"Adalet, I'm glad to see you. This message from the Puppeteer really worries me. "Hello, little puppet! I hope you'll like my show. After all, what would a Carnival be without a good puppet show?" Andrea reads off the message from the paper, "this is an open threat that the Puppeteer will start killing again! And the Carnival is today! Adalet, I want you to patrol the parade with Frank, an-"
"Patrol the parade?" Frank groans, "I was looking forward to staying in and spending some quality time with my turtle..."
"Frank, just do as I say, for once, will you? Yann is late for work again, and I'm tired of you answering back to me like an irreverent teenager. I'm still Chief of Police here! Sorry, Adalet. I don't mean you, of course," she apologized, "but you really must be alert, so the Carnival takes place without incident. With the Puppeteer's message in mind, we cannot leave anything to chance! I also need people to do a security check in the storage rooms. Adalet, you will make sure everything's alright. I'm counting on you!"
"We're on it, chief!" Adalet salutes.
Later, in the Carnival storage room...
"I don't know what's wrong with Andrea today, she's like a nagging mom," Frank complained, "I've never seen her like that before, she's really on edge and worried."
"Well can you blame her? A psychopathic killer has basically promised to kill someone else today!?" Adalet reminded him.
"Oh, well. At least here in the storage room, we can have a little more fun, Adalet. What do you say we try on costumes, turn off the lights and scare each other?" he laughed at the glare she gave him, "OK, I get it, we're here to look around. Alright. Let's start with that pretty-looking marionette in the corner!"
Frank led Adalet over to the marionette he was talking about. As they got closer to the puppet, they saw some things that looked to have been forgotten, they picked up a red handbag and broken pieces of metal and wood with the intent of bringing them to the carnival's lost and found, and the garbage. But those plans went out the window when they realized that the marionette was in fact a dead body!
"What the... The victim's been all cut up and linked back together with chains! She looks like a morbid puppet!" Frank exclaimed shielding his eyes.
"Uh-oh," Adalet squeaked, "and if we have a victim displayed as a puppet, then it means the Puppeteer is back!"
"I can't believe this: after ten years, the murders have started again!" he gasped.
Her face fell, "and I know who this is... It's Dinah Cooper, she was a jazz club dancer... Her son recently turned fourteen."
"She was one of the first suspects you met in Jazz Town, wasn't she?" he recalled, "poor girl... I know you won't let the Puppeteer get away with this, Adalet!"
"And first things first," she sent a quick text, "we should send the body to Roxie."
"And since we found Dinah's bag, let's have a look inside and see what clues we can find!" he says placing the red bag back down, "and whatever these pieces are, I trust you'll put them back together while I go get some fresh air. I'm feeling queasy."
Frank stepped out of the storage room to go wait for Roxie. After he had left, Adalet picked up the broken pieces they had found earlier. She glued together the pieces and repaired the dancing trophy to its former glory. With that done she turned t Dinah's bag. She dug through the bag and found an invitation that was slightly faded in some places. She dusted the paper to recover the missing words and just as she was about to read what it said, Frank returned.
"You were pretty quick at restoring that dancer figurine, Adalet. This is why I always let you do the handiwork!" Frank smirked picking it up, "this dancer figurine has Dinah Cooper's name on it! And there's something written on the base... "Freddie, I am an artist, not a toy!" An unfortunate choice of words from Dinah, given she ended up like a puppet."
"And we know a Freddie," Adalet recalled.
"Hm, you're right. Isn't he the guy who organizes the Carnival?" he inquired.
She nodded, "and Freddie's parents were also killed by the Puppeteer!"
"What a coincidence!" he mused, "but what's this artist versus toy thing - was Freddie controlling her in some way?"
She hums, "we'll have to go see Freddie and find out!"
"Did you find anything useful in the victim's bag, Adalet? Some kind of invitation?" Frank says as he picked up the card, "It's for a booze cruise! Or steamboat party, or whatever you want to call it."
"And this invitation was clearly addressed to our victim and could be vital in solving her murder!" Adalet argued.
"It reads: "Welcome aboard the Abigail". Well, let's go check it out... I just hope you don't get seasick!" he laughed.
Frank and Adalet left the storage room and drove through the town. They stopped by the park to talk to Freddie about the message Dinah had left on her trophy, and then they would head over to The Abigail.
"Well. Capt. Adalet, our paths keep crossing, often for unpleasant reasons. What can I do for you this time?" Freddie asked politely.
"Dinah Cooper was just murdered. You could explain why she would accuse you of treating her like a toy for a start," Adalet answered holding up the trophy.
"Dinah was killed?! That's terrible! ... We were working together for the Carnival. I hired her to dance on the main float.," he explained, with a deep sigh, "but it turned out the woman had two left feet! I tried to teach her but she kept getting it wrong. She got annoyed and claimed I was too controlling, but I was just doing my job!"
"So Dinah claimed you were too controlling, only to end up strung up like a puppet. See where we're going with this?" Frank questioned.
"Dinah was murdered... by the Puppeteer?! You mean the killer has started killing again after all these years?!" Freddie gasped, "I can still remember the day the Puppeteer murdered my parents like it was yesterday... The poor girl, she didn't deserve to die like this!"
Aboard the Abigail...
"Glad you picked up on those clues Adalet, maybe I should just let you do the work while I sit back and enjoy a boat ride!" Frank teased.
"Careful, or I'll dump this ice right over your head!" Adalet warned holding up the bucket.
"Why did you pick up that champagne bucket?" he questioned, "the bottle's missing, we can't even have a drink! ... oh, you still want to look through it, Adalet?"
"Yes," she answers picking up a photo.
"And nice," he smirks, "you also found a phone! People always leave private information on their gadgets. Good luck decoding it!"
Adalet picked up the cellphone once again. She powdered it on and took a looked a the keypad. She could see faint fingerprints on some of the keys and used a combination of those to unlock the phone.
"I'm impressed, you unlocked that phone you found on the steamboat way faster than I expected! And that guy looks familiar, doesn't he?" Frank says referring to the man on the phone's background image.
"That's Stanley Bullock!" Adalet told him.
"Oh right, now I remember: he's that nut we met during the Civil War reenactment!" he stated, "I don't know how this phone fits into the current investigation, but you're right: we did find it on a crime scene so let's send it to the lab!"
She set the cellphone down on a table and picked up the champagne bucket. Adalet dumped the contents onto the deck of the ship and sifted through the ice and water. She picks up a photo that had fallen out of the bucket and shook off some of the water.
"Oh, you found a photo of our victim!" Frank said as he saw the familiar woman, "she looks much younger though, wouldn't you agree? And look at the person she's standing next to... his face is all scratched out!"
"Frank, check out the guy's hands!" Adalet pointed to the spot she meant.
"What the?! You're right Adalet, look at the man's hands: he's clearly a... PUPPETEER!" he cried, "Dinah was turned into a puppet... And if she once knew a puppeteer, we need to find out his identity! Do you think you can run his profile through the database, Adalet?"
"We're about to find out," she replied.
Adalet uploaded a digital image of the picture to her tablet and sent it through the database. She compares the features of the man to some of the closes matches in the database to reconstruct his face. Once she had a face, it only took a few seconds for the system to give them a name.
"So the person standing next to Dinah was a certain Blake Cooper?" Adalet scanned the info they had on file, "this must be her father..."
"Ugh, he looks even scarier with all this face paint on!" Frank complained seeing a recent picture, "to think a daughter could hate her dad enough to scratch out his face... I wonder if my daughters would do the same... Ah, sorry Adalet, I'm okay..."
"If you say so..." she says not sounding convinced, "and not only did Dinah hate her father, but he's also a puppeteer. Let's go talk to him!"
They left the Abigail and drove through town in search of Blake cooper. A lot of the streets were closed off in preparation for the parade, so after a while, they had to just walk to get to most places. They finally managed to find the puppeteer, not the killer, but an actual puppeteer. They introduced themselves to Blake and quickly explained why they were there.
"You're here to ask about that troublesome daughter of mine? Whatever trouble she's in, I don't care: we haven't spoken in years!" Blake tells them firmly.
"Well, whether you care or not, your daughter's just been murdered," Frank told him.
"I'm not surprised. Dinah's always been a magnet for trouble: she ran away from home to a life on the stage and got herself pregnant," he sighed, "even worse, she wouldn't let me see my own grandson! She thought I was a bad father to her, so I didn't deserve to see Louie. Like she was a model mom, single and dancing in a bar!"
Adalet glared, "how can you be so heartless: your only daughter's just been murdered and still you claim it's her own fault?"
"I gave up on my daughter long ago: she was uncontrollable! If only she could have been more like my puppets..." Blake held up the doll, "just one pull of the strings and they'd obey."
Frank and Adalet left Blake alone and started walking back to where they had parked their car.
"As Dinah's father and a puppeteer, Mr. Cooper is already a prime suspect..." Adalet mused.
"And he didn't even seem to care about his daughter's murder!" Frank added, "serial killers are known to be heartless, I'm not saying he's the Puppeteer but we should keep an eye on him!"
Autopsy Victim's Body...
"Well, Adalet, our victim must have really been hung up about something before she died... oh wait, she was hung up!" Roxie winked.
"Roxie, while I know how endearing Frank finds your puns, we're dealing with a serial killer here," Adalet reminded the coroner, "so how about cooling it on the jokes?"
"Well, for starters, your victim was injected with sedatives before being killed. Adalet, this info will surely come in handy during your investigation. Then, her body was cut up with a saw, so keep an eye open for that kind of instrument!" she advised them, "the body was strung up in an extremely complex manner. The Puppeteer had to know the precise measurements of the chains, handle the weight distribution, the mechanics... As gruesome as this sounds, this is a work of art. I can tell you that the Puppeteer is definitely good with mechanics!"
They thanked Roxie for her work and left the morgue. They walked across the station to the tech lab to see what Hannah had been able to dig up from Stanley Bullock's cell phone they had sent her earlier.
"So Adalet, I've had a look inside Stanley Bullock's phone and guess what? He knew your victim!" Hannah answered her own question, "he kept sending Dinah messages to tell her he would bring eggs, or that she could borrow movies from him. After a little digging, it turns out Stanley and Dinah were neighbours! And quite friendly ones, it seems."
"Ugh, isn't it weird that a Confederate lover would be friends with Dinah?" Frank wrinkled his nose, "and what's up with all that face paint?"
"I think I read somewhere that face painting was part of the carnival," Adalet says, "but one thing is clear, the Civil War outfit, and now this: Stanley sure likes dressing up..."
He snorts, "isn't he too old for that?"
She rolled her eyes, "I seem to recall you dressing up recently, Frank... But Hannah, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Stanley also a previous suspect in the Puppeteer case all those years ago?"
"He was!" Hannah confirmed.
"A former Puppeteer suspect living so close to the victim," Frank hums, "he could have easily gained Dinah's confidence. C'mon Adalet, what do you say we go pay him a neighbourly visit?"
They left the station and tracked down Stanley to the Cannonball Saloon. Adalet and Frank stopped the reenactor as he was leaving the building to ask him about his relationship with the victim.
"Mr. Bullock, Capt. Adalet's here to ask you a few questions about your neighbour, Dinah Cooper..." Frank tells the other man.
"Ah, Dinah... Things have been hard for her, raising her son, Louie, on her own. So I try to do what I can to help out. Like a good neighbour!" Stanley replied.
"Thing is, she's been murdered by the Puppeteer. Which brings us to you and your previous indictment..." Adalet trails off.
"Dinah was murdered by the Puppeteer?! That's awful!" he cried, but his shock slowly turned to anger, "... Wait a minute, you're here because I used to be a Puppeteer suspect, aren't you?! I was found innocent! ... and besides, I'd never hurt Dinah! I cared too much about her!"
Later, at the Office...
"Adalet, Yann hasn't shown up to work all day and he's not picking up the phone! Have you heard from him?" Andrea asked the second Frank and Adalet had entered the office.
"No," Adalet shook her head, "he was already gone when I dropped Ahmet off at his house this morning!"
"What?" Frank jumped in, "Yann's missing out on the Puppeteer's first murder in 10 years?! He's been obsessed with this serial killer and now, of all times, he's just vanished?!"
"OK, I need a recap here, Adalet. The Puppeteer strikes again, after 10 years, killing Dinah... Dinah's father, who's a real puppeteer, claims not to have spoken to her in years," Andrea says flipping through the case file, "he sounds a bit controlling, and Dinah was a rebel child, so it's no surprise. And then we have Dinah's neighbour, Stanley, who had already been tried in the Puppeteer case... But if his phone can be trusted, they were actually pretty friendly."
"Oh Adalet, I'm so relieved to see you!" Jessica Toussaint cries as she runs over carrying Lily in her arms, Ahmet was trailing after her with James on his back, "we need your help! The Puppeteer broke into our house!"
"Jessica, you need to stay here with the kids," Adalet says guiding the other woman over to sit at her desk, "after all, the Puppeteer replied to Yann's open letter in the newspaper, so it'd make sense the serial killer would want to target him..."
Frank appeared with a styrofoam cup of water, "... but where's Yann, Jessica?!"
"I don't know. He hasn't been himself lately..." Jessica sighed, taking the cup, "and he's been gone all day! I'm so worried!"
"We need to find him! Meanwhile," Andrea turned to the officers, "Adalet, you need to investigate Yann's house and see if the Puppeteer is behind this!"
Jessica gave them her house key before they left so that they could enter the house. Frank and Adalet entered the home through the front door and headed down to the basement to look around. They found a red high-heeled shoe under the basement window and a locked chest against the wall.
"It feels kind of weird looking through Yann's house..." Adalet says placing her finds down on the coffee table, "but if the Puppeteer came here, we can't overlook anything!"
"And why did you pick up that woman's shoe?" Frank inquired.
"Dinah was missing one of her shoes," she responded, "and I never saw it on the scene so..."
He frowns, "but why would it be in Yann's basement?"
"Let's keep the questions for later. Let's start by collecting a sample of that white powder on it!" she says pulling out a swab.
"And you picked up Yann's safe?" he remarked seeing the old chest, "well, as you said, we can't overlook anything... so if you want to unlock it, I'm right behind you!"
Adalet held up the sample she had collected while he was talking, "and now that we have a sample of whatever this white substance is, off of the shoe, let's get it to the lab!"
"Except Yann's not around..." Frank reminds her, "who should we send this sample to, Adalet?"
"How about Roxie?" she suggested, "back in Grimsborough, we would send out forensic samples to the coroner when Grace was out of commission."
"Roxie? Alright, let's do this!" he agreed, taking the sample.
Frank took the sample from Adalet and she turned to the locked chest. She guessed at the combination of the lock and soon she had it opened.
"Good work decoding the lock on Yann's safe. But if he gets angry at us, I'm blaming you!" Frank declared, "oh great, it's filled with a bunch of his junk. Since you've already done the lock, can you dig through it as well? Just for consistency's sake, of course!"
Adalet dug through Yann's chest of books, newspapers, pictures, and files all relating to the Puppeteer. As she neared the bottom of the chest, a small card caught her eyes and she pulled it out for a closer look.
"Whoa, Yann's safe was filled with stuff about the Puppeteer!" Frank gasped holding up some of the newspaper clippings, "he really was obsessed, wasn't he? Anyway, did you find anything?"
"A card advertising a new book: "Inside the mind of the Puppeteer"," Adalet answered.
"Ah," he said, "so we have an expert on the serial killer."
"And I met this woman in a previous investigation, she's a shrink," she explained, "it's quite a coincidence that her new book on the Puppeteer is coming out just when the killings have started again."
"I guess it's time we went to psychoanalyze this shrink!"
After dropping off the sample at the lab for Roxie, Adalet and Frank continued to Madeleine's office building to talk to her about her book on the puppeteer.
"Ms. Deville?" Frank says as they entered the room, "Capt. Adalet would like to talk to you about your upcoming book on the Puppeteer..."
"Oh, that serial killer is absolutely fascinating! After all those years of killing, still on the loose. Only a genius could outsmart the police," Madeleine praised.
"Lady, your enthusiasm is off-putting," he deadpanned, "did you know that the freak you so admire just killed another victim? A certain Dinah Cooper?"
"Wait, you mean the Puppeteer is back?! Oh my, I've been waiting so long for this... and it will coincide perfectly with my new book! The Puppeteer is such a brilliant person..." she sighed, "I've gotten pretty versed in the mechanics of puppets while studying this killer, it's quite complex. Anyway, I have to dash off now. Wish me luck with the book launch!"
Analyze White Powder...
"Do I look like Yann to you, Frank?" Roxie demands, "last I checked, he was in charge of lab samples!"
"Yann's vanished: nobody's seen him all day!" Frank explained, "besides, it's good practice for you to do this stuff once in a while, Roxie."
"Well, you should practice buying me a drink once in a while! Anyway, I've managed to identify the white substance you collected from this shoe as rosin," she tells them, "dancers use rosin powder on their shoes when they're performing on a slippery floor. If that wasn't enough, there were also skin cells in the sample that match your victim's DNA!"
"So the shoe Adalet found in Yann's house really does belong to Dinah? But... how did it get there?!" he wondered getting lost in through for a moment, "oh, I know! Yann's wife is convinced the Puppeteer had broken into their home... maybe the killer is trying to frame Yann!"
Adalet sighed, "I hate myself for even thinking this... but if the Puppeteer didn't break into his house..."
He paled, "then that means Yann killed... Argh, I can't even bring myself to say it! This is horrible but I agree with you: the only way we can prove Yann is innocent is by adding him to our list of suspects. Boy, I just can't believe it: that guy wouldn't hurt a fly!"
"But it wasn't a fly that got killed, Frank," Adalet deadpans.
"Either way," Frank rubbed his forehead, "we really need to have a chat with Yann, but I want it to go on record that this is bonkers! Come on, let's ask his wife if she's heard from him."
In the office...
"Jessica, we really need to speak to your husband... Have you heard from him at all?" Frank pleads.
"He only sent me a text message telling me to come to the station, where I'd be safe. Why? What's wrong?" Jessica asks tightening her hold on her daughter.
"Look, we need your help - we HAVE to talk to him," Adalet emphasizes the word 'have', "can you please message him and tell him to come straight away to the station? Tell him it's an emergency!"
Jessica did as she was old and sent a quick text off to her husband. She never received a response, but fifteen minutes later, Yann burst into the office.
"I just got a text from my wife telling me to come to the station, that it's an emergency! Is everything alright?!" Yann asks, panting slightly.
"I don't know Yann, you tell us. The Puppeteer suddenly starts killing again, and you choose that exact moment to disappear..." Frank glared stabbing his finger in the other man's chest, "... and to make matters worse, Adalet found the victim's shoe in your house!"
"Didn't Jessica tell you?" he spared a glance at his wife, "I'm sure the Puppeteer broke into our home. The shoe must have been left there on purpose!"
"Listen, Yann..." Adalet stepped forward, "this isn't easy but we don't have a choice: you're now a suspect in this investigation."
"What?! Adalet, Frank... Come on, my own parents were murdered by the Puppeteer! And yet you think I could be the serial killer?! That's insane!" Yann yelled, "don't you see, I'm being framed?! I've spent too many years trying to catch the Puppeteer and now they're playing with me: making me a suspect is what the killer wants!"
"Your refusal to cooperate is kind of making you look guilty right now... Why don't you calm down," Frank suggested, "and if you're innocent, you know you can trust Adalet to clear your name."
"You're right," Yann sighed, "to show my goodwill, let me tell you straight up: I'm good with mechanics, just like the Puppeteer. You better add that to my profile, Adalet."
Yann took a seat down beside his wife and kids while Frank and Adalet stepped out of the room.
"Was it just me, Adalet, or was Yann acting highly suspicious? He didn't even try and justify why he didn't show up for work today.
"One thing is for sure, that man wasn't the boring Yann we've learnt to love... I don't even recognize him anymore!" Frank exclaimed.
"We need answers, and fast!" Adalet muses, "and the only way to do that is by solving the case."
"What do you say we kick things off with the steamboat? Some fresh air will do us good!" he said.
They returned to the steamboat and took a closer look at the party's buffet table. They found a torn book near the punch bowl, a restraining order bearing their victim's name half under a plate, and an empty syringe.
"Well, Adalet, I still haven't found the boat's liquor cabinet," Frank joked, "but thankfully you got some other gems to make this trip worthwhile. Like this... torn book, or whatever that is."
Adalet began taping the book back together, "I betting on it being a book!"
"And what's this? A restraining order with our victim's name on it! Think you can retrieve the rest of what was written on this?" he asks setting the file back down on the table, "but why did you pick this syringe up? You should be careful with that, you don't know who touched it last!"
"Which is why I want to send it to Roxie!" she replied taping off the book.
"Oh, you're right! Roxie did mention that Dinah had been injected with a strong sedative shortly before being killed!" he said putting the syringe into a plastic bag, "so you think the killer may have touched this syringe?! Let's rush it to the lab!"
"Check out this book, Frank!" Adalet says turning the book so that he could read its title.
"Look at you, Adalet, restoring a children's book. Are you going to read me a bedtime story?" Frank teased as he read the cover, "it's called "The Adventurous Puppet". Another reference to puppets here that we can't ignore! There's also a note, "Enjoy, Louie" signed by Freddie... That's the same Freddie from earlier, eh?"
"Definitely!" she replied, "and this Louie he gave it to must be Dinah's son!"
"You're right, and given their previous argument, I didn't think Freddie was on friendly terms with Dinah...." he reasoned, "so why would he gift her son a book about puppets? We better go talk to him again!"
Before they went to go find Freddie, Adalet dusted the cover of the restraining order. The court's logo was stamped in the center of the paper that was clipped to the file, and underneath it, Stanley Bullock was listed as the person the restraining order was against.
"Well, that was quick, Adalet! You revealed that the restraining order Dinah Cooper filed was against..." Frank's eyes bulge, "Stanley Bullock?! Her own neighbour was harassing her? He acted all nice the first time we talked to him, but he won't be able to keep up his lies this time!"
They left the steamboat and went to talk to Freddie first. They found the man in the park once again and walked over to where he was standing.
"So, Freddie, not only did you hire Dinah as a dancer, but you also befriended her son, Louie. Why did you give him a book about puppets?" Frank inquired suspiciously.
"I know Dinah just got killed by the Puppeteer... so that gift now seems like a terrible choice, but it's unfair to judge me because of that! I get on well with kids, okay?" Freddie defends himself, "and Louie would always come to work with Dinah because she couldn't afford a babysitter. He'd always hang around all alone. Worse still, Dinah kept yelling at him - her own son! "Don't touch that, don't do this!" It broke my heart seeing the kid so miserable. So I asked Louie for help preparing the Carnival floats. I taught him some of the mechanics behind the machinery. He loved it: his face just lit up! Kids need to be encouraged to learn, they don't need a lousy mother who yells at them and tries to control them!"
Adalet raised an eyebrow, "are you suggesting Louie's better off without his mother?"
"I never said that!" he agrees, "but I hate seeing people miserable - especially kids. I consider myself a kid at heart... That's why I organize the Carnival, to share this joy with people!"
They left Freddie alone in the park and drove back over to the Cannonball Saloon. They found Stanley inside sitting at the bar with a glass of something in front of him.
"Officers, I've already warned you: I don't want to talk about the Puppeteer!" Stanley growled as he saw them approach, "I was found innocent once before, and if you continue I will sue!"
"New victim, new crime, new evidence... sorry, Stanley," Frank didn't sound sorry, "you're not off the hook! So, you better start talking about that restraining order Dinah filed against you!"
"That wrench! Dinah kept flirting with me and inviting me round to her house. I'd fix the mechanics of her car, check the plumbing... The more time we spent together, the more I fell for her... but when I expressed my feelings, she suddenly called me a stalker!" he spat with anger, "she led me on and then filed that restraining order against me... Who did she think she was, pulling on the strings of my heart like that?! She used me, so I'm glad someone strung her up! Now she knows what it feels like to be controlled by someone else!"
Analyze Syringe...
"First the powder, now this syringe..." Roxie shakes her head, "I feel guilty doing Yann's job while he's a suspect. It just doesn't feel right."
"It's not easy for any of us, Roxie," Adalet agrees.
"Adalet's right," Frank says, "that's why we need to trust the evidence and try to keep our personal feelings out of it."
"Well," Roxie picked up her lab sample, "about that: the liquid in the syringe was indeed the same sedative I found in Dinah's body."
"Sweet, so we know for sure this syringe was used by the killer!" he grinned.
"And talking about that, I found a strange sticky substance on the end of the syringe. On deeper examination, I found it was a combination of two separate substances: apple and caramel," she ticked off on her fingers, "considering it's Carnival Day, this substance can only have come from one thing... a candy apple!"
"A candy apple? Seems like the Puppeteer has remained perpetually stuck in their childhood - and soon, they'll be perpetually stuck behind bars!" he laughed at his terrible joke.
Back at the Office...
"I still can't believe Yann is an actual suspect, Adalet... They say the friendliest people have the darkest secrets... I just hope Yann isn't the Puppeteer: it would break this team apart," Frank gulped, "what about our other suspects, Adalet? Freddie had a friendly relationship with the victim's son, Louie, and he thought Dinah was a bad mother."
"And Stanley led us to believe he and Dinah were great friends, when in fact she was so scared of him, she filed a restraining order!" Adalet continues, "then we have Madeleine, the therapist with a creepy fascination with the Puppeteer."
"I wouldn't be surprised if she turned out to be the serial killer! Isn't it a horrible feeling, Adalet?" he inquires, "we've narrowed down the Puppeteer to five suspects: we're so close yet so far away... and I bet that's exactly what the killer wants!"
"Adalet, you're never going to believe this, but the Puppeteer's just sent us a message!" Andrea says running over holding an open letter in her hand.
"WHAT?!" both Frank and Adalet yell.
"I'm toying with you!" she read, "the Puppeteer is playing with us and we can't let them win! Serial killers are Russell's expertise, which is why I'm reassigning the case to Adalet and Russell!"
"Whoa, wait a second: this is my investigation!" Frank argued, "you can't take me off it!"
"Sorry, Frank," Russell smirked, "but this case requires some real brains. Besides, I'm sure Adalet is tired of seeing your same Hawaiian shirt all the time..."
"Why you little..." he made a strangling motion with his hands.
"Frank, Russell!" Andrea shouted bring a quick end to their argument, "now isn't the time to act like this! It doesn't matter who gets to go with Adalet, what's important is catching this serial killer!"
"Ugh, fine... I guess I can finally go spend some quality time with my turtle like I wanted to. Good luck with Mr. Pedantic, Adalet," Frank says walking away.
"Come on, Adalet: are you ready to journey into the serial killer's mind? This is going to be a case to remember!" Russell declared.
"And it'll continue by going back to the scene of the murder!" Adalet decided.
"Great idea: let's retrace the killer's steps!"
To the storage room...
"Fascinating find, Adalet, these pills were prescribed to our victim!" Russell read the bottle's label, "you'll need to decode the doctor ID number!"
"And we'll need to look through this box of props!" Adalet said sliding the box across the floor.
"I'm eager to learn how you work, so I'll stand back and watch the expert!" he says taking the notepad she offered him, "hum... this notepad has the Pacific Bay Police Department logo on it! If one of our team members came to the crime scene without us knowing, we need to find out who it was! Think you can recover the faded text on it, Adalet?"
She picked up the pill bottle, "after this I will!"
She took a closer look at the ID number and began piecing the letter and numbers back together. After a minute or two she had reconstructed the ID and had written it down on a sticky note to attach to the bottle.
"Nice going decoding that number so fast, Adalet! Let's send this over to Hannah so she can tell us all about our victim's pills!" Russell said taking the bottle from her.
With her hands empty, Adalet could now search through the box of carnival props. It had wigs, masks, mirrors, and fake mustaches inside, but it was a card with a puppet sketch in the top corner that she pulled out to examine.
"Amazing Adalet, I don't know how you knew to look through those carnival props, but you've just found a telling card!" Russell praised taking it to read, "it's addressed to the victim and it reads: "Dinah, you cannot stop me from seeing my grandson forever!"
"We know the victim's father wanted to see his grandson, but Dinah would never let him..." Adalet pondered, "... but with Dinah dead, there's nobody to stop him from seeing Louie."
"Quite a motive, don't you think, Adalet?" he remarked, "let's go question him!"
But before leaving the storage room, Adalet picked up the PBPD notepad and got out her dusting kit. She recovered a small doodle of a hand controlling a puppet, and the message "NEXT MURDER: CARNIVAL" written through the doll's strings.
"Alright, you've recovered what was written on that police notepad and... Fascinating: "Next Murder: Carnival"! We need to figure out to which member of our team this notepad belongs!" Russell said firmly.
"Shouldn't be too hard, there's only one member of our team who's obsessed with the Puppeteer and that's Yann," Adalet reminded him.
"And it looks like he predicted the murder: he guessed the Puppeteer was going to kill during the Carnival..." he muses, "unless this wasn't a prediction, but a decision! Think about it: this notepad proves he was on the crime scene and he knew when the murder would happen."
"We shouldn't jump to any conclusions, Russell... but this isn't looking good for Yann," she said with a frown, "let's go talk to him, just remember to keep all personal feelings out of this!
Adalet and Russell left the storage room and dropped the prescription bottle off at the station first. Then they continued until they found Blake setting up a booth to showcase his puppets during the carnival.
"Mr. Cooper," Russell greeted the man, "Capt. Adalet just found a threatening card you wrote to your daughter, in which you warned her she couldn't keep you away from Louie forever..."
"I was angry when I wrote that message. It's understandable: I wasn't allowed to see my own grandson!" Blake defends, "I couldn't even take him out to eat candy apples... instead, she always let that creep Freddie take Louie out for them instead!"
"Now that Dinah's dead, there's nobody to stop you from seeing Louie, is there? That must be quite convenient..." Adalet remarks.
"Are you implying I may have killed my girl to get Louie back? Why you little... I would never have done that! I was a bad father and I regret it," he admitted, "I wanted to fix that by being a great grandfather: it was a second chance! But I'd never have killed my daughter to achieve that. Just imagine, Louie's now motherless: who would be so cruel as to do that to a child?!"
"As a bad parent, Blake must have felt like he wasn't needed by Dinah. It's psychologically traumatizing when your own child wishes you were dead..." Russell rambles as they walked away, "... So maybe he went about killing other parents, to make children realize what it's truly like to be all alone in this world. Emotionally, it would have made Blake feel more needed."
"Emotionally or not, as a puppeteer, Blake already has all the know-how and the mechanical skills to pull the murders off!" Adalet states, "but let's gather up all the evidence before pointing fingers!"
They returned to the station and brought Yann into an interrogation room to talk to him about his notepad in private.
"Every year during the Carnival, I take my kids out for candy apples. I understand why I'm here," Yann adds, "I just hate that my kids have to suffer because of it as well."
"Nobody's liking this, Yann," Russell agreed, "it's tough for Adalet too. But we found your police notepad at the crime scene and, well... "Next Murder: Carnival." Was that a note to self?"
"What?! You still seriously think I'm the Puppeteer?!" he cried in shock.
"We're just looking at the facts: you're obsessed with the Puppeteer, you "predicted" the time of death and Adalet found one of the victim's shoes in your house..." he lists off.
"Look, I predicted the time of death because my parents were killed by the Puppeteer during the Carnival. Digging deeper, I discovered that's when all the victims were killed!" He tried to explain.
"So why didn't you tell us before the murder?" Adalet inquires, "you could have prevented this... You realize your silence is highly suspicious."
"Don't you think I know that?!" Yann roared, "when I heard of the murder, I felt horrible for having guessed correctly! It's all my fault, and I will have to live with these regrets for the rest of my life!"
They left Yann alone in the interrogation room to have some time to think over what they had just told him.
"Adalet, I know Yann was convincing and maybe he really means it... but it could also just be an act," Russell tells her, "serial killers use fake empathy to mislead us. So don't be fooled, Yann could still be our killer!"
"I know Russell, I understand better than you think I do..." Adalet sighed.
Analyze Doctor's ID...
"Heya Russell, fancy seeing you here: you've partnered up with Adalet? I'm jealous," Hannah admits.
"I just couldn't pass up the chance of investigating a serial killer with Adalet!" Russell winked.
"Let's just hope that the serial killer isn't Yann..." she says the mode turning serious, "now, about the victim's pill bottle you sent me, I was able to identify the name of her doctor: it's Madeleine Deville. Her therapist!"
"So Madeleine was Dinah's therapist?!" he gasped.
"She didn't say anything about it when we first questioned her, Russell," Adalet told him.
"Interesting," Russell mused, "and as Dinah's therapist, Madeleine had access to the victim's deepest and darkest secrets. Such power over somebody, it can be intoxicating! Oh my, what if Madeleine got into the victim's mind before killing Dinah?! After all, serial killers want to own their victims!"
"For now we don't know if Madeleine is the Puppeteer," she reminded, "but she did keep this huge secret from us. Let's go find out why!"
They drove back out to Madeleine's office building with the pill bottle in hand to question her about her connection to their victim.
"Mrs. Deville, you failed to mention earlier that you were our victim's therapist," Adalet says as she held up the pill bottle, "do you know that withholding information on a murder investigation is a felony?"
"I wasn't withholding anything: nobody asked!" Madeleine argued.
"It's quite a coincidence: you're the specialist on the Puppeteer... and you somehow happened to have one of the victims as your patient. It must have been quite a power trip!" Russell commented.
"I got lucky: I'm not surprised the Puppeteer chose to kill Dinah - a single mother who controlled her child much too much while she was such a free-spirit. A beautiful contradiction!" she smiles.
"Each time you talk about the Puppeteer, it's always with affection... almost as if you were talking about yourself!" he accused.
"Don't try your mind tricks on me, Dr. Crane! The Puppeteer has a fascinating mind, I thought you'd be an admirer too," she says with a glare.
"I am indeed a great admirer," he admits, "in fact, I'd love to take you out on a date: we could get candy apples and you could tell me more about the Puppeteer."
"Why... Dr. Crane..." she breathed, "I... yes, I would love that. You'll see, the Puppeteer has such a beautiful mind."
They set a date and time to go out before the police officers left the building.
"Haha," Russell laughed, "that was a great idea of yours, Adalet: to trick Madeleine into revealing a vital piece of information. It seems our mind tricks do work on her after all!"
"I don't think it was the mind, Russell," Adalet smirked.
Later, at the station...
"Adalet, I fear we're running out of time... I believe the Puppeteer decided to kill during the Carnival for a particular reason..." Russell lectured, "Carnival Day is known as Mardi Gras - "Fat Tuesday": it is a day of excess before the penitential season of Lent. It's classic serial killer psychology! That means that the Puppeteer is most probably not going to kill again for at least another year! This is our last chance to catch this serial killer!"
"And whether Yann is the killer or not, we know the Puppeteer was at his home!" Adalet brought up, "let's go back to his house and end this madness now!"
Russell and Adalet returned to Yann and Jessica's house and began searching the basement for any more clues. The first clue they found was a trunk of travelling souvenirs that was pushed up against the wall near the boiler. The second clue and Adalet had no idea how it was missed the first time, was a bloody saw rammed into a supporting beam near the back of the basement.
"So Adalet, what did your expert eye pick up on? A box full of Yann's travel souvenirs? Well, he's a strong suspect, in this case, so we better look through it," Russell decided, "and that bloody saw... The blood alone warrants a check..."
"And Roxie mentioned the killer used a saw to dismember the body does too!" Adalet replies, "which means that we've just found the murder weapon... in Yann's basement! Let's scan it for clues before talking to the rest of the team about this."
Adalet examined the bloody saw first. With how much blood was dried onto the jagged metal, it wasn't hard to collect a large enough sample to send to the lab. But the small pieces of paper that were stuck in the blood made the sample even that more interesting.
"Excellent work, Adalet, we should send these paper pieces you collected off the murder weapon over to the lab!" Russell said as he took the dish she handed him, "you know, Adalet, I thought my brilliant theories were what helped catch a killer, but I see now it's thanks to your amazing forensic skills! The Puppeteer doesn't stand a chance!"
Adalet then began going through the chest of souvenirs. Yann had visited a lot of places over the years, so it wasn't surprising by how much stuff was inside the chest. But a paper chain of dolls was slightly surprising, as this wasn't the chest where Yann kept his Puppeteer findings.
"So Adalet, what did you find in that souvenir box? A paper chain with portraits glued on?" Russell noted.
"One of these faces: it's a picture of a teenage Yann!" Adalet pointed to the figure.
"And is that a young Freddie, too?!" he points to the one a couple down the line, "and look, there's also Louie Cooper... and that girl whose parents were killed by the Puppeteer! ow, do you realize all these people are orphans left behind by the Puppeteer?! It seems like the Puppeteer wants to bring all these children together: a special bond between them. Do you think that's why they kill?"
"Since the Puppeteer obviously made this, we should send the paper chain to the lab!" Adalet reasons.
"Ah, I have a feeling this will unlock another piece of the puzzle! We're almost there!" he smirked.
Analyze Paper Pieces and Paper Chain...
"This better be the last lab sample you make me do, Adalet," Roxie warns, "I'll need a week off to get back on my feet!"
Adalet held up her hands, "I'm hoping it is, Roxie!"
"I checked out the pieces of paper you collected from the murder weapon, and they turned out to be pieces of coloured tissue paper. There were tiny traces of glue as well, meaning the tissue came off of something that was once strung together... From there, considering today's date, it didn't take me long to realize what those pieces had come from a Carnival necklace!"
"So our killer is wearing a Carnival necklace?" Russell hummed, "ha, their festivities will soon come to an end once you've put them behind bars, Adalet!"
"What about the paper chain we sent you, Hannah?" Adalet inquired.
"It's not easy taking over Yann's work," the techie replied, "but I checked out the paper chain you found and there's Dinah's blood on it."
"So this proves the paper chain was made by the Puppeteer," Russell deduced, "that's fascinating... but you found it in Yann's house, so it's not looking good for him!"
"But the Puppeteer could be trying to frame Yann!" Adalet argued.
"Adalet's right, Russell!" Hannah backs up, "but to prove that, you'll need all the evidence you can get! I found another substance on the paper chain: a mixture of cornflour, sorbolene cream and food colouring. In other words, face paint!"
"Face paint? That's annoying, it's Carnival day: every one of our suspects is wearing face paint!" Russell reminded.
"If you'd let me finish..." she rolled her eyes, "the killer isn't just wearing any kind of face paint. They're wearing blue face paint!"
"Yes! We're so close to catching the killer... This chase is turning out to be even more exciting than psychoanalysis, Adalet!" he grinned, "hold up a second, Adalet: I have the feeling we've been overlooking something about our killer's profile. Let's have a recap about the Puppeteer, shall we?"
"We know they kill parents who have teenage children, and always during the Carnival. But this doesn't help with their profile..." Adalet frowns as she thought about it. She snaps her fingers, "that's it! We know Yann's parents were killed when he was 14. He's now 45..."
Russell caught up with her train of thought, "... so regardless of whether he's the Puppeteer or not, we know that the killer is at least 45 years old! Yes, we've got them now! Adalet, that's it! We've got everything we need for you to arrest the Puppeteer - after all these decades of terror, you'll be the one who ends it!"
Take care of the killer now!
"Freddie Alonzo, you're under arrest for the murder of Dinah Cooper," Adalet tells the man.
"Look, the Carnival has already suffered a setback with Dinah's death. I really can't deal with your vile accusations right now!" Freddie says.
"Well, maybe we have the wrong guy then, don't we, Capt. Adalet? I mean, you can't always be right, I guess," Russell smirked, "all we know is the Puppeteer is a selfish, cold-hearted killer. They think they're liberating children from their parents when really they're destroying the children's lives."
"Wait, you don't know that: look at me, I was one of the children left behind," Freddie reminded, "and I'm doing fine. And so is Louie!"
"Your parents were the first to die. Were they too controlling, is that it, Freddie? Is that why you killed them?" he accused.
"I've told you: I'm not the Puppeteer!" he growled.
"But you fit the profile: the Puppeteer is some weak, middle-aged man now who still thinks he's a child. It's kind of pathetic, really: having to kill just to feel good about yourself," he rolled his eyes.
"That's not why I kill! My parents never let me do anything... kids are meant to be free, but it felt like prison: so I decided to show my parents what it was like to be controlled..." he growls, "They didn't like it much, but I never felt so alive! I felt sorry for the other kids: I wanted them to be free too. I wanted to share their joy!"
"You just didn't want to be all alone - you wanted some human connection. But you never found it, so you kept killing... but fact is, you'll always be lonely: because of who you are!" he shouts back.
"What have you ever done with your life?!" he spat, "I will be remembered forever in Jazz Town! I was the boy who dared to dream and make his own life as he pleased!"
"You'll more likely be remembered as a balding creep who killed innocent citizens," he glared, "a bad dream. Ah good, Adalet, I see you've got the handcuffs ready for the arrest!"
Adalet smirked, "I wouldn't want to keep the courthouse waiting!"
To the last trial of Jazz Town...
"We are here for the trial of Freddie Alonzo, a.k.a "The Puppeteer", for the murder of Dinah Cooper, among numerous other murders that have taken place in Jazz Town for the past three decades. You know we've been trying to catch you for years. I was starting to think that the Puppeteer was actually a puppet himself," Dante said going off-topic, "some toy that came alive at night and killed people, but turned back into a doll by day. Maybe I've been watching too many horror films lately... Despite your funny make-up, what you have done is horrendous, unfathomable. Killing parents to set their children free..."
"Parents don't know anything besides how to live boring, restrictive lives..." Freddie barked, "the only pleasure they get is from manipulating and controlling their children!"
"I don't know what your parents were like, Freddie, and I doubt they deserved to die. My parents certainly didn't deserve such a grim fate! It's scarred me for life," Yann shouted from his place in the spectators' seats.
"Ah Yann, my friend," he gave a crazy smile, "I remember seeing your fight with your parents during the Carnival and you looked so unhappy. So I followed them, and strung them up like the lifeless puppets they were!"
"Every teenager quarrels with their parents, Freddie..." he says as tears pooled in his eyes, "but it doesn't mean I didn't love them! You ruined my life - you took away such a huge part of me that I will never get back!"
"I freed you: only you were too scared to do anything with such a gift!" he glared.
"Freddie Alonzo, you're not a liberator but a destroyer!" Dante yells bringing everyone's attention back to the trail, "a man who will go to great lengths to justify their sickening behaviour! And for that, I sentence you to life in prison!"
"You fools, you cannot lock me away: I am a legend, an ideal that all children should strive towards! I am FREEDOM!" Freddie shouts as he was dragged out of the courtroom.
"Phew, what a case, Adalet! And to think, you arrested a serial killer the police have spent three decades trying to catch! You should be proud of yourself!" Russell tells her once they were out of the building, "the Puppeteer was maybe my biggest challenge yet. But I don't know why every time I finally come face to face with serial killers, they always turn out to be so very disappointing..."
"I find it scary how the people you least suspect turn out to be the worst kind of monsters. I don't blame you for suspecting me, Adalet, I'm just thankful you finally caught him," Yann says with a sad smile, "and even though my parents aren't here today, they would have been really proud of you, Adalet, and I feel proud to be able to work alongside someone as talented and honourable as you! C'mon, let's go enjoy the rest of the Carnival. I promised my kids some candy apples: it's a family tradition!"
Timeskip...
"Adalet," Yann approached the captain's desk, "I wanted to say I'm glad you caught Freddie... He can't harm anyone anymore."
"Adalet and I just wondered how you were doing... You know, after all this story with the Puppeteer..." Frank trailed off, "I mean, if you need anything, we're here."
"Actually, yeah, there's something you could help me with... I haven't visited my parents' grave for a while, and the recent events haven't helped things," he says, "I wanted to make it special this time, and bring something meaningful with me, an old picture of them... But I've been looking everywhere and I can't find it!"
"Maybe you had it with you when you were looking for the Puppeteer," Adalet suggested, "so, it could be at the carnival storage room."
"Hey, guys!" Amy says as she joined them, "I know you're in a rush, but Blake Cooper just arrived at the station, and he was asking for you, Adalet."
"Well then, it's up to you, Adalet," shrugged Frank, "we can go check for Yann's picture right now, or you can go with Amy to help Blake!"
"Well, the carnival storage is still blocked off to the public, so Amy and I'll go see what we can do for Blake," Adalet answers, "I'll meet you there later, Frank."
The senior detective nodded before leaving the office. Amy and Adalet walked down the hallways to the interrogation room where Blake was waiting for them.
"Finally, you're here, Capt. Adalet! And who's this young lady with you?" Blake inquires smiling at Amy, "they lowered the age limit to enter the police since my time!"
"This is Amy Young," Adalet introduced, "she's going to be helping me for now. What is it you needed help with, Blake?"
"I need your help with getting custody of my grandson. Those damn federal agents say I haven't got the right paperwork! I need to get Louie's birth certificate, but I don't know where it is!" he explained, "Dinah often went to the boat, so maybe she had it with her last time she went there, but they won't let me in!"
"Don't worry, Mr. Cooper, Capt. Adalet will have a look there and find Louie's certificate," Amy assured.
Adalet brought Amy to the steamboat and they quickly got to work looking for the birth certificate. They searched the deck of the ship and came across a trunk of dancing clothes and props. It looked similar to the one they saw Dinah's with back when they first meet her, and with her name stitched into the lining of the truck confirmed it for them.
"Great job, Adalet! It looks like Dinah's chest! The paper Blake needs might be in there!" Amy guesses.
They began going through the chest looking for the paper they needed. After they had sorted through the dancing props, they finally found the paper they were looking for,
"Your instincts will always impress me, Adalet! You found Louie Cooper's birth certificate!" Amy cheered.
"I think Hannah should check the birth certificate for Blake," Adalet says, "to make sure it's all he needs to get custody of Louie. Let's send it to her!"
In the Storage Room...
"Damn, Adalet, you were right, it seems that Yann lost his picture here... Look at it though, it's all torn!" Frank grumbled.
"Do you think Yann would like this back in one piece?" Adalet questioned.
"Sure!" he replied, "Yann would be glad if you gave this picture back to him in one piece. Let's do this!"
Adalet pulled out her bottle of glue and some tape to repair the picture frame. She glued the wood back together first and reattached the shells that had fallen off. A bit of tape helped to hold it all together so that the glue could dry, and then they took a look at the picture in the frame.
"Not a big deal for you to fix stuff it seems, huh, Adalet? OK, let's have a look at that pic you found in the storage room... Oh..." Frank whispered, "I understand why Yann was so worried about this picture of his parents. It must be really important to him... Look at those seashells on the frame, he must have made it at school!"
"Which means he'll be happy to get this back," Adalet said smiling at the cute picture.
"Yup," he quipped, "let's go see him!"
Adalet and Frank returned to the station and headed over to Yann's lab to present him with his family picture.
"Hey buddy," Frank beamed, "Adalet found the picture you were looking for!"
"Thanks, Adalet, I can't find the words. This picture really means a lot to me," Yann says taking the frame, "OK, I think I feel ready to visit my parents' grave. Will you guys come with me? It will be good to have some friends with me."
"Sure," he answered, "it would be an honour for Adalet and me to go with you!"
At the cemetery...
"So, here we are... Dominique and Martha Toussaint... It's been a while since I've been to my parents' grave," Yann placed the picture in front of the gravestone, "the Puppeteer took my parents away from me when I was only 14. It's always been too painful coming here..."
Frank and Adalet held on o each of Yann's arms to hold him up as all of his pain surfaced and released from his body. His crying was loud and ugly, but it lasted only a few minutes. He wiped his face with the sleeve of his lab coat and shook his teammates' hands.
"I can't believe it's all over: thank you for putting an end to this nightmare by catching the Puppeteer, Adalet," Yann smiled at her, "my parents are finally at peace, so thank you from the bottom of my heart, Adalet."
"Yann, I think you should go spend some time with the rest of your family," Adalet said, "like Jessica said, you've barely spent any time with them these past few weeks!"
"You're right Adalet, I should go spend some time with my family," he agrees, "thank you again, for everything."
Later, at the station...
"Adalet, I'm really glad Yann got himself together... It's thanks to you!" Frank beamed.
"He should take some time off," Adalet comments.
"Yeah, I guess he needs some rest," he agreed, "the last few days might have been pretty harsh..."
"We should do something for him!" she decided, "what do you think about a family trip, Frank?"
"A surprise trip for Yann and his family, Adalet? Sounds like a plan... But, where do you think they should go? I mean, Yann's been travelling everywhere!" he reminded her.
She hummed, "we could have a look at his basement: it might give us some ideas!"
They returned to the Toussaint house and entered the basement to look around. They found a small box filled with an assortment of pictures from around the world.
"Yann's travel pics box..." Frank stated as Adalet picked it up, "great idea, Adalet if we want to plan him a trip, let's first figure out where he's been!"
Adalet began digging through the box of pictures. A lot of the pictures were from Europe, Africa, and Asia, there were a lot of places the man had been to. But there was also a pamphlet that was promoting White Peaks, but there were no pictures to say that the family had visited it yet.
"Did you find something in Yann's travel pics box, Adalet?" Frank asked.
"Yup!" Adalet replied, "a flyer for White Peaks!"
"Sweet!" Frank grinned.
"Do you think he's wanted to go there?" she inquired.
"Yeah, I bet Yann planned to spend some time there... You know, chillin' in the chalet, watching the sunset over the peaks on the balcony, drinking some fine booze..."
She rolls her eyes, "Frank... that would be your ideal trip!"
"Ahem, sorry, Adalet," he apologized with a chuckle, "it's his trip, not mine! Right, let's set things up for the surprise trip and go see Yann, it's bound to cheer him up!"
Timeskip...
"Adalet, what brings you here, do you need to take something to my lab?" Yann asked as Frank and she entered the room.
"Yann, you've been through a lot lately," Adalet starts, "and you said you needed to spend time with your family and have some time to rest, so we had an idea..."
"We found that White Peaks flyer at your place..." Frank held it up, "so the team clubbed together, and we got you a trip for four to White Peaks!"
He handed over the flyer and the four tickets for the chalet where the family would be staying for a week in just a couple of days.
"Wow! A stay for four in a chalet in White Peaks... I always wanted to take Jessica and the kids there... And I guess I needed it..." Yann says smiling gratefully, "thanks a lot Adalet, for everything you did!"
Adalet beamed, "always a pleasure!"
Analyze Birth Certificate...
"Alright kids, I had a look at Louie Cooper's birth certificate, and, good news, the document's authentic, everything is in order!" Hannah confirmed, "I also clicked here and there and validated the whole custody file! Now, Blake Cooper's officially responsible for his grandson, and he doesn't even know it yet! I know, I'm amazing!"
"That's awesome, Hannah!" Amy cheered.
"Ready to go tell Blake, Amy?" Adalet asked.
"Absolutely, Adalet," she nodded excitedly, "let's tell Blake he now has custody of Louie!"
Adalet and Amy took the birth certificate with them and returned to the introduction room to tell Blake the good news.
"Capt. Adalet! Did you find my grandson's birth certificate?" Blake asked.
"Actually, yes Mr. Cooper!" Adalet answered handing him the paper, "we also made sure the whole file is valid, so now, you're all set. You're legally responsible for your grandson!"
"Wonderful! I thought I would struggle for ages with that thing! That's good news for Louie! Speaking of him..." he sighs, "the kid hasn't been doing well lately, you know, with his mother's passing and everything... So I wanted to give Louie a keepsake to remind him of his mother, but I can't think of anything... As you know, Dinah and I were not really close."
"Dinah has been performing on the boat for years, maybe we could find something meaningful to Louie out there!" she suggested.
"No worries, Mr. Cooper," Amy tells him, "Capt. Adalet is on the case! Yep, let's head to the boat, but maybe we could grab something to eat before... I'm starving!"
Adalet and Amy returned to the steamboat to have one last look around for anything belonging to Dinah. They found an old poster laying on the seat of a chair, it was for a previous Jazz Town festival but the portrait of the headlining act was so badly faded it was impossible to tell who it had been.
"You found some kind of poster, Adalet? That's awesome, but it looks pretty faded..." Amy frowned.
"I think it would be good if we recover the missing parts," Adalet says.
She nodded, "it could be something for Louie to remember his mom by."
Adalet laid out the poster on a table before opening her case up and pulling out her dusting kit. She dusted the faded portrait of the post to see who it was off, and Dinah's face was soon on display for them to see.
"Adalet, that's impressive! You fixed this poster you found on the steamboat in no time!" Amy gasped, "wow, that's Dinah on the poster! She was the star of the Jazz Town festival!"
"We definitely need to give it to Blake!" Adalet said rolling it up, "I'm sure his Louie will love the poster... And maybe it'll cheer him up a bit!"
Back at the station...
"Mr. Cooper, Capt. Adalet found something for Louie to remind him of Dinah. It's an old Jazz Town Festival poster, and she was the headline act!" Amy says happily.
"My daughter?! Headline act of the Jazz Town Festival?!" Blake gasped, "I never thought she was that famous!"
"She really did represent the soul and spirit of Jazz Town," Adalet says, "I hope Louie will like this..."
"s that mom on the poster, Capt. Adalet?' Louie asks looking over his grandfather's shoulder, "I miss her so much! I wish I wasn't so mean to her!"
"Aww, none of this is your fault, Louie: she loved you very much!" Amy assured giving the boy a tight hug.
"She was the best mom in the world..." he whimpered hugging back, "I should have told her that more often. And I was so proud to have a famous mom like her, so thank you for the poster, Adalet."
"Yes," Blake agrees, placing his hand on his grandson's back, "thank you, Capt. Adalet. Here, please take these Carnival vouchers: it's not much, but you deserve them!"
Later, at the station...
"Adalet, you did an exemplary job in Jazz Town. You prevented the city from being annihilated by Hurricane Zelda, and the Puppeteer will no longer be a threat, thanks to you. Helping Blake Cooper with his grandsons' custody was a good move too. The people of Jazz Town need to know they can count on us, especially after what they've been through," Andrea says with a warm smile, "oh, and Frank told me you guys bought Yann and his family a trip to White Peaks... That's very nice of you, he needed it. That's a funny coincidence because White Peaks is exactly where the team will be transferred."
"Did I hear you right, Chief Marquez?!" Amy asks poking her head into the office, "are we going to White Peaks?! That's my home town, you get to meet my family, Adalet! I'm so excited!"
"Well, I understand your enthusiasm," she responded, "but we're going there because there's been a resurgence of crime in the area lately."
"Oh..." her face fell, "weird, it's usually a nice and quiet place... What would make the crime rate suddenly increase out there?"
"That's exactly what we'll have to find out! OK, Adalet, take some warm clothes with you, we're all going to White Peaks!"
A/N: Well... We're finally done with Jazz Town and now we're off to White Peaks! This took me way longer than I wanted it to, but my writer's block is finally gone and I'm getting back on schedule! See you all in the next chapter!