A/N: With time running out, Judy pursues her biggest lead to find Nick's mom: Finnick.

Thanks to Wolfx1120, Fate-Be Changed, BeecroftA, Bloodfox22, Martin, aomagrat, Declanflannery, InTheLionsDenOnDA, J Shute, Guest, Blkdragon7, Pyrus Dragonoid, side-fish, D Fox, BoltDMC, Medic 27, demongurl111, BlueLion, RassyEyefur, and Guest for reviewing!

Also, a special thanks to BeecroftA for editing this chapter.

Chapter 24: To Find a Fox

Judy pulled her straw hat further down over her face—the sun was high in the sky at this point, and the light reflecting off the glass of the buildings surrounding her was more than a little glaring. She wouldn't have minded as much if she had actually found what she was looking for, but even after a whole morning, her search was still turning up Finnick-less.

Where in the world is he?

She thankfully had a day off, thanks to having covered Francine's night duty a couple of weeks ago. But that meant she didn't have access to her 'jokemobile', as Nick liked to call it. And she wasn't exactly rolling in enough cash to go cabbing to all the likely places the fennec fox was likely to have been. So that meant taking the bus to each place and hoping that he was there.

Unfortunately, her hopes hadn't been anything more than that so far.

She swallowed the last of the sandwich she'd bought for lunch and tossed the empty paper bag into the trash. With her paws now free, she pulled out Nick's brown sketchbook and flipped forward to the next page she'd bookmarked. There were still about ten more places left to check. She had stayed up late the night before shortlisting the most likely places that he would have been at, based on the most popular hustles in the book. She'd gone through roughly half the list by now, but she still hadn't found anything.

Of course, this would have been a lot easier if she had his number, but she didn't, and getting it from Nick was definitely out of the question.

She turned the corner, just in time to duck below an oversized plastic box that was ten times her size. The elephant carrying it didn't even notice her, continuing to plod along his merry way. She sighed in relief. She had heard the heavy footsteps approaching, but she hadn't expected a big rectangular block to be the first thing to turn the corner. Said box was filled completely to the brim with a whole assortment of seemingly unrelated objects: clothes, cables, an assortment of garden tools, a few cassette tapes, and a couple of dumbbells.

She scratched her head, wondering for a moment why all those items were together like that. And then it clicked. She turned around, and sure enough, there was an assortment of colourful tents in the distance, with a fairly large merry-go-round just behind. It was the Savannah Central weekend flea market, the next place on her to-go list.

She headed into the park, walking past a whole group of mammals to find an information board. There was a small map layout there, showing that the tents were arranged in rows from left to right, going from smallest to largest. There was a whole range of booths within each tent, each with a large assortment of mammals offering an equally large assortment of items.

She walked down the rows to the left, scanning through the various tents and the shopkeepers manning them. As she moved down the line, the general size of the mammals began to decrease, going from giraffes, to goats, to porcupines, to…

"I told you no refunds! Check the damn contract you signed!"

Judy's heart skipped a beat, her ears perking up instantly. The rough, crass voice was unmistakable. She peered through a crowd of goats over at the next row of tents. Sure enough, at the nearest tent, there was a booth being manned by the very fennec fox she was looking for. He was currently busy unpacking some small white plastic boxes from a cardboard box while talking into his phone. A short while later, he ended the call and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. He didn't look to be in a good mood. Then again, he rarely did.

Judy took a deep breath, trying to control her excitement. She began walking over to the booth as casually as she could.

"Finnick?"

The fennec fox's ears shot up at the sound of her voice. He looked at her, eyes widening for a moment, but they quickly returned to normal after a couple of seconds.

"If it isn't the fuzz bunny. Ain't seen you since that ride around town with your folks a few months back. You here to ask for another tour?"

Oh right, that was the last time that I saw Finnick, wasn't it? Judy thought. She hadn't realised it had been that long. Back then, Bellwether had just been arrested and she'd just been discharged from the hospital.

"Ah no, my parents are back in Bunnyburrow," Judy replied. "They really enjoyed the tour you gave them though. Thanks for that."

"Hmph." Finnick grunted, not sounding impressed. "So what are you doin' here? I'll have you know that what I'm doing is perfectly legal."

Sure it is, buddy. Judy resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow.

"I'm not here as a cop, Finnick. I'm here as a friend."

"Hah! Did I hear you right?" The fox let out an unrestrained guffaw. "A friend? You? As much as I enjoyed you hustlin' Mister 'I secretly wanted to be a good widdle fox cop deep down inside', that doesn't make us friends. Far from it. Don't go taking it personal, but you're what we refer to in the industry as a 'workplace hazard'."

Judy winced slightly. Finnick may have been a little sore about losing his long-time hustling partner, and it was partly her fault that said hustling partner was in the police academy right now. This wasn't going to be easy.

"I know, I know…look, I just need your help. It's about Nick."

"That sap again? If he needs money, tell him he can get it over my dead—"

"Hey you! Fox!" A shrill voice cut Finnick off. The tone was enough to make the fennec fox flinch visibly. He turned to see a middle-aged pig walking up to the booth. She was carrying a box full of random knick-knacks as well, but she was holding one of the white boxes that Finnick seemed to be selling.

"What is it, ma'am?" Finnick replied through gritted teeth.

"You told me this was Paraquil. I went to check just now; this isn't Paraquil!" she pulled out one of the blister packs inside the white box.

"What are you talking about? It's white and it's a pill. What else could it be?" Finnick scoffed. The smaller fox definitely didn't have Nick's patience or natural charm when it came to interacting with his customers.

"It says on the back of the box that it's Paranil. You trying to be funny, fox?"

"Meh, Paraquil, Paranil, what's the difference? It's still a hell of a lot cheaper than you'd get at any pharmacy."

"But this isn't what I asked for!"

"Well…" Finnick started, but Judy took a step forward.

"Well ma'am, a lot of over-the-counter supplements are actually identical in nature, it's just a different provider that's manufacturing them. Paraquil is made by a bigger company, so they normally charge much more than the other brands. You see the back? If you look at the contents, you can see that it's the exact same thing. You don't have to worry about the names. They'll all work just as good as each other."

"That's…wait, who are you?" The pig asked, confused.

"Just an associate of Mr Finnick here." Judy replied with a warm smile.

The pig glanced at Finnick, then back at the box she was holding, before finally looking back at Judy with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Well, if it's all the same on the inside…" she grumbled, not seeming entirely satisfied. She fumbled with the blister pack for a moment while trying to slot it back into the box, before giving up and tossing everything back into the basket she was carrying. As she disappeared back into the crowd, Finnick turned to her, his eyes narrowing.

"What's your game, Fuzz?"

"What do you mean?" Judy replied.

"You knew exactly what to say, even the exact line about the pills 'working just as good as each other'. How could you have known that? Don't tell me Nick's been teaching you things…"

At least I have his attention now.

Judy reached into her sling bag, pulling out the large brown sketchbook that contained Nick's catalogue of hustles. She held it in front of Finnick, who seemed to instantly recognise what it was.

"Hmph. That explains it. Don't tell me you actually read every page of that stupid thing."

"No, I didn't. I just remembered this one because it had a lot of stars on it. This is the one where you just take empty boxes of Paraquil and just fill them with the cheaper stuff to sell, right?"

"What are you gonna do, arrest me? Everyone knows the stuff is just a placebo to begin with. And I didn't tell a lie. The pills do 'work just as well as each other'. Which is technically true, they're both—"

"—completely useless, yeah I know." Judy sighed.

"And you actually helped me with it." Finnick chuckled, folding his arms. "This should be good. Alright, Fuzz, I'm listening. Whaddya want from me?"

Judy did a mental fist pump, taking care not to reveal her excitement too much on her face.

"Well, I was reading this book, and I saw that a lot of the schemes went way back to when Nick was a kit. I just wanted to ask about Nick's mom. Do you know her?"

Finnick suddenly went silent, which was a reaction Judy had not expected from the fox after his initial amused chuckle. He stared out into the crowd of mammals, seeming to think very hard for a moment. Finally, he turned back to her, not looking too pleased.

"Yeah, I know her. What about it?"

Judy's heart skipped a beat.

"Do you have her phone number? Or her address? Could you at least tell me what she's like? When was the last time you saw her—" Judy's slew of questions was cut short by a small brown paw being shoved in front of her face.

"Sorry Fuzz, but I don't think so." He jumped off the stack of empty cardboard boxes he was standing on and went over to the back of the tent, carrying more boxes of the repackaged pills and placing them on the table. Judy did a double take.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"It means I ain't telling you about her. But you're still free to ask me about other things, like how much one of these boxes costs. And because you're an acquaintance of a backstabbing ex-partner, I can offer an enticing discount."

"But why?" Judy pressed, ignoring the attempt to change the subject. "You helped me to find Nick under that bridge the last time. Why won't you help me now?"

Finnick snorted, his ears flicking in annoyance.

"Because that's different. I don't see no reason to tell you about her. It's Nick's mom, not mine. And definitely not yours."

Judy's initial excitement at seeing Finnick was beginning to sink alongside her shoulders. She placed both of her paws on the table, leaning in towards him.

"Look, Finnick. You've been with Nick for years. I'm sure you know what happened between Nick and his mom. He told me he won't see her. He won't even talk to her. But I know he doesn't mean it. I know he misses her, and at the very least, I want her to know that."

"You ever think that this ain't your business to handle, bunny?" Finnick fired back.

Judy closed her eyes, her paws gripping the tablecloth tightly.

"…I do. A lot. Nick thinks that he failed her, and that she would never forgive him again. But he doesn't know that. I don't know for sure that I'm doing the right thing, but I don't want Nick to go through the rest of his life with this regret."

"How sweet of you to think of the little fox's fweelings." Finnick said in a mockingly cute tone. "So why do you need me then? You're a cop, I'm sure you could track her down yourself if you wanted."

"I tried, Finnick. I tried looking her up in the system, but I couldn't find her. I even checked every different spelling of Evie Wilde, and nothing."

Finnick paused for a moment, before chuckling to himself. He climbed back onto his stack of boxes, sitting on it and turning to her with an amused smirk. He looked like he'd just gotten a brilliant idea.

"You want this info bad, huh?" he asked with a grin.

Judy didn't like the tone of his voice, and she definitely didn't like the look on his face. Nevertheless, she nodded hesitantly.

"How bad do you want it? Enough to say… help me with a hustle for the rest of the day? I might consider sharing some info if you do that."

Of course. Judy resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Look, if it's money you want, I can just pay you for it. How much do you want?" Judy stood back upright, reaching for her wallet. However, Finnick shook his head.

"Now where's the fun in that, Fuzz? That would be too easy. It's help me with the hustle or bust."

Judy blinked a couple of times, convinced that she'd heard him wrongly. Finnick refusing the chance to make a quick buck for almost zero effort? It was unthinkable. She had no idea what game he was trying to play, but she knew that at this point, she wasn't in any position to bargain. She had to be careful about pushing the smaller fox's buttons, otherwise there was a risk that he would end up telling Nick about this.

She folded her arms with a frown. "What kind of help are you asking for? As much as I want that info, I can't just do anything you ask. I'm still a cop, you know. What if someone recognises me?"

"Oh, don't you worry about that." Finnick replied without missing a beat. "I might be a no-good scoundrel, but I ain't gonna make you do something crazy. No one's gonna recognise you either, so you don't need to worry your fuzzy little tail one bit. So how about it?"

Judy took a deep breath.

This is for Nick.

"Alright, fine. I'll do it. What do you want me to do?"

Finnick's grin widened; he looked like a wolf that had just secured his next meal. "If you've read that book, you should know how the hustle is supposed to work with two people, right?"

"Yeah. Nick would go around and try to pick out the mammals most likely to buy supplements like this, and then bring them to you to get the sale done. I'm guessing you want me to do the same thing."

"Correct. Well, almost correct." Finnick grinned. "Wait here a sec."

He went over to his van, which was parked a short distance away just outside the park. A couple of minutes later, he walked back, carrying a small box in his paws. He motioned for Judy to follow him as he walked straight under the table and into the tent. Judy followed suit, ducking under the table as he dropped the box onto the ground.

"Go ahead, open it," he said.

Confused, she bent down to open the box. The moment she did, she felt a chill run up her spine.

"No. No no. Finnick, you can't possibly mean…"

"Oh yes, I do. Hope you've got your hustling A-game on…Officer Toot-Toot."

It was approaching mid-afternoon, but the flea market was still bustling with activity. Mammals of all sizes were still moving from tent to tent, adding to the ever-growing piles in their carts. Despite how fast everything else was moving, Judy was still frozen to her ground, staring at the unfolded grey elephant costume in her paws. With each passing second, she felt her puzzlement and confusion growing.

This is Finnick's elephant costume, but…it looks bigger. I didn't shrink, did I?

"It's a different costume, Fuzz. Mine's still in the van," Finnick said, as if reading her thoughts.

"…Do I even want to know why you have an elephant costume in my size?" she asked, still in disbelief.

"Oh, they came in a set when we got 'em. Nick wanted to sell the others away, but I told him that we could find a use for them. Guess I was right, huh? But enough talking, you'd better get to wearing it. Time is money, you know."

This is for Nick this is for Nick this is for Nick…she repeated in her head as she reluctantly stepped into the costume and pulled it up over her body. Sure enough, the costume was a good deal bigger than the one Finnick had worn when they'd first met. It was a little too big for her in fact, but it still fit. She pulled the hood over her head and pulled the plush trunk up over her muzzle. The inside of the costume had a slightly musty smell; it had probably been sitting in the box for a long time.

Better musty than used, at least…she rationalised in her head. She suddenly remembered Nick joking about a month ago that he would use his prize—if he won the fight—to make her wear an elephant costume and walk through Savannah Central. If only he knew that he didn't need to use his win to make her do just that.

The costume now on, she walked up to Finnick with a loud sigh, the elephant trunk flopping around in front of her. With the mask over her face the way it was, the sigh resulted in her letting out a sad half-toot. Finnick looked like he was about to burst out in hysterics.

"Looking good, Fuzz. You were worried about someone recognising you, weren't ya? Now it shouldn't be a problem. Anyway, you can grab one of the signs from the table. You know who to look out for, don't ya?"

"Yeah yeah…mammals carrying around lots of junk, preferably female and middle-aged." She grumbled, grabbing some of the pre-made signs and giving them a look. She eventually settled on a rectangular sign that had a big picture of Paraquil on it, a price with a big red slash across it indicating the discount, as well as a list of supposed benefits of the drug.

"You've studied well, Fluff. You'd better get to it then. I'll be right here watchin' the show if you need me." He smirked.

And so, armed with a signboard and an oversized costume, Judy got to work. She went from mammal to mammal, introducing herself as cheerily as she could to start, before launching into the sales pitch that was written in Nick's book. Nobody was paying her any mind at first, but after a few tries—and a few well-timed toot-toots from the costume—she eventually managed to get a few mammals to at least hear her out. Despite the sheer embarrassment of it all, she had to admit that the costume was useful to make the potential customers take notice when they would normally have ignored her otherwise.

To her relief—and slight disappointment—Nick's book was right. Once she had their attention, the sales pitch worked like a charm, especially on the mammals who had already bought a lot of goods. They were more than willing to hear her out when she shared about how much money they could save on Paraquil by getting it here compared to a local drugstore. She even had a few frothing at the mouth figuratively when she said the magic words: "We're almost out of stock, so if you're interested, you'd better hurry!"

Every time she successfully directed a customer to Finnick, her heart sank a little. She tried to make herself feel better by rationalising that she wasn't the one directly selling the pills to the mammals. She was just holding a sign and trying to convince them that it was worth parting with their cash for some harmless supplements.

It was a small consolation.

This went on for an hour, and then two. Her costume began to draw a lot of attention from the other mammals around this side of the park. Mostly laughs and snickers, with a few puzzled stares in between. A few young leopard kits even ran up to her, tugging on her large elephant ears and trunk a couple of times and asking whether she could make the toot-toot sound for them. She obliged, of course.

Thankfully, Finnick was right about one thing: no one seemed to recognise her at all. Once Judy realised that was the case, her confidence began to grow. She started to get into the rhythm of it, so much so that she was literally bouncing around from mammal to mammal, giving loud toot-toots and spinning the sign around to catch their attention. She was drawing quite a lot of attention to herself, but she was confident that it wasn't anything to worry about.

"Do a flip!" Someone from the crowd called out. She did so, tossing the sign into the air and doing a graceful backflip before landing right back on her feet, her paw outstretched. The moment the sign landed right back in her paws, the crowd cheered and applauded.

"Thanks, folks! Our store is right over there, so feel free to drop by!" she smiled, letting out another couple of toots.

That last wave was apparently enough, because the next time she headed back to the tent, Finnick had already put up a "Sold Out" sign and was currently packing the day's profits into a small metal box. She sighed in relief, sliding under the table over to where the fox was sitting.

"I'm guessing we're done, Finnick?"

"Yup. We even finished early. Help me bring this stuff back to the van, would ya? You can take off the costume while you're at it."

Judy did a mental fist pump, quickly helping to pack the rest of the signs on the table back into a black trash bag. She hauled it over her shoulder and followed the fox back to his van. He yanked open the rear doors, taking the bag from her and tossing it to the side unceremoniously.

While he did that, she quickly unzipped the costume and stepped out of it, flapping her shirt a couple of times to let the cooler evening air blow through her fur before putting her straw hat back on.

"So, is that enough 'help' for you, Finnick?" she asked, tossing the costume back to him. He caught it with both paws, rolling the costume into a ball and tossing it on top of the black box that it came from.

"Oh for sure. In fact, that was a pretty impressive performance back there, Fuzz. You ever consider a career change? I think you'd make a pretty good hustler." He grinned. Judy resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm quite happy where I am. So can you tell me about Nick's mom now?"

"Straight to the point, aren't ya, bunny? Well, I suppose that's what you went through all that for. Normally, I'd be happy to tell you everything you wanted to know…" he sat himself down on the edge of his van, before continuing.

"…But unfortunately for you, you were too slow."

"Too…slow?" Judy parroted, confused.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but Nick came to me way before you. Just before he went into the Fuzz Academy, in fact. He had a feeling you were looking for his mom, and he told me to keep you away from her if you ever came to me."

"No…no that can't be. Nick did that?" Judy's ears drooped further and further with each word that Finnick said.

"Yeah. And I may be a no-good hustler, but I'm still a fox of my word. Which means I'm not telling you where she is."

"But we had a deal!" Judy protested.

"I said I'd consider giving you the info if you helped me with the hustle. I never promised anything."

"Then, all that work I did for you…"

"Business as usual. Thanks for the help, Officer Toot-Toot." He chuckled.

Judy felt her heart sinking along with her hopes. After everything she'd been through today, this was what she was going to get? For a moment, she thought that maybe Finnick was bluffing. It was possible, but from the look on his face, he didn't look like he was lying. A moment later, it hit her.

Nick gave me this book himself. He must've known that it contained references to his mom, but he still let me keep it.

She should've known better. Of course Nick would've thought about this. Of course he would've covered his tracks. He knew the contents of that book better than anyone, and he would have known that the book would have eventually led to Finnick. It was a trap, and she'd fallen for it. Again. In fact, this trap could have gone off months ago. In her head, she could hear his voice taunting her with a smug smile, saying something like: "Ha! Gotcha, Carrots! I knew you would try something like this eventually!"

"Mmrgh, I knew it was too good to be true. Stupid stupid stupid!" she grabbed her ears tightly, yanking them downwards in frustration.

A darker part of her mind told her to shove the nice act and play hardball with the smaller fox if he so badly wanted to. But she knew it was way too dangerous; if Finnick were to tell Nick about what happened today, that would have been the end of it. Finnick hadn't even threatened her with doing that yet, but she had a feeling the threat was implicit at this point.

What should I do…?

She bit her lip—trying not to let her anger get the better of her—before turning away. She refused to let Finnick get the satisfaction of seeing her like this.

A few seconds later, she heard a whisper, so soft that she could barely hear it, even with her ears.

"…You really do care for him, don't you, Fluff?"

She let go of her ears, and they immediately perked up and swivelled around. Her body followed suit, turning back to face Finnick.

"What?"

The smirk on the fox's face was gone. His suddenly looked dead serious, a stark contrast from a moment ago. And yet, his expression seemed to have softened ever so slightly. He exhaled slowly, standing up on the edge of his van.

"Well, my job's done here. Sold my stock, made a nice profit, hustled a bunny cop, and kept her away from Nick's mom, just like he asked." He dusted his paws, reaching towards the door handles. As he did so, he paused, glancing back at her.

"Oh yeah, you said before that her name was Evie? Just so you know, that's her nickname. Her real name is Evelyn. Evelyn Wilde."

Judy did a double take. It was a full three seconds before she realised the implications of the fox's last sentence.

He's…giving me her real name? Then that means I could…

"But, I thought you said—" she stopped short as the fox raised his paw to stop her.

"I ain't helping you find her, for the record. Nick told me to keep you away from his mom, but he never said anything about telling you her real name."

"Finnick..."

"You won't be getting any useful info out of me, but if you do end up finding her somehow..." he narrowed his eyes. "Make sure Nick squirms. It's the least he deserves."

It took a bit, but when it clicked, she nodded at him, a smile starting to grow across her face.

"I will. Thanks, Finnick."

As if on cue, a cold wind began to blow through the alley. A single drop of cold water landed on Judy's nose, making her blink in surprise. She glanced skyward. Dark clouds were moving in, fast. A drop of rain landed on the fox's head as well, causing him to shake it aggressively for a moment. He flicked his ears in annoyance, grumbling something under his breath.

"I'm out. Ciao."

With that, he slammed the back doors to his van. Judy felt more cold drops hitting her arm, but the rain was the last thing on her mind right now. She exhaled softly as her feet began moving away from the van and the flea market.

Evelyn Wilde.

She had a name. It wasn't much, but it was something. After so long, she finally had a breakthrough. If Finnick really was telling the truth, it would probably be enough. She pulled out her phone, typing in directions towards Precinct One. The screen showed that it was a twenty-minute walk. Which meant a ten-minute run. As the sky continued to darken, she pulled her hat down further down over her head and began sprinting.

With her back to the van, she didn't see the pair of eyes watching her from the van's rear windows. The moment she turned the corner, the fox watching her shook his head, stepping off the stepladder he'd been standing on and jumping back down to the floor of the van. Alone now, Finnick climbed into the front seat and turned the key in the ignition.

"Hmph. You're lucky, Nick. To have someone willing to go that far for you. And I told you all your mama issues would bite you in the butt eventually."

As the engine sputtered to life, he climbed onto his pile of books that acted as his chair booster. The sound of raindrops pelting the roof of the van began to grow louder as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road. He snickered to himself.

"…too bad I won't be there to see your face when it happens."

More and more raindrops splattered across Judy's arms and legs as she ran, though her hat was catching most of them for her. Traffic was starting to build up on the roads; she was glad she opted to hoof it rather than hail a cab. The familiar orange building was quickly coming into view now. She sped up, taking powerful leaps across the tiled pavement and up the stairs. She burst through the front doors just as the light drizzle outside turned into a roaring deluge. Normally, she would've turned around to see how close she was to being completely drenched, but right now there was only one thought in her head.

Evelyn Wilde.

She repeated the name in her head over and over, almost afraid that she would somehow forget it if she stopped thinking it for even a second. Multiple mammals were beginning to fill the lobby now, most trying to find a place to escape the downpour outside. Judy quickly moved in, weaving through hippos, elephants, and many other larger mammals, heading straight towards the stairs. She had to get to her desk, to her computer so she should access the database. That was her singular goal right now, and nothing was going to stop her.

…Except sloths.

She skidded to a stop just before the first step up. There was a whole group of sloths slowly making their way up the stairs, enough of them that she couldn't just squeeze through their legs. Judy tried to resist the urge, but her foot began to thump on the ground almost immediately. She glanced around, looking for another way. Luckily, the lifts were a short distance away, and more importantly, they appeared to be sloth-free. She immediately made a beeline towards the other end of the lobby.

As she passed the front desk, she suddenly heard someone call out:

"Judy?"

She stopped once again, glancing up at the person behind the desk. A pair of kangaroo eyes stared back at her. It seemed Officer Kang was still manning the front desk. Strangely, he didn't look as weary and irritated as he normally did. Normally, she would've been curious enough to ask why that was the case, but right now she had more important things to be doing.

"Hi Kang. What's up?"

"It's your off day, isn't it? You look like you're in a hurry…where are you going?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Umm…I'm just going to my desk. Gotta check something out. Also I forgot some case files," Judy replied quickly. Despite her best efforts, she knew it was obvious from her restless shuffling that she was a little too eager to end the conversation.

"Can I ask what this 'something' is?"

"Uhh…it's just a personal matter…"

"Okay, you know what? It's my last day at the front desk, I'm not doing this." Kang groaned, pinching his forehead for a moment. He then looked back down at her. "…do you know about Code Bread?"

Judy opened her mouth, but then paused. "You mean Code Red?"

"No, Code Bread. It's a code that was made specifically for—never mind. Just read this."

Kang reached under his desk, pulling out a single piece of paper. He turned it over and handed it to her. Judy took it hesitantly, not sure what he was trying to get at. It was just a printed sheet of the common codes that the ZPD officers used. She didn't recall them having any codes assigned to colours—those were supposed to be meant for hospitals.

Sure enough, there weren't any codes of any colour. They were all numbers. But there was a handwritten note hastily scribbled at the bottom. She read it out loud.

"Code Bread: If Officer Hopps is seen rushing into the ZPD on her off-day, or when she's not supposed to be in, Officers are to find out what she's up to and report it to me immediately – Bogo"

"Wait, when did this happen?" Judy replied, incredulous. "And why am I not aware of this?"

"Hang on, there's more." Kang pointed down below. Judy looked at the paper again.

"P.S. ESPECIALLY when she's dressed in civilian attire (e.g. plaid shirt, jeans, straw hat)."

Judy looked down: she was indeed wearing a plaid shirt and jeans. Then she glanced up. Sure enough, there was a straw hat on her head. She already knew that, of course, but she had hoped that reading the words would've magically made them disappear—or at least made it invisible to Kang. She groaned, pulling the hat off her head.

"…I am never wearing my straw hat in here again. I can't believe Chief Bogo actually made a code just for me…and why is it called Code Bread, anyway?"

"You can thank Clawhauser for that." Kang rolled his eyes. "He happened to be passing by when the Chief wrote this, and Bogo asked him to come up with a name that would make it easy for him to associate you with the code."

"Well, what did he say?" Judy asked, still confused.

"Hmm…" Kang tapped his chin in response. "I think it went something like…" And then to Judy's shock, he puffed out his cheeks and raised the pitch of his voice in a mock imitation of Clawhauser. "'Ohh, Judy's a bunny, right? A little bunny bun bun, and buns are a delicious form of…ooh, I got it! How about Code B—'"

Judy slapped her forehead.

"…Bread. I'm sorry I asked."

"To answer your other question, this was implemented on the day you came back to the office when Commissioner Rhinestone was visiting." Kang coughed, his voice returning to normal.

Judy remembered that day well. In fact, that was the first time that she'd returned to the office when she wasn't on duty. And it just so happened to be for the same reason as well—to try and find Evie Wilde in the database. The Chief was probably sore about her embarrassing him in front of the Commissioner.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

"You're telling me. I was really hoping that bunny running through the front door wasn't you. I just wanted a nice quiet last day here." Kang sighed. "If you had just showed up tomorrow, this would have been Clawhauser's problem. I'm sure he would've had a much better time trying to figure out what you're doing."

Yeah, I can imagine that…Judy thought to herself.

"Kang, I know I'm not supposed to be here, and I promise this isn't anything serious. Can we please not tell the Chief about this?"

"Why do you think I even told you what Code Bread means in the first place?" Kang folded his arms. "I'm not going to snitch on you; I owe you one for helping to get me back my job downstairs. And besides, it's way too much of a bother for me to do it."

"So…we're good?" Judy asked hopefully.

"Almost. I'd love nothing more than to just look away, but if the Chief sees you in the office, or if something does happen on my watch, he's going to make me stay here for the rest of my life as punishment. And I'd rather hang myself with that telephone cord over there than handle the front desk again. So it would help if you could just tell me what's going on."

"Okay, fine." Judy raised her paws. "I came back today because I needed the database. I'm looking for a fox; she's my friend's mom."

"Why are you looking for her? And more importantly, can't this wait until tomorrow when you're officially back at work?" Kang asked, puzzled.

"Well…I didn't want to wait. I'm just trying to help my friend. He hasn't seen his mom in years because they…had a falling out. And I think I finally have a way to get the two of them back together. I've been searching for her for months, Kang." Judy emphasized.

The kangaroo sighed again, using a paw to adjust his thick-rimmed glasses. He sat back down on his chair with a grunt.

"…Name."

Judy perked up.

"Come again?"

Kang took a moment to glance up at Chief Bogo's office on the upper floor, before looking back down at her.

"The Chief's in a meeting right now. It'll be ending soon, so you don't have much time to look. Give me the name, I'll help you look it up. And make it fast."

"Really? Thank you, Kang!" Judy bounced up a couple of times. She quickly circled the desk and jumped up onto the chair that the kangaroo had pulled up next to him.

"So, who are we looking for?" he asked.

"She's a red fox. Her name is Evelyn Wilde. I don't know her exact age, but she should be somewhere over fifty, and living in Zootopia right now. I don't know where either, though."

"Any pictures or references?"

Judy plopped her straw hat back onto her head, before swinging her sling bag over onto her lap. She rummaged through it, eventually finding the photo of Junior Ranger Scout Nick—the one with his mom standing right behind him. She pulled it out and held it in front of Kang.

"I don't have a recent picture, but this is one from about twenty years ago."

Kang took one glance at the photo, before beginning to type on his keyboard at a blistering speed, so much so that Judy's eyes could barely keep up. She was stunned at the kangaroo's pace; he truly was better suited for working in records. Within seconds, Kang had filled in the search fields of the database, and the number of displayed results dwindled from several hundred to a dozen. He used his mouse to drag the search window over to a separate monitor, before turning the monitor slightly so that she could see the results more easily. He then alternated between glancing at the photograph and the screen in front of him, clicking through the list.

"I presume the kit in the photo is your friend. How old is he in the photo and now?" Kang asked.

"He's about eight or nine in the picture. He's thirty-two now."

"A twenty-four-year gap…" Kang returned his gaze to the screen. He seemed much more alive now compared to how he normally was when manning the front desk. "From my estimation, the vixen in this picture is in her early thirties. Which would put her in her mid to late fifties now, possibly even sixty. These few are too old…" he pointed at a few of the vixens in the search results. "…and these are too young."

He began to filter the list further, until only three remained. He enlarged their profiles, putting them side by side so Judy could see all three of them at once. The moment he did, Judy jumped in her chair.

"That's the one! That's her!" she exclaimed, pointing straight at the one in the middle. The face on the screen looked almost exactly like the one in Nick's photograph.

"I agree." Kang nodded. "That one has the most resemblance to the vixen in the picture, especially when you consider the ear shape and the shade of her fur."

"Kang, could you print that profile out for me?"

"Of course." He pressed a button, and the laser printer by the side of the table began to whirr. A few seconds later, a single sheet of appropriately bunny-sized paper was pushed out. Judy took the piece and held it in her paws, gripping it tightly. She almost couldn't believe it. After all this time, she had it. She finally had it.

"Is that all, Judy?" Kang asked. "If there's nothing else, I have to get back to answering useless questions from the general public, like whether we sell umbrellas or raincoats here. And it's about to get real crowded in here…" he motioned towards the increasing number of mammals running in through the front doors to escape the rain outside.

"Yes, that's all that I need, Kang. Thanks so much! And congrats again on getting your job back!"

"Hmph, I should be thanking you for making it happen. If you ever need anything from records, you know where to find me." He took off his glasses, slipping them back into his shirt pocket.

"Beside the boiler, right?" Judy grinned.

"The best place in the precinct. After I clear out the donut sprinkles and milkshake stains, at least." The kangaroo smirked in response. "You should get out of here before the Chief notices you. I'll see you around sometime—preferably when you're supposed to be at work."

The sudden smirk gave Judy pause. This was the first time she'd seen the perpetually grumpy kangaroo smile so genuinely—and not look like a serial killer while doing it. Seeing him like this, she couldn't help but feel a swelling of pride inside her. Amidst the day's hectic events, she had forgotten that all the work that she'd been doing for the past few months wasn't just to find Evelyn Wilde, but it was for everyone else. Including Kang and Clawhauser. And Kang's smile was a timely reminder that things were finally starting to get better in Zootopia.

If there was ever a right time to find Nick's mom, it was now.

She nodded, returning the smile and giving Kang a final wave goodbye before jumping off the chair onto the ground. Still clutching the piece of paper tightly in her paws, she held it up to read the details on it.

Evelyn Mary Wilde
145 Autumn Lane
Evergreen Forest District, Zootopia

Below the address, there was a single phone number. Judy took a deep breath, reading the details again. And again.

The Evergreen Forest, huh? She thought to herself, feeling her excitement growing. This was it. After so long, she finally knew everything she needed to know to find Nick's mom. All she had to do now was to find the right time to pay the vixen a visit. Pulling out her phone, she took a picture of the piece of paper, and then manually typed in the address and phone number—just to be safe. As she finished, an idea suddenly popped into her head; the thought of it was enough to make her heart skip a beat.

What if I went right now?

Her original plan had been to go home, do a little research on the Evergreen Forest, and plan out exactly what she was going to say to the vixen once she found her. But thinking about it again, she didn't need to wait that long. She already had the two most important things that she wanted to bring with her to show Nick's mom: the photograph and the neckerchief. And it was still early enough in the evening, so there was a good chance that Evelyn was home.

In fact…

She glanced down at her phone, where a big green call button sat squarely in the middle of her screen, beckoning at her, urging her to press it. She didn't need to risk showing up to an empty house; she had a way to make sure that Evelyn was home before going. But that would mean talking to her right then and there. Did she really want to do this right now? Was she even ready?

She stood there for what seemed like forever, clenching her phone tightly in her paw. Ever so slowly, she moved her other paw over her screen, her heart pounding in her chest.

Judy pressed the button.