By the time Jack potted his first ball, he knew Judy was playing at. She wasn't just distracting Redwood with her pretty face and above-average pool skills. Redwood had been sharing so many tales of his licit and semi-licit exploits, but Judy hadn't revealed anything about her family that Redwood, an associate of her family business, wouldn't already know.
She was interrogating him, lowering his guard little by little by banal conversation before striking swift and true with her question about the missing paintings. Now that they knew exactly where the gallery was, and had gained permission from Redwood himself to enter it, they could search the room without arousing suspicion.
He waited three seconds after Redwood left the room- when he heard the mammal's footsteps receding, he spoke into his earpiece. "Winters, we're going to the gallery in the north wing. Don't try to meet us there, there could be cameras. I'll let you know if it's clear." He turned to Judy. "Good work, Hopps. We may not find the codice there, but it's a start."
Judy smiled and followed him out the billiard room.
Walking through the corridors arm in arm with Judy, Jack took note of every security camera he saw, and which direction they were pointing to. In the north wing, they found the large double doors of the gallery, and Jack saw that no cameras were in this part of the mansion. "Winters, how's it going with the infiltration?"
"Give me two more minutes. Another five on top of that for Honey to get into the system."
"Ryder, can you hear this?"
"Loud and clear, Stripes."
"Give us a heads up as soon as you have access to the cameras. We're going to explore the gallery then leave, and then you-"
"Rig the camera to show the room's empty when you go back inside, already on it, Stripes."
"Don't call me Stripes."
They entered the gallery to see a ring of wood and glass pedestals circling large tree ring symbol on the floor. In the display cases were sculptures and books from every culture. The paintings from the entrance hall were carefully left leaning against the walls. The gallery itself had been designed to be a work of art itself- unlike the other rooms, this one had pilasters- embedded pillars intricately carved with redwood tree imagery- and stained-glass windows as part of the architecture. Jack and Judy wandered the gallery, admiring the priceless pieces, along the way finding a door leading to the adjacent study Redwood had told them about. Each display case had built in sensors to trigger an alarm should anyone try to open the cases.
But no codice.
But they'd expected that. There was more to this room that met the eye.
Jack and Judy kept up the pretence, turning their attention to the paintings, until Honey's voice rung in their earpieces.
"Ok, I'm in. By the way, Hopps, Nick says you look beautiful."
"Cheese and crackers…" Judy muttered. Her facepalm didn't conceal her sheepish grin.
"To elaborate, his mouth isn't saying it, but his eyes are."
"SHUT UP, HONEY!" The fox had yelled loud enough for the earpiece to pick it up.
"If you're quite done…" Winters grumbled through the earpiece.
Jack waited until Honey stopped cackling, gazing placidly at one of the pilasters, "We're walking out. Let us know when the camera's rigged."
Judy still had a mortified look on her face when Jack walked to her side. "Come on, we've seen everything. Let's wait outside."
He took her hand in his, looking almost drunkenly coy, as if he was suggesting that he and Judy find somewhere a little more private, and led her from the room. They closed the door and waited in the corridor outside where there were no cameras.
"See anything odd while you were in there?" Jack asked.
"Not yet." Judy said. "You?"
"That pilaster by the Reinbrampt painting…"
"Pil-whatster?"
"The embedded pillar. One of the panels looks newer than the rest of it."
Judy nodded. "Which one's the Reinbrampt?"
Honey spoke up in the earpiece before Jack could answer. "Good to go."
Jack grabbed the door handle. "Good to go."
They returned to the gallery and walked up to the pilaster standing to the right of the painting of a boat on a stormy sea.
The Storm on the Sea of Whaleilee, it said on the silver panel beneath the painting. The panel made a point of mentioning that the painting was a reproduction painted by one Alana Worth. Just as well, since the real painting had been stolen from a museum almost three decades ago.
"Ok, now I see it." Judy was peering up at the pilaster, particularly the small rectangular panel half-way up. It was impossible for either of them to reach it without finding something to step on.
"Jack, you mind giving me a boost?"
Jack knelt down and linked his paws together so he could lift Judy up. He had to tilt his head almost beyond what his neck was capable of to see what she was doing. At least she was holding onto the column, taking some of the weight off his paws. He could never imagine doing this with Alyssa, even if a part of him still wished that she could have accompanied him to the party in Judy's place, wearing that one sleeved gown with the rose pattern. No matter how she wore it, she looked magnificent in red.
"You're right about this panel, but it won't budge."
"Need something to pry it with?"
"No, it's not that- is that an apple?"
Judy's face had turned downward, toward the redwood tree carving on the tall panel beneath the smaller one. Jack saw the dollar-sized apple carving too.
Apple of my eye…
"Hopps, redwoods don't grow pinecones, let alone fruit." Winters said.
Judy pressed the apple- click.
Jack heard the panel slide down.
"Darnit, why didn't we see this coming?" Judy grumbled.
"What's wrong?" Winters asked.
"It's a keypad."
"Don't worry, I got this." Jack wrapped one arm around her legs to keep her steady, procured a luxury fountain pen from his pocket and passed it up. "Unscrew the nib and press the bottom. It's a UV light."
Judy hesitated after grabbing the pen. "I like your way of thinking, but Redwood has hooves. He wouldn't leave sweat on the buttons."
"But he'd still leave bacteria. Just try it."
Judy tried it. "Well, halleluiah."
"What letters can you see?"
"W… E… I… A… H… L."
Jack looked at the painting next to them.
"Try Whaleilee."
"What?"
"It's on the painting here."
"Ok, here goes…" Judy typed the word. Her paw recoiled as the panel slid shut over the keypad.
There was a whirring, clunking sound behind them. Jack lowered Judy back on solid ground, and they both turned to see the core of the tree ring symbol rise up from the floor, becoming a thin column that bore three vertically aligned buttons.
"Ooookay then." Judy walked up to the column. "I'm guessing that red button's an emergency stop."
Jack stood next to her. "And I'm guessing the bottom button's for going down. You know, I think he buys stolen art for the thrill more than anything."
Judy noticed how high his eyebrows were raised. "You don't see many secret passages, do you? I thought it was a huge James Hound thing."
"No, more of an Indiana Bones thing. Honey, anyone approaching the gallery?"
"Nope. Everyone's either partying or patrolling the grounds."
"Winters?"
"I'm heading back to the car. Honey'll cover my tracks once we're clear."
"Ok. Keep an eye on those guards. We're going after that codice."
He pressed the down button. The entire tree ring symbol was thankfully quiet at it began its descent down the shaft. It stopped at one end of a wide rectangular room. Compared to the gallery above, this room was black, sleek and spartan, like a modern office lobby. The display cases were made of metal, not wood, and the paintings here were shielded by what Jack suspected was fireproof glass. The scarcity of the room was a deliberate design, intended to ensure that the artworks stood out against the blank polished metal, befitting for Redwood's true pride and joy.
"Oh my gosh." Judy breathed, eyes nearly bulging as she stared at the looted treasure that stood before her.
An Egyptian statue. A carved stone mural of a warrior tribe. A cluster of eight red diamonds known as the Eyes of Goliath. Jack could see the glint of delight in the eyes of a cop who had uncovered some irrefutable evidence. In this instance, she'd hit the motherlode.
"Indeed." Jack uttered. His eyes fell upon another painting of The Storm on the Sea of Whaleilee. He highly doubted that this one was a reproduction, too. "Come on, let's find that codice."
They split up, checking the display cases and their contents one by one. Judy was practically skipping as she explored the room. On the other side Jack checked out a series of drawings of Manuscripts from somewhere in Ewerope. A golden crown. A display of bronze square sculptures identified as Black Mamba Bronzes. All cultural artefacts that should have been repatriated long ago. Jack was passing by a ritual dagger known as a Purrba when Judy called to him.
"Jack, over here!"
Jack hurried over to find Judy staring at an elongated display case at the very end of the room, and there it was, fully unfolded so they could see every page. Above the codice was a long photograph displaying the imagery on other side of the ancient paper.
"Son of a nutmeg." Judy whispered. "This thing almost didn't survive the sixteenth century. Do you have any idea how incredible this is, Jack?"
"Yes. And two to three weeks from now, it will be in a museum where it belongs. Preferably in South Animerica."
The display cases here were almost certainly alarmed as well, so Jack took out his PDA and began photographing the pages one by one. He didn't question Judy when she did the same with her phone, just in case they needed a backup. When he was done, he immediately sent the photographs to Honey's computer.
"Aha, keep 'em coming!" Honey hissed.
"Ok, that's all of them." Jack said.
"I'll send them to my buddy straight away."
Jack pocketed the PDA and traded smirked with Judy. "Well, that's a wrap. Let's head back up top and I'll get us both martinis.
The vermouth in Jack's martini tasted extra sweet. He could still remember the flavour as he and Judy departed the estate one hour after leaving the black-market art gallery. They'd returned to the party slightly dishevelled, so anyone who'd noticed their absence would think they'd disappeared into one of the mansion's many rooms for some premarital hanky panky. Redwood even gave them a chuckle when he saw them at the bar. One round of drinks and one celebratory waltz on the polished floor later, and then they were back in Winters's car. When the mansion was no longer in sight, Jack unlocked his PDA and examined the pictures. He'd studied codices the night before their operation. The Swinton Codice - technically should be the singular codex, but the name had somehow stuck – a combination of figures and symbols so aged it was almost monochromatic. It looked almost innocuous. What secrets lay within these drawings?
"Ok, my buddy says they'll have it fully translated within 48 hours." Honey said.
"Good work, Honey." Jack said.
"Good work to you, too. It took you little than an hour to find that pamphlet, and you didn't even have to shoot anyone."
"Very funny. We'll see you back at the motel."
He took out the earpiece, knowing that Winters would keep hers in case of an emergency. It didn't take long to notice that the satisfaction had disappeared from Judy's face. Staring out the window as it began to gently rain over the quiet country road, she seemed deep in thought, so Jack left her be until she turned away from the drenched glass.
"Jack, can I ask you a possibly… classified question?"
"Ask the question and then I'll decide."
"Have you killed a lot of mammals?"
Of course, she'd heard what Honey had said. "Yes."
"Any… innocent mammals?"
"… I've seen innocent mammals die. Never at my own hand." For some reason, he felt it necessary to add, "If I was that kind of person, you wouldn't have survived our meeting on Founders Mountain."
To her credit, Judy didn't look perturbed at this. "So how did you get into ZIA? I mean, they don't have a Mammal Inclusion Initiative so far as I can tell."
"Yes, well, I didn't exactly apply for the job. I was recruited from the gutter, so to speak."
"The gutter?"
Jack should have felt something when he explained, but he didn't. "My parents ignored me one too many times. I was on the streets for two months when I got ZIA's attention."
"You must have been a kid when that happened. What the heck did you do to get recruited?"
"That, I am afraid, is classified." Judy pursed her lips, but saw that he was serious and didn't press the matter. The rain continued to fall in light droplets, glinting pale gold in the ambience of the car's headlights. Winters reduced her speed as they left the field and entered a densely forested part of the road. They would be back at the motel in ten minutes. Any moment they'd see the sign warning of a sharp bend before they left the forest. "Why do you ask?"
"Does it get easier? The killing?"
"I asked myself that question the first time I killed a mammal."
"Did it get easier?" Judy asked again.
"Yes, yes it did." Jack responded. "Have you had your first kill?"
"Not me." Judy said quietly.
"Ah… have you talked to him about it?"
"Not yet. He hasn't been himself. He picked up my phone when mom tried to call me and I know she said something to him, because-"
"SHIT!" Winters cursed moments before they went over the sharp bend at thirty miles an hour. The car hit a tree trunk, spun and began to roll. Bushes and branches snapped and crumpled in its wake. The world outside the car spun in blur of black and green. Only Jack's belt stopped him from being thrown out the car as the window beside him smashed, showering him with glass and water. A broken branch found its way inside and rolled around like a clothes hanger in a washing machine, slapping Jack with its leaves.
The car burst out the foliage into the shallow muddy puddle at the base of the slope, coming to a stop when it hit an uprooted tree. Liquid earth poured into the car, pooling in the curved roof as the two rabbits dangled dazedly in their belts. Rain rattled on the bottom of the car. Winters wheezed in the front seat, winded by the crash. Judy coughed at Jack's side. Both alive at least. Jack must have hit his head, because all he could do was hang upside down and wonder why they never saw the sign. At some point he tried to escape his seatbelt, only to unceremoniously slip out and land flat on his back in the mud. He spat out water and stared at the seat cushions above him. Judy still hung in her seat. She looked unconscious. He couldn't see Winters from where he lay.
Jack heard the sound of footsteps in water and turned his head to see the legs of a figure walking cautiously alongside the fallen car. NEST. Of course they'd interfere just as things were going well. Then he saw the wet, white, bushy tail of a wolf and realised that it wasn't.
The wolf stopped outside Judy's unbroken window and knelt down. Jack blinked.
Koobus Lupine. We were starting to think you were dead.
Jack could only muster that one thought before Koobus aimed his silenced desert eagle and fired.