Wolfard and Fangmeyer led us to their cubicle, where a pretty grim case file awaited us.
"Thomas Loxley, male red fox, age 26, was attacked and mugged last week, before being left for dead in an alleyway off of Sycamore Boulevard," Wolfard explained, gesturing to a series of CSI photos of a dark alley absolutely coated in blood. Thankfully, the only pictures they had of the vic were either pre-assault or x-ray, which, while still gruesome, didn't leave me wanting to lose my breakfast.
"Dan and I have questioned the mammal who found Loxley, another red fox by the name of Juliet Larkin, as well as a number of residents in their apartment building, which is situated just across the street from the alleyway," Fangmeyer added. Judy's ears drooped at this.
"He was attacked thirty feet from his own apartment?" Wolfard gave a solemn nod. I squeezed Judy's shoulder, hoping to provide some comfort for her.
"So, what's on the agenda for us today, then?" I asked.
"Nick, you and I are going to revisit the scene," Wolfard replied. "Gonna check out any nearby security cameras, go over the area with a fresh set of eyes and a fine-tooth comb."
"Judy and I are going to interview Loxley at Zootopia General," Fangmeyer added. Judy's face brightened, clearly looking forward to spending some time with her female coworker. "We got an initial statement from him, but he was pretty catatonic, probably a combination of painkillers and residual shock."
"We'll meet back up for lunch and see if we've gained any ground." Wolfard stood from his desk to leave, and I followed after a little wave of goodbye to Judy.
As I rode shotgun in Wolfard's cruiser, something was bugging me. I could smell the ingrained scent of the two officers, which I expected. But there was something off about it. It wasn't until we'd arrived at Sycamore that I was able to pinpoint what it was.
About half the scent of tiger accompanied us out of the car, emanating accusingly from Wolfard. I smirked.
"What's so funny, Nick?" I gave a little laugh.
"So," I began, "how long?" Wolfard stopped in his tracks.
"How long what?" I shot him a sly look.
"You and Fangmeyer. When did that start up?" To my surprise, he just laughed.
"You would not believe how many mammals at the precinct have had more access to stronger evidence that we're an item and still haven't put it together." He clasped my shoulder and squeezed me close in what I assume was meant to be a brotherly gesture. "Lucy and I started dating a little less than a year ago, during the Nighthowler riots." Still walking me under his arm, he laughed again. "You looking for advice or something?"
My tail went rigid, and I began to regret everything I'd thought about wanting someone to talk to. Wolfard must have noticed, because he let me go and gestured to the curb.
"Hey, it's no pressure. We're friends, right Nick?"
We were, weren't we?
I was barely beginning to acclimate to being friends with Judy. It…well, it scared me, to be that vulnerable with her. To open myself up to even more mammals?
We sat at the curb outside of the alleyway, Wolfard still looking expectantly, but patiently, in my direction.
"Look, Wolfard, I haven't…I haven't ever had a lot of mammals I could rely on. It's hard to…" I trailed off, unsure of what to say.
We sat without speaking for some time.
"Nick. I've got your back. Lucy's got your back. Judy has your back. Even Bogo is looking out for you." He put a paw on my shoulder. "If you want to talk, I'm here." He made to stand.
"How can I know?" I said suddenly. "How can I know that I won't ruin our friendship by wanting more? I just…Dan, I've never felt this way before." My voice caught somewhat in my throat, and I coughed, trying to ignore the stinging in my eyes. "Judy is my best friend. How can I know I won't screw it up?" He looked at me for a long, long time before answering.
"You can't know until you try. But Judy is too good a friend to you to allow something like this to screw it up." He looked away, further than anything in sight. "I was worried too. But Lucy was worth it." He stretched his arms. "Let's get to it, then. Time's a-wasting." He stood, and I made to follow him when I caught a glint out of the corner of my eye. Something peeking out of the bottom of a drain pipe.
I made my way over to take a look at what had been jammed in there. Carefully using just my claws, I wedged it out.
A wallet and a phone.
"Dan, grab me a pair of gloves and two evidence bags." He jumped to it and retrieved them in no time at all, allowing me to get a better look at what I'd found.
Confirming my suspicion, they both belonged to Loxley. The wallet, a cheap pleather item covered in scuffs and worn from use and age, contained a single dollar.
"You think the perp tossed it after realizing he didn't have anything on him?" I gave him a look, putting the wallet into a bag.
"This is a toss," I said, demonstrating by lightly throwing the bagged wallet over my shoulder. It landed on the pavement behind me. "No, these were hidden. I think whoever did this…" I stopped to shake the phone into a second bag. "Whoever did this wasn't mugging our vic. This was assault and battery—maybe even attempted murder." I shrugged. "Our perp was a little too smart for their own good. They wanted it to look like a mugging gone wrong. They take the wallet and phone. But they don't need them. But now that they've taken them, there's DNA all over it. So they hide it." I looked right at Dan. "That's my hunch, at least." He looked impressed.
"It's a good one, though circumstantial at best. Let's try and find some camera footage to go along with it."
By the time noon rolled around, we'd found five cameras. Two of them were positioned as to be useless in the investigation, and another was a dummy left out as a deterrent. The last two had some potential, though. One was infrared, positioned high up the wall above the spot. It was kind of a crapshoot whether we'd be able to ID anyone, but it would definitely help establish a time frame, and some general characteristics of our attacker. The second was across the street from the alleyway, and it had a good view of the exit. Gathering up the files from one and an honest-to-goodness VHS tape from the other, we coordinated with the women to meet at a small omnivore place near the precinct and go over our findings.
"Nothing new," Fangmeyer reported, slumping into a seat at the table. Judy slid in next to me, her ears sagging in defeat.
"You should have seen this guy, Nick. I mean, he was just wasted away. Thin as a rail. And his jaw…" She shuddered. I gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder, but I had to hide a smile as I watched Fangmeyer's tail brush past Dan's thigh once before settling.
"He's hard to get anything out of, and that's without mentioning he's got to write everything out on a whiteboard to even speak to us," Fangmeyer added, reaching for a menu. "What did you two learn?" I smiled wide.
"You would not believe it. I got some astounding evidence, I think it'll crack this case right open." Dan looked up, and I knew he could tell I wasn't talking about the stuff we'd retrieved from the pipe.
"Well," I continued, "we've got two suspects…judging by the scent they've already marked each other. It's likely they're even sharing an apartment. Or is it still too early for that, Fangmeyer?"
Judy's ears shot straight up and she looked at Fangmeyer. The tigress blushed deeply as Dan laughed.
"Not quite what I think Lucy was asking, Nick," he said, wiping his eyes, "but yes, as I'm sure Nick would have told you anyway, Judy, Lucy and I have been seeing each other." He took her paw with such a sappy look on his face that I wanted to razz him for it. I couldn't, though; I was sure I was doing the same thing seeing the star-struck expression on Judy's face.
"Does Bogo know?" she asked bashfully. Fangmeyer nodded. "And he's okay with it?"
"As long as it doesn't interfere with the work, he's pretty lenient on, ah, fraternization." Fangmeyer replied.
"How did it, uh, happen?" Fangmeyer's gaze turned brittle.
"The pred rights rally, during the riots." Judy clammed up immediately. "After that horrible day, we kind of just…needed to acknowledge that our partnership—our friendship—had become too deep to pass off as anything else."
I shot a glance back towards Judy as she said this. She bit her lip with those adorable buck teeth but didn't say anymore on the matter.
"Anyway, we actually did get a few things," I said eventually, trying to break the tension that had sprung up. "For one, Loxley's stuff." I retrieved the bagged evidence. "It was jammed up a drain pipe—I think this wasn't a mugging."
"I'm inclined to agree. We also grabbed some camera footage that I'm hoping will corroborate that."
"Yes, Fluff," I added. "Look at this ancient artifact we uncovered. I'm sure you've never seen its like before." I waved my paws mystically as I showed her the tape. She only rolled her eyes.
"Joke's on you, Slick. My family was raised on VCRs. Tends to happen when you grow up in the middle of nowhere, far from the cutting edge of technology." I laughed.
"All right, fair enough," I said, sliding the tape back into the bag. My phone buzzed. A text from Finnick awaited me.
your boys just stopped downtown. looks like one is using the bathroom, the others scopin out the neighborhood.
I shot back a quick "thx" and replaced my phone.