lot. Nothing.
"I would think that's what that means." Nick had the same puzzled look on his face as Judy.
Eventually, Judy managed to get the cruiser turned around and headed back in the direction they had come from.
"Turn right here!" Judy heeded Nick's instruction and found herself heading down a narrow residential street. At the end of the street was a large dirt lot that just so happened to be filled with cars.
"Huh. I guess that's it," Nick said.
Judy pulled into the lot and looked around. In front of her were rows of cars of various shapes and sizes. Judy estimated that the inventory must have been close to a hundred, and not one looked newer than ten years old.
"This isn't what I expected it to look like at all." Judy shut the engine off and turned to Nick. "Do you find it suspicious that a car dealership would be hidden back here?"
Nick nodded. "I was wondering about that. I think I might have some ideas." He opened the door to get out.
Judy reached behind him, opened the glove compartment, and produced one of Nick's extra pair of sunglasses. She smiled as she slipped them on, as Nick stared at her, his mouth agape.
"Hey Carrots, what do you think you're doing? Are you trying to copy my style?"
"It's bright outside, so I figured I would try this. How do I look?" Judy adjusted the sunglasses on her nose, as they were just a tad too large.
"If you're going for intimidating, you've got it. You look like a cop that has seen some things."
Judy made a face at him and got out of the cruiser. Nick grinned and did the same. "Can you even see out of those?" he called across to her.
"I can see that there is still a dent in my front bumper that needs to be taken care of." Nick just sighed in response. "Well played," he muttered under his breath.
Judy looked further around noticed what looked like a mobile office trailer near the back of the lot.
"I guess we should say hi."
As Nick and Judy approached the trailer, the door opened and cougar emerged and walked down the metal stairs to meet them. He was tall and carried himself with confidence. His expensive looking suit clashed with the drab nature of his surroundings.
"How can I help you… officers?" He paused as he finally noticed their uniforms and badges.
Judy took the lead. "Can we have a moment of your time? We would like to ask you a few questions."
"Shouldn't be a problem. I'm Jason Koleman, by the way," he said, bending over to extend a paw downward for Judy to shake.
Judy shot her paw up and allowed him to take it in his own. His grip was very gentle, but she could feel his strength behind it. He could probably give Office McHorn a run for his money at arm wrestling. "I'm Officer Hopps." She motioned in Nick's direction with her other arm. "And this is my partner, Officer Wilde."
Jason let go of her paw. "Firstly, I feel that I have to say that I am in no way responsible for what customers do with my vehicles."
Judy shook her head. "Of course not." She needed to keep him from feeling the need to get defensive. "But could you give us some information about them?"
"I suppose so. What do you need to know?"
"We believe that two brothers purchased cars from here last week."
"Ah yes." Judy studied his face, looking for a reaction that might be a tip-off. Nothing came, however. "The Cooper brothers, I believe. I have the paperwork, if that's what you want."
"We were actually wondering if you could tell us more about them. Did they say anything while they were here?
"Anything that made you think, 'oh, they're criminals?'" Nick chimed in for the first time, in his usual wise-cracking manner.
"Not exactly. They didn't say much at all. It seemed like they had already made their minds up about what they wanted to get, so they were in and out."
"They had already made their minds up?" Judy hesitated for a moment, deciding whether to press him on the matter. She decided to go for it. "See, we actually had a hard time finding this place. How would they know about you, let alone what vehicles you have here?"
Jason's eyes narrowed and his tone became sharper. "Oh, that's easy. I do all my advertisement online and you can see the entire inventory on my website." The way he said it gave Judy the impression that he did not like the direction she had tried to take the conversation.
"Are you the only one that works here?" Nick asked, stepping in for Judy as she gathered her thoughts.
"Yes. I do everything around here. This whole thing is basically my little project."
"Ohhh." Something about the way he said it piqued Judy's interest. "How is that working out for you?" she asked.
"I do alright. Why do you ask?" It was clear that Jason would much rather talk about literally anything else besides himself.
"Oh… uh… I just didn't expect someone like you to be in a place like this." Everything instantly became silent. Judy assumed that her comment has perfectly innocuous, but the pained look that appeared on Jason's face plus the quick glare that Nick shot her said otherwise.
"Are… are those all the questions you have for me, officers? I really should be getting some work done."
Judy fell silent and Nick muttered an affirmative. Jason turned and headed back for his office, stopping when he reached the front steps.
"You guys probably came from downtown, right? I'm sorry that you came so far for nothing." And with that he disappeared back inside the trailer.
Judy and Nick stood there for a couple of seconds before wordlessly heading back for the cruiser.
Judy was the first one to break the silence.
"Wha… what happened back there?" she asked as she put on her seatbelt.
Nick clicked his tongue a couple of times, thinking of exactly what to say.
"I think you insulted him," he said finally.
"Wait, what? What did I say?"
"Let me see if I remember this correctly. I think you said: 'I wouldn't expect to find someone like you in a place like this,'" Nick said in a singsong voice, his best impression of Judy.
Judy mulled it over for a second. "Don't see anything wrong with it?" Nick asked.
"Not really. I was trying to say that he seemed above being a used car salesman. I didn't mean anything else by it."
"I know, I know. I'm just going to tell you how he probably interpreted it." Nick leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. "He thought you were saying that he doesn't belong here."
"Here?"
"Outback Island. You know, a place that's not traditionally home to a lot of cougars." Nick turned his head toward her. "Or predators in general, for that matter."
Judy met his gaze. "I don't want to sound naïve, but isn't that the great thing about Zootopia? Everyone is welcome here and you can be anything you want to be. Why would he be uptight about living in Outback Island?"
"This city promises a lot. A place where we can all live in peace and harmony. You know, the idea that there would should be a district for everyone. And yet, there's a contradiction in there."
Judy thought she knew where Nick was going. She had heard similar complaints before. "You mean the idea that each district has developed its own identity?"
Nick nodded. "Kind of. Let's just say that some districts are more… selective… than others. Not everywhere wants to be as diverse as Savanna Central."
Hmpf. Unfortunately, he was right.
"If you want to live somewhere… want to be something out of the norm, it can be hard." There was a raw emotion in Nick's voice that Judy had heard only a couple of times before.
Nick and Judy just sat there for a while. They both knew what that experience was like all too well.
"Should I go apologize to him?" Judy asked.
"Honestly, I'm afraid that you would make it worse."
Judy hung her head.
"Carrots, I didn't mean it like that." Now Nick's voice was full of concern. Is he really worried that he hurt my feelings?
Judy took a deep breath. "Nick. I've learned a lot from you."
"Aww, you flatter me."
Judy looked deeply into his unblinking green eyes. "I'm still learning. Everyday."
"That's all we can do." He flashed her that sly smile that she loved so much.
Judy started the cruiser. "What's our next move?"
Nick shrugged. "Let's get back to the precinct. I have some ideas. Well, one idea in particular."
"Am I going to like it?"
"Maybe, but I don't think he likes you," Nick said with a grin.
Oh great.
Nick sat back in his chair and stared at the papers in front of him. After a while, they started to blur together and Nick's mind began to wander.
What if there is nothing more to this than two knuckleheads making a bad decision? Perhaps I'm wasting my time…
"Nick."
Nick shot straight up in his seat and instinctively pretended to be typing on his keyboard.
"Psssst. Nick. You're off the clock now."
Judy's voice brought Nick back to his senses. For the past several hours, he had been passing the time until his shift was over by trying to catch up on his paperwork. Earlier, he had changed out of his uniform and into his usual, more comfortable, casual attire, but it almost seemed like doing so had torpedoed his productivity. Now, he glanced down at stack of papers that were still unfinished in the draw of his desk. Oh well. It's the thought that counts.
Nick swiveled his chair toward Judy's desk, which lay about five feet to the right of his own. She was watching him closely, her chin resting on her paw. Nick stretched and yawned silently, much to Judy's chagrin.
"Well that was a productive day!" Nick stood up and organized the papers on his desk. "I'll be off then."
Judy got up and followed Nick out of the work room and down the hall toward the lobby.
"Don't you think I should go with you? You know, to patch things up?" Judy asked as they walked.
"Trust me, he's not exactly reasonable when it comes to you. You don't want to hear half the things he says about you or the ZPD."
Judy's nose twitched and her eyes brightened. "I know! You should invite him over for dinner." Nick couldn't tell if Judy was joking or not. He let out a single laugh. Judy glared at him. Oh wait, she's serious. "Fine. Fine. I'll ask."
They reached the lobby and stopped in front of the reception desk.
"Alright. I shouldn't be gone that long so…"
"Judy! Hey, Judy! Oh, and Nick too!"
Clawhauser slid over from the other side of the reception desk until he was within earshot of the two of them.
"Hey, big guy," Nick replied.
"What are you two up to?" Clawhauser asked with a big grin plastered on his face.
"Nick here was just about to go pursue a lead in a case!" Judy responded, seeming a lot more chipper than she had been just a moment before.
"Look at you! Always working!"
"Haha, that's me!" Nick rubbed the back of his head. Clawhauser was always so enthusiastic about everything.
"Anyway, as I was saying, I'll take the subway, so this shouldn't take that long," Nick said, turning back to Judy. "I should be home soon to help you finish unpacking."
Judy smiled at him and nodded. All of a sudden, a sound not unlike air escaping from a bicycle tire emanated next to them.
"Ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh…"
Nick and Judy slowly turned their heads to look at Clawhauser. His eyes were as large as saucers and darted between the two of them.
"Home… unpacking…" Clawhauser flashed an even bigger smile than usual. "Are… are you two living together?"
Nick and Judy flashed each other horrified glances. "D-Don't say anything… I mean no… I mean, maybe." Nick stumbled over his own words.
"When were you planning on telling me? I can't…"
Judy leaned in toward the cheetah. "Clawhauser. We would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else. Just for the moment. Alright?"
Clawhauser nodded vigorously in agreement. "Is… is there something more going on between you than I thought? Awwwwww…" He had his hands on his cheeks in surprise.
"Um… I guess I should be leaving now. I'll let you two finish this discussion," Nick said, pointing at Judy and Clawhauser. He gave Judy a little wave, which she returned, and started walking to the front doors of the lobby.
"Bye Nick! Have fun with… whatever it is that you're doing." Nick gave a little two-figure salute behind him to Clawhauser, but kept walking.
If he was being completely honest with himself, the exchange with Clawhauser had made him nervous. The cheetah had a pretty deserved reputation of being a blabbermouth. Nick estimated the chances of him keeping things a secret at approximately zero percent. Nick was more than a little fearful to learn how his fellow officers would react.
Nick decided that he wouldn't let it bother him at the moment, though. Finnick would just probably laugh at him if he knew how thin his skin had become recently.