A/N: Hello everybody! First off, I want to apologize for the crappiness of last chapter. I just wanted to get it done, since I had been gone so long. But I think this one is good. Remember, if you like it, leave a comment. It really helps. I also want to adress some things:

wolfiepower: OMG, the wolfiepower is reading this? Squee! I'm glad you like it.

LostHero171: This was originally a one shot, but people liked it, so I was like, "Why not?" and added more. I'm glad you were happy about it!

Cecilia: The confrontation has arrived. Enjoy!

A thank you to everyone who helped inspire me and encouraged me while I was making this chapter. Yes, that means you, Cecilia.

I groaned in frustration and slammed the binder I was holding onto the table. I'd been here for an hour already, going through the records of people in the city, and so far, I hadn't found a single Jersey, Bigby, or Jack that fit the description of the ones I wanted. It didn't make sense. Why couldn't I find them?

I looked around the library, desperate for a break from my nonstop searching. There weren't a lot of people in the library today, just a couple kids doing research for school and an teenage girl with red hair sobbing quietly over a copy of Charolotte's Web. The librarian, an old woman with wispy white hair and crooked yellow teeth named Mrs. Trudy, was heaving a log into the fireplace in the corner. I heard her mutter, "There. Nice and bright."

I put my head in my hands and tried to think rationally. Why would these people's names not be in the city records? It was almost like they didn't exist. Or didn't want people to know about them...

I thought that night at Sheppard Metalworks, what I saw. What I heard. I remembered the disembodied voice, calling Bigby, 'The Big Bad Wolf.' I remembered him blowing all of the duplicates away once he had become a huge wolf.

The answer came so suddenly, it felt like I had been hit on the head with a frying pan. I was so stupid!

I stood up so quickly I almost knocked over the chair I was sitting in. I walked past the shelves full of old westerns and romances and settled on the aisle full of fairy tales for children. I walked down the aisle, scanning the shelves, until I found what I was looking for. Fifteen Stories for Bedtime. Perfect.

I pulled it off the shelf and walked back over to where I was sitting. I sat down and opened the book, scanning the table of contents. I found what I wanted and flipped to page ten. The picture on the page was simple enough: three pigs prancing happily behind the walls of a brick house, pulling faces at the giant wolf outside. The three little pigs.

I flipped to another page, and saw a picture of a young boy climbing down a huge vine, with a giant chasing after him. The title read Jack and the Beanstalk in simple green letters. The picture was perfect; a younger version of Jack smiled at me from the pages.

My thoughts were racing at a million miles an hour. Jack and the Beanstalk. The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. That crooked man from before... there was a poem about a crooked man.

But wait, what about Jersey? I racked my brains, trying to remember any story that mentioned someone named Jersey. I remembered vaguely an article in a newspaper from a few years ago. A couple having a picnic in the park had spotted something in one of the trees. When asked to describe it, they had said it looked like the legendary Jersey Devil. Was that it?

At that exact moment, I looked over to the front door. What I saw made my blood turn to ice in my veins. Bigby Wolf was walking through it. I watched, numb, as he pulled a packet of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, and lit it. He took a long drag and started walking in my direction.

I panicked and hid behind the book of fairy tales, hoping he wouldn't see me. Maybe he was just here to get a book, and he would walk by and-

"Hello, Madison."

Nonononononono! Okay, breathe, Madison. Act casual. I forced a smile and lowered my book, trying to look pleasantly surprised. "Oh, hello Sheriff Wolf! Fancy meeting you here."

"Yeah, its a real coincidence," he said. He gestured with his cigarette to the seat across from me. "Mind if I sit down?"

"No, I don't mind at all," I said, trying as hard as I could not to draw attention to the fairy tale book. If he knew what I suspected...If he knew I was there that night...

"So, I want to thank you again for helping me the other day," said Bigby, after taking another drag of his cigarette and blowing smoke into the air. "You must have sharp reflexes. I saw you a couple times while I was arguing with Jack, and you didn't seem to be paying attention."

I snorted as derisively as I could. "To be fair, Sheriff, you yelling "stop" loud enough to bust my eardrums was a pretty big tip off."

Bigby grimaced. "True enough."

I saw what he was doing now. This was an interrogation. He suspected that I knew more than I was saying. He was being as subtle as possible in hopes that I'd slip. Well, two could play at that game.

Time for a good old-fashioned game of Truth and Lies.

"So," I said, trying to sound as if I was making conversation, "what exactly did that guy do that made you arrest him?"

Bigby frowned, clearly not used to being questioned instead of asking questions. "Jack Horner has a history of fraud, and was trying to sell a potentially dangerous item at the Lucky Pawn. He then tried to avoid questioning by running out the door...and into you. Bad luck on his part."

Hmm. True enough. Jack was always crafty in the stories.

"Gosh, really?" I tried to pour as much awe as I could into my voice, and made my eyes as wide and innocent as possible. "What was he trying to sell?"

Bigby dropped his spent cigarette on the floor and figetted uncomfortably. "Just an old piece of jewelry, but it tested positive for traces of poison. Fatal levels."

Clever answer. Give enough basic facts for it to not technically be a lie, but hide the details so it wasn't the truth. I could see he was trying to avoid the question. Pushing him on it would look suspicious, so I changed the subject.

"How badly was Jack hurt after I'd tackled him? He seemed to be in a lot of pain." I already knew Jack was just a big baby, but I needed a free turn to plan my next question.

Bigby growled. "He was fine. Jack's just a big baby."

I knew it.

I thought about what I needed to know, and finally thought of a good question. "You know, Sheriff, I'm a little surprised I haven't seen you anywhere before," I said carefully. "Are you on an exchange program? Or are you new?"

Bigby's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and I knew I had asked the right question. "I transferred from another police division a few days ago."

Lie. Those pictures in the factory were more than a few days old. Some were from as far back as last winter.

I tried to look interested. "Really?" I said. "Where from?"

I saw a muscle clench in Bigby's jaw and his knuckles whiten on the tabletop."Black Forest. It's a little city up in Maine. They transferred me because they thought I might do better in a place with more crime."

Big fat reaction to an innocent question. Lie.

Bigby seized the opportunity to take a turn. "So, that friend of your's, Mr. Wolf. Do I really look like him?"

Ah. So they were onto me. I shrugged. "Not really, but you have the same hair, and kind of the same voice, and I was thinking of him before we started talking."

"Oh." Bigby seemed disappointed. He looked at his hands. "Before I go, what where you doing outside the Lucky Pawn? Kind of a shitty place for a woman like you."

Oh my gosh. They really were onto me. And woman?!

I giggled a little hysterically. "Listen, Sheriff, I'm only sixteen years old. I'm not a woman yet. And to answer your question, I was a little tired from walking home from school, so I stopped outside to listen to some music. That's all." Not technically a lie. Walking home every day was tiring.

Bigby stared at me. "Sixteen? You look a lot older than sixteen."

I huffed. "Yeah, I get that a lot." Also true. Annoying, but true.

Bigby snorted. "Well, it was nice talking to you. By the way, I told my boss about what happened with Jack. She was impressed."

My mouth tasted like sawdust. His boss? Who could control the Big Bad Wolf? The Kraken? I swallowed. "Really?" I croaked. "It wasn't that big of a deal."

"Maybe not to you, but do you know how much paperwork an escaped suspect means? You sure saved my ass," said Bigby, smiling.

Bigby stood up and pulled his packet of cigarettes out of his pocket. From this close, I could see the label. Huff n' Puff's. Despite my fear, I barely managed to keep from smirking. Really?

After lighting a new cigarette, Bigby walked away, throwing a casual, "Bye, Madison," over his shoulder. I frowned, a little offended.

I sat there, thinking about what had just happened. I had learned a lot from that conversation, and from coming here. However, I had also learned that Bigby and his 'boss' knew that I suspected them.

I shivered, suddenly cold. I looked down at the book of fairy tales next to me, no longer just stories for bedtime.