Welcome back to Yu-Gi-Oh GM, readers. Time for another chapter of 'A new hand'. Last time Rebecca Hawkins, her grandfather, and junior executive Sam Bradley were arrested by Andrew Bryshevski. David, however, suspects that something is wrong. Will the Hawkinses and Bradley be sentenced to jail, or will David clear their names and uncover the REAL culprits? Can he overcome Bryshevski, who's starting to look like he has his own agenda? Find out in this chapter of 'A new hand'.

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh is strictly the property of Kazuki Takahashi. I'm just borrowing his characters for a while but will put them away when I'm done. David Cardigan and all original characters are strictly my property.

After returning to the downtown precinct, Tanya and Cynthia had been given their tasks and were now busy and happy to have something to do. David, on the other hand, was feeling helpless as he headed for the entrance to the station and still wondering how Chief McIntyre, who had always given David the impression of being a reasonable man, had so quickly and callously changed captains on squadron 51. Especially since Captain Moyers had done so well in spite of the setbacks. And where was Captain Moyers, David thought. He hadn't seen him in days. That's when he saw the short, chubby, blonde woman looking around. And based on the wary and desperate way she looked around, she needed help. David walked up to the woman and asked, "Excuse me, ma'am."
The woman turned with a start to face David and sighed. "Sorry, you startled me." Then her eyes widened. "Wait a second, you're David Cardigan, the writer, right?" Her face furrowed. "What are you doing here?"

David explained, "I sometimes do detective work with the Portland police department. We're currently working on a case involving some robberies."
Her eyes brightened. "You're referring to the KaibaCorp equipment that got stolen?"

David nodded. "That's the one," he answered.

She explained, "Maybe you can help me. I have some information on that case that you may find useful."

David raised an eyebrow. "Let's see if we can find a place to sit and…"
"David…" called a voice the writer recognized as Lieutenant Graham. The blonde, fortyish man walked up to the two. "I was wondering if you'd left." Then he noticed the woman. "And who's this lady?"

"Carol Hexelrod, I'm Mr. Bradley's secretary at KaibaCorp. And I need to talk to someone on the Portland police force about Mr. Bradley and something I witnessed today."

Graham nodded and simply stated, "David, ma'am, if you'll just come to my office I'll listen."

David nodded and followed the blonde man to his office. They took seats and then Carol spoke up. "First off, I was shocked when I heard about the charges being brought by Captain Bryshevski against Mr. Bradley. I know they say that sometimes criminals do a good job of hiding their true personalities, but I have this feeling that Mr. Bradley didn't do it. He's very well respected around KaibaCorp. And if you're not careful, he'll talk your ear off about his family."

That fits Tanya's description of Sam Bradley, David thought.

Carol continued, "Mr. Bradley has always been very well liked around the office. Why he hasn't been promoted to senior executive by Mr. Kaiba I don't know. But he should; he's a competent executive, and he'd do a lot better than…Michael Winters."

David was taken by surprise when she spoke the name with such venom. "Oh, how so?"

"First of all, contrary to what they appear to be in public, it's no secret around KaibaCorp that Mr. Winters and Mr. Bradley aren't friends. Although Mr. Bradley genuinely wishes it wasn't so, he's always believed people should get along with one another to promote a healthy work environment. But Mr. Winters, good God the man is paranoid, quick to anger, and he'd really chew a person out if anyone makes the slightest mention of a pay raise," she explained.

Graham and David's faces furrowed. "Interesting, but how exactly does this relate to the case?" Lieutenant Graham asked.

"Well, you see, it's also well known around the office, that Mr. Winters has a gambling problem. Mr. Bradley doesn't talk about it. If word got out that one of KaibaCorp's executives was in debt, Mr. Kaiba would fire him on the spot. Mr. Kaiba doesn't tolerate incompetence."

David raised an eyebrow. So Michael Winters is more than he seems, hmm? the brown-haired male thought.

Graham nodded. "Hmm, anything else, Miss Hexelod?"
She nodded. "Yeah, recently there have been some shady characters going to and from the office. Two in particular. I think I saw them on America's Most Wanted once."
Graham nodded. "I see. We can get a police sketcher to take your description."
She nodded. "Please, I have a memory for faces, and I could never mistake these two."

It didn't take long to fetch a police sketcher. The woman explained to the artist, "The first was a woman with straight, blonde hair down past her shoulders, steely, green eyes, and what looked like a scar on her right cheek. The other was a guy with jet-black hair, blue eyes, and a permanent scowl on his hawk-like face, and he…he had a lot of stubble on his face."

The sketcher made a drawing of the two. Graham nodded and told the sketcher, "Get these to Tanya. Tell her I need her to run these over with all law enforcement agencies and see if we can come up with anything."

The sketcher nodded and was off. Graham told her, "Thanks for letting us know about this, Miss Hexelrod. We'll take it from here."

She nodded and answered, "Anything I can do to help. I hope this helps clear Mr. Bradley."

She got up and left. David looked at Graham and commented, "She's definitely telling the truth."

Graham nodded. "Clear as day."

David asked, "Lieutenant, could I talk to the Hawkinses?"
Graham explained, "Their lawyer is en route you should know."
"I know, but I'd like to see if they can shed some light on this mystery. And also I think they'd be relieved to know that some of us strongly suspect they're being set up."

Graham thought for a moment, "All right, I sure as hell hope you know what you're doing, David."

David thought to himself, So do I, Lieutenant Graham. So do I.

The two got up and headed for the interrogation room where the Hawkinses were being kept. Graham opened the door and stepped in. A slightly angry Arthur Hawkins stated, "If you're trying to get a confession out of me like Bryshevski tried, you should know my lawyer will be here soon."
David entered with his hands raised to see a frazzled and haggard Rebecca and Arthur sitting around. The Hawkinses got the surprise of their lives when David entered. Dr. Hawkins asked in shock, "Mr. Cardigan, don't tell me you're helping Bryshevski in this nonsense?"
However, David gave them a reassuring smile as Graham closed the door. "Actually, no. New information has surfaced leading me to believe you two and Mr. Bradley are being framed."

The tired Hawkins family members looked visibly relieved. "Thank goodness somebody believes us!" Rebecca said.

David explained, "Squadron 51's computer expert looked over your financial files and saw you have no fiscal motivation and through a little police profiling realized you two aren't the thrill seeker or revenge types."

Arthur exclaimed, "That's a certainty! When Rebecca isn't dueling and I'm not lecturing or going to excavations I'd much rather be at my California home sipping a cup of Earl Grey."

Rebecca nodded. "Likewise, though I'd rather be having a soda or some bottled water."

David asked, "Do either of you have any enemies, especially some who would be willing to stoop to this?"

Rebecca retorted, "Pfft, take a number! Grandpa and I have collected our fair share of enemies over the years. But I seriously doubt any of them would have the resources or the brains to pull off this elaborate of a set up."

Arthur said, "Hang on a minute, I did notice one thing. On the day Rebecca and I arrived at Kaiba's Portland building for the duel disk demonstration, I heard some loud arguing in Mr. Winters's office. I later recognized the voices as those of Michael Winters and Mr. Bradley. It had something to do with money and some kind of debt one of them…I think Mr. Winters… owed."

David raised an eyebrow. As did Graham. The plot thickens, David thought dryly.

David asked, "Why didn't you tell Captain Bryshevski this?"

Arthur sighed to calm himself and answered, "We did, but he categorically refused to believe us. He kept saying Michael Winters is a good, law-abiding citizen and that we should stop trying to look for lies and confess what we supposedly did."

David's face furrowed in thought. "Ah-ha…" the brown-haired, late twenty-something said out loud. "I'm starting to have a plausible theory. Just a few pieces of evidence, and I should be able to help piece together this mystery."

Rebecca asked wearily, "When can Grandpa and I get out of here?"

David explained, "Hold tight and stay together a little longer, Rebecca and Dr. Hawkins. I promise you'll be out of here very soon."

Lieutenant Graham nodded and said, "Thank you for your cooperation."

The two left the room. As Graham and David were heading for the lobby, Graham asked, "So Mr. Cardigan, what's this hypothesis of yours?"
David took a deep breath and said, "Well…"
Just then Sergeant Anderson ran up to them. "Lieutenant, David, there you are. Get to the lab quick. Tanya and Cynthia have found some things."

The three turned and headed for the lab.

"Thanks to one of Bryshevski's power lunches and the lieutenant leaving the door to the captain's office open, we were able to get a hold of the DVD and make a copy of the security cam footage," Tanya explained as she played the robbery.

David had seen it before…but suddenly noticed something. "Pause there!" he called.

Tanya paused it. David's face squinted as he got closer to the large screen. He commented, "Something's…strange here. Zoom in on that mirror and Rebecca's shadow. And see if you can make it more detailed."

Tanya said, "Digital enhancement coming up."

After a blurry moment, the picture became clearer and the men's eyes lit up with surprise. "Well, well, well," Lieutenant Graham noted.
David growled, "And since when does an ordinary little girl have the shadow and the reflection of a fully developed adult woman?"

"Since never!" Sergeant Anderson responded.

"And this means…" Tanya started.

It was David who finished the thought. "Gentleman, ladies, we're being had! This tape has been doctored!"

Tanya explained, "Go see Cynthia. She has more information you'll find interesting."

The men headed out to see the redhead. She showed them her computer screen. "I put the fingerprints for the Hawkinses and Mr. Bradley in with the fingerprints you found on the keypad at the first robbery sight. And voila…take a look."

The screen showed the fingerprints and revealed…"There's no match!" Graham said.

Cynthia added, "And I took that piece of skin you found at the Middleton's robbery and compared it with some of the Hawkinses DNA and…" she left off handing Graham and David a piece of paper with the DNA material.

Graham said in understanding, "Again, there's no match!"
"I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT!" David yelped slapping his closed left hand into his right hand in elation. "I knew there was no way that Rebecca and her grandfather would ever rob a jewelry store!"

"Looks like that hypothesis of yours, David, about there being a third party in this is more true than we thought," Graham noted.

David's face paled. "And that means the real perps are still out there. We've got the wrong people! But just to be safe, we need to get a hold of that card from the jewelry store robbery. We need to match it against one of Rebecca's own monsters." He turned to Cynthia and asked, "Cynthia, where's Rebecca's deck?"

"It's in evidence storage at the moment, why?"

David said, "I'd bet any amount of money that if we dusted that Ruby Dragon card with the one from Rebecca's deck, I think we'll find that there are no fingerprints or at least none that are Rebecca's from the jewelry store heist."

David thought for a moment. "Everyone, I think we should tell Captain Bryshevski about what we've found."

Everyone stared at David as if he were insane. "What!?" Sergeant Anderson yelped. "David, are you out of your mind?"

David smirked and answered giving them a sly wink, "No, but we have to remember that he is the captain of squadron 51, right?"

When they saw the wink, they nodded. "Oh, riiiiight," they collectively said, understanding that the supernatural detective was testing something.

Sergeant Anderson accompanied the detective, headed for the lobby, and reached it just as the police captain was in his office looking over some paper work. David knocked on the door. The policeman looked up and sighed in consternation. "Come in," he sighed.

David and Anderson entered and sat down. Bryshevski continued to look over his paper work and asked, "I assume that this visit has something to do with the case?"

"Actually it does, Captain. You see, new evidence has come to light," David explained.

David didn't fail to notice the black-haired captain set his pen down and looked up at them. A look of trepidation crossed his face before he masked it. Ah, the rat takes the bait! David thought.

"All right," he said. "Let's hear it."

David explained what he, Lieutenant Graham, and Sergeant Anderson had discovered at the first robbery site. David then explained, "We needed to confirm whether the footage you had from the jewelry store robbery was authentic or not. And knowing you'd probably say no, Tanya and Cynthia borrowed the DVD."

The captain glared at them. "I thought I made it clear none of the evidence was to be touched by anyone except me."

Sergeant Anderson said, "Captain, squadron 51 is a team. And we play as a team, and if I might be so bold as to say so, sir, you haven't exactly been playing as part of the team."

David smirked as he saw the momentary burst of fury on Bryshevski's face. Well played, David thought.

David explained, "Well Tanya discovered that the shadow and reflection weren't those of Rebecca but those of a fully grown woman. This leads us to believe that this tape was doctored. And if we could take a look at that Ruby Dragon card from the robbery and compare it with the one in Rebecca's deck we'd prove that Rebecca's fingerprints are not on the Ruby Dragon from the crime scene."

David watched Bryshevski sigh and do his best to contain the anger and rage that were boiling up in him. "You two should know better than to trust Cynthia and Tanya!" he snapped.

Sergeant Anderson asked, "Why, sir?"

Bryshevski shook his head and explained, "You're new here, Anderson, so you don't know. I've had my eye on those two for some time. Those two are liars who'll do anything to destroy my reputation and get Moyers back."

David raised an eyebrow. "Really, sir? They've always given me the impression of being true professionals."

Bryshevski added, "News flash for you, Cardigan, they're not! They're a couple of vicious little schemers who are no doubt in collusion with Moyers to embarrass me to get their dear captain back!" David could see the rage boiling up on the man's face. "Well he's not coming back!" the man snapped. "I'm in command of squadron 51 now! And there is no way on God's green Earth I am allowing three criminal scum like Bradley and the Hawkinses to get away with what they've done! And as for Tanya and Cynthia, they'll be replaced in short order by me. From now on there will be no investigation unless I authorize it! Furthermore, whatever evidence you've found is to be disregarded. And as for you, Cardigan, you're treading a very dangerous line! Cross me one more time and I'll make sure you're never allowed to come so much as near the station or help on a case ever again. Do I make myself clear!?"

The two men looked surprised and nodded. Bryshevski said, "Good, now get out of my office!"

The two men got up and left. But as they headed back to the lab David said, "Did you see the look on his face?"

Anderson nodded. "First fear, and then unbridled hatred, and in such a fashion that's unbecoming of a good cop."

David frowned at what he knew as a certainty. "Not to mention, he's more interested in getting a conviction than examining the evidence. Sergeant Anderson, I do believe Captain Bryshevski has an ulterior agenda," he noted.

The built black man nodded his agreement.

David had gone home for a few hours of work but then had been called back to the police precinct. The small group of conspirators met in the meeting room. Graham said in stunned disbelief, "Bryshevski disregarded the evidence and slandered Tanya and Cynthia?"

David nodded. "He did, Lieutenant, which leads Sergeant Anderson and I to believe that Bryshevski wants the Hawkinses and Bradley to be guilty. And he'll do whatever it takes to ensure that happens, even if it means ignoring legitimate evidence that would clear them."

Tanya whistled and commented, "That's clearly a violation of police protocol, sir."

Graham nodded. "It is, but we need to get solid proof that Bryshevski is acting in his own interest rather than in the interest of the public. How do we do that? And I still can't understand how Chief McIntyre could've so callously replaced Captain Moyers."
The group was startled when the door opened…and a familiar voice exclaimed, "He didn't!"

There in the doorway stood a rather smug-looking Captain Darren Moyers holding a piece of paper in his right hand.
"Captain!" the group collectively spouted.

The police lieutenant asked, "It's good to see you, sir, but what did you just say?"
Moyers answered, "You heard me, Philip, he didn't!"

Before anyone could ask Captain Moyers for the details he said, "Now, now, everyone, hold off on the questions I know you want to ask. I'll explain everything."

He moved into the room and closed the door behind him. He found an empty chair and took it. David listened eagerly to hear Moyers's explanation. "I knew from the start that there was something fishy about Bryshevski's transfer orders. So while I worked on some other cases I found time to get into his office when he and his cronies were off at one of their power lunches. I faxed a copy of the transfer of command orders to Chief McIntyre. I found out yesterday that he'd only just come home from the coast. Apparently, while he and the wife were on vacation, she got the flu and they had to end their vacation early. McIntyre called me up yesterday evening and ooh let me tell you, he was furious! The chief then had me come over to his home where he gave me some documentation signed this morning." He showed everyone the paper. "This document makes it perfectly clear Chief McIntyre never authorized a change in command. I'm to be restored to full command of squadron 51."

Everyone in the room looked visibly relieved to end this going behind Bryshevski's back now that they knew the truth. Moyers said, "All right, people, I've been out of the loop for a bit. What's been discovered since I've been on my forced sabbatical?"

One at a time, starting with David, everyone told what had been discovered so far. Darren Moyers listened quietly, and then nodded. "Oh yeah, this whole thing smells of a frame job and it looks as though Bryshevski's a little too eager to see this through." Darren thought for a long moment and then said, "Graham, have Tanya and David go into Bryshevski's office, have them grab that card from the jewelry store robbery as well as Bryshevski's copy of the transfer document. Tell them to take it to the crime lab. Have Cynthia get a hold of Rebecca's deck and dust it and all Ruby dragon cards for fingerprints. Have her also check the memory card that got brought in from the first robbery. And while you're at it, have her check out that supposed transfer document. I'd bet any amount of money the chief's signature on it is a forgery. And have Sergeant Anderson bring Mr. Gladston in. I want a few words with him!"

Graham looked around and commanded, "Well you heard the captain, people. Let's move it. We have perpetrators to catch!"

David was finally on his feet, elated. The gloves were off and now he could openly move and help investigate the case. Tanya said, "All right, David, let's put that crime-solving magic to work."

The two headed over to Bryshevski's office. Fortunately they found the arrogant captain was gone but had not taken the evidence file or his copy of the transfer papers. David, meanwhile, got on the computer and found something interesting. "Tanya, come take a look at this," the detective said.

The female police officer came over and checked Bryshevski's computer. "It appears Captain Bryshevski on police time has been Instant messaging someone named COMfor1 and under the penname Badgemeister69."

Tanya got in the seat as David got out. She examined the messages which read that, "Bryshevski realized we were getting suspicious. COMfor1 has been telling Bryshevski to continue with the plan to convert the Hawkinses along with Sam Bradley to the cause. Damn, this is why I consider C.O.M. a cult. This C.O.M. member is making all types of grandiose proclamations about how when the Hawkinses are converted the rest of the world will fall in line."

David said, "Let me look at that."

David examined the screen and read aloud. "If the 3 don't cooperate then you should be prepared to use…maximum force."

Something about that sent a fearful chill racing through David. He quickly found a blank DVD and made a copy of the conversation before shutting Bryshevski's computer off. David said, "I think we'd better get this to the captain, and we'd better get this evidence to the lab. Let's also get someone guarding Mr. Bradley and the Hawkinses. Something tells me time isn't on our side at the moment."

Tanya nodded and the two left Bryshevski's office.

Surprise, Captain Bryshevski has been up to no good. See, Rebecca Hawkins fans, things are not what they seem. It appears Rebecca, Dr. Hawkins, and Sam Bradley are unwilling pawns in this game. Could it be that there's even more to this than first thought? Could be. For the answers come back for the next chapter of 'A new hand'. Until then, read and review.