"Lieutenant Hopps," Chief Bogo asked in his deep, booming voice, "what have you found thus far in your investigation?"

Judy stood up from where she had been kneeling to investigate the lens cap and explained everything that had transpired so far.

"Well, as you know," she began, "Officer Pryde disappeared in the vicinity of the ladies' room upstairs. We investigated upstairs and found a pair of her bracelets lying on the floor just outside of the restroom, one of which had a partial hoofprint covered in sheetrock dust. Immediately after we discovered this, the power went off again. Once it was restored, we were informed that another kidnapping had occurred—that of Officer Benjamin Clawhauser."

At hearing of the kidnapping of another officer of the ZPD, several guests murmured. A couple gasped. Chief Bogo's eyes widened with worry.

"Ms. Goldie Gnu was the one who informed us of his disappearance," Judy went on, "and we headed to the library where she had been questioning Officer Clawhauser. We found..."

She was about to tell the group at large about the tunnel system, but Nick shot her a 'don't-do-it' look that caused her to reconsider.

"...we found no traces of Officer Clawhauser in the library apart from a few of his uniform buttons. Hoping for more answers, we took a few minutes to consider the evidence in the old conservatory. That was when the power went off again and Dr. Killdeer found us."

She then looked to Chief Bogo with a smile.

"You've been caught up adequately now, Chief," she concluded.

Chief Bogo nodded his approval.

"Very good, Hopps," he said with an almost fatherly tone, "carry on your duties."

He then turned to the crowd at large, who looked for the most part like they wanted to leave.

"No one is dismissed," he announced. "Officer Hopps may have a few questions for some of you."

With that, Judy turned her attention back to the broken lens cap on the floor. Nick, kneeling down next to her, also focused his attention on the small object on the floor.

Judy, who had been wearing her latex gloves in order to protect any evidence, had kept them on her paws this whole time, and gingerly began to examine the cap.

The lens cap had clearly gone through some sort of blunt force trauma to be broken in three pieces like it was. Shards of broken glass from the actual camera lens glittered on the floor like tiny, messed-up-looking diamonds. It was obvious that whatever had happened, Goldie had been kidnapped very suddenly and with much force.

"Did anyone see anything?" Nick asked the crowd at large, although he felt really stupid for asking something that he knew would be contradicted.

"I was just standing here when Goldie was kidnapped," a female leopard in the crowd called out, "and although I didn't see who kidnapped her, I did see him drag her away as he pushed past me. It all happened so fast, though, I didn't see where he went. Oh, and I heard the kidnapper grunt as he stepped past."

Judy nodded.

"Thank you, ma'am," she said over her shoulder as she leaned a little bit closer towards the broken lens cap. Immediately, she became aware of something interesting: a thin layer of whitish powder was just dusting the pieces on the floor like the sugar on a frosted donut (something Clawhauser would know personally.)

"How much you want to bet that's more sheetrock dust?" Judy asked, pointing straight to the dusty layer on the broken lens cap.

"There's only one way to find out," Nick said, licking his finger and stretching his arm towards the dust.

Judy caught his paw a couple of inches away from touching the powder.

"You're not licking the evidence again, Nick," she said firmly.

"Aww, man," Nick complained, but Judy wasn't listening.

"Let's just assume that this is more sheetrock dust," she explained, picking through the evidence with gentle rabbit paws. "It is the same color as the dust on Felicity's bracelets upstairs."

She turned to face Dr. Killdeer, who was still absorbed with his phone.

"Where did you find this camera lens?" Judy asked the doctor, nodding down to the evidence on the floor.

"I just found it right here in the middle of the floor," he said, his eyes still glued to his phone, "and my foot was not happy to find it there, believe me."

Judy winced as she imagined Dr. Killdeer stepping onto the shards of plastic and glass.

"When did you find those shards?" Nick suddenly asked, seemingly out of the blue, and a little harsher-sounding than he meant it to.

Dr. Killdeer looked up from his phone long enough to face Nick, and pocket his phone rather quickly.

"I found them just as soon as the lights came on," he said quickly, "right before I went to find you two."

Nick nodded slowly.

"Well, if you'll excuse me," Dr. Killdeer apologized, "I must attend to other business. I'm expecting a phone call from my parents."

With that, he headed off into the main hallway, answering a ringtone that vaguely reminded Nick of the theme from an old superhero TV show. He recognized it because it made a distinctive, repetitive melody that called to the forefront of his mind someone running faster than all other animals.

Still, something seemed rather weird about the good doctor. Something he thought he should address.

"Judy," he whispered, "do you think I could speak with you for a few minutes? Away from these onlookers?"

"Just keep your voice down," Judy whispered back, "and they won't hear anything."

"But they might think we're talking when we're supposed to be working," Nick protested quietly.

"Isn't that what we're doing?" Judy asked.

"Yeah, but they'll think we're not talking about anything relevant to the case."

"Isn't that what we're doing?"

"No!"

"Then what are we talking about?"

"Something relevant to the case."

"Fine," Judy finally said as she continued to examine the evidence on the floor, her violet eyes scanning the broken pieces of Goldie's lens cap like she had laser vision (something she had boasted of having when she was little).

Nick cast a look over both shoulders, just to make sure the two of them weren't being watched, and then spelled out what he was thinking.

"I don't trust Dr. Killdeer," he said quietly.

Judy seemed surprised.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Well... This might sound stupid..." Nick said sheepishly, "...but I've got a gut feeling that something's up with him."

If there was one thing that Judy would know about Nick, it was this: that whenever Nick had a gut feeling, he was very, very sure of something. His father used to get the same feelings every now and then, and Nick had inherited the trait. He rarely, if ever got these gut feelings , so him saying this now was pretty darn serious.

"Killdeer's been acting a little weird all night," Nick explained. "He's always on his phone, he seemed really opposed to the idea of the mansion being declared a crime scene, and after the tunnels and the Wi-Fi transmitter thing we found, I'm just beginning to suspect that there's something he's not telling us. Remember, he did have sprinting trophies in the library and those tunnels headed up to the second floor. In my book, that takes care of means and makes him a viable suspect for our kidnapper!"

Nick had hoped that Judy would agree with him, but she shook her head.

"Nick," she answered quietly, "while I don't doubt your gut feeling, it doesn't make sense. Dr. Killdeer might be capable of the kidnapping—means—but he hasn't had the opportunity. He's been in the ballroom all night, either on his phone or staying with the police. He hasn't said or done anything to suggest some kind of motive, either. Besides, look at his antlers. They're just way too wide to fit through the tunnels we found, let alone through the trap doors to the second floor."

Nick cast a glance upwards to see Dr. Killdeer, who was standing in the archway exiting into the grand hallway, hammering away at the keys on his phone. His two antlers stuck out from either sides of his head like branches of a great tree, adding at least two feet on either side to his width. Judy was right in the sense that it didn't seem to be logical to believe Dr. Killdeer could do any of those things, but Nick still was uneasy.

Hmmm... That was odd.

Nick hadn't noticed before, but Dr. Killdeer had been wearing his long, grayish trench-coat all night long. He remembered asking him about his coat when they spoke with him earlier, just before they had gone into the tower. The good doctor had said that he always cold, but there was something about the way he said it that had bothered Nick.

"I still don't know about him being innocent, Carrots," Nick said quietly.

"Trust me, Nick," Judy replied, "as much as I want to follow your gut instinct, there's just no logical, rational way to believe Dr. Killdeer is our kidnapper. Those are the kind of things a real cop would notice."

She nodded towards the evidence on the floor.

"I'm going to put this in evidence bags," she said, speaking at a normal level now. Judy then reached for something behind her and her eyes widened.

"Oh, crud!" she whispered.

"What's the matter?" Nick asked, his green eyes wide with concern.

"I left my purse with the evidence bags upstairs," she said, groaning with annoyance.

Judy did have trouble remembering things sometimes, Nick recalled. She tended to forget little things on a regular basis; things like her phone, her keys, the occasional holiday (like Nick's family reunion). These little episodes of forgetfulness were the source of a great many jokes.

Including one he'd thought of right now.

"You can't make a case without your case, dumb bunny," he said with a smirk.

Judy chuckled at the phrase "dumb bunny." What had once been considered a demeaning insult had become more of a term of affection between the two of them, used usually when Judy made a mistake or flubbed something on the job. It was pretty clear that this was one of those times.

"Well," Judy said as she stood up, still laughing a little bit, "I'm just going to go get it from upstairs. Don't let anyone near that evidence."

With that, Nick was left alone with his thoughts, his eyes glued to the evidence still on the floor. He couldn't help but notice the swishing of Judy's dress as she headed off, flowing back and forth like a purple chenille flag in the wind.

He stood like a statue, eyes fixated on the pieces of evidence, praying that no one would move in the direction of the shards of glass and plastic. Just looking at them was enough to make the fur on Nick's back stand on end with fearful anticipation.

However, considering that most of the animals in Steel Mountain Manor were too nervous to move all that much in any direction, he could have relaxed a bit.

He thought about Carrots' argument regarding Dr. Killdeer. She had done exactly what Sherlock Hound did in his famous books, as did Nagatha Christie's detectives: logically proven a point. Although he didn't agree with it, just her being able to do those kind of things was impressive.

Judy herself was impressive, Nick thought.

He felt a little stupid for turning his thoughts to romance when he was supposed to be guarding evidence, but he kept thinking about Judy. Unlike what he had seen of most bunnies, Judy wasn't timid. She willingly faced something dangerous like this with a positive outlook and an intelligence sharp enough to cut her opponent's arguments to pieces. Her big, vulnerable-looking violet eyes masked her intelligence. She was absolutely incredible at her job, with a drive that made the efforts of a lot of other officers look slightly pathetic in comparison.

And she still looked really pretty in that dress of hers. The violet in her eyes really was emphasized by her dress, Nick thought. And that necklace! Judy was, to use a phrase Nick's father had once used to describe his mother when he was younger, as fine-looking as the evening sunset. Her smoky grey fur, her long, fluffy black-tipped ears, her... everything, was enough to send Nick's head swimming.

"Wow," he whispered to himself, shaking his head. Judy may have been a rabbit, but... she was everything Nick loved in a female. His heart bubbled and a current of electricity worked its way down his spine from the base of his neck down to the tip of his bushy tail.

BZZZTT!!

Wow, that was a powerful jolt, Nick thought to himself.

But then he realized that sound wasn't just mental. The whole mansion had undergone yet another blackout, and now he couldn't see a thing.

Great, he thought as fear began to rise up in his chest again. His heart began to pound, and his eyes widened, staring all around into the total darkness. Many of the guests in the clearing around him murmured in fear, and a few others shrieked.

Nick never thought he'd be so worried not to hear Clawhauser's high-pitched shriek, something that usually made his ears ring.

"Keep calm, all of you," Chief Bogo bellowed to the crowd. "We're here to help you all. Just stick together."

Then Nick heard Judy's voice from across the room, barely audible over the fearful noises of the crowd.

"Dr. Killdeer?" she called out. "Dr. Killdeer, please respond!"

Nick found some solace despite his fear in knowing that Carrots was all right.

What was that?

Unless he was hearing things (something that had happened on occasion) Nick thought he heard running footsteps. Whoever it was who was running must have been in an awful hurry. And they were growing louder.

Without warning, a strong, hard hoof slammed into Nick's chest, causing him to take a few steps back. He stumbled, slipped and almost tripped over his own tail as he fought to regain his balance. Almost as fast as the big, unidentified thug had appeared, he was gone, and the sound of the running footsteps faded into the panicking crowd of animals.

It may have been just some random animal pushing through to go splash cold water on his face in the restroom, but maybe...

The kidnapper. This meant that Nick's testimony could be key now to solving this case.

Nick had grown up with a special ability to remember things almost cinematically, recalling things happening in a replay like a ZooTube video edit. He closed his eyes and replayed the incident in slow-motion. The hoof appeared in Nick's field of vision unannounced, slamming into his chest like a battering ram. As Nick stumbled backwards, the kidnapper's head crossed into a very faint shaft of light shining in through a window above the landing of the grand staircase. He thought he could see a faint profile of the kidnapper. He was tall, with long, lanky limbs and hooves, and...

Wait.

There were two long, knobby stumps on the back of his head, with jagged, crack-shaped shards sticking off of them. The kidnapper's horns were broken off, like he'd been in one too many bar fights with other horned animals.

Before Nick could see any more details, his attacker had moved out of the light and had already shoved past several more guests, dashed up the stairs, and disappeared into the darkness.

Nick opened his eyes (or, thought he opened his eyes; he couldn't exactly tell since it was so dark) and looked around. The lights were still off, and the crowd, in the wake of Nick being shoved by the kidnapper, was getting more and more worried.

"Hey! YOU!" Chief Bogo bellowed in the direction of the kidnapper, "stop in the name of the law or I'll shoot!"

There was no response.

"All right," Bogo yelled out, "everyone hit the deck!"

Nick squatted down, and he could tell by the rest of the group's sounds that they were doing the same. He braced himself to hear the roar of Chief Bogo's .44-caliber pistol firing.

"Huh?" Chief Bogo asked. The sounds coming from his direction implied he was feeling all over himself trying to find something.

"M-my gun!" the police chief spluttered. "Someone's taken my gun!"

Nick's heart almost stopped as he contemplated the situation at hand. Now the kidnapper, whoever it was, now had two firearms in his possession.

"Dr. Killdeer?" Judy called out again from wherever she was.

There was no response.

DING!

There it was again. That same mysterious ding. As he stood in the dark, Nick thought about where he had heard that 'ding' before. It vaguely called to mind visits to his Uncle Jack's apartment when he was younger. Why was that sound so familiar?

He didn't have time to think about it, because, with the same loud, droning buzz, all the lights came back on. Nick winced and blinked in the glare of the light as his eyes fought to adjust.

"Nick!" Judy called out, rushing up to where he was standing. Nick turned, with frantic, wide eyes.

"Carrots!" he said, gripping her shoulders. "Someone shoved past me as I was standing here! I think it must have been our mystery mammal, and I think I know who we should be looking for!"

"Nick," Judy said, staring at Nick's paws on her shoulders, "first, can you let go of my shoulders?"

Nick blinked, realized he was holding her by her shoulders, chuckled nervously and released her.

"Nick," Judy said, her eyes as nervous and wide as his were, "we've got a problem. I looked all over upstairs for my purse with the evidence in it. It's gone! I left it right outside the restroom, and when I went back there to find it, it was gone!"

Suddenly, she looked down at the floor and her eyes bulged.

"Nick! Where's the lens cap?!"

Nick blinked and stared down at the floor. Where the fragments of Goldie Gnu's camera lens had once been, there now was blank, vacant space on the hardwood floor.

"HOW?!" Nick yelped, completely dumbfounded as to how his pile of fragmented evidence went missing. It had been there before the blackout, and now it had vanished totally without a trace. Not even a crystal of glass or splinter of plastic remained on the floor.

Nick would have freaked out further had it not been for Dr. Killdeer's voice crackling over the PA system. He stood, looking quite nervous, up on the stage.

"Attention, all of you," he said with a grave tone in his voice, "it appears our kidnapper is getting bold. I had hoped that the worst had passed, but I just went to check upstairs, and I have some terrible news: Cornelius Pantherbilt and his wife Amelia, have vanished from upstairs. Our kidnapper has just kidnapped a member of the city council."

Gasps and fearful whispers shot through the crowd behind Nick and Judy, who stood dumbfounded.

Suddenly, Judy took notice of something. Something she hadn't seen as she walked up.

"What's that all over your chest?" Judy asked her foxy friend, pointing to something encompassing the width of Nick's chest.

He looked down and discovered he had a large, two-fingered, powdery hoofprint on his chest, from where the mysterious kidnapper had shoved him not two minutes ago.

And then Nick thought of something. Quick as a flash, before Judy could stop him, he licked his finger, ran it across the powder on his chest, and tasted it. As soon as he tasted it, he knew he had to get rid of it, for it had turned to paste in his mouth. There were no free handkerchiefs or napkins nearby, so Nick cleaned the sticky paste with the closest possible thing: his sleeve.

"Nick!" Judy yelped, a look of frustration on her face. "You just destroyed all the evidence!"

Nick shook his head and extended his sleeve to show her. Judy recoiled in revulsion at the sight of white paste and Nick's slobber.

"I didn't destroy the evidence," he explained quickly, "it's right here. Besides, my hunch about it was correct—it's sheetrock dust again."

Judy's eyes widened.

"Doesn't that mean that—"

"Yes," Nick said, nodding, "it means that in the dark, the kidnapper blew past me on his way upstairs. He was right here in this room."