Someone special in Zootopia

67.- Slippery thief. Surprising news

After a long time without a big case to solve, the trio of two foxes and a bunny encountered a situation that required coordination and strategy, as they had to catch a slippery thief. It was a ferret, that's all they knew, but he had stolen from certain stores and more than one had seen him taking something, but no one could catch him, so they relegated the case to Nick, Judy, and Vol, given their efficiency in previous cases.

They'd have to find out where he'd rob next. To do so, they'd have to review the little information they had. The vague description they had wasn't helpful, but they knew where he had robbed previously. With that information, they searched the theft reports on their computer.

"Let's see... A designer clothing store, an accessories store, a vintage store... All in shopping malls." Vol began commenting.

"Apparently, our little friend likes to steal from expensive and, surprisingly, crowded places. The strange thing is that no one stopped him." Nick reasoned, looking at the data on the screen thoughtfully.

"Ferrets are very slippery and fast, even if they tried, they wouldn't be able to catch him long enough." Judy added. She was already thinking in her head about a strategy to stop him.

With a few paw gestures in the air, Vol was trying to find a pattern in the robberies, murmuring. His companions looked down, simply thinking, since they couldn't know more from the information they had.

"Well..." Finally, the blue fox spoke up. "He's been to different stores, never repeated thefts, not even from the same brand and, if that wasn't enough, he also changed malls." With a paw under his lower jaw, he began to plot again.

Judy continued the deduction. "He doesn't care about the size of the mall; he knows which stores are there and what they sell. He's moved from district to district, repeating some robbery in each one."

Nick felt a lightbulb go off in his head when he found out something. "Carrots, put the order in which the reports came in." Hearing his companion speak, the bunny got to work. Sorting them, the fox smiled. "Just as I expected... There's a slight pattern: First he went to Savanna Central, then the Sahara District, then the Rainforest District... So on, and when he had to repeat districts, he did it in the same order." His companions looked closely at the new information.

"If that's true... Then his next hit will be..." Vol looked closely. "...Tundra District."

Judy shot up from her seat. "Perfect, we have to catch him." She was brimming with confidence in the plan she had devised at the moment.

"Not so fast, dear. We still don't know which mall he's going to." Nick commented, as calm as ever. "Besides, do you think he'll attack when we get there?"

The bunny nodded effusively. "The pattern of the reports was a little late, but they're all done in the same time frame. Besides..." She raised her finger and flashed a smile that Nick himself would have signed. "You know where he is, mister 'I know everyone.'" She said it with a certain amount of rhetoric and humor.

The fox smiled back and crossed his arms. "I might do." Seeing Judy's fixed, now serious, gaze, his smile widened. "That's right, I know where he's going because I've seen another geographic pattern in his robberies. Apparently, he goes in a circular motion, clockwise. So he'll strike... here!" He placed his finger on the map and pointed to a long, wide building on the east side.

"That's where we'll go. Should we go in street clothes or uniforms?" Vol asked, now having an emerging doubt.

"Uniforms. We have the tools in case he tries to escape, and we don't need to hide." Judy reasoned with the question. Vol nodded, and they decided not to waste any more time arresting the criminal in question.