his computer. "Okay, here it is. It'll play slower, so listen carefully."

He turned his speakers on and they heard a garbled voice. It sounded eerie.

"Kill…her…kill…her…"

Two words. But the effect was electric.

"Looks like someone wanted you dead, Officer Hopps," said Garth. "And they used Nick to do the dirty work. You were probably getting too close to cracking the case so they decided to have someone off you in inexplicable circumstances. Nick takes the blame and goes to prison, and they run off Scott-free. You almost gotta admire them, huh? Of course, they are evildoers so they deserve to be put on ice," he quickly added.

"How…did you figure all that out?" asked Judy amazed.

"Ever play those point-and-click Sherlock Holmes games on the Carrot II computer?" asked Garth. "It's a lot like that, only instead of a 'You Won' screen, we get real criminals in jail where they belong."

"Garth, how come you never applied to be a police investigator at ZPD?" asked Judy.

"Well…nobody ever suggested it."

Nick and Judy glanced sideways at each other.

"Now that you mention it, though, I like the sound of it. Officer Garth O' Possum, Zootopia Police Department. Pretty catchy, eh?"

"Hold on," said Judy. "The chirping device…you said it used parts from a Sloth Wheels toy car?"

"Yes indeed," said Garth. "More specifically, vintage 1977 models with the spring coil made of steel and the see-through windows. Built to last. I have quite a collection over…er….that away…somewhere over there."

"Toy cars!" said Judy. "That's it! Duke Weaselton was stealing toy cars from Lady Hypanthia's Toy Emporium!"

"So he's the supplier!" said Nick. "He's giving the parts to the culprits so they can fix the chirping devices according to their needs. Nobody would suspect toy cars could be used in the crime."

"That low-down filthy louse!" said Judy. "That disgusting, dirt-eating, lying…"

"Ahh…there's just something so sexy about a girl who can swear like a sailor," said Garth with an ear-to-ear grin.

Judy's face went pink and she fell silent

"So the modus operandi is as follows," said Nick.

"Wooo, pulling out the fifteen buck words, are we, Nick?" said Garth.

Nick just chuckled.

"The dart booth is to select who the next victim will be," said Nick as he pieced it all together. "Old Todd makes the canines win because they can hear above the range of most other folk, then he gives them the baby chick plushies. Madame Mystique hypnotises canines only, so somehow she's using the device inside the baby chick dolls to do it, meaning she's a fraud. She can't hypnotise anybody, only animals who hear in the 60,000 Furtz range."

"Her watch!" said Judy. "She must have one of those radio transmitters inside her watch."

"Bingo! Which is why her hocus pocus won't work on you, Carrots," said Nick. "It wouldn't have any effect on you or anyone else who can't hear in that range. And that's why she didn't do her hypnotising act when there was more than one canine in the tent. She didn't want anyone to get suspicious. But I noticed something odd when my ears started ringing every time I walked by her tent. Bam! That solves the mystery of my ears ringing."

"Can I marry your brain?" said Garth.

Nick grinned.

"Better get in line, lover boy," he said, pointing behind Judy. She giggled.

"Anyway. The baby chick plushies are somehow transmitting orders," he continued. "I'm pretty sure she has radio equipment somewhere that can transmit to the baby chick dolls and make her victims commit crimes while in their sleep, by hypnosis."

"The van!" said Judy. "They probably have radio equipment in the van! Then use it to transmit and move around without raising suspicion. Except they did."

She winked at Nick.

"Right you are. The victims are in deep sleep, so they don't remember anything," said Nick. "They pose as members of a travelling carnival so nobody suspects anything. Until now. We have enough evidence here, the baby chick plushie and the radio equipment inside are definitely sufficient grounds to lock them up."

"So you're going to bring it to 'em, aren't you?" said Garth. "You're gonna bust these crooked carnival capers."

"Yup! They're gonna pay for their crimes," said Nick.

"Insert 'You Won' screen here," said Garth.

"We have to show this to Bogo," said Judy. "We definitely have enough to put those two behind bars."

"Hmm…" Garth examined the baby chick plushie closer. "Nick, do you mind if I hang onto this for a while? I might be able to reverse-engineer this doo-hickey and find out where the signal is transmitting form."

"You could do that, Garth?!" said Judy excitedly. "Really?"

"Anything for you, cute little bunnikinns," said Garth.

Judy frowned, but Nick put his paw on her shoulder meaningfully. Garth was the very definition of isolated from society, and to say he was socially awkward was the understatement of the century.

"Gimme a few hours," said Garth. "I'll whip up something and we'll catch these crooks."

"Right," said Nick. "Garth, I owe you one, big time."

"You'll get my consultation invoice," said Garth as he tinkered with the chirper.

"Well, we'll stop by later, Garth. In our squad car. Then we can all go to the station and tell the Chief what we've uncovered."

"Works for me," said Garth as he worked away. "Say, Nick, when's our next D&D gathering?"

"Oh, er…send me a text, to remind me."

"You changed phones like six times since we last spoke," said Garth. "And so have I, in the interest of full disclosure."

"Ah, yes…that's true," said Nick. "Well, let me just write it down for you."

He did and left his number beside Garth.

"Much obliged. See you later."

"That you will," said Nick.

"See you, Garth," said Judy. "We can't thank you enough."

"For you, mon chéri, anytime."

Judy and Nick turned to leave, weaving through the maze of old computers and machines.

"Hey Nick, what do you call a skimpy swimsuit for rabbits?" asked Garth suddenly out of the blue.

"Eh…I dunno," said Nick.

"A bunnykini! Hahaaa!" laughed Garth. "Tell that one to Flash next time you see him!"

"Will do, heh heh!" said Nick as he did his best to laugh along with the opossum.

"Well, now I see where you got your humour from," said Judy with a teasing grin.

As they walked back upstairs and exited the building, Nick looked sheepishly at Judy and opened his mouth to say something. But Judy spoke up before he could utter a word.

"I won't ask," she said simply.

Nick's mouth closed and he smiled.

They walked two blocks in silence until Judy piped up.

"Nick, what's a body pillow?"

"Errm...Zoogle it at your own risk."

The warden escorted Duke Weaselton into the interrogation room. He cuffed his paws to the table and made sure he was securely restrained before exiting the room. Duke scowled at him as he left the room, wondering what this was about.

The door opened again, and in walked Judy and Nick, each carrying a heavy book.

"Well, whaddaya know! It's Flopsy the Copsy and her foxy!"

Judy and Nick said nothing. They closed the door and placed the heavy books on top of the table, one on top of the other. Then Judy propped up her phone against the books with the screen facing Duke. And they stood at either side of the table, arms crossed, not saying a word.

"If you think you're gonna get anything outta me, dream on, coppers," said Duke. "Ain't nothing you can do that's gonna make…me…mamaaa…AAAH!"

"Hello, Duke," said a smooth voice coming from Judy's phone.

It was Mr Big, Tundratown's most notorious crime boss, and Fru Fru's father. Small as he was, his image dominated the screen on Judy's phone. He was sitting at his desk…or rather, on his desk…and his face was stern and unsympathetic, as usual. Several thuggish polar bears in suits could be seen behind him.

"I hear you've been a naughty boy lately, not that it should come as any surprise."

Duke almost fell out of his chair. Mr Big was every bit as intimidating over a video call as he was in person.

"Stealing toys from innocent children, are we? And just when one thought you could sink no lower. Just when one thought you'd reached the bottom of the barrel, you discover that if you lift up the barrel and tunnel under, there's your new low."

Mr Big paused to let it sink in, and continued.

"I hear you have information that might help a lot of people, but are unwilling to share. So here's how it's going to go: I'm giving you two choices. You can either refuse to tell my granddaughter's godmother and her stalwart companion everything they need to know, and go quietly back to your cell for the rest of your sentence thinking how clever you are. But the moment you step out of prison, my

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