Arctic animals danced as Fru Fru and her groom fed each other cake. Nick and Judy looked like giants as they sat at the head table, next to Mr. Big.
“Otterton is my florist,” said Mr. Big. “He’s like a part of the family. He had something important he wanted to discuss. That’s why I sent that car to pick him up. But he never arrived.”
“Because he was attacked,” said Judy.
“No...he attacked,” Mr. Big explained. “He went crazy. Ripped up the car, scared my driver half to death, and disappeared into the night.”
“He’s a sweet little otter,” said Judy.
“My child, we may be evolved...but deep down, we are still animals.”
Nick and Judy exchanged a worried look.
“You want to find Otterton, talk to the driver of the car. His name is Manchas, lives in the Rainforest District. Only he can tell you more.”
Judy and Nick left the wedding and headed straight for the lush, humid Rainforest District in search of their next clue.
As the steam trees pumped a steady stream of mist into the rainforest air, Judy and Nick climbed higher and higher. They followed a winding road to a home high up in the canopy. Once the steamy fog cleared, they could see Manchas’s moss-covered apartment.
“Mr. Manchas?” Judy called, after ringing the doorbell. “Judy Hopps, ZPD. I’d like to ask you some questions about Emmitt Otterton.” She knocked on the door as Nick snooped through Manchas’s mailbox.
“He’s a kitty,” said Nick, holding up an issue of Cat Fancy magazine. “Hey, buddy, I got a can of tuna out here. Open the door, we’ll talk it out—”
“Not every cat likes tuna,” said Judy.
“Oh, right, got it,” said Nick. He turned back to the door. “Buddy, I got a ball of yarn out here—”
Judy playfully punched Nick. “Sir, my partner’s an idiot. You’re not in trouble. We just want to know what happened to Emmitt Otterton.”
Finally, the door slowly creaked open, just a crack. “You should be asking...what happened to me,” said a voice from inside.
The chain lock prevented the door from opening all the way. Through the space, they could see that Manchas was a big jaguar and he had been badly beaten, with bruises, scratches, and a black eye.
“Whoa. A teensy otter...did that?” asked Nick.
“What...happened?” Judy asked.
Manchas described the scene, sounding haunted. Like he was reliving it. “He was an animal, down on all fours. He was a savage. There was no warning, just kept yelling about the ‘night howlers, the night howlers,’ over and over.”
Nick and Judy shared a look. “Oh. Wow. That’s crazy, because that is actually why we came to talk to you...about the night howlers. Right?” said Judy, pumping for more information.
“Yes,” said Nick, picking up on Judy’s cue. “Absolutely. Whole ride over here we’re sitting there going, night howler this, night howler that. Tell him.”
“Yup. So you just open the door and tell us what you know, and we will tell you what we know,” Judy persuaded. “Okay?”
Manchas considered a moment and then shut the door.
As he unlocked each of the locks from inside, Nick glanced at Judy, impressed. “You’re not as dumb as you look,” he said.
With a smile, she punched him on the arm. Hard.
They heard Manchas make a strange grunting noise.
“Mr. Manchas?” said Judy. “Are you okay?”
A loud thud sounded. Then the door creaked and opened just an inch. Judy slowly pushed it and saw Manchas hunched over in the middle of the room.
“Buddy?” Nick asked.
With a low growl, Manchas turned to them. His eyes were huge. He was SAVAGE! He raced at Nick and Judy like a primal predator.
“Run. RUN!” Judy screamed.
第 15 章
露露和她的新郎互喂蛋糕的時候,極地動物們在跳舞。尼克和朱迪坐在上座,挨著大先生,體形顯得特別高大。
大先生說:“奧獺頓是我的花匠,我把他當家人看待。他那天說有重要的事情要和我商量,所以我就派車去接他,但他一直沒有到。”
朱迪說:“那是因為他遭到攻擊了。”
“不對,是他攻擊別人了。”大先生解釋道。“他晚上發(fā)狂了,掀翻了車子,把司機嚇得半死,然后就逃走了。”
朱迪說:“他只是只善良的小水獺而已。”
大先生說:“孩子,雖然我們已經(jīng)進化了……但歸根到底我們還是動物啊。”
尼克和朱迪對視了一下,憂心忡忡。
“你要是想找到奧獺頓,去問問那天的司機吧。他叫麥岔,住在雨林區(qū),那天的情形他最清楚。”
朱迪和尼克離開了婚禮現(xiàn)場,直奔繁茂濕潤的雨林區(qū),尋找下一個線索。
噴汽樹向雨林上空噴出一道霧氣,朱迪和尼克順著霧氣向上越爬越高。他們沿著蜿蜒的小路爬到了樹冠高處的一間房子。云霧消散,他們發(fā)現(xiàn)那就是麥岔長滿青苔的房子。
朱迪按了聲門鈴,喊道:“麥岔先生在嗎?我是動物城警察局的朱迪·霍普斯。我想問問您幾個關于艾米·奧獺頓的問題。”朱迪敲門的同時,一旁的尼克正往麥岔的郵箱里窺探。
“他是只小貓。”尼克取出一本名叫《貓科動物幻想》的雜志對朱迪說。“嘿,老兄,我這兒有一罐金槍魚罐頭。開開門,我們好好聊一聊——”
朱迪說道:“不是每只貓都喜歡金槍魚。”
尼克說:“哦,對的,我知道了。”他繼而背對著門喊道:“老兄,這兒還有一團毛線呢——”
朱迪被逗樂了,打了尼克一拳:“先生,我搭檔是個白癡。您沒有陷入麻煩之中,我們就是想問問艾米·奧獺頓的情況而已。”
最終,門緩緩打開了,只開了一條縫,里面?zhèn)鞒鲆粋€聲音:“你應該問問……我的情況。”
門上上了鏈條鎖,因此門不能完全打開。但從門縫中依然能看見麥岔是一頭體形龐大的美洲虎,他看上去傷得很厲害,身上青一塊紫一塊,還被打成了熊貓眼。
尼克驚訝地問道:“哇!是那只小水獺……干的?”
朱迪也跟著問:“到底……發(fā)生了什么事情?”
麥岔描述起當晚的情形,他依然憂心忡忡,仿佛一切歷歷在目:“他是只動物沒錯,四只腳走路的。但他是只怪獸,沒有征兆,只聽他不停地喊:‘夜嚎者, 夜嚎者’。”
尼克和朱迪相視一眼。“哦,哇,真是太嚇人了。這也是我們到這兒找你的原因——‘夜嚎者’,對吧?”朱迪說著,想要多問出點線索。
“對的!”尼克接著朱迪的話茬說道,“沒錯。我們來這里的一路上都在聽說夜嚎者這個,夜嚎者那個的事情。跟他說說吧!”
朱迪勸道:“對啊,你開開門,把你知道的告訴我們,我們也會把我們知道的告訴你,可以嗎?”
麥岔思忖了一會兒,關上了門。
不一會兒,鎖從里面被一個個打開了,尼克頗有深意地看了朱迪一眼,說:“其實你也沒有那么笨嘛!”
朱迪笑著又給了尼克一拳,這一拳可不輕。
他們聽見麥岔開始發(fā)出奇怪的咕嚕聲。
朱迪說:“麥岔先生,您沒事吧?”
砰的一聲,門嘎吱作響,裂開了一個小口子。朱迪小心翼翼地推了推,看見麥岔伏在屋子中央。
尼克問道:“老兄?”
麥岔轉向他們倆,喉嚨里發(fā)出低吼聲,眼睛變得巨大。他發(fā)狂了!他一下子沖向尼克和朱迪,就像一個殘暴的捕食者。
朱迪叫道:“快跑!快跑!”