Chapter 2
Precinct 1 City Center 9am Tuesday
Tuesday morning found Detective Hopps going over not only her own preliminary report, but Growler's report as well. There was almost nothing to go on other than what she already had seen. Although she was also waiting on several reports on what was turning out to be a massive underground system of corridors, rooms, and hidden accesses. None of which led to the late Mr. Wilde's workshop. Leaving the question of how exactly he was killed still up in the air and had her ears twitching in frustration.
Something seemed off but she couldn't seem to put a finger on just what it was. She had a feeling it had to do with the Mamdroid that called itself N.I.C.k. It, or rather perhaps, He, as N.I.C.k referred to himself as 'I', possibly indicating that he was self aware. Judy decided to keep that little item out of her report for now. Growler agreed after they went for a drink. Judy explained as best she could what she saw. But ears to tail she had no idea how to put that in a report, at least not without arranging a visit with the department shrink and some unplanned leave. As something that was most definitely not alive, N.I.C.k was technically property of the late Mr. Wilde, and therefore part of the Wilde Estate. Judy lost herself in her musings as she combed through a few new reports, and referenced them to and within both Growlers, and her own reports, her phone rang causing her to almost jump out of her chair.
She made a quick grab for the handset. "Detective Hopps speaking"
"Hoops, I need to see you in my office." came the rather deep voice of the chief.
"Right away Chief." Judy replied, hanging up and quickly saving her report draft. With a glance at the phone, she shrugged. He didn't sound upset, so she figured he was just looking for an update on the case. It was pretty high profile, all considered.
A few minutes later found Judy knocking on the massive door to Chief Bogo's office. She gave the door a couple sharp raps, and waited. It didn't take long for Bogo to respond.
"Come." said Bogo.
Judy hopped up and grabbed the handle, opening the door. Slipping in, she closed it behind her with a hard back kick to get it moving and padded across Bogo's office. Jumping up into the far too large chair near his desk, she relaxed against the back and waited for the Chief to finish what he was doing.
Tapping his keyboard a few more times, Bogo closed out his report. Turning to Judy, "Hopps, thank you for being quick to join me. I just got a call from Meadowlands General. Seems that the autopsy on your case is complete and Henry has some rather interesting discoveries that might interest you."
As Bogo spoke, Judy's ears began to stand a bit straighter. That was something that she was waiting on so she could close out her preliminary report.
"Thank you sir, I'll head right over and have a chat with Henry. I should have my prelims on your desk by this afternoon.''
"Don't rush this Hopps. We need to get as much on this case as we can. And if we rush it, well you know as well as I do that something important could get missed. I have several officers, plus you and Lieutenant Growler working this case. I know you have the drive to close this case as fast as you can, but just slow down, and take your time."
"Yes sir, I will do my best. Anything else sir?" She asked.
"Yes Hopps there is, Alma wants you to come for dinner tonight, no exceptions or excuses. Her words, not mine." Bogo smiled slightly and chuckled.
Letting out a slight giggle, "Yes sir, I'll be there. Don't want to make Mrs. Chief mad at me."
Cracking another of his lopsided smiles, Bogo dismissed her. Hopping down, Judy made her way to the motor pool, signed out an unmarked vehicle and made her way to Meadowlands General Hospital, trying to imagine exactly what she might find out.
x⁰X⁰x
Meadowlands General Hospital Tuesday 10am
Traffic had been surprisingly light for a Tuesday morning. It only took just over an hour for Judy to get to Meadowlands General Hospital, I drive she had expected to take at least two. She had called Henry, who was lead Medical Examiner, to let him know she was on her way to get the particulars regarding the death of Johnathon Wilde. Visiting the morgue had always given Judy a mild feeling of dread, even after all her time with the ZPD, working homicides and other deaths, as she walked through the double doors, a chill still ran up her spine that she shook off with a huff.
"Hey Henry." she said as she entered.
"Ah, Judy my dear. How are you on this fine day?"
Judy smiled slightly at Henry's jovial attitude. She never could understand how he could work in such a gloomy place filled with mammals of all sizes, who had met their demise. Henry always replied that the living confused him, but the dead had a story to tell, and they never lie.
"I'm good, how's business?"
"Such a morbid bunny." He said with a chuckle. "I assume you are here to get the findings on our esteemed guest?" Henry said with a smile.
"Please, I'd like to get my preliminary report over to the Chief as soon as I can."
Well then, if you'll wait for just a moment while I get you a copy of the report, then we can give Mr Wilde a visit. I'm sure he won't mind us dropping by." Henry said with a grin.
Judy shook her head as she chuckled. "And how is Joe?" She asked as Henry returned a few minutes later with a file containing the particulars regarding Johnathon.
"Hmm? Oh he's Joe. Stubborn Jackass as always, but he never leaves me wanting." Henry said as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Well tell him I said hi and that I send my best." Judy opened the file and began to study the pictures as she followed Henry into the Mammal Cold Storage area. Stopping at a medium sized door, Henry grasped the handle, and opened the door. Taking a hold of the handle, Henry slid the table out that contained the body of the late Johnathon Everatt Wilde. Johnathon lay on the table, looking for all the world like he was simply sleeping, despite the fact there was a large "Y" shaped incision down his torso and the fur on his neck and chest was shaved away revealing the massive bruise on his throat.
"The cause of death was most definitely due to asphyxiation caused by strangulation. Notice the longer marks that look almost skeletal. That one is causing a bit of confusion. Most mammals with similar sized paws have at the very least paw pads. The knuckles are very easily visible in the bruise." Henry said while making it a point to bring Judy's attention to that particular detail.
Looking closer, Judy saw what Henry was talking about. Her mind raced back to the crime scene yesterday, and suddenly had an idea where the bruising came from. She now had all the information she needed to complete her preliminary report.
"Thank you Henry, you have, as always, been a great help. Tell Joe hi for me."
"Of course my dear, it's always a pleasure to see you."
A few minutes later found Judy sitting in the car going over Henry's report, studying each photo closely. Other than the obvious strangulation, the report stated that there were signs of advancing cancer, but there were reports that stated Johnathon had in fact received chemotherapy for a number of years, and at that time the doctor had said the cancer was in a form of remission. Those reports, however, were several years old. Henry noted that there were signs of new cancerous lesions everywhere in the foxes body. Placing the file in the seat next to her, Judy started the car and headed back to the Precinct to complete her report so she could begin active investigation of the crime scene, and hopefully uncover the whereabouts of Mr. Wildes killer, or at the very least what species it may have been. It wouldn't be much, but it was at the very least a starting point.
x⁰X⁰x
A couple hours later, and a somewhat brief visit with Bogo, mostly to update him and get the warrant signed to begin the next steps in the investigation, Detective Hopps was once again pulling through the massive gates that seperated the property of the Wilde Estate from the rest of the world. Once again she was waved through by an officer after showing her badge, and once again she drove the final mile to the Manor proper. Pulling up, she noticed that there was one other car, belonging to Vice, and Judy figured it had to be Growler. The only other vehicle was a van that belonged to forensics. Judy could only hope that it wasn't Alanya. Not that Judy wished her ill, she just had no time for Alanya's kittishness.
Stepping out of her car at almost the same moment that Growler stepped out of the front door. "Oh good Detective, you made it," Growler paused, clearly not knowing how to proceed.
"What is it Ed, you look a little grey, I mean more so than usual."
"I, er, well, umm, it seems Mr. Wilde is asking for you."
"Wait, what, I just saw him this morning. He very much was not in any condition to be asking for me." Judy said.
"That's who the voice claims to be."
"Did you happen to get a line trace?"
"Well, no, umm, the voice isnt coming from the phone. It's actually coming from the 'in-house' speaker system. From what appears to be Mr. Wilde's office. Asked for you specifically." Growler said.
Judys ears once again betrayed her thoughts. In this case, one slightly askew, showing her confusion. Recovering quickly, she took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "Well my good mammal," she gestured towards the door, "lead the way."
The 'office' was huge, far larger then Judy would have thought normal for a small class mammal such as Mr. Wilde. Come to think of it, Judy's mind wandered, the entire Manor seemed to be built for an elephant. Looking around as she stepped through the door, it had all the trappings of a typical office. Filing cabinets along one wall, an ornate desk, and even a safe that had to be close to 200 years old that sat behind the desk. The desk on the other hand looked completely out of place in the scope of the rest of the room. It was positively diminutive when compared to even that of a couple of the other pieces of furniture. Not entirely surprising as Johnathon Wilde was known to have business meetings here more than anywhere else.
"Ahh Detective Hopps, welcome to Wilde Manor," said a voice that sounded somewhat robotic, like it was being piped through a speaker that was a bit worn out. "It's a pleasure to meet you at last, too bad that it's under these rather, unconventional, circumstances."
"Mr. Wilde I take it?" Judy said as she slowly turned in a circle, looking for the source of the voice.
"Indeed it is, well such as I am. I'm not exactly myself, you see."
No, you most definitely aren't, as I saw you just this morning." Judy said.
"Curious, I don't have that information, as, well let me explain. As you may or may not know, I am one of the leading innovators in robotics, making it possible for small mammals that lost a limb, or were born disfigured in some way, to live a fairly normal life. I also dabble in A.I., or Artificial Intelligence. Several years ago I developed what I call a Pawsitronic brain. That is basically a computer that is capable of learning and developing much the way any mammals brain might. Except with far greater memory capacity, and nearly instant recall. I then developed a way to transfer all of my memories, the basis of my personality, basically what make me, well, me, into the computer matrix of the Pawsitronic brain. I have done this every few days almost religiously since. The only way that I'd be here talking to you now is if I missed a scheduled upload. I'm going to assume something happened?"
"Well Mr Wilde…"
"Please, call me John."
"Very well, John. There's no real easy way to put this, but uh, you are no longer among the Living."
"Hmmm, very curious. Have you apprehended the culprit? And how did I meet my untimely demise?
"Well I think so, but I'm not entirely sure. I have the primary suspect locked away in your workshop. As for how, you were strangled, by a single, rather powerful, robotic looking paw. The bruising was angular and, well, looked like something from a bad sci-fi movie."
The voice that claimed to be the late Johnathon Wilde chuckled "Ahh, I see you have met N.I.C.k. Yes, well I'm pretty sure you can mark him off the list of suspects"
"Why is that?"
"N.I.C.k literally doesn't have it in him to kill, is wholly beyond his current programming."
"Why is that."
"Simple, I employed the 3 laws of robotics."