Nick led Judy to a place called the Mystic Spring Oasis¹. The scent² of incense³ wafted⁴ through the air inside the gates, and a yak⁵ named Yax sat in meditation⁶. Flies buzzed around his unshowered body. "Oooooooohmmmmm," he chanted. The tone of the buzzing flies seemed to match the tone of his voice. "Oooooooohmmmmm."

 

Judy approached Yax. "Hello! My name is—"

 

"Oh, you know, I'm gonna hit the pause button right there. We are all good on Bunny Scout⁷ Cookies," said Yax, who talked slowly, almost as if he wasn't quite there.

 

"I am Officer Hopps, ZPD. I am looking for a missing mammal, Emmitt Otterton"—she showed him the picture—"who may have frequented this establishment."

 

Yax looked at the photo and his eyes widened, as if he was about to say something important.

 

"AH-CHOO!" he sneezed, and flies scattered⁹ everywhere before returning to their place, hovering¹⁰ around him. "Yep, Ol' Emmitt. Haven't seen him in a couple weeks. But hey, you should talk to his yoga instructor¹¹. I'd be happy to take you back." Yax nodded toward a different area of the club.

 

"Thank you so much," said Judy. "That would be a big—" Yax came around from behind the counter, and Judy was unable to complete her sentence when she saw what he was—or wasn't—wearing. "You are naked!"

 

"Huh? Oh, for sure, we're a Naturalist¹² Club," said Yax nonchalantly.

 

"Yeah, in Zootopia anyone can be anything...," said Nick, grinning, "and these guys, they be naked."

 

"Nanga's on the other side of the pleasure pool," offered Yax. "Right this way, folks."

 

Judy's jaw¹³ dropped as she wondered what a pleasure pool was. When they got there, naked animals were sunning themselves, playing, and lounging around. Judy's eyes nearly popped out of her head at the sight. Nick leaned over to her. "Does this make you uncomfortable? Because there is no shame in calling it quits. We could end our deal right now."

 

"Yes, there is," she said. She was determined¹⁴ more than ever to stay on the case.

 

"Boy, that's the spirit," joked Nick.

 

Out in the courtyard, Judy tried to act normal. Her eyes darted¹⁵ around, looking for a neutral place to land.

 

"Yeah, some mammals say the naturalist life is weird¹⁶," said Yax. "But you know what I say is weird? Clothes on animals! Here we go. As you can see, Nanga's an elephant, so she'll totally remember everything."

 

Nanga looked curiously¹⁷ at the newcomers.

 

"Hey, Nanga, these dudes have some questions about Emmitt the otter⁸," said Yax.

 

"Who?" Nanga asked.

 

"Emmitt Otterton," Yax prompted. "Been coming to your yoga class for like six years."

 

"I have no memory of this beaver," Nanga stated.

 

"Yeah, he's an otter, actually," Judy corrected, looking over at Nick in dismay.

 

"He was here a couple Wednesdays ago. 'Member?" Yax prompted Nanga.

 

But the elephant just shook her head. "Nope."

 

"Yeah," Yax continued. "He was wearing a green cable-knit sweater-vest and a new pair of corduroy slacks. Oh, and a paisley tie, sweet Windsor knot, real tight. Remember that, Nanga?"

 

Judy couldn't believe her luck. Yax was a gold mine! She scrambled¹⁸ to write everything down.

 

"No," Nanga said again.

 

"Uh, ah, you didn't happen to catch the license¹⁹ plate number did you?" Judy asked.

 

"Oh, for sure," Yax nodded. "It was 29THD03."

 

Judy's pen moved quickly. "—03. Wow. This is a lot of great info. Thank you."

 

Yax smiled. "Told ya Nanga had a mind like a steel trap. I wish I had a memory like an elephant."

 

Outside the club, in Sahara Square, Nick smiled smugly. "Well, I had a ball. You are welcome for the clue. And seeing as how any moron²⁰ can run a plate, I'll take that pen and bid you adieu."

 

Judy held out the pen, but as Nick went to reach for it, she realized something. She pulled it back before he could swipe it. "The plate...I can't run the plate...I'm not in the system yet." She put the pen back in her pocket and smiled at Nick.

 

"Gimme the pen, please," said Nick.

 

"What was it you said? ‘Any moron can run a plate'? Gosh...if only there were a moron around who was up to the task...," she said.

 

"Rabbit, I did what you asked; you can't keep me on the hook forever," said Nick.

 

"No, not forever. I have"—Judy paused as she checked her phone—"thirty-six hours left to solve this case. Can you run the plate or not?"

 

Nick stared at Judy, and then slowly grinned. "I just remembered, I have a pal²¹ at the DMV."

 

尼克领着朱迪来到一个叫“神秘泉绿洲”的地方。大门里面，焚香的味道飘荡在空中，一头名叫犀利哥的牦牛坐在那里冥想。苍蝇嘤嘤嘤地绕着他那没洗澡的身体飞来飞去。“哦哦哦哦哦呒，”他反复诵唱着。苍蝇的嘤嘤声似乎应和了他诵唱的音调。“哦哦哦哦哦呒。”

 

朱迪走到犀利哥近旁，说道：“你好!我是——”

 

“哦，要知道，我会停下我手头的工作。我们对待兔子警花一直都很好。”犀利哥说道。他说话非常慢，就好像他压根儿不在跟前。

 

“我是动物城警察局的霍普斯警官，我在寻找一只失踪的动物，艾米·奥獭顿”——她把那张照片拿给他看——“他有可能经常出入这种地方。”

 

犀利哥看着那张照片，惊得瞪圆了双眼，似乎打算说出一些重要线索。

 

“阿——嚏!”他打了个喷嚏，盘旋在他身边的苍蝇还没来得及再叮回去，就四处逃散了。“是的，艾米。有一两个星期没见着他了。不过你倒是可以问问他的瑜伽教练。我很乐意带你过去。”说着，犀利哥用脑袋朝俱乐部的另一片区域示意了一下。

 

“非常感谢，”朱迪说道，“那真是太——”犀利哥从吧台后面过来，可是朱迪还没来得及把话说完，就发现他穿的是——或者说没穿——什么。“你没穿衣服!”

 

“哈!哦，确实如此;我们是一家自然主义者俱乐部。”犀利哥若无其事地说道。

 

“的确，在动物城，大家可以随心所欲……”尼克咧嘴一笑说道，“这些家伙，他们就不要穿衣服。”

 

“南格在康乐池的另一边，”犀利哥提议道，“这边走，朋友们。”

 

正当朱迪还在疑惑康乐池是什么时，她惊得张大了嘴巴。他们到达那里时，没穿衣服的动物们有的在晒太阳，有的在玩耍，还有的在闲逛。看到这种景象，朱迪震惊得眼珠子都要掉出来了。尼克探身过来，问道：“这里是不是让你觉得不舒服?现在放弃也不算丢人，我们可以就此结束我们的交易。”

 

“不，很丢人。”她说道。她要继续调查此案件的决心比以往任何时候都强烈。

 

“好家伙，精神可嘉。”尼克开玩笑道。

 

在户外的庭院里，朱迪尽量表现得自然一些。她目光睃了一眼，想要落在一个不让她那么尴尬的地方。

 

“哦，有些动物说自然主义者的生活怪异，”犀利哥说道，“不过你知道在我看来什么才怪异吗?动物穿衣服!我们到了。正如你们所看到的，南格是一头大象，所以她能记住所有的事情。”

 

南格一脸好奇地看着陌生的访客。

 

“你好，南格，这些家伙要问几个有关水獭艾米的问题。”犀利哥说道。

 

“谁?”南格问道。

 

“艾米·奥獭顿，”犀利哥提醒道，“一直在上你的瑜伽课，都六年了。”

 

“我不记得这只海狸。”南格说。

 

“嗨，实际上，他是水獭。”朱迪纠正道，失落地看向尼克。

 

“两个星期之前的星期三他来过这里，想起来了吗?”犀利哥追问道。

 

但是这头大象只是摇摇头，说了声：“没有。”

 

“来了，”犀利哥继续说道，“他当时穿了一件绿色的绞花针织马甲和一条新买的灯芯绒休闲裤。哦，还戴了一条佩斯利印花领带，很漂亮的温莎结，打得很紧。想起来了吗，南格?”

 

朱迪怎么也想不到自己运气这么好。犀利哥简直就是聚宝盆!她匆忙记下了所有信息。

 

“没有，”南格继续说道。

 

“呃，啊，你有没有碰巧记下车牌号码?”朱迪问道。

 

“哦，当然，”犀利哥点点头，说道，“车牌号是29THD03。”

 

朱迪下笔飞快。“——03。哇，很多有用的线索。谢谢你。”

 

犀利哥微微一笑，说道：“跟你说了，南格有着极其敏锐的头脑。我真希望我的记忆力能像大象那样。”

 

出了俱乐部来到撒哈拉广场，尼克自鸣得意地微微笑道：“好了，我真开心。你查到线索了，不用谢我。既然再笨的人也能查到车牌，我就要取回那支笔，跟你道别了。”

 

朱迪掏出那支笔递了出去，但是在尼克伸手去拿时，她意识到一些问题。还没等他碰到笔，她又收了回来。“那个车牌……我没法查车牌……我还没进入那个系统。”她把那支笔放回到口袋里，面带笑容地看着尼克。

 

“拜托把笔给我。”尼克说道。

 

“你之前说什么?‘再笨的人也能查到车牌’?老天……要是身边有个笨人正好适合做这个事情……”她说道。

 

“兔子，你让我做的事情我做了;你不能永远拖着我。”尼克说道。

 

“不，不是永远。我还有”——朱迪确认了一下手机，顿了顿继续说道——“36个小时来侦破这起案件。你会不会查车牌?”

 

尼克凝视着朱迪，然后慢慢咧嘴一笑，说道：“我刚刚想起来了，我有个朋友在动物车辆管理局上班。”

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