Zootopia: Undercover Pursuit

Chapter 35: Police Station

The main police headquarters at this time always had to be ready for action. Quite often reinforcements were called in, for particular actions, when someone was not coping. It was a rather heavily populated place, even when most of the police officers went on their patrols, a large crowd could be seen in the corridor of the facility. Such was the life of police officers.

Chief Bogo hid in his office as he did every day, hiding from all those around them. This was not to escape from everyone around, everyone believed that the chief worked best only when he was alone and could arrange his thoughts. The recent cases in the fox district did not leave him alone, he spent more time in his office than usual staying even after hours to be able to read something more from the case documents. He knew that the fox district did not have the best reputation among the cities, it had a rather negative reputation due to the inhabitants who occupied the city. After Nick's heroic action to help solve the feral case for Judy, attitudes towards foxes in Zootopia had changed, but still, stereotypes floated around.

Once it was dark and the warm light was on in the commandant's office, the man decided to take a moment to relax. He turned on the radio, standing on the desk right next to the cup with pencils. He only turned this device on when he wanted to relax and give his head a little rest. He was in luck, the radio was playing calm and slow music which allowed him to relax for a while, until he heard a knock on his door, which immediately knocked him out of his resting rhythm.
"I told you to make an appointment with me on the phone for a meeting, I work hard here!" Replied the commandant in a low tone.
"It's just me Commander" replied the woman standing outside the door. When she opened the door, Bogo saw Caroline standing at the threshold of the door with a little stress not knowing if she could go inside. The commandant felt terribly stupid in this situation. Usually Caroline didn't want anything from him during the day, the only time they met was during the coffee break.

"Ugh... I'm so sorry ma'am, I thought it was Clawhauser again with the stupid case...please sit down, go ahead" the commandant replied after a moment pointing with his hand to the chair in front of his desk.
"Clawhasuer is on leave from what you mentioned to me"
"No...I mean yes! Never mind, please sit down and tell me what you need?" Bogo replied. He straightened up in his leather chair and adjusted his badge hanging on his chest.
"Can you tell me something about your officers?" The commander asked. Bogo felt a little surprised by the question. He hadn't expected such a question, but he didn't mind not answering.
"Well, I have a few such standout officers that I could say a little about. The rest are ordinary officers who got in from the academy."
"I'm interested in the two who are on the case in the foxy neighborhood," he said.
"You mean Hopps and Wilde?" The commander asked. Caroline nodded her head in reply.
"Judy Hopps is one of our best officers. You've probably heard about the wilderness action."
"Yes I have heard..."
"Thanks to her we were able to solve it. She showed us that species doesn't matter when it comes to helping...looking at what we accomplished because of her, I feel silly for not believing in her abilities"
"You wanted her out?" Caroline asked. Bogo didn't answer. He sighed quietly and laughed, nodding negatively as he looked at the case file that lay before him on the desk.
"It's not that simple. Zootopia is a beautiful city, full of charms, lovely, unique. But stereotypes prevail here. Because of them, everyone limits the opportunities of others. Judy could have been one of those people..."
"But she didn't," replied Caroline. The Commander nodded coherently while gazing into the woman's eyes. He was expecting another question from her, he was prepared for it.
"Mentioning stereotypes...how is it possible that Nick the fox got into the police force in Zootopia? And into the main command?"

"The thing with Wilde was not so simple. At first I didn't even consider him, it was only through Judy that I saw he was quite a clever fox. We missed people like him. From his record, he's dealt with some not-so-legal stuff himself, it's good to have one like that among us. He knows how they think and act."
"He didn't come to you from the academy like Judy?"
"Police officers have a right to find a partner to police themselves. I don't entirely agree with that principle, but I don't make the law. Such people, of course, have to go through a month's training before they can really do police duty. Judy offered for Nick to be his partner to which he agreed. In the end it was a good thing that it worked out that way. If it hadn't been for that, who could we have sent to you foxy lot...' The commander replied. Caroline nodded with a movement of her head. Out of curiosity, she looked at the file the commandant was going through. She could see photographs of the missing with short descriptions and a map of the fox district.
"Are they close together?" Caroline asked.
"In terms of?"
"Is the relationship between Nick and Judy close?"
"Well, I can't hide and I think everyone can admit that they are the most friendly couple in the whole police force and that they like each other very much, I don't know anything else about that. The important thing is that they do their jobs. What is it that interests you so?" The commandant asked curiously.
"We in the fox district try to separate such pairs so that they can achieve maximum efficiency," he said.
"The most agreeable duos are the best"
"Unless they start doing something else on duty"
"Judy AND Nick have never let us down. We trust them fully and have no intention of separating them. It wouldn't be good for us" replied the Commander firmly. Caroline decided to let go of any further question this time. She decided to take a closer look at the file that Commander Bogo had.
"Let's hope Judy and Nick find something "
"What's Riverstreet like?"
"It's the richest street in the whole city! It always has been. Even back in the day, for as long as I can remember it was a place that didn't look so bad compared to other parts of town. It's in the centre of the city, maybe that's why it's so profitable," replied Caroline. At this time another knock sounded on the door, which drew the attention of the two commanders. Standing in the doorway a moment later were the previously mentioned Judy and Nick, who had returned to the police station after patrolling the neighbourhood. Their attention was drawn to the tapes Judy held in her hands.
"We've gathered some interesting information" Nick communicated as he closed the door.

"Oh, it's good that you're back. I was just having a chat with Caroline about you guys. She was interested..."
"How the case is going for you. Tell us Nick about the information you've gathered," replied the girl abruptly, interrupting for Bogo. The Commander lowered his eyebrows, feeling disregarded by Caroline's strange, spontaneous behaviour. Meanwhile, Judy laid down the perfume shop recording tapes she had obtained from security.
"Initially we tried to collect evidence in the form of recordings, that's all we could find. Instead, we got something more interesting."
"So what is it?"
"We have decided to concentrate our forces in a place where it has often appeared during our recent interviews. Namely, a restaurant called 'Under the Fox Grove', which is located on Riverstreet, at the end of the district. When we got there, we managed to talk to the bartender, who gave us some interesting information... and it's all in the dictaphone," Nick said with confidence. He took out of his pocket a small handy dictaphone that he always carried with him. He fired up the last recording he had made during his conversation with the bartender, which contained information about a man who regularly frequented the restaurant. This information interested both of the commanders, Bogo quickly scrolled through the file photos which showed no man of the description given in the recording.
"The man who goes to the restaurant may be the key to solving the case. We need to find him," Judy added when the recording ended. Everyone in the room was in agreement, the man must have some information that was related to the disappearances.
"Anyone know who this is? Have you asked around?"
"They were closing the pub, we couldn't ask anyone anymore. Everyone started leaving," Nick replied.
"Hm...so you have no clue leading to him" replied Bogo, to which Judy and Nick waved their heads negatively. The commandant lowered his head down looking calmly at the photos as if he wanted to read out more than he could. The photos from the street showed nothing suspicious, nothing that would add anything to the case.
"Unless we blend in with the crowd," Caroline suggested, which interested the others.
"What do you mean by blend in with the crowd?" Bogo asked.
"A man asks various guests about a subject, maybe then they disappear. Me and Nick can pretend to be a couple and stay in the restaurant until the man arrives and starts asking the guests" suggested Caroline. The idea most likely appealed to Commander Bogo, when he heard her idea he raised his eyebrows high and nodded with a slight satisfaction.
"I can go with Nick and wait for the man" Judy added offhandedly, but this was met with an ironic laugh from Caroline, which irritated Judy.
"You? We have to pretend to be a couple, a rabbit can't be with a fox...it's unreal"
"That's right..." She wanted to answer Judy but was interrupted by Nick pinching her leg under the desk, which caused her to stop talking focusing on the source of the pain. When she noticed it was a fox she growled quietly, fortunately for her no one but Nick noticed it and took no notice.
"Caroline is right. It has to look real. You'll leave tomorrow afternoon and wait," Bogo confirmed. This didn't quite sit well with Judy, who rolled her eyes when she heard this, she glanced discreetly then at Nick, to her surprise he didn't look as if it particularly bothered him. She got the impression that he was indifferent to who she went with and was even in favour of going with Caroline. She expected that they would be able to leave the room soon, so she tried to keep her emotions inside and, trying to be indifferent, nodded with a movement of her head.
"Well, I guess that's all for today. Our boys will review the tape and tomorrow Nick and Caroline will go to the districts. You Judy if you want can have the day off."
"Free?"
"Well, if you want you can patrol the city area for someone, you're not needed on this case at the moment" replied the commander. Judy was getting more and more boiling after hearing this and hoped silently that they could get out of here. Nick seeing her droopy ears and low hanging eyebrows guessed that Judy was not in the best of moods.
"We'd better go get some rest...we need sleep" Nick communicated. He stood up from his chair, patting Judy's knee, who was deep in thought.
"Good idea. Great job as always." Communicated Bogo briefly. Before they left the rooms, Judy noticed the ironic smile on Caroline's face.