Judy stood in front of the door leading to the interrogation room. She clutched an elephant-sized notebook in her arms, clinging it close to her body. Her little heart raced inside her chest, the anticipation of what was to come hanging over her mind.
She was nervous. She kept trying to persuade herself that she was only nervous because it was her first ever interrogation, not because she was about to enter a room with a dangerous mammal. She kept reminding herself she was past her prejudices, and that she would be just as equally timid if there were any prey in the room.
The longer she stayed here, the faster her heart beat. The notebook shook in her paws, and it took her a few seconds to realize it was actually the other way around. Her sensitive ears could hear the polar bear on the other side of the door, sitting in a chair, leaning against the metal table, breathing heavy but consistent, one digit tapping impatiently while he waited for her to walk in.
She wanted to believe that this was part of her ultimate plan: to stand outside the door for far longer than necessary, causing the polar bear to become so impatient he would spill the beans before she could even enter. But she knew that was a lie. If anything, she wanted to get the whole thing over with as soon as possible.
May as well. She took a deep breath, pressed her paw to the door handle, and pushed down. As the door opened, the polar bear jerked his head in her direction and growled deeply.
He was not a threat to her; his paws were in handcuffs and he was tied down to his chair, which itself was permanently attached to the hard stone floor. Judy casually walked to the other side of the table, took a seat in the rabbit-size chair, and set the notebook down on the table. She folded her paws, made herself comfortable, and stared at the polar bear.
"Let me get straight to the point," she started. "We both know why you're here. I'm the officer who arrested you, so I don't need to know your end of the story. I already know what happened, because I was there." She opened her notebook to the first page, produced her carrot pen from her belt, and laid it on the table. "What I'm interested in is not what I already know, but what I don't know."
The polar bear glared at her. "Very good," he said.
Judy blinked, and mentally slapped herself. Genius, Hopps. You sure have a way with words, don't you? She refused to let her emotions show, however, and picked up the carrot pen. "You gonna start talking or not?" she asked.
The polar bear sighed, before raising his paws in the air dramatically. "Oh, Officer," he said sarcastically, "I am but an innocent bystander, the unfortunate result of mistaken identity. I have no part in any of this. I've been framed. There was an earthquake, a terrible fire, and it flooded everything." He paused before flashing a grin. "Anything else, Officer?"
Judy's pen had not moved at all. "Is that the way it's going to be?" she asked.
The polar bear leaned back in his chair. "What? You don't believe me?"
Judy had to fight from rubbing her forehead. This is going to be a long day. She readied her pen again. "How about we start with your name."
"What, your fancy police duh-nuh database didn't find a match for me?" the polar bear asked, the smug look still plastered on his face—it reminded Judy too much of Nick.
"We can go that route if you want," Judy admitted, "but wouldn't it just be easier for you to tell me? It would sure save both of us a lot of time."
"Does it really look like I have somewhere I need to be?" the polar bear asked, even as Judy could hear his foot impatiently tapping the floor.
Judy once again dropped the pen. This time, an idea formed in her mind. She stood up, walked back to the door, and knocked. A few seconds later, Delgato opened up the door. "What is it, Hopps?" he whispered through the crack.
Judy replied in a loud and clear voice. "Yes, Officer Delgato. Do you know what the policies are for shaving suspects?" She enunciated every word, throwing a glance back at the polar bear.
He, upon hearing her words, stopped tapping his foot. He froze up, and she could almost hear his heart stop beating. "You wouldn't," he murmured.
"Are you all right, Hopps?" Delgato whispered, eyebrow raised.
"Yes, Officer Delgato. That's what I thought, as well," Judy said, replying to an imaginary response. "That until the guilt of a suspect is determined, the ZPD can lawfully shave them in any way seen fit."
Delgato caught on. "Oh, absolutely, Officer Hopps," he replied, equally as loudly and clearly. "Shall I find the sheep shears?"
"Do we have polar bear shears somewhere, Officer Delgato?" Judy replied.
Before Delgato could respond, the polar bear jumped—or tried to jump—and reached towards them. "All right, all right, I'll talk!" he begged.
Judy nodded at Delgato in thanks, let the door close, and walked back to her seat. "I'm all ears," she said as she picked her pen back up.
The bear scoffed, eyeing her tall bunny ears. "I can see that," he chuckled.
Judy growled, wishing she had picked a better choice of words. "Please start," she said through gritted teeth.
The polar bear started talking almost immediately. "My name is Victor Bruin. I am from Tundra Town, address 4421 Barrow Avenue. I work for Claw & Teeth Waste Disposal. My boss is a skunk named Arnold Stinkavich. His phone number is 966-867-4228. He can vouch that I went to work yesterday morning, and was on duty when I was arrested."
Judy hurriedly wrote down her notes, genuinely surprised at how forthcoming the polar bear was. "So you live in Tundra Town. What were you doing in Savannah Central?"
"Claw & Tooth services all of Zootopia's districts," Bruin explained. "We have several teams of trash collectors who rotate districts every week. This week I was assigned to Savannah Central. Usually we all pick up trash at the crack of dawn, but I wanted to get it done even earlier, since…" He spread his paws as far as he could. "I don't do so well in the heat."
Judy kept writing down notes. So far, everything seemed to make sense to her. The information Bruin provided her could easily be verified within a matter of minutes, and she had a feeling he was telling the truth simply because of the sheer amount of forthcoming data.
But now came the million-dollar question. "Why did you go on a rampage in Savannah Central yesterday morning?" she asked, holding his gaze.
Bruin was silent for several long, uncomfortable seconds. "I don't remember going on a rampage, Officer," he replied flatly.
Suddenly, all the notes Judy had written down were as good as useless to her. "Are you kidding me?" she asked, slamming her pen down hard on the table. She stood up on her chair and leaned closer to Bruin. "Are you going to tell me that to my face? I saw what you did. I'm the one who—"
"I know what I did, rabbit," Bruin snapped. "All I said was I don't remember it."
Judy's eyes narrowed, hands on her hips. "Am I supposed to believe that?"
"I don't care what you believe. I'm telling you the truth." The corner of Bruin's mouth twitched slightly, indicating he was fighting off a growl. "If you sit back down I might even tell you my whole story."
Judy continued glaring at Bruin, but forced herself to settle back in her seat. "This ought to be good," she mumbled. She readied her pen once again and motioned for the polar bear to continue.
"You can call my boss and he will verify all of this," Bruin began. "I clocked in at the office in Tundra Town at exactly 3:30 in the morning. I made some coffee with Mr. Stinkavich and was out the door by 3:45. I met with the rest of my team by our trash truck, and drove to Savannah Central to begin trash collecting at around 4. Usually it takes about three hours to take care of each district, so my plan was to be done by 7 and be back home by 8."
Judy wrote down her appropriate notes, then waited patiently for Bruin to continue. He was silent for several long seconds, eyes darting back and forth, as if he was having a hard time remembering exactly what happened.
Finally, he continued, "I'm a garbage mammal, Officer Hopps. But I'm a predator. My biology—my instincts—are always tugging at me, begging for me to make a better mammal of myself. It's something I always think about, and often daydream about. If I wasn't a garbage mammal, what would I do? What else would I want to do?" He scratched the underside of his chin. "It was heavy on my mind the whole morning, for the full hour from when I started working until the last thing I remember. I was just thinking the whole time, that this job was below me—that it would be below any predator. To be at the bottom of the proverbial food chain…" He sighed. "I always aspire for more."
Judy was used to helping mammals feel better, and to encourage them to make the world a better place. Despite her current foul mood, she genuinely felt a hint of pity toward Bruin. Sure, there were more glamorous jobs than being a garbage mammal, but the world needed them just as much as the world needed cops like her.
But she was interrogating him, not giving him counsel. "What is the last thing you remember?" she asked, keeping her voice as strict as possible.
Another moment of struggle. "I was kicking one of the trash cans after I emptied it. I don't usually do that. Even though I don't particularly like my job, I try and act as professional as possible. Something was going on with me yesterday, though. I found it easier to get agitated, and I couldn't stop thinking negative thoughts. Thoughts about how much I hated my job, and hated being a predator suck picking up trash, and…" He rubbed his temples, as if the very memory of thinking those thoughts was exhausting him. "And then after that, I can't remember anything."
"Do you know about what time that was?" Judy asked.
Bruin shrugged. "Maybe 5 or 5:15." He thought some more, trying to remember anything else, but gave up. "Next thing I knew, I woke up here, in handcuffs and accused of going savage."
"Not savage, sir," Judy corrected. "I saw your behavior. It seemed obvious to me you were in complete control of your actions. You were aware of your surroundings, and you spoke very clearly when addressed." She set down her pen. "But you were terrorizing Savannah Central. And you want me to believe you don't have a single recollection of doing so?"
"It's the truth." Bruin looked at the one-way window behind Judy, behind which undoubtedly stood several officers and maybe a few lawyers. "It's the truth, I tell you!" he shouted, suddenly struggling to rise from his chair.
Judy immediately jumped out of hers and onto the table, hands stretched out. "Okay, calm down!" she quickly pleaded. "Calm down!"
Bruin turned his attention back to her. "Calm down?" he growled. "Calm down?" His voiced raised. "My whole future is on the line and you want me to calm down?" He pressed his paws on the table and leaned forward as far as he could, coming to within inches of Judy's head. "I don't remember anything, rabbit! Are you listening to me? I don't remember anything!"
Judy forced herself to stand her ground, despite Bruin being so close now she could practically see down his throat as he yelled. She turned to the one-way window and raised three fingers, the indication that she required backup. Almost immediately, the door opened and Delgato and Fangmeyer burst in, Delgato holding a taser and Fangmeyer holding a shock collar.
Bruin barely noticed. "I'm not a savage predator! I would never terrorize innocent mammals! I'm not capable of it!"
Fangmeyer sneaked behind Bruin and slipped on the shock collar, clicking it place in the back. As soon as it turned on, it blinked green for but a second before immediately switching to yellow and giving a warning beep.
Bruin continued to ignore it all. "Listen to me, Officer Hopps! You have to believe me! I am innocent! I am innocent!"
A second later, the light on the collar turned red. A loud zap sound emerged from the box, and Bruin's eyes widened in pain. He gritted his teeth, still mere inches away from Judy's face, and tried clawing at his neck with his paws. Delgato continued to train his taser on Bruin, prepared for the worst.
Bruin, however, seemed to understand what was going on, and forced himself to take long, deep breaths. After a few long, uneasy seconds, the light on his collar turned back to yellow, and several seconds later, he relaxed in his seat and it turned back to green.
Throughout the whole ordeal, Judy had not moved from her position. Her feet firmly planted on the desk, she could only look on Bruin in pity. Perhaps it was true, and Bruin really didn't remember the whole ordeal. Perhaps he was lying, in an attempt to have any charges against him dropped. But one thing was for sure: the way he handled the shock collar was very different from the way he had handled being cornered by her the day before. Then, he had done everything in his power to avoid capture, and even seemed willing to be killed rather than be taken in.
Now, however, he had calmed down faster than any other mammal she had ever seen, resigned to his punishment and doing what was necessary to make the pain go away quickly. While Judy should have felt more safe as a result, she felt the exact opposite reaction: Bruin's quick submission would soon be the fate of many other predators in Zootopia-a fate that, just a year before, she had fought against.
Earlier that day, when Nick had been faced with the tough decision on whether to put on his collar or leave the force, she had patted his arm in reassurance, that no matter what decision he made, she would be there for him. Should I have encouraged him to leave? she suddenly wondered. Sure, his shock collar didn't work, but it labeled him as just as big of a threat to society as Bruin's did now, and it would just give prey even more of a reason to fear him.
Satisfied that the danger was over, Delgato lowered his taser and turned to Judy. "You okay, Hopps?" he asked.
Judy had to put her thoughts aside for another time. She nodded, before bending down and gathering her notes. "I think we're done here," she said, both to her fellow officers and to Bruin. She handed the papers to Fangmeyer. "I have another one in an hour. Could you photocopy these and give one to Bogo?"
Fangmeyer took the papers, nodded silently, and left the room. Delgato worked on untying Bruin from the chair. Bruin quietly allowed it, knowing better than to struggle.
Judy knew it was best to leave him in silence, but she felt after all he had been through the past two days, he deserved at least a word or two of encouragement. But what can I say? She opened her notebook to a new page, preparing for her nearing interrogation with Tony Stripes. I don't really know if I believe him when he says he doesn't remember anything, and even if I did, there's no denying that he did terrorize a whole district. And he is probably going to be stuck in that collar for the rest of his life—over something he probably had no control over.
Delgato helped Bruin up and began escorting him out. Head held low, Bruin allowed it, not doing anything to provoke his heart to race any faster.
A thought crossed Judy just as they reached the door. "It just occurred to me," she said out loud, causing Delgato and Bruin to pause, "ever since I came to Zootopia, I don't recall seeing a single piece of garbage on the streets."
Bruin glanced over his shoulder, locking eyes with her for a moment. Judy wasn't sure, but she thought, for a split second, she saw the faintest off smiles cross his face, before the door closed behind them.
Judy felt herself collapse in her chair, suddenly exhausted from the events of the day. Interrogating is harder than I thought. She allowed herself a few minutes to mentally recover and prepare for the next interrogation. She had to be tough on Bruin, but Tony Stripes was a completely different mammal. Based on her interactions with the tiger, she knew he was easy to talk to, and so she guessed tat she would have to adjust her methods accordingly.
She gave a thumbs-up to the space of air behind her. As if on cue, the door opened once again. This time, Tony Stripes walked in, escorted from behind by McHorn.
Stripes recognized Judy immediately. His face brightened up and he smiled in excitement. "Officer Hopps!" McHorn sat him down in the same chair Bruin had occupied, but unlike the polar bear, Stripes was not restrained. McHorn nodded politely to Judy before leaving. "I was hoping you would be the one."
Judy raised an eyebrow. "The one?" she repeated.
"The one to interrogate me. What with our conversation yesterday—"
Judy raised a paw. "This is an interrogation, Tony. I am not your friend. I am an officer of the law, here to ask you a series of questions, which you are to answer as honestly as possible. That is it."
Stripes opened his mouth to protest, but seemed to think better of it, and simply ended with a nod. "I understand, Officer Hopps," he finally said.
Judy smiled. "Good." She raised her pen. "So. Let's start. What is your name and general information?"
"Tony Stripes," was the response. "I'm 27, I live in Sahara Square, and my job is in graphic design."
"Okay, great start," Judy responded encouragingly; even though this had to be professional, she knew the friendlier she was, the more likely Tony would be willing to give her all the information she needed. "Why were you at City Hall yesterday?"
"I was there to watch the inauguration of the new assistant mayor. I honestly expected it to be Nuts Cheeks, personally."
"So were you mad that it wasn't?"
"Not at all. I mean, it was unexpected, sure, but I wasn't mad about it. In fact, I don't remember being mad about much of anything yesterday. I had just gotten a really nice bonus from my paycheck, and—"
A beep over the speakers in the ceiling stopped him mid-sentence. "Hopps," Bogo's agitated voice called, "you are needed outside immediately."
Judy's grip on her pen tightened. "Now, Chief?" she called back. Now was the worst possible time for her to leave the interrogation. She had barely even started; as of now, she hardly knew any more than she had before Stripes had first come in.
"Yes, Hopps. Now." Luckily—or, likely, unluckily—Bogo sounded just as frustrated with it as Judy felt.
Judy set down her pen, gave a reassuring smile to Stripes, and made her way to the door, which Delgato opened when she arrived. It was a quick walk around the corner to the observation area for the interrogation room. The lighting was low so as not to allow the suspects to see past the one-way window, and gathered together were multiple officers, including Bogo, and several city officials.
Bogo himself was joined by a rat, who stood on the table beside him, even so barely coming up to his elbow. The rat was dressed in a suit and had the top of his hair parted in such a way, Judy knew instantly he was a lawyer. She just knew; there was always something about rats in suits and parted hair that screamed "lawyer" to her.
"Officer Hopps," Bogo mumbled, obviously very frustrated, "this is Tim Fields, attorney at law."
Hopps forced a smile and extended her paw. "Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD," she said in cheerful introduction.
Fields barely raised an eyebrow. "I represent Tony Stripes," he stated, getting straight to the point. "Specifically, I represent the company he has signed a contract with—a non-disclosure agreement contract, as a matter of fact." He produced the document from his left breast pocket, unfolded it several dozen times in quick succession, and presented it to Judy, who was shocked at how such a large sheet of paper could fit inside such a small suit. "And it's impenetrable. I know, because I'm the one who wrote it." He walked over to the microphone underneath Bogo's chin, and didn't even bother asking for permission before pressing the button. "Talk and we sue you for everything you own," he called.
Judy looked in the window and saw Stripes jump at the sound of the sudden voice, and then slowly sink into his seat, a look of dread covering his face.
"Legally, now, Mr. Stripes is unable to say anything to the Zootopia Police Department unless ordered to by a federal judge. Current wait time…" Fields looked at his watch. "Eh, about five months. Better get on that, Chief." He patted Bogo's arm, causing a sharp snort from the buffalo, and hopped off the desk.
Judy stared at Fields in disbelief. A single minute earlier, she had been talking with an eager Tony Stripes, who seemed happy to talk—and now he was unable to because of a stupid contract. "What's the contract even for?" she asked.
Fields had already folded it back up and stuffed it back in his suit pocket. "Classified," he replied, continuing to walk out the door.
"Well…" Unable to think of any other way to say it, Judy called after him, "What are we supposed to do with Tony?"
"Not my problem," Fields once again responded. One of the officers opened the door for him and he walked out. "I heard shock collars are the appropriate thing to do for criminal predators these days. You might consider doing that." Then the door closed.
Judy stared at the door for several minutes, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Finally, she turned to Bogo, still having a hard time finding words.
Bogo seemed to have the exact opposite problem; it was all he could do to not let out every word he knew. Finally, he settled on banging his fist on the table, which caused the mic to squeak slightly. He pointed to Fangmeyer. "Take Stripes to Zootopia prison and have him fitted with a shock collar," he grumbled in resignation. Fangmeyer obediently nodded and left the room. Bogo then addressed Judy. "I will get that court order, and I will get it long before five months from now. When I do, I expect you to continue where this left off."
Judy could only nod in silent understanding. She turned back to the window to see Fangmeyer enter the room, help Stripes out of his chair, and escort him out with a head hung low.
She felt her heart drop at the sight. It was a very real possibility Stripes was about to tell her information that would help clear his name—and now he was unable to. "I wish I could do something to help him," she admitted.
She was shocked to see Bogo smile. "That's what I was hoping you would say," he replied. When she looked at him in confusion, he explained, "You think some lawyer is going to stop this investigation? Predators have terrorized Zootopia, Hopps, and that will not go unchecked on my watch." He listed up some papers from the desk, and Judy recognized them as photocopies of her notes from her interrogation with Bruin. "You've already got a solid start, after all."
Judy found herself smiling in return. The chief is right. There's more to this than just one mammal, and I do have some solid leads. The thought of doing actual investigation work excited her. When she had become a police officer, this was the kind of work she had looked forward to.
She gave a quick salute. "Yes, sir! I won't let you down!"
Bogo let out a single chuckle as he dropped the papers. "You don't have to be so formal about it," he grumbled. He waved her off. "Get to work. Use any resources you need. Records, the computer system, Clawhauser's donuts hotline—you name it, it's yours."
The last time Bogo had given her a case, he hadn't exactly given it to her. She had volunteered and he had been pressured by Bellwether to let her do it—and then begrudgingly gave her the one-page case file and nothing else. But even then, she had found Nick to help her, and ended up solving the biggest case in the history of Zootopia.
So this should be a piece of cake. Judy once again saluted, before turning and running out the door. Her cubical was just down the hall, on the other side of the lobby, and she was excited to get back and start making some phone calls.
She never made it there, however. As soon as she entered the lobby, a sound filled her ears the likes of which she had never heard before. She turned in the direction of it, and was barely aware of a vehicle speeding past the ZPD entrance, roaring as it went like a lion.
In fact, if she wasn't mistaken, there was a lion driving it, letting out a "Woo Woo!" as he flew past. He had to have been going over a hundred miles an hour—on a street with a speed limit of thirty.
Clawhauser, sitting at his place by the desk, was eating a donut at the time. The sounds and sights had stunned him so much, he stopped mid-bite to stare at the front entrance.
Judy decided her investigation could wait, and began running to the entrance. "Is anyone on that?" she called to Clawhauser.
The cheetah turned to look at her, mouth wrapped around the edge of his donut. He slowly and silently shook his head.
Judy felt her adrenaline rush, her heart beat in her chest, and her smile plaster itself all over her face. She knew her eyes were twinkling in anticipation, and she only took a single second to make sure she had the cruiser keys in one of her belt pouches. She did. "Dibs! I'm on it!" she yelled, running past Clawhauser and towards the ZPD entrance. "Officer Hopps is on the chase!"
Even after she left, door slowly automatically closing behind her, Clawhauser continued to stare at the entrance, stuck in mid-bite.