Hoot Owl Diary Part 3

*Hoot Hoot*
Thank you so much for your patience dear listeners. I have part 3 for you, and we shall read a little longer today to make up for last week. I hope you enjoy my little owlets!

*BeepBeepBeep* Nick felt like he had only just closed his eyes. He shut off the alarm and stared at the celling.  As much as he didn’t want to, he needed to go in for work. Work helped keep his mind off Judy’s disappearance and gave him something to do. After a few moments he got up and began to get dressed for the day. As he was straightening his uniform in the mirror, his eyes caught something glinting in the open drawer. His sunglasses. He hadn’t worn them in weeks. Nick picked them up and looked at them. “I learned two things that day…The first was to never let anyone know they got to me…” He could hear himself saying these words to Judy Hopps so long ago. The sunglasses had been the secret to his success. Eyes will often give away true feelings or intentions. The mirrored sunglasses kept anyone from getting too close. He put them on, somehow comforted by their presence. Then, he walked out the door.

One good thing about this apartment, he reflected to himself, it was a short walk to work. He crossed the street and passed by the elephant ice cream shop. Just then, a moving shape caught his eye. He quickly turned, but whoever it was had vanished around the corner. He could have sworn someone was following him, no, waiting for him? He shook his head and walked into the 1^st Precinct Police Station.

The Bull Pen was loud and noisy, as usual. He walked in and looked around. Francine the elephant was sitting on the left, in her usual spot. Nick sighed. He didn’t really feel like talking with her quite yet, so he seated himself in the back. Just then, the chief walked in.

“Alright, settle down. This has been a quiet summer, but now that it’s over, we have some cases that need assigning. Let’s see.” He squinted at his list. “Reports of some traffic light drag racing in Sahara square. Weaslton is back to his old tricks, selling pirated movies on street corners.” He flipped through his notes. “And we have some reports out of the Canal District.” Something about the way he said that made Nick’s neck hairs prickle. He and Judy had only been there once during their 3 years on the force, and it appeared to be a dead end. They were running interviews for an updated tram system and track repairs. It was well known that the Canal folk mostly kept to themselves, but the interviews had just been…well, off. Most animals wouldn’t even talk to them, and those that did were either gruff and brisk, or furtive. “Wilde!” Nick snapped out of his reverie. “Yes chief?” “You and Francine take a look into these claims. More than likely a couple of frightened little beavers running away from home.” “Yessir.” Nick wished he had been paying more attention. “Very well” Bogo boomed. “You have your assignments. Get to it!” Nick and Francine picked up their case file and left. Francine began glancing at their file. “A couple of runaway beavers. You don’t usually hear about this sort of thing in the Canals. It’s usually so quiet…” Her voice trailed off. “It’s not unheard of, she continued. However, they will probably be back by supper.” Nick followed her out, still lost in his own thoughts. Missing animals? It may be the lead he needed to find Judy. Then again, he chided himself. He shouldn’t get his hopes up. As they were leaving the precinct, he thought he saw another flash of gray. He wondered who it might be, but decided not to point it out to Francine. If someone was following him, he could deal with it on his own.