I would like to thank Aeshna Lacrymosa, PizzaSteve3902, DrummerMax64, Dominic-G and Cimar of Turalis-WildeHopps for their review of the first two chapters of this story! And to my friend and creative consultant Aninat131, congratulations on finishing your midterms!

Zootopia, Savannah Central, Present Day:

It was the morning after Nick had overheard Judy talking with Clawhauser, and so far Nick was no closer to getting to the bottom of the case. Texts he had sent to the rabbit last night had gone unanswered, and Clawhauser had left for the day before Nick so he hadn't gotten a chance to talk to the cheetah. Part of him had considered just dropping in on either of them and asking outright, but the sly fox in him demanded he figure this out himself and prove he was not so easy to fool. So this morning he was going to Judy's apartment with the intent of dropping by and walking to work with her, hoping to dig for answers along the way. He walked up the steps to her building, reaching the front door just in time before it opened and Judy's neighbors walked out; Nick exchanged awkward glances with the oryx and the kudu before entering. He crept up the stairs to the second floor where she resided, first door on the right, and that was when he heard Judy's voice:

"Did you ever do anything like this with Emmitt?"

"I tried once, early in our marriage, but Emmitt suspected something so I dropped it."

Nick's ears perked up. Another eavesdropping opportunity? He would have been a fool to miss it; bless those paper-thin walls at the Grand Pangolin Arms building. It sounded like Judy was video-chatting with Mrs. Otterton. Not wanting the rabbit to hear him he crouched down on the stair, listening intently and moving as little as possible.

"Well, I think Nick may suspect something here."

"What makes you think so, dear?"

"Well you see, yesterday I was talking to Clawhauser, and I thought I heard someone running in the hallway as I walked back to my cubicle. And then when I got back Nick kept asking questions and I got all flustered and now I think he may have been listening in. I don't know for sure, I'll just have to see how he acts later."

"Could it have been just your imagination?"

Nick shook his head.

"I guess it's possible. Honestly Mrs. Otterton, I'm beginning to feel sorry I started this whole thing. I almost wish I could stop now but I can't – I've put too much into this already."

Nick strained his neck trying to get in closer, the big reveal sounded seconds away…

"I tell you, it is the hardest thing in the world to give somebody a surprise birthday party!"

Nick's jaw dropped, and his eyes widened as dawning comprehension spread across his face. Of course… In two days it was his thirty-third birthday! He was so used to ignoring it every year he hadn't even thought of that! He didn't know how Judy had found out when his birthday was, but he had a slight suspicion. He kept listening:

"I mean, all the guests, all those work schedules to work with, it's been impossible to get everyone I wanted, especially on such short notice. This is why we bunnies hardly ever do this sort of thing."

So THAT'S what she was talking about yesterday! Nick thought, a smile growing on his face.

"Why am I doing it? Well, this'll be the first birthday I've ever celebrated with Nick, and anything else I can give him would wear out or get thrown away eventually, and if I can pull this off I'll be giving him something that'll last him a long, long time."

"Indigestion?" asked Mrs. Otterton.

Nick silently laughed behind the door.

"Nooo… Memory!" said Judy. "So shoot me, I'm a sentimentalist."

Behind her wall, Nick shot a pretend gun at her.

"Anyway, I'm really sorry to hear you and Emmitt can't make it either."

"I'm sorry too Judy, but I hope he'll at least love the present I've made for him."

Presents too? Nick felt the smile on his face stretch even further.

"Oh, I'm sure he will. Listen, I'd better hang up now, I have to leave for work. Bye!"

Nick quickly straightened up, turned around and crept back down the stairs as quietly as he could. Passing through the lobby he exited out the front door and made a break for the nearby subway station. If Judy found him loitering around her apartment right when she was having another incriminating conversation she might get suspicious. A surprise birthday party! He was almost beside himself with glee. Once he was down in the station waiting on the platform for his train he weighed his options: now that he knew he was having a surprise party should he just go along with it and act all surprised when the moment came, or should he tease his knowledge and use it to mess with that bunny's head?

He smiled smugly. Definitely option B.

"You're sure chipper this morning, Nick." said Judy, "That must have been some cup of coffee you had earlier."

Ever since Nick had overheard Judy talking to Mrs. Otterton, he had looked and felt like the cat that swallowed the canary. He had stopped at Tim Howlton's on the way to work and greeted Judy and Clawhauser in the lobby with a box of timbits (little doughnut balls) and cups of their finest coffee (tea for Judy). When they were at briefing he had made none of his usual wisecracks to the chief but simply sat there at attention, beaming, and when Bogo had announced their day's assignment of patrolling Savannah Central (patrol being second only to parking duty for boring assignments) he had accepted the task without a single gripe. As they left the bullpen, Judy was sure she had seen the chief pinching himself. And now, in the car on patrol, he was the perfect model officer.

"Oh, just woke up in a very hopeful mood this morning, Carrots," he replied, "Feel like good things are coming."

As he predicted, Judy looked pleased with this statement, but also a little confused by how out-of-character it sounded coming from him.

And then something caught Nick's eye, and he squinted down the street ahead of them. "Hey, isn't that Max the drummer over there?"

Judy squinted her own eyes: in the distance she could see what looked like a raccoon with pale brown fur sitting on the sidewalk, dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans and drumming vigorously on a drum set outside a slightly graffitied building. As they got closer she recognized a distinctly bushy tail with rings of brown, black and tan around it.

"By golly, it is!" she exclaimed. "Want to stop by and say hello?"

"Yeah, we haven't seen him in ages!" said Nick. "And I've been dying to ask if he's related to that actor from Robin Hood."

Judy parked the car and the two got out, the rhythmic sounds of a drum solo meeting their ears.

As they walked up Judy could see the only real pieces in Max's set were a snare drum, a bass drum and a cymbal; the rest were different-sized colored buckets and even a couple of garbage can lids perched on boxes. Nonetheless, the Torch Key raccoon performed with as much speed and finesse as if it were a real drum set and he was playing in a band instead of out on the street. And in front of him was a small blue box with a smiley face drawn on the front, along with a sign that read Donate Pls! Judy didn't know the name of the beat Max was playing, but she vaguely recognized it from a movie about an aspiring drummer she had once seen called Whiplash.

"Hey, Maximus!" Nick called out.

The raccoon looked up, recognizing them with a smile, and paused his playing. "Officer Wilde, Officer Hopps, what brings you here?"

"Oh, we were in the neighborhood, just thought we'd drop by and see how our favorite busker is doing."

"Hi Max." Judy waved.

Max waved back. "Hey, weren't you guys on ZooTube recently? It looked like you were chasing him-"

"No, that was another fox and rabbit." Judy said quickly, avoiding his gaze. Nick snickered at her. "So how's it going?" he asked, "We haven't seen you around in over a month."

Max's smile faded, and his ears drooped. "Well, long story short, I got a job playing drums in a nightclub but got fired."

"A talented guy like you? No way!" Nick bemoaned.

"What happened?" Judy asked.

The raccoon fiddled with his sticks, mulling over his answer before he spoke: "Last month, I got hired at this place called "Bella Notte", it's a nightclub down in the Nocturnal District-"

"Wouldn't they just call it a 'club' down there?" Nick asked.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" said Max. "But no. Anyway, it worked out well for a while, you know, I'm a raccoon so I got good night vision, but I didn't grow up in that district so I wasn't used to the constant nighttime, so I started getting sleepy all the time and, well..."

"You fell asleep during a performance?" Judy asked.

"Err, yes and no. You see, I think I got some kind of narcolepsy or something because towards the end I found myself dozing off at random times. And one night, or maybe it was day, during a performance there was a break in the song for a trumpet solo and I started nodding off, then before I knew it it was my cue and I jumped back in and hammered out the finale and in the heat of the moment I threw my arms out and… kinda let go of my sticks."

"Oh no…" said Judy, covering her mouth. Max nodded.

"Yep, almost knocked my boss's front teeth out."

"Tough break, buddy." said Nick.

Max shrugged. "It's okay, the old badger wasn't fun to work for anyway. And I got fired just before I was set to move into a new place, and I couldn't go back to my old apartment so for now I'm just working the street again and livin' with my grandpop until I find another job."

"I see..." said Nick thoughtfully. "Y'know, the other day Officer Carrots and I watched this old movie version of Robin Hood, and one of the characters was a minstrel that looked a lot like you. Like, the spitting image. And the credits said the actor's name was one Roger Thrash. That wouldn't have been your grandpop, would it?"

Max's face lit up. "Yeah, that's him! He's told me all about that, he said working on that movie was one of the best times of his life!"

"Well, next time you see him, do tell him I'm a big fan, would you?" asked Nick. Then he cheerfully pulled out his money clip, removed a ten zoodollar bill and tossed it into Max's box. The raccoon smiled in gratitude. "Thanks! Can I play you a request?"

Nick shook his head. "We'd better take a raincheck pal, Officer Carrots and I have to get back to work."

"Yes, we'd better," said Judy, tucking a five zoodollar bill of her own in the box and, unnoticed by Nick and Max, tucking her carrot pen and a post-it-note pad into her belt with her other paw. Waving goodbye to the brown raccoon they started back for their vehicle.

"Any chance you could help him, Nick?" Judy asked. "You claim to know everybody – maybe you know somebody who could give him a job, or at least an audition?"

Nick hummed thoughtfully. "I know some folks in the business, I'll shake some trees, see what comes up. Or should I say, down."

A couple of hours later, Max found himself getting hungry. Spying a bug-burrito stand across the street he laid down his drumsticks and started digging through his cash box for the necessary change. His black fingers brushed against the fiver left by Officer Hopps and that was when he noticed: there was a pink post-it-note attached to the back of it. Max turned it over and found a message on it:

We might have a job for you. If you're interested, call this number. J. Hopps.

There was a phone number underneath. Max dug out his cellphone and, after a small amount of hesitation, dialled the number. If this was coming from the famous Judy Hopps, chances seemed good it was safe. "Hello?" a female voice answered.

"Uh, hi," said Max, "This is Max Thrash, Officer Hopps left me a note, said you might have a job for me?"

"Oh yes!" Said the voice on the other end, "Officer Hopps texted me about you earlier. I'm so glad she was able to find you, we were hoping you might be able to help us set up a special surprise for Officer Wilde. It's his birthday soon, you see."

Max's eyebrows shot in confusion; that was not the answer he had expected at all. Intrigued now he nodded even though the person at the other end couldn't see him:

"Sure, I'll do what I can. Whatever that is."

"That's wonderful to hear, dear," said the voice, "Now, about this grandfather of yours…"

For those of you who don't know, the character of Max Thrash belongs to DrummerMax64, who is easily one of the nicest guys (and best reviewers) in this or any other fandom. If you're ever looking for a good laugh I suggest checking out his story "Fluffy and Scruffy". Also, the whole set-up with Max busking on the sidewalk and Nick and Judy meeting him was directly inspired by his commission "Aspire" by Ruffu on deviantart. Fantastic piece I think it is. As for who that was on the phone, well, you may all have your guesses. :)