Judy was munching on a bean burrito when Nick walked into Garth's basement. She was sitting next to Garth, both of them looking at his computer screen unblinkingly.
"Hey guys!" said Nick.
"Nick! Grab a burrito, you'll wanna see this," said Garth.
Nick took a burrito out of Garth's refrigerator and put it in the microwave, which was right beside him.
"Okay, so all these are purchases, see?" said Garth, showing Judy the columns of numbers and names of different things. "The alphanumeric digits in the centre column are the internal code that the company uses. But for an agricultural company, they sure do buy a lot of weird stuff."
"What do you mean?" asked Judy through a mouthful of burrito.
"Ammonium acetate? Dichlorobenzene periodate? Acetylsalicylic acid in bulk? Not something I'd associate with an agricultural firm. More like a pharmaceutical company, if you ask me."
"Well, don't they produce fertilisers?" asked Judy. "They could be making fertiliser to sell and use on their farmland."
"That theory would be correct…if they had any line of fertilisers in their catalogue, which they do not," said Garth, showing her a list of their products. "Why would a company that claims to be an agricultural firm purchase large amounts of chemicals that are not traditionally associated with the fabrication of fertilisers, and do it in the utmost secrecy?"
Nick walked up behind Garth with his burrito in his paw.
"Garth, is there a shipping manifest? Is there a way to track down where they're storing the chemicals?"
"Where there's a whip, there's a way!" said Garth, tapping some keys.
"Um…I believe it's 'Where there's a will, there's a way'," said Nick.
Garth signed sadly.
"It's at times like this that I'd love to have a fellow basement-dwelling nerd to catch my references and chuckle along with me."
Nick didn't know what to say. Neither did Judy.
"There," said Garth. "Shipping manifest. Delivered at 8423 South Limpopo Avenue."
"Hey!" said Nick, remembering something. "That's old Cosgrove's place."
"Cosgrove? The one that was bought out by Terra Firma?" said Judy, her ears perking up. "The same place where Mr Capri was arrested?"
"The very one!" said Nick.
"What was the old saying? Hide in plain sight?" said Garth, pulling up the location on Zoogle Maps. "Looks like these guys have taken that adage to heart."
Nick and Judy looked at the picture of the building on the screen…and then at each other.
"What do you say, Carrots? We already committed information theft and illegal infiltration of encrypted data today," said Nick with a wry smile. "Wanna add break-and-entering to the list?"
"That's a D and an E and an 'efinitely!" said Judy, high-fiving her favourite fox. "We're gonna find out what they're up to and put them out of commission!"
"And that's the bottom line! 'Cause Stoat Cold said so!" bellowed Garth, standing on his chair in a dramatic pose.
It was quiet for a Thursday afternoon. Judy sidled along the wall with Nick close behind. There was nobody in sight, but still she strained her eyes to see if there was anybody hiding in some shadow of the alley. All was clear.
"Okay," she said. "You've been inside this building."
"A couple of times," said Nick.
Judy stopped, turned to him and stared.
"Um…disregard that last comment," said Nick sheepishly.
"I think I will," said Judy, trying hard not to imagine Nick's past exploits before they had met. "So, any security cameras to worry about?"
"Two," said Nick. "One in the front entrance, the other in the receiving bay."
"That's it?"
"Old Cosgrove was pretty lax on security, that's why Finnick and I…"
He stopped.
"I can't seem to get my foot out of my mouth, can I?"
"Water under the bridge, hun," said Judy. "So we're clear?"
"Yup," said Nick.
"Okay, here goes."
Judy took a small kit out of her pocket and opened it. Inside were several lock picks. She approached the side door and got to work.
"Keep an eye out," said Judy. "I'll open this."
"Roger that," said Nick, his ears perked up and his eyes scanning the alley for any sign of witnesses.
After a minute or so, the lock clicked and the door opened a fraction.
"Got it," said Judy, stashing her lock picks in her pocket and carefully sneaking into the building. Nick double-checked to see if nobody was watching, and followed her.
The familiar stairwell met his eyes. Judy stood there, waiting for him to guide her.
"Where to, slick?"
"Let's check the receiving bay, I'm sure whatever they ship comes in through there."
He led the way up two flights of stairs and through a door. Carefully, they tiptoed down a corridor, heading towards the back of the building. At a doorway, they stopped and listened. Nobody could be heard. Judy cautiously peered around the doorway and beckoned for Nick to have a peek.
"Looks like Garth was on the money," whispered Judy. "That's a heck of a lot of chemicals."
Large kegs and boxes marked 'Hazardous Material' were neatly stocked in the storage area beneath them. Judy tiptoed into the storage area along a walkway that ran close to the ceiling, counting the kegs and looking at their names.
"They're all here," said Judy, taking out her phone and filming the room. "Somehow, I doubt this stuff is used to raise good crops. Looks more like herbicide to me."
"Carrots!" whispered Nick.
Judy turned to see him pointing at a door near the end of the room below. It was marked 'LAB'.
"Alright!" said Judy. "Maybe we can find out what they're making."
They found the stairs that led to the floor below and carefully entered the lab. Everything was clean and pristine. The glassware was neatly arranged, the tools were polished, and at the far end, Judy spotted a refrigeration unit.
Carefully, she approached the refrigeration unit. With her paw tucked in her sleeve, she opened the door of the unit, careful not to leave any prints.
Judy and Nick saw several sealed test tubes filled with glowing orange liquid. It was somewhat viscous and shone brightly in the light of the refrigeration unit light bulb.
"Shall we take one?" asked Judy.
"We shall," said Nick.
He took his handkerchief out, grabbed one of the test tubes and wrapped it safely. Then Judy reinforced it with hers.
"Okay," said Judy, filming the lab and each of the machines. "Now let's go upstairs and check…"
But a loud noise cut her off! The noise of the receiving bay doors opening!
The corrugated metal shutters made a loud noise as they slowly moved up. Judy knew she and Nick had a few seconds before bad became worse.
"Come on!" she whispered urgently and grabbed his paw, dashing for the door.
They sneaked out of the lab and hid behind the large boxes of chemicals, waiting and peeking from between the gaps. A delivery truck slowly backed closer to the bay doors until it reached the unloading position. It stopped and a large caribou jumped out of the driver's seat, followed by a bear.
"Is this the last delivery, Al?" asked the bear.
"Yep," said the caribou, opening the back of the truck as the bear walked into the building to get a pallet jack.
"Poker at Joan's with the boys tonight?" asked the bear.
"Yep," answered the caribou.
They unloaded several boxes of chemicals, arranging them on the far side of the room. The bear went through a checklist and verified that everything was accounted for.
"Well, that's the last of it," said the bear.
"Yep," answered the caribou.
"Same time next Thursday," said the bear, checking his list.
"Yep," said the caribou.
"Alright. Let's get outta here."
The two delivery workers closed the bay doors, got in their truck and left.
"Whew!" said Judy.
"Yep," said Nick.
Judy fake-elbowed him in the ribs playfully.
"That was a close shave," she said.
"I think we should call it quits for now, Carrots," said Nick. "We can come back tonight, when nobody is likely to burst in with cargo."
"I'll drink to that," said Judy as they emerged from their hiding place. "Let's go show this to Garth."
They returned to the stairwell and reached the side door to the alley. Nick was just about to open the door, when….
"I assure you, sir," said a jittery voice on the other side. "Everything will be arranged according to your plan."
Nick bolted around, picked up Judy unceremoniously and flew up the stairs, his tail disappearing around the corner just as the door opened and a mole walked in, followed by two thuggish grizzly bears. He was talking on the phone with his boss.
"Yes, I'll look into it and make sure all the arrangements are made," said the mole. "Yes, I'll call you immediately as soon as it's done."
The boss hung up. Mr George Jenkins, the mole that Judy and Nick had met earlier at the Terra Firma headquarters, walked up the stairs followed by the two bodyguards.
"Okay, Rosco, you empty the storage on the third floor. Butch, you come with me, I can't lift those kegs to save my life," said the mole.
Judy and Nick listened as the bear walked up the stairs towards them. They quickly and quietly ran into the third floor corridor and into the storage room where Nick had been in just a week before.
"Déjà vu," said Nick as he and Judy walked in.
"What now?" asked Judy.
"Bungee cables. Window. Escape."
Judy understood. She helped Nick quickly attach a few lengths of bungee cable into a long rope. Nick walked to the window and threw the cable at the familiar flagpole overhead. It latched on securely.
"Hey, this is almost like the ending of the movie we watched last night," said Judy as Nick took her safely in his arm and she hugged him firmly around the neck. "You know, when the hero and the girl swung down from the exploding airship?"
"One of these days, Carrots," said Nick with a mixture of grin and frown. "You and I are going to sit down and have a long talk."
Nick gripped the end of the cable with all his might and jumped out the window!
The cable pulled back just as they were two feet above the sidewalk. Nick let go and landed safely, and the cable bounced back up.
As the cable bounced up, the hook detached itself from the flagpole and the cable fell to the ground. Judy quickly snatched the cable and rolled it up, taking it with her as she and Nick dashed away from the building.
"This might come in useful again," said Judy as they ran across the street at a corner, heading back towards Garth's place.
Garth watched the videos from Judy's phone carefully on his computer screen.
"It all seems to indicate that the agricultural firm is a front," said Garth. "They're secretly purchasing chemicals and storing them in the warehouses they bought out, while at the same time setting up clandestine laboratories."
He turned his head and looked at the test tube filled with bright orange liquid, sitting safely inside a glass cabinet to his right.
"Whatever it is, I doubt it's super-vitamin formula," said Garth. "There's a reason they wanted it kept out of the public eye."
"And I think I know who can help us figure out what this stuff is," said Nick.
"Let me guess…" said Judy with a teasing smirk. "Oh, Officer Wilde! You can deliver me your fluids anytime you want! Um…meaning the fluids you found in test tube…in clandestine labs…not what you think I totally didn't mean…and yet did, in a manner of speaking," Judy did her best impression of Amber.
Nick chuckled as he pulled Judy into a hug and gave her a gentle noogie.
"Are you jelly, widdle bunny?" teased Nick.
"Hah!" said Judy.
"Alright," said Nick. "Let's all go. That way you can make sure your pwecious widdle foxy behaves himself."
Judy snorted with laughter as she and Nick walked to the door.
"You too, Garth," said Nick. "And bring that orange stuff with you."
"Okay," said Garth, reaching for the test tube of orange chemical. "Hmm…forensics lab. This might be enlightening."
It was late afternoon when they got to Precinct 1. Benjamin Clawhauser was just getting ready to end his day, packing his most prized belongings underneath his desk for safekeeping, chief among which was his limited-edition numbered Gazelle doll that Judy had gotten for him from the Bunny Burrow County Fair.
"Hey Clawhauser!" said Judy.
The cheetah smiled with delight.
"Hopps! Wilde!" he said. "I thought you were on leave!"
"We are. But we just needed to stop by," said Judy. "Do you have any visitor badges? For our friend here."
Clawhauser looked beyond Judy and saw Nick with Garth.
"Mr O' Possum!" said Clawhauser. "So nice to see you!"
Garth had been an essential player in cracking the crooked carnival caper two months earlier, and Clawhauser had become quite the fan of the little opossum.
"How's it hangin', Ben!" said Garth.
"How's everyone's favourite Junior ZPD Officer?" said Clawhauser.
"Doing fine! We have a little business in the catacombs," said Garth.
"Oh, go right ahead," said Clawhauser. "Our Honorary Junior ZPD Officer is always welcome here!"
Nick led Garth to the stairs to the basement.
"Hey Clawhauser, I need to go upstairs for a bit," said Judy. "To my cubicle. I have something I need to check on my computer."
"This is your home, Hopps," said Clawhauser. "Go right on ahead."
As Judy walked up the stairs, Clawhauser looked at the three of them heading in different directions and sighed with joy.
"We're one big happy family," he said dreamily as he left his front desk to clock out.
Nick knocked on the door of the Forensics Department and heard the familiar footsteps approaching.
The door opened and Amber's bespectacled face greeted them.
"Officer Wilde!" she said delightedly. "What a lovely surprise!"
"Hello, Amber," said Nick. "I'm afraid I have more work for you. Sorry to impose."
"Oh, it's no bother at all, Officer Wilde," said Amber, inviting them in. "Please, please come in and make yourself at home!"
Nick walked in and Garth followed.
"Oh!" said Amber. "We have a visitor!"
"Yes," said Nick. "Amber, I'd like you to meet a long-time friend of mine and Junior ZPD Officer extraordinaire, Garth O' Possum!"
Nick turned to Garth.
"Garth, meet Amber Beverly Latrans, our extraordinary forensics specialist," said Nick.
"So pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr O' Possum!" said Amber, extending her dainty paw.
"The pleasure is all mine," said Garth, taking her paw gallantly and kissing it lightly in the old-fashioned way.
Amber giggled.
"Such a cavalier," she said.
Amber walked over to the coffee machine in the corner.
"May I offer you a drink?" she asked her guests. "Coffee, tea, hot chocolate perhaps?"
"Coffee is fine," said Nick.
"I never turn down a cup of hot chocolate," said Garth.
"Heehee, neither do I," said Amber as she reached for José Carioca's Finest Dark Coffee, a Zootopian favourite brand, and two sachets of powdered cocoa.
After a while, Amber gave Garth and Nick their drinks and took a sip of her own.
"So, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure times two, Officer Wilde?"
Garth beamed. Nick took the test tube of orange liquid wrapped in handkerchiefs out of his pocket and carefully unbundled it. He gave it to Amber, who looked curiously at it in the light.
"I need you to tell me what this is," said Nick.
"Wow," said Amber. "This is high-quality work. The test tube alone is worth more than a luxury dinner at the Maison du Bison. Will it be inappropriate to ask where you obtained this?"
"No, but Amber…"
Nick looked very seriously at her.
"I need you to keep this a secret," said Nick. "I trust you. You're more than our colleague, you are our friend. There are some things you don't come back from without becoming friends, and helping to clear your name after the carnival debacle, and you repaying us a billion times over by coming and working so hard to help as a forensic science specialist…"
Nick put his coffee down and held her paw.
"You are a treasure, Amber. I want you to know that."
Amber didn't know what to answer.
"I hold you in the highest esteem, darling. I need you to know that we are following the clues of what may be a very large and elaborate crime, and we are alone in this. Judy, myself, Garth…and now you, Amber."
Amber blushed, but not with infatuation. With genuine emotion and feeling of solemnity.
"Whatever is in that tube, we have reason to believe it's something that is being used for bad purposes," said Nick. "And now…it's up to you. Whether we triumph or fail is in your paws."
He let go of her paw and stepped back a little, letting his words settle in. Amber adjusted her spectacles and looked determined.
"Leave it to me, Officer Wilde!" she said in a determined tone. "I'll find out what this orange stuff is if it takes me all night. Your trust shall not be misplaced with me."
"Thank you, Amber," said Nick, genuinely grateful.
With a confident smile, she went over to her workbench, placing the test tube safely in a cooling cabinet while she prepared the tools of her trade.
"Let me bring you up to speed," said Nick. "Terra Firma Incorporated is the company we're investigating. We found that orange stuff in one of their warehouses, in a laboratory that I seriously doubt was declared in their building permission documents."
"A clandestine lab," said Amber. "That is already grounds for investigation."
"But it gets better…or worse," said Nick. "They're buying farmland in a three hundred mile radius around Zootopia. And they just so happen to buy land right after the crops on those lands fail. Officer Hopps and I are convinced that they are responsible for the failing crops and are swindling people out of their land to monopolise the agricultural industry around Zootopia. And they're trying to acquire retail and warehouse space here in the city as well. And we suspect that the explosion that happened last night was not an accident. It was intentional. An intimidation tactic, perhaps masterminded by the president of the company. So Terra Firma would own the retail outlets, warehouses, distribution networks and the farms. Win-win tactic for them, at the expense of many."
"That is an evil and despicable plot!" spat Amber with indignation as she calibrated her tools. "The small farm has always been the cornerstone of our society. Surrendering what little we have left of the wonderful reminder of what made this nation what it is to corporate conglomerates…it shall not be tolerated!"
Nick liked the way she put it. Garth was sitting by the coffee machine, sipping his yummy hot chocolate and listening enthralled to every word.
"Whoever the CEO is over there at Terror Firma," said Amber, and Nick chuckled at her pun. "I shall see him put behind bars. He sits up high looking down upon the world, but the higher he climbs, the farther he shall fall! Vae victus!"
"The Lord of Murder shall perish," quoted Garth from the other side of the room. "But in his doom he shall spawn a score of mortal progeny. Chaos will be sown…"
"…from their passage. So sayeth the wise Baa-laundo," finished Amber.
And they both stopped dead. Garth and Amber stopped what they were doing, turned around and their gazes met. Nick would have sworn he felt electricity coursing through the air between the two gazes.
"You played Bulldur's Gate?!" exclaimed Garth.
"Only every night all night for several nights all summer in my last year of school!" said Amber, giggling like a school girl.
Their smiles could have cut diamond.
"You've had an itty-bitty piece of my soul in there for quite a while now. What's it been like?" asked Garth.
"Well, other than a slight obsession with my weight and the resurgence of a few pimples, it's been simply grand!" answered Amber.
Nick jumped a bit when they both squealed with absolute bliss! Garth ran to Amber and Amber ran to Garth. They made a complicated paw sign and high-fived and finished with a fist-bump.
"Where have you been all my life!?" said Garth.
"Where have YOU been all MY life!?" said Amber.
"Saving the world…"
"…from the comfort of my basement!"
They laughed mirthfully. Nick's face turned from astonished to mischievous. As Amber and Garth chattered happily, he quietly backed away and opened the door, sidling out slowly.
"I'll, uh...leave you two alone," said Nick with a mischievous look on his face, quietly closing the door behind him.
Judy walked briskly down the stairs to the basement of the precinct. She had been in her cubicle, doing research with the help of the videos she had recorded the previous night. She checked the traffic cameras to see where the black car that she had been chasing went. It turned out it went to a private garage, owned by Terra Firma, Inc. And the license plate number coincided with a car purchased by the company as well. She felt they were on the right track, slowly piling up the evidence.
Judy walked to the door of the Forensics Department and opened it.
"Hey guys, I found something that…might…help…"
She stopped dead!
Amber and Garth were locked in a tight, warm embrace, kissing passionately, their paws all over each other, Garth's tail wrapped around Amber's waist and her lab coat unbuttoned almost completely.
They suddenly stopped, sensing her presence. They looked at Judy, all three of them wide-eyed and stunned.
"Uh...Officer Hopps!" said Amber.
"Um...don't mind me. I didn't see anything," said Judy, walking backwards and closing the door. "I'll come back...in a few minutes…or so..."
Judy walked away from the door and stood against the wall of the basement corridor. For a few seconds, she couldn't quite believe what she had witnessed. But then suddenly…she put her paws to her face and started shaking with suppressed laughter.
Just then, Nick came walking down the corridor and smiled at her.
"Alright, Carrots?"
Judy burst into laughter, leaning on Nick and laughing mirthfully.
"You are...a bona fide Cupid...you sly fox."
"Um...am I missing something?"
Judy told him what she saw. Then it was Nick's turn to double over with laughter.
"Noooo...you mean...Garth...and Amber...nooo…no way!"
"I'm telling you, it's snog central up in there. If I'd walked in two minutes later than I did, I'm sure I'd have had to lecture them about indecent exposure."
"Well, I'll be a sheep's mutton chops," said Nick. "Looks like Marie Curie has found her Pierre!"
Judy hugged him happily. It felt so good. A new love was born on that fateful late afternoon, and she and Nick had had a part in it. Judy felt a bliss welling up in her body as she pulled Nick closer to her and kissed him, and he happily kissed her back.
Love was always a good thing. In a world where greed and selfishness often obscured the joy of others, a new love was like a rebellious ray of hope that pierced the dark clouds of despair. Judy had promised to strive to make the world a better place. And she knew, as did Nick, that love made the world a better place.
After ten minutes, Nick knocked on the door of the Forensics Department gently. The door opened and Amber (properly clothed, but with her glasses slightly askew) opened the door.
"Officer Wilde! Officer Hopps! Come on in!"
Judy and Nick walked in. Garth was sitting at Amber's desk, doing something with her computer while humming a tune which Amber hummed along with him. The complicity and tenderness was already palpable between the two…and it had barely been thirty minutes since they first laid eyes on each other.
"Officers," said Amber. "I know what we're dealing with."
She beckoned for them to follow her. She showed them a sample of the orange liquid in a glass slide under the microscope. Then some test tubes in which she had done tests on it with different reagents.
"If this really is what it is, Officers," said Amber. "Then Terror Firma Incorporated has some serious explaining to do, because having this stuff is very, very illegal."
Amber was in her absolute gravy. She loved her job, they could tell. She paused for her words to take effect before showing them a paper she had printed with a complicated formula.
"This is pan-dimonium acetate," said Amber. "It was developed in the 1950's during the agricultural revolution, originally meant to be an effective weed killer. But it turned out to kill everything else, not just weeds. What this chemical does when spread on the earth is cause the nitrogen to become volatile and evaporate into the atmosphere, thus impoverishing the soil. Its effect was almost catastrophic and it was therefore banned. Anybody who is found in possession of this substance, let alone using it, can face some serious consequences. We're talking a lifetime in prison."
Judy and Nick were stunned. Slowly and surely, things were beginning to become clear.
"If my speculation is correct," said Amber. "Terror Firma Incorporated is spreading this chemical in some way over the fields, making them barren, and then purchasing the land shortly after, which they'll once again fertilise and use for their own purposes."
"What a scheme," said Garth, walking towards them after having finished doing whatever he was doing with Amber's computer. "Making the farmers unable to plant anything and stealing their land. It's right out of a science fiction film."
"Their entire livelihoods depend on agriculture," said Amber. "Spreading pan-dimonium acetate over the fields would cause..."
"...Pandemonium!" exclaimed Garth.
Amber and Garth burst into laughter and high-fived. Judy and Nick glanced sideways at each other and grinned.
"Pan-dimonium acetate can be easily neutralised with sodium chloride, also know as common table salt," said Amber. "But you would have to know it's there. And the poor farmers don't. They think their crops are failing. Their lands are being contaminated by this evil entity."
"But how?" asked Judy. "We would have noticed if someone was spreading this stuff over our fields."
"Hmm…" said Nick. "Maybe in the water…"
"This stuff is not hydrosoluble," said Amber. "It would float to the top of the water, thus making it very noticeable."
"Okay, scratch that…but still, it had to be done in a way that could be secret and imperceptible," said Nick.
"If only I could get a soil sample," said Amber. "It would be so much easier if I could get samples of the soil from the farms, then maybe we could figure out how they're getting the chemical into the ground."
Judy and Nick looked at each other and immediately read each other's minds.
"Hey Amber," said Judy. "When's your day off?"
"Oh, I have the weekend off," said Amber. "As a matter of fact, I have accumulated quite a few days off, which I can take whenever I please. I've been working almost non-stop since I joined. But I enjoy it. For me, it's like being at home."
"How would you like to go on a little field trip?" asked Nick.
Amber's smile could have crushed diamond.
"Really!? Sounds exciting!" she said girlishly. "Where to?"
"Bunny Burrow, my hometown," said Judy. "And bring along that handsome escort of yours," she added with a wink.
"You mean it?!" asked Garth, becoming just as excited as Amber.
"What better way to have a weekend away from the city and perhaps a little romantic alone-time?" said Nick with a cheeky grin. "Plus you'll be in situ, so you can research the soil at your heart's content. And Garth's computing skills will certainly come in useful."
"YES!" said Garth and Amber in unison.
"Then it's settled!" said Judy. "We'll leave tomorrow at midnight, arrive the next day in the early morning. I'll arrange everything."
And so it was settled.
Judy and Nick said goodbye to Amber and Garth and walked out of the Forensics Department, leaving the two new lovebirds to their studies and video game quotes and high-fives and mutual affection.
As they walked out of the station and into the evening, Judy beamed happily. It had been a great day! She looked at Nick, also smiling as he walked beside her, and snuggled close to him.
"You know, when this is all over…we should talk them into having a double date with us," said Judy, hugging his arm.
Nick turned his head and his warm, affectionate smile filled her heart with bliss.
"That's a D and an E and an 'efinitely," said Nick, tapping her nose with his finger playfully.