Chief Bogo paced back and forth in his office with a stern look on his face, the brawny buffalo was holding a very large and visibly disorganized folder containing every known detail regarding the latest spate of missing person reports.
Despite putting the best men on the case his department had thus far made positively zero progress in solving a single one of these cases and Mayor Lionheart, recently reelected after his stint in minimum security prison, was breathing fire down his neck for some results - specifically, the mayor had not so subtly stressed, results that pointed to them all being separate, unrelated incidences. The last thing Zootopia needed, the egotistical pantherinae blowhard had reiterated in his last phone call, was another scandal like the NightHowlers fiasco.
However the true nature of a crime doesn't care about what people want and isn't always politically convenient Bogo thought to himself as he stopped to look at the large map of Zootopia he kept on his wall; said map currently covered with over a dozen red thumbtacks, connecting string and photos of missing animal men.
Scratching his chin, the gruff bovine couldn't help but feel they were all related somehow. Sure there were no specific traits linking the kidnappings together, like how in the NightHowler case every missing person had been a predator species, beyond the flimsy connection that they had all been adult males in some way connected with the food or fitness industry - There was a beefy kangaroo champion boxer turned trainer, an up-and-coming polar bear food scientist and tv chef, a gym chain owning bodybuilding equine with his own brand of beachwear, and of course, the country bumkin' fox turned food mogul who'd been missing the longest.
At the current rate one or two men had gone missing every week, no break ins, no signs of a struggle, no signs of a struggle. The only unique detail the ZDP had to go on was the somewhat strange report that a few of the missing mammals had been spotted going on a "food bender" in the days before they went missing and looked... "bloated" was a kind word to put it. But that could be due to anything, maybe they owed a lot of money to a dangerous person and wanted to have a big final meal before they met their end, Bogo theorized grimly, maybe they were in the process of bulking or an off-season. Maybe they were just getting fat, Zootopia was slowly be surely becoming a city of lardballs, at least in the humble police chiefs opinion.
Regardless, no matter how suspiciously similar each case was Bogo didn't have any actual solid PROOF they were connected, just a gut feeling, and with Lionheart on his back he couldn't afford to allocate his limited department resources investigating conspiracy theories - but that didn't mean he couldn't look into them himself.
*GuRgLe*
Speaking of gut feelings... Chief Bogo sighed in exasperation as his fuzzy midsection grumbled in displeasure. The buffalo couldn't fathom WHY but his belly had been complaining with hunger pangs all afternoon! It'd even driven him to eat his packed lunch early; classic oat-berry kerned yogurt with kale and kidney bean salad, which usually was enough to sate the big bull until dinnertime without a second thought.
But today for some reason it had been strangely bland and unfilling, the Chief grimaced remembering how he had slowly chewed on the limp green leaves and near tasteless oats, it must have been a bad batch or something, even the fresh berries didn't quite compare to the delectable artifical sweetness of the strawberry donuts he ate earlier.
Honestly, even though he usually loved his leafy greens, the mere thought of the ultra healthy dish somehow made the bull feel just a little bit deflated today... it just seemed so... insubstantial... flavorless...
Bogo's belly rumbling would make him think about food, and food would make Bogo's mouth wet slightly at the thought of those tempting deep fried decadent treats he regrettably threw away... "No!!" Bogo shook his head in frustration, it had been a bad idea to eat even ONE of those deep fried calorie bombs, and even if he DID want another the junk food was now where junk belonged, in the trash, Bogo was no trash eater.
Still, after a little more agonizing and another loud rumble form his belly the big water buffalo decided couldn't just do ignore his stomach any longer, it was distracting him too much!! Every few minutes Bogo would delve back into the case files, feeling himself slowly sink into the mental zen of a true detective, until *GURGLE*.... a rude rumble reverberated around his office and spoiled his focus.
"Rrrgh, fine... FINE! You win!" Bogo growled at his flat middle, poking it with a hoofed paw for emphasis, "If I eat something you BETTER shut up and let me get back to work."
Done arguing with his stomach, Bogo opened the door and stomped his way down to the ZDP staff room, he could easily grab a tasty snack from the vending machine there; maybe a bag of chips? Or some cheap candy? Or some...
The big buffalo's wide shoulders visibly slumped as the bull stood in front of the food dispense, stocked full of fruit.
"Oh yeah... that's right... I ordered them to fill it with more... healthy options last month..." Bogo muttered to himself with a frown, remembering the big stink he'd made about the report that came out that ZDP officers were ranking top of the charts as one of the 'heaviest' precincts in all of Zootopia.
"Hmm, yes, lovely apples... love them apples." Bogo reassured himself in the flattest voice possible. Normally Bogo DID love apples, but today, the ONE day he ever actually wanted to use this vending machine, he had the deepest craving for something far more sweet or salty.
The bull huffed as he contemplated his bland healthy choices, the egotistical bull was still adamant he had made the right decision at the time to change the menu, but... maybe after today he'd quietly change it back. His men had no doubt got the intended message to slim down, and no need to punish EVERYONE for a few lardos with no willpower...
But changing the menu for tomorrow wouldn't help him today, Bogo wanted something satisfying, something filling... and then a thought came to him; due to his work on the case Bogo was dimly aware that one of Gideon Greys' popular bakeries had opened up REALLY close to the ZDP just in the last few weeks (it seemed the franchise was carrying on business just fine without the bumpkin fox). Bogo had given many a menacing glare to officers who dared to showed up to the bullpen with an overloaded takeaway bag full of muffins or donuts, if he didn't make examples of them he'd end up with a department full of Clawhausers!
But Bogo knew he was in no risk of getting fat like like so many of his doughy subordinates, he was a fit proud bull with a body forged in exercise and restraint, he could afford a cheat day more than anyone.
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