Chronicles of Zootopia

by Anheledir

Starting near the end of the movie this series introduces us to the relationship Nick and Judy are starting to begin. After having a rough start it stabilized eventually in a timespan of over a year, but new problems are already waiting: personally and professionally. There will be old antagonists again as well as new ones - will our beloved couple master these new challenges, too?

20. 2x09 - The game is on!

"Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth." – Sherlock Holmes

---

When Judy and Nick returned from the train station in the afternoon, most of the Hopps menage was already back to normal. The big tent was gone as well as all evidence of the party outside of the house. While entering the burrow chitchatting, they nearly tripped over a dozen small bunnies playing tag.

"No running inside the house!" Stu shouted but to little avail, the kits just stormed down the chairs to the lower floors. "Did Ben get his train hassle-free?" he turned his head to the two newcomer.

"Yep, even if you could think he was on his way to the slaughterhouse." Nick said with a smirk, but immediately lost his facial expression to a slightly shocked one. "I.. I mean.." Nick was embarrassed searching for words, but Stu just chuckled.

"Just an old school phrase, it's okay Nick."

"Well, I will try to watch my tongue better in the future." He smiled.

Judy walked over to a few siblings doing the dishes in the meanwhile, helping them.

"And how long will you stay here?" Valentina asked with a smile while handing her older sister some wet dishes.

"We didn't speak about it yet, but a few days for sure."

"Any plans for your honeymoon?" Christine asked.

"Not as far as I know, but three days ago I didn't even know that I would be married by today. I have a difficulty planning ahead for more than a few hours at the moment." Judy laughed and her sisters joined in.

"Is it allowed to share a good laughing here?" Nick asked with a sly grin, standing right behind the three Hopps sisters with his paws in his pockets.

"We were just asking for your plans the upcoming days." Valentina snickered.

"And I said that I'm not the one they should ask after my plans for the weekend looked slightly different than this…" she rotated her paw in the sunlight coming through the kitchen window and her wedding ring was sparkling within the light.

Nick laughed lightly and smiled. "I didn't plan much into the future than today. Getting an additional week of vacation from Bogo came as a surprise for me, too. But if your parents are okay with it, I would love to spend a few quiet days on the country side." He winked and gave Judy a nice and quick kiss on her forehead. Without hesitating he took the already dried plates and put them into a kitchen cabinet.

As a foursome it took the group just about half an hour to finish the 200 dishes. Christine and Valentina thanked both, Judy and Nick, for their help and discussed what they should do with the additional free time. Valentina voted for a movie in the cinema – something with a strange doctor – and Christine eagerly agreed.

Judy slowly shook her head, suppressing a yawn. "Sorry, sis', but I would sleep-in in the dark and cozy cinema, it was a short night ye' know."

The younger sisters snickered and walked down to ask a few other bunnies if they would accompany them.

"Judy, my dear!" Bonnie Hopps was entering the kitchen in a fast walk, "would you mind coming with me for a second?" she smiled and signaled her daughter with a paw to follow her.

"No time to rest, then." Judy winked with a smile to Nick and followed her mother. "I'm on my way, what is it mom?"

As the two ladies left the room, Nick was the last one in there. He took an apple from the fruit basket and slowly made his way to the big living room – the heart of the burrow. He wasn't really tired, but a bit weary. As it was a normal weekday, most of the adult members of the family were working. The teens were doing their homework after school and stayed in their rooms deep down in the burrow, leaving the living room to just a few bunnies reading or playing with the smallest of the family. When Lucas saw him entering the room, he hopped from the small group of other rabbits, all between three and five years, trying to catch Nick's tail. With a laugh the fox played along and let the little rabbit hunt for it for a while. When he finally fetched it, he embraced it with a huge grin and Nick squatted beside him to take him on his arms. But that proofed to be a big mistake: Now all other bunnies were also running in his direction, wanting to play with Nick's tail and getting their part of attention by him. Under some laughter the fox collapsed onto the wooden floor with all nine rabbits 'attacking' him.

---

When Judy followed her mother into their parent's private bedroom, Stu Hopps was already waiting at his desk. The moment he noticed them, he looked up from the paperwork and smiled.

"So, what's so important?" Judy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you know your old folks are still a bit old fashioned, loving traditions and so on." Stu began. "And even when you decide to broke with nearly every single one…" he winked at his daughter and Judy rolled her eyes with a smirk. "…we try to keep up with you."

"What your dad wants to say so eloquently, is that we are a bit in a conflict." Bonnie added, stand next to her husband and put her arm around him.

Judy slowly sat down on the bed, looking at her parents with a questioning look. "What is it you are worrying about?"

"Your dowry of course, my dear!" Stu said with a serious look on his face.

"My… what?! Come on, you are joking, right?"

"No, of course not, darling!" Bonnie smiled and Stu went on.

"You know that every of our kits get a parcel of land from us to start their own burrow and their shares on the business. It's a tradition for hundreds of years!"

Judy wanted to object, but her mother was quicker: "Don't worry, we know exactly that you are not going to move back here and start a burrow…"

"Despise it would be rather funny to see a rabbit and a fox making a burrow of its own." Stu chuckled, but Bonnie continued with a blaming look to the side.

"…and you want to stay at the force for sure instead of going into the farming business."

"And this, little lady, brings us back to our small problem here." Stu finished and his wife nodded agreeing.

Judy was totally caught flat-footed by her parents, who were still smiling at her while holding each other's paws.

"Come on Mom. Dad!" she finally said disbelieving. "I don't need a dowry! You already organized the whole wedding and all!"

Her parents exchanged a knowing look and Judy raised her arms into the air.

"What?!"

Stu was the first to answer her: "We knew you would react this way, Jude." He winked while his wife nodded her head, then finished:

"And we have a suggestion for you, that you may want to discuss with your husband at least."

---

When Judy went to the living room searching for Nick, she saw Evelin leaning in the door frame of the big room, looking inside.

"Hey, Mrs. Brooks! What's so interesting in there?" she asked her sister from behind, and Evelin turned her head around grinning.

"Look for yourself, Mrs. Wilde." She nearly whispered and waved her paw as a signal for Judy to come closer. On first sight there was nothing special, a few siblings here and there reading or talking with each other's. But when her look finally went to a small couch in the corner near the chimney, she knew what Evelin was talking about. Nick was laying curled up on the sofa. All around, within his tail and even on top of him where nearly two dozen of her smallest brothers and sisters, listening to the fox reading a fairytale from one of the books. He even changed his voice when he read the different characters. Judy stood beside Evelin, just watching them in silence. When Evelin made a side-glance to her older sister, she noticed Judy's looks on her:

"Put your paw on it, sis. You can already feel them kicking from time to time." She smiled while looking down on her pregnant belly. Judy didn't hesitate for long and carefully stroked over it, letting out a quiet 'aww' when she felt the kicking by herself, quickly starting to giggle. The latest draw Nick's attention to them; he smiled, then continued to read the story, imitating a scared old lady with a high-pitched voice.

Evelin made a gesture with her head for Judy to follow her, and they walked into the room. Beside Vince, who read a fantasy book, was enough room on another couch and both rabbits took place.

"It was a great wedding and party, wasn't it?" Evelin beamed with joy to Judy who nodded likewise.

"Definitely!" she grinned to her younger sister. "I still cannot believe that all of this really happened! The whole weekend was sooo crazy, wasn't it?"

"Absolutely! I still feel like being on cloud nine." Evelin leaned her head against Judy's shoulder while her sister was crawling over her head and arm. "But actually, I'm also glad it's finally over. The last two weeks were rather stressful and those four little buddies …" – she nodded to her belly – "…are already keeping me on my toes before they are even born." When Judy looked inquiring, she added: "It's difficult to keep up with everyone when you are out of puff rather quickly. Also nothing is tasting normally at the moment, and still I get munchies on the strangest things. And I guarantee you: My bladder cannot even hold a single glass of water anymore until I have to run to the bathroom. If you could call that waddling even running!"

Judy's grin grew wider and wider during Evelin's talking, and when she finished she just answered with imitating the ribbit of a duck. Eve punched her onto a leg and both chimed in into a quiet laughing.

"You really look beautiful, Eve." Judy smiled while crawling over her sister's belly.

"Thank you, I'm feeling great, too!" she smiled beaming. After a short moment of silence and a side-glance to Nick, who was still concentrating his attention to storytelling, Evelin turned her head to Judy, looking her into the purple eyes. "Did you ever contemplate it?"

Judy stayed quite for a while, thinking about the question. Did she thought about getting kits? Of course, it was quite naturally for a rabbit! But after moving to Zootopia that faded into the background. She always wanted to exceed in everything she started, and her main-goal was her career as a police officer. Well, it was at least. Before dating Nick, she wasn't too interested in romantic relationships. Evelin assumed often during their muzzle calls, that she was never interested in other rabbits because of her pred-prey-bias without knowing it. Being a great officer was still a high priority, but her relationship with Nick started to be, too, even overtaking her other goals since. But still, she didn't really consider starting her own family. It didn't feel like being the right time back then.

"I think the point of inflection was when Nick told me that you are pregnant the day after your visit; when you told us that you and Sven were going to marry." Judy finally said thoughtfully.

"Seems like ages ago now." Evelin snickered. "When was it, two weeks ago?"

Judy nodded with a smile. "Of course I was really happy for you! A bit jealous because of the wedding proposal, maybe." She winked and Eve laughed. "But that night I couldn't sleep. I was watching Nick sleeping on the other side of our bed the whole night. And everything I could think of was if we would ever have a 'real' family together; and what it would be to have our own biological kits against all odds: a rabbit and a fox, predator and prey, living inside the big city and we both working at the force."

"And what was your conclusion, big sis?" Evelin smiled, already knowing the answer based on her facial expression.

Judy sighed bemused: "Yeah… try everything and so on. And the realization, that this would be a goal I cannot achieve alone, by sheer force of will or just working hard. We would have to act in concert, and I wasn't sure if Nick was up for it." She giggled, "The marriage did help, though."

"What are you two waiting for, then?" Eve smiled softly.

"As I already told you, interspecies pregnancies don't work with conventional methods most of the time. So you have to actively plan it, making appointments with the doctor, all those natural things suddenly became just sterile and technical. It's all a lot more difficult then."

"You mean, you can simply have as much fun as you want without thinking about any consequences and postpone the decision more and more to the future." Eve winked and Judy rolled her eyes; but then answered sheepishly:

"More or less, yes."

Evelin turned her head again to take a look at Nick. "I don't think you two should wait for too long." She looked back at Judy and smiled. "You really will be fantastic parents, against all odds as you called it. I guarantee it to you!"

Judy sighed dreamily, then laughed. "Enough already. Your hormones are starting to influence even me! You really have to finish that pregnancy, soon."

Evelin chimed in to the laughing when suddenly someone behind the couch asked:

"What's so funny, ladies?"

"Sven!" Evelin smiled from ear to ear, raised her head and the both rabbits shared a soft kiss. "Come on, take a seat and share a calm moment with us, my dear."

---

They were all sitting together in the big kitchen, eating sandwiches and some salad for dinner, and telling stories they experienced throughout the day.

Patrick was discussing the loudest at the moment: "I'm telling you the way it is! She hunted her poor husband up and down the street with a rolling pin, throwing a tantrum for nearly twenty minutes!" The other rabbits listening to him were laughing, some shaking their head in astonishment.

"It's what, the fourth time she caught him cheating?" Andreas asked curiously.

"The fifth time even!" Patrick smirked slightly.

"He is a fool to betray Patricia, she is such a lovely sheep, always helping out on the market." Maika said with a frown.

"I would have left him after the first time: Once a creep, always a creep!" Beatrice chimed in.

"Don't forget you only know one side of the medal, maybe she isn't such a lovely sheep behind closed doors." Robert shrugged his shoulders.

A few rabbits started to bat the subject around all at the same time, and the attention shifted to other stories.

"Someone broke into Mr. Barneys dental clinic last night; can you believe this?" Violetta started to talk eagerly. She was making an internship at Doctor Barney, a rabbit who was the only dentist in Bunnyburrow since nearly thirty years. It was no real secret that Violetta had a crush on his son, who started to work there, too. Most probably he would overtake his' father's business in a few years.

"A burglary?" Judy's ears were erected when she overheard her sister talking and her attention was shifting immediately. "What was stolen? Drugs or instruments? Or even case files of the patients?"

"Nothing like that! And that's the real mystery!" Violetta continued excitedly. "They broke a window but the only thing that was stolen was a bust of Arthur McCoy!"

Judy raised her eyebrows: "The founder of Bunnyburrow? Was it a valuably bust?"

"Ha! Valuably? My foot! It was just a cheap plaster copy of the original marble bust that's exhibited in the town hall. But there is more to it than that!" Violetta proudly added when she realized she had Judy's whole attention.

"That is?" Nick stepped in with a soft smile but not appealing much interested. A stolen plaster bust of Bunnyburrows founder didn't sound like a serious crime.

"They found the bust behind his house, shattered on the floor right below of a small lantern!"

"So, our thief did not only have a bad taste, but was also a clumsy fellow, losing his whole loot just around the corner." The fox laughed amused and most of the other rabbits chimed in.

"Yeah!" Violetta giggled, "Mr. Barney was so exasperated, he called the police and canceled all appointments in the morning. Sheriff Darcy had quite something to deal with, especially when he said that three other busts were vandalized in the two nights before; but that he was not too sure that they would ever get hold of the thief."

While most of her siblings were giggling, picturing how Sheriff Darcy tried to calm down a furious Doctor Barney, Judy appeared reflective.

"You say, someone broke into four buildings for three nights in a row, stealing – and destroying – nothing more but a valueless plaster copy of Arthur McCoy?"

"Isn't that funny?" Violetta laughed. "And they make such a drama out of it! Oh, and when his son Marc was coming into the clinic, he first invited me to a coffee at the café around the corner. To calm my nerves after that hectic morning, as he said…" she giggled and continued to fancy of the younger rabbit, most other siblings listening carefully.

But Judy's unerring instinct started to ponder the information she just heard. Why would someone break into a house and take the risk of being caught for nothing more than a cheap plaster copy of a bust? And he – or she – didn't even kept the busts but shattered them just after their successful burglary. That didn't make any sense, even for a farm town like Bunnyburrow. And something that doesn't make sense was for Judy like an itching spot she couldn't reach with her paws.

Nick, who sat beside Judy, watched her picking absentmindedly in her salad for quite a while. It was quite obvious, that this cute little bunny cop was already mentally hunting down the victim. For him the whole story was something obscure that sometimes happen in small towns. Maybe some fraternity pledging or just a weirdo. However, nothing that he was thinking about too much; if it were not for Judy.

"I think your salad has surrendered already, fluff." He quietly said into her ear, putting his own paw onto hers.

"Mh? Oh… yeah, I think you're right." She smiled and put down the fork. "Doesn't this story of a vandalizing burglar, specialized on plaster copies of an old guy, sounds strange to you, Nick?" They talked rather quietly to not disturb the others during dinner.

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe he really hates this Arthur McCoy guy?"

"And risk being captured to destroy a few of those busts? Nearly everyone in Bunnyburrow has at least one of those cheesy busts or at least paintings of McCoy. Why is he or she breaking in just now? And why these buildings? And why only destroying the busts and nothing more?" Judy was counting with her fingers the different questions she had in her mind, and Nick smiled with a chuckle.

"What do you think, Officer Hopps…" Nick began, but then hesitated. "Or is it Officer Wilde now? Or even Hopps-Wilde? Long-Eared-Wilde? Or Grey-Wilde! Like in 50-Shades-of-… OUCH!"

"You wanted to suggest something?" Judy interrupted him with a punch against his shoulder, already having a smirk on her face.

"Well, I wanted to suggest a short visit to Sheriff Darcy tomorrow morning to get some first-hand-information. Just for academically reasons, of course. We are on vacation at least." Nick winked with a sly grin, rubbing his shoulder, and Judy kissed him immediately.

"Great idea, Officer Fox-Hopps!"

"Ugh. Okay, we definitely have to discuss this naming thing before it gets out of control." Nick sighed playfully and Judy giggled.

---

When dinner was finished, Judy and Nick said goodbye to the rest of the Hopps' and retreated into their guest room. Judy sat on the bed cross-legged while Nick was carrying a big basket with dozens of envelopes and even a few small gift boxes. The bunny started to clap excitedly with her paws.

"Isn't it touching how many mammals actually cared to congratulate us? We must reply to all of them manually written! Just to show them how much we appreciated their good wishes!" she grinned from ear to ear and Nick already rolled his eyes.

"Manually written? Are you serious?" he sighed. "That must be more than hundred envelopes!"

"Come on, that will be fun!" Judy grabbed a notepad with a pen from the nightstand. "You can read the letter out aloud and I will write down the name of the sender, maybe with a short summary! What do you say?" she beamed with joy and Nick couldn't do anything but reply her smile.

"So be it, carrots." He gave her a kiss while sitting beside her on the bedside, putting down the basket in front of them. With a dramatic gesture he took the first card and opened it with one of his claws, making Judy purr seductively.

"Ooh, what an edged claw you have there… be careful that nobody gets hurt!"

Nick's nose twitched slightly, sensing Judy's pheromones having an outburst again – but her heat cycle was nearly over again, as he noticed thankfully. Being caught red handed by Judy's sister this morning remembered him that there was always a chance someone storms into the room suddenly. The rabbits in the burrow just weren't accustomed to knock before entering a room; nothing dramatic, but quite a mood killer.

"If you insist, I will eagerly show you all of my claws and what I can do with them…" he winked, happily postponing the congratulation letters for some sexy time.

"Then, you better hurry with those…" she pointed with her foot to the basket and winked slyly. Business before pleasure, foxtrot."

With a resigned sigh he lowered his ears and reluctantly took the letter out of the already opened envelope.

"Getting married is like going to drama school. May there be more comedy than melodrama. Congrats! – by Dora, Tom and Emily Croach" he read aloud the card with a grin, then raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and they even put fifty Zollars in it!"

Judy laughed and wrote down their names, including the amount of gifted money, while Nick put the bank notes into a small box on the nightstand and the letter on a new stack beside him. Then he took the next one:

"We are so happy to welcome a new family member. Best wishes to you both!" Nick grinned, "And the card is signed by one, two, three, …" – he continued to count silently, then finally said: "Twenty-One of your siblings, as far as I can say from at least three litters. And they put twenty-one five Zollar notes into it…" Nick was rubbing the back of his Neck with a contrite smile, but Judy didn't notice it while writing down all names of her siblings.

"Okay, the next one?" she looked excitedly when she finished her notes.

"Thank you for inviting me to share in this day with you and your family. Best wishes! – by Gideon Grey, and he also put fifty Zollars in it!" – he continued to read those cards and Judy putting all names and the amount of money in her notebook.

"Oh, this one is from our coworkers, carrots!" Nick grinned after looking at one of the last cards. "Thanks for inviting us to eat and drink while you get married. Our marriage advice: Love, honor and… scrub the toilet! – signed by the whole squat. And 250 Zollars, oh my goodness!"

Judy laughed while reading the card for herself to get all names correctly written down.

There were just two envelopes left, and Judy didn't missed how Nick hesitated the whole while to pick them up. Now they were the last ones, he slowly grabbed the first one but didn't open it immediately.

"What's the matter with those, Nick? Do you know from whom they are?" Judy asked curiously and her husband nodded slowly.

"I would recognize those scents everywhere. This one is from my mother…", he looked down to the last envelope in the basket, "…and that one is from Finnick."

Judy nodded slowly, understanding his hesitation. "Do you want me to read them aloud?"

Nick slowly nodded and handed her the first envelope. Judy carefully opened it, took out the letter and read it out aloud: "What a wonderful addition to our family! I'm so happy to share in your celebration, and I know that your Dad, Nicholas, would feel exactly the same. Congratulations!"

Nick smiled and sighed contented, putting his head on Judy's shoulder while she wrote down Martha's name smiling. But when she angled for the last envelope, Nick gulped and Judy heard his heart beating faster. She knows exactly what was going on: Finnick was for over ten years the best friend of Nick, but he never got the hang with Nick joining the force. They hardly talked anymore and Finnick even refused to be Nick's best man for the wedding. It was getting her husband an upset stomach and he seems to be clearly afraid what the small fennec fox was writing.

Judy patted Nick supporting on his arm, then opened the last envelope:

"Love is all you need… stick with that crap and you'll do great!" she read out aloud, then took something else from the envelope and showing it to Nick with a smile: Two tickets to a baseball game, best seats, occurring in a few weeks, and with a hand-signed note: 'Don't be late with your fluffy bunny, I had to redeem a lot of favors for those tickets and don't want to watch the game alone in the end!'

"Aww… come here…" Judy smiled brightly and embraced Nick with a hug. The fox really had some tears in the corners of his eyes and couldn't say anything. "You foxes are so emotionally!" she crawled along his neck and heard Nick giggle while snuffling quietly.

"Dumb bunny."

After a few moments of cuddling they got off of the bed, putting all the money and letters into a drawer of the small desk. While Judy was calculating the sum of all gifts in her notebook, Nick throw the envelopes away and put the basket back into a corner. When she presented her result to him, he started to rub his neck again and smiled halfhearted. Judy tilted her head:

"What's the matter, Nick?"

"Do we really have to keep all that money?" the fox said compunctiously, and when recognizing Judy's confused looks, he added: "At least that from your family! All your brothers and sisters and especially your parents did so much for us to make this a really special day, I really have a sore conscience accepting all those gifts, too!"

"Nick…" Judy sighed with a smile and put down the notebook. She still had not talked with him about the offer from her parents regarding her 'dowry', because she felt it could be a little inconvenient. Now she was sure that this would be a much more sensible topic to discuss with him than she thought initially.

"You can try to give it back to them, but make sure that I will be your sole heir in your last will." She tried it with humor and snickered, but Nick's spirits didn't lift. Judy sighed: "What is wrong with getting some presents from your friends and family with all their heart? You cannot be too pride for this, are you?"

Nick let his shoulders sank and walked over to the bed, sitting down. Judy followed him and took place on his lap, putting her arm around his neck and crawling with the other one his tail.

"Nick?" she asked after a while, sounding a bit worried.

"I don't want anyone to think, that the calculating fox is exploiting you and your family's generosity!" he sighed. "I would have been as happy to pay all of the wedding and party by myself with my savings; but they refused unwaveringly to accept any money from me! I finally settled for it, taking it as their more than generous wedding gift. But I cannot accept all those gifts from your siblings, too, it's way too much!"

Judy started to frown.

"Okay, foxtrot. First, they are not gifting you, but the two of us. Second, it's a tradition that comes from the heart and expresses their affection. Third, nobody in my family is considering that you are taking advantage of the situation and exploiting us! Fourth!" – Judy's voice was getting louder and angrier – "I'm whether a poor country bunny you have to rescue, nor some kind of prima donna! You don't have to carry me all around on your paws and pay for everything! And most importantly fifth…", Judy's voice softened again and she pulled Nick's face to hers with a paw, looking him directly in his emerald-green eyes. "I love you as exactly the sly fox and smooth operator you always tried to be, and the faithful and reliable friend you are. Come what may…" she kissed him softly and Nick smiled.

"Thank you. I think all those emotionally bunnies around us are starting to rub off on me." He laughed quietly and returned the kiss to Judy.

"And I'm starting to get an identity crisis who of us is the predator and who the prey." Judy answered snickering.

"Hmm, let me see…" Nick put his paw thoughtfully on his lip and seemed to think about it. Then he started to slyly grin, pulling out a claw from his paw and sliced Judy's shirt open in such a quick movement that it made her squeak. She playfully pulled her most cute and anxious face, paws put together as would she plead and with her eyes wide opened. Nick slowly licked with his tongue over his fangs, snarling quietly with a wolfish look on his face. Judy's body was trembling with excitement and her scut was twitching nervously under his other paw. When he dashed forward, the small rabbit screwed up her eyes, but instead of a deadly bite into her throat Nick pressed his lips onto hers, kissing her passionately.

---

After a quick breakfast the next morning, Judy and Nick walked down the path to the bus station. It was a balmy autumn day and they decided to enjoy the walk in fresh air. A look at the bus timetable forecasted a waiting time of nine minutes, so they sat down on the wooden bench, leaning against each other.

"I talked with my parents earlier." Judy said after a while. "They consider themselves lucky if we want to stay a few more days. How does that grab you?"

"Free room and board, idyllic rural life, you and your family, … sounds good to me." Nick grinned.

"A few household tasks, playing with my younger siblings, more bunnies in heat, …" Judy continued his list and winked prankfully, but Nick just waved her addendum aside.

"That's in good order with me, carrots. It's good to get out of the city from time to time and slow down life, don't you think?"

"Well, I wouldn't want to life on the country side fulltime anymore. I like the quick heartbeat of the city."

"I didn't say I want to move here, fluff." Nick snickered. "But I have to admit that I like our regular timeouts here, too."

Judy smiled a bit nervously: "That is really convenient, you know?"

Nick raised his eyebrow a bit. "What do you mean, carrots?"

"Well…" Judy began but in the same moment their bus arrived and she eagerly hopped from the bench. "Later! Let's go to town, first. I'm really curious for some more details about our lunatic McCoy-robber." Before Nick could reply anything, his wife already leaped into the bus and bought two tickets. He followed her slowly with a smile and they both took place on the rear bench seat. There were about a dozen other passengers, most of them probably on their way to work.

"I thought, we should make a round through the burrow this afternoon to thank all your siblings in person for their gifts and cards. And when we are in town we can buy some writing paper and envelopes for our replies to all other guests."

"Good idea, I think Miss Sanders stationary shop should have everything in stock that we need!" She took out her smartphone and opened the picture hub. "We should choose a picture from the wedding that we can copy and enclose with the letter, that's always a nice memory."

"Mh… good idea, let's see what we have there." Nick glanced over to Judy's screen where she was already flipping through the gigantic gallery of 7.543 photos, uploaded by all of their guests. The ones made by the committed photographer had a special tag they could search for and after a quick search they found the ones in front of the community hall after the wedding ceremony. While they were still flicking through the gallery, their bus arrived at the marketplace.

"Oh, we are already there, quick!" Judy jumped off her seat as quick as if stung by an adder and leaped out of the door. Nick followed her without hurry and pointed to a nearby café.

"Should we take a hot coffee before going to the police station? We still have to pick out a photo." He winked and Judy sighed.

"Fine. But only a coffee, no blueberry muffin!" she wagged her finger and Nick pulled a sulky face.

"Party pooper." Nick turned around, walking to the small café, Judy following him with a small grin.

After they took a seat and placed their order – a coffee for Nick and a hot chocolate for Judy – they gave their attention back to Judy's phone. Finally, they had brought it down to two pictures:

The first one showed them standing side by side, their bodies slightly turned to each other. Their heads were facing, too, with a far-away and perfectly happy smiling. Judy hold her bridal bouquet in her left paw and Nick hold her right one inside both of his.

The other photo showed Nick carrying Judy bridal style with both his arms and laughing happily; she was throwing her bridal bouquet backwards away over her shoulder with a laugh the very second the picture was taken.

"The second one looks definitely more fun." Judy snickered and flicked back to the other one. "This is a bit more traditional, but just look how deeply satisfied and happy we are looking!" she sighed bemused and taking a large sip from her coffee.

"I think I'm getting greedy." Nick winked. "Why should we have to choose one of them over the other? Let's just print both of them!"

Judy giggled, "Really?"

"Why, yes! It was the best day of my life and I want to have everybody to know it." He laughed quietly and Judy gave him a short kiss.

"Okay, then let's go to Miss Sanders so she can start printing them out, and then to the police station, at last!"

They emptied both their cups and foot the bill until walking with linked arms along a few smaller streets. When they arrived at the small stationary shop, they copied both pictures to a USB stick and ordered 450 glossy prints of each. The young clerk checked the quality of the files and said, that the prints would be ready in about six hours. After a small discussion between Judy and Nick who was going to pay them – Judy won and swiped her card through the reader with a pleased grin – they left the shop again.

While on their way to the police station, they shared a few stories from the wedding party. With a wanton mood they stepped up the few stairs and Judy opened the door to the old police building. The overheated air was blowing them into their face and after just a few seconds, both opened their jackets, feeling already too warm.

"Hey Dora!" Judy waved to the older sheep behind the front desk who looked over her glasses and began to smile.

"Judy! Good to see you!" she stood off her chair and walked with small and quick steps over to her daughter's old school-friend. While hugging her, she shouted for joy: "Congratulations to your wedding, again!" she let the rabbit go and turned smiling to Nick. "And you, too! Congratulations Mister Wilde!"

"Thank you, Mrs. …? Sorry, I couldn't memorize all names of Judy's friends after learning all of her siblings." He winked with a disarming smile and the sheep laughed amused.

"Croach, but just call me Dora, sweetie!" she winked. "Are you just doing a courtesy visit, or are you two on duty? You are an officer at the ZPD, too, right?", the last questioned was for Nick, but Dora didn't wait for an answer. While walking back to her desk chair, Judy walked towards the two guest chairs on the other side of the desk, Nick following her. When everyone sat down, Judy leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs and grinned to Dora.

"We heard through the grapevine that we have a Lunatic McCoy robber in town?"

The sheep raised a brow in surprise but smiled. "Where did you got that stupid name from?"

Nick raised his paw. "Here, I'm responsible for most of the stupid things."

They shared all a giggle, then Dora said: "Well, it seems as if you are not up to date, darling! The Sheriff is currently on his way, arresting the suspect."

Judy's ear sank and it was obvious that she was somewhat disappointed. "Oh."

Nick took a side glance to her, then leaned forward in his chair and addressed the sheep with his sneakiest voice: "Do you think you could give us all the mysterious details? Or are you too busy with paperwork?"

Dora quickly shook her head: "Oh, no! I have time for a quick report! Let me see, when happened the first housebreaking…", the sheep started to talk and Nick noticed contentedly that Judy's mood was slowly getting better again.

"On Friday night he broke into two houses, the one of family Eppes and the one of old-grumpy Shift. Each burglary by himself would have been totally ordinary. Maybe just a bunch of kits. At least with Shift that would have been reasonable." Dora talked, when Judy interrupted her with a short gesture of her paw, turning to Nick.

"Old-Grumpy Shift is a gray Wolf; I believe at least 80 years old. He is living on the town's edge near the forest in Bunnyburrows very own hunted house." Judy explained to Nick with a grin.

"A hunted house?" the fox raised his eyebrows with a smile.

"Of course it's not!" she giggled, "But it is as old and derelict as is John Shift. He is eccentric and living seclusively since his wife died over fifty years ago. Perfect conditions to get an eerie aura and being the target of a lot of childhood pranks: Knock-a-door-runs, scribblings on the walls of his house, throwing small stones through his open windows, vandalizing his garden, …"

Nick chuckled quietly. "I definitely cannot imagine young Judith Hopps play piggy with 'Old-Grumpy-Shift.'"

"Oh, I believe little Mrs. Hopps did really nothing like that!" Dora tossed in and the rabbit smiled.

"No, I didn't. And Sarah did neither." She added with a side look to the mother. "We helped to readjust his garden or clean-up the walls sometimes. I even brought him some vegetables and fruits from our farm. We weren't really befriended but we respected each other."

Nick laughed with a quick wink: "Yeah, that's more like Junior-Officer Hopps. Geez! You must have been even more popular with other kits then I even thought possible!" he said with a chilly undertone and Judy stuck out her tongue with a grin.

"It didn't get any better than back then, but I heard a few of the Hopps children are still sympathizing with him." Dora smiled. "And as I said, a burglary only for a plaster copy of a bust at Mister Shifts house sounded exactly like being just the newest prank. But the Eppes' also reported on Saturday morning that someone broke into their house. And they are living in a small townhouse on the other side of Bunnyburrow. As they noticed that only a plaster bust was stolen, they nearly didn't report it to us. As Mister Eppes told us, he first thought one of his kits accidentally dropped the bust and didn't want to get into trouble for it, because he found the shards of it near the pavement. But later he noticed the broken open lock of the backdoor and that stroke him as odd." Dora poured some tea into a cup and Judy and Nick both accepted her offer for their own one.

"So, this was a bit of a curiosum but to be fair we didn't give it too much attention. Then, in the night from Saturday to Sunday, another burglary happened at Mister and Misses Fleinhardt's farm. This time a window was smashed and Misses Fleinhardt woke up from it. She panicked and woke her husband. He thought at first that she had a bad dream, but finally agreed to check if everything was in order. In the course of putting on his dressing gown, he heard a snick by himself outside the house, but he couldn't see anything odd that night. The next morning, they saw the broken kitchen window and when the Sheriff got there he found the broken bust in the driveway. The Fleinhardt's hadn't even noticed that it was gone missing until then. This was also the moment we connected all three crimes together, but still unable to make head or tail of it." Dora was interrupted: Sheriff Darcy announced over the police radio, that the examination of the suspect in the hospital was finished and he would bring him in to the precinct now. She confirmed his report, took another sip from her cup and leaned back on her chair.

"Where did I stop? Ah, yes… now we come to yesterday. That night someone broke not into a tenement, but a medical office. Doctor Barney, a hare and our dentist here in Bunnyburrow, called and was having a screaming tantrum; someone broke into his office that night. As it was no home like the nights before, Sheriff Darcy didn't saw the connection at first. But it was obvious rather quickly when he arrived, that nothing worthy was stolen. Of course Doctor Barney saw that different: You could say he is a true worshiper of Arthur McCoy. There are dozens of busts, framed pictures and so on all over the office and in his house, too. He got even more mad when he realized that his plaster bust wasn't just stolen but saw the broken fragments of it behind the house. The Sheriff tried to soothe him, telling him about the other break-ins. But that nearly made Doctor Barney faint, as Mike told me later."

"Mike?" Nick interrupted her with a questioning look.

"Ah, sorry. Sheriff Mike Darcy it is. Did you already meet him?" The sheep explained to Nick, who shook his head. "Well, you will get to know him in a few minutes." She smiled. "I'm nearly finished, anyway."

"Let me guess, last night another burglary happened?" Judy asked curiously. Nick watched her closely with a smile: Her nose was twitching and there was an exited sparkle within her big, purple eyes; both ears were erected and turned to Dora, and her right feet was bobbing up and down. The cute bunny looked so adorable, he'd loved nothing better that moment than …

"Absolutely!" Dora interrupted Nick's thoughts and with a silent sigh his attention shifted back to the sheep. "Early in the morning around half past three we were called by Mister Beaveridge that a stoat broke into his house but he could overpower him. The Sheriff was alarmed immediately by our night watch, who also answered the phone. The only thing I know aside from that is, that Mister Beaveridge was keeping the burglar covered with a stun gun when the Sheriff arrived at the scene. The stoat is already known to police and had a bleeding head wound. So Sheriff Darcy drove with him to the hospital and – as you could hear just a few minutes ago – is now on his way back to here. Seems as if all Arthur McCoys would be safe again from now on!" Dora winked, content with her detailed story.

"You said, the stoat is already known to police?" Judy asked curiously.

The sheep nodded. "Wait a second, I seek out his file when Mike radioed his name…" she browsed through a small stack of files and finally picked the one she was searching for. "Ah, here it is! Duke Weaselton, a petty criminal from Zootopia."

"Duke Weaselton?!" Nick and Judy blurted out unison in disbelieve, both dashing forward in their chairs.

Dora looked surprised, nodded and handed Judy the file. "You know him?"

"You bet!" Nick muttered while thoughtfully rubbing his neck; Judy was already skimming Weaselton's file to make sure it was the same stoat they had encountered during the night howlers case. Totally baffled she finally put the file down on the desk again.

"It is Weaselton." She said to Nick – "But that makes absolutely no sense! He is a pickpocket and bootlegger, maybe a scammer. But he was never arrested for burglary and why should he even come to Bunnyburrow, let alone vandalizing those busts!"

Nick just shrugged, he was thinking exactly the same but couldn't made sense of it neither. Nevertheless, they had no chance to further discuss this twist because the front door opened and a large hart in a police uniform entered the room, accompanied by a rather sleazy looking Duke Weaselton in handcuffs. The stoat had some bandage around his head and was constantly beefing and ranting. Both ZPD Officers turned around in their chairs, watching the two newcomers. When Weaselton spotted them, he uttered a dirty laugh.

"Officer Cottontail and Pawpsicle! Perfect, that's all I needed!"

The Sheriff silenced him by prodding him along the room. "Shut up, Weselton, you already have enough trouble."

"It's Weaselton, cretin!" the stoat screaked and spat out several more curses while brought to the backroom where the custody prison cells were.

"Cottontail and Pawpsicle?" Dora asked with a chuckle.

While Nick was looking a bit sheepish, Judy just rolled her eyes: "He was my first arrestment as a police officer and played a subordinated role during the night howler case."

The hart was walking back into the lobby, looking a bit tired. With a smile he approached Judy to shake her hands: "Hello Judy, long time no see!"

With a friendly smile Judy leaped from her chair and shook Darcy's hoof. "Hey Mike! Almost half a year, not since Mister Leep's unfortunate suicide. May I introduce you to my partner at the force and husband, Officer Nicholas Wilde."

The hart shook Nick's paw with a big smile: "Nice to meet you, we heard a lot positive here about you! And you two are married? Geez, when did that happen?"

"49 hours and 24 minutes ago, Sheriff." Nick answered with a wink.

"Call me Mike!" Darcy laughed – "Wow! This weekend? Congratulations you two!"

"Thank you." Nick smiled and Judy replied, too:

"Thanks, Mike!"

"You two are swinging by for a private visit, or are you here in an official function?" The hart took a clean cup and poured himself a hot coffee from the coffee brewer.

"Not in an official function, we are on vacation this week here in Bunnyburrow. Let's call it academically interest on this McCoy thing." Judy winked at him with a beaming smile.

"I should have bet that I will see you soon after I saw one of your siblings working for Doctor Barney!" the Sheriff laughed and suggested a nod to Dora. "I guess, good-old-Dora already gave you a brief recap?"

"It was a quiet morning, nothing else important to do, Mike." The sheep grinned and handed him a few files. "These are the case files of the burglaries you asked for, and on top the criminal record of Weaselton."

"Thanks, Dora! What would I do without you?" he put the files under his arm and waved Nick and Judy to follow him. "Come along, I guess you two are nosey for what happened this night; so I can give you all information first hand just as well." He winked at Judy and walked over to his office.

Sheriff Darcy pulled off his jacket took place behind his piled up desk, putting the files on top of the nearest pile. Nick and Judy took place on a small couch.

"You already know about the emergency call this night?" the hart asked and took a long sip from his coffee.

"Yes, Dora told us that Mister Beaveridge caught the burglar red handed and kept him covert with a stun gun until you arrived. Did he also caused the head wound to Weaselton?" Judy answered his question and asked curiously.

The Sheriff shook his head: "He said no, the stoat was kneeling on the floor when he found him. Most probably because he stumbled in the dark and bumped his head. I took him to the hospital to make sure he is okay."

"Did Weaselton tried to steal a McCoy bust at the house again?" Nick asked and Darcy nodded.

"Yeah, he smashed it outside the house on the pavement again."

"Wait a second…" Judy interrupted the hart. "Didn't you say, Mister Beaveridge caught him crawling on the floor inside the house?" – when Sheriff Darcy nod his head, she continued. "But when he already got the bust and managed to destroy it on the outside, why would he go back into the house and risk anything?"

Mike bent his brows. "Good point. Maybe he forgot something or wanted to steal another thing."

"Was anything stolen or damaged beside the plaster busts in the other cases?" Nick suggested.

"Not as far as I know, the victims didn't mention anything at least."

"Weird…" the fox muttered and turned his head to Judy, who thoughtfully played with her earlobes.

The Sheriff shrugged: "I wouldn't worry about it. Apart from this, Weaselton refused to talk and demand a lawyer." – he took the stoats record from the pile, eyeballing it. "I will call Clintock later, he advocated Weaselton also a few months ago."

"It's not the first time you arrested him?" Judy asked surprised.

"He was involved in a rumble with another small-time crook named…" – he took another quick look at the file. "… Travis Weston, a local bully."

"Travis!" Judy gasped – "A Black-footed ferret with a scruffy brown and white fur pattern?"

"That sounds like him, yeah." Mike nodded.

"Old friend of you, carrots?" Nick asked grinning.

"Nothing like that, he was a bully back in school, too. Had quite a few… confrontations with him." The rabbit twitched her muzzle commemorating her early youth.

"I cannot bear him already." Nick grumbled.

"He always was a troublemaker." Sheriff Darcy added. "But nothing too serious, yet; pick-pocketing, disturbance of the peace, small rogueries, … something of the kind. He and Weaselton were arrested three months ago. They bandy blew on the street and we arrested both. Weaselton was still on probation and sent back into custody of his parole officer in Zootopia. Travis had attacked him with a club and was sentenced. I think he was released from prison last week again."

"Weaselton is arrested in Bunnyburrow together with Travis, who is sent to prison. And just a few days after the ferret is released, our Duke makes another visit to Bunnyburrow and is himself arrested for totally pointless burglaries." Judy summarized with a raised eyebrow and exchanged looks with Nick.

The fox took a few sniffs with his nose: "There is something fishy going on here."

"Nah! Just coincidences, believe me." The hart waves the both doubts aside with his hooves. "Those things happen all the time here on the countryside. In a town like Bunnyburrow there are sometimes the strangest relationships, because everyone knows each other."

Judy appeared unconvinced, but didn't feel like arguing with the Sheriff. As someone always giving 120%, she disapproved everyone with such a lax work attitude; Nick was right, there was something fishy going on in Bunnyburrow right under the hart's nose. When Nick spoke again he interrupted Judy's thoughts:

"Do you know if those broken plaster busts had anything in common, Mike?" – the fox smiled friendly, but Judy knew him good enough to notice he wasn't pleased with the Sheriffs explanation, too.

"Mh, let me take a quick look at the case files…" Mike leaned forward in his chair and eyeballed the files he got from Dora. He didn't noticed Nick rolling his eyes – but Judy did, who just shrugged in silence response. "No, nothing in common.", the hart leaned back again, nipping on his coffee. "Only the fact that they were all destroyed."

"I would only be too pleased to see one of those busts. They must be really cheesy if they all deserved this fate." Nick smiled with some well-played disappointment.

"Oh, you may pay a short visit to John's china shop. They all bought their bust there a few months ago. Maybe he still has another one you can take a look at!" Mike replied with a big smile.

Judy looked at the hart with gaping mouth – didn't he just assured them there was nothing in common? Nick however had a dead pan poker face, smiling happily to the Sheriff. "Thanks for the tip! Judy, what do you think. Do we still have some time for a short visit before we have to be back for lunch?"

"Sure thing!" she replied with a lukewarm smile and stood up from the couch. "Mike, it was a pleasure as always to see you. And thanks a lot for your time!"

"Anytime, Judy. Anytime!" the hart smiled happily. "Bye Nick, it was nice to meet you! And greetings to Stew and Bonnie!"

"Will do." She waved and left the office smiling, closely followed by Nick. They chatted for a few minutes with Dora while dressing their jackets in the – still too hot – entrance hall, and when they finally left the police building, Judy closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Nick snickered and put his arm around her. "Wow, compared to your local Sheriff even Clawhauser appears as an egghead workhorse!" – he laughed even more when Judy just snorted in reply. He placed a soft kiss between her ears and smiled. "Would you do me the honor of being your Doctor Watson and show me the way to this nice little china shop of John?"

Judy sighed and replied his grin with a wink: "The game is on! Let's go!"

It was just a short walk to John's shop and when the couple entered it, they were the only customers. John turned out to be a grey-haired raccoon, who eagerly welcomed them. Judy let her look wander around the different shelves while Nick started to small talk with the owner. When the rabbit returned to them, they were talking about the raging Doctor Barney and how he lost his Arthur McCoy bust.

"And when Judy's sister Violetta said that her employer did bought the bust here, we offered to take a look if you have yet another one. You know, as a small present to Doctor Barney." Nick had switched on his best con-man smile.

"Oh!" the raccoon seemed to be a bit embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, Nick, but I have sold each and every copy of it. And I don't think I will get them back in stock too soon, they really didn't run that well." When he recognized Nick's disappointed and sad face, he added: "I'm really sorry. If you only would have asked me a week before, I still had five of them! Ordered them a few months ago shortly before the yearly Founders-Day, but they were too trashy I think. Only sold seven of them, the others were getting dusty in my shelves. That is until a few days ago, an oddly ferret bought them all at once! Can you believe this?"

Nick looked totally surprised: "Really? No way! All five at once? You don't know his name, do you? Maybe he will resell one of them to us." His sugar-sweet smiling removed any reservations via the unknown sad-to-say-no-customer fox on the part of the shop owner.

"I think… wait a second, let me take a look at my sales book!" John opened a notebook laying accessible on the counter beside the register, and Nick shared a quick look with Judy who immediately realized what he suggested. "Here it is, five McCoy plaster busts sold to Mister Weston on last Thursday." John smiled to Nick and closed the notebook again. "He was a ferret, I think. Sadly, he was a first-time customer, I have no further information for you where you can find him.", the raccoon seemed really afflicted to be of such little help.

"Excuse me?" Judy harrumphed quietly and smiled to the shop owner.

"Hello! How can I help you, Miss?" John turned his attention immediately to her.

"I have a question about a few figurines over there!" Judy smiled brightly and they both walked over to a shelf a few meters away. Nick grabbed immediately the sales book and eyeballed the entries from three months ago, overhearing the alleged sales talk. "I want to buy a few of those for my little sisters for coloring. Do you think that watercolor would stick to them?" Finally, Nick found what he was searching for, quickly closed the notebook again and leaned guiltless at the counter. Shortly after Judy and John returned, in their paws about a dozen small, white plaster figurines of bunnies.

The raccoon wrapped each of them into brown paper and put them all into a paper bag. "That makes 18 Zollars, Misses Wilde." He noted the details into the sales book and gave them a profuse thanks when Judy handed him twenty Zollars including tip.

The couple left the china store and after they walked a few meters, Judy eagerly plucked on his sleeve. "Well?"

Nick smiled: "All victims were listened in the sales book as buyer of those ominous busts. And I got two more names!" Judy fist pumped and the fox snickered. "And how did it felt to be called Misses Wilde the first time in public?"

Judy giggled and linked her arm with his'. "The name 'Hopps' is way too familiar in Bunnyburrow, I didn't want to draw too much attention to our short visit. But…" she stretched her head for his face and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "…it also felt really great, Nick. I think I finally arrived on the Wilde-side." She laughed when Nick groaned about her pun.

"Okay, I guess that one was long overdue." Nick snorted with a light nudge of his elbow. At the bus station they just had to wait for two minutes until the next bus arrived. While on their way back to the Hopps' farm, Nick asked: "You don't think that Weaselton did the break-ins but this ferret named Travis?"

Judy nodded slowly her head. "Yes, apparently Weaselton were just waiting for Travis to be released from prison. But why is Travis destroying those busts? And what has Weaselton to do with it?" she groaned in frustration. "Oh, this is so bugging; nothing makes sense!"

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, fluff." Nick sighed. "Maybe we should pay a visit to 'Rossmann and Son', do you know the company?"

"Yes, they are having a stone quarry about twenty kilometers outside of Bunnyburrow. The Rossmann family runs a tradition for the best mason's in the Tri-Burrow-Area. Why?"

"They are the vendor that sold the plaster busts to our friend the raccoon. No concrete idea, but I think we should follow the trace of McCoy." He shrugged and Judy agreed.

"I will ask pa, if we can have the truck after lunch. It's not too far away, but the bus needs about three-quarters of an hour. Do you remember the names of the buyers who were not yet victimized by our burglar?"

"Sure thing: Misses Emily Brown and someone called with the pretentious name Andreas Bonaparte Shield."

"Misses Brown is a nice old cat; she has a small corner shop at the railway station." She pondered for a moment – "But the other one isn't from Bunnyburrow, I think. Never heard of him. But we can ask at home, or take a look at the phonebook. We should warn them both, I don't think that Travis is finished, yet. It's just pure luck that nobody was hurt during the break-ins."

"Besides Weaselton." Nick remembered her.

"Yes, okay, besides him." Judy rolled her eyes – "And remember that the ferret was arrested for using a club, he doesn't stop short of violence."

"Thanks for the reminder, carrots." Nick sighed – "We should be careful: Neither we are on duty nor do we have a jurisdiction in Bunnyburrow. And I don't want to meet a rampage ferret with a club without our stun guns."

"I think, Pa should still have this fox shocker somewhere…" Judy winked and Nick playfully gulped, drawing a worried face.

---

After having some lunch at the burrow, Judy searched for Stu to ask him for the truck and fox shocker while Nick helped Bonnie and two others clear the table of the dishes.

"Your pumpkin seed soup was really delicious; you absolutely have to share the recipe with us!" Nick commended the meal.

"Glad you liked it, honey." The old bunny burst with pride in her voice. "Of course, I will write it down to you later. Did you have a good time in town?"

"Yes, it's really a nice and balmy autumn day. And Judy got all the latest gossip about this burglary from Dora Leep." Nick smiled.

"Oh dear, you two are on vacation; you really shouldn't play cops and robbers! Don't you have enough of this already at home in the big city?" Bon smiled indulgently at him.

"Just a small academic research to please your daughter's curiosity." The fox smiled apologetically.

"Did she already talked with you about the guest room?"

"Oh, yes of course! Thank you that we can stay a few more days, I promise you will be totally unaware of our attendance!"

The rabbit hesitated for a second, watching him. "Think nothing of it, my dear. But I was talking about our plans to…"

"I've got the keys, let's go!" Judy had entered the room unnoticed and was nearly shouting, interrupting her baffled mother.

"You are already on the go again? I hope you will be back for dinner, Evelin and her litter are making their famous lasagna!"

"Judy wants to show me the surroundings of Bunnyburrow, but we will be back in a few hours. I would never miss a chance for some great pasta!" Nick winked and walked over to his wife.

"Okay then; have fun you two!" Bon waved them goodbye and Judy hurried through the door with Nick in tow.

When they were driving on the road, Nick asked: "What was that, carrots?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Nick turned his head to the left with a sly grin. "Well?"

"I … asked my dad about the fox shocker! He was making a fuss of course, but I stated that we would proceed with or without it; and that he would never forgive himself if he doesn't give it to us and something bad would happen." Judy replied with a sly undertone, trying to change the subject. "He will search for it and put it into the drawer of our sleeping room."

Nick snickered and shook his head. He would let the matter rest for now, but made a brief note in his mind to broach the subject again later. "Did you ask him about Mister Bonaparte Shield, too?"

"Yeah, but he never heard of that name, too. Maybe you could lookup online if he has a record in the Zootopia phonebook?"

Nick took his smartphone, starting a quick online search. After a while he said with disappointment: "Sorry, carrots. No one with this name in the whole Tri-Burrow-Area as it seems. At least not publicly available." He scrolled through his address book while talking, selected a contact and put the phone to his ear. Just when Judy wanted to ask who he is calling, Nick already started to speak.

"Hey, Bradley! How are you? – Thank you, it really was a great wedding. What a pity that your kit got ill, but family goes first of course. Is Nike alright again? – Pleased to hear that! Hey, why I'm calling, could you do me a small favor? – No, nothing official, we are still on vacation this week in Bunnyburrow, staying with Judy's parents. – (laughing) Nothing like that, Brad. I just want to ask you if you could look up a name for me in the Tri-Burrow-Area. An old friend of Judy sent a greeting card, but forgot to write his address onto it; and now we have no idea where to send our card of thanks. – Yeah, it's Andreas Bonaparte Shield. – (snickering) Shouldn't be too difficult, yes. – Thanks a lot, man! Greetings to Emma! – Bye!" Nick hung up and turned his head to Judy again with a triumphantly smile. "That was Brad from IT forensics, he will have a look at the official records and message me the address."

"Sly fox." Judy smirked.

"Dumb bunny." He snickered and put the phone back into his pocket. Judy did not even mention the fact that he was abusing official channels to get more information for their private investigation and deceived Bradley premeditatedly: She really had to be woolgathering.

They arrived at the quarry just a few minutes later, having no problem to find a parking slot. When they entered the office building they were greeted by a pig at the reception.

"Welcome to Rossmann & Son, how may I help you?"

Nick showed her his police badge and turned on his charm. "Hi, my name is Officer Nicholas Wilde from the ZPD and this is my partner Officer Judith Hopps. We are currently investigating in a case of criminal property damage. Someone vandalized a few plaster busts, and the shop owner who sold them all told us that he ordered them from you three months ago. We just want to make sure that nobody tried to break into your company, at least the only commonality are currently those busts."

The pig looked amazed. "Really? How odd! No, as far as I know nothing like a burglary happened."

"Oh, that is good to her, ma'am." Nick smiled friendly. "Could you give us information about who also ordered those busts from you? We want to warn other potential victims, you know."

"Of course, do you have a job number?" the receptionist entered a few commands into her computer.

"Sure thing…" he started to search his pockets, but obviously didn't found what he was looking for. "Oh no - I think I have forgotten my note-book!" he looked a bit frantic to Judy. "Did you brought a copy of the order form?"

"Eh…" Judy raised her eyebrows and quickly scanned her pockets. "Sorry, I must have forgotten it at the police station, sorry." She smiled awkwardly.

"Oh dear, we drove the whole way out to here in vain." He sighed, but the pig smiled cooperatively.

"Don't worry, I will try to look up the order for you. What did you say was the customer's name?"

"It's 'John's china shop' in Bunnyburrow. It was an order of a dozen plaster busts of Arthur McCoy, about three months ago." The fox smiled brightly while the pig entered the data. "That's really helpful, thank you! We are groping in the dark with this case and don't want anybody get harmed." Nick leaned onto the counter, glancing at the computer screen while Judy nervously tapped with her right food. The fox put his tail around her hip to soothe her and noticed her sigh out of the corner of his eye, snickering inwardly how innocent his cute little bunny could be.

"Here you are!" the pig finally said, turning the screen a bit into Nick's direction. "Those plaster busts were a onetime work as it seems: We only shipped those twelve at all."

"Isn't this somewhat uncommon? I mean, in general you will sell quite a few hundred copies of a figurine until phasing it out again, don't you?"

"Hm…" the pig started to type again. "You are right, here is a note regarding the mould for those busts. Apparently it was destroyed during a quarrel. The employee responsible for the destruction was fired as a result."

"Do you have his name? Just for our records." Nick smiled to the pig, who made another query on her terminal.

"A ferret named Travis Weston." She replied his smile, then added a bit worried: "I hope, this won't bring our company into disrepute?"

"Don't worry, ma'am. We need that information just routinely. You know, those annoying but useless work regulations." He smiled widely. "Thank you very much, you were a big help for us!" he touched his head with the paw. "Have a nice day, ma'am."

"I sometimes forget what you did for a living before you joined the force." Judy and Nick were driving back into town. "You really don't mind telling everyone porkies, do you?" she smiled softly.

"The better question is, fluff, why this Travis is apparently searching and destroying all busts he previously created." Nick stared out of the window, then said after a while: "Maybe the Sheriff was right, and those are just coincidences."

"You really think that?" Judy sounded irritated.

Nick panted: "No. I'm just frustrated."

"Well, maybe we can ask Travis himself for his motives."

"I bet you already have an idea where to find him?" Nick asked cutting.

"No…" Judy smiled slyly – "…I want to suggest to just wait until he comes to us voluntary."

---

With a short gasp, Nick put the last of the three heavy packages onto the bed of the truck. Judy leant against the driver's door with cross-over feet, arms crossed and watching him with a mischievous giggle.

"It's just a few pictures, carrots. Only some envelopes, carrots. How much could those writing papers weight, carrots. I'm an adult fox, you don't need to help me, carrots." Judy mocked Nick who just rolled with his eyes, arms crossed.

"Are you finished?" he asked with a small and pinched grin, rubbing his arms.

Judy started to laugh: "I didn't even start, foxtrot." – she giggled and waved him to enter the car. "Come on, I heard Evelin is making dinner today; and I know that you cannot resist her cuisine."

Nick began to move and let himself sink onto the passenger seat. "I dread to think about the fact, we also have to write all those letters. You're still sure about the hand-writing-thing? It would be much easier with a computer and a printer."

"And much more impersonal, Nick." Judy put her paw onto his leg and smiled disarming. "They all made our wedding to the best day of our life. It's the least we can do, isn't it?"

"Of course, you are right. Don't take me too serious, Judy; it's just my weaker self." He replied her smile and gave her a kiss on the paw. Then, after a short hesitation: "You said something about dinner, fluff?"

With a wide grin Judy started the engine. "Fasten your seat belts, please!"

---

"That… was simply fantastic!" Nick was sitting back on his chair, rubbing his stomach with a satisfied smile. Evelin gleamed proudly with pleasure, as did their litter sisters.

Judy bumped with her elbow against his arm. "Remember, you will have to run off all those extra pounds again next week."

"Phew! I'm not even sure I can even walk at the moment, not to mention running!"

While most were already cleaning up the table, Annie run up to Judy and tugged at Judy's sleeve.

"Hey, little puffy!" she smiled and lifted her little giggling sister onto her lap.

"Judy, can't predators cook?" she asked with her most innocent smile.

"This one here most definitely not." Judy giggled with a side-nod to Nick, who just chuntered quietly.

"Is this the reason they were hunting and eating the prey a long time ago? Could they not just have asked if they would share their meals with them?"

Annie's innocent question caused Judy to stop her giggling immediately, now looking nearly stunned. "W-what?"

"That's what Donald told today in school and hence we always should keep your 'Predsuck' well fed. Is this true?" Annie was still smiling, but her use of the word 'Predsuck' caused everyone within earshot lapse into silence and turning their head. Nick's hackles raised and he immediately sat straight in his chair, his face a dead pan.

"Annabelle, my dear…" Judy's voice was calm and soft, but nonetheless stern. "This is a very rude, mean and racist cussword."

In the meanwhile, Annie's question was whispered down the lane and nobody still in the kitchen said a word, looking shocked or in consternation. The little bunny felt uneasy and coyly looked around, knowing she had made a mistake.

"I… I'm sorry Judy." She stuttered embarrassed and her muzzle was twitching rapidly, being on the brink of crying. "I… I did not… I did not know that! Scout's honor!" The small furball on Judy's lap started to quiver and snivel.

Judy patted her head and sighed, not knowing what to do or say. A Predsuck was a disparaging foul name for a predator who lives among prey as a freeloader, utilizing them for food, work and all other kind of animal needs. It was one of the most violent insults for predators and arose a few hundred years ago. Today it was nearly unused, mercifully. But hearing it all out of a sudden out of Annie's innocent mouth was like a punch to the midriff to her.

When Nick put his paw carefully onto Judy's arm, she winced. But when she looked to her fox, he wasn't looking angry or sad; he slowly reached with both paws for Annie, who immediately hold on tightly to them, and lifting her onto his arms to cradle her soothing. "There, there…" he quietly said to the uncontrollable sobbing little bunny. Nick smiled caring, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"I-I'm … so … so-sorry, Nicky!" she continued to sob and the fox dashed away her little tears away with his thumb, still cradling her to his chest. It took a minute or two until she had calmed down again.

"What's happening here?" Bonnie Hopps had entered the kitchen, stopping puzzled under the doorframe. A few dozens of her children were embarrassed looking and cleaning up the table or doing the dishes in silence. Her ears twitched and she turned her head at once to the source of a quiet sobbing. She started to feel uncomfortable, then finally one of her older sons walked up to her and whispering told her what happened. "Sweet cheese and crackers…" Bonnie clasped her paw over her mouth, then walked quickly up to Judy and the others.

"Is everything all right again, little furball?" Nick said smiling to Annie, who nodded slowly. "See? Nothing bad has happened, no reason to cry." He gave her another kiss on the forehead.

"You are not angry with me, Nicky?" Annie asked worried, but when her favorite brother-in-law smiled even wider and shook his head, she started to smile a bit again, too.

"Oh, my poor little sweetie, come here." Bonnie said with outstretched arms, and her small daughter leaped onto her arms, cuddling her. The old rabbit mouthed 'I'm so sorry, Nick' without speaking out loud and a sad face, but Nick just made a small gesture with his paw and smiled.

"I think we are going to start writing our cards of thanks…" Judy said quietly while getting up from her chair. She turned to Nick who also got up from his seat, and both walked over to their room in silence. When Nick closed the door and turned around, he saw Judy standing slouchy in the middle of the room. "I …" she started, but then her voice dropped again, not knowing what to say.

"Hey, Judy. It's OK." Nick walked up to her, smiling softly.

"No."

"Yeah, it is."

"But…"

"No 'but'; she had no idea, what she was saying. And I didn't think for even a split-second that she could mean it."

"But it hurt you nevertheless, I could sense it!"

Nick sighed and hugged her. "Yes. Yes, it did hurt me, carrots. It's a term I didn't hear for a very long time, and it took me by surprise."

"Oh, Nick." Judy's voice sounded really sad and she embraced him even tighter. "I was totally stunned and didn't know what to do or say."

He snickered quietly: "Well, that'll be a first."

Judy smiled, then leant back and looked up to him. "Would you mind if we postpone writing the cards to tomorrow? I really just want to cuddle with you right now."

---

It was 2:37 o'clock when Nick took a look at his phone the fourth time within the last 15 minutes and yawned. "I hate surveillance, carrots. It's even more boring than paper work!" They lurked out of the house at midnight and drove with the truck into town. Judy believed, that Travis would try to steal and destroy also the last two plaster busts. They had visited Misses Emily Brown before they collected the photos and envelopes at Sanders', and suggested to her to sleep at a friend's home this night. Because this Andreas Bonaparte Shield wasn't living in Bunnyburrow it was more likely that Travis would try to steal Mrs. Browns bust first; and Judy and Nick wanted to catch him this time red-handed.

Both were sitting in her parent's truck near the cat's house, watching the street and the surroundings of the house carefully for the ferret. Nick grabbed for an isolated bottle with hot coffee and took a sip from it, when he noticed that Judy was shifting around on her seat.

"Are you cold, carrots?" he asked quietly with a smile.

The rabbit shook her head, "No…" – then, after a few more minutes passed, she turned around to him. "Nick…?"

"Mh?" – Nick was looking up and down the street, detailing everything with his night vision.

"We have to talk about something."

"That would make that surveillance at least somewhat less boring, carrots." He winked at her, but also noticed that Judy was nervous about something – and he was quite sure that it wasn't Travis.

"It has to do with my parents, they want to … let's call it 'renovate' the house next summer."

"Oh, do they need some help with it? I know a really great building company run by moles in Zootopia, and…"

"Pa loves to do it himself, and I have enough brothers to help him." Judy smiled, "But thank you for the offer. No, it's ... because of the big guest room."

"Ah, now I understand." Nick smiled – "Don't worry, carrots. We can still visit them regularly and just stay at a motel. That really will be no problem at all."

"No… I mean, yes, that would be great, but it's not what I'm trying to say." Judy looked coyly at him and Nick raised his eyebrows.

"Just spill it out, Judy."

She took a deep breath, then started to talk quickly: "They really insist on a dowry for me. It's an old tradition in the Hopps family, every son that is marrying is getting a parcel of the land for his own burrow, and every daughter gets a share of the farming business. And of course they are knowing that I neither want to become a farmer again nor that I want to move back to Bunnyburrow. But they want to make us an equal gift; I really tried to talk them out of this idea, but they stayed stubborn and made a suggestion. They want to reconstruct the big guest room and extend the house; making it into some kind of guest house with a separate entrance, living, child's and bathroom and so on. A safe haven, enabling us to visit them anytime, but also having a place to stay for ourselves whenever we want to. I know, you back off from accepting gifts and you are thinking my parents already did so much for us. But I promised them to discuss this with you. What do you think of this? Would you like the idea of having a second home here in Bunnyburrow? I guess that you're thinking it's an awful idea. It's a dumb suggestion, I know." Judy murmured something else, then finally went quiet, looking sheepishly down to her paws.

Nick thought about the idea while Judy was talking and when she finished, he watched her closely. It was rather dark in the car and the rabbit could probably only see some schemes of him, but he could see her perfectly: Judy's nose was twitching nervously, her ears leant back and her body was huddled on the seat. He slowly reached out with his arm for her face, putting his paw under her chin and pushed her head upwards; was she even trembling? The fox slowly bended forward and he could hear how his little bunny was gulping. He gave her a really gentle kiss on her mouth, stroking with his thumb over her cheek.

"I really think, this is a great idea, Judy." He whispered smiling.

"Really?!" – Judy hadn't noticed that she had hold her breath, but now she heaved a sigh of relief and was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Nick snickered: "You really have a great family and having a safe haven to back off from everyday work in the big city sounds great, too. It's a touching thought, that your parents made such a generous offer. So, if you also like that idea, call me in."

"Oh, Nick!" Judy made a jump towards him, her arms wrapping around his neck and giving him a passionate kiss.

They shared both a brief moment, hugging each other, when Judy's ears suddenly stiffed.

"I think I heard something…" she whispered, looking out of the front window, trying to recognize something in the dark. Nick turned around, watching the street and the house. When he saw someone climbing into a window of the observed house, he tensed up.

"He is in the house!" Nick whispered and Judy grabbed the pink fox shocker from the dashboard; they opened the passenger door and sneaked out of the car, across the street and along some bushes toward the broken-up window, taking up post right beside it.

After two minutes they suddenly heard a shatter from the pavement. Before Nick could even react, Judy broke into a run towards the street.

"Judy!"

"He has left the house through the front door, quick!" Judy shouted over her shoulder, then arrived at the roadside. "Paws in the air, Travis!"

The ferret was standing just a few meters away from her, right under a light post. To his feet were the shattered remains of the plaster bust and he looked really surprised to the rabbit. But after a short moment of hesitation, he started to run towards her with his claws reached out and an angry shout. Judy pushed the button of the fox shocker, but only the red low-battery light went on. She widened her eyes and tried to evade the ferret with a quick leap to the side, but already knew that it was too late for it…

The same moment Travis lunged to claw her, he was thrown back by something that looked like a big shadow. It took Judy a few seconds until she realized that it was Nick, who ran and jumped out of the dark against the ferret. Travis was pinned to the street, on top of him the fox on all fours and snarling threatening. Judy had a short flash back to the night howler case: It was the only time she ever saw another animal looking as savage as Nick was looking now.

"Nick, don't!"

---

It was shortly passed six o'clock in the morning when Nick and Judy entered the burrow again.

"Where were you two?!" Bonnie nearly dropped a basket with bread when she encountered them in the corridor. Both were looking terrible tired and Nick's shirt was torn open at the collar and his right sleeve.

"Hey, Mom…" Judy smiled wryly at her while Nick yawned again. "It was really a long night. Can we talk about it later, please?"

"But…!" the old bunny began, but Judy interrupted her with a quick kiss onto her cheek.

"Everything is okay, I promise."

Her mother sighed and finally nodded – "Okay, get a few hours of sleep you two. But we will continue this talk later!"

"Alright. Thanks, Mom." / "Thank you, Bon."

The two scuffed to their room at the end of the corridor. Judy let herself fall onto the bed and groaned. "I hoped, we could sneak into the house without being caught."

Nick shrugged, pulled off his shirt and eyed the rifts in it. With a snort he threw it onto the chair, pulled off his trousers, too, and walked up to the bed. Judy also had undressed her shirt and jeans and was now making enough room beside herself for the fox. After he laid down, she crawled with her paw over his cheek and smiled.

"Are you okay, Nick?"

He returned her smile and put his tail around her body. "I'm now."

"Sheriff Darcy and his constable seemed to be rather hacked off when we brought them the true burglar." Judy giggled.

"I would be, too, if some cute little bunny leads me a merry dance after doing my job."

"Well, maybe he can make Travis talk as a small contribution to the closure. I'm still curious why this ferret was doing all of this!" After a short moment of silence, she added with a grin: "And speaking of behaving odd: Did you confused a night howler with a blueberry lately? I nearly thought you went savage earlier…"

"If this bugger would have laid a paw on you, no night howler would have been necessary." Nick instinctively pulled Judy closer to himself. She smiled and gave him a kiss before closing her tired eyes. It took less than a minute until Judy was deeply asleep. Nick watched her for a while until he, finally, also fell asleep.

---

They were sitting all together in the living room: Nick, Judy, Bonnie, Stu, Evelin, Sven and a few of the older siblings. The grandfather clock was showing half past three, and they were eating some blueberry-apple-pie dropped off by Gideon Grey, who was also present. For the last hour, the two cops had told what they had done and found out during the last day regarding the McCoy burglaries. Of course they made it sound more like a chill story than an actual police investigation, but altogether the others were still attentive listeners.

"I'm a bit sad that Travis never get his act together." Gideon said finally when Nick finished the story with the arrest of the ferret by Sheriff Darcy. "We were good friends back in school, but he couldn't find a trainee position and finally joined a street gang from a nearby village. I had so much problems on my own back then, I wasn't available for him."

"It was his own decision to join that gang. It's not your fault, Gideon, that he went to the bad." Judy smiled softly.

"By the way, I gave your shirt Amita." Bonnie said to Nick. "She will try to sew it back together."

"Thank you, Bon!" Nick beamed happily.

"How did you arrest the ferret by the way?" Carsten, a 19-year-old brother of Judy asked curious.

"Did you use the shocker? I bet it worked like a charm! Always wanted to see it in action…" Stu snickered quietly.

"Eh… yeah…" Nick was nervously rubbing his neck.

"Actually…" Judy's nose twitched. They had deliberately skipped the details of that part, but now a dozen curious eye-pairs were looking eagerly at them. Judy sighed: "The batteries were too low; the shocker didn't work."

"Oh…" Stu said a bit disappointed, then with sudden realization: "Oh! Green carrot! I'm so sorry, Jude!"

"It's okay, dad. Fortunately, I had my very own predator with me." Judy winked to Nick who was still looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Oh my goodness!" Bonnie exclaimed. "So this is how your shirt got teared apart? My dear, I hope you are okay, Nick!"

"Did he hurt you?" – "You two were really fighting?" – "Did you bite him?" – all of a sudden everyone in the room seems to have questions about the short fight. Judy snickered, being pride of her fox, but Nick just put up his paws in defense.

"I was just acting instinctively when I realized Judy was in danger. Yes, I assaulted Travis. And I pinned him down to the floor. But no, I neither was hurt nor did I bite him." Nick said with an awry smile; he noticed, that Gideon didn't say anything but was watching him sympathetic. As the only other predator in the room he was probably knowing what going savage feels like. Nick nodded thankfully to him, then continued. "As I made sure, the ferret wouldn't run away, Judy called the police to get him finally arrested."

The other rabbits murmured for a while and Judy gave Nick a kiss on his cheek, whispering to him: "You are my hero, foxtrot."

"But why was Travis stealing and destroying all those plaster busts now?" Gideon asked after a while, scratching his head.

"Good question, did he said anything about that?" Evelin asked in wonderment.

Judy shook slowly her head – "He declined to answer a question after he was arrested."

"Maybe he just went crazy." Sven suggested, and a few of the Hopps' children nodded in agreement.

"Even a maniac has an agenda as a general rule." Judy answered doubting. "But perhaps we will never know his motives."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, carrots…" Nick suddenly said with a wink and all heads turned in his direction with a surprised look.

"You have an idea?" Bonnie was the first to speak up.

"Well, let's call it an assumption. But there has yet to be a confirmation."

"Say it plain!" Evelin grinned with anticipation.

"Yes, I would like to hear your theory, too!" Judy's nose was twitching.

Nick leant back on the couch with a sly smile. "We heard from the secretary at Rossmann and Son, that Travis was the one responsible for creating twelve plaster busts. But on the same day he was fired for having an argument with somebody. Shortly after he gets arrested for three months; and after he was released from prison, he started to get all of those busts he created first-hand and then destroys them. But Travis is not the only one involved in this crime…"

"This weasel… what was his name?" Sven suggested.

"Duke Weaselton." Judy said and Nick nodded.

"Exactly, he was the one Travis was fighting with when they both got arrested three months ago. And he also appeared at the ninth crime scene, where he was arrested by the Sheriff. I think, that Duke Weaselton was also the one, Travis had a quarrel with at the factory! We should get that easily proved by showing the leadman at Rosssmann's a photography of Weaselton."

"Sounds reasonable." Judy had to agree. "But why destroying those busts?"

"Let's say, Travis and Weaselton had successfully finished a coup. At least, they are both petty thieves; I would guess they tricked someone and stole something valuable."

"Money?" Stu suggested.

"Or some antique?" Evelin added.

"Maybe, but my guess would be something rather small but all the more worthwhile."

"Jewelry!" Judy exclaimed, slowly getting an idea for what Nick was driving at.

Nick winked at her, "I think so, yes! Perhaps Travis was preserving the loot. And when he didn't share with Weaselton, the Duke came to the quarry, visiting him at work to confront him. Now, Arthur McCoy comes into play…" – every single mammal's eyes were glued to his lips. With a sly grin, Nick continued: "I put myself in Travis' shoes: What would I do if I want to betray my accomplice, but get surprised by his visit when I have the loot actually with me? I don't want to risk that he gets ahold of it, so I have to hide it where he – and no one else – would ever find it. Travis only had a short moment to think of a hiding place."

"His workplace?" Gideon suggested.

"He was working at a big company; a colleague could find it." Nick smiled.

"Sweet cheese and crackers…" Judy said slowly. "…the plaster busts!"

Nick grinned – "Sly bunny! Exactly, this is also the reason I guess that it was some kind of jewelry they stole. It's valuable and still small enough to be put into not-yet-hardened plaster. And no one would ever look into it! Quite clever, I have to agree."

"And then he got arrested before he could get hold of the bust again." Judy said and Nick nodded again.

"Yes, he knew who ordered the plaster busts and wanted to break into the shop to steal them. But that evening Weaselton confronted him again and later he got arrested. When he finally was released from prison, he bought all still remaining busts from John's china store. Only five of them were left, but at least it was a small chance. But when he realized the shop owner notes all sales into a notebook, he waited for John being distracted by another customer, then took a look at the notebook. It's really no problem at all if you know what you are looking for, I tried it myself while Judy was talking with the old raccoon. When the right bust was not within the five he bought, he broke into the homes of the other buyers and stole their bust. He couldn't risk to destroy them in the houses because there was not enough light. But walking through the streets of Bunnyburrow with a plaster bust could arouse attention, even at night. So he used the first-best opportunity after leaving the crime scene, near a lamp post on the pavement or behind the house. He smashed the busts onto the floor, seeking for whatever he hid in it."

"But what did he hide? He destroyed all of the busts and didn't found it obviously." Evelin asked curious. It was ringing at the front door, and Stu got up, leaving the room.

"Not all of them… Andreas Bonaparte Shield!" Judy said excited.

"Excuse me?" Sven said.

"He was the last buyer of a bust." Nick explained and Judy added:

"But nobody in Bunnyburrow knows him and he is not within the public address book. So Travis had no idea where to find him. That was also the reason I believed he would break into Emily Browns house, first."

"And you were totally right, carrots." Nick smiled.

Stu re-entered the room, carrying a package with him. "It's for you, Judy. Who do you know in Chimestown?" he asked curiously while handing the package to his daughter.

"No one." Judy looked irritated to the sender address when her eyes grew big. She ripped it open immediately, starring at the content

"What is it, Juju?" Evelin asked.

"The answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything…" Nick snickered.

Judy slowly lifted the 30 centimeter big plaster bust of Arthur McCoy out of the box and put it onto the table.

"Is this…?" Bonnie asked and Judy nodded.

"The sender of the package is Mister Andreas Bonaparte Shield; this is the last of the twelve plaster bust, the last one that Travis couldn't get his paws onto."

"I asked a colleague at the ZPD for help to get his address and phone number and called him yesterday. He was somewhat puzzled, but when I explained him that I'm a police officer and his bust was evidence in a crime, he was willing to send it to me at once. Oh, and maybe the fact that I offered him the tenfold of the original price."

"Sly fox." Judy smirked.

"And… what are we going to do now?" Stu asked, his muzzle twitching nervously.

"I would suggest the same what Travis did…" Nick winked and got up from the couch. "Would you do us the compliment, carrots?" he smiled and pointed to the door.

Judy took the bust and they all followed her and Nick through the house and out on the court. It looked really strange as they all arranged in a circle and Judy hold Arthur McCoy high in the air.

"Farewell, McCoy … you caused well too much trouble!" she solemnly said, then smashed the plaster bust onto the floor. Everyone was leaning forward to look at she broken fragments when Judy reached with her paw for a shiny piece of metal.

"I'll be blowed!" Bonnie gasped while Judy dusted off what turned out to be a tiny gold ring with a big red ruby, not nearly big enough for a rabbit.

"It's beautiful!" Evelin exclaimed smiling.

"It's impossible!" Nick stared on the jewelry in Judy's paw.

"Hm? What do you mean?" she asked and Nick slowly took the ring from her, watching it closely. Then, when he found what he was looking for, he showed it to Judy and pointed with his claw to a small engraving: An ornate 'B' – "Oh."

"Yes. 'Oh' applies perfectly." Nick replied and dropped the ring back into Judy's paw. "I think it would be better if you are giving it back… he likes you way more than me."

"Would someone mind to explain…?" Evelin asked sheepish.

Nick looked around suspiciously – "Let's go back into the house, we should not talk about this here."

Stu had already picked up most of the fragments and put them into the trashcan when they all walked back into the house. Most of Judy's siblings did took their mind off the ring and bust, now that the secret was revealed, and walked into their own rooms or to the kitchen. Gideon also bid goodbye to them, he had still some work to do in his shop. The only ones that met in the living room again were Nick, Judy, Stu, Bonnie, Evelin and Sven.

"There is a small engraving on the ring." Judy explained when they all sat down. "It's the logo of a rich and terrific … business man. I'm also the godmother of one of his grandchildren. This ring obviously belongs to him; and if this is true, Weaselton and Travis are in much more trouble than just being arrested for theft and burglary."

"Sounds like a dangerous and not very friendly man." Stu said indignantly and Bonnie nodded worried.

"He is the father of Fru Fru, right? Wasn't she at the wedding, too?" Evelin asked, and when Judy nodded, she turned to their parents smiling: "You remember the little Artic Shrew? She sat at the table with the polar bear."

"Oh, those! Yes, I talked with her for a while. She seemed really nice, actually." Bonnie admitted and her worriedness slowly faded away.

"Well, I think he cannot be so bad if you are friends with his daughter. And I bet he will be really thankful if you two bring him back the ring." Stu also smiled a bit.

Evelin, who knew exactly who Mister Big was from Judy's narrations during their muzzle calls, winked to Judy, who thankfully smiled back to her. "Well, Sven and I are invited for dinner by his parents. We will see you tomorrow!" she got off the couch with some effort and after some affectionate farewells, the both left the burrow.

"We also have still a lot of cards to write." Judy said to her parents, linking arms with Nick.

"It's okay, honey. We will call you both when dinner is ready!" Bonnie said smilingly.

After closing the door of their room, Judy sat at the desk and put the small ring in front of her. "Weaselton and Travis must have death wishes."

"I would suggest, that you are not telling Mister Big how you found his ring. And perhaps nothing of this should find its way into an official police file, too." Nick said softly while putting his arms around Judy from behind.

"Yeah, I agree. Finally, we did no official investigation and are still on vacation." Judy sighed, contrite about the fact that they would have to sweep all of this under the rug. "I will call him immediately; the sooner we get rid of this ring the better. And then we finally have to write those cards!" she winked and Nick playfully rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say, carrots…" he smiled