Donovan Shepard and Judy walked in, closing the door behind them.

"How is he?" asked Jenkins, looking genuinely concerned.

"He's fine…no thanks to you," spat Judy hatefully.

"I…I'm glad to hear that," muttered Jenkins.

Sheriff Shepard pulled a chair, also piled with books, for Judy and she jumped up onto it, sitting down on a cookbook. Shepard sat on the chair next to her, and they both looked across the table at the mole.

"Let's get to the point, Mr Jenkins," said Shepard. "We know what you did. All of it. The burrowing machine, the pan-dimaniaan acey…er, the orange chemical that killed the crops, and now the dart gun filled with rattlesnake venom. I don't need to tell you that your crimes are severe and enough to land you in prison for the rest of your natural life."

Jenkins said nothing.

"We also know that you are not working alone," said Shepard. "Your boss, Preston Keyes, the president of your company, is also involved. So what we need right now is for you to take a deep breath and tell us, from the beginning, everything that we need to know. Do not leave anything out, take your time, and just tell us everything."

Jenkins was silent. Then he started shaking.

"Start talking!" snapped Judy. "You ruined our crops, endangered my hometown, and you almost killed my partner!"

Jenkins closed his eyes.

"This ends here and now," said Judy, standing up with her paws on the table. "Talk! Start talking, or heavens help me, I swear I'm going to break that dictionary on your sorry little…"

She stopped midsentence, though, when Jenkins burst into tears. He stared sobbing loudly like someone who had just lost his mind.

Judy flinched. She hadn't meant to make him cry. Just shake him up a little…

"Um, Mr Jenkins…" started Judy.

But she didn't say anything else. Jenkins started saying something shakily, trying to get his words around his sobs.

"He's gonna kill them...he's gonna...kill them..."

"Who?" asked Shepard gently. "Who's gonna kill who, Mr Jenkins?"

"Keyes...is gonna kill...President Keyes is gonna kill..."

Judy and Shepard waited, and the next words Jenkins spoke made it all clear to them.

"...my family."

If Amber Beverly Latrans ever opened a hot chocolate shop, she'd make a fortune in no time.

George Jenkins took deep breaths as he sipped the warm, creamy drink from a small mug. Amber, after leaving strict instructions to the doctor and nurse and making sure Nick was well looked after, crossed the town square and headed to the police station with Garth. Judy had asked them to be present in the interrogation room. She was quiet and brooding as she waited for Jenkins to finish his hot chocolate.

Sheriff Donovan Shepard stood patiently against the wall, waiting. Amber sat beside Judy, across the table from the mole. Garth stood beside Shepard, watching the scene and waiting along with everyone else.

Finally, Jenkins spoke.

"I met President Keyes eight months ago, when my family and I moved to Zootopia," said Jenkins. "I applied for a job at the Terra Firma Incorporated Auditing Department. I was immediately hired and life seemed to be going forward for us. My family and I lived in a company-paid home, my salary was generous, and in three months I was promoted to Head of the department."

He paused, taking a deep breath, then continued.

"Then, I started noticing little things. Numbers that didn't add up. Properties that appeared out of nowhere. Strange purchases of things that seemed to be of no use to us. I went to the President one afternoon and told him there was something strange going on. Perhaps someone within the company was diverting funds or using company assets for something dodgy. And that was the day President Keyes turned me into his personal assistant."

Jenkins shuddered.

"He abducted my family. He told me that they were safe, in one of his homes, and that they would remain safe as long as I did exactly what I was told to do without question," said Jenkins. "He was obsessed with becoming the most powerful and influential rabbit in history. He said he'd show the world what he was made of, even if it meant crushing every one of his competitors under his foot. I had to do what he told me or he'd have my family killed, with me there to witness it."

Judy shuddered. She could not begin to imagine the horrors that this poor mole had had to endure in silence.

"My wife and my two daughters are being held in one of his three properties," said Jenkins. "I've only seen them twice since that dreadful day, and always under the stern eyes of his bodyguards. He promised me he'd let us go after Terra Firma bought up all the farms in Bunny Burrow and he completed his plan."

"He's not going to let you go," said Judy quietly. "You know too much."

"Yes," said Jenkins. "I know that. But I had to keep trying…for my family."

He went quiet, looking at the surface of the table.

"Mister Jenkins," said Sheriff Shepard, walking to the table. "You have valuable information that can help us put a stop to all this madness. You know Keyes better than anyone, and you know how he operates. If you agree to help us expose him and bring him in..."

Shepard paused. Jenkins looked up, his eyes moving from one face to the other.

"You mean…you would…help me?"

Judy stood up on the cookbook and looked determined.

"Mr Jenkins, nobody has the right to abduct anybody's family and threaten to harm them," said Judy. "The fact that this heinous act was committed in Zootopia beneath our noses, it fills us all with righteous indignation."

Amber and Garth nodded. Shepard did too.

"Your family is being held in Zootopia," said Judy. "In one of Preston Keyes's residences. Well, that's the jurisdiction of my department. I will personally see to it that we take your family into protective custody and put this criminal where he belongs."

"But Officer," said Jenkins. "If Keyes catches whiff of the police looking into his affairs, he could harm my family."

"Then we'll have to do this stealthily," said Garth.

Everyone looked at him.

"You have been acting stealthily, Mr Jenkins, working from the shadows to fulfil the desires of this power-crazed lunatic," said Garth. "Now we're going to use that same tactic to extract your family from wherever they're being held and place them under the safe and vigilant eye of the ZPD."

"But how?" asked Jenkins.

"I have a plan," said Garth. "One that still has a few holes in it. But with the help of all of you, I hope to flesh it out."

Everyone listened to Garth's plan, adding their own suggestions and figuring out the best way to proceed.

For the first time in months, Jenkins felt a ray of hope piercing through the dark sky of his life.

Amber walked back to the doctor's office with Garth to check on Nick. Judy and Sheriff Shepard were finishing up the last details of Garth's plan, doing their best to cover all possible contingencies. Jenkins added his knowledge here and there and they all decided on how to proceed next.

"Okay," said Shepard. "Until it's time to leave, Mr Jenkins, I think it's safest if you return to your cell."

"Yes, Sheriff," said Jenkins.

"Deputy Barkins will stay with you and make sure you're safe until we return," said Shepard.

Shepard walked out of the room, and Judy followed. But before she left, she stood in the doorway and turned around, looking a bit sheepish.

"Erm…Mr Jenkins?"

"Yes?" asked Jenkins.

"Uh…sorry about the…um…you know…"

Judy did a fist and a punching motion.

Jenkins just smiled.

"I deserved it," he said. "For many things. And that's some right-hook you've got there, Officer Hopps."

"Um…sorry about your spectacles…"

"Oh, I don't need them," said Jenkins. "I have perfect eyesight. It's a fashion thing. My wife has been telling me to get rid of them for years, that they make me look old, but I thought they made me look handsome. Thank you for opening my eyes."

Judy smiled weakly. Then nodded and left.

She crossed the town square with Shepard and walked into the doctor's office. They found Nick laughing and wisecracking with Garth and Amber, with Stu and Bonnie adding some funny comment here and there.

"Looks like Officer Wilde is on his way to being a-okay," said Shepard happily.

"He's a strong chap," said Doctor Briar. "A good night's rest and some warm soup will do him wonders."

"He's good to go," said Amber. "Mrs Hopps, if we could take Nick to your home and look after him, and fill him in on the details?"

"Of course," said Bonnie.

"I'll bring the car," said Shepard. "You can put him in the backseat and he'll be nice and comfortable. I'll drive him to your house, Mrs Hopps."

Shepard tipped his hat and went to get his squad car. Amber and Judy helped Nick up and out of the doctor's office as Shepard's car pulled up.

Soon, they were all back at the Hopps family household. Nick was lying down comfortably in the guest room, under warm quilts. Judy was sitting beside him with her paws on the quilt,

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