Detective Hopps was no fool. Nor was she lacking for wits. She knew going into her supposed meeting that she was going to get railroaded. Her concern wasn't avoiding it. That was an impossibility. She did, however, need to use it to her advantage. Bastards like Swinton were somewhat predictable. Big egos and positions of authority occasionally produced mammals like her. Lots of ego, no humility in the respect of their service, an unwarranted sense of invulnerability, and inferiority complexes; all elements that led even sharp mammals to get sloppy, especially when questioned, or angered.
Judy came prepared.
Throughout the meeting, which should have been properly labeled as an interrogation, her interviewer lived down to Judy's expectations in spades. Special Investigator Swinton was practically textbook for an arrogant swine, right down to the condescension that dripped off every word she directed towards her target. Fortunately, Judy was used to that. Being the only rabbit with a badge, it came with the territory. That wasn't to say it didn't bother her. In most cases it sparked an irate rant to Clawhauser, or Fangmeyer, but in this case, it just fueled her performance.
There was no actual direction to the line of inquiry being pursued during their meeting, at least not that Judy was able to discern. It seemed to be a collection of queries specifically designed to piss her off. Everything from her handling of various arrests in the previous five years to her knowledge of the sewer maintenance regulations for predominantly dromedary neighborhoods was dredged up; ancient history and closed cases abutted current events in the city infrastructure and formal protocol. It was a chaos. Through it all, Judy held her own.
The barely restrained anger had bloomed in her chest the one time she inquired after the point of a line of questioning. Being verbally backhanded as though she were a particularly dim-witted kit speaking out of turn tended to do that to her. After that, it was discipline and discipline alone that kept her from tenderizing a side of pork belly. It also made the rest of their conversation that much sweeter for what happened moments after it ended.
Final negotiations concluded, the porcine egotist left. The Chief's door was only closed for a moment before Judy was through it, hot on Swinton's heels. Now that the formal interview was over, there was little need for civility. The Chief's order to stop didn't even register.
Judy sped past her newest detractor and barred her way. "What are you hoping to accomplish?"
"I don't have time for you, Hopps."
"Off to go wallow in your success, then?" The barb was petty and, while not openly insulting, it was not a polite turn of phrase when addressed to a member of her species. It was enough to force the mask of cool superiority off her face and let the nasty out. "Or are you off to market before you scamper home?"
That one did it. "You better watch yourself, rabbit."
"Or what? You'll fabricate an investigation? It's obvious to anyone that you aren't actually looking for anything, so what do you get out of this?"
"With any luck, your resignation," she spat.
"Excuse me?" Judy asked, incredulously.
"Did I stutter?"
Seeing that she'd loosened the investigator's tongue, Judy reined in the venom, but kept her talking. "You want to fill me in on what you mean, Special Investigator Swinton?"
"It's simple, Detective Hopps." She replied as she set down her briefcase. "You're not worth keeping around. It's very impressive that you've managed as much as you have despite your small stature, but your accomplishments are nothing to brag about beyond you being the first rabbit. There are dozens of officers who have done as much or better. Doing so with a handicap makes you noteworthy, not exceptional, and we need exceptional officers, not novelties."
"And now that my success rate is improving to above the ninetieth percentile, you want to undercut me? Why? Because I'm refuting your assumptions?"
"Your success is notable since you began a close association with a flagged mammal. A fox."
"Your issue is his species? That's petty, even for IA," Judy spouted incredulously.
"His species doesn't concern me in the least," Swinton replied. "The fact that he was a vagrant, and possibly a criminal, does."
"He was neither. If you bothered to investigate at all, or review my research into him, you'd know he was a private investigator before the riots."
"Yes. I read the cover sheet from your report and my team is digging into it as we speak. Thirteen years ago, he was a licensed maverick. Three years in business and ruined after the riots. Unfortunate, but not a problem. Not until he was flagged and investigated by over two dozen officers including you."
"There were no crimes associated and he was cleared every time," Judy countered.
"Not my concern," the sow replied as she set a hip against the wall and leaned into it. "I don't care if he's a paragon of virtue. That's the regular police's problem. Mine is the fact that he's been unemployed and off the grid for over a decade other than in police reports. Now, suddenly he shows up riding your coattails. He becomes an employee of the city and your success rates skyrocket."
"He's been a major asset to my investigations."
"In what way? Where's his information coming from? How does he get it? Your answers have been vague at best. Do you really expect us to believe that a mammal who hasn't had a job in a decade has investigative skills so refined that a detective from the ZPD is learning from him? How did he get them? Where has be been honing them? You can't or won't answer because either you don't know, or you're protecting him. Now, he could just be a well-connected low-level criminal turned snitch, or an investigative savant, but you won't say which. That leaves me to wonder which is more likely? Worst case, he's a criminal conning you. That may at least leave you your job when it comes out, because your career will be over."
"And the best case?"
"Best case, he's a hobo you took pity on. This isn't a shelter, Hopps. It isn't a soup kitchen or a home for wayward failures. This is the ZPD." Levering herself off the wall and collecting her briefcase again, she made to leave. "If you want that partner of yours here, you will do what it takes to legitimize him in our eyes and prove your own worth. That, or resign and make way for real officers who will treat his job with the respect it deserves. We meet a week from Monday, 0930. That's ten days. Your chief got that for you along with whatever assets you can scrounge up. Now, if you'll excuse me."
Once Swinton was out of sight, Judy pulled her carrot pen out of her pocket and clicked the recording function off. She wanted to smile, but couldn't find it in her to celebrate just yet. As much as she hated to admit it, the pig had a point. Several points. Judy had no doubt that the file she had made for Wilde's instatement as a consultant would hold up. Chief Snarlov had been impressed and he was notoriously hard to please, let alone satisfy and IA would be thorough to the point of absurdity. However, that left her with the harder part. She had to prove her own worth, not to IA so much as Swinton herself.
Fortunately, she had a plan.
Returning to her CO's office, Judy wasted little time. "Chief Snarlov, I formally request the assistance of Officers Wolford, Lupins and Fangmeyer for the duration of this review."
The polar bear looked up as the door opened, once more admitting his smallest officer. A brow arched at her request, but he needed only a moment to reply. "Granted. Are you sure you only want those three? There are plenty of officers that would be happy to help."
"I understand and appreciate that, sir, but I want this to impact the precinct's function as little as possible."
"Commendable, Hopps, but unnecessary." The bear paused for a moment, considering the look in her eyes. "And I'm talking to a stone wall… You've already decided, haven't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"Very well. I've selected a spread of cases for you to choose from. Whatever you pick, you have ten days, so I'll give you the rest of the day to decide."
"That won't be necessary, chief." The twinkle in Judy's amatheyst eyes told the Chief all he needed to know.
"You have a case chosen, already? How? I only finished choosing them this morning."
"Not a case, sir," Judy chimed.
"Oh, for… What are you up to, Detective?" Chief Snarlov asked, not sure he wanted to know. Unfortunately, it was his job to stay inormed.
"Special Investigator Swinton specified I needed to prove my capabilities as an investigator. I intend to do just that."
"And if you don't have a case to work, how will you accomplish that?"
"I need you to trust me, sir."
"Hopps…"
"Chief, with all due respect, I am taking everything on faith, right now. I don't know what this is about, or why it's happening and you've flatly told me you can't explain further. I'm trusting you. What I am asking for is some of that trust in return."
The massive ursine wilted slightly, pinching the bridge of his muzzle. He struggled not to think about the bottle of vodka in his desk. It was brand new and untouched. He'd hoped it would remain untouched for several weeks. An old saying about hopes and smoke flitted through his mind and he groaned, "What do you propose?"
"It is clear that at times we at the ZPD must work under security-specific circumstances, including circumstances where information must be compartmentalized for various reasons." With every syllable she spoke, Judy saw the tension grow in her boss' expression. "I propose that I conduct an investigation under precisely those conditions. I will provide full documentation and witness accounts of the entire process, complete with all my findings, sources and reports, but not until the end."
"You want to fly unsupervised on an investigation that I don't know about," Snarlov rumbled.
"No, sir. You know there's an investigation underway, just not the specifics. For security reasons," the rabbit
"Is there any point in me arguing?"
"No, sir."
"You have a plan?"
"Yes, sir."
As Judy watched, the chief chewed over her words then fiddled for a moment with his computer. "Lieutenant Fangmeyer is currently at her desk, I believe. Collect her. Brief her. You have ten days, Hopps. Make me proud."
"Yes, sir!"
"Dismissed."
As soon as the door closed behind a certain cotton tail, Chief Snarlov slumped in his chair. The stress was murdering what little sanity he had left. He wanted to point out that what she was doing was highly irregular and rare, at best, but that would have been petty and mildly hypocritical of him as he was, effectively, doing the same to her. He wanted to look at the calendar to see how long it was until retirement, again, but it was too long and he was miserable enough already. He was tempted to look at the calendar to see how long it was til his vacation, but decided against it for exactly the same reason. He daydreamed for a moment about taking the rest of the day for himself and spending it with his wife. A lovely thought, but she'd want him to cook and he was not in the mood to trade one nightmare for another. Lastly, he wanted a large, stiff drink, but that was not the route to take. It would be irresponsible and he had far too much to do. Instead of any of those things, he set himself to the task of printing out and completing the mountain of forms he now needed to fill out.
Judy was only slowed down for a few minutes as she spoke to Lieutenant Fangmeyer. The email chime from the big cat's computer signaled the arrival of confirmation from the office of the Chief. That put an end to the confusion and a conference call between the two lady officers and their new temporary teammates concluded the rest. Twenty-five minutes after she left her boss's office, she had her team briefed and was on her way out the door with a scrambling tigress in tow.
"I'm assuming our double date is off, then?" Nadine asked as she caught up to her temporary team leader.
"Yes. Nick and I won't be able to go," Judy confirmed. "However, I set the rotation for you three so that you and James will have the same shifts off on Friday. As your commanding officer, I'm ordering you two to go to dinner and a movie without us. We'll find a date to reschedule, later."
"You can't do that!" the tigress sputtered.
"Try me."
"You're going to be a tyrant, aren't you?" Fangmeyer grumbled.
"Only a little, now come on,"ordered Judy, not bothering to hide her smirk.
"Where to? You haven't told me a thing!"
"I told you what you need to know," Judy continued as they walked. "You are to keep the log, monitor everything we do and be as exact with the times as you can be in every note you take."
"Oh, fine, but why are your phone and laptop in my bag?"
"I told you why." It was difficult for Judy to resist the urge to go into detail at the frustrated growl her friend released, but she shoved it aside like a team leader was expected to do.
"No. You gave me instructions, not an explanation."
Judy slowed to a stop and turned to her friend. "Naddie, I know I'm asking a lot, but I need you to trust me. Put my laptop and phone in the safe at your place as soon as you get home and notate it in your log. Have James witness it and sign off. I only have ten days to pull this off and I can't waste a second, so please, help me."
"Will I get to know what this is about at the end?"
"You'll know everything in the end. I swear on my mother's grave."
"Your mother is alive," Fangmeyer huffed in resigned exasperation.
"Then, I swear on her good health."
Golden eyes widened as the tigress took in what the bunny had just said, before she burst into laughter seconds later. "That fox has done something incredible to you, Hopps. You're cracking jokes, even when you're seriously pissed off and I can tell you are. I owe that fox a beer or sixty."
Judy wanted to say so many things in response to that. So painfully many, but there were none she would allow herself to say. She couldn't even think them without feeling her fur electrify and she couldn't afford to turn into a lightning generator just then. So many emotions and so much intensity would only give things away, or make her face truths she wasn't prepared for. She had a job to do first. Once it was done she could drown in her feelings, but not until then.
Seemingly unaware of her companion's internal upheaval, Fangmeyer asked, "So, where are we off to first?"
"We're headed to the City Central Archives, the Office of Public Records and the Free Library of Zootopia, but first we have an appointment."
"With whom?"
Judy chuckled softly before answering, "A lawyer."