Chapter 1—Admiration

Nick's arm, slung in a white cast around his shoulder, sat as useless as a landline in the twenty-first century. The events leading up to it were discussed thoughtfully between him and Judy and usually kept secret between them. Yet that time they spent together kept Nick knowing something—that Christmas means much more than presents.

A frigid climate replaced the usually sunny days of the countryside in Savannah Central; thus, all the local neighbors kept their doors locked because the mammal-made climates used during the summertime sucked up energy during the winter. During the freezing winter mornings, electricity blackouts were common; to keep the regulators on merely increased the chance of blackouts occurring.

A certain house located in the countryside had its front yard blanketed with a sheet of snow, not unique to the other yards in the neighborhood. Judy Hopps stood in the driveway of that home, a winter coat, snow pants, hat, and a pair of gloves shielding most of her grey fur. She loved Christmas—the holiday soon arriving.

She looked up at the roof, on which Nick Wilde knelt, wearing only a light jacket, a snow hat, and a pair of boots. He did this for one purpose—to assemble Christmas lights. Judy had been urging Nick to wear something heavier for the cold, but he had refused.

His paws graciously handled each strand of lights as if they were a litter of babies and carefully strapped them to the roof, fighting through numb fingertips. Finally, Nick rubbed his paws together, walked across the roof, and descended the ladder. The metal reverberated as he did. He approached Judy, giving her an exhausted grin. He tried to hide his frigidity by stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Got the lights up." He let a sharp exhale escape his mouth, its moisture forming a semitransparent vapor. He turned to the house, inhaling.

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "You should've listened to me." She touched his elbow, and he removed his paw from his pocket. Judy squeezed it. "You're freezing!"

He shoved his paw into his pocket and shrugged his shoulders. "No, I'm not."

"Trust me," she said, touching his nose. "Let's get you by the fire." She touched his back and led him inside, then took his grandmother's homemade quilt from the armchair and placed it on his lap. "Hold on a second." She disappeared into the kitchen for two minutes and returned with two steaming mugs. "I don't like to see you cold." She wrapped his fingers around one of the mugs, then pulled the quilt from his lap and sat in between his legs, right in front of his chest, then pulled the quilt over her.

He flashed a smile, rubbing her head. She squealed, regripping her mug. "Your paw's still cold," she said. "Wrap your fingers around that mug and get warm. I'd rather get a warm paw than one that just held a bowl of ice cubes."

He ignored her, staring at the fire. The carpet of the living room, about a quarter-inch think, stood up to its branding of being "intensely comfortable." For a few minutes, he took occasional sips of his cocoa and rubbed Judy's head. Suddenly, he said, "Thanks for this, Carrots."

She smiled and craned her head to meet his eyes. "Why should you thank me? I should be thanking you for getting in here by the fire!" She playfully hit his ribcage with the back of her paw.

Nick chuckled, rubbing the spot Judy had hit. "Christmas is a time for gratitude, they say."

She nodded. "Speaking of Christmas—you're ready for the party tonight, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Lights and tree are up, presents are wrapped, food is made, and invitations were sent two days ago; I think we're done. Twenty minutes till guests should start coming."

Judy frowns. "Now that I think of it, we should've done this earlier."

"Why?"

"People are so busy. We don't know if anyone's going to come."

He shrugged. "The more Christmassy, the better." He rubbed Judy's head again. "Even if nobody came, I'd be sure to make this the best night for both of us." He paused for a moment. "I put some mistletoe up over there." He pointed toward the couch.

She inspected the spot, then laughed. "Nice try."

"It was worth a shot," Nick replied with a smile. "What would you be without me?"

"Basically nothing."

He just smiled. Minutes later the first knock came. Judy walked to the door with a Christmas hat and opened the door. Standing in the doorway were Judy's parents: Bonny, Judy's mother, and Stu, Judy's father. "Hey, bun-bun," Bonnie said.

"Mom!" Judy hugged her mom, then her dad. Nick held out his paw to shake theirs, but Bonnie and Stu greeting him with a hug instead. Judy laughed. "Come on in, guys." She led them to the couch.

Minutes later the next few of guests arrived: Judy's elder brother and sister Tristan and Janette, along with a third bunny entered, a male bunny. He appeared elder to Judy, and Judy greeted him with the name Marco, her supposed cousin.

Later Nick's mother, Lucy; father, John; and brother, Jack—and his spouse, Crystal—arrived. The group talked for a moment, then Nick invited them to the couch beside Judy's relatives. With a short chat, Judy discovered that Marco was actually her brother, three months younger.

Judy stood up. "Welcome, everyone." The group quickly quieted. "Glad you all could come. We really appreciate such the short notice; Nick and I kind of made this a last-minute thing." She chuckled. "Anyway, there's food in the kitchen: salad, rolls, candy…" She looked to Nick. "Am I missing something?"

"Eggnog," he said simply.

"Oh, right, eggnog for the eggnog lovers." She furtively made a thumbs-down sign, making the family laugh. "In a few minutes, we'll have some dinner, then we'll have a few games and gift exchanges later." She gestured forward. "Bon appétit." The family erupted into conversation, and Judy pressed play on the radio sitting on the mantel, which began playing quiet Christmas music. Most everybody departed the living room, leaving Nick and Marco.

Nick smiled. "Nick. And you are…?"

Marco looked at him and scoffed. "Yeah, whatever." He pushed past Nick's extended paw and stormed away.

Nick cocked an eyebrow. "The nerve of some people." He pushed away his slightly hurt feelings and retreated to the other room.

After Nick had summarized the experience, Judy said, "Some bunnies aren't used to foxes, and don't be offended when they are."

Nick shrugged it off and retreated to a table, alone. Judy was in the other room, caught up in talking with her parents. She'll come over soon, he thought.

After a moment, Tristan sat in the chair to the right of him, while Janette joined him on his left.

"Hey," he said, "I'm Tristan." His voice was somewhat deep yet sounded silvery and honeyed.

Janette addressed Nick next with her soft-spoken voice, also silvery, like Tristan's. "Nice to meet you, too."

"I believe you haven't met my best bud," Tristan said, waving a nearby bunny over. The mammal lowered himself onto a chair across from Tristan. His furtive smirk faded when his eyes scanned Nick. "Marco, this is Nick."

"It's a pleasure," Nick said, restraining his clenched jaw and extending his paw.

Marco scanned Nick over, not saying anything. "C'mon, Marco, no need to be paranoid here." Tristan furtively gestured at Nick's paw and raised his eyebrows. "C'mon, shake his hand," he whispered.

Marco looked down at the floor and weakly took Nick's paw and shook it for barely a second. He retreated his hand as if Nick had some severely infectious skin disease. "Nice…to meet…you," he muttered. He quickly departed from the room.

"Sorry about that," Tristan said with an awkward grin. "He's one of the few bunnies still biased against foxes. Don't get on his bad side and you'll be okay." He patted Nick's back, and then Judy called his name, and in about a second, he and Janette were gone.

After a short conversation with Janette and Marco, Judy stood up and quieted the crowd. "All right, everyone. Time for dinner."

A few mammals started for the foot table, each dishing up their plates. Gradually, most of them dished up dinner and sat. Marco was the remaining mammal at the buffet table, so he finished serving himself and sat in the remaining chair—next to Nick.

The first half of dinner was uneventful, with harmless conversation filling the room and the occasional joke mustering laughs and chuckles. Nick's smile was back, and he was happily chatting with his brother, who was sitting on his left. "Oh, you want to hear another one?"

Jack touched his stomach, edges of his mouth still crinkled from laughter. "Yes, keep 'em comin'." He burst into laughter again.

"Okay." He let out an amused breath. "So I met this bear at a diner, and he said—" Suddenly Nick screamed.

Jack tilted his head. "You okay, little bro? That wasn't your greatest."

"No, that wasn't the joke." Nick brought his hand to his back. "Something slimy just went down my back," he said calmly.

Judy pushed back her chair and led Nick from the dining room. In the privacy of Nick's room, Judy investigated. "What the heck?"

"What is it?"

"It's mashed potatoes." She held up a glob of them. "Someone found it funny to do that to you."

Nick emerged from his room with a new shirt on, and Judy was waiting for him outside. As the two entered the dining room, Judy examined the two mammals adjacent to Nick's chair.

Jack was on one side. "Definitely not Jack. You were too busy laughing."

"Sure was," Jack said, a smirk crossing his face.

Judy turned to the other chair. Marco was sitting in it.

"All right, Marco, what's the scoop?" Nick said.

Jack suddenly burst into laughter. "Oh, scoop! That's great!" Nick looked at him, and Jack stopped laughing.

Judy tried this time. "Marco, we all know you did it."

"No," Marco said, furtively shaking his head. "I…didn't."

"This isn't funny, Marco," Tristan said, staring at him. "Apologize."

"To the fox? Why should I?" He glanced at Nick.

"Now." Tristan pointed at him.

"Oh, fine." He looked down at the ground and muttered something.

"What was that, Marco?" Judy asked.

"I'm frickin' sorry, okay?" he yelled, barely looking at Nick.

There was silence for a moment. Nick's mother, Lucy, quickly stood up and glared at Marco. "Hey, you. I do not want any more of this to any guest at this party, especially my Nick—"

"Mom," Nick muttered.

She ignored him. "—and if you do anything, or if you so much as touch a hair on top of his head without permission, I will personally have Judy arrest you for a misconduct. You hear me?"

"Fine…" Marco said quietly.

"What's that?"

"Fine."

When Lucy sat back down, Marco rolled his eyes and muttered something. He took his fork in his paw and returned to picking at his plate. While Judy and Lucy tackled the mountain of dishes in the kitchen, the rest of the guests and Nick relaxed in the living room, where the Christmas Eve football game was playing on the flat-screen TV mounted on the wall. Jack, Nick and John sat eagerly on the couch, focused on the animals tackling each other in a frenzied mess only few could fully understand.

A card table had been set up near the corner of the room, where Tristan, Janette, and Crystal were playing a card game. Tristan looked at the TV occasionally, asking the eager football fans questions about the numbers, timers, and strange phrases either uttered or shown on screen. Marco sat away from the three foxes at an empty part of the couch, quietly talking to Tristan as he scanned his phone.

"Go, go, go!" Nick said as a fox in a red uniform bolted toward one end of a football field. Another fox in blue jumped on and tackled him.

"Dang it!" John said.

"C'mon, McCallister!" Jack said. "He should have made it."

"Yeah, but they're on the five-yard line," Nick said. "If anything, they'll at least make a field goal."

"Not that close," John said. "The only one who could make such a high kick could probably be Denanger."

Judy emerged from the kitchen. "We've got pie in here, everyone."

"Yeah, yeah," Nick waved a paw at her, not taking his eyes from the screen. "C'mon, c'mon…" He jumped from his seat. "Yes!"

"Whoo!" Jack said, high-fiving Nick.

"You guys want pie?" John said, standing up.

"Sure," Nick and Jack said at about the same time.

"What kind?"

Judy suddenly appeared. "Nick likes pumpkin with extra whipped cream." She put a plate on his lap. "Jack, what type do you like?"

"Coconut," he said. Like Nick, he kept his eyes on the screen,

Judy brought the pies one by one, and Lucy soon jumped in to help. Eventually everyone was served, and Judy sat down by Nick, a piece of carrot cake in her paw. "How's the game going?"

"Okay," he eventually said. He focused on the game, fork pressed into his quarter-eaten pie.

"Who are you guys rooting for?"

"Packs," Jack said simply.

Judy smirked a little. "I'll be back in a second." She stood up and walked backwards from the room, not watching Nick. Had he not been watching the game, he would have said something.

"What the…"

She turned around. Jack's eyes widened. Tristan, Crystal, and Janette simply stared at Nick.

Jack burst out laughing.

Nick's snout and eyes were painted with whipped cream. Tiny flakes of roasted coconut littered the couch and were populous on Nick's eyelids and near his ears and nose. He growled, which he didn't do often, and glared at Jack, who bit his tongue and forced his smile away.

Judy glared at Marco. "Seriously?" He was snickering in the corner of the room.

"Can you arrest him, please, Judy honey?" Lucy looked at Judy with innocence, then her evil eyes returned as soon as she looked at Marco.

Judy shakes her head. "I don't have handcuffs." She looked at Nick, who had a green rag pressed to his face. "Hey, Nick, can you please lead Marco outside and lock him in the police cruiser?"

Nick wiped the rest of the pie off and nodded slowly. Judy took the rag, and Nick pulled Marco's paws behind his back and forced him outside. "Hey, it was innocent, honest!" Marco pleaded.

"On-duty or not, I'm still an officer of the law." Marco pushed his feet into the ground, and Nick pushed him forward, nearly knocking him over. "Resisting arrest is a crime by itself," he sneered. "I suggest you don't try anything else." The cruiser came into view. "You are under arrest for misconduct against a police officer. Anything you say will be used against you. You must not treat anyone, especially a police officer like me, with such disrespect." He produced a search warrant, patting Marco down and finding nothing out of the ordinary. He pulled the door open and shoved Marco into the caged part of the cruiser. He turned to him to speak but instead closed his mouth, then he slammed the door. He glanced back one time before returning to the house.

Judy frowned. "I'm so sorry, Nick." She wrapped him in a tight embrace. "I didn't know my brother could be such a jerk."

Nick managed a smile. "Don't tell me about it."

Suddenly a sharp shattering sound cut the air.

"Crud," Nick said, ripping the door open and rushing outside toward the driveway. Glass shards littered the ground around the car like little toy bricks in a playroom. "I had a feeling Marco had another trick up his sleeve." He stepped over the glass and peered into the window. "The lock's busted and the cage is open." He shook his head and stepped back over the glass. "I have to catch this guy before this felony becomes more tragic." He and Judy quickly embraced, then he started his car with his key, jumped into the cruiser, and drove off.

He took a heavy right on the street out of his neighborhood. Marco sprinted toward the end of the road, feet pounding the sidewalk with each step. Nick flicked on his lights and siren, and Marco took a quick look back and bent down, his stride lengthening. Suddenly the whirl of helicopter blades filled the air. Nick peered underneath the top of the windshield to find a red helicopter descending toward the end of the street he was on. He stepped on the gas just as Marco jumped for the hanging ladder. He caught it with one paw, and the helicopter began ascending.

Nick swore under his breath and produced a handgun from the glove compartment. He pressed the cartridge in and aimed the barrel at the rabbit, then fired. Marco nearly fell from the rope ladder when he clenched his thigh. Nick pressed the trigger again, but it simply clicked. Nick slowed the car and fiddled with the gun, but the helicopter was out of range before he could retrieve another cartridge. Nick peered up in the sky. The rope ladder was being pulled up.

Dang, Nick thought, putting the gun away and U-turning at the next cross street. The only thing left on his mind as he returned was the empty gun and Marco's escape.

Nick turned back onto his street, eyeing the green street sign on the corner through his side mirror. He sighed and slowed at the approach of his humble home.

There was a grey Zamero parked in the driveway. When Nick shut off the car, the door to the sedan opened, and a red fox stepped out. Nick tore the keys from the ignition and opened his door, stepping onto the grass beside the curb. As Nick approached the fox turned to him, smiling. "We've been expecting you," he said, outstretching his paw. He wore a pair of grey dress pants and a green business shirt with an opaque blue tie tucked inside his collar. "I'm Major Boothroyd, but you can call me Q. I am the head of the Research and Development Department. I also work for the Zootopia Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6. We work closely with the Zootopia Intelligence Agency, also known as the following Mammal Intelligence Agency. We also work with you guys, the ZPD—is it?"

Nick nods hesitantly as he shakes Q's hand. "Nice to meet you, too. I'm—"

"Oh, I know who you are. You're Nick Wilde, an officer of the ZPD."

Nick raises his eyebrows. "It's good to know that I have my file on the system. Anyway, what are you doing here, Q?"

Q straightened his tie and smiled. "We received an anonymous call regarding a crime that occurred here. I'm here to help crack it."

Nick nodded. "Just got back from chasing the guy, but he got away in a getaway helicopter." He pointed to the shattered window. "He broke that window, but I locked the cage inside—it's an electronic, burglar resistant lock. He somehow hacked the cage door to open and broke the window." He looked at the ground, rolling his bottom lip against his teeth. "Who called?

Q chuckled. "Sorry to break it to you, but anonymous means anonymous. We have no legal authority to tell you—unless you want me to kill you. The mammal who transmitted the anonymous message has rights under the Zootopian Anonymity Act. I'm sure you're familiar with it."

"Yes, I am."

"Well, you're a police officer, so you know right to follow it." He let out a humored breath. "Now, to resume this issue, we need some information before we can start cracking this case. Do you have any information on the suspect, including the name, species, and age?" Q's words of the last sentence rolled perfectly together, like they had been scripted.

"Yeah," Nick says, "His name's Marco Hopps." He walked past him. "Hold on. I have his sister here." He disappeared into the house and emerged a moment later with Judy at his tail.

Judy crossed into the grass and took Q's outstretched paw. "Nick told me you're Q, right?"

"Yes. Our suspect is your brother, correct?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't say he's a suspect per se; Nick already arrested him."

"Oh, he didn't say that." He smiled at Nick, then looked back at Judy. "You're Judy Hopps, son of Bonnie and Stu, correct?"

"Yes. How'd you know that?"

"Didn't Nick tell you I work with the ZIA?"

"No, he didn't." Judy looked at him, then back at Q. "What do you need from me?"

"Our suspect. Marco Hopps."

"No offense, Q, but wouldn't you already know a ton about this guy since you work for the ZIA?" Nick asked.

"I don't work forthe ZIA; I work with them. If I did work for them, I'd only be here for questioning." He held up a clipboard. "We'll get to that right after we get the rest of Marco's information, our accused." He pressed a pencil to the paper. "Age?"

"I got this," Judy said, silencing Nick. "Twenty-four."

"Male?"

"Yes."

He looked at Judy. "Rabbit…" He wrote something down, then put the pencil back. "All right, we can go." He gestured to the grey Zamero. "We'll need both of you down here for the most comprehensive investigation. It also helps that both of you are the ZPD's top officers." He rounded the car and stepped inside. Nick was beside him. Q turned to the back and smiled at Judy. "Is that how you two met? The Night Howler case?"

"I got to know him better through it. We met when I spied on him at an elephant ice cream parlor."

"Got a great hustle out of it," Nick said, smiling. "You should have seen her face when I she finally connected the dots that I lied to her."

"You'll never let me live that down, will you?" Judy said.

Q began backing from the driveway but tapped on the brakes when Tristan scampered toward their car. Judy rolled down the window. "Tristan?"

"Can I come?"

"Tristan, this is a police investigation."

"So?"

"Like how surgeons are only allowed in an operation bay, only certain people can go investigate this case."

"Like they say, the husband gets to come cut the baby's umbilical cord."

Judy closed her eyes. "Fine."

Q found it valuable that Tristan tagged along; he provided some valuable information on Marco. Most of it was empty information, like his favorite song being "Baby" by Justin Beaver and all seven of his high school crushes, but some tidbits proved valuable, like the last four digits of Marco's social security number and his whole phone number.

Since most of the conversation was directed toward Marco, Q, and Judy, Nick listened for a moment, falling into slumber with the rumble of the car.

Nick slowly gave in to consciousness as Judy shook his shoulder. "Hey, we're here."

"What?" Nick said, eyes still half-closed. Another minute passed before he became fully aware. The building anterior to them was a large concrete structure, decorated with bricks and overlapping concrete shingles. A large acronym in two-foot high letters hung on the front, about ten feet above the front doors. It read "ZRDD," the Zootopia Research and Development Department.

Nick shook himself awake and stepped out onto the asphalt. Q stood on the sidewalk in front of the building, tapping his foot. "There you are." He entered with Judy at his tail, and Nick quickly followed. The walls inside were a dull grey, and blue carpet lined the floors. A pine sapling decorated with ornaments sat on the desk, and a large Christmas wreath hung behind a marble desk.

Q approached the worker and talked for a few moments. He said something about an information transaction, and the worker stood up and disappeared into the back room. The worker returned with a sheet of paper, handed it to Q, and led Nick, Judy, and Tristan into a private conference room.

The room was quite plain: A simple circular wooden table stood in the middle, chairs surrounding it. Decorations within the room were a small dorm refrigerator in the corner of the room and a coffee machine supported by a counter. A large window, revealing the parking lot, allowed twilight to dully illuminate the room.

Q flicked on the lights and thanked the worker. After she left and Nick and Judy got settled, Q left the room for a moment and returned with three copies of the paper. He distributed them to Tristan, Nick, and Judy, and he kept the original for himself.

"I don't want to waste time reading everything on here," Q started, "but I'll go over the highlights." He tapped a pencil on the paper, which was clipped to a clipboard. "He calls himself 'Marcus Hoppaway'; he is a registered hacker and has been charged with multiple counts of hacking." He looked at Nick. "Figures why he got out of your cruiser."

"Makes sense," he said.

Q looked up at Nick for a moment, then back at his paper. "He works for a company called DedSec, a globally-known, profit organization posing as a business operations company. These guys are against all ZPD officers and the CIA." He chuckled. "Not surprised. These guys are infamous in the CIA." He moved his pencil down. "He has a partner—Tie—a wolf. He is Marco's best friend and partner in crime."

Nick's phone suddenly rang. "Excuse me." He stood up and left the room. Once he was out, he answered the call and held the phone to his ear. "This is Nick."

"Wilde, there was a break in at West Savannah Central Bank. We require a questioning."

"On it. ETA five."

"10-4."

"10-4."

Nick rushed back into the room. "There was a break-in at WSC Bank. They just need us to question the suspect."

"Was that Bogo?" Judy asked.

"Yes."

"I'll come," Q said, standing. "I think you'll need another witness."

Tristan stood and opened his mouth, but Nick raised a paw. "Q, get a taxi before we leave. Tristan sure isn't coming for this one."

The two-mile drive didn't take long even though traffic was packed on the way there. Judy had to cut into the left side of the road with her lights on, but the rest of the ride was uneventful. All three no longer bantered; they only spoke plainly when Chief Bogo informed them of the case.

A police cruiser was parked against the curb in front of the bank. A group of police officers stood around it, and one was examining a tan bag leaning against the front of the vehicle. There was a wolf, about five feet tall, who sat on the curb a few feet from the officers, his paws tied behind his back. He looked to be in his adolescent years and wore an oversized plain white T-shirt hidden by a small leather jacket. He wore long, black khakis and had a black baseball cap perched on his head. He looked downward as Nick approached. "Hey," he said gently. "What's your name?"

The wolf's shoulders slumped a bit, but he kept his eyes trained on the ground. "Tie."

Nick's breath hitched. "Do you happen to know anybody named Marco?"

Tie's arm muscles tensed. "Tie?" Nick asked.

Silence.

Nick pressed his lips together. "Do you know Marco?"

Tie furtively shrugged. "He's my partner."

Nick nodded slowly. "What's your full name?"

He pulled his jacket toward his midline, quiet for a moment. "Tie—Tie Honga."

Nick raised his eyebrows. "You understand, Tie, that robbing a bank is a felony?"

He froze. "Yes."

"Why did you do it?"

"My family needs it. I"—he pressed his paw to his thigh—"We need money so we don't go hungry."

Nick glanced over his shoulder at Judy, then back at Tie. "Oh…kay." He pushed his mouth to his right cheek. "It was your choice, so, unfortunately, you'll have to spend some time in jail for this. It's just how it is." Nick turned to the other officer, nodded, and the officer took him by the wrist and dragged him away.

Nick turned to Judy. "Typical case. Wonder why Bogo makes us do this. There were already police officers here."

"It's all the 'just in case,' Nick. Everything with us is 'just in case.'"

"So you're telling me that we didn't have to cross on the wrong side of the road?"

"No, but Bogo wanted us there quick, so…"

"Well, let's get back," Nick said. Q unlocked the car, and Nick stepped into the passenger's side.

Just when all the doors were closed and Q started the car, an officer approached Nick's window. He rolled it down, and the officer peeked inside. "Officer Wilde. In a pat-down with the suspect we found this." He held up a bottle with crossbones on it. "It's strychnine. It's a poison."

Nick took the bottle and rubbed the back of his neck. "Why?"

The officer shrugged. "I'm as clueless as you are." He eyed Nick's paw on the back of his neck. "Be careful handling that. The stuff absorbs through the skin."

Nick stopped rubbing his neck. Q retrieved the bottle and rotated it in his fingers. "It's strychnine, all right." He looked at the bottom of the bottle. "I can submit it to our poison analysis lab and get results as early as tonight." He paused. "And if the bank-robber has by any chance used this—and since he teamed up with Marco—he could've increased the concentration and planned to use it as a weapon. Or worse." He held the bottle over a cup holder. "Get me a bag, will you?"

The officer outside held up a bag. "Here."

Nick handed it to Q. While he prepared the bottle, he said, "I can almost guarantee that this isn't the only bottle." He placed the bottle into the cup holder. "I'll take you home and come by later with the results."

They exchanged phone numbers on the ride back, then, after parking in the driveway, Q saluted the officers. He descended the driveway halfway and lowered his window. "If I get through fast, I'll be back in an hour. Tops."

He drove off, the silhouette of the vehicle disappearing around the corner. Besides Nick and Judy, the driveway was bare. "I guess they all left," Judy said.

"No kidding. Wonder if Tristan's still here." He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. The lights were on, and Tristan sat at the table, a book in his paws. "Took you guys long enough."

"They didn't take you?" Nick said, and Judy elbowed him. Nick eyed her, rubbing his side.

"They left a note." He pointed toward the counter. "There."

Nick walked over and picked it up. "Dear Judy and Nick, we decided it would be appropriate for us to leave early since you both left. We would like Tristan to spend the night if you'd like. Otherwise, you can have Judy call her parents to come pick her up. We'll be back tomorrow at noon to have a make-up party. Love, the Wilde and Hopps Family."

"Well, Tristan," Nick said, setting the note down, "it looks like you'll be spending the night with us tonight."

"Figured."

"But…"

"Here he goes again." Judy said, smirking.

"…I need to establish some ground rules." He paused, receiving no objections. "First, everyone to bed by ten. Second, no loud noises. Third, don't come up at two in the morning."

Thirty minutes passed, mostly banter and finishing the football game. Nick paused his game when the doorbell rang. "It's probably Q. I'll get it." He walked over to the door and pulled it open. Q sat on the porch bench outside. Nick closed the door, looking up into the dark sky. A few stars peeked out from the darkness, and a half-moon sat suspended in the sky. "Warm night."

"It was interesting. There was nobody at the center."

"I guess that explains why it only took thirty minutes." He turned around. "Want me to get Judy?"

"Don't bother. I'll only be a minute." He gestured toward himself. Nick approached him and leaned against the guard rail. "Wilde," Q said, "this is serious. The strychnine's laced with ten different chemicals, most being street drugs." He lifted a paper.

Nick took it from him and scanned it over. "THC, nicotine, hallucinogenic compounds," Nick read, "ricin…" He gestured his paw holding the paper in front of himself. Nick looked at Q, straight in the eyes. "I know that this poison is dangerous by itself. But having it laced with these other chemicals—"

"Would change brain chemistry, cause hallucinogenic effects, and poison and ultimately kill." He pointed to the paper. "Check how much ricin there is in that one tiny bottle."

Nick scanned the paper. "Twelve grams."

"Six times the lethal dose." He bit his lip. "Unfortunately," Q continued, "we'll haveto go compromise Marco before he fulfills any master plan he has—"

He stopped. Full on, all-out stopped. His eyes went white, and he slumped over without another word. Nick stood, and everything went black.