"Nick. Hey Nick. Get up you dumb fox." Judy said to her partner who was napping in the passenger's seat of the police cruiser.
Partners. Nick and Judy were more than just partners. They were best friends.
Ever since Nick joined the ZPD and became Judy's partner, the two of them have been inseparable. Although he was still a rookie, only three months out of the academy, Nick had already proven himself as an officer. He was clever and had a way with people, it's what had made him such a good con man back when they first met. Almost everyone was friends with Nick. Almost. The rest didn't think too highly of his past antics. Either way, Nick's resourcefulness, and Judy's determination made them quite an effective pair. While they sometimes employed 'unusual' methods, the two of them were arguably the best officers in their precinct. That is the reason Chief Bogo put them on their current case. Five missing mammals and very few leads, oddly similar to the first case Nick and Judy solved way back when.
"Uggggghhhhh, five more minutes." Nick replied as he slunk lower into the seat where he had been confined for the past three hours. Judy called in a stakeout, he called it nap time.
"Come on, he's here." Judy informed Nick as she was already halfway out of the car. Unlike Nick, she had used the quiet moments of waiting to work on the case. Try as she might though, the intrepid young rabbit could not find any connection between the mammals that had gone missing within the past two weeks. Hopefully their current lead would get them pointed in the right direction.
"Fine…Hey carrots, wait up!" Nick called as he sprang awake and grabbed his sunglasses from where they sat on the dash. Finally, it was time for some action.
Nick jumped out into the alley where the unmarked cruiser was parked. A pile of wooden pallets sat next to an overflowing dumpster at one end, the other offered a perfect vantage point for watching the buildings across the street.
"I thought you were going to sleep through the whole thing, again." Judy teased as Nick donned his reflective aviators. What a sight. The proud fox standing in front of her was a far cry from the lowly pawpsicle hustler of the past. He had come such a long way, it didn't feel real.
"Hey! It wasn't my fault I got hit with that tranq dart." Nick responded in kind. He may have become a cop but not everything had changed, he was still the same old Nick.
"Excuses, excuses" Judy said as she began walking towards the main road at the end of the alley.
"So who's our guy?" Nick asked, following behind her. He never did pay much attention during the morning briefings.
"James Lambert, he's the ram right over there" Judy motioned towards a lone male sheep walking down the stairs from one of the many apartment buildings that lined downtown Zootopia.
"He was the last person seen with Mr. Higgins before he went missing." She continued.
The two crossed the street and approached the sharply dressed ram. He bore a black suit which contrasted greatly with the near perfect whiteness of his wool. Even for a sheep he seemed quite well groomed. The addition of a small briefcase made the ram look as though he had just stepped out of a spy movie. The only thing missing was a supervillain bent on world domination, and some gratuitous explosions.
The comparatively unimposing rabbit and fox duo caught up with the ram who looked to be in a hurry.
"Excuse me, Mr. Lambert?" Nick spoke in the same gentle tone that he had perfected during his hustling career, "I'm Officer Wilde and this is Officer Hopps of the ZPD."
"We'd like to ask you a few questions regarding Theodore Higgins." Judy explained.
"Teddy? The wolf?" The ram replied in an unexpectedly timid tone.
"Yes, Mr. Higgins went missing a few days ago and according to our records you were the last individual to be seen with him." Judy informed the nervous Mr. Lambert.
"I-I don't really-uh well, I mean." He struggled to form a coherent response. The ram may have looked like a suave secret agent, but he sure didn't act like one.
"You were with him at…" Judy flipped through her case notes to check the details, "'The Smoothie Spot' in Sahara Square on Tuesday, correct?"
"Y-Yes, I guess-I think so."
"Look James. Can I call you James?" Nick intervened to help the obviously nervous sheep, "We just want to know how you came to know our wolf friend and where he may have gone."
"Um-Right, well Teddy is, sorry, was my…uh…business partner. The last time I saw him we were discussing a new project over lunch. I haven't heard for him in a couple of days, I figured he just didn't like my proposal."
"And where did Teddy go after your meeting?" Nick continued.
"Um, h-home? I don't really know, I'm sorry."
"No, no you're doing great" Judy encouraged, "Did he have any other business partners? Any places he might stop after meetings? Anything else you can think of that might be useful?"
"N-Not really. I didn't know him that well, we just met last month."
"That's okay, can you tell me how the two of you met?" Judy inquired.
"Well, he was-he was working for a, uh, friend of mine. He just, well I, we-uh, you know. Sorry."
"Would you mind explaining what the nature of your business with Mr. Higgins was?" Nick pressed the uneasy ram with one more question.
"I wish I could, but that is not something I am able to disclose." James explained.
It was clear they were getting nowhere fast with Mr. Lambert, so Judy wrapped it up.
"We understand" She said almost apologetically, "Feel free to call the station if you think of any more information that could help us locate Mr. Higgins."
"Sure thing. I'm sorry, I'm running late for a meeting, please let me know if they find Teddy." The sheep said quickly as he regained his composure and hurried down the street, joining the hundreds of others going about their daily routines in Savanna Central.
It was a little after five, so the streets were flooded with all kinds of animals, some coming home from work, others just enjoying the day. In the middle of all the commotion stood a rabbit and a fox, two cops looking on as their last lead disappeared into the mass of a city they had sworn to protect.
"Well that was a huge waste of time." Judy said as the two of them shifted attention from the ram to each other.
"Are you kidding me? That was the most helpful lead yet!"
Judy looked questioningly at her partner, unable to tell if he was being sarcastic or not.
"Haven't I taught you anything carrots? That 'Mr. Lambert' isn't fooling anyone." Nick answered Judy with a smug grin.
"What?" Judy wasn't following.
"Oh no, I'm a helpless little sheep. I'm sorry I can't help you officers." Nick imitated the scared tone of the ram's responses.
"You think he knows something?" Judy said beginning to catch on.
"Ding-Ding-Ding. Look who's starting to get it." Nick joked as he gave Judy a pat on the head, which she didn't take too kindly to.
"What do you think he knows?" Judy followed up.
"Now that is the real question." Nick replied, "And what we need to find out."
"Should we follow him?" Judy asked excitedly, as the lead was finally beginning to pay off.
"No, he'd notice if we tailed him. We'll have to get some other units to keep an eye on him from a distance."
"Alright, let's get back to the car and radio-" Judy cut herself off as the two looked towards the alley where the unmarked cruiser was parked.
"Bwahahaha!" Nick burst out laughing as he saw the bizarre blue van parked right in front of their cruiser, illegally blocking the entrance to the alley.
"Well I'm convinced. The universe hates me." Judy said half seriously. It was hard to be upset with Nick's howling laughter in the background.
"You want to look around for the owner while I call in for a tow?" Although she was less than thrilled with the unexpected obstacle, Judy couldn't help but chuckle as she went around the blue monstrosity to grab the radio in the cruiser.
"How could you even think of impounding this beauty?" Nick teased, admiring the artwork proudly displayed on the vehicle, the flame decals on the front were a nice touch. It reminded him of Finnick's van, only way cooler, there was even a set of fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror. Classic.
"You're impossible" Judy commented as she jumped inside and grabbed the radio.
"Hopps to dispatch" She paged Clawhauser.
"Go ahead" The familiar, cheerful voice answered.
"I've got a 586 on Crest Ave, he's blocking our cruiser. 11-85"
"10-4 I'll get one your way asap. How'd it go?"
"Thanks Ben, about that, can you spare any units to keep an eye on a Mr. James Lambert? Looking for a 10-66, last seen at the corner of Crest and Linder"
"10-4 Gimme a sec"
The radio went silent while Clawhauser put the word out. Judy glanced out the front of the cruiser. Nick was still taking in the 'beauty' of the van as he passed by, attempting to locate the driver. Judy smirked as she thought about the day's events. Nothing hadn't gone quite as expected, but then again, when do they ever?
"Dispatch to Hopps"
"Go"
"Delgato and Wolford are rolling Code 2 on it"
"10-4 Hopps out"
Judy placed the transmitter back on its hook as Nick made his way over to the cruiser.
"Whoever drives that stunning piece of machinery is M.I.A." he said as he climbed into the passenger seat.
"There is something seriously wrong with you" Judy responded straight faced.
A few minutes later the tow truck arrived and, much to Nick's dismay, hauled the eyesore of a van away. As the two of them started up the cruiser and got ready to head back to the station, the radio crackled to life with a worried sounding Clawhauser on the other end.
"Dispatch to Hopps and Wilde"
Nick grabbed the radio, putting on his serious face. Whatever this was, it couldn't be good.
"Go for Wilde"
"You two need to be 10-19 right now"
"We're on our way, what is it?"
"Hopps, Wilde." They heard Bogo's voice rumble through the receiver "We have a problem"
"What happened?" Nick asked as Judy looked over at him uneasily.
"We found your missing wolf"
"Great, so then what's the problem?" Nick replied. He and Judy already knew the answer, they could hear it in Bogo's voice, but they could still hope it wasn't the case.
"His body was recovered last night"
Hi everyone, first I'd like to thank you all for reading my story, I hope you are enjoying it so far. Second, some general notes. This is the first fanfiction I have ever written so bear with me, I'm not expecting it to be perfect but with any luck my writing should improve as the story progresses. With that, any and all reviews are appreciated, tell me what you think, feedback of any kind is welcomed. Finally, I do not have a set schedule for uploading new chapters, they will be posted as I complete them, which hopefully should be about every week or so, depending on school and work. Again, thanks for reading, see you all in chapter 2.