We pulled up to the scene in a park, bordering on the forest. The bear could've been anywhere in there. I hopped out after Judy as soon as we came to a halt and followed her into the area. I was really starting to wonder what exactly she wanted to show me that was so hard to explain in words. There were a few officers there talking. When they noticed we had arrived, they stared at us. I knew each of their names. Officer Heffalumps, an elephant. Kato, a tiger. And Ursus, a polar bear. I couldn't tell if they held Judy and me in high regard or not, but they didn't say anything. As Judy ducked under the border tape that read "POLICE LINE - DO NOT CROSS," I did the same, and we eventually came to a large tent that had been set up over something. Something they didn't want the snow to cover. We entered and what I saw next was somewhat discomforting.
"Well, looks like a pretty sweet wrestling match happened here," I said, staring at the bear tracks and serious displacement of the snow on the ground. There were dabs of blood where somebody had been slashed. I looked at Judy. "This is all very interesting Carrots, but I know what happened. This only confirms what I've already heard."
"Yes, but that's not what I wanted to show you," she said, turning in the other direction, and stopping in front of something in the snow. I came up beside her to see what she was talking about. She pointed to a set of footprints. I shook my head. "Really? This is what you wanted to show me? What's so hard to explain about a footprint, huh?" I complained, disappointed that I'd come all this way for a hole in the snow.
Judy tapped her foot impatiently. "No, Nick. Look at the shape of it. Have you ever seen anything like that?"
I studied it for a moment. The footprint was long, curvy, and rounded on both ends. "A rabbit, maybe?" I guessed half-heartedly.
She looked at me like I was stupid. "You're kidding me, right? Nick, look at my foot. Look at it closely. Now, look at that print. Number one: it's too big to be a rabbit. Second of all: look at that thing. It doesn't have any toes!"
My skepticism didn't diminish. "Alright, so we can't identify the print at the moment, but what does it have to do with the attack?"
"It just doesn't fit, and not only is it out of place, but it followed the bear tracks into the woods."
"Followed?" I asked, wondering why she had used the word in a past tense.
"They were covered by the snow shortly after we found them, but they left a clue that might make our suspect easier to find. Look at that,"
I came in closer and squatted to see that there was a pattern inside of the print. "What kind of animal has feet like that?" she asked, knowing I'd been stumped too.
I stayed silent. There was no denying that there was something off here.
"And that's not even the best part. Look right there," she pointed to a particular spot on the footprint. It was text, very small, and backward, so I had to squint to read it. "Convese- Converse... Air-Stacks? No, All-Stars. Converse All-Stars," I finished, intrigued over finding something like that in a footprint. Judy nodded, confirming what I had read. "What does that mean, 'Converse All-Stars?'"
Judy stroked her chin, already deep in thought. "Well, unless these prints were made by some robot, which I think we can safely cut from the list of possibilities, then the animal that made these had to be wearing something over their feet."
"You mean... like shoes? What kind of animal would wear shoes out here? Aren't those just some sort of fashion statement these days?" I asked, not able to piece the whole thing together.
"Not necessarily. In the old days, many animals would wear shoes if their feet were tender enough. It's easy to cut yourself on something out in the woods, which is where we assume the animal went, not to mention the cold. Your feet wouldn't last if you walked around in the snow without anything on over them for a prolonged period of time, so who's to say this guy's would either?"
"Alright, I see your point," I admitted. "But what about the text? We still don't know what it means."
Judy shrugged her shoulders. "It's gotta be a brand name of some kind."
I pulled out my phone. "Doesn't sound like any brand I've ever heard of," I searched for "Converse All-Stars" on the web, but came up empty. "There's nothing about it on the internet. Judy, I don't think it exists."
"And yet it does, Nick. It's right there in front of us."
I proceeded to snap a few pictures of the footprint, getting as many angles as I could and slid my phone back into my coat pocket. "I don't know what to make of it yet, but the first order of business is finding that bear and whoever made these prints," I stated. "Maybe the answers lie with them."
I could tell Judy was deep in thought, trying to figure out the best way to go about this. "There's one more thing," she seemed to remember something she had forgotten to tell me and grabbed an object from a nearby foldable table. "Whatever the animal that made these footprints is, they left this." It was definitely a smartphone, but a model I hadn't seen before.
"Can you open it?" I asked.
She shook her head. "It's locked. Maybe we can crack it later since we'll need any pictures that might be on it, but for now, it's pretty much useless," she set it back down on the table.
We stepped outside of the tent for a moment, and I looked around. The snow seemed to fall more hastily than before, keeping us from what we needed to find. "So there's no trace of where they went? Nothing at all?"
"Right. There's no way to follow either of them from here. Like I said, the snow covered both tracks before we had a chance to follow them," she answered.
I ran a paw over the fur on my head and behind my ears. "Well, we don't have a lot to go on, and none of this seems to make sense."
"So what else is new?" Judy still had an optimistic look about her, and she placed a paw on my shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. We'll figure this out, just like we did last time."
"This isn't like last time. We don't have any names, no pictures, no tracks, just a locked cellphone and footprint that no one can identify."
"Really? Because to me, that actually sounds exactly like last time. Remember? Besides, it doesn't matter. I know we'll find a way. We'll get to the bottom of it and find out who's behind this. You're giving up too easily," she punched my arm.
"Ow," I retaliated.
"Wuss," she laughed.
I cracked a smile. "Alright, Carrots. I'll help you with your case. Again. But just remember that this is my weekend I'm giving up here to do this."
"Thank you, Nick. I really do appreciate it."
"C'mon. Let's get what we need and take it back to the station," I said, breaking the moment up and getting down to business.
We walked back to the tent in positive resolve, but when we came in through the open door, we stopped cold to find that something was missing. "The phone!" Judy panicked. "Where is it?!"
"Somebody must've..." I didn't finish. Looking down, I saw that there was a fresh new set of prints on the ground, and in each one of them read the words: "Converse All-Stars."
"C'mon! We've got to go!" Judy had noticed them already, and before I knew it, she was out in the snow again. "Move fast! We can't let these snow over before we reach whatever's at the end of them," she made sure I was right behind her. I nodded and followed her along with the tracks into the forest. It wasn't long before things became too dark for Judy to see very well, at which point she unhooked the flashlight on her belt and turned it on. Foxes naturally have better night-vision than rabbits, so I could see well enough without light, but she having the large ears that she did, she could hear a lot of things that I couldn't, meaning that she would most likely have to lead the way.
Whoever, or whatever this guy was, he was sneaky. He had managed to slip in and out of that tent without a hitch, but we were hot on his trail, and I was sure we were going to catch up at any moment. That is, until the tracks just stopped next to a random tree trunk. They simply ended. Couldn't have been covered yet. The trail was much too fresh for that. Judy pointed her flashlight up into the tree above us, and someone- or something made a run for it, jumping off of a long branch to the next tree, obviously trying to stay off the ground. I couldn't get a good look through all of the leaves and upset snow that fell from them.
"After him!" Judy yelled. "He's got the phone, and the only possible source of information we have," she chased after the fleeing animal at full speed.
I followed, trying to keep up as best I could. "Can you climb?" I asked.
"What? No, why?"
"Because it doesn't look like he's coming down to our level anytime soon," I pointed out.
"Give me a boost," she stopped running for a moment.
"On it," I said, knowing exactly what to do. I cupped my paws in a position low to the ground for her to place her foot. As soon as she did, I launched her relatively light body up onto a nearby branch, where she immediately took off after the runner. I watched as she leapt from branch to branch, rapidly closing the distance. She wasn't messing around. Seconds later, there was a struggle, and two animals tumbled out of one of the trees, the runaway plopping onto the ground with Judy on top.
"Uph!" I heard the breath get knocked out of him. That didn't stop the suspect from throwing Judy off of him and springing back up. I had never seen an animal like this guy before. but I didn't get a chance to try and question him since he started running again.
"Stop in the name of the law!" Judy ordered him.
He stopped for a moment. "Stay away from me!"
"Easy buddy, just let us help you," I stepped closer.
"What are you?" he ignored my offer.
I let my paws fall to my sides, trying to seem friendly. "Seriously? You're telling me you've never seen a fox before?"
He backed away, looking more and more panicked by the second. "No, no... I don't believe it. This isn't happening," he turned and ran again. The guy was too fast for me, but not for Judy. I was able to keep up well enough that I could see what was happening. The strange animal was hustling, and Judy was having a hard time catching up to him. It seemed that right before she could tackle him to the ground, a drop-off came up, and our suspect jumped. Judy didn't follow. I made it to her side in time to see the runaway slide down the steep slope and disappear into the mists below.
"Come on, we have to follow him," Judy said anxiously.
I grabbed her shoulder. "No, we don't know what's down there."
"Nick, he might be the only one who has answers," she shoved me off.
"Judy, it's not worth the risk. We'll take a search party. Besides, he can't stay out there forever. Even if we don't find him, he'll have to turn up in the city at some point."
"And what if he doesn't? What if he freezes out there? Then what are we supposed to do?"
"He won't."
"How can you possibly know that?" Judy was livid.
"Gut feeling," I replied.
She threw her arms up in frustration. "Oh, that's reassuring. Gut feeling? We're not going to get through this if you start relying on hunches."
I ignored her and began walking back toward the original crime scene. "Come on Carrots, standing around arguing isn't gonna help anybody, and we need to get our search underway."