Precinct One was, for lack of a better term, a Zoo. Every officer was in their dress blues and were frantically trying to get their morning work done so that the ceremony wouldn't put them too far behind. Whenever an officer was being promoted to detective, it was always a special affair but today even more so. The entirety of precinct one, the commissioner, and even the Mayor had decided to make an appearance today as it wasn't every day that the ZPD's first Bunny and first Fox officers get promoted to Detective.

Judy, however, seemed to ignore the excitement and was staring hard into a case file, ever the hard worker that she was. Nick approached her from behind and set a cup of hot tea in front of her. She turned and smiled at him with her ears perked up and she could not help but notice how handsome he looked in his crisply pressed and immaculate dress blues.

"Ya know Carrots, technically we're not even supposed to be looking at our assignment until AFTER we get our detective shields." He said as he took a sip from his coffee.

"I know…I just can't help it. Three missing mammals and no similarities to the Nighthowler case…it's a hell of a first official assignment." She replied as she tapped one of her prosthetic feet against the floor, a habit that she had taken to whenever she focused on something, which was much to the annoyance of everyone since they tended to make a loud 'click' sound against the floor.

She closed the file and turned to hug her fox around his waist with her face against his chest. He reciprocated the gesture and wrapped his arms around her.

He simply chuckled and looked down at her. "That's my Carrots, always working…alright, what do we know?" He asked her, kissing between her ears.

"There's no real indication of him having a type, he just seems to attack at random." Judy idly tapped her prosthetic foot against the hard ground and began to speak, "So far, the three victims are a gazelle, a weasel, and an ocelot." She takes a pause before she turned around to face Nick directly. "Eyewitnesses say they only saw the gazelle wander into the alley and soon after heard a scream. They also state that when the eyewitness in question got to the crime scene the only thing he saw was a large black van pulling away, said he couldn't quite catch the plate number." She slumps grimly, irritated at the lack of a true lead.

"So basically what you're telling me here carrots is that we just got conned into taking one of the hardest cases the ZDP has had in years. Sounds like a swell time." He says nonchalantly, playing up his con-man attitude, a quick chuckle escaping his lips.

"Pretty much. Almost less than the Nighthowler Case." She groaned and closed the file again.

"Tell you what Carrots, we go through the ceremony, then go get settled in at our new desks and we'll go through the file together to see if you missed anything. Then after work, we have our date." Nick eyed Judy with a smile and wiggled his brows after his little pep-talk, grabbing her shoulders softly. "Come on Carrots, let's just enjoy the ceremony yeah?"

Judy smiled at her partner and took his hand in her own. "Yeah, let me just finish up my packing, alright Nick?" She lets out a small laugh and turns her head to stare at her belongings tiredly, she hadn't even packed one thing up. Good thing animals still think she's a hard worker, because she's never been good at packing.

Judy reminisced about the past few years while quickly shoving her personal belongings into the box. She thinks about the things they've both done for the ZPD in the past four years. In the middle of her thoughts about her job, she thought about Nick again, she really fell head over heels for the fox. They've been together for almost the entire span of time she's been an officer and it really did show. You'd think after losing her legs the Rabbit would slow down by at least a little bit, but if anything it only sped up her resolve. She was already the best ZPD officer Zootopia had to offer, now all she needed to do is become the best Detective!

Soon enough, they had her desk cleared and asked one of the ZPD couriers to move it for her so that they could make it on time to their ceremony.

The ceremony went off as expected, no problems anywhere, as expected from the best of the ZPD. As Nick and Judy sat on the platform that was set up in the press conference area, they greeted their Commissioner, Chief Bogo and the rest of the less-important Deputy Commissioners. The event was truly going to be remembered as a proud moment in Zootopian history, even Mayor Aurelina Canidae herself decided to make a special appearance and made the speech for the crowd of officers and press that assembled to witness the occasion.

"Dear citizens of Zootopia, make no mistake. Crime is a rampant disease in our once-fair city and now more than ever we choose to rely on the ZPD to serve and protect the common people, in light of this understatement I, Mayor Canidae present Sir Nicholas Wilde, and Madam Judith Hopps these two badges to forever signal them as honorary Detectives of the ZPD." She stated with a triumphant raise of her fists. "Commissioner, if you'll do the honors." She said and dipped her head softly to the Chief, a rather displeased looking Snow Leopard that approached the stand.

"Officers, if you'll turn over your badges." He said. His voice matched his looks and it was enough to make even Bogo shift uncomfortably in his seat.

Nick and Judy both pulled off the badges from loop above their breast pockets and turned them over to the waiting paw of the commissioner before resuming their attention stance.

"Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps. You are no longer officers of the ZPD, it is my honor as Commissioner of the ZPD to grant you both the rank of Detective Grade One." He pulled two oak boxes off the podium and held them out to them. "I hereby assign you both to remain in Precinct One under the authority of Chief Bogo and the commanding officer he deems you serve under. May you both serve this badge and this city with Trust, Honor, and Integrity." He finished, placing the boxes in their paws and giving them a salute which they returned and failed to contain their smiles.

The entire room erupted with thunderous applause and dozens of flashbulbs going off at once. Nick and Judy broke the salute and stepped back to their seats as the Mayor stepped back up to make a closing statement.

As she spoke, Nick leaned to Judy and spoke with a low voice. "Isn't she a little short for a wolf?" and he winced when he received an elbow to the sides from her. "Ow…"

She giggled and sat back down as she opened up the box containing her new shield and simply stared at it for the duration of the ceremony. Her focus was only broken by the sound of Bogo's voice booming in the atrium.

"Ten-Hut!" he yelled. "Present Arms!"

Nick and Judy rose with the rest of the Officers, their paws snapping to their foreheads in a salute as the Mayor and the Upper Staff of the ZPD filed out of the room.

"At Ease!" he shouted again. "Dismissed!" He finished and walked over to Nick and Judy. "Congratulations Detectives. I trust you already have your assignment?"

They both nodded and Judy spoke up. "Yes Sir, Sargent Catano already sent us the file for our first case. We're to report to her when we we're done here."

"Good, you can turn in your Officer Uniforms and receive your Detective braids and lapels for your dress uniforms at Requisitions. Dismissed."

"Yes sir!" They said in unison and stepped off the platform.

They were on their way to the stairs to the second floor when a Serval approached them. "Detectives! Detectives, a moment please?" he asked politely, "I'm Les Catsidy of the Zootopia Journal, could I get a moment?" he said as he waved his press badge.

They looked at each other and stopped. "Sure buddy, what can we do for you?" Nick said with his usual sly smirk.

"Th-thanks so much!" Les said eagerly, "I just had a few questions for the paper if that's alright." He looked to them to double check if he was still welcome and quickly flipped open his pad. "First question is for Judy: 'Your Injury should have ended your career but I see that you're back and no worse for wear. What was it that brought you back?'"

Judy mulled it over. It didn't seem to bother her that he asked it and she honestly expected the question to come up eventually. "Well, I suppose it was the Chief coming to visit me after it happened. He gave me the push I needed to get back here and I had all the support from my partner and the ZPD. They wouldn't let me forget that it was my dream to be a police officer."

"Ah that's wonderful! Thanks for being candid with your answer!" Les said, his pen flying eagerly across the page as he wrote down his notes. "Next one is for Nick: Have you had any opposition on the job being a fox?"

"Not as much as you'd think. Most of the ZPD is pretty progressive with their thinking now and while we still encounter an old fashioned mammal on the streets every now and then, they're pretty respectful." He said with a shrug.

"Good to hear that mammals aren't so old fashioned! Last but not least, this one is for both of you: Now that you're both detectives, have you already been assigned to a case? Namely the three missing mammals?"

Judy took point and answered this one. "Have we been assigned a case? Yes." She says nodding her head, "Are we allowed to discuss the said contents of the case? No, no we are not." She said and gave a cutesy smile.

"Fair enough Detective Hopps, fair enough. I wish you both luck and thank you for your time!" Les said eagerly and sauntered off, leaving Nick and Judy to glance at each other.

After a shared shrug, they headed up to the second floor where the detectives were based and to their new desks, each with a computer sized perfectly for them as well as all their belongings boxed up on top. On Judy's desk, there was a rather lovely bouquet which she eyed with a curious expression. She plucked the card from the stem it sat on and she read it aloud. "Congrats on your promotion. XOXO" she said and looked it over.

"Who's it from?" Nick asked as he looked over the flowers.

"Doesn't say on the tag." She says and rubbed her paw under her chin as she pondered who could've sent it. "Y'know it could've probably been Clawhauser? He forgets to write his name on stuff all the time." She snaps back to matters more important at the moment. "Sergeant Catano really wanted to meet us down at her office; we should probably there before we make her mad.

Nick nodded and took point behind her, paws stuffed in his pockets as they strolled to the Sergeant's office.

Soon enough, they found themselves standing in the office, looking at the endlessly cheeky expression of their new commanding officer. "Ah, my new detectives! So nice to finally meet you and congratulations on your promotion! Now, the reason I wanted to talk with you is that I wanted to acquaint you with my rules. When under my command, you are to report any breakthrough to me, I do not care if it isn't to my face. A text message, hell, a sticky note on my computer screen would be enough, I want to be in the know on your investigations. Second, and this is the most important…" her playful expression disappeared and she glared at them. "My squad is like my own set of children, I couldn't blame anyone but myself if something happened to you, so no heroics or rash and stupid decisions under my command. Do you understand me Hopps?"

"Yes Ma'am!" Judy replied quickly.

She smiled and her expression quickly returned to normal. "Good, now, since you're Detectives, you don't have to be in your dress blues or a beat uniform anymore. Plain clothes are allowed as long as it fits in business casual. And no Wilde…that does not mean you can go around and parade in those gaudy Pawaiian shirts you're so fond of." She chuckled at his shocked expression. "Oh come now, you're not the only one that knows everybody. A little birdy told me all about them. Now, I believe that's everything, go ahead and get changed if you'd like and get settled in. I believe Detective Bearnard dropped your assignment off to you this morning. Dismissed." They gave her a nod and made a quick right turn to head to the locker rooms that also occupied the second floor.

They quickly changed out of their Dress Blues, they returned to their desks in their plain clothes. Judy giggled at the sight of Nick in an oversized white button down shirt that he had to borrow from Officer Sheepherd.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up Fluff." He rolled his eyes at her.

She snorted once more before she sat down and divided the file up evenly between them. "Okay, so I'll take the witness statements and victim files…and you can take the crime scene reports and initial investigations by officers on scene and we'll see if I missed anything."

Nick nodded and took his half of the paperwork and started to thumb through it. She turned to her stack, sighed before she opened it up, and gave the floor a tap with her prosthetic as she started to read.

They spent the better part of their afternoon with their noses in the file and every hour or so they traded stacks to re-read what the other read to see if they may have missed anything at all. After a while, Judy finally slammed her head against the desk. "This is hopeless, we have this file memorized by now and we aren't any closer to a lead."

Nick reached across the desk and gently pet between the ears. "You're not allowed to quit. You had less with the Nighthowler case and still solved it. I know we'll get this."

She gave him an appreciative smile but before she could say anything, her phone rang and buzzed against the tabletop. "Hopps." She answered and suddenly perked up in her seat. "What are you talking about? A Victim?" Judy quickly put the phone down after the conversation was over and leaped out of her chair, her prosthetic legs squeaking as she gestured for nick to follow. "Officer Wolford found what's left of a weasel, he thinks it's our victim." She says sprinting out of the room, Nick close behind her.

The crime scene was a veritable hornet's nest of activity. Around the alley and holding back an onslaught of press and curious onlookers was a string of officers, none of them enjoying the heat of Sahara Square at all. To the left of the Alley Entrance, McHorn was questioning a very ill looking Otter that was gesturing frantically at the alley. On the other side, a team of CSI Units were darting in and out of the alley, taking photos and samples while Wolford seemed to be gesturing them over.

Nick and Judy dodged the throngs of reporters that tried to pounce them and slipped under the police line. Wolford smiled at them, a dark tone in his face as he waved them over. "Detectives..." he says, almost as if he was sick with the Flu.

"Hopps, Wilde, Congrats on your promotion. Sorry it's here that I have to tell you. Anyway, about an hour ago, we get a call about Mr. Ottersworth running out of the alley screaming his head off and breaking down on the sidewalk. We managed to calm him down and unfortunately found out he stumbled upon our body here. It's…um…pretty bad…" he said as he rubbed the back of his head with a paw. "If you're ready, I'll show you where it's at."

They shook their heads and prepared for the worst, but through all of their preparation, they couldn't have even fathomed as to what they had just gotten themselves into. The sickly-rotten smell of blood filled the air, and once they got a peek inside of the dumpster it was all over for Judy and Nick's stomachs. Nick turned his head violently and began to spill the contents of his lunch onto the wall next to the dumpster and Judy nearly fainted from the sight of the body.

The body was even worse than the expected. The Weasel's torso was cut opened from his collarbone to his groin and his skin splayed open, exposing his ribcage and noticeably empty body cavity. His liver, heart, and intestines were pulled from his body while his lungs and other organs remained. His face was subjected to a beating at some point as his muzzle was broken in several places and a few teeth were missing. His arms looked as if they were chopped off with an axe, as there were several deep gashes in his neck and clavicle. The final and perhaps one of the more lurid details was that his eyelids were cut from his face, leaving him with a permanently shocked expression.

Nick quickly led Judy from the alley and found a place for her to sit while she worked through the initial shock. Nick turned to Wolford with a grim expression. "I've seen my share of bodies, but never anything like that…"

Wolford nodded and gently pat Nick's shoulder, "The next one is always worse, believe me." He said grimly. "We figured out he was yours because whoever did this taped his driver's license to his ribcage." he said and watched as a team of Coroners went in with a body bag and stretcher. He turned back to them and held out a piece of paper inside of an evidence bag that was creased with numerous folds. "We also found this in his mouth."

Judy reluctantly took it in her paws and her eyes went wide as she read the contents. Nick gave her a worried look and rested a paw on her shoulder. "What does it say Carrots?" he asked, his eyebrows raising when her expression shifts to shock. "Judy?"

She flipped the paper over, showing everyone that the text that was scrawled messily onto it was something downright paranormal: "Did you enjoy your flowers Ms. Hopps? I picked them just for you, from the bottom of the weasel's heart." Judy couldn't even react to this statement, she threw the evidence onto the ground and backed up, shaking her head. "That's...not possible." She squeaked out in a mix of revulsion and fear. "This isn't right, this can't actually be real, this killer can't be a normal animal." Judy's only comfort was a heavy hug from her partner, a soft whisper filling her ear to soothe her. "Carrots...Carrots calm down, we'll find the bastard, I promise." He said, his voice soft as he held his beloved close to him, eager to never let go.