Someone special in Zootopia

68.- Like a boomerang

Nick, Judy, and Vol were already on their way to the orphanage. All three were dressed in their uniforms. The fox and the rabbit received the news from their partner, who was still puzzled, almost in shock by what the caretaker had told him. After reporting the matter to Bogo, he assigned them to investigate, and they didn't think twice about going there.
The pair tried to cheer Vol up, but he still couldn't believe what was happening. He was mulling over and over it and still didn't understand. It was supposed to be one of the happiest days, but it turned out the other way.

"Come on, we'll find him, I'm sure of it." Judy tried to smile, though she also felt distressed.

Vol sighed. "Judy, I appreciate what you're doing, I really do... but the only way to restore my morale is to find him..."

"And we will, partner, undoubtedly." Nick intervened. His companion looked at him briefly, with a look that revealed only sadness, hopelessness, a light he couldn't see in his blue eyes.

Vol looked away from his counterpart and composed himself slightly. "Let's get to it then..." As expected, not even a small smile appeared on his face.

His companions simply followed him, worried about his state of mind, feeling that if they couldn't calm him down, he probably would end up breaking into a thousand pieces. They didn't know what could have happened, but it certainly didn't bode well when talking about a disappearance like that... but their hope, at least, didn't wane; this case could be different.

Upon arriving at the orphanage, they found a roe deer pacing back and forth, worried, looking around. He didn't know where to go; the situation had caught him off guard, and he didn't know what to do. Everything happened on his watch, and now it was his turn to explain what had happened, no matter how much it hurt.
He saw the three police officers approaching and ran toward them.

"Thank you for coming! I'm desperate, I don't know what to do." His labored breathing showed the anxiety he carried.

Judy raised her paws. "Calm down, just explain what happened." She took out a notepad to take notes. "What's your name?"

The deer took a breath and let it out to calm down a bit. "Wesley Deerwey."

The bunny wrote it down and looked at him again. "Now, tell me what happened, Wesley."

The deer looked from side to side, as if expecting to find Ryan back, but that didn't happen. "I... was doing my work, it was my shift this morning. Ryan surprised me coming out of the dorms... He told me he couldn't sleep anymore, that he couldn't wait for his foster father to come." A small smile escaped his lips as the memory came back to him. "He seemed very happy... Well, he said he tried everything and couldn't sleep. He asked if he could step outside for a moment to get some fresh air, but I told him not to go beyond the doorway, to which he agreed. I can confirm that he stayed inside..." Now his expression changed to sadness and despair, his mouth turning downwards, and the tremors starting again. "I-I dropped some papers, bent down to pick them up, and when I got up... he... wasn't there..." He clenched his hooves and stared at them for a moment, lost in thought. "If I hadn't dropped them... If I had been more attentive..."

Judy jotted down his testimony word by word, looking up once more when she finished. "It's not your fault, Mr. Wesley. Something else must have happened. Didn't you see anything out of the ordinary?"

The roe deer shook his head. "Nothing. I went outside to check if Ryan was there... But no one was there, and the parked cars were the same as when I arrived. Of course, there were no other mammals on the street." Then he looked at the rabbit. "Please, find him..."

Judy nodded. "We will. I don't know what happened, but we'll investigate this thoroughly." She put her notepad in one of her pockets. "Thank you for your cooperation."