Judy was nearly catatonic by the time they made it back to the ZPD. Sure, in their line of work they have seen some gruesome things, but never anything like they saw back in that dumpster. On top of the horrific nature of the murder, Judy also had to process the fact the murderer seemed to have an interest in her, one that was on the level of obsession.

After he gave the report to the Lieutenant, Nick returned to Judy, helped her into a chair and placed a mug of chamomile tea into her paws in to hopefully calm her nerves. He remained quiet, as he knew that she needed to be able to process this. He simply allowed his presence to be felt near her and he tried his best to keep himself calm even though he could feel the whirlwind of emotions running through his mind.

They sat like this for a while, Judy sipped on her tea and worked to get her breaths under control while Nick just sat next to her, his body pressed to hers so that she could find comfort in his being there. However, Judy finally looked up at him and spoke up. "Nick, what are we dealing with?" her voice was still soft and meek, but he could tell that she forced herself to focus on the case and not what she had just seen.

"I wish I knew Carrots, that's not exactly something that you see every day." He muttered.

She nodded and picked up her pad and started to write furiously all the details she could remember. "Okay, so we know he's obviously very meticulous. I mean, it was almost surgical in the way it was done." She said out loud as her ears folded back against her head so she could concentrate.

"Yeah, it looked like he had a clear plan in the way he dissected the poor weasel." He said and swallowed back the taste of bile from his mouth as he thought back to the crime scene.

She nodded, "And we know he's interested in me for one reason or another." she said glumly, setting her pad down on the desk. She gave an idle thump from one of her prosthetics against the linoleum tile of the floor. "I guess we'll have to wait on the details from the coroner until we can find out more about his methods and the way the victim died."

He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a loving hug. "Don't worry Carrots, we'll catch this psycho, it won't matter what he tries to do to us. We have each other, and that is all that matters right now. You and I are on this case, we have solved harder. We got this."

She buried her muzzle against his chest and took in his scent. The cologne he wore had such a sweet smell to it, almost exactly like those berries he loved those much, but underneath that mask of sweetness was that subtle earthy tone of his natural musk. His scent always calmed her down a bit and made her feel a bit safer in their embrace. It was like they were the only two in the world really, the sensation was bittersweet however, It wasn't really them as a pair she was worried about, it was mostly herself. The killer seemed to be doing this out of some sort of spiteful interest in her, and he wouldn't stop until the culprit was caught red-handed.

"Nick, it's not us I'm worried about; I'm more than sure we can stop this guy with some time but..." She droned on there, whimpering softly. "I'm scared about what he'll do to other animals to get closer to me. It's hard to decide what our next move is going to be really, knowing that at anytime he could strike again."

"Listen, Carrots." He says grabbing Judy softly, putting his paws on her cheeks. "It'll only drive you insane, this whole case." He says mushing her cheeks softly in a cute fashion, playing with his partner's face. "Come on now, who needs to go out to have date night yeah? I know a pretty good restaurant with some takeout we could order from, I think it'd be pretty nice to get some of that and cuddle tonight." He said and finished his sentence with a soft lick to her cheek."

They wrapped up their day pretty quickly and headed home to their shared apartment, having found one right in Savannah Central that was within walking distance of the precinct. They wasted no time in stripping out of their uniforms and getting into their favorite sleepwear. Judy in one of Nick's t-shirts that was way too big for her, and Nick in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms. Judy had removed her prosthetics and was massaging her stumps lightly while Nick wrapped his fluffy tail around her.

Needless to say, neither of them really had an appetite after what they saw and their boxes of takeout remained untouched as the pair tried to immerse themselves in some cheesy primetime television. No matter what it was they watched, neither of them could really relax, especially Judy. Her ears were folded back against her head, her brow was furrowed as if deep in thought, and even though her gaze was directed at the TV, her eyes were blank.

At the sight of this, Nick waved a paw in front of her. "Helloooooo, Earth to Carrots. Anyone home?"

Judy blinked quickly and looked at him. "Hm? What?"

"You're doing it again." He said with a frown.

"Doing what Nick?" her brow furrowed again.

"You're blaming yourself for what the killer is doing." He said. While his voice had the usual aloofness, his eyes betrayed his worry and concern for her.

"Can you blame me Nick? I mean, he left a note addressed to ME. Clearly he's doing this because of me for some reason. I can't think of anyone other than Bellwether who has a grudge against me and she's in a maximum security prison!" She shouted, her breaths starting to quicken and her heart pounded rapidly in her chest. "I'm scared Nick." She whimpered and buried her face in her paws to hide the sob that hiccupped out of her chest.

His ears flicked back and forth in distress, his eyes shifting back and forth, quickly trying to think of a way to cheer up his rabbit compatriot. "Clearly the Carrots I know isn't here today." he said softly and knocked on her bunny noggin as a half chuckle, half sigh escaping his lips. "The Judy I know and love wouldn't let herself get all bummed out over this psycho, y'know we'll bring him in and put a stop to whatever this half-bit psycho has to do with you. I have your back Judy, you're my girl. You'll always be my girl." He says pulling her in for a tight hug.

"Nick it's not that…" she started, but was cut off by him.

"The Judy I knew stared down a Savage Jaguar and saved my life, told a chief who wanted to put her out of the way to put it on hold for you because you knew you could solve the case." He smiled. "You took down two corrupt mayors and are a top officer of the ZDP, and you're the only woman in this world I could ever love this much." He finished with a sigh, his face a bit red from all the breath he had let out in the past few minutes.

Admittedly, Judy sometimes wanted to slap that grin off his face but she couldn't help but smile. "You're right but I just don't know what to do."

"Y'know that's a pretty simple answer there carrots, we're gonna waltz in there and annoy everybody until we solve the case, that's what we do every time." He said with a sly chuckle and flicked his tail against her nose softly.

She squeaked when his tail brushed her nose but let out a giggle at what he said. "Fine, you sly fox. But if we're going to go to work, we should at least get to bed."

"Don't have to tell me twice, I'm beat." He said and scooped her up in her arms. "Come on, let's call it a night."

He carefully carried her to the bedroom they shared and placed her on the bed. She scooted herself into her spot and dug under the blankets as Nick slid into his spot and wrapped his body around hers. As a finishing touch, Nick tucked his tail between her legs and in front of her which she wrapped her arms around and snuggled tightly. This was their favorite way to sleep. No matter what evils they've faced or what nightmares haunted them, when they were like this, sleep came easy and their dreams stayed peaceful. It wasn't long before their breathing evened out and they drifted into their shared slumber.

It was around 2 in the morning when the God awful ringtone that Nick kept on his God-forsaken cell phone went off, blitzing at full volume to go and wake them both up.

~ "AH, AH, AH STAYIN' ALIVE" ~

Nick groaned and reached over to his nightstand to fumble blindly for the source of the racket. He managed to press the answer icon thanks to muscle memory and pressed the phone to his ear.

"Mnnh... Detective Wilde here, what can I help you with?" He grumbled nonchalantly, a bit of sleep deprivation in his tone as he responded slowly. "Yeah? Well we'll be right on it, I'll see you soon, bye." he said before he tossed his phone out of his paw and onto the chair next to the bed. He groggily sat up, turned to his partner, and stared at her with heavy eyes having noticed that she was awake. "Well, I suppose we have another kitnapping on our hands Carrots." He sighed and scratched his sides before he jumped out of the bed. "Witness statements match our description, we're definitely out to see another tragedy, so prepare your stomach alright?

Since it was only around 3 in the morning by the time they made it to the crime scene, there was very little activity aside from the officers on scene. They were greeted by a night shift officer that neither have met before, a rather chipper deer. He shook both their paws and gave them a friendly smile.

"Detectives! Good to finally meet ya!" he said in a tone that was way too chipper for this time of day. "So here's what we got. A bunny was walking towards her car after a late shift at the diner over there and a black van stopped near her. Apparently a single assailant grabbed her and threw her into the back of the van before speeding off. Fortunately, the entire diner got a good look at him doing it, however he was wearing a mask and a body suit so we don't even know his species." He said, closing his notebook. "Worst part is he covered his plates so we couldn't get the number.

Judy's ears fell back at this and immediately shoved her pad back into her pocket with a huff before she headed towards the victim's car.

Nick sighed and shook the officer's hoof. "Thanks Officer Buck." He said to the deer who nodded and headed towards his patrol car.

By the time he made it to where Judy was standing, she was staring intently at the skid marks left by the van as they were photographed by a CSI tech.

"Whoever he is, he's good." She grumbled and turned her gaze towards the spilled contents of the bunny's purse. There were the usual items a female would carry: makeup, wallet, hygiene products, but what caught Judy's eyes the most was a blue flower that had been laid carefully on the purse. She punched Nick in the arm to get his attention before she put on a glove to pick it up. "Nick…please tell me I'm seeing things. Is this-"

"Yes…that's a Nighthowler." He said, his eyes wide and ears back.

"I thought they put these under the controlled substance list, only farmers are able to get them." Judy said and looked down at where the flower had been laid. Sitting on top of the purse and originally hidden by the flower was a small folded square of paper with 'Judy' written across it in a fanciful cursive script.

She put the flower into the evidence bag that Nick held out and carefully unfolded the note to read its contents. "Dear Judy, I hope it's you that reads this letter first. I wanted to give you this flower, it made me think of you and how beautiful you are. Just remember not to eat it, we all know what happens! Oh! Don't worry about the bunny, I'm not going to kill her yet, I have something special planned for her. Best wishes, your biggest fan!" she read aloud and looked up to Nick.

"Well, if I wasn't convinced before, this basically sets the statement in stone. This guy's a fucking basket-case." He said as he put a paw to his face to rub his eyes softly.

While her reaction was shocked, she wasn't paralyzed by it now. Instead, her brow furrowed in thought and she began to pace slowly with the springs on her prosthetics creaking lightly with each step. "Nighthowler…Nighthowler…you can't just walk into a florist and get the flower anymore…you have to be a farmer or some licensed in bug control." She muttered to herself. "We may have a lead Nick!" she said eagerly and dashed off to their unmarked cruiser.

Nick simply chuckled and followed behind her, having to take the driver's seat since she couldn't operate the gas and brake pedals anymore. She occupied herself with her notes and the way she was writing, Nick was half worried the page would catch on fire.

"My thought is, we call the two farms that are authorized to grow and distribute Nighthowler flowers and see if they've had any odd purchases recently and if not we'll call out to the farm supply shops in the surrounding boroughs to see if they've had any stock gone missing." She said eagerly and kicked her prosthetic's hooves against the floor of the cruiser before stealing a glance at her watch that read the time as being five in the morning.

"First things first. We have to drop this stuff off at the labs to have them check it for prints or DNA." He replied as he made the turn into the underground parking garage of Precinct One.

They filled out the forms and dropped the evidence into the slot for the labs before headed into the elevators towards their office. After a brief stop in the Lieutenants office to leave a check in report, they sat at their desks and began their phone calls, hoping this lead panned out.

"Thank you, you've been very helpful." Judy said and set the phone in the receiver before she laid her head on the desk. "Two farms, twenty distribution centers, and farm supply stores that are authorized to sell the flower within three hours of the city and not one of them is missing so much as a bulb." She grumbled.

Nick simply smiled and pet the top of her head. "Don't fret it carrots. We at least filtered them out of the equation and know he's not with any of the farms."

She sighed and nodded. "Yeah, but that doesn't get us any closer either. Ugh!"

Before Nick could respond again, Clawhauser's chipper voice chimed over the intercom. "Ooooh detectives! Dr. Growley would like to see you down in the examiner's labs!"

"Thank you Clawhauser." Nick replied and gently pat her on the shoulder. "Come on Carrots, we can mope after we find out what the labs found out."

She nodded and stood up to follow him towards the elevators to the basement where the labs were.

The examiner's labs had a strong sterile smell to them, as if the entire place was painted in formaldehyde. Sitting in a rolling stool was Dr. Growley, a stern looking African Wild Dog that barely acknowledged their presence when they walked in. After he finished whatever it was he was writing, he turned to them, his expression unchanged.

"Detectives, I have some news for you about your case." He said in a voice that matched his expression.

Judy smiled at him. "You do? Great!" she said eagerly and bounced on her prosthetics that made Growley lift an eyebrow.

"Let's start with your weasel over here." He said, pulling back the sheet to show them the body.

While seeing the body again made their stomachs churn, they were surprised that they weren't as stunned as the last time.

"Your perp most likely is or was a doctor or at the very least someone who has been in the medical field. The way the body was dissected open was surgical in its execution. The cuts down the middle and the way he harvested the organs is nothing short of perfection. Not even the smallest fragments of the removed organs remain in the body. It's excellent work." The doctor said, casting his gaze of his body. "These gashes in the shoulders are from a large blade, either an axe or a sword. This is definitely what killed your victim. However, he was alive when the eyelids were cut off and when the dissection started. Death was definitely a relief for the hell this poor weasel was put through."

Judy appeared sick to her stomach at hearing these lurid details and imagining what the poor mammal went through in his final hours. "God, that's awful." She squeaked and was thankful that she managed to keep her breakfast down.

Dr. Growley nodded, covering the body back with the sheet. "It's a shame, no mammal deserves that fate." He said solemnly. "Well, now we have the evidence that you brought today. While I couldn't pull any prints from the note or flower. I did find something interesting with the Midnicampum holicithias sample you brought in." he sat at his desk and pulled up an enlarged photo. "The stamen has been removed from the flower."

"Why's that interesting?" Nick asked.

"Well, the way Midnicampum holicithias' psychotropic effects start is the pollen from the stamen mixes with the fluids found inside of the flower when ingested or injected. The reason it's interesting is that the stamen has been removed by plucking so someone is harvesting the pollen for something." Growley said with a shrug.

Nick furrowed his brow and seemed to be deep in thought. "I think I heard Fin mention something about this. Something about underground drug rings using the Nighthowlers for some kind of high. I'll give him a call."

Judy nodded as Nick walked out and pulled out his cell phone. She returned her gaze to Growley. "Thank you for all your help doctor!" she said, shaking his paw and turned to the door.

"Detective Hopps." He called after her. "Be careful. I've seen this kind of case before, and I don't want to see you on my slab." He finished and turned back to his computer.

Judy gulped and nodded before she pushed the door open and headed back upstairs.

When Judy got back to her desk, Nick had just wrapped up his call with Finnick. He gave her a confident smile and set his phone on the desk.

"Fin said that there's a new ring that found that the pollen from the Nighthowler flowers gives a high similar to Catnip but with much stronger effects. He's going to poke around and see what he can find out for us." He said with a grin.

She nodded and returned his infectious smile. "Good, hopefully we'll turn something up." She said and began to type up a report of the day so far.

Before she could get very far, their intercom paged and Clawhauser's voice chimed over the speakers. "Ummm, detectives. There's a bunny here. She said that she knows your kitnapped bunny."

They looked at each other with wide eyes and Judy spoke up. "Umm, yeah, send her up!"

"Right away!" Clawhauser said in his chipper voice.

A few moments later, a bunny with dark grey fur sat across from Judy's desk. She wore a very brightly colored sleeveless dress with many intricate geometric patterns stitched into it and wrapped around her head was a band with a matching pattern sewn into it. Perhaps the most interesting thing about her was the fact that she had heterochromatic eyes. The left green and the right blue. She bore a polite smile and graciously took the paws of both Nick and Judy in hers as a greeting.

"Hello, thank you for seeing me Detectives. My name is Lulu Sikya'tavo and I was made aware of one of our daughters disappearing." She said in a soft and almost maternal voice.

Nick and Judy shared a look that made Lulu chuckle.

"Oh, forgive me. I'm the Shaman of the Hoppi tribe out in the meadowlands. Shophan was a member of our tribe. She was the one that was taken last night."