Zootopia: Undercover Pursuit

Chapter 55: Evening

Chapter 55: Evening

In the evening the commandant called all the officers together which caused a ripple of excitement in the command. The last time a situation like this happened was when the Zootopia wilderness case started and then Judy joined the squad. Since then, Bogo has not even been tempted to take someone into his office to give someone a warning for something they did wrong. Everyone realised that this was most likely about the upcoming awards conference, which was to be the site of a decisive clash between them and their captor. Of course, no one officially called it that, it was only done by whimsical officers who always liked to shine with their wit.

The room where they usually met in the morning became quite crowded looking at the fact that everyone was inside taking their seats and waiting for Commander Bogo and Judy Hopps to present what they had to say. The two of them waited under the board until everyone had gathered and quietened down enough to be able to rearrange their plan.

"Where's Caroline?" Judy asked. She searched for her with her eyes but couldn't find her.

"She went somewhere, I couldn't find out where...she was terribly embarrassed, it was impossible to get along with her" replied Bogo calmly. The doe made a quiet sound confirming that she had heard what Bogo was saying to her and added nothing. Maybe it was better that she wasn't there, there wasn't really anyone to ask stupid questions. When it became quite quiet, the commandant began his argument by stepping out in front of the first row of benches leaning on one of them to make better eye contact with the police officers.

"As you are well aware, we are in a rather poor position when it comes to our reputation. The media mocks us, citizens don't want to trust us and the mayor lacks patience. We can't give a miss this time, so Judy has devised a plan that we will use to capture our kidnapper," said the commandant giving a communicative look at Judy to start telling her plan.

"Yes, that's right. Therefore, we have a plan that we believe is the most effective. When the meeting begins and the guests are inside, you will all spread out in your seats. A few will watch what is happening on the 1st floor of the museum, some will walk around the ground floor checking what is happening among the guests. The kidnapper will most likely want to kidnap someone again, he will probably use sleeping gas like last time, but we will be prepared. Each of you will be equipped with a bag in which you will have masks. Under no circumstances will you be allowed to show the contents of the bag to anyone or put on the mask before my order. We will be in contact at all times via walkie-talkies " she recounted until she saw someone at the back put his hand up, most likely he had a question.

"Yes?" Judy asked.

"Why can't we have a mask over our face or clipped to our belt? The bags will be quite cumbersome " asked the policeman.

"Good question!" His colleague backed him up. A few moments later, there was again a buzz in the room that prevented the doe from continuing his story. Bogo stepped in to intervene and with one loud shout calmed all the policemen down. Judy was able to continue again.

"Yes, that's right, but it's clear that we're not dealing with the first bad guy. He's not stupid. We can't either. With the masks in plain sight he'll quickly see that we're prepared for the sleeping gas, he can't know that, that's why the bags are needed. This will provoke our criminal to poison the halls and we will allow it."

"For what?"

"Good question. When he puts on the gas, I, from the cameras, will be the first to know about it. I'll let you know then, you should put your masks on and get all the guests out. Our kidnapper will be located quickly and we can catch him." Judy replied. There was a quiet buzz around the room again, this time the officers were discussing amongst themselves the operation that was about to take place. It all sounded rather provocative and risky, but at the same time also promising and really as if it all made sense.