Shattered glass littered the sidewalk before the smashed storefront window of Taxus Electronics. The store owner, a badger, continued to look over the scene with a combination of shock, disbelief, and horror. Also littering the area were a number of bystanders gawking both at the aftermath of the vandalism and the police cruiser that had just arrived. Out of the car stepped officers Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde.
"ZPD, please clear a path," Judy said, the crowd parting to allow the fox and rabbit through. Judy turned to her partner. "I'll talk to the owner, you stay here and handle the crowd."
"You got it, Carrots," Nick said with his normal smirk. As he turned to face the crowd, though, his demeanour became more serious and official. "Alright everyone, keep your distance. We need to keep the area clear and undisturbed."
The crowd retreated to a rough semicircle on the sidewalk around the shop. Most made their way quickly, but out of the corner of his eye Nick spied a pig - couldn't be much older than a college student - bend over and pick something off the ground.
"Um, excuse me but you need to put that back," Nick called out. The pig ignored him. Nick started toward the offender. "You, kid, I saw you grab something. What is it?"
"What are you talking about?" the pig avoided making eye contact with Nick.
"You bent over and grabbed something. What part of 'undisturbed' did you not understand?"
"I've got no idea what you-"
"Is something the matter here?" Judy walked away from the conversation with the store owner.
"I saw this guy pick something up off the ground and he refuses to hand it over," Nick said.
"You can't prove anything!"
"Sir, you realize that tampering with evidence carries with it a penalty of up to twenty years in prison? If you took something from the crime scene, hand it over," Judy held out a paw.
The pig grumbled for a moment before pulling a piece of cloth from his pocket. "Just wanted a souvenir," he muttered.
Judy took the cloth. "Thank you. Next time cooperate with my partner."
The pig grumbled something under his breath.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that," Nick said, holding a paw up to his ear.
"I said 'Just because you put a fox in a uniform doesn't mean you can trust them'," shot the pig.
"Excuse me?" Nick said incredulously.
"Sir, I can assure you that Officer Wilde is very trustworthy. I've put my life in his paws many times," Judy struggled to remain professional.
"Yeah, whatever. I can't wait 'til Turnbull fires you all and we get some good cops," the pig replied with a huff before storming away.
After that, Nick and Judy were able to continue their investigation relatively undisturbed. They got a description of the suspect and potential motive: it seemed to be a case of anti-predator violence. After forensics teams arrived, Nick and Judy returned to their cruiser. Nick was uncharacteristically quiet.
"What's wrong?" Judy asked.
"Hm? Oh nothing," Nick conspicuously stared out the window, not meeting Judy's eyes.
"Don't let that kid get to you. He's just an idiot."
"I know but… dang it, I worked my butt off for this uniform and I still can't get anyone to trust me. What does a fox have to do to get mammals to trust him?" Nick's voice filled with exasperation.
"Nick you-" Judy was cut off by the dispatch radio. High-profile assault, and they were one of the teams assigned to it. She slammed on the gas and started toward the hospital.
Todd adjusted his shirt slightly and removed a pamphlet from the stack in his bag. Doorbelling still made him feel like a missionary, but the more he did it the easier it got. He took a breath and knocked on the door. Dakota and Hubert were on the floor below doing the same thing.
While he waited for the resident to answer the door, Todd glanced at his clipboard for their name. Chuck Cabra, goat, male, 47 years old, registered voter for twelve years. Todd guessed Cabra would lean a bit more conservative and mentally adjusted his pitch to compensate.
The door opened to reveal a goat about Todd's height wearing an old button down shirt. Cabra looked Todd up and down with suspicion, but didn't say anything.
"Hello Mr. Cabra, my name is Todd Renard and I'm running for mayor of Zootopia," Todd handed him a flier, which Cabra promptly set on what Todd guessed was a small table by the door without even a cursory glance-over. "I'm running to help make sure that the best mammals for a job can get that job, regardless of species. Is this something that interests you?"
Cabra gave a slight grunt in response that Todd wasn't fully certain how to interpret. He decided to continue. "Are there any other issues that are important to you?"
"Yeah, I've heard that you're a predator supremacist," Cabra said flatly.
Todd tried to play it off with a chuckle. "Yes, that rumor has certainly refused to give up. However, if you take a look at the flier you'll see-"
The goat reached for where he placed the pamphlet. All Todd saw of what he grabbed, however, was a small canister of something before a spray hit his face. Instantly his eyes and sinuses felt like they'd been set on fire. He was dimly aware that the spray was continuing and that the goat yelled something, but the pain was so overwhelming that he couldn't process either. Todd stumbled backwards and fell hard on his back, almost knocking the wind out of himself.
The spray stopped, but the burning continued. Todd tried to cry out in pain, but all he could manage was a pathetic croaking sound. He felt the pounding of the goat's hooves against the floor as Cabra fled down the hallway. Todd called out in a rough voice for help from anyone who could hear him. There was no way to tell if anyone did, his eyes still sealed shut from the pain. He pawed at his face in a desperate, instinctual attempt to somehow wipe the burning away, but it didn't help. If anything, it somehow made the burning worse by getting more of the spray in his eyes. Todd laid on the ground in agony for what felt like forever before he heard someone call his name, bring him to his feet, and start to lead him down the hallway.