Ladies, gentlekin and cryptids of all shapes and kinds, welcome back! After a longer wait than I meant it to be, I have finished the ninth part of this work. Here, we get introduced to the chief of Precinct Four and a new piece of this greater investigation. It has been a long time coming, and I hope that it will be worth it. Every review helps as it, hopefully, makes for good advice. Don't be afraid to leave one!

I remain your obedient servant,

Thrash Evaine Lovelocke

It was close to 9:50 by the time Nick and Judy had arrived at Cape and Bar. Present at the scene were several officers of Precinct Four. Chief Gatinheiro stood talking to a large rodent who seemed greatly distraught. It took little deducing to figure out that said rodent was the owner of the Cape and Bar. "What all do you think he saw?" Judy asked Nick as she put their patrol car in park next to a Precinct Four vehicle.

Nick hummed to himself for a moment and put down his sunglasses, which he hardly needed in the shady Rainforest District. "Not enough. If he saw one of those things, he'd be in really bad shape."

That was something Judy could not deny. "They don't seem fond of leaving eyewitnesses." The two sat in silence for a few moments and contemplated anything they might hear from this new scenario. "Well," Judy said with a clap of her hands as she turned the car off, "let's see what Chief Gatinheiro has discovered."

Seeing the two heroes of Precinct One drew oddly mixed views from the Precinct Four officers. Some had wide-eyed wonder at the sight of them and others seemed bitter that they had the audacity to appear before them. Judy leaned her head over to Nick and whispered, "Not exactly the welcome wagon. Did we do something wrong?"

"Maybe they aren't fond of the media attention we brought to the ZPD."

Judy scoffed. "What of it? We were only doing our job."

This made Nick chuckle. "Funny. I think one of our peers in Precinct Three has gotten some front-page news moments that made one of us bitter recently?"

Hearing it like that, Judy could not help chuckling. "Pryclaw is taking it too far, though. It's like he's getting spoiled off of them."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself, Carrots," Nick said with a smirk. He gave a heavy breath to himself and announced his presence. "Chief Brian Gatinheiro. Been a while, buddy, how have you been?"

"You've been arrested by him before, haven't you?" Judy asked, her ears falling in embarrassment.

Chief Gatinheiro sighed at the sound of Nick's voice. "Ay, meu Deus," he growled. "Nickolas Piberius Wilde. I would never have dreamed I would see you in one of the honorable uniforms of Precinct One. How long did it take for you to argue Mason into allowing you in?"

"Chief Bogo was really quite receptive to the idea of me being on the force."

"Considering your reputation, I cannot imagine why," Gatinheiro scoffed with a smirk.

Judy looked back and forth between them. "Exactly how many times were you arrested by him?"

"Not once," Gatinheiro said with a long sigh. "Somehow or another, I was never able to catch him. Every time Nick Wilde's name came up in a case file, he disappeared off to Tundratown and to Bigg's mansion. If it weren't for Leodore Lionheart's extensive efforts to pardon you before his inevitable outing from the mayoral office, I would have enough reason to lock you up for three generations."

"Petty thievery amounting to three life sentences. Justice in Precinct Four is truly without equal," Nick laughed.

"Among tax evasion, aiding and abetting and other various felonies, it truly is." Despite the harsh critiques, it did not seem that there was any true bad blood between the two. Gatinheiro even shook his head slightly as he gave Nick a meaningful smile. "Alright, what are you waiting for? Tell me what Furheardt had to say."

After spending more time than she was used to just listening, Judy was finally able to speak. "Not nearly enough," she said, "All we can say for sure is that it wasn't a known criminal in the RD."

Gatinheiro nodded and then whistled to one of the officers. "Preston! Please help Mister dos Santos. I need to speak with Officer Hopps and Officer Wilde." A panther of slim build stepped out from the small crowd of officers and over to the capybara to continue speaking to him. Chief Gatinheiro motioned for Judy and Nick to join him on the other street corner for their conversation. "I'm sure that whoever did this is not native to the Rainforest District. Everybody in the RD Underworld is so afraid of Lyyia Furheardt's strangely passive empire that they won't do anything to cross her, lest she find out who it was. What did the injured wolf have to say?"

"You have to remember that he was in some level of shock the whole time and his eyes may have been playing tricks on him," Judy confirmed as she opened her notes, "but he described the animal that attacked him as being bigger than him. However, he said it was maybe not as big as a bear. Other than that, he did not give any information to its description. He either couldn't or wouldn't remember what it looked like."

As a raindrop fell onto his hat and he responded to some distorted message on his walkie-talkie briefly, Gatinheiro processed what Nick and Judy had to say. "Well, that is not good." He muttered something in Galanese and then looked back at them. "Please tell me you have something, anything else."

This time, it was Nick's turn. "Well, we have reason to believe that it was not a savage attack."

"Why?" Gatinheiro asked.

"Because it seemed that his attacker was only using one hand. This may seem unimportant at first, but it can be deduced that whoever attacked Sober Fenryrson was holding something in one of his hands," Nick explained.

Gatinheiro caught on to the significance of this quickly. "Savage-gones do not understand how to grasp things. That at least eliminates one potential problem. Is their anything else?"

Although it was uncomfortable to bring it up, Judy sighed as she took on the explanation. "Well, as you know, Furheardt was at the hospital." The mention of her made Gatinheiro snort unpleasantly. "She told us that no criminals in Zootopia have the resources or reason to risk crossing her."

This time, Gatinheiro was even quicker to pick up. "So, there's a strong likelihood our perpetrator is not native to Zootopia. Muito bom, officers. I can see why you are called the best in your department." Judy and Nick thanked Gatinheiro for his complement and the slender caracal turned to walk to his vehicle. "Don't go away, you two. I may still need your help with something. And you may want to grab out umbrellas. The morning showers will be starting soon." He then spoke into his walkie talkie. "Gatinheiro to dispatch."

"Yes, Chief?" Said a stern female's voice.

Before Gatinheiro could respond, he was out of earshot and Judy and Nick took the opportunity to talk to each other again. "I wonder if dos Santos saw anything," Judy mused.

"He saw a bleeding, dying wolf in his broken into restaurant. That much we know for sure," Nick retorted in an attempt to be humorous. It did not seem to resonate well with Judy in the given moment. Nick gave her a bored look as he opened the car to grab their umbrella. "Well, we can't get any more involved than Chief Pussycat will let us anyway. We can't confirm these cases are involved and we for sure can't tell him that we discovered a hidden city under the city and that we could all potentially be in danger of being overrun by an army of weird, magical snake-things."

Judy looked up at Nick and saw the unease in his eyes once more. She did not even want to try and understand the level of fear he must have experienced with his first encounter with the naga. At least when she first saw them, she was still in control. "I didn't tell you about what their leader looked like, did I?"

"No, and honestly, I don't want to imagine it right now," Nick said with a very slight shake in his breath. He cleared his throat. "What do you think they were doing out here? They probably wouldn't attack unless they were worried about being successfully reported. Do you think Sober walked in on something important?"

Judy shrugged. "I'm not sure how much the word 'important' is to them. They don't seem to take anything lightly." The rain started coming down harder and Judy shivered as a drop of water hit her on the nose. She rubbed it and then sneezed. Then, a noticeable impact hit her umbrella and a small tree branch landed on the ground in front of her. "What the…"

Looking up into the canopy, Nick and Judy saw nothing at first. However, a smooth movement descending from the branches told them someone was definitely there. Chief Gatinheiro approached them. "Ahh. Prompt as always."

Down from the branches of a nearby tree trunk, there came a long figure. Slithering its way to the street and curling into a round pile of coiled flesh and muscle was a massive anaconda wearing a police hat and a long, sleeve-like vest serving as a uniform. This was Precinct Four's proverbial eyes and ears; the enigmatic Kaalatrian Shyamalan. Native to Sunningmesa, he was seen as a prodigy by the desert city's police department and other departments were quick to offer him positions in their ranks. When Zootopia told him about a position in Precinct Four, he was happy to take it as the heavy, wet atmosphere provided by the Rainforest District suited him well. He flicked his tongue in Judy and Nick's general direction and gave them a humble nod before turning to his chief.

"Good morning, Kaa, it's good to see you awake and well," Gatinheiro said, tipping his hat to the long creature. Judy marveled at the sight of him and Nick's jaw dropped. The two of them gave fascinated 'wows' and Gatinheiro stepped in between them to introduce them. "Kaa, I'm sure you already know Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde." Kaa nodded again. "Judy, Nick, this is our local star, Kaalatrian Shyamalan. I'm sure that he'd be more than willing to help with your investigation."

Kaa lowered his head to their level and hissed curiously beneath his breath as he flicked his tongue at them a few more times. Judy felt her nose twitch and Nick suddenly felt like he had to sneeze. "I will be happy to work with them. The most famous officers in all of the ZPD? I would never have dreamed of it."

"The feeling's mutual, Officer Shyamalan," Judy said politely, extending her paw. Kaa put the tip of his tail out to her and let her shake it. Nick did the same with a respectful nod. "Have you seen anybody who looked strange or unfamiliar recently? Any sign of people who maybe didn't belong in Zootopia?"

Looking over to Gatinheiro, Kaa seemed confused at first. Gatinheiro shrugged and motioned for him to take over. The caracal walked away and Kaa turned back to Judy and Nick. He shook some water off his hat and looked down pensively. "I…" he began apprehensively, "I have not… seen any animals that seemed so out of place here."

The general tone of Kaa's speech did not sound very confident; something that Judy and Nick were sure he was. Judy took the initiative to press. "Are you absolutely sure? You've seen nothing. Nothing at all?"

The rain slowly became stronger and got to the point where it was hard for the three of them to hear each other without raising their voices. Once more, Kaa adopted a thoughtful look as he searched his memory. Nick reached his umbrella over to Kaa and sheltered his head. "Look, Kaa… Do you mind if I call you Kaa?" The great serpent shook his head as he continued looking down. "Okay, then. Listen, Kaa, we have seen some pretty crazy things recently and it would be hard for us to not believe you about anything you said. Working with Chief Gatinheiro should have taught you that it is usually better to not withhold anything if it could potentially be helpful to an investigation."

An encouraging nod from Judy made Kaa sigh. "I really am sorry, Officers. I… I do not seem to remember anything out of place. I always have my ID match on me and I have not scanned any faces not registered with the ZCA."

The ZCA, Zootopian Citizenship Agency, was the department of Zootopia's government responsible for the provision of identification and citizen benefits in the Sovereign Microregion of Zootopia. Anybody seeking a permanent residence in Zootopia did so through them. Kaa was one of the officers permitted to carry one such device on his person for his duties. As a stakeout specialist, he was trusted with one of the highest responsibilities in the entire department; a testament to his incredible patience and talents.

Not foreseeing his telling them much more, Judy gave a defeated sigh and Nick joined her with a short and appreciative nod. "Well," said the fox with a half-relieved smile, "if you do come up with anything, you'll tell us, won't you?"

Kaa gave them a meaningful nod and the two of them returned to Gatinheiro as a small group of officers began gathering around Kaa to speak to him. Gatinheiro was muttering something under his breath as they approached. His mood did not seem to have soured, however it definitely had not improved. Upon noticing the two officers coming towards him, Gatinheiro sighed and put his hands together. "Please, tell me Shyamalan was able to give you something useful." Judy and Nick both gave shakes of their head and Gatinheiro cursed in Galanese. "Officers, you have to understand that I did not seek Mason's help lightly. I wanted to keep this incident isolated here in the RD. However, after seeing two calls of note come straight from Precinct One and then another from Precinct Seven with Jawson I couldn't help but wonder. I haven't had report of a call of note since Senhora Bellweather was at large. I know something is happening, and I can't help but get the feeling that all of these little incidents are somehow connected."

As loathe as they were to do it, Judy and Nick did not say anything to clue Gatinheiro in about the naga. Since Judy seemed almost too irritated by this fact, Nick took up the mantle to respond. "You're not the only one who feels that way. We were thinking the same thing, and I don't doubt Chief Bogo feels the same way, too."

Gatinheiro's worried face twisted into one of amusement and he began to chuckle. "Chief Bogo. When I knew that cabeça-dura back in the academy, I thought he would never become a chief, let alone head chief of the entire police department. That fool is lucky to have officers like you keeping his reputation afloat," Gatinheiro said with a short laugh. He looked around to his officers, who had mostly become bored with nothing else remaining to be done. The crime scene tech had already come and done their job and little else remained for the other officers to do. Gatinheiro sighed. "Still, I do not envy him his position." Then, he raised his voice for the officers to hear. "Tudo bem! You guys better have your radios hot! Dispatch gives out calls, I don't want you to be trying to order your reverse venti skinny mocha frappo-thing at Buckstars in the middle of it. I'm looking at you, Solidad!" He said with an accusing but joking point of his finger. The ocelot he called after raised her paw in a dismissive gesture as she walked off with her friends. Gatinheiro laughed and the other officers shared similar snickers. He turned back to Judy and Nick. "I really hope you don't consider this a waste of time. It seems we are no closer to figuring out who did this than we were when we got here. If you two come up with anything more, please tell me about it. I get the feeling Senhor dos Santos will be temporarily indisposed following this. I can already hear the paperwork sliding over the desks of the insurance company." With that, he paused again and approached his car. He folded down his umbrella and got in.

Judy looked up at Nick. "This is getting annoying. I guarantee you, they aren't going to come up with anything different in Precinct One or Precinct Seven. The entire ZPD is just chasing ghosts and they don't even realize it."

"Not the entire ZPD. We know what we're after," Nick reassured her.

"Us and what army? There were a lot of those things, Nick. It wouldn't be like an everyday raid to go down there and take them on. The ones in the gathering I saw outnumbered the department's officers ten to one, easily, and I'm sure there's more of them out there."

Nick chuckled lightly and gave her a slight nudge as he began walking back to the car with her. "It wouldn't be the first time our criminal had numbers on their side, would it?"

That infamous quote; a statistic that had lived harrowingly in Judy's mind since Dawn Bellweather uttered it to her. "Prey outnumber predators ten to one." It rang in Judy's head again as the two of them got in the patrol car and closed their umbrellas. They tossed them, haphazardly, into the floorboard and relaxed in the air-conditioned vehicle after Judy turned the ignition.

A vehicle's honk stirred them back to attention and Nick rolled down his window. Gatinheiro was calling over to them. "It was great finally meeting you two. I'm only sorry it could not have been under better circumstances. I have a lot of business to attend to, but I should be seeing you all sometime."

Judy smiled at him and Nick waved. "Bye, Chief!" They both called as he drove off.

Judy had no real desire to go anywhere at the given moment. Questions that had been repeating in her head continued their persistent, malignant loop and made her even more exhausted. This investigation was still new, but it was already over twenty-four hours since she was first made wise to it and she had not even been able to provide enough reason to open a case file. That was what made it even more aggravating. All these little calls of note were petty things compared to this big picture. Opening case files for those when there was already a much bigger picture was like poking a hole in the bottom of a water bottle while standing next to a waterfall. The dilemma of how to approach delivering this news to the ZPD was becoming more and more difficult to decide on.

During Judy's fruitless efforts to reason with herself while the AC in the car droned quietly and the synthesized rain fell from the canopies, Nick had been watching the three or four remaining officers from Precinct Four slowly disperse. Once the last jungle cat left, the only one remaining was Kaa Shyamalan. He turned to the tree he had slithered down from and appeared ready to climb back up. However, just as a false lightning bolt flashed and an artificial thunderclap rolled overhead, the massive serpent turned back to look at Judy and Nick's patrol car. Nick's ears perked and he was suddenly quite alert. "Carrots," he whispered, barely moving his mouth.

"Wha'?" Judy responded dazedly. She turned towards Nick and looked down to see his finger, carefully placed under the sight of the windshield, pointing out towards Kaa. Before she could wonder anything else, Kaa began making his approach to their car. He coiled himself up enough to get off the road and tapped on the screen with the tip of his tail. Judy rolled down her window. "Is something wrong, Shyamalan?"

Without a word, he brought his coils around to show, about halfway down his body, a massive gash on his side. "I tasted their scent on you. You know where they are."