Ch.4: Partners and Pickpockets

Back in the present, Carmelita sighed with boredom as another crook was severely brought to justice. Crime-fighting seemed so easy now, letting out all her bottled up frustration at the goons who deserved to be behind bars. But always, after the bust, Carmelita couldn't help but picture Sly's face in her mind, reflecting the horror of that final incident on the blimp.

She didn't ever think that she would miss the Ringtail this much. A cop and a criminal possibly having a romantic relationship, it just wasn't done!

Tears threatened to escape from Carmelita's bright, blue eyes before she forced herself back into her stoic pose. No one on the force could ever see her cry, she would not let a tear shed.

Stalking back to her office, Carmelita closed the door and sat down in her comfy, leather chair, trying to sort through the chaos happening in her mind. When she visited Bentley earlier that day, she at least hoped the turtle had some clue to Sly's whereabouts. Bentley was the smartest person she knew, surely if anyway there was a chance he had it.

But Bentley had nothing, he and Carmelita were in the same boat. Starting from square one, it was unlikely that either of them had a chance.

A knock suddenly came on the door, alerting Carmelita to hide the photo she had unconsciously slipped out during her remembrance about Sly.

"Enter!" she called, and then the Chief walked in.

"Ms. Fox" stated the badger " nice work on your latest catch. You've been a lot of good for Interpol since you've cracked the Le Paradox case. However, even though crime rates are dropping down, I can't help but notice you seem a little…unbalanced since your new partner Constable Cooper left."

Carmelita stayed silent when the Chief mentioned her little name for Sly. Back on Kaine Island, when she had to stop Dr.M from murdering Ringtail, Sly had been knocked up into the upper balconies and supposedly loss his memories during the hard hit.

Carmelita saw this memory loss as a chance to maybe get Sly to reform. She'd admit that she had a slight crush on the Ringtail, and it would be easier to have him on the side of justice then the opposite side of the law. The Chief had been informed of the little experiment of course, he had to be, if the ruse were to prove real.

The Chief agreed to give it a trial run, and for a while things went well, until the discovery of the false amnesia was uncovered and all the time travel chaos began.

"I know this doesn't change the fact that he's not here" continued the Chief " but I've decided to assign you with a new partner. Inspector Fox meet Quill Larson aka Officer Quill, he'll be your new partner from here on."

"Hello Carmelita" said a punk-dressed porcupine walking into the office "what's shaking doll?"

"Uh!" sighed Carmelita, sinking back in her chair " Please wake me up from this nightmare,"

Meanwhile, back at the Paris hideout, Bentley let out a long yawn as he closed the cover of another book, adding it to the pile of finished books he had already stacked to his right. It had been a very long day for new discoveries, and despite the tedious hours he had uncovered quite a lot about turtle history.

Back in ancient Arabia, there was scholar there who wrote many interesting books about the ways of philosophy and mechanics. Medieval times, a mysterious turtle-shaped figure clad in usual armor helped defeat a ghastly dragon and its curse. And in ancient Japan, a lone turtle perfected the Buddha way of enlightenment, by being one of the very few to tap directly into the powers of the universe.

Bentley wasn't sure what to say of the last discovery, or even of any the above. Sure these people might have been all turtles, but without knowing his true last name, Bentley could never be sure any of these great turtles had been his ancestors.

"If only I knew more about my real family" thought Bentley in his mind " then maybe I could discover the truth."

Well one thing became during his research, not one of history books he had borrowed from the library mentioned anything about Kasim. And since the Thievious Raccoonus still had no record of him, it was unlikely he ever existed in the first place. Had the curator just lied about the bow's origin to Bentley just to get him more interested in the exhibit?

Bentley pondered that thought over for moment, but could see no logical reason for the curator to lie. What hidden secret could possibly lie with bow that he didn't want Bentley to know about?

Curious for answers, Bentley knew there was only one chance that he was ever gonna find them. He needed that bow. If the story was true, and the bow could be traced back to Slytukamen, Bentley could find out for himself if Kasim really existed or not. If the story wasn't true well, then it just another con-man heading the musuem.

"Looks like it's time for a heist." thought Bentley to himself, rolling to get prepared.

Without Sly and Murray, this would be a complete solo job, no backup, no chances, just like Prague. Sighing as he got the last of his equipment together, Bentley shot his gaze up back to the picture taken of the Cooper Gang after the cookie heist.

"Those were happier times back then" said Bentley, finally turning away from the photo " Sly, Murray, this is for you."