"Please start from the beginning Miss Malling…" Arno asked gently, after the woman had recovered from the shock of his news and had a warm drink in her hands (police coffee, but it was better than nothing), "… when did you last see your Father?"

She was silent for a moment, before tearfully clearing her throat. "Y-Yesterday morning, after breakfast when he was leaving for work."

"Did he seem…. Troubled?"

"No…. the only thing that was bothering him was a cold. He always hated being ill."

"We should have known there was something wrong when he didn't show up for the Eugenics meeting." Her fiancée interhected, as Miss Malling nodded in agreement.

"He would never have missed the meeting!"

Trying not to seem too judgemental over the fact that they supported, Arno plastered a fake, but sympathetic smile on his face, "Oh, why not?"

Tobias was the one to answer. "After spending years working in the courts, Linus was a firm believer in ridding the world of criminal behaviour."

"… And he saw eugenics as a way to do that?"

Miss Malling nodded again, "He believed it could only be achieved by never allowing criminals to breed again."

Arno took a deep, calming breath. "And… you both believe this as well?"

"It's only logical."

There was a tense silence as Arno took this in, before he tried to change the subject. "Did your Father have any enemies?"

"Disgruntled clients mostly…" Tobias shrugged, "… it's to be expected."

"Any recent arguments?"

There was silence was again, before Miss Malling spoke up. "I… I do remember him having an argument with someone in his study."

"Oh? Do you know who?"

Miss Malling and Tobias glanced at one another, before Miss Malling nervously answered. "The Head of the Eugenics society."

…..

"Dr Warren Vidic…" Altair sighed wearily, "… he's been on our radar as a known Templar for a while now. But I never imagined Miss De la Serre having dealings with him."

"Unfortunately…" Malik glanced over at Arno, "… we cannot trust Miss De la Serre in this matter. We've often suspected Dr Vidic of kidnapping potential assassins and subjecting them to DNA experiments, all in the name of science…. Not that we've ever been able to prove it."

Arno then took the chance to speak up, his face twisted in concern. "Maybe we shouldn't focus on Vidic… Linus Malling was a Judge, and not a very popular one. Maybe someone didn't like one of his decisions and decided to take care of him?"

"Arno…" Altair gave the young man a sympathetic look, "…. I understand that you don't want Miss De la Serre to be mixed up in all this, but you have to admit, Dr Vidic is a viable suspect at this moment in time."

The other young Assassin's nodded in agreement, with Evie quickly taking the chance to speak up. "We've all read Leo's report on the arm…. Dr Vidic has the skills necessary for what happened to it."

Silently, Arno nodded in agreement…. No matter how much he hated to admit it, Dr Warren Vidic was the perfect suspect.

"Grandmaster…" This time, it was Connor who spoke up, "… what's the Creed's official stance on the eugenics movement? It's not something discussed in any classes and I was wondering- "

"- What I think about it all?" Altair was silent for a few moments, before sighing wearily, "The Creed practiced something similar in the early days. Only the best and strongest Assassins were allowed to marry and have children… the problem was, that it led to inbreeding. Once I took over, I removed those laws. I knew that even if a family wasn't the strongest, their children may grow to be something great, contribute something special to the Creed."

He smiled warmly at the group in front of him, "Once upon a time, some of your families were not permitted to have children, and now look at what we have. Ezio, who can blend into any situation, any crowd. Connor, the best tracker in the Creed. Edward, a master of the seas. Arno, a remarkable gift for politics and economics. And the Frye twins…. Evie and Jacob, two of the best hand-to-hand fighters in the Creed."

It was warming to hear the praise coming from the Grandmaster…. But the shock her hearing that the Creed practised selective breeding was still a shock.

"I take it nothing was found at the pond?" Ethan Frye spoke up, his voice a little shakier than usual, which the Young Assassins took care to avoid focusing on.

"No Father…" Evie spoke up, "… but the police haven't quite finished yet. In the meantime, we'll look at all of Linus Malling's recent cases. Maybe one of them made a threat and this isn't related to the Templars at all."

"One can only hope."

…

"You still looking into that missing dog case?"

Connor glanced up from the paper, frowning as he scanned Vex from head to toe…. The club owner was looking stressed, more so than usual. "Actually, this is a little more important…. But you'll be interested to hear that all the dogs taken were either purebred or with pups."

"Huh…" Vex took a seat opposite, "… Desmond never came across as a pure-breed… especially when he went for my ankles."

Connor frowned…. That used to be one of Jacob's complaints as well.

…

"Pretentious…" Arno muttered under his breath, glancing around at the entrance hall of the large mansion, "…. I hate houses like this."

"Didn't you grow up in a house exactly like this?"

Arno turned to Edward and glared at him… it was true, but the other man didn't need to point it out.

"Monsieur Dorian. Mister Kenway."

They both spun around to see Dr Vidic staring at them, a slight sneer on his face.

"I hope you two are more capable than the officers in this city…" the man growled, "… an arm interrupts my presentation, and nothing's been done about it."

Neither assassin chose to comment on that.

"We'll be brief Dr Vidic…" Arno sighed, "… we suspect that you had words with Judge Malling a couple of nights ago?"

Dr Vidic frowned, "… Yes, but what does that have to do with- " He stopped, quickly coming to a realisation, "- my God. It was his arm, wasn't it?"

"We believe so… if you wouldn't mind confirming that you did speak to him?"

Dr Vidic was silent for a few moments, narrowing his eyes at the pair, "Are you suggesting that I had something to do with this?"

Silence.

"Yes, you are aren't you…. This is preposterous, I- "

"- still haven't answered the question." Arno tried to remain calm. Losing his temper wouldn't help in the slightest.

"Fine… we had a disagreement. Linus is… was a real stick in the mud when it came to science and eugenics."

"Science?" Edward clearly didn't believe eugenics and science were so closely related.

Vidic caught the tone immediately, straightening up and scowling at the pair, "It's all about transformationism, not that I expect you to understand what that- "

"- it's the heart of the evolutionary argument." Arno interrupted, thinking back to his Biology lessons and his time with Evie, "The belief that a species, over many generations, can be modified."

"…. Very good." Vidic sighed, "Well, I'm a firm believer in it, however I also believe that by applying modern sciences, such as surgery and chemistry, what takes nature years to accomplish, we can achieve in a single generation."

"There's no way of doing that."

"Yet! But it's only a matter of time…. So I fund multiple science projects in the hope that someone will discover a way. A better man is within our grasp!"

The passion was there… along with something a little…. Crueller.

"And… Judge Malling disagreed with you?" Edward spoke up, tension written all over her body.

"… Linus felt that selective breeding was the only way to achieve the goal of bettering humanity."

"And… you argued about that?"

Vidic rolled his eyes, "It was nothing but a slightly heated discussion… argument is far too strong of a word. I'd never harm Linus."

Both Arno and Edward glanced at one another, before turning back to Vidic, sceptical eyebrows raised. "And… we're just meant to believe you?" Arno asked.

"I don't intend to ruin my family name with a criminal act… can your families say the same?"

Edward and Arno immediately tensed up, knuckles turning white as they gripped their clothing… it was that, or the world would be rid of one less Templar.

"I intend to rid the world of people like Jacob Frye and Shay Cormac- "

"- Jacob was not a criminal!" Edward angrily interjected, Arno's arm the only thing keeping him from lunging at the Templar Doctor, "He was cleared of all charges!"

"If he was so innocent, then why did he run? He ran during the investigation, and he ran away afterwards." Vidic smirked, "I believe that's one of the first signs of a guilty conscious."

Edward's efforts intensified, and Arno tightened his grip.

"We'll see ourselves out…" he muttered, dragging Edward towards the door, "… Edward, come on!"

As he dragged his friend out of the room, trying not to look Dr Vidic in the eye, they walked past a large staircase, only to hear a familiar female voice call out for them.

"Arno!"

They both turned to see Elise walking down the stairs, her red hair flowing over her shoulders and her leather boots clicking against the fine marble.

"Is this a social call? Come to pick me up?" Elise smirked in a teasing manner, "A romantic dinner out perhaps?"

"…. I didn't even realise you were here."

Edward found himself wincing at the tension in the air, as the smile disappeared from Elise's face at Arno's tone, straightening up almost instantly.

"I left you a note Arno…. On the bedside table."

"The one that just said, 'Going out'?"

The tense silence seemed to get worse, prompting Edward to clap his hands together, his earlier anger almost completely forgotten. "Right… well this was lovely, but we need to get going now and… pretend this conversation never happened."

Quickly, he dragged Arno out of the house and into the car.

"So…" Edward winced, "… that was awkward."

"… Just drive."