Sahara Square

The Palm Hotel

Nick felt like he wanted to jump out of his seat and run through the halls of the Palm Hotel, screaming at the top of his lungs that he, Nicholas P. Wilde, had a date with Judy Hopps, his best friend and the most attractive bunny in Zootopia. He felt like he was in his twenties again, only this time he wasn't getting his thrills from conning animals out of their money. Instead, he was sitting next to his partner in crime, Judy, at the Palm Hotel's dining room waiting for Abdul, their new lead, to arrive.

The work of a police Chief wasn't too romantic, but Nick loved that he got to see Judy every day. Plus, the salary and benefits weren't too bad. But for now, he had to put aside his feelings and try to get into an investigative mindset. Abdul was supposed to be there any second now with information on the thieves that were terrorizing Zootopia for weeks. Grimacing, Nick grabbed at his shoulder as he felt a shooting pain run down his upper back.

"You okay, Nick?" Judy glanced at over at Nick as she was reviewing her case notes.

"Yeah, but my shirt is a bit tight. You know I've been working out more."

"Yeah, okay." Judy giggled.

The waiter came over at that moment "Nick Wilde?" An Abdul is here to see you."

"Oh yes, bring him right over." Some short moments later a stout middle-aged camel joined Nick and Judy at their table. Judy gave him a quick once over; Abdul had on a nice suit, ironed and pressed, carrying a briefcase in his hand.

Judy reached her paw out to shake Abdul's. "Hey Abdul, nice to meet you. We're so glad you're here. Did you just get off work?"

"Uh, yes. It's my lunch break. I, um, wanted to get in touch with you guys after I witnessed the robbery, but well, I don't know - I'm just, just, it was the first time I've ever experienced something like that. I spoke with you," Abdul nodded towards the female police officer. "over the phone. Judy, right?"

"Yes, you did. My name is Judy Hopps." Sensing the camel's nerves, Judy's voice softened. "You're very brave for reaching out to us. The ZPD is here to keep you safe," Judy gestured towards her partner. "This is the Chief of ZPD, Mr. Wilde, he's helping me out today."

"It's nice to meet you, Sir. Like Judy said, we're here to help. Would you like something to drink, maybe something to eat? I could go for a sandwich." Nick waved over the waiter.

After some more chit chat, they found that Abdul was an accountant in his mid-forties, living in the suburbs of Sahara Square, with his wife and three children. He was on his lunch break last week when he stepped into the bank that had been robbed, waiting in line to deposit his paycheck.

"I was terrified. They threw me onto the ground…I-I was so sure that I was a goner. Well, everybody knows that they're mid-sized animals, they've been caught on video. But nobody knows if they're prey or predator. Sheep or wolf. They bundle themselves up and use masks to hide their facial features. What I can tell you is that there was a group of four inside. The leader was the tallest of them, I didn't catch a good look, but he dropped something when he ran out." Abdul opened up his briefcase to reveal, much to Judy's surprise, a cell phone.

"With all due respect, why didn't you report this to the police officers who responded to the crime scene?" Judy shot Nick a warning glance, he could tell his voice was rising, but Abdul was stressing him out. This was the most anxious animal he'd ever met. If the camel just handed over the cell phone to the forensics team the day of the crime, they wouldn't be so behind in this case. "How can we even know if you're telling the truth right now?"

Judy tried to interject for Abdul, but Nick gave her a stern look and held up his paw, "Please, Judy let Abdul explain himself. I mean, this is serious stuff we're dealing with here," Nick turned his attention again to the camel, who had started clasping his paws together in worry.

"Gee, I'm sorry Chief Wilde. This is embarrassing to admit, but I'm a bit of a worry wart. My therapist says I overthink stuff a lot, she's actually the one who convinced me to talk with you guys…I'm sorry I didn't get back to you guys sooner. It's just I left as soon as soon it was clear. I picked it up thinking the cell phone was mine, that it fell out of my pocket," Nick, watching Abdul hand over the evidence to Judy, softened as Judy placed her paw over Abdul's, and thanked him at a tone barely above a whisper. Poor camel, he's a damn mess but right now I just want to get out of here.

When the three of them had finished their lunch and started to get up to leave, Nick took Abdul aside and apologized for being a bit short with him.

"Ah, don't worry about it Chief. Water under the bridge. Sometimes I think our wives hold it better together than we do," Abdul chuckled, he was definitely more relaxed than he was at the beginning of their meeting.

"Well, I wouldn't know about that…"

"Oh, wow, now I'm the one apologizing to you," Abdul let out a small laugh. "I thought you and the officer were married." Smiling, Nick told him that wasn't the case, but it was in the works.