Judy confidently led the cops up to the canopy. “I thought this was just a missing mammal case, but it’s way bigger. Mr. Otterton did not just disappear. I believe he and this jaguar…they went savage, sir.”

Bogo scoffed. “Savage? This isn’t the Stone Age, Hopps. Animals don’t go savage.”

“I thought so, too, until I saw this.” Judy turned the corner where she had handcuffed Manchas—but he was gone! Even the handcuffs had vanished.

“He was right here,” she said, confused.

“The ‘savage’ jaguar,” said Bogo, scoffing once again.

“Sir, I know what I saw. He almost killed us,” said Judy.

“Or maybe an aggressive predator looks savage to you rabbits,” Bogo said. He called out to the other officers, “Let’s go.”

“Wait—sir, I’m not the only one who saw him!”

Judy called to Nick, but before he could explain, Bogo said, “You think I’m going to believe a fox?”

“Well, he was a key witness, and I enlisted his services,” Judy said.

Bogo shook his head, annoyed. “Two days to find the otter…or you quit…that was the deal. Badge,” he said, waiting for her to hand her badge over.

Nick watched Judy stare at Bogo’s outstretched hand. “Sir, we…”

“Badge,” said Bogo firmly.

Judy slowly reached for it as Nick spoke up. “Uh, no,” he said.

Bogo glared at Nick. “What did you say, fox?”

“Sorry, what I said was ‘no.’ She will not be giving you that badge,” said Nick. “Look, you gave her a clown vest and a three-wheel joke-mobile and two days to solve a case you guys haven’t cracked in two weeks? Yeah, no wonder she needed to get help from a fox. None of you guys were gonna help her, were you?”

Judy stared at Nick. She couldn’t believe he was sticking up for her. Bogo stood silently.

“Here’s the thing, Chief. You gave her forty-eight hours, so technically we still have ten left to find our Mr. Otterton…and that’s exactly what we are gonna do. So if you’ll excuse us…we have a very big lead to follow and a case to crack. Good day.”

Nick turned to Judy. “Officer Hopps?” He guided her to a passing gondola, leaving Bogo and the rest of the officers stunned.

“Thank you,” she said as the two sat in the gondola while it soared over the Rainforest District.

“Never let them see that they get to you,” said Nick.

Surprised, Judy turned to Nick. “So things get to you?”

“No…I mean, not anymore,” said Nick. “But I was small and emotionally unbalanced like you once.”

“Har-har,” said Judy.

“No, it’s true. I think I was eight, maybe nine, and all I wanted to do was join the Junior Ranger Scouts.”

Nick decided to tell Judy a story about when he was a kid. “So my mom scraped together enough money to buy me a brand-new uniform.” Nick explained how badly he wanted to fit in—even though he was the only predator in the troop. “I was gonna be part of a pack,” he said.

Nick described the scene. He was taking the oath with the scouts when the other kids suddenly tackled him, yelling, “Get him! Get that pred! Muzzle him!”

They strapped a muzzle onto his snout and continued to mock him. “If you thought we’d ever trust a fox without a muzzle, you’re even dumber than you look,” one of them had taunted.

When they finally let him go, he ran away, limping, with his uniform torn to pieces.

“I learned two things that day,” said Nick, lost in the terrible memory. “One, I was never going to let anyone see that they got to me.”

“And two?” Judy prodded.

“If the world’s only gonna see a fox as shifty and untrustworthy, there’s no point trying to be anything else.”

“Nick,” said Judy gently. “You are so much more than that.” She touched his arm as the gondola pierced through the clouds. They gazed down at the busy city buzzing below.

“Boy, look at that traffic down there,” said Nick, changing the subject. “How about we go to Chuck in Traffic Central,” Nick continued, pretending to be a cheesy radio announcer. “Chuck, how are things looking on those Jam Cams?”

“Nick, I’m glad you told me,” said Judy.

“Wait! The Jam Cams!” said Nick urgently.

“Seriously, it’s okay,” said Judy.

“N-no, shh-shush! There are traffic cameras everywhere. All over the canopy. Whatever happened to that jaguar—”

“The traffic cameras would have caught it!” said Judy, excitedly, suddenly realizing what Nick meant.

“Bingo!” said Nick.

Judy chucked him on the arm, impressed. “Pretty sneaky, Slick.”

“However. If you didn’t have access to the system before, I doubt Chief Buffalo Butt is gonna give it to you now.”

“No. But I’ve got a friend at city hall who might!” Judy smiled, feeling hopeful again. MAQrkbPJ71P3/KAO2OOY/twYgrDNUT7cLfPiFB8l3Lx0JBGHRrZWtiqEMtGhtXyY