Waiting was always the worst part of any case. The majority of cases needed some kind of lab work in order to confirm evidence that would hold up in court. On the one hand, it could come as a welcome respite from a case that Judy had otherwise wrapped up. On the other, it could be a painful waiting period that kept her from finding their suspect sooner. In either case, she and Nick almost never made an arrest or pressed charges until the lab could confirm their suspicions, and that could take anywhere from a few hours to days.

The lab rats received tons of work to filter through from the crime scene at Spitz’s house, so they would likely be working through the night as it was. When Judy showed up with a single strand of fur, there was hardly enough time to explain herself.

“Please, I just need to know what you can tell me from this,” she asked.

“Officer, do you have any idea how buried we are right now?” the small grey rodent asked as he gestured to the room full of scurrying rats.

“I know Remi, but please. If we can get a positive I.D. on this strand, we might be able to find the killer,” she pleaded.

Remi sighed, and after a brief moment took the small plastic baggie from Judy’s paw and rolled it up, holding it underneath his armpit.

“Why didn’t this come in with the rest of the evidence?” he asked.

“Well, funny story actually,” Judy began with a laugh. “I was on my way back when my sister Harriet called – ”

“—on second thought, it doesn’t matter. I’ll let you know what I find as soon as I can,” Remi assured her, and with their conversation concluded, made his way back towards the lab.

Judy gave a satisfied smirk. Her ability to play mammals like that certainly proved useful from time to time, and it was a skill she owed entirely to Nick. Her smirk soon faded as she realized that she was now in the waiting period, and it was unlikely she would hear anything new for the rest of the day.

Her phone’s clock told her it was late, and the other members of her team were all asleep by now. Judy made her way back to her apartment, all the while going over the various bits of evidence she had thus far. Normally, she had Nick to bounce ideas off of, and his absence left her feeling uneasy.

That uneasy feeling amplified as she opened the door to her apartment. The silence felt strange. Not having him quip about their day made the walls feel unfamiliar. What was worse was climbing into bed alone for the first time in a long while. The auto-thermostat kept the bedroom cold, just as he liked it. But instead of crawling into the covers and warming herself by his side, Judy held her knees to her chest and wondered. She thought about where he was, about what he was doing, and whether or not he was thinking about her in that moment. It was not easy to calm herself enough to find sleep, but she needed her rest to tackle the case in front of her, so eventually she nodded off.

The next morning felt strange. Once again, Judy was alone in a room meant for two. This time she knew why, and it made her hold the sheets a little tighter in her paws. She spent as little time as she could going through her morning routine, trying her best not to dawdle on activities that reminded her of him. She took a quick shower, grabbed a nibble of something in the fridge, and left her apartment behind.

Judy arrived early at the precinct, even by her standards. She hoped that Remi would have some news from the lab for her, but sadly he did not. She decided to spend her time before roll call digging up some more info on the network. When she got to the cubicles, she was surprised to find Francine at her desk staring holes into her computer screen.

“Francine?” Judy said. The elephant nearly jumped with a start, looking down to find Judy staring up at her.

“Hi Judy,” Francine said with a smile.

“Have you been here all night?” Judy asked.

“Oh no no,” Francine reassured her. “I got here not too long ago. I had to leave yesterday to go pick up the kids, but I was getting close to something so I got here a little early. I just wanted to see if I could dig something up before you got here this morning.”

Judy smiled at her coworker’s dedication. She never had any reason to doubt Officer Pennington’s resolve, but Judy had never worked much with her in the past. Even if it wasn’t much help, it was good for her spirit to see Francine working so hard.

“Thanks Francine. It means a lot, even if you didn’t find anything.” Francine shot Judy a sideways glance.

“Who says I didn’t find anything?”

“Did you?” Judy said excitedly. Her ears perked up as Francine smiled at her and patted the spot on her desk beside the keyboard. Judy wasted no time and leapt up onto Francine’s desk to peer at the screen. The screen was practically as tall as Judy was, and the keyboard was about the size of her bed.

“At first I wasn’t digging up anything, but then I remembered that the ‘officer’s notes’ section of arrest reports often don’t get scanned into the text file, so they’re not searchable. I was reading for anything that might have something to do with what your informant described as ‘pool-cleaning supplies’ when I found this arrest record a few minutes ago.”

Francine pulled up a file that showed a scanned arrest record of one ‘William Vanderhoof’. The photo on the screen displayed a strange mammal that Judy did not recognize, looking at the camera with a vague indifference.

“What kind of mammal is that?” she asked, looking for the entry under ‘species’.

“A dik-dik. It’s a bit like a small deer with horns,” Francine explained.

“Hmm,” Judy pondered as she began to read aloud. “Arrested for possession with intent to distribute, charged with loitering and posted bail. Looks like a run-of-the-mill dealer.”

“I thought so too, but look here at ‘officer’s notes’,” Francine said as she scrolled down to the bottom of the page. Judy read the section Francine mentioned and noticed the detailed account of the arrest, written in sloppy handwriting.

Suspect was found at the corner of Birch and Vine in the Rainforest District. When questioned, he asserted he was simply waiting for a friend. Found three bags of nip, enough change to stock a cash register, and a backpack containing about twelve pounds of chlorine. When asked about the chemicals, he simply said the customer asked for it. Chlorine? Really? If all you want is to keep your pool clean, then just go to Harry’s Hardware down the block like a normal mammal.

Judy’s eyes widened. The last sentence was verbatim what Finnick had told her the day before.

“Who was the officer on this file?”

Francine smiled again and scrolled up. The top of the file in bold letters read Arresting Officer: Wilde.

“That’s gotta be him,” Judy said confidently.  “When was this arrest reported?”

“Last month,” Francine mentioned.

“I was visiting family for a few days. Nick met me out there, but he must have made this arrest before finishing his last shift! Francine, this is exactly what we needed this morning.” Judy smiled at her coworker. Francine smiled back before looking at the watch on her wrist.

“We better get to roll,” she said, already beginning to stand up from her cubicle.

“When you get back, see if you can pick him up on traffic cameras during the past week on that spot. If he still visits the spot, then we can grab him. Text me if you find anything.”

“You got it,” Francine affirmed, offering hearty thumbs up. Judy made her way to roll call with a new spring in her step. She knew there was a reason she liked Francine.

Roll call started early, and the Chief wasted no time in getting right to the assignments.

“Officers Wolford and Grizzoli, the ZBI has requested some sniffers in their ongoing investigation, so I’m sending you upstairs. You’ll be meeting with Agent Maple,” Bogo ordered. Wolford shot Judy a quick glance, then looked backed to the Chief and nodded before joining his coworker out the door.

While Judy was hoping to have Wolford with her that day, she decided it was useful to have a mammal taking a closer look at what Savage was up to. Wolford was smart enough to know that.

“Lastly, Officer Hopps is in need of a temporary partner for the day. Do I have any volunteers?” Bogo asked. Judy was surprised to find more than a handful of officers raise their paws. The sight would normally be heartwarming, if it weren’t for the fact that she needed to chase down her leads and wanted someone on her team with her.

“Alright then. Officer Snarlof, you and Hopps are in the Rainforest District today.”

Judy thought about raising a paw and suggesting she be given a solo assignment for the day. It would certainly be insulting to poor Snarlof, but she could not afford to waste time on normal patrols that day with an officer she needed to keep secrets from. Before she got the opportunity to, Officer Fangmeyer stood up.

“Sir? Officer Delgato is still on vacation. Would it not make more sense to pair two officers who are both missing partners?” Bogo looked back down at his docket and shot Fangmeyer a glance.

“Ah, yes. I was going to put you on the ‘Spitz’ case. You would rather spend today on standard patrols with Hopps?” Bogo asked. Fangmeyer nodded, keeping her expression respectful. Bogo then turned to Judy.

“Any complaints, Hopps?” he asked.

“No sir,” she said firmly.

“Well then, you’re both on Rainforest patrol today,” he finished and turned his attention to the rest of the room. “While we’re waiting for lab results on the ‘Spitz’ case, I want everyone’s eyes peeled. Remember, Pumar is our number one priority. I don’t care about species profiling right now, if you see a mountain lion that looks even a tiny bit suspicious, call it in. Dismissed!” Bogo finished. With that, he made his way to the door and headed back upstairs.

Judy fell in line behind Fangmeyer as they both made their way outside into the parking lot. Judy’s phone buzzed, displaying a text from Francine.

*Vine and Birch. He’s there now.*

“Yes!” she hissed. Fangmeyer made a point of ignoring whatever she was happy about and got inside the cruiser on the driver’s side. Judy quickly joined her, struggling for a moment with the seatbelt that was two sizes too large for her. She gave up completely on being able to see out the window of Fangmeyer’s cruiser.

“Nice work at roll” she said. “Thought the chief would chew you out for second-guessing him.”

“Bogo doesn’t care about feeling in charge, he just wants the work done,” the large tigress commented. “I’m guessing we have something to go on this morning?”

“Thanks to Francine, yes. We’re looking for a dik-dik named William Vanderhoof. A small-time dealer, might have some info on our buyer of chlorine.”

“Where to?” Fangmeyer inquired.

“Birch Street and Vine.”

“Got it,” she said, putting the cruiser in gear and setting off. “We hear anything from the lab rats yet?”

“No,” Judy replied. “As soon as we do, we’re going to have to move on that evidence as fast as we can. Right now, that is our best advantage over the ZBI. If Spitz’s killer is involved with Pumar, then finding him might lead us to Nick faster.”

“What makes you think that Spitz’s killer is involved with Pumar?” Fangmeyer asked.

“Not much,” Judy confessed. “Spitz was employed for some scavenging work by a new mystery boss around the same time Pumar would have been in Griño detonating a bomb. Whoever this mystery boss was, he paid top dollar for secrecy and might have killed Spitz to keep him quiet. If that’s the case, whatever Spitz was scavenging for might be linked to the bombs Pumar plans to sell here in the city.”

“What does a bomb salesman need a scavenger for?” Fangmeyer asked.

“Materials, perhaps. Pumar’s supplier is still unknown, and whoever they are, they’ve got to be good at chemistry to weaponize Nighthowler toxin.”

“Chemistry,” Fangmeyer clarified. “Good enough to mix a jar of chemicals to throw police off the scent of a rotting corpse?”

“Exactly,” Judy said. “I think Spitz’s killer might be Pumar’s supplier.”

“Hmm,” Fangmeyer wondered. “It sounds plausible, but can I be frank, Hopps? It sounds a bit like we’re grasping at straws here. I’m hearing a lot of ‘maybes’ so far, and we can’t arrest anyone on ‘maybe’.”

“You’re right,” Judy conceded. “The honest truth is that all of this is stemming from my conversation with Finnick. He was given information directly from Nick, and so anything Nick left us is coming from him.”

“If that’s the case, shouldn’t we be interrogating your informant?”

“Nick wouldn’t have told Finnick too much, to keep him from being an accomplice. We need to trust that Nick told him exactly what we needed to hear,” Judy explained.

“I see. So we’re following Nick by following your informant.” Fangmeyer nodded. “Can’t say it isn’t working thus far. I just hope we’re following the right trail.”

Judy was about to retort when her phone buzzed again. This time it was from Clawhauser.

*ZBI split up into two today. One team took Wolford and Grizzoli, the other is just Agents Savage and Brocktree, the badger. Not sure where they’re going. Chief seems to be putting up a fight. Sounds like they’re keeping him in the dark.*

Judy thought about what the Chief was actually up to. All things considered, he was unlikely to sit back and let the feds handle things. Nor was he likely to be made one of the ZBI’s henchman. She and Fangmeyer made their way through the tunnel that separated Savannah Central and the Rainforest District, popping out the other side into a blinding sun.

“Fangmeyer, you’ve been working with the Chief for a long time, right?” Judy asked.

“Sure have,” she said with a nod. “Going on 24 years now.”

“Really?” Judy said, astonished. She knew Fangmeyer had been on the force for some time, but she had no idea just how long. It was hard for her to imagine the Chief as a young bull.

“Yeah,” Fangmeyer replied. “Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering if you might know what’s going on in his mind? If it’s not too much to ask,” Judy said carefully.

“Hmm,” Fangmeyer pondered. “He takes everything seriously. The ZBI will need him to cooperate before this is all over, and the evidence against Nick right now is pretty overwhelming.” Judy frowned and reluctantly agreed that the Chief was in no position to play favorites.

“But,” Fangmeyer continued, “Chief Bogo has lost officers before, and I don’t think he intends to do so now.”

Whether or not Fangmeyer was just trying to cheer her up, Judy was unsure. She had faith that Nick was still hers, but to solve this case she needed to have faith in her fellow officers as well, and that included the Chief.

“Hm,” Fangmeyer smirked. “The last time I saw that look on your face, you broke the record for most parking tickets written in a day.”

“What?” Judy said, shaking her head out of her previous thought.

“You’ve got this fire behind your eyes, sometimes. Makes a cop glad to be a cop.”

“Thanks,” Judy said, rather bashfully. “It means a lot coming from a senior officer.”

“I was a little afraid that kind of look would have vanished by now after a few years on the force. The beat does that to some mammals,” the larger officer noted.

“Is that what happened for you?” Judy asked. She blinked, wondering what on earth possessed her to be so bold. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that! How rude of me. Here you are trying to be nice to me and I’m questioning your resolve!” Judy asserted, waving her paws in the air to try and wipe the assuming question from the air as if it were on a chalk-board.

“Easy Hopps. Don’t worry, I get it,” Fangmeyer reassured her. “I think we just became cops for different reasons. You clearly wanted to prove yourself and make a difference in the world. That takes guts and determination.”

“Well I’m sure you have your reasons for being in this line of work. I don’t think you’d stay for 24 years otherwise,” Judy said with a smile. Fangmeyer’s mouth flattened.

“I suppose. My only interest was making sure my kids grew up in a safer place than I did.”

Judy did not comment any further. The tiger’s face grew rather sullen at the mention of her childhood, which Judy guessed was not as peaceful as her’s had been on the Hopps farm. Years ago, the apex predators in Zootopia were often recruited very young by organized crime, so there was no telling what kind of trials Fangmeyer endured to escape that life. Instead of any more probing, she decided to change the subject.

“Speaking of kids, how’s the family?” Judy asked.

“Oh, the boys are doing just fine. Richard is studying hard, and Parker is a bit of a pawful. They are both fans of yours, by the way.”

“What? No, I’m sure their real hero is their mom,” Judy stated. That comment made Fangmeyer smile softly, giving Judy the satisfaction that the tiger was officially cheered up.

“Hopps, is that our guy?” Fangmeyer said, pointing out the windshield. Judy stood in her seat to see over the dashboard. Sure enough, a relatively small deer dressed in a sloppy set of denim jeans and a windbreaker leaned up against the wall of a nearby thrift store at the edge of the intersection.

“That’s him,” Judy said confidently.

“Looks like we’ve got a runner,” Fangmeyer observed as she pulled farther forward and into a parking spot.

“What? He’s not running,” Judy observed.

“Did you see the way he leered at the cruiser as we drove by? Trust me Hopps, limber up.”

Judy was not one to question the advice from a senior officer, but she also found it hard to believe she could tell he would bolt just from a look. Judy preferred to work with hard evidence before jumping to conclusions. She made that mistake on her first case, and she was not keen on repeating it. But sure enough, as she and the tigress approached him, he tossed his cigarette and began walking in the opposite direction keeping his hands in his pockets. Judy did as Fangmeyer suggested and rolled her shoulders in anticipation.

“Ready?” Fangmeyer whispered.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Judy confirmed. Fangmeyer smiled and placed a paw to her mouth before calling out to him.

“Excuse me sir! ZPD, we’d like a word.”

She may as well have fired a starting gun, because the dik-dik bolted forward down the sidewalk. The two officers wasted no time pursuing him, calling out for the other pedestrians to step aside.

“Stop! ZPD, clear the way!” Judy shouted as she avoided a hare pushing a long stroller. Fangmeyer fell a bit behind as she was having trouble making a safe path around the crowd.

Judy began to get closer as the