This is a little side project I've been developing. I'm not sure how much of this I will ultimately write, whether it will be a few chapters long, a one off, or a full blown story. That will depend entirely on reader feedback and how much traction it gains. If it does well after a few chapters I may even open it up to other writers like Blkphoenix7, Ghostwolf88, Cimar, Bluelighthouse, (if I can catch their attention) and any others who may wish to contribute to a collaboration. We shall see either way.
Anyway as to stem off any possible questions in regards to What Foxes May Come … No, I'm not abandoning it, I'm just experiencing a huge granite mountain of writer's block with it. Basically I've lost some of my inspiration. I will pick it up again at some point, perhaps after this work, or perhaps during. I've seen cases where a new story can reignite the flames of creativity for an old one, which is what I hope happens.
Anyhoo, enough of my rambling. Once you have read this opening chapter, please leave any and all feedback, as this will help me in determining where the story goes and how it will progress. Remember, comments and feedback are a writer's bread and butter, so show your favorite writer some love today. And as always, much thanks to BlkPhoenix7 for the time they took to edit and for all the input.
Welcome to Heart-Beeps, my second ever fan-fic based in the vast world of Zootopia.
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Heart-Beeps
Wilde Manor 7am Monday
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She arrived at the murder scene, a massive home that rivaled that of the Big mansion, Gazelle's palatial estate, or any number of other homes of the absurdly rich. Huge wrought iron gates on massive, yet somehow silent, hinges that were embedded in thick brick and concrete walls. All coated in ornate carvings, frescos, and marble tiles, and stretching as far as she could see in either direction.
Stopping at the gate, she flashed her badge at the officer standing guard,who waved her through with a nod. Pulling through the gate, she continued on the final mile long drive to the main grounds of the estate. The drive wound through a number of hills which hid the home from the road even more than the distance from the road.
The reality was, it made places like the literal palace that Gazelle lived in, seem almost like a small studio apartment on the upper east side of Savannah Central. The view was also just as epic as the home itself, perched at the top of a five hundred meter cliff overlooking the river and smaller islands of the Canal District. She'd read about this place, and the small islands visible in the river beyond the cliff were actually part of the property, essentially making even the water between the estate and the islands, private property.
She was able to see flashing lights from quite a distance, once rounding the last curve around a hill. Several cruisers, a Rescue Med vehicle, as well as a coroner's car. Shaking her head, she knew this would turn into a media blitz once word got out. Only the massive size of the estate would give them some insulation from that, but it wouldn't last. It was like some weird rule of the universe. She was almost surprised that the media sharks hadn't beaten them there. Some big time eccentric billionaire is murdered in his own super secure home, and nobody knows how or why? The media was going to have a field day speculating and hosting only the most ignorant of so-called 'experts' to push positively demented theories of what happened and why, the more absurd and outlandish, the bettter.
She pulled up next to the Med Tech's car and shut off the engine. Looking around briefly, she noted the circular drive with a large ornate fountain in the center, and statuary, which included a number of practically nude busts of what appeared to be vixens, she-wolves and even a bunny or two, dotting the manicured lawn, all seeming to be frozen mid-chase, and not the hunt for food type. Shaking her head at the cliche' scene, she opened the car door.
Stepping out of her car, she made her way to the main door. The mansion was even larger than the pictures she had seen, and she really wanted to explore this mansion, and its history. If Gazelle's place was the palace of a Queen, this was the citadel of an Emperor. It was owned by the now late Johnathan Wilde, Esquire. An absurdly wealthy eccentric, who by all accounts was divorced, and had no known heirs. His ex-wife, Audry Wilde, or Auddy as she was known to her friends, had passed away 16 or so years before. This left Johnathon to his own devices, to which some of those that knew him well, felt was potentially dangerous. An interesting, and slightly concerning data point, to be sure.
He was rarely if ever seen out in public. An event here and there. A Gala or two, but even those became more sporadic over the past decade or so. He was only really ever seen by his personal assistant, live-in cook, house cleaner, and pretty much everything else; a large, dark gray wolf named Bruce. And Bruce was, by all accounts devastated to the point of inconsolable and incoherent babbling and sobbing. As she entered the house, she overheard some of the beat cops saying that the butler did it. A morbid joke at best, as his house cleaner, Marion, had been retired since shortly after Jonathon's wife died, and was now living in Shady Acres, an assisted living center. And truth be told, there never had been a butler.
She was brought out of her musing as a fellow officer greated her. "Mornin Detective Hopps, great day for a mystery eh?"
"Lieutenant Chavez, always a pleasure, how's Mary and the pups?" Detective Hopps asked with a warm smile at the wolf.
"They are well, and the pups are getting huge, won't be long till they are eating solid food. Speaking of which, why don't you stop by, I'm sure Mary would love to see you, it's been a good long while."
"As dinner, or for dinner?" Judy teased, causing his ear to lay back. "I'd love to Rod. Let's see where this case goes first. It has already been a busy morning, and I haven't even had my first carrot latte."
"Of course, of course. Mary cooks a mean vegetable lasagna, you know. We'd love to have you over. By the way, how was your date last Friday?"
"Miserable as usual, they hear that I'm a ZPD detective and I'm stuck footing the bill, and that's the better ones. Getting old to be honest."
"Eh, well I'm sure you'll find someone worthy of you. You have a lot to give to the right mammal."
Coughing slightly to change the subject, Detective Hopps glanced around. "So who's in charge of the scene?"
"Ah yes .. that would be Lieutenant Growler, he is waiting for you in the Library, with the candlestick." Chavez said with a chuckle, pointing in the direction for her to go.
"Thank you Rod, tell Mary I said hello."
"Sure thing Detective, and good luck. If they've called you in, I'm sure you'll have this solved by morning."
Giving a small smile and chuckle as she walked away. "Thanks, Rod. I somehow doubt this one is going to be quite so simple to close up. Bad board game jokes aside."
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Detective Hopps made her way inside the mansion. Looking up, she was once again treated to the sheer size of the place. A low whistle escaped her lips. She remembered how impressed she was the first day she stepped foot inside Precinct 1 all those years ago. It was almost as big as the Hopps warren, if the warren was above ground. And this, merely the entryway, dwarfed even that. Finding the library, she walked in and caught the attention of Lieutenant Growler. Giving him a nod, "Lieutenant, what've we got?"
"Detective Hopps, good day for a mystery eh?" Smirking at the very hard eyeroll the well worn joke got from her. "If you'll follow me, there is somebody I think you should meet," said Growler. "Mind you he's a bit of a stiff and not very talkative." Detective Hopps, rolled her eyes again and chuckled at the somewhat dark humor. Of course being an officer as long as Growler had, one tends to develop a strangely warped sense of humor. One she had long since gained in her own right, even if she didn't tell the jokes that often.
Following Growler, they made their way to the back of the house, through the massive dining room, with its dark, rich woods, Art Deco décor, and out the massive Furench doors onto a patio that overlooked a well manicured lawn that stretched as far as the eye could see. With all the obligatory statuary, massive Koi pond, multiple Zen rock gardens, and pathways. There was even a maze created out of shrubs that led to a gazebo that was perched on a small island in the middle of yet another Koi pond.
Judy didn't have time to marvel at the sight as they turned left and walked down a flight of marble steps. This led to a wide path with what appeared to be part of the foundation to the house on the left and carved marble balusters on the right providing a view out across the river to the small islands beyond. And for a mammal brave enough to be able to look down the height of the cliff the home sat atop, the view was spectacular. They walked a short distance along what was basically an ivy covered cobblestone wall, to another door that was standing open. Heading down another flight of stairs that seemed to just appear, as they were only visible when you were literally right in front of the stairwell. The oddly narrow stairwell was lit by a couple dim, flickering bulbs, that seemed almost as old as her decrepit apartment in the city, and fantastically out of place in the hyper-modern home that had touch screen controls in the walls, LED lighting throughout, and if the reports were to be believed, produced its own water, and enough electricity that the power company owed the estate money every month.
At the bottom of the stairs there was yet another door. Stepping through, Detective Hopps noticed a couple officers she didn't know, and then she saw her… Alanya Sloan, a gorgeous chocolate brown beaver. 'Figures she'd be here, high profile murder and all.' Detective Hopps thought to herself. At least that's what it had been classed as.
As Detective Hopps entered the room, Alyana looked up. "Hello Judy, long time no see."
"Not long enough I assure you." Judy deadpanned.
"A little history between you two?" Growler asked.
"You could say that, but please don't" Judy gave Growler a look that brokered no further discussion on the subject. He wisely snapped his muzzle shut. A few rounds in the sparring ring was her usual punishment to officers that stepped on her tail. A mistake few officers made more than once.
Judy had worked with Growler many times and had something of a working relationship with him. They had been partners for a short time before she was promoted to detective. Growler was actually part of Vice, but had been pulled in due to the high profile nature of the death of Mr. Wilde, according to the briefing she had gotten before being sent out. They were in a sense, friends. Not on the same level as Chavez and herself perhaps, as she trained Chavez when he came fresh from the Academy. Rodrico Chavez, or Rod as he preferred to be called, was a Maned Wolf, or as some referred to his species, a South Animalian Wolf. Looking like a fox, sized like a small wolf, and related to neither. Chavez was quite literally his own mammal. Looking at Alyana. It was time to be professional. "What have we got?"
Pulling back the sheet that currently covered the prone form, Alyana began, "Allow me to introduce you to Johnathan Everett Wilde, Esquire. Former playboy, alleged player, and one time master of this castle."
Judy simply gave her a withering glare.
"Right, moving on. Cause of death has been determined as strangulation." Opening an eyelid on the body, Alyana continued. "Notice the petechial hemorrhaging in the eyes, and even though Mr. Wilde was a Red Fox, you can see definite bruising around the throat and neck."
Hopps glanced back to Growler. "Any signs of break-in or struggle?"
Growler gestured around to the obvious clutter everywhere. "Not so's you'd notice. Mr. Wilde's PA found him like that at roughly 6am this morning, when he brought him his morning coffee." Indicating the body with a wave, "He stated Johnathan had an ever increasing habit of eating and sleeping down here. His PA, Bruce, has already given a statement, corroborated by internal and external CCTV. Everywhere except for down here. It shows him entering the stairway above, and the audio picked up his scream and the crash of the coffee cup." Pointing at the smashed porcelain by the door. "It then shows him running out in tears and calling emergency services. The time between him coming down here and running back out was only about thirty seconds, not nearly long enough to have committed the act."
"Do we have a time of death?" Detective Hopps asked
"I have roughly determined TOD, no pun intended …" Alyana gave a smirk that quickly collapsed.
"Technician Sloan .. " Judy interrupted.
"Sorry, Detective." Alanya snarked. "I have been able to determine the time of death at approximately zero one thirty (01:30 or 1:30am), give or take about fifteen minutes, and confirmed by the coroner."
"Ok well, I think for now, let's get Mr. Wilde over to Meadowlands Central, let Henry know I'll be stopping by at some point to get some supplementals."
"Very good Detective, anything else I can assist with?" Asked Alanya.
"That will be all, Sloan." Judy deadpanned.
Waiting as the med-techs placed Johnathon into a black bag and closed the zipper, Judy stepped aside as they made their way out the door and up the stairs. After the med-techs left, Alyana turned to Judy, "I-I am sorry, it was a pretty messed up thing to do. I -."
"Miss Sloan, I have work to do. If you are done here I'm going to have to ask you to vacate my crime scene." Judy said coldly.
"I- fine." Alyana said with a huff, as she put her gloves in a zipper bag and slapped the bag into her tech kit. Standing, she turned, looked at Judy for a brief moment, several emotions flashing across her face, and quickly walked from the room, the tears in her beautiful hazel eyes obvious.
After Alyana left, Growler glanced back at the door then at Judy. "So, you and her huh?" Judy nodded. "Never pegged you bein' into beaver"
Judy gave Growler a sideways look with a very un-bunny-like smirk. "Yeah, I think it was the tail. So what else do we know?"
Growler shook his head as he chuckled. "Just what you see here, the rest of the place appears to have been unused for months, maybe even years, save for the kitchen, and the small office the PA uses. It would appear that Wilde spent a vast majority of his time down here, Including sleeping," he indicated the small cot in the corner, "which is what the PA claims to be the case. I've got a technician reviewing the security tapes, which seem to be paranoidly extensive, so that is going to take time. There are literally years of tape, though I don't think we need to look at more than the last six months. They've already gone through a month's worth, and Wilde only appears to have left this area three times, and for no longer than a few hours. Once for about ten hours, which corresponded to a galla he was spotted at a few weeks ago. The only thing that is odd is one door that we haven't been able to open, looks to be locked by that nearby paw scanner." Growler said as he gestured toward a nearby wall. "The PA doesn't know what is behind it, and the keys he gave us opened literally everything else, including a vast network of hidden passages. The PA even gave us a map, not that we have found anything, and none of them appear to lead down here, at least not that we have found yet.
Stepping up to the door Judy thumped the doors surface with a knuckle, which gave back a dull metallic clunk. Holding a paw against it as if willing it to open, she placed one of her long ears against the smooth metal of the door, obviously trying to hear if there was any movement or other sounds beyond. Giving a nod, she glanced back at Growler. "Great. Have someone finish exploring and mapping anything not on that map the PA gave us. Perhaps Wilde was using passages the PA wasn't aware of to move around. This place is big enough. It could be how the killer got in here to do the deed." Stepping back she reached over and allowed her paw to hover over the paw reader before placing it firmly on the pad, causing the pad to activate.
"Umm, Judy we already tri-" Growler stopped as there was a beep from the paw reader, the light that had been red, turned green, and several loud, very metallic clunks sounded as locks disengaged. The door slipped open on nearly silent hinges, opening into the room and forcing Judy to step back. Judy glanced briefly at Growler, shrugged and stepped through. No sooner had she stepped through the steel door frame, then the door slammed shut with a sound not unlike a cell door. Jumping forward with a startled "eeep" as the door brushed her tail, she spun around and eyed the offending steel plate for a moment before a sound caught her ears. Turning towards the sound she saw a computer screen light up, and a second paw pad wink to life on a utilitarian, unadorned desk. It almost had the feel of a workbench turned desk. Walking around the desk she noted several cables that were connected to what looked like a bank of blinking lights, with several other much larger cables snaking off into the darkness.
Returning to the other side of the desk, Judy hopped up into the somewhat large chair. She studied the monitor for a moment. Not making ears or tails of what she was seeing, and nothing happening after tapping a few keys on the keyboard she decided to try the paw pad. Letting her paw hover over the pad for a moment, she spoke to herself. "Calm down, Judy. This isn't remotely like the opening to some weird horror fan-fic" She took a deep breath and placed her paw on the pad. The scan began, and beeped when done.
The monitor became more active as complex calculations and what appeared to be command lines executing code flashed across the screen, (but for all Judy could tell, they were directions to a particularly complex noodle soup) scrolled by almost faster than the eye could catch. The screen suddenly went blank, and then "Do you wish to initialize? Type Y/N." appeared on the screen.
Judy reached out and typed Y, hesitated a moment, shrugged, and tapped the 'Enter' key. The screen displayed 'Program Initialized'. The screen went blank, and then… nothing happened. There was no explosion, to ominous laughter, just a seriously anti-climatic, nothing. Looking around, Judy wasn't sure what she was looking for. After what seemed like several minutes, there was a faint click, and what sounded like a computer booting up. Suddenly what appeared to be glowing, emerald green eyes were staring out from a shadowy recess of the room she was now trapped in.
The eyes began to look around the room then seemingly locked on her, and at that moment some instinct locked away in her psyche screamed "RUN!" The eyes emerged from the shadow, followed by a shape that was very foxlike, but very much not alive. She fought down a scream of absolute terror that threatened to escape her lips. Backing up and cringing against the door, as the figure slowly approached, Judy waited for her death, a death that never came. Cracking open an eye, she looked around and saw that the fox-thing had stopped just beyond the desk, and simply looked at her, head cocked to one side, in a very canid like way, with it's fluffy, yet mechanical tail slowly swishing back and forth. Standing up, Judy looked at the, 'Mamdroid,' she thought to herself. 'An honest to Saeran Mamdroid.'
Straightening its head, it held it's mechanical paws up in a non-threatening manner, it's voice a soothing baritone in timber, but having an odd mechanical note to it. "Greetings, Detective Judith Hopps. Please forgive me, I mean you no harm. My name is Neuro-computational Interface and Control 1000. You, however, may call me N.I.C.k. How may I be of assistance?"
Still pressed up against the door, Judy fell backward when the door popped open, causing her to tumble out of the room, and back to where Growler was waiting, the door clanging shut once more. Picking herself up off the dusty floor, she brushed herself off, while staring at the door.
"Everything ok Detective?"
"..."
"Detective?"
"..."
"JUDY!"
Snapping out of her daze she turned and walked over and sat down in a nearby chair.
"I .. I'm not sure; if I'm being completely honest."
"What did you see in there?" Growler asked.
"I'm not sure I could explain it even if I knew what it was I saw. That is if I even saw what I think I saw."
Shanking her head to clear it, Judy stood up and headed for the door, "Come on Growler, I need a drink and you're buyin." Judy said.
"Right behind ya, Detective."