Disclaimer: Zootopia stories, characters, settings, and properties belong to the Walt Disney Co. This story is written under Fair Use Copyright laws.
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The Fire Triangle-A Zootopia Fanfiction
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Part One:
Fuel
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Chapter 7-Tying Up Loose Ends
(Pt. 4...Continued)
"Nick, you're the one who said it, remember?" Judy changed lanes and hit the gas, repeating the homily the fox had delivered, three weeks into their partnership, after taking down his first perp. "'Witnesses are good; evidence is better, but nothing beats being able to put yourself inside a suspect's head.'"
Nick Wilde just nodded and suppressed a whine; yes he had said that, and now he was beginning to wish that he'd kept his big, fat, fox-trap SHUT. Judy's insistence that Craig Guilford and his girlfriend Amanda were hiding out at his uncle's place was going to yield them nothing; nothing except a razzing from their fellow officers and maybe a tongue-lashing from The Chief.
By the time they reached Tundratown however, his attitude had undergone a serious re-adjustment. This was due, not so much to Judy Hopps' powers of persuasion as it was to three new pieces of information they'd received in the interim.
The first tidbit had come from Chief Bogo, who had (testily) informed his officers that Jake Guilford was twice married and twice divorced, with four kids from his first marriage and none from the second. All four of his offspring either lived with their mother full time or were off, attending college. In other words, the house was empty.
Strike one...
About a half hour later, Benjamin Clawhauser, (much more cheerful than the Chief,) had called with the news that ZPD forensics had confirmed Judy's hunch. Amanda Hill had been caught by the Vine Street Station security cameras at 18:18 on the previous day...barely a glimpse, but definitely her. 25 minutes later, both she and her boyfriend been spotted by the security cams at the Haymarket ZTA Station, debarking from a Green-Line train.
Strike two...
The third strike, the one where they'd struck gold, had come when Jake Guilford had finally returned their call, (in a fretful state of mind.) He had promptly told them yes, the house and the hangar were both alarmed, but had then confided that he also owned a guest cottage-and that it wasn't monitored by Mink's Home Security.
"You might not have caught it on Goggle Earth, it's between the house and the hangar and mostly underground," he'd said, and then added defensively, "I'd like to put it on the alarm system, but Mink's wants to charge me an arm and a tail for..."
After letting Jake ramble on for a bit, Judy had asked him to describe the guest cottage in detail and then Nick had asked him if there were any vehicles on the premises. (Craig Guilford knew how to drive, and an auto-theft charge would be the least of his worries, right about now.)
The coyote's answer had been the best piece of news they'd gotten all morning.
"Nope, thank goodness... my regular ride's in the shop, so I had to take the truck to the airport Sunday," he'd said, "nothing at the house right now but the tractor and that junk-heap runs like a sloth on sleeping pills."
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The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One
Mystery / ThrillerIt's been two years since Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps broke the Savage Predator conspiracy. Now a brilliant and effective team, they're only a few steps away from making the detective bureau and growing closer with every passing day. But even as thei...
