Mincemeat 2: The Case
#2 of Mincemeat
Wrote this chapter when I sort of figured where I wanted the story to go, actually getting into story here somewhat, instead of just a single scene. I figure I'll post one chapter a night until here catches up to where I actually am.
The next few minutes seemed to Judy both to pass by in a flash, and yet still last forever. She could hear Nick calling on the radio next to her, but she wasn't processing it in her mind. A sudden touch on her shoulder jolted her back to reality, looking towards Nick, whose hand was on her shoulder. Apparently something in her eyes made him flinch back briefly, before he gripped her tighter.
"No," she thought to herself, turning her head down towards the ground and closing her eyes. She was an officer of the ZPD, and this was her first big case since the Nighthowlers. This would not be what broke her. Taking a few deep breaths and mentally steeling herself she looked back at Nick, fresh determination on her face.
It was just that flashing light appeared behind them. Their backup had arrived. Before Nick could even say anything, Judy was out the door to greet them, apparently having the spring back in her step.
The next hour or so felt like a blur to Judy, but it kept her busy and her mind occupied. The club next to the alleyway had to be shut down for the night, the alley itself cordoned off, and soon the CSI guys were on scene. Nobody was happy about the situation, but Judy felt highly embarrassed that none of the officers had the same kind of visceral reaction as she had, although they would have been forewarned about the situation before arriving.
Soon the CSI crew had arrived are were doing their job, at which point Judy and Nick were told quite firmly by Bogo to end their shift early, go home and get some sleep, and to not bother coming in to roll call the next day. Instead, they should head straight for his office.
Judy barely slept. The events of the night rolling repeatedly through her head as she tossed and turned in her little cot. What she had seen was horrible, and it made her feel sick, but what twisted her most was her reaction to it, how she had lost her cool on the job. Pilings on to her worries was the guilt that she should be less concerned about herself and more about what she had seen. She found herself still wide awake when her alarm went off the next morning, dragging herself out of bed and into her uniform without any of her usual speed and excitement.
As Judy arrived at the precinct, she was determined not to let show just how mentally and physically exhausted she was. Looking up, she was surprised to see Nick already waiting for her next to the door, two Snarlbucks cups in hand. He looked about as tired as she felt, and she was pretty sure neither of them had gotten any sleep. As she got close to him, he handed her one of the cups before she could say anything.
"Caramel-carrot cappuccino. Figured after last night you'd need something to keep you going, and I know you don't like coffee, so I got you something sweet. Even had time to cool off a little bit first so you can drink it right away."
Judy managed a thin smile up at Nick, even with all the chaos in the world, she could at least depend on her partner having her back.
"Thanks, Nick. You don't know how much I needed this."
"I think I do, Fluff. And no problem."
Nick pushed the door open, letting Judy in first, sliding in step behind her afterwards. They walked in silence to Bogo's officer. Neither seemed much interested in being their usual chatty selves, just sipping drinks as they waited. Eventually it came upon Nick to break the silence.
"So, you're sure you want to pursue this one, Carrots?"
"Yeah." Judy didn't look up as she spoke, but the tone of her voice implied certainty. "I lost my nerve last night seeing, well, what we saw. It won't happen again though. I'm here to make the world a better place after all. I'd understand if you weren't up to it though. What was done to those corpses, it was dark."
Nick slid his back down the wall so he was crouched at Judy's level. "What, and leave you to do this alone? Make Bogo assign you a new partner? Nah, Carrots, you're stuck with me."
He ruffled the fur between her ears, earning himself a punch to the shoulder, falling back excessively dramatically before getting back up, chuckling. He was glad to see he managed to get Judy to smile too, both relieved to have a little bit of normal behavior to relieve a little bit of their stress.
It couldn't last though, Bogo, having finally finishing up assigning duties for the day, walked past, unlocking his office door and signaling with his head for both of them to follow him in. He took a seat at his desk, Nick and Judy following suit across from him. A tense, but brief silence followed, broken when Bogo sighed, placing his glasses on the desk, he seemed like he was about to speak, but Judy headed him off.
"Sir, I want to be put on this case."
That got the Chief to lift his head up, an eyebrow raised at the rabbit.
"That comes as somewhat of a surprise, considering what I had heard from other officers on the scene about your reaction. Frankly right now I should be putting you on administrative leave right now. You witnessed something traumatic, and had a bad reaction. There are policies in place for this."
"And you wouldn't be telling us this if you didn't plan on going against those policies, would you?" Nick suddenly interjected.
Bogo leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and staring down both the two sitting across from him. Both were good officers, at least Hopps was, and Wilde was quickly proving himself able to keep up with her. He was worried about both of them though, he had seen what burnout could do to someone so eager to prove themselves.
"Fine." He finally spoke again "You're right. I won't turn you down if you're so certain. But after this you are both going to go to a proper debriefing. Psychological evaluation included."
He prayed he had made the right decision as he watched them. Judy perking up and Nick, he seemed too good at hiding what he was feeling. That concerned him.
"Normally I would let Clawhauser give you the file, but I'd rather the details of this particular case not end up the office rumors. The media are already hounding us about this, and it's only been a day."
Judy frowned at that a little bit "Already? It took multiple disappearances before anyone jumped in during the Nighthowler case. And murders aren't uncommon in such a large city. Is it just the gruesome nature?"
"That's part of it. The other part is the racoon witness. His name is Dipper Varas, he works behind the scenes for ZNN. As soon as he was released, he went straight to his bosses with everything he knew. Now they're jumping down our throats, wondering if someone new might be using the Nighthowlers. That much gore, they figured it had to be someone savage."
This time Bogo looked at Nick, waiting for the interruption that he suspected was about to come. Instead the fox just sat there straight-faced, giving Judy a chance to speak.
"So you're saying it isn't?"
"Preliminary reports from CSI and the lab say no. This was done too cleanly. It was an intentional act. Knives were used to cut up the bodies- two of them, you were right initially. There seems to be a lot missing though."
Judy seemed to green up a little bit at the talk, the possible implications for missing parts coming to her, but she managed to hold herself together. Nick if anything just made himself even more neutral.
"At the moment" Bogo continued "We don't have a lot to go on right now, so this case is going to be your top priority. For now, you're both dismissed."
Nick and Judy got and started heading to the door, but before they left, Bogo had one more word to get in.
"And for God's sake, both of you had better get some sleep tonight."