Zootopia: Undercover Pursuit

Chapter 34: Interview

The restaurant 'Under the Fox Grove' was an over-the-top place as if that word could be used in this city. It was not without reason that this pub was located on the most varied street in the city, its glass roof sticking out from the others, compared to the other low roofs. Every building in this place contained something modernistic, modern. It contained something that drew the eye to the building and one wanted to admire the architecture of the place, but the restaurant contained all the modernist ways of architecture combined into a common, neat whole. The very front of the building was very richly decorated. Next to the glass doors stood green concrete columns that were banded with gold bands composing a neat whole. The walls of the building were also covered in a dark green colour, although most of the surface was covered with glass, which gave a view of the snow-white surroundings.

Two policemen at the entrance prepared their documents to show in case they were needed. The fox still had in mind that despite the fact that they were on the richest street in the city, nobody trusted anyone here. The "rule of trust" does not apply here.

Opening the door, they had a moment to look around the wood-panelled room with tables covered with white tablecloths. On the snowy tablecloths there were scented candles, most probably with the scent of fresh roses, one could judge so from the colour of the candles and the scent flying from the tables. The room decorated in warm colours gave a feeling of comfort and warmth. An additional effect was given by calm, slow music playing in the background, which made the time spent in the premises more pleasant.

The entrance of the policemen did not draw much attention from the customers. There were already quite few of them, but some of them interrupted their food so that they could visually inspect the two policemen standing at the entrance looking around. Nick wasn't bothered by the sight, he was more interested in the architecture of the room they were in. In his time away from this city, he would never have thought that something so exquisite could be built here. Judy, in turn, returned the gaze of one of the guests, who stared at her for a few seconds. The rabbit, remembering the situation from the previous night, broke eye contact with the man so that she could look in another direction avoiding any gaze. It did not surprise anyone especially that the police arrived, the sight of the police in the last days was an everyday thing, so after a short visual observation they lost interest in the two figures returning to eating.

Not far from the entrance to the restaurant, on the right side, there was a small bar where you could order something extra, your kind of spirits, which are also high class. Behind the bartender stood a tall cabinet on which stood spirits of various kinds: wines, whiskeys, vodka or champagnes of different vintages.
"Maybe this bartender saw something more," said the fox. The two of them lined up in the short queue that stood by the fox who was presumably waiting to take his order. Standing in front of Nick and Judy was a woman dressed in a long, purple ashtray that covered her body down to her shapely legs. Despite the thick material from which it was undoubtedly embroidered, Judy's sensitive nose could smell the woman's strong, aromatic perfume, which hit Judy over the head with its intense scent.

As the man got his ordered goods into his paws, Nick could see the bartender's astute gaze on him, he could see his gaze dropping to his chest, he expected that he was looking for the badge on his chest. Fox straightened up to make the badge more visible to the bartender, who a moment later focused on another customer who asked for a bottle of red wine.

After a few minutes of waiting, the woman walked away from the counter paying in cash. She took the bottle, neatly wrapped in a cardboard box, in her hands covered in leather black gloves, then walked away from the bar.
"Hello, what can I get you?" The bartender asked as Nick and Judy stood by the line.
"Good morning. This is Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps" replied Nick handing over his badges for the bartender to look at. The man lowered his eyebrows with slight suspicion so that he could examine the plates more closely. After a brief glance around, he moved away from the counter calmly nodding with a motion of his head.
"Can I help you?"
"A few days ago, three people went missing in the city and were rumored to be staying here. Do you happen to know anything about that?" Asked the fox, hiding his badge and handing the plate to Judy. The bartender leaned his elbows against the glass top and stared off into the distance for a moment, in an indeterminate direction. He looked like he was thinking about something, drifting in thought.
"Do you happen to have a picture..." Said the bartender after a moment. Nick rolled his eyes at the rabbit, who all he did was shake his head negatively. All the photos they most likely had they handed over to the police station. The fox, however, decided not to worry, and reached into his pocket to look for any photos. He soon felt a small piece of paper in his pocket and pulled out a small colour photograph of a middle-aged man. Nick showed the photograph to his partner, who nodded with a motion of her head.
"This photo was given to us by Angel when we were at her place" Judy communicated. Fox handed the photo to the bartender who, upon receiving the picture, pulled his glasses out from under the counter and looked at the photo from the right angle.
"Hm...yes, I associate him! He's one of our regular customers. He used to come to us every Friday, but lately he's been missing something..."
"And that's why we're looking for him. He went missing a few days ago, nobody knows what happened. The last place he could have been was right here. He's not the only one missing here, haven't you seen anything suspicious?" Nick asked. The bartender quietly sighed leaning against the counter once more floating in the clouds wondering. He sighed like that a few times then waved his head negatively.
"No, nothing strange was going on here...the only thing that caught my attention was that a gentleman had been walking around for a while"
"Some gentleman?" Judy repeated.
"Yes. A gentleman has been walking around here for about a month now, always smartly dressed, black suit, blue tie. Quite tall, green eyes..." The bartender described. Nick showed his hand to stop with his statement. He pulled out a dictaphone, then started the recording.
"Please repeat"
"Yes. You've been walking around here for about a month now, always smartly dressed, black suit, blue tie. Quite tall, green eyes, aggressive, confident look. He always came here either in the morning or at midday and walked among the guests or approached someone. I didn't particularly listen to what he was talking about, but something about some kind of meeting..."
"A meeting?"
"Something like that. I don't know, I don't listen to the conversations of each guest.  That's about all I heard."
"A month's time is about right for when the guests started disappearing," Judy said. It was all coming together in a sort of coherent whole. A mysterious man walking into a restaurant, coming up to strangers asking about some meeting or something. That already sounded at least suspicious by default.
"Is that all?" Nick asked. The bartender nodded with a motion of his head.
"Well, thank you very much for answering our questions, we'll probably look here again," replied Nick. He tucked the recorder into his pocket, then walked away from the counter along with Judy.
"Oh and one more question" turned around suddenly Nick. He stepped closer to the bartender and leaned into him so Judy couldn't hear.
"How much does a mid-range wine cost?"
"$500," the bartender replied quietly. Nick coughed when he heard such a high price for a bottle of alcohol. To be sure, the bartender nodded with a motion of his head for the fox giving a sign of the sincerity of his answer.
"That's it for today. See you later," the fox replied, then he and Judy walked out of the restaurant.

By the time Judy and Nick left the restaurants, the sun had practically set behind the horizon leaving behind only the characteristic red patches in an already dark blue sky. The streetlights began to burn with a warm, yellowish light and the brightly coloured shop signs were set off. The Christmas trees that were spaced every few metres apart also began to give off the glow of the lights, making the street filled with the festive essence. A festive, bright and warm light was beaming from it. Judy looked around with childish enthusiasm admiring the festive atmosphere of the neighbourhood enjoying her short stroll. Nick, on the other hand, walked unsteadily forward with his eyes fixed on the white fluff lying on the ground that trod beneath their feet.
"You have to admit Nick, this place is nice," he said.
"Hm? Ah yes, quite nice here. It's exceptionally not bad here" Nick replied. Judy laughed, then grabbed the fox's hand. This move surprised the fox a little, who had his hands tucked in his pockets, but he held out his left hand. The rabbit leaned against the boy's hand sighing happily saying nothing until they stopped for a moment at a single dark shop sign that reflected their figures. They looked so cute together. On the right, the strong, confident and mature Nick, and on the other, the petite, sweet and small being Judy. They stood like that for a while looking at the reflections. During this time Judy managed to make up various scenes as they cuddled, while Nick smiled ironically knowing where to stick the pin.
"We match those uniforms," Nick commented briefly. Judy punched him in the ribs, causing him to laugh and lean forward in pain.
"Okay no more hitting...we fit together"
"And that's what I wanted to hear" replied Judy triumphantly, then they moved on. They weren't particularly surprised that there was no one around except them. Only one woman across the street was walking in the opposite direction talking to someone on the phone. Everyone was now interested in the demonstrations in the city or simply hiding in their homes, which provided a sense of security, especially at this time.
"It's a shame that so few people are here. They don't know what they're missing," Judy said.
"Before the army got here there was a whole crowd of Carrots here."
"Ah, you know that's not what I mean! It's such a beautiful place to walk around...like this" sighed Judy quietly. Nick laughed modestly nodding his head in agreement. He laughed a little at the girl's childish behaviour, at the same time finding it sweet. Judy seemed at times an oversensitive girl who found even simple things enjoyable, which he appreciated at the same time.
"What were you asking the bartender? I could see by his reaction that you heard something you didn't want to hear."
"Well...you know, sometimes there are questions that only a man should know and hear"
"And I'm supposed to guess that this was just such a question?" Asked Judy suspiciously lowering her eyebrows. The two were already standing by the car. Fox approached from the front passenger side, then opened the door for Rabbit to get in.
"Yes, that's exactly right Carrots. It was such a question" Nick replied confidently. Judy laughed ironically then got into the car.