An hour later, the ZPD burst into Lionheart’s office.
“Mayor Lionheart, you are under arrest for the kidnapping and false imprisonment of innocent citizens,” Judy said as she cuffed him.
“You don’t understand!” shouted Lionheart. “I had to do it!”
“You have the right to remain silent,” Judy continued.
“I did it for the city!” Lionheart exclaimed.
Later on, Bogo addressed the press. Behind him were posters of the savage animals—each one of them sporting a muzzle. “Ladies and gentlemammals,” said Bogo. “Fourteen mammals went missing, and all fourteen have been found by our newest recruit, who will speak to you in a moment.”
“I am so nervous,” said Judy as she and Nick stood off to the side.
“Okay, Press Conference 101,” said Nick. “You wanna look smart, answer their questions with your own rhetorical questions. Then answer that question. Okay like this, ‘Was this a tough case? Yes. Yes, it was.’ ”
“You should be up there with me. We did this together,” said Judy.
“Well, am I a cop? No. No, I’m not,” answered Nick.
“Funny you should say that...because I’ve been thinking. It would be nice to have a partner,” said Judy, handing Nick an application to the ZPD. She offered the carrot pen to him. “Here. In case you need something to write with.”
Bellwether gestured to Judy to come up to the podium. “Officer Hopps, it’s time.”
Nick looked down at the application, clicked the pen, and began filling it out.
As Judy stepped up, Bogo saluted her. She saluted back, and then the reporters started shouting out her name and asking questions. Judy pointed to one of them. “What can you tell us about the animals that went savage?” the reporter asked.
“Well, the animals in question...Are they all different species? Yes. Yes, they are,” said Judy, looking toward Nick.
Nick smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.
“Okay, what’s the connection?” shouted another reporter.
“All we know is that they’re all members of the predator family,” said Judy.
Nick frowned. The press reacted. Again, they yelled questions all at once. Judy was surprised.
“So predators are the only ones going savage?” demanded one reporter.
“That is accurate,” said Judy, hesitating before she spoke. “Yes.”
“Why is that happening?” yelled several reporters.
“We still don’t know—”
The crowd rumbled with disappointment.
“BUT, but, but...it may have something to do with biology,” said Judy, surprised by the escalating tension in the room.
Murmurs rippled across the press and a reporter asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“A biological component. You know, something in their DNA,” Judy said.
“In their DNA? Can you elaborate on that, please?”
“Yes,” Judy nodded, as the crowd got louder. “Thousands of years ago...predators survived through their aggressive hunting instincts. For whatever reason, they’re reverting back to their savage ways.”
Her comment caused a big hubbub. Nick didn’t like what he was hearing. Clawhauser looked up. He was feeling uncomfortable, too.
“Officer Hopps, could it happen again?” asked another reporter.
“It is possible,” said Judy. “We must be vigilant. And we at the ZPD are prepared and are here to protect you.”
The press suddenly went into an absolute frenzy, asking questions like “What is being done to prevent it?” and “Should all predators be quarantined?”
Bellwether stepped up, eager to put an end to the questions. “Uh, thank you, Officer Hopps. Uh, no more questions.”
“Oh, okay...but...I...didn’t—” Before Judy could say another word, Bellwether ushered her away.
Unsure of how she had done, Judy walked across the lobby to Nick. “That went so fast. I didn’t get a chance to mention you or say anything about—”
“Oh, I think you said plenty,” said Nick, interrupting her.
“What do you mean?” Judy asked, confused.
“Clearly there’s a biological component,” he said sarcastically, repeating her words. “These predators may be reverting back to their primitive savage ways.” He looked at her incredulously. “Are you serious?”
“I just stated the facts of the case,” said Judy. “I mean, it’s not like a bunny could go savage.”
“No, but a fox could, huh?”
“Stop it, Nick! You’re not like them.”
“There’s a them now?”
“You know what I mean. You’re not that kind of predator.”
Nick gestured at all the posters. “The kind that needs to be muzzled? The kind that makes you think you need to carry around fox repellent? Yeah, don’t think I didn’t notice that little item the first time we met.”
Nick got angrier and angrier, “So, you scared of me? Think I might go nuts? Go savage? Think I might what...try to eat you?”
Nick lunged, like he was going to bite her, and she flinched. Automatically, she put her hand on the fox repellent.
“I knew it. Just when I thought somebody actually believed in me,” Nick said calmly. Then he handed her back the application. “Probably best if you don’t have a predator as a partner.”
As he walked away, he took off the sticker badge, crumpled it up, and tossed it into the trash.
“Nick!” Judy called after him, but he went straight out the door.
Judy had broken their friendship, and she didn’t know how to fix it.
一小時之后,動物城警察局的警員們涌進了獅市長的辦公室。
“獅市長,你現(xiàn)在以綁架罪和非法拘禁罪被捕。”朱迪說著把他銬了起來。
獅市長大喊道:“你不明白!我不得不這樣做!”
朱迪接著說:“你有權保持沉默!”
獅市長呼喊道:“我是為了我們的城市才這樣做的!”
隨后,牛局長召開了新聞發(fā)布會。他身后張貼著那些發(fā)狂的動物們,每一只都戴著口套。牛局長說:“女士們,先生們。我們市有14只動物失蹤,但這14只動物全都被我們的新警員找到,接下來讓她來講講。”
“我好緊張!”朱迪說著,和尼克起身站到一邊。
尼克說:“好吧,101號新聞發(fā)布會,你得表現(xiàn)得機靈點,回答問題的時候要先反問他們,然后再回答他們的問題。比如說‘這個案子是不是很難偵破呢?是的是的!’”
朱迪說:“你應該跟我一起到前面去,案子是我們一起破的。”
尼克回答道:“嗯,我是警察嗎?不,不,我不是。”
“你說的這個很有意思……因為我也一直都在想這個問題。我要是有個搭檔就好了。”朱迪遞給尼克一張動物城警察局的職位申請表,還遞給他一支胡蘿卜筆:“給,以防你需要填表用的筆。”
羊副市長示意朱迪到演講臺上去:“霍普斯警官,該你了哦!”
尼克低頭看了看申請表,按下筆頭開始填起來。
朱迪上臺時,牛局長向她敬禮,她也回敬了。接著,記者叫著她的名字,開始提問。朱迪指了指其中一個。那個記者問:“你能和我們講講那些發(fā)狂的動物嗎?”
“是這樣,這些出了問題的動物……他們是不同的物種嗎?是的,是的!”朱迪邊回答邊望向尼克。
尼克笑了起來,向她豎起了大拇指。
另一個記者大聲問道:“那他們之間有什么聯(lián)系嗎?”
朱迪答道:“據(jù)我們所知,他們都是食肉動物。”
尼克皺了皺眉。媒體開始騷動,大家再一次異口同聲地要提問。朱迪有點驚訝。
一個記者問:“那么,發(fā)狂的只有食肉動物嗎?”
“你說得沒錯。”朱迪說著,頓了頓又補充了一句:“是的。”
幾個記者一起問道:“為什么會這樣?”
“這個我們現(xiàn)在還不清楚——”
人群中開始傳出不滿的聲音。
“但是——但是,但是……這個可能會跟生物特性有關。”朱迪說著,驚訝于屋內(nèi)不斷升級的緊張氣氛。
媒體間開始竊竊私語,一個記者問道:“你這話是什么意思?”
朱迪說:“就是一種生物成分,在他們的基因里。”
“在他們的基因里?能請你詳細說說嗎?”
“好的。”隨著人群中的聲音越來越大,朱迪點點頭說道,“幾千年前……食肉動物因為他們的捕獵特性而存活下來,而現(xiàn)在因為某些原因,他們又回到了以前原始的野蠻狀態(tài)。”
她的話立刻引起了人群的騷動。尼克不喜歡他聽到的這番話。克勞豪瑟抬起頭,他也不太舒服。
另一個記者問:“霍普斯警官,那這種事情還會發(fā)生嗎?”
朱迪說:“有可能。我們必須保持警惕,我們動物城警察局也已做好準備,保護大家的安全。”
媒體突然陷入大混亂,各種問題不斷被問及,比如“你們通過什么措施來保護我們?”“所有的食肉動物都應該被隔離起來嗎?”
羊副市長趕緊上臺,試圖終止提問:“呃,好的,謝謝霍普斯警官。提問到此結束。”
“哦,好吧……但是……我還——”還沒等朱迪說完,羊副市長已經(jīng)將她領了下去。
朱迪不確定自己表現(xiàn)得怎么樣,便穿過大廳走向尼克:“整個過程太快了,我都沒逮著機會提到你,還有——”
尼克打斷她說:“哦,我覺得你已經(jīng)說了很多了。”
朱迪不解地問道:“什么意思?”
“很明顯是一種生物成分。這些食肉動物有可能回到原始的野蠻狀態(tài)。”他重復著朱迪的話,其中不無諷刺意味。他疑惑地看著她問道:“你是認真的嗎?”
朱迪說:“我說的只是事實。我的意思是,就像兔子不會發(fā)狂一樣。”
“兔子當然不會,但狐貍就會了,對吧?”
“不要說了,尼克!你跟他們不一樣!”
“現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)有‘他們’這一說了?”
“你知道我的意思。你不是那種食肉動物。”
尼克指著墻上所有的海報說:“是那種需要戴上口套的食肉動物嗎?是那種你覺得你需要隨身帶上驅(qū)狐劑的食肉動物嗎?你別以為我們第一次見面時我沒看到那個小東西。”
尼克越說越生氣:“你害怕我對嗎?覺得我會發(fā)瘋?會發(fā)狂?覺得我會……吃了你?”
尼克猛地沖過來,像是要咬她的樣子。她畏縮了一下,手不自覺地放在了驅(qū)狐劑上。
“我就知道。我本以為有人會真的相信我。”尼克平靜地說著。接著,他把申請表還給了朱迪:“你最好還是不要找一個食肉動物當搭檔了吧。”
他離開時,把身上的徽章摘了下來,捏碎扔進了垃圾堆。
“尼克!”朱迪在后面叫他,但他頭也不回地往門外走去。
朱迪搞砸了他們的友情,她不知該如何挽回。