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
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Part Two:
Oxidizer
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Chapter 8: Everything You Know is Wrong
(Part 4...Cont'd)
"Strangely enough," Jack La Peigne had risen from his chair again, this time standing with his paw atop the antique brass globe, parked beside his desk. To Judy, he looked almost as if he was posing for a portrait. "In his own way, the Lewis boy was responsible for blowing the lid off the Granite Point scandal. It was in the course of investigating his escape that we learned of the abuses taking place there-almost stumbled upon them, really. The head of our Correctional Division was so horrified, he insisted on informing me fursonally...at two o'clock in the morning!" His paw fell away from the globe, clenching into a Gordian fist. "He was absolutely right to have done that Detective; I've never been so angry in all my life. I ordered the immediate closure of Granite Point and the suspension of everyone who worked there. The next thing I did was issue instructions that all files relative to the abuses taking place there were to be forwarded at once to the Zoo Jersey Penal Authorities...and hang the consequences. If there were going to be any civil or criminal penalties lodged against AKER because of Granite Point, then so be it."
"Except...WERE there any penalties?" Judy kept her thoughts to herself, but she couldn't keep them completely quiet. Had anyone gone to jail over that episode, had there been any fines to pay? What about lawsuits from angry parents? There must have been at least a few. She had no idea, but knew a couple of things, if nothing else. Granite Point was very much back in business, and AKER Correctional still had its contracts with the states of Zoo York and Zoo Jersey.
"...AND the City of Zootopia," her inner voice pointedly observed, nearly causing her to wince.
Well, she could talk about that later...maybe. That wasn't why she'd come here, and she'd given Jack La Peigne more than enough indulgence for one day.
"Yes, about the Lewis boy's breakout from Granite Point. He didn't pull off his escape from the Precinct-1 Jail without help from the outside-so may I assume that was also true of his flight from the AKER facility?"
La Peigne's reaction left her ready to be knocked over with a feather; he not only smiled, but actually grinned.
"Your assumption would be 110% correct Detective...and I'm glad you asked me that question. Were you aware that the Lewis boy's good friend, Wesley McCrodon is-or rather was-the great nephew of the notorious arms merchant, James 'The Mister' McCrodon?"
"I am," Judy answered, wondering what the heck this had to do with the price of carrots in China.
"All right, then." Jack sat himself down again, leaning across the desk on his elbows. He seemed pleased that she was aware of that fact. "But were you further aware that no sooner did Wez McCrodon begin serving his sentence, than his uncle started a campaign to secure his release?"
There was silence for a moment before the doe-bunny finally answered him...in a soft, flat voice.
"That, I didn't know." Actually, she thought she had heard something to that effect, although at the moment, she couldn't remember where.
"Yes," Jack was nodding soberly, "And we blocked his efforts every step of the way. Er, by 'we' I mean AKER Correctional and the State of Zoo Jersey. No way did either one of us want a kid like that let loose on the streets again. Eventually, the Mister decided that if he couldn't secure his nephew's freedom through legal means, he'd set up a jailbreak instead." His eyes found hers again, "and that's how the Lewis boy was able to escape from Granite Point, the only detainee ever to pull it off." He concluded with a wince; one that made him look as if he'd bitten into an unripe persimmon. For Judy it was a bit of a revelation. After all this time, it still rankled him that Conor had managed to put a blemish on Granite Point's otherwise spotless escape record. She might have made a note of it, except that she had other things on her mind. Obviously, Conor had been part of Wez McCrodon's escape plan. Jack La Peigne hadn't said so outright, but if the two of them had been that close, well...
Hold it, holllld it! There was something he wasn't telling her.
"But you must have seen it coming!" she protested. "You must have known that given his record, sooner or later, the McCrodon boy would try to make a break for it."
"We did," the big bunny asserted, raising his paws defensively, "And that's why he's still in custody. What we didn't count on was Conor Lewis. As you might have imagined, Wez only brought him along to serve as a distraction while HE made good on his escape. It almost worked-except the Lewis kid was smart enough to have figured out that he was being set up. He more or less turned the tables and then HE got away while McCrodon ended up back in his cell."
"And then a mental hospital," Again Judy thought but didn't say it. Considering what she'd heard about the cruelties going on at Granite Point, she strongly suspected that Wesley McCrodon hadn't gone off the deep end on his own. He'd been given a push...a big one.
But what about Conor, what had happened to him?
Even before she could ask the question, the answer was already on its way.
"As for the Lewis boy...honestly, we never expected to see that young silver fox alive again. Everyone agreed that when The Mister found out how he'd conned Wez into taking the fall for him, that'd be all she wrote. NOBODY double-crossed that sea mink's family and got away with it." He reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Only it didn't work out like that; when McCrodon got word that his nephew was locked up in a psych-ward, he just plain wrote the kid off and forgot about him." He lifted a paw and waved it. "That's the kind of animal he was, Detective; if you weren't any use to him, then as far as he was concerned, you didn't exist."
Judy started to answer, but instead formed her paws into a 'T' feeling her nose beginning to twitch.
"Wait, hold it; if you knew where Conor...where the Lewis boy was, then why didn't you simply go and get him?"
La Peigne clasped his paws together, regarding the view out the window for a moment.
"That's...complicated, Detective. First of all, like I said, we didn't expect him to last more than a week with The Company. It wasn't until sometime later that we learned differently; not only was that fox-kid still alive, he was working for the Mister as his fursonal bicycle-messenger. Second, and more important," His eyes found hers again. "We didn't have the authority. Once the Lewis boy was no longer in our custody, it was up to the Zoo York City Police to bring him in, and..." He stopped, drumming fingers into the crook of his elbows. "And you're not going to like this Detective, but it has to be said. The ZYPD isn't the ZPD-about as clean as a junkyard by comparison. And that's important, because look at who ended up having custody of that silver fox...The Company, one of the most powerful and certainly THE most dangerous crime cartel on the East Coast-with plenty of cash and even more leverage."
He stopped again, sitting back in his chair and bracing himself for the inevitable angry rejoinder from the bunny seated in front of him. How dare he besmirch her brother officers?
Judy might have delivered one too, except...
She had already heard from Chief Bogo about Nick Wilde's adventures in Zoo York; how the ZYPD brass stonewalled his visit to One Police Plaza. In that context, like it or not, what La Peigne had just told her was entirely believable.
And so, she simply nodded for him to continue...which he did.
"And-I'll admit it-our legal department wasn't so sure they wanted him back...not in the wake of the Granite Point scandal. "We're in for a bad enough time as it is, without that fox-kid becoming the star witness in a class action lawsuit,' is what they told me...Wait, no..." he was hurriedly raising his paws again. "I didn't like it any more than you, Detective; I had to practically hold a gun to certain animals' heads to get them to keep pressing for his return to our custody. In any event," he took in a breath and held it for a second, "it all became moot when he ended up getting killed in a fight with a Russian street gang."
Again, he paused, and again he seemed to steel himself...and again, it was superfluous; his bombshell was only a wet firecracker.
"Yes, I already heard about it from Councilmember Nizhang," Judy pointed a cool finger at the folder on the big bunny's desk, eyes narrowing a little, "Except he didn't die, and now we have the proof."
She had allowed her voice to become a tiny bit accusatory, just enough so that La Peigne couldn't fail to notice.
Indeed, he did not; bolting half-way out of his chair with his right foot thumping like a triphammer
"Take it up with the ZYPD; like I just said, it was their investigation, not ours! All right, yes, we did suspect that the Lewis-kid's death might have been faked. God knows, if there's anyone who could have pulled that off, it was The Mister...but there was nothing we could do to prove it. The city rejected every single one of our requests to have his body exhumed...and then they started hinting that, in light of the Granite Point Scandal, they might have to re-examine their contract with AKER Correctional...unless, of course, we stopped harassing them about 'certain other matters' as they rather indelicately put it." He rose abruptly to his full height. "And now you know why we moved our headquarters from Zoo York City to Zootopia. I don't like being bullied, Detective Hopps."
Judy only sat, looking up at him with an indifferent expression. She was surprised at how calm she felt in the face of such a vehement tirade.
But then he wasn't trying to intimidate her; he wasn't even angry with her, really. It was the Zoo York PD that was the target of his wrath. And if what he was saying was true, he had every right to be upset.
In any event, his ire was already beginning to ebb.
"Sorry, think I got a little carried away there, Detective." He took his seat again, at the same time smoothing down his suit-jacket. "But please...try to understand. Conor Lewis might be Public Enemy Number One right now-but at the time of his escape from Granite Point, he was more or less a nobody. Compared to what some of the other kids in that facility had done to be sent there, his offense was downright petty. And that's especially true when you stack him up against Wez McCrodon; believe me, if that escape had gone off as planned and HE'D been the one that got away, the ZYPD would have spared no effort to bring him back-Mister or no Mister."
"Hmmm," Judy stroked her ear, looking thoughtful. Conor...Public Enemy Number One? She didn't like the sound of that, but the rest of what La Peigne had said made perfect sense. After all, that was more or less the story of the fugitive young silver fox's escape from the Precinct-1 jail. Before that. what had he been, but a minor player at best? Heck, it hadn't been him the Attorney General's office wanted; it was the animal he'd been working for, the mysterious loan-shark known only as The Phantom. And even then, it wasn't until after the 'I-Fought-The-Law' graffiti plague had hit that he'd become such a high priority target. If not for that, his actual identity would probably still be an unknown quantity.
And, on that subject...
"Mr. La Peigne, do you have any idea what Conor Lewis's real name is? I mean his birth-name."
"Nope," the big bunny threw up his paws in frustration, "That's why we ran a DNA comparison on him in the first place. And it came up dry, no known relatives, at least none that were in any database."
Judy's nose began to twitch again.
"Well, yes...but didn't he ever...?"
"Nope, he never told anyone, not even Wez McCrodon," Once again, the big bunny had anticipated her question. "And believe me, if he had, we would have heard about it. There were no secrets in Granite Point, at least not in the bad, old days; back then, that place was a rumor-sweatshop."
At this, Judy couldn't help smiling. One thing you had to give this bunny; he for sure had a way with the words.
And there were more where those came from.
"One thing we were fairly certain of was that the Lewis boy was an orphan. He fit the psych profile so perfectly, it almost could have been tailor-made, just for him."
"Right," Judy nodded, jotting a mental note. At last, here was some information that might aid in apprehending the fugitive young silver fox. Something else occurred to her then; probably not relevant, but she felt she should ask it. "Tell me...did the Lewis boy ever show any sort of...er, musical aptitude while he was locked up in Granite Point?"
"None that I'm aware of," La Peigne answered and then lifted a paw. "But then he wouldn't have had much of a chance. Musical instruments aren't allowed in any of our high-security facilities...especially not a guitar." By way of demonstration, he raised his fists and twisted them in the air...pantomiming the act of garroting someone.
"Yes, of course," Judy nodded. That wasn't what she'd meant, but she decided to let it go. There was another, more important question to be asked....and the big bunny had unwittingly just provided her with an opening.
"Then, may I presume that there was no such thing as computer access for the detainees in Granite Point?"
"You may," La Peigne nodded. There was no defensiveness in his voice; only a crisp matter-of-factness. "They weren't even allowed to have cell-phones, although that didn't prevent them from being smuggled in every once in a while; back then, our correctional officers were, um, not immune to taking bribes. Someone even managed to sneak in a tablet once, although that was before the Lewis boy's time there." He lifted an ear, "But I have to wonder, why would you ask?"
Judy answered the question with one of her own.
"With a rule like that in place, would it be a safe bet that some of the kids locked up in Granite Point were there for computer crimes?"
"Hmmm, yes, but not that many," the big bunny answered tentatively, as if unsure where this was going. "The average hacker isn't violent by nature, as I'm sure you're aware." But then his other ear went up and he snapped his fingers. "Ahhhh, you're thinking that Granite Point may have been where the Lewis Boy first began to acquire his computer skills?"
"Not exactly," Judy fanned a paw, "I thought that Granite Point may have been where he first met..." She paused and switched gears. "Look, I know there's no such animal as The Phantom, but the Lewis boy was definitely working with somebody; somebody that-it's pretty obvious by now-was the REAL cyber-talent in that partnership. Even with the best mentor in the world, that fox-kid couldn't have acquired such a high level of computer savvy in the time he was with The Company...and the fake writ of release that he used to get out of jail? That wasn't his work, it couldn't have been. Someone else would have had to create it."
"Ahhh, I see." A slow light was flickering in Jack La Peigne's eyes. "You think they might have actually met face-to-face, and that Granite Point might have been where it happened." He sat back in chair, steepling his fingers. "That's an interesting thought Detective, but there's something else I think you need to consider; whoever the Lewis boy's partner is, it has to be someone he can trust-not just completely, but also blindly."
Now Judy was the bunny with a raised ear. "Huh, why do you say that?"
La Peigne pointed at the folder again. "According to what's in his ZPD file, the Lewis boy first came to Zootopia as a diamond courier for The Mister. And then, while he was here, the Finagles raid happened and The Company was completely wiped out-only two survivors, and both of them are locked up for good. That left him with something on the order of six figures worth of cash in his possession. Am I correct?"
"Ah yes, that's rightt," Judy's answer was a little unsettled. Whoa, this bunny knew a LOT more than she'd thought about the Conor Lewis investigation. The information he'd just cited was less than ten hours old.
"Right," the big rabbit was nodding tersely. "So, his partner might have had the computer smarts, but HE was the one with the capital-and I don't think I need to tell you what an excess of cash can do to an illicit partnership."
No, he didn't. Judy could feel her face hardening as she thought about it. How many times had she witnessed that scenario? A crook has a friend, a close friend, someone he's known since they were kids. Perhaps he saved his buddy's life once, or took the fall for him; heck, they could even be brothers. So, one day he gives his friend $50K in hot money for safekeeping-and the next thing he knows, it's gone, spent, stolen, or gambled away.
And then what's he going to do, call the cops? Oh yes, she knew exactly what the big bunny was talking about. As her former partner, Nick Wilde, had once wryly observed, "Blood may be thicker than water, Carrots-but nothing is thicker than cold, hard, cash."
And La Peigne had a lot more to say besides.
"And loyalty wasn't all that easy to come by in Granite Point-not back then, Detective. The detainees were always sticking it to each other...sometimes literally." His ears turned backwards again, "And that was exactly how the administration wanted it. As long as those kids were busy fighting amongst themselves, they would never pose a threat to their keepers."
"Riiiight." Yep, here was another principle that Judy understood all too well; divide and conquer.
But then...wait a minute.
"Okay, but what about the Wez McCrodon crew? From what I've heard, and from what you yourself said just now, they sound like a pretty solid group to me."
"That was different," La Peigne retorted, cocking a finger, "It wasn't loyalty that kept that gang together, it was fear...fear of the mammal in charge. When it came to holding a grudge, nobody could touch Wez McCrodon; he'd wait a hundred years to get back at anyone who crossed him. One time, he piped another detainee and got three weeks in separation for his troubles. Five minutes after they let him out, he jumped the kid a second time and piped him again-right in front of an officer; that sea-mink boy just didn't care, Detective." He rubbed finger under his nose and sniffed. "And by the way, that kid he attacked? He was a snow-leopard, nearly twice his own size." He sat back again, spreading his paws. "Like I said, they didn't call him 'Crazy Wez' because the name had a nice ring to it. Oh, and guess who he left in charge of the crew while he was away?"
Judy didn't want to make that guess and so she banished the thought instead.
"Ah, I get it," she nodded, and she did, too-including the part that the big bunny had left unsaid.
The McCrodon crew had been Granite Point's unofficial enforcers. And because of that, she was willing to bet that three weeks in solitary was a slap on the wrist compared to what any regular kid would have gotten for taking a pipe to another detainee.
But they were getting off topic again...and this time, she wasn't the only one to notice.
"Even so, Detective...I don't think we can completely dismiss the possibility that the Lewis boy may have met the...errr, Phantom, or whoever, while he was being held in Granite Point. I'll have a list compiled of detainees from that period who were incarcerated for computer crimes, and then have it forwarded to Precinct-1 by courier."
"Good, thank you sir." Judy was pleased to have made her point in spite of the big bunny's demurrals. It was a long shot of course, but...
...But then she felt her nose beginning to twitch yet again; something else had just occurred to her.
She straightened up in her chair and looked her host squarely in the eye.
"Mr. La Peigne, with all due respect, there's something I don't understand here." She reached up, tapping the folder with her finger. "Mr. Whitepaugh could just as easily have relayed this information during his visit to Precinct-1. Why did you feel the need to bring me here and tell me fursonally?" Her foot was trying to thump; she stopped it. "And...why ME?"
Judy sat back and braced herself, expecting a dodge at best, possibly some bluster, and at worst, a curt dismissal from the big bunny's presence.
None of those things happened. Instead...what the heck? He was practically squirming in his seat-looking even more uncomfortable than Seth Whitepaugh had, back in Chief Bogo's office.
"Yes...well," La Peigne reached up to tug at his collar. "I had hoped to save this for the end of our session, but..." His paw went under the desk and Judy heard a drawer slide open. A second later, it returned, holding a Manila envelope. "Before they crashed, the crew on board our hovercraft managed to get a good look at the occupants on board the Lewis boy's boat...or rather at one of them in particular." He slid the envelope towards her, adding, "The black box survived undamaged and we were able to access it via Wi-Fi." He lost her gaze for half a second. "I really hope I'm wrong about this, Detective, but..." He pushed the envelope the rest of the way across the desktop.
Judy stared at him for a second, and then at the thing on the desk. As she reached for it, she could feel not just her nose, but her fingers twitching. Taking hold of the envelope, she found that she was barely able to undo the clasp-and also barely able to stop herself from just tearing it open like a party-favor.
But when she pulled out the document...nothing. It was just a blank...oh, wait, it wasn't a document, it was a photograph, and it was facing the wrong way.
She turned it around-and felt her heart shoot into her throat. And that was not such a bad occurrence, since it was the only thing that kept her from screaming her ears off.
"Oh, my God...ERIN!"
No, no, no...this couldn't be right. Her sister would never...! And yet there she was in the flesh and fur, right in front of her. Okay, well then, she must have been brought aboard that boat against her will. Yeah, that was it...look, they had her belted up in some kind of restraining harness. Only...why was she holding a tranq-gun in her paws, holding it like she meant business? All right then; that picture must be a deep-fake.
"No, it isn't, and you know it!" Her inner voice shot back, archly.
"Nnnngh," a painful half-groan, half-sigh, came from the other side of the desk. The look on her face had not escaped Jack La Peigne's notice. "Ohhhh, I had so hoped it wasn't her; I'm truly sorry, Detective."
Judy looked up and saw him, he looked positively wretched...as if the bunny in that photograph was HIS younger sister.
But...how had he recognized...? Oh wait, he must have seen Erin at the Carrot Days festival.
An epiphany came to her just then...bringing with it a blinding flash of rage and a nasty suspicion. Ooooo, just what kind of bunny did this overgrown so-and-so think she was? He had better NOT have brought her here because...
"Mr. La Peigne," she said-in a voice that was very, very even. "Who else knows about this besides you and me?"
"Well, the crew on board the hovercraft, of course." He seemed put off by the question. "And the techs who processed it...but none of them have the slightest idea as to the identity of the bunny in that picture; as far as they know she could be anyone." He nodded at the photograph. "Other than that, no one's aware that this picture even exists, not even Mr. Whitepaugh."
He appeared to be attempting to reassure her, but instead, she felt her anger tick up a notch. When she spoke again, it was in the most formal manner she could muster.
"Sir, I appreciate you giving me this information...but not so much the manner in which you delivered it, going out of your way to keep it a secret from everyone else but me." Her eyes locked into his, "And I hope-I really hope-you did NOT do so with the expectation that I would want to cover it up."
In the blink of an eye, La Peigne was out of his seat again.
"Sweet cheez n' crackers Detective! Of course not, I know you better than that. I just wanted you to be the first to know, that's all, before...I..." He looked down and away, drumming his fingers on the desktop, his voice lowering to an uncertain murmur. "I...just didn't know what else to do."
That did the trick; the wind went out of Judy's sails as if sucked away by a vacuum. Yet again, he had responded with something completely unexpected...and dang, if he didn't sound completely sincere. Okay, maybe she had every right to be angry, but what right did she have to take it out on him?
She immediately lifted her own paws.
"Sorry, that was out of line. I'm just...kind of in shock over what I saw just now. Three days ago, my little sister was on her way to the Zootopia Academy of the Performing Arts. But now..." Judy sniffed and turned away, unable to say any more, not wanting him to hear her voice cracking.
But now what would happen to Erin? When the Performing Arts Academy got wind of this pic, they'd never admit her into their school, much less allow her to keep her scholarship.
"Ohhh sis, what's WRONG with you?"
That was as far as her train of thought managed to get, before she applied the air-brakes. "All right, that's enough; you can be mad at your sister later. Right now, you're a police detective and you're still on duty."
And Jack La Peigne was still talking to her.
"That's all right, Detective; perfectly understandable." He spread his paw across the center of his chest. "And you have my word, nothing you said just now will ever leave this office."
"Thank you," Judy answered him, in a voice that felt very small.
"No problem," the big bunny answered, offering the barest hint of a smile. And then, apparently sensing that she didn't want to talk about her sister any more, he moved quickly to another subject.
"I've instructed our Cyber-Security Division to see if they can track down the source of that fake reward offer. According to what my techs tell me, it was no simple prank. Somebody wanted the Lewis boy taken down."
"What...who?" Judy answered, nose twitching all over again. Yes, when you gave it a little thought, here was something else that made a great deal of sense. And La Peigne was certainly within his rights to investigate that bogus reward offer. After all, it had ended up costing his firm a hovercraft and possibly a lot more money in a legal settlement.
"No idea," the big bunny admitted, lifting his paws in a shrug, "Except...what it tells me is, whoever posted that fake reward, it has to be somebody that knows the Lewis boy." His eyebrow lifted and the corners of his mouth went in opposite directions. "Knows him-and doesn't like him very much."
"Hmmm," Judy hunkered into herself for a second, thinking hard. She couldn't imagine anyone hating Conor enough to pull that kind of betrayal on him. But then again...a week ago, she couldn't have imagined him going after her with a baton. And, let's be honest, the kind of life he'd led was very much the sort that bred enemies; there was another set-up she'd seen play out before. It didn't feel plausible...and yet at the same time, it felt almost inevitable.
"I would also not be surprised," La Peigne was speaking again, "if the animal, or animals, who posted that dummy reward were to up and try something similar in the near future."
Nuh-uhhhh...not this time...
"Not for a while, I think," Judy slowly shook her head and then looked up at him, "Not if they've got any smarts, anyway. That stunt seriously ticked off a LOT of mammals-and not very nice ones. Those Privateer gangs, the Chaungs and the Deguellos; they're mad at the Lewis boy right now, obviously...and each other. But what really has their dander up is that they got suckered into a goose chase; one that ended up with a bunch of their guys going to jail-and more than a few of their boats going to the bottom of this or that canal."
"Yes-s-s-s-sss," La Peigne's reply was like the hiss of a broken steam-line, "Yes, we weren't the only ones who lost a vessel to that...goose-chase, as you call it." He nodded and cocked a finger. "Good call, Detective...and yes, I think you're right. Our hoaxers would be very well advised to lay low for a while."
Just then, a pinging noise sounded somewhere in the office. Judy had no idea where it was coming from...until she noticed that the bunny behind the desk was studying his wristwatch.
"Ahhhh, 'fraid we need to wrap this up, Detective. I've got a meeting scheduled and just enough time to grab lunch before it starts." He rose from his chair with that tilted smile again, "I've never negotiated well on an empty stomach, you see." He seemed to fidget again for a second, "I'd...ask you to join me, but...well, under the circumstances..."
"No, that would actually be okay, Mr. La Peigne," Judy interrupted quickly, making a hasty exit from her chair; a little too hasty. She felt an instant tearing sensation in her side. It wasn't especially painful and for once, she was able to ignore it.
She wanted more information before she took her leave of this rabbit, a lot more.
Just the same, she'd need to be careful of her injuries if she didn't want to end up back in the ER again.
"All right then Detective," La Peigne's smile had changed from sardonic to genuine. "Let's go."
A short while later they were eight floors down in the AKER executive dining room, an eating space that made the Palm Hotel's Golden Oasis Room look like a fast-food joint; silk brocade on the walls, crystal chandeliers overhead, an intricately designed parquet floor beneath their feet, and the inevitable wraparound picture window. There was even a piano on a raised dais-two of them in fact; one for small mammals and another for those of medium-to-large size. At the moment however, both were unoccupied.
By now Judy understood the real reason why she had agreed to join Jack La Peigne for lunch-loathe as she was to admit it. She could tell herself that she wanted more info from him until she was blue in the ears. But the truth of the matter was, she was stalling; putting off the inevitable moment when she would have to inform Chief Bogo that her sister had been on Conor's getaway boat.
Or...never mind the Chief; how on earth was she going to break the news to her mother...or Violet? She knew she'd have to; they were going to find out for themselves, sooner or later. And then, what if they further discovered that she had known all along and said nothing to them about it?
"Errrrrinnnn! For God's sake...! And where the heck is the waiter with that chair?"
Entering the dining room, La Peigne had led her to his private table, situated on a glassed-in half-balcony overlooking Tundratown Ridge. And there they'd been obliged to wait, since both of the chairs were too large for a standard-sized bunny-and this time, they weren't self-adjusting.
While they waited, the big rabbit thumped his foot-although not impatiently; he seemed to be trying to make up his mind about something. When, at last, a goat appeared, carrying with him a long legged small-species chair and spouting profuse apologies, La Peigne insisted on helping her into it, as if to make up for the delay.
Taking his own seat, he informed the waiter, "My usual, please."
"Make that two," Judy piped up at once. She had no idea as to what Jack La Peigne's 'usual' was, but since he was another rabbit-and a Bunnyburrow rabbit at that-she figured it was a safe enough bet.
Well yes, but...
"All right, but appropriate portions, please," the big bunny amended for the waiter, indicating Judy with a nod of his head, "and mildly spiced for my guest."
"Yes sir, right away," the goat replied, bowing out quickly and silently.
La Peigne waited until he was gone and then turned to Judy.
"Hrm, I think, before anything else, Detective..."
"Ah, Judy's fine," she interrupted. They were no longer in a formal setting, so...okay.
"All right," the big bunny nodded, "and call me Jack. Anyway, what I wanted to say was that before anything else, I think we need to clear the air about something...about the elephant in the room." He indicated himself with an inward wave of his fingers. "Or rather, the elephant-sized rabbit in the room."
At this Judy blinked and tried to raise a finger. Oh, come on, he wasn't THAT large.
Well-l-l, maybe not but he was one step ahead of her.
"I know you'd never be rude enough to ask, Judy. But at the same time, I know you can't help wondering about it; everyone does. How the heck did a bunny ever get to be this size?" He leaned forward, pressing a finger into the tabletop. "And I've always found the best way to deal with it is to meet it head-on; get it out in the open, right up front. And so..." He rolled a paw in the air, leaving the rest unsaid.
"Sure, go ahead," Judy answered, trying to sound chipper. The truth of the matter was, she had been wondering how he'd gotten to be that big, ever since their first meeting. "So, let's get it out of the way and be done with it." He was right about that too.
Good idea or not, it wasn't easy for him; he spent the next few seconds scratching at the base of his ear, as if trying to figure out how best to put it.
And then at last, he looked at her.
"Perhaps you may have heard the 'unofficial-official' version of the story, that my ancestors were Flemish rabbits who bred themselves to great size in order to fight off the Roman invaders. No? Just as well; only the part about my family coming from Belgium is true. The rest is a nice, convenient story, but a complete fabrication. The truth, in fact, is just the opposite." He leaned forward again, this time with an elbow on the table. Bad manners, but under the circumstances, Judy didn't mind.
"Believe it or not, I was actually the smallest in my family, the runt of the litter, if you like. Everyone used to tell me that one day I'd grow out of it, but it didn't happen. Even after I hit puberty, I didn't start to put on any size. In fact, for a while there, it looked like I was going to grow up to be a pygmy rabbit. Finally, as a kind of a last resort, I was put on growth hormones." He sat up and spread his arms, "And, as you can see, they worked-a little too well. In less than two years, I went from being the smallest to the biggest bunny in my family."
"Wh-What was that like for you?" Judy asked him. She couldn't begin to imagine. On the surface, it sounded like a good thing...a little too good to be true.
La Peigne's elbow moved from the table to the back of his chair.
"At first I was thrilled," he said, heaving the words like a sigh. "At last, I was as of a size with my schoolmates. Now, maybe, they'd stop teasing me and let me hang with them. When I grew to be a little bit bigger than they were, I thought I was the luckiest bunny in the world, but then..." He turned sideways in his chair, his mouth becoming a tight, flat line. "But then I KEPT growing...until, all of sudden everyone in my school was scared of me. And not just my classmates, the teachers were put off too. I had to sit all the way in the back with the bigger-species kids; none of the other bunnies in my class could see the teacher, the chalkboard, or anything, if my desk was in front of theirs."
There was no self-pity in his voice, no bitterness; he spoke the words as a simple statement of fact. Nonetheless, Judy couldn't help but feel some sympathy. She had heard from Mac Cannon about what the Burrow County Sheriff's Department had found when they'd entered the Guilford home-formerly the La Peigne family warren. All of the tunnels and doorways had been enlarged to more than double the standard dimensions for a rabbit. Several walls had been knocked out as well, to increase the size of a number of rooms.
At first, Judy had assumed-and now she wondered why she had-that the alterations had been made to accommodate the former rabbit-warren's new tenants, a family of coyotes. Now, she knew differently; it had all been done for the bunny sharing her table...and knowing that, it was impossible to keep her heart from going out to him. She searched her mind for some words of reassurance, latching onto the first thing that came to her without really giving it much thought.
"You must have been great at sports though."
THAT woke up her inner voice in a hurry.
"No, no, nooooo...dumb, Dumb, DUMB bunny!"
La Peigne only gave her that lopsided smile again.
"You'd think...except you know how you get all awkward when you go through your growth-spurt? That was me, a hundred times over; I could trip over a crack in the sidewalk, I was so clumsy. It wasn't until later, when I discovered martial arts, that I finally got a handle on it." Without warning, he sat back and spread his arms. "Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it." He said this while clapping his paws together and, in that instant, he looked more like a rabbit out of Bunnyburrow than Judy had ever seen him-even during the Carrot-Days Festival. "And please, no sympathy." He raised a paw as if being sworn in on the witness stand. "Whatever kind of past I may have had; I have NO reason to feel sorry for myself now."
Judy wanted to cheer; good for him. She might have done it too-except the waiter chose that moment to return with their food.
It consisted of a variety of different veggies, grilled and garnished with a chunky-green sauce. Judy had no idea what she'd just been served, but whatever it was, it looked and smelled delicious.
"Chimichurri vegetables," La Peigne offered helpfully, having noted her curious expression.
"Ah, okay." Judy looked up and nodded, repeating the name. "Chimi...Churi; Uhhh...Japanese?"
"Peruvian actually," the big bunny chuckled, "I ran into it on a business trip some years ago and I've been hooked ever since." He picked up his fork and pointed, "Go on, try it."
Following the suggestion, Judy took a tentative bite...and then immediately wanted to tuck in, full force. Sweet cheez n'...wow, it really was that good.
For the next few moments, she almost forgot why she'd come here...that is, until La Peigne hit her with a surprise curveball.
"I met him once," he said, setting down his glass after taking a short sip. "The Lewis Boy I mean. It was on an inspection tour of Granite Point, about four months before his escape."
Judy nearly dropped her glass.
"And you didn't notice anything out of the ordinary?" She found that VERY hard to believe. From what she'd seen of him so far, her tablemate was a sharp as diamond-blade scalpel. So how the heck could the conditions at Granite Point have gotten past him?
"Nope." He answered, waving his fork in a circle. "Oh, I would have noticed for certain if it had been a snap inspection...but it was just a routine review, scheduled months in advance. The Granite Point staff had all the time they needed to get the place scrubbed down and put everything in order for my arrival; good food, new bedsheets and blankets, paint where it was needed and all of the staff on their best behavior. They even restocked the library. None of us-neither myself, or any of the Zoo Jersey Corrections officials accompanying me-had even the slightest inkling that anything was amiss." He raised a fist as if to pound the table, stopping himself just before completing the move. "Sorry, but that's the part that really makes me mad; bamboozled by my own mammals-and I think you can guess what they were saying about me after I left."
Oh yes, Judy had no difficulty figuring that one out. First word, dumb; second word, bunny.
It was convincing, but not entirely convincing; one nagging question still remained.
"Didn't any of the kids...?"
"Not a word," Le Peigne shook his head, sounding even more incredulous than she felt. "They never even tried to slip a note to anyone in our group. I found out later that the Deputy Superintendent had threatened to turn the McCrodon crew loose on anyone caught trying to blow the whistle. And that, of course, would have been just for starters."
"Right," Judy nodded lamely. Her appetite had fled and that was no surprise; it's hard to stay hungry while trying to absorb an indigestible fact.
La Peigne hadn't mentioned it, but she knew. Conor Lewis had been part of the Crazy Wez crew...so, in a roundabout way, he had helped to stonewall the abuses taking place at Granite Point. Oh sure, they had come to light in the wake of his escape, but had that been his intention?
Not at all...he had only cared for himself. Granted, he had only done to Wez McCrodon what the sea-mink would have done to him, but still...
She was beginning to like that young silver-fox less and less.
And, speak of the devil...
"But getting back to the Lewis boy," La Peigne was saying, looking almost sorrowful, "I probably wouldn't have noticed him, if it hadn't been for that crooked muzzle of his. He looked just so pitiful, I felt I had to say something. So, I went over and introduced myself and asked him how he was doing. He said he was doing okay-but the way he said it, I knew wasn't going to get anything more out of him. So, I just wished him well and went on my way." His eyes turned upwards for a second.
"But, to this day, I've never forgotten that broken face-and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what a kid like that was doing in Granite Point." His expression shifted from mournful to rueful, "That is, until I took a look at his records; then I understood. But even afterwards, I never expected him to make a break for it."
"For what it's worth, neither did the ZPD," Judy answered him, punctuating her words with a gesture that fell somewhere between a wave and a shrug.
"Well, yes," La Peigne countered, "but then you didn't know his history...not his real one anyway. And-correct me if I'm wrong, Judy-but didn't he have about a 50/50 chance of beating that assault case against him?"
"Yes, he did," the doe-bunny sighed. What could she do but admit it? It wasn't exactly a secret. "AND he had Vernon J. Rodenberg representing him, if you know who that is."
"I do," the big rabbit stiffened and his voice became arch. Sooo...he didn't care much for the rat-attorney either. Judy had no idea why, but what she was seeing was practically a carbon-copy of the way Chief Bogo's reacted whenever he heard that name.
La Peigne, meanwhile, was spearing a stalk of asparagus with his fork.
"You know what's really ironic about the Lewis boy's escape from Granite Point? If he hadn't broken out like that, the state would probably have let him walk. Maybe half the kids detained there had to be turned loose in the wake of that abuse scandal."
"But if Conor HADN'T made that escape, you'd never have found out about those abuses."
That was what Judy wanted to say-except she knew a conversation killer when she met one. And so, she opted for a different tack.
"What about Wez McCrodon? If he hadn't needed to be confined to the psych ward, would The State have let him go free?"
"Oh no, not THAT boy." La Peigne had thrown up his paws in mock horror. "He had so much on his sheet, no way was Zoo Jersey going to let him out. And even if they had, he had charges pending against him in nearly a dozen other jurisdictions. No matter what the state decided, Wes McCrodon wasn't headed back to the street. Worst case scenario; he'd have ended up in a juvenile facility in some other state."
"Ohhh-kay, but what about Conor...Lewis?" Judy asked the question as if she were defusing a bomb.
The big bunny fell silent for a moment, turning the query over in his mind.
"Ahhhh yes...him, we would likely have had to set free." His words were low and grudging. "Those convictions for attempted arson and resisting arrest were pretty much the only things he had on his sheet; the state never charged him in the attack on those other three kids." He lifted his fork, and dropped it like a microphone. "And then there was that crooked face of his...guaranteed to melt the heart of any judge. We'd have had to let him go all right, and it would have been a huge mistake." His eyes met hers across the table, dark, and deep, and endless. "Because, as you found out for yourself, the hard way, Judy...behind that fox-kid's nice-boy façade, there's a violent streak a hundred miles long."
"AND HE HAS ERIN WITH HIM!"
The shriek of her inner voice seemed to come straight out of nowhere-so deafening that she looked furtively around the dining room, hoping she hadn't screamed it out loud.
No, she hadn't, thank God, but the realization that had prompted it still remained.
Why hadn't she seen it; why hadn't she realized until now? Her kid sister was in a dangerous place; in the company of a sociopath-a young silver fox with a side she didn't know about-and that she absolutely wouldn't WANT to know about if she ever saw it. Never mind everything he'd done for Erin; he could turn on her in a heartbeat; there was something else Judy had seen before...more times than cared to remember.
"He went for YOU with a baton after saving your life, remember?" her inner voice icily reminded her.
Setting down her knife and fork, Judy let her paws drop beneath the table; felt them knotting into fists like mauls. Jack La Peigne was staring at her, and possibly so were some of the other diners.
She could not have cared less; right now, she had someone else to talk to.
"Conor Lewis...I don't know where you are right now, but you listen to me. All bets are off, fox-boy. I don't care if you saved my life or how much you helped my sister. I'm coming for you, kid. Whatever the cost, whatever it takes, I will find you, and I will bust you...and I WILL get Erin away from you. And if even a strand of her fur gets hurt because of you, then so help me..."
She left the rest of it hanging; even in her thoughts, she wasn't prepared to go that far.
...not yet!