Nick dashed over to Dr. Trott, barely believing his friend and mentor could be dead. Actually, he couldn't believe it, period. In the space of about--he looked at his watch--forty-five minutes, he had lost the only friend of his father's he'd seen in ten years.

Good old Dr. Trott! He had been the one true friend who had gotten him through college; the one who had motivated him to stand up against the Pred Club and stop Marian Vixenhelm's campaign for student body president. And now he was gone.

Nick fought back tears as he knelt next to Dr. Trott's body, shaking his head and kicking himself for not being here before to stop it.

"How did he die, Carrots?" Nick asked.

Judy was about to say something when Fangzahn cut her off.

"He was poissssoned," Fangzahn hissed, his tongue flicking in and out of his mouth, "just as Ms. Frossst was."

"He's right, Nick," Judy said above him.

"What's going on?" another voice asked as he stepped through. It was Gerard.

"Oh my stiggin' gosh!" he gasped when he saw Dr. Trott's corpse on the floor. "Do you have any idea what this means?"

"It means we've lost a valuable animal," Nick said, choking up a bit as he looked down on Dr. Trott's lifeless body, "and he will not be able to go on with us."

Gerard dragged his paws down his face, his face written with stress.

"Worse than that!" he yelled. "I can't have every animal get killed on my train! It means a ton of paperwork for me! My boss is going to fire me if she finds out that two murders have happened here!"

"Hey, pal," Nick said, perhaps a little too brashly, "look on the bright side. If your boss does fire you, you can create this whole incident by putting together a murder mystery weekend fundraiser event or something."

Gerard's only response was a stressed-out groan as he shuffled away.

"With that fool out of the way," Fangzahn hissed, "I must make my accussssssation again."

Nick turned on Fangzahn with an angry glare. He didn't care how he looked or how he was acting; he had to defend Judy's honor at all costs.

Before he could say anything, Fangzahn interrupted him.

"I'm sorry to say," he began, "that Lieutenant Hopps is proving herself quite an adept killer. No one has seen her for the past half-hour, and that'ssss more than enough time for her to have slain Dr. Trott."

"That's not true!" Judy barked, tears returning to her eyes. "We were in the luggage car trying to find Ms. Frost's luggage, when someone started shooting at us. Nick went after the suspect on top of the train and I went back to my cabin. Dr. Trott said he wanted to discuss some theories as to how to catch this murderer, so I came in here. About ten minutes after I arrived, he went in to use the bathroom. He came back out and suddenly collapsed on the floor, and, well, you see what's happened."

Nick was impressed by how fast Judy was able to rattle off those facts. For a second, his rage against Fangzahn abated as he beamed with pride in Judy's direction.

"That was," Nick said, "a stunning display of fast-talking. You ought to try out for Trip Lemur sometime."

"I think I'll pass on being a rapper, Nick," Judy replied, "though I appreciate the compliment."

Nick then glared back at Fangzahn, hoping the irritating snake would burst into flames if he stared hard enough.

"What Carrots said," Nick explained, "is all true!"

Fangzahn scoffed.

"You honestly expect me," he began, snarling at Nick smugly, "to believe that story? It's probably the worst excuse for killing someone I've ever heard. Although, you could probably take a shot at being a politician. Perhaps you should try it sometime."

Nick began to growl like a wild animal. No one was going to take Judy if he could help it. Like bile, he felt rage rising up in him, and he began to prepare himself to give that needling little scale nugget the thrashing of his life.

"Hey, Jack!" Nick said, sarcastically. "Why don't you just slither away and maybe get some extra refunds on your computers? Obviously, money's more important to you than animals' lives or well-beings, right?" All the while Nick was hurling these biting statements at him, Fangzahn didn't flinch or bat an eyelid. It was clear he'd been given this treatment before.

Suddenly, Nick felt a velvety paw on his shoulder.

"Nick, stop it," Judy whispered. "This isn't going to help me. Calm down. We'll fix this."

Nick didn't like the fact that he couldn't haul off and slam the python for all he was worth, but he was not so blind as to recognize the power his own anger held for destruction. And the situation was already tense at best, only made more tense by Nick's angry. Taking a deep breath, Nick let the ferocity of his anger be vented somewhat, retracting the intensity of his rage, but not the expanse.

"You're right, Carrots," he said.

Fangzahn smirked as he began to slither towards the two. Nick's skin crawled when he saw the movement of the snake. It always made him feel icky whenever a snake slithered towards him.

"Perhapsssss I was a bit hasssssty," Fangzahn hissed, his forked tongue slithering in and out of his mouth just inches from Nick's face. "I merely want for justice to win, and I can't do that without proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that your girlfriend is guilty."

Nick was about to defend Judy, but Fangzahn, the master of interruption, cut him off.

"I will relent a tad on my prosecution," he said, "but you still have limited time. You have already wasted three of your six hours on this investigation. In approximately three hours, this train will arrive in Savanna Central Station in Zootopia. If you cannot prove that your girlfriend is innocent, then I will have no choice but to let justice take its course."

He grinned menacingly, and there was something in his eyes that unnerved Nick wholly.

"You promised that when I prove you wrong," Nick said, "you will retract your accusations against Judy. So help me God, I will prove you wrong if it's the last thing I do."

Fangzahn rolled his eyes.

"Very well," he said icily. "Have it your way."

Nick's hope was rekindled, and he let out a breath of air.

"But your way's still the wrong way, now, isn't it?" Fangzahn asked suddenly. "Conductor!" he hollered down the hallways of the car.

Gerard stepped back into the doorway of the cabin, a nervous look on his face.

"What is it?" he asked tentatively.

Fangzahn turned to him.

"Conductor," he hissed, "I am concerned about the safety of all on this train. I must implore you to detain this murderer someplace where we will not have to fear another attack. Perhaps the luggage car will do."

Gerard nodded and stepped forward into the cabin. With an apologetic smile, he grabbed Judy by the paw and began to lead her away.

"NO!" Nick yelled suddenly, getting right in Fangzahn's face. His eyes were wild and his muscles taught and his brain flashed a single message in front of all the other words and phrases in there: PROTECT JUDY HOPPS. This directive was practically hardwired into him now, and he knew he would do anything to protect her.

"You have no right to detain her in the luggage car!" he growled at Fangzahn. "You have no right to detain her anywhere!"

"Check the laws, geniusssss!" Fangzahn hissed back, glaring at his opponent. "I have every right to detain a possible criminal, especially if that criminal is an officer of the law. There issss nothing you can do about it, fox," he added, spitting out the word like it had a bad taste, "nor should you do anything about it. Everyone musssssst follow the law, you know."

Nick's eyes were wide, full of fear, and his mouth hung open a few inches. The next thing he knew, Judy was led away by Gerard.

"Nick!" Judy shouted, sounding quite helpless. She was going to say something else, but it came out more as a frustrated shout of alarm.

"Carrots!" Nick replied, his voice beginning to break. "Remember! I will never let you down!"

Recalling the vow of commitment they had made to each other back during the incidents On Dimm Avenue, Judy hollered back just before she left the car: "I will never let you go!"

Nick's eyes filled with tears as he saw Judy being dragged away by Gerard, catching the look of terror in her violet eyes over her shoulder.

And then the door closed behind the two.

"Ah, how charming," Fangzahn said with mock admiration, "and now I shall leave you to your investigation."

The snake slithered down the hallway past several of the onlookers.

Suddenly, one of them, a meerkat, sneezed.

"Hey, bro," he said, "you got a handkerchief anywhere on you?"

Fangzahn was quick to reply "No!" as he surreptitiously pushed the handkerchief in his vest down into his pocket.

With that, he (quite rudely) slipped between the animals around him, darting between some of the larger ones' legs, and then disappeared through the door into the next car.

* * *

Well, it took a while for the other animals to leave Dr. Trott's cabin, but they finally cleared up, all heading about their own business as they returned to their own cabins.

Although Nick didn't let any of it show, inside, he was being beaten up by his own feelings. He felt regret for not being able to save Dr. Trott; he felt fury at that irritating python who always had a loophole for everything; he felt terrible pain for not being able to defend Judy enough.

But perhaps worst of all was his feeling of fear; fear that he would never see the animal he loved with all his heart again. If he couldn't prove that sanctimonious snake wrong...

Nick didn't even want to contemplate the possibility that the vision he had seen in his head in the tunnel would ever come true.

Dropping to his knees like he was a mammal at prayer, he wept bitterly, hoping that no one would see him like this. Judy was the first true friend he'd ever had, and now that they were more than friends, the emotional connection was far stronger than ever.

"Come on, you idiot," Nick said quietly, trying to calm the voices of fear in his head. "Try to think like Judy. She's always developing some kind of strategy. Maybe that'll work for me."

Nick struggled to his feet as he began to look around for some kind of clues as to how Dr. Trott died. Anything would be better than nothing as far as information was concerned.

Plus, he knew for a fact there would be no surprise photos of Weird Al Yakovic lying around; Dr. Trott's tastes in music were far beyond that sort of weirdness.

Scooting around the cadaver of Dr. Trott, taking care not to disturb his body, Nick slowly made his way towards the bathroom door, which was lying half-open, displaying the majestic white-tile bathroom for all to see.

The bathroom itself was nice, with a well-made sink and shower, and a toilet so fancy, Nick guessed it had been copied from one in the restroom of a fancy penthouse suite, like those in the Palm Hotel. It was a rather grand bathroom, but Nick's search yielded no clues in there.

Then he turned his attention to the bathroom door. Unless he was seeing things, there was, in fact, a small layer of white powder on the inner door handle.

Nick took care not to touch it, for fear of being poisoned, as he scooted back around the door, ending up bending down over Dr. Trott's body to inspect his clothes.

He couldn't help but feel disgusted a bit as he examined the old horse's dead body. It was almost like digging through a female mammal's diary--it felt a little too personal.

Above Nick, tucked away in a corner of the room's ceiling, hung Sticky, who was watching Nick the whole time; taking mental notes on Lt. Wilde's methods of investigation.

He was amazed at how fast the fox had found the poison, and how easily he had managed to find a solution to the manifold problems that were now stabbing their claws into his brain. Sticky knew of members of the Black Flames who could not have solved it in well over double the time, and they were some of the most intelligent thugs in Travask's gang.

But what impressed him most of all was the level of commitment and the depth of the bond Nick and Judy shared. They were willing to do anything to defend each other with a passion, the likes of which, he had never seen before. The dichotomous bond they were a part of defied all other levels of love, and Sticky, quite frankly, couldn't wrap his head around it. It was hard to believe he had been sent to destroy them, when, in fact, they had destroyed him.

Well, not actually destroyed him; but more accurately, destroyed his feelings and attitudes in regards to mammals.

And now, they were so close, so very close, to beginning to unravel Plan 17 itself.

Knowing that the fool of an assassin had not concealed his motives effectively, Sticky decided to do something that went against his training as a Black Flames recruit.

He was going to help destroy the Black Flames. He had considered that option before, and he had had mixed feelings then, but now he was sure. He wouldn't let that viper get away with any more murders. Not this time.

As Nick was bent over Dr. Trott, he was busy speaking to him.

"Dr. Trott," he said, as though his old friend were still alive. "that was a stupid thing to go and do--die on me."

Nick chuckled at his own joke, then fell silent when he did not hear Dr. Trott's chortling laugh in the room.

"Sir," Nick said. "I never got to tell you just how much of a second father I considered you to be. My dad died, admittedly, under suspicious circumstances, and I tried to just party it all away. You were the one who got me out of the bedlam I made for myself and you were the one who inspired me to stand up for justice, even if it meant me getting expelled by the school board. You loved me like the son you'd never had. And for that, I am eternally grateful."

Nick stood up and fought back tears.

"Goodbye, Dr. Trott," Nick said quietly, "until we meet again."

"Close friend of yours?" a small, Middle-Eastern-accented voice asked from Nick's shoulder.

Nick was never good with jumpscares, and when they happened right on his shoulder, they were even worse. He leapt three feet off the ground right then and there like his tail had been slapped into a (highly-illegal) bear trap. Looking about wildly for the owner of the voice, Nick grabbed the little intruder off his shoulder and gripped him in both paws.

In his paws, Nick held a small, squirming, suit-clad yellow gecko. The green suit he wore was, well, loud at best, but, Nick had to admit that it did look reasonably dapper. The little lizard flinched, holding his arm up to protect his reptilian face as though he were expecting to be eaten then and there by his fox captor.

"Who in the name of all that's furred are you?" Nick yelled, the adrenaline in his system forcing all his emotional faculties into one channel.

The little lizard waved his arms frantically back and forth, desperate for Nick to lower his voice.

"Be quiet!" he hissed, his little yellow eyes wide in desperation. "You'll let everyone from here to Reptropolis know I'm on this train!"

"Why shouldn't I?" Nick asked, still irritated by the unusual invader.

"You can't let him know I'm onboard!" Sticky said.

"'Him'? Who's 'him'?" Nick hissed, beginning to decompress just a tad. The mysterious "him" had piqued his interest, and, being a fox, it was only natural that he be curious.

But before the little lizard could answer, Nick heard a voice from out in the hall.

"Hey! Buddy!" a Hawaiian shirt and board shorts-clad pangolin called out from the hallway. "Do you know where I can--"

Nick cut him off and did something that most animals considered rude: he stuffed the little gecko into his hip pocket.

"I'm sorry, sir," Nick said quickly, "I'm afraid I can't help you find the restroom."

He was about to shut the door of Dr. Trott's cabin when the pangolin stopped him from closing it, a confused expression on his little brownish-gold face.

"Hey, man," he said, "I'm not asking for the restroom. I just want to find--"

Nick's eyes suddenly bulged as he became aware of a rather irritating sensation around his hip pocket. The little gecko was not happy to be stuffed into his lint-filled uniform pocket (which probably also smelled a bit like the nasty soap they used at the cleaners). Nick could hear the muffled yelling coming from the tiny lizard's voice through his pant leg.

"I'm sorry, buddy," Nick apologized again, fighting every instinct he had to not squish the kicking, struggling gecko, "but I'm a busy guy and I keep getting buzzed on my phone."

Nick indicated his vibrating pants pocket to the somewhat disturbed pangolin.

"Is it supposed to vibrate that much?" the pangolin asked, his eyes a little wider than normal.

"I have it set up on maximum vibration," Nick explained, immediately feeling stupid for making such a ridiculous excuse. "I'm usually busy a lot, and I really want to make sure that I get the messages without disturbing the other passengers."

"Huh," the pangolin said, obviously skeptical. "Who's your friend on the floor?"

Nick shot a quick glance towards Dr. Trott's body, and closed the door just a bit more.

"Uh... drunk!" Nick answered. "He's just some random drunk on the train who came into my cabin while I was in the restroom. I gave him some medicine, and he's sleeping it off now. He's fine, really. I really have to take these messages," he added, putting his paw over his pocket to try and stop the irritating vibration.

The pangolin was obviously still wary, and for a second, Nick was nervous that he was going to hammer him with more questions.

But the pangolin only shrugged as he stepped away, remarking under his breath how weird Nick was.

Nick closed the door to Dr. Trott's cabin, locked it, and let out an immense sigh of relief. Digging the wriggling lizard out of his pocket, he noticed that he was gasping for air.

"Did you have to struggle like that?!" Nick hissed, trying to be quieter than he had been.

"You would have if you were shoved into my pocket," the gecko whispered fiercely, "especially if I didn't clean it out!"

"I don't clean the uniform," Nick whispered back. "I give it to Officer Singcor and he takes it to the cleaners!"

Nick's eyes grew slightly less angry now.

"Now," he said, decompressing a bit, sure that no one was going to walk in on them, "who the crud are you and why are you in this cabin, and why do you not want to be seen?"

"In that order," the lizard said, "My name is Rizzeo Ben Sava, but you can call me Sticky. I'm in this cabin because I don't want 'him' to see me; I've been crawling around the train for a while now trying to avoid that. And, lastly, I don't want 'him' to see me because if he does, and suspects what I'm doing, he'll kill me, too!"

"Who is he?" Nick asked quietly. "And why would this infamous he kill you?"

"Because it's his job," Sticky replied matter-of-factly. "He's an assassin."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... hold the phone," Nick said, still holding the little lizard in his paws. "You know who the murderer is?"

"Yes," Sticky replied, trying to struggle out of Nick's paws, "and if he knows I'm here, and that I'm snitching on him, he'll probably poison me too."

"How do you know about the poison," Nick asked, "and what is your connection with this murderer."

"I once considered him a comrade in arms," Sticky began, "and he was a respected member of a group we were both part of. I was a spy, he was an assassin. But as of a few weeks ago, I came across a case that I felt I could not accept my orders for."

"What case might that be?" Nick asked.

"The case of you and your relationship with Lt. Hopps," Sticky said. "I was told to follow you and make absolutely certain you were not romantically inclined. I found out, unfortunately for me, that you indeed are."

Nick was astonished. To think that this little lizard had been following him and Judy this whole time, wanting to make sure he and Judy were not dating?

"Why were you following us?" Nick hissed, getting a tiny bit angry with the lizard.

"My orders were to kill you if you were romantically inclined," Sticky said, causing Nick to take a sharp breath. "But I won't do it now. I'm finished with the Black Flames. My boss is getting away with horrible things, and I'm not going to be a part of it anymore."

"Who's your boss?" Nick asked.

"My cousin," Sticky explained, "and as for who he is, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"What, is he a black bear or something?" Nick asked sarcastically.

"No," Sticky said, rolling his eyes. "Look, I didn't want to get off on my past and all I am leaving behind. I came here to find a way to help you solve this case."

"Seriously?" Nick asked, not quite believing the little lizard. "You'll show me who the murderer is?"

Sticky thought for a second about how to approach this.

"No," he finally admitted. "You're the police officer here, not me. It's not my place to solve the case for you, but I can help you."

"What do you mean?" Nick asked, confused.

"Well," Sticky began, "from what I've overheard, you've got only two candidates for a murderer. One is definitely the murderer, but you're not sure which one. Let me eliminate an option. Instead of proving who the murderer is, why don't I prove to you who the murderer isn't?"

Nick thought about this for a second. He wasn't exactly inclined to trust a reptile, but his interest was piqued. Under most circumstances, he would have pressed Sticky for a few more answers, but in the back of his mind, there were a couple of different things telling him to just listen to the little lizard.

The first was Judy and her plight in the luggage car. She was trapped, cold and miserable in there, and she was desperate to escape from the jaws of terror that were slowly closing around her.

The second was his biting desire to save her from those aforementioned jaws of terror.

"All right," Nick said, "show me who the murderer isn't."