Chapter Twelve - Cat and Mouse: Part 1

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"ACCORDING TO THE ZPD's PR spokesmammal, yesterday a new species was found outside Tunisia Beach after coming nearly close to being hit by a speeding Zootopia Express train. In a special conference held this morning, Chief Bogo of Zootopia's First Precinct stated that the ZPD are currently investigating and searching for this new creature, dubbed by scholars as "Alba Mythos," but could not comment on the exact origins of this unknown species. Some mammals believe it to be an alien life form or a rare and endangered species. The creature in question has been described as a tall figure with long legs and arms, no tail, allegedly having five fingers and wears a white tight-garment. If you have seen any mammal with this description, please contact the ZPD. Now, with the weather—"

A fox's paw switched the cruiser's stereo off. The inside of the police cruiser smelled like blueberries and fancy washing equipment. He glanced over at the clock on the dashboard and saw it was almost eleven hundred.

"Well, I can already tell there won't be any rain," Nick said, peering out the window at the clear, blue sky above. Yes, it wouldn't rain today.

Judy, sitting in the driver's seat of their police cruiser, paws on nine and three, ignored her partner's comment. "It bothers me," she said.

"What bothers you, Carrots?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Judy said. Indeed, the tod knew what she was talking about, he just wanted to be his typical wisenheimer. "It looks nearly as tall as a tiger in that video."

"Full fit protective bodysuit, five fingers, no tail, don't know if it has any fur, can run quickly on two legs," Judy explained. "The amount of weird details just doesn't add up to any mammal in this city or even this world."

"Of course, it's not like anything from this world," Ace added.

"I can't say for sure, but what I can say is that an unknown creature—mammal, if we're simply speculating—cannot just come into existence. Nature, no matter how unusual she can get with her creations, simply doesn't just make a single creature exist out of thin air."

"Okay, Carrots, so what's your theory on this strange creature?" Nick asked.

The A/C in the car was cranked up to max as the thermal wall that made Sahara Square as hot as it was during the day was baking the district. Even with the doors and windows shut they could smell the dry dustiness underlaid by a subtle herbal scent of Sahara Square, and the heat that seeped through. Judy disliked, though not personally, this biome of the city. Sure, it was beautiful in its own right, but it was just too darn hot for a temperate, countryside rabbit to bear for a prolonged period of time. Judy's family farm was seasonally hot, but Bunnyburrow didn't have giant heating coils the size of buildings.

Trying to keep her eyes on the road while keeping up with Nick, she asked, "Theory?"

The fox then turned to look at her from originally staring out the car window, and he gestured, "Oh, come on, Carrots, first this creature shows up in Zootopia. Need I mention that there is nothing in the zoological records of anything like it before. It makes a scene in front of some civvies, steals a dirt bike, carries a weapon that could easily be turned against us, and manages to vanish." He then scratched his right ear as he said casually, "I think it's from outer space or something."

She chuckled, "Right Nick, and I'm the next in line for the throne of the Kingdom of Crazies." She paused for a moment and continued, "Okay, I will agree that this thing does look alien-like, especially with its...garment thing that seems to cover its whole body. But I don't think it's from space. Maybe more a place like..." She then paused, then began to think of something more logical than outer space, but to no avail. She glanced to her right and saw that Nick was staring at the rabbit with a smug grin, already knowing what her answer was.

She groaned, "Okay, I can't think of anything. Maybe space might not be, well, so far-fetched. Plus, we don't just have this mammal running around; at least, I assume it's a mammal, anyways. We have another factor at play here."

The wolf angled his body so he was facing the middle console. After opening it, he reached into it and brought out a thick yellowish envelope stamped CLASSIFIED in red on its cover, then proceeded to undo the flexible metal clasp. When he pulled out were several dozen white slips which he promptly started to look over, searching over each paper. His paw held onto each one with a gentle grasp, considering how much they meant to him. One had a printed map, showing where the dirt bike had been stolen on Tunisia Beach and where it was found by ZPD patrol, just twelve blocks north-east in an alleyway near a redevelopment site. The bike was found in an area zoned for urban renewal, with major roadways intersecting that section blocked off by the general public, so there was zero chance anyone could be spotted by bystanders.

Underneath there was the evidence file, which was empty. Or close to it. Even with the dirt bike they found there was the lack of forensic evidence. The lab techs were still analyzing the stolen bike. Of course, there was the question about residue. No paw prints and no unusual fur were found. There was still the chance of a single strand of the creature's fur, but unlike what they showed on TV, that took several days to scrub for any strand, and was almost never a sure result.

How were they even going to catch this creature without any lead or clue? And they were expected to do conduct this extraordinary case in secret? Without public knowledge? For all they know, this creature could be anywhere in Sahara Square, only to cause public anxiety and spur up hysteria. The wolf thought about what Nick and Judy would do, while the pair were continuing to debate on origins and the possibility of extraterrestrial influences almost like tinfoil hat-wearing conspiracy theorists.

Then, an idea popped in Ace's head as he said, "What about the jam cams?"

"The jam cams?" Judy repeated, but soon realized what the wolf was hinting at. "They helped us out with the Otterton case. If I remember, our suspect was wearing all white and no tail. What other mammal would match that description in Sahara Square?"

It never occurred to them that jam cams, which helped both Judy and Nick track down the whereabouts of Manchas and thus led the newly found duo to the black panther and other missing mammals at Cliffside Asylum, were installed all around Sahara Square.

"If they caught anything," Nick said, "it caught the movements of our suspect on the run..."

"The jam cams to start, then," Judy agreed. "Maybe after that we can figure out what to do next."

Accessing the jam cams was easier said than done. Before, any police officer would need the mayor's assistant to give them access to the city's jam cam footage. Now though, after a few institutional reforms introduced by the new administration, access was strictly permitted to heads of each police precinct, who would have to make requests to review jam cam footage by their personnel. Judy didn't have the same connections with city hall that she used to have with Bellwether—though regrettable how she was considered herself to be mutual "friends" with a speciest orchestrator of the Nighthowler Crisis—so she first put in a call to the chief, who passed their request onto the video archives department at the ZPD.

After more than half an hour, it felt to the three they weren't getting anywhere with this when they were finally given the access they needed. The lack of jam cams in the city's desert biome botched any attempt at tracking the creature's movements. Due to Sahara Square's sparse population, jam cams were too spread out to cover what earlier designers believed to be reasonable wide-view coverage, and others were concentrated on areas that usually attracted large crowds. With this inconvenient disadvantage, the creature could be strolling virtually anywhere, at any time.

When hope was beginning to dry up, almost as much as their strained eyes, Nick, scrolling through different cams in the Dal-Zay business zone, spotted something unusual.

"Whoa, hey, lookie here," the fox said, blowing up the video feed on the cruiser's mounted laptop.

They all gathered around the screen and watched as one clip showed, caught exactly at 9:36 P.M., a figure completely covered head to toe from plain view, about the height of an average tiger, without a tail in sight, approaching an ATM. It looked around, possibly making one last lookout for any bystanders. Standing in front of the machine, the figure lifted its arm to its chest, a sudden bright light shone from its right arm. A mobile device, perhaps, but that was their best guest.They watched with careful attention to spot any uncovered physical features, but the mysterious figure simply stood still, staring directly into the light. After what seemed to be one very long minute, the figure in white turned and left, without even touching the ATM the entire time.

"Okay, can't get any more weird than that," Nick said, proceeding to select a different jam cam footage.

The next feed showed a seven second long recording of the same figure dressed in all white tailing between alleys. This was around 9:41 P.M. Nick clicked on another recorded feed. He held up one paw, expressed a gaze at Judy with a look that spelled 'wait for it' and clicked play. The footage, positioned in a small commercial avenue with adobe-looking small businesses, caught sight of the same white figure running, then crouching down behind the side of a stripped smart car. It seemed to pear above the car's hood, quickly ducked when the flashing lights of a ZPD cruiser came whirling down the road, then peaked again. The cam caught sight of the creature's facial area, hidden mostly under dark clock, but displayed no muzzle features. As soon as the ZPD cruiser rushed past it, the mysterious white figure waited for a moment, peaking once last time, and took off down the road. This was caught at 9:48 P.M.

"Where was this?" Judy asked, seriously intrigued by the feed. The footage, unlike the rest, proved tantalizing.

"On Andheri Street..." Nick replied, "about four blocks, north-west from where the bike was found."

"It avoided most areas," the rabbit said, "preferring to hide and run between alleyways."

"So, it went twelve blocks north-east from the crime scene on the bike," Ace commented, continuing, "it left the bike at the redevelopment site, took a detour north-west, zigzagging through dark alleyways; at that moment, it bolted down south. Hold on. Is it going back to the crime scene? Or Making a break for the train bridge again?"

"I doubt it," Nick replied. "No smart or sane criminal goes back to a crime scene, unless it's to tamper with evidence. Chances like that are rare and come with too much of high risk. And after that little train stunt, I can't imagine any fool wanting to try their luck with any ongoing trains. Nada. It's totally trapped like a fish in a pond."

"Which leaves us with little insight on its movements," Judy said. "But it's in hiding and running in a confined cage, or pond. In cases like this, any runaway mammal would need to find shelter as soon as possible."

"So, where do we start?" Nick asked, flipping out his aviators.

"I would say—"

Nick motioned his paws to cut her off.

"Whoa, wait, Carrots. How 'bout giving the rookie a chance to make some decisions. Besides, Chief Bogo-butt says he's got the brains of this operation and he did remind us about the jam cams. It's teamwork, isn't it?"

"Whoops, guess I got carried away," Judy said with embarrassment. "Ace, where do we start?"

The wolf placed one paw to his muzzle and pondered. The stolen dirt bike was found in a dirty alleyway just twelve blocks north-east from the crime scene. The creature intended to abandon the bike to avert high-profile suspicion inside the Sahara community. It's an obvious notion, considering this creature itself already stood out too recognizable with its freaky appearance. With no reports or sightings called in, it had no intention to be seen out in public. This already told Ace this creature grasped sense and comprehension to avoid danger, being the ZPD's most hunted mammal, and made extensive use of hiding. If it could, there was far too many places to search and they didn't have the time or mammalpower to search every shady corner of Sahara Square to snub out this unknown creature; however, they could deduce any nearby place a runner from the law would go to be inconspicuous as a bolthole. But the question remained, where would that bolthole be?

"If I was a runaway mammal escaping public view, what would be the most secluded place to go?" he asked.

"I can list a lot of places from my con days," Nick chimed in, his tone filled with confidence. His knowledge about his con life was finally being put to good use. "But in Sahara Square, it's hard to keep a low-profile. It's nothing but upscale, white-collar Ponzies that make their dough from fraud, money laundering and racketeering. What do they have in common? They all go to the Palm Hotel and Royal Casino to gamble away their earnings and act like they'd lost hard-earned money."

"I was thinking the same thing," the wolf replied. "It's known for its low levels of public exposure and high rate of privacy. It could make a good hideout, if you got the money, I mean."

"Then we start at Palm Hotel?"

"It's just a fifteen minute jog from Palm District, where the stolen bike was found, if this creature was able to get past Big Dunes," commented Ace. "Or if it has security cameras, it could really boost our search."

"Then the hotel is what we'll hit."

**************

Sahara Square, the "Sandy Sheet" of Zootopia, had the slowest growth factor of any of the city's twelve biomes. Anyone who thought otherwise needed to only look at an aerial photograph of the city's wide labyrinth arcology. While Sahara Square contained great swathes of sparsely populated, or even desolate tracts, the next-door neighbor Savanna Center was built up all the way from its border with the desert zone to where it butted up against Rainforest District. Even Tundratown on the other side of the Climate Wall to the north had a denser population.

Although looks were quite deceiving, however, as Sahara Square, lacking in population, made up in inflated per-capita income. It was easily Zootopia's most upscale district, encompassing high-end businesses, a thriving tourist economy, and home to many taxable wealthy individuals and celebrities. But on the other side of the coin, Sahara Square was plagued with the same amount of criminal activities as Savanna Center and anywhere else. It was a common case of high life living animal, brought down to the levels of criminal mischief, known notoriously for countless counterfeit operations, bid rigging, as well multiple cases of robberies—the most widely known petty crime known in Sahara.

However, they weren't here for any of that. 

Driving through the Savanna-Sahara Vehicular Gate, operating as a tunnel passage in the Climate Wall that separated downtown and Sahara Square, Judy's ZPD cruiser weaved easily in and out of traffic, making light work of the journey towards the ever approaching Palm Hotel. While it could be seen from almost all parts of the arid biome, the massive structure was now looming right over them, to the point where they could make out the individual rooms and balconies that made up its "bark." Quickly turning into a grimly shaded side street, Judy slowed the vehicle down a steady stop, before yanking back the handbrake as she parked. She and Nick stepped out, a rush of hot air filling the car, and motions Ace to take the driver's seat.

"Ace, you take overwatch," Judy ordered.

"Affirmative."

"Good luck, and whatever you do, be careful," he said slowly, being much more serious than before. She nodded and the duo strolled away.

"Why didn't you take him with us?" Nick asked, referring to the wolf put on overwatch duty. "He can provide more muscle."

"It's purely for tactical means," she began. "Remember, we're supposed to be discreet about our investigation. Three ZPD officers coming out of the blue and questioning random citizens breaks that loy-key profile. Also, if we need to bolt, we get Ace to start the cruiser."

The grass across all the lawn was lush and green, well-trimmed and without a weed or brown speck in sight. The artificial, clear lake and streams surrounded the hotel, cooling the air slightly. The Palm Hotel too, looming proudly above them, added to the scene with the ever finer detail of its architecture on view for all to see. The intricate metalwork around each balcony gleaming sharply while reflecting the blue cloudless sky.

They proceeded into the lobby, a massive open area with large red drapes with golden ropes, through revolving doors. The kidney-shaped lobby was richly decorated with palm trees, grass patches and luscious desert greenery. Red carpeting covered most of the pristine marble floor. The front receptionist desk was engulfed by a large, heavily branched tree decorated with hanging lights that ran in the center of the hotel, with bridges stemming out and connected to other floors. Judy heard about how astounding the interior of the hotel was, but nothing compared to the real thing. On either side the two-story lobby were two massive glass elevators designed to handle mammals of all sizes. From the top a chandelier hung above the center of the lobby, illuminating the area with an array of fanciful golden lights. Judy's ears detached the melodious music of a grand piano being played.

The lobby was moderately busy with mammals, ranging from tourists, business executives, casino gamblers, and those simply looking for a weekend getaway in the spa and resort offerings in the hotel, who traveled all over for a luxurious vacation. Others who were already checked in were waiting for hotel lobby assistance to move their luggage. Working at the front desk was a gazelle, an elephant and a giraffe, all in the hotel's red vest and white long sleeve collar shirt uniforms. The gazelle was busy logging information on her computer, too preoccupied to notice two ZPD officers approaching the circular reception desk.

"Excuse me," Judy said, trying to get the gazelle's attention, but was a bit timid. The desk was taller than the rabbit, her ears just barely visible from on surface, lacking accommodations for smaller mammals like Judy.

Nick stepped up and tapped on the counter. The gazelle stopped typing and looked ahead to find no guest in front of her.

"Yes, hi, down here," he said.

She leaned over the counter and saw the fox and rabbit as the gazelle asked, "Yes, how may I help you, officers?"

"We're here to ask a few questions for a current case?" Nick asked vaguely.

"Well, we prefer to speak with a superior for this type of case," Judy said. "It's super

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