Shattered Doll

Chapter 21: Suspect

############

Your halo slipping down to choke you now.

-The Noose, A Perfect Circle

sss

Mint walked along side his friends as they headed into ChalkZone City. He had offered them a ride on the red pterosaur, but they insisted on walking. Something about it making them look less conspicuous. Mint thought this was a pretty strange reason. After all, he and Penny rode in on the red pterosaur before and no one seemed to really care. In the end, he dismissed it as them just being nervous around the pterosaur and he dropped the subject.

They were headed back to where Shrapnel Tower once stood. He imagined the place had been torn apart by now, what with the collapse and the zoners wanting to have that area cleaned out since it was already scraped for clues. The camera nearby, however, should be unaffected, and easily obtained.

He hoped that they would find something on that footage that could help them. Ever since he concluded that Sandra could be unstable, he had this funny feeling in his stomach that she was, somehow, involved.

Naturally, Rudy and Penny, though they shared his concerns, did not want to jump to conclusions that easily. Sandra was their first actual culprit, the first one they could put a name to, but that did not mean she was the one. An unstable mind did not automatically prove she did anything.

That was why they were headed back into ChalkZone City, to get that footage. They need to look at the footage and see what time Sandra had arrived at the party. If Penny's hunch was correct, they should be able to see Sandra going into the party and be able to get a time stamp. Just in case, she recommended they look at the footage within the time frame of the party up to the explosion to see if she disappeared out of the building at any given time. If there was an inconsistency, and she showed up too early or too late than what she said, then they would investigate further.

Mint knew, as well as Penny and Rudy, that this inconsistency would not really mean that Sandra was involved. After all, it's likely that she would have forgotten the exact time and was just trying to wing out.

Still, it could be a clue, and with how desperate they had gotten lately, any clue was worth grabbing onto. Snap's trial may have been delayed, as they found out from some passing zoners before, but they still had such a small window of chance. It was time they try to pick up the pace.

"Okay, we're here." Penny said, stopping in her tracks, her eyes facing forward. Mint and Rudy stopped behind her, and they looked out at the scene.

They could see the damaged building from here. The smoke still pillowing out even after all this time. Some wisps of heat clung strongly in the air, moving around them. Some of the building still stood, but since the collapse from before, it had fallen into pieces, looking even more torn apart than before. The wreckage before their eyes sent chills of horror down their spines as they remembered what had taken place here not so long ago.

They looked left and right, noting some of the nearby zoners moving around. A few of them stopped and stared at them. Some were simply curious by their presence. But a few others were glaring at them almost accusatory. It was as though they thought they were up to something.

Mint would not be surprised if that were the case. He had a feeling that, had he and his friends been zoners, they would have stopped them and dragged them off, perhaps to question them why they were there. But them being creators, that kept them at bay. Him being the former Enemy Creator, and some of these zoners clearly showing some fear towards him, that also helped in getting the zoners to leave them alone.

He felt bad, though. He didn't want these zoners to think they were the bad guys. They just wanted to show them that Snap was innocent. He and his friends were aware of how some of the zoners felt with them defending Snap, whom the zoners blamed for the explosion at the party. The only thing keeping Mint from getting overwhelmed was the knowledge that, once they found proof of Snap's innocense, it would all be over.

The three of them resumed walking, heading down the street and towards the pile of rubble. They did not try to move around and go in from a different angle. This time, their destination was not the remains of Shrapnel Tower, but the camera located not far from it.

They went towards the street light positioned not far from the building. It had been spared most of the damage, which was how the camera was still working. When they got closer, they could see that the small, black box that was the camera was snuggled in tightly in a hole made in the street light. It was rather hard to miss.

Mint had to wonder something. How was it that the security cameras in the hospital were affected, but not this street light? Then he recalled that the culprit's machine was destroyed. He settled himself down, feeling a bit silly for forgetting that detail.

Rudy went up to the street light and reached towards the camera. As he put his hand around it, he turned his attention to Mint and Penny. "We need to create a copy of this thing. One of you, draw a..." He closed his mouth as he tried to think of the word."

"Don't worry, Rudy." Penny said, taking a step forward. She raised up her magic chalk. "I know exactly what you mean."

"Thank you, Penny." Rudy said.

Mint and Rudy watched as Penny began to draw a device that would allow them to create a copy of the footage. They did their best to ignore the stares they got from the zoners around them. Right now, they shouldn't concern themselves with that. They were on a mission.

sss

It hadn't taken Penny long to get the footage copied. Even with some of the zoners approaching them, asking about what they were doing, they were able to stay focused on the task at hand. Before long, Penny had managed to get what they wanted, and it was time to head out again.

Mint was frustrated with how often they were talking back and forth between ChalkZone City and Snap's treehouse. Rudy did acknowledge how annoying it can be, and how much time they were using up. But he expressed concern that, since the machine is up and running again based on what they heard, the footage might get screwed up if they remained in the city. They still weren't sure of the culprit, and any zoner they had run into could be the one responsible.

They were safer at the tree house. It was much easier speaking about this sort of stuff there, where they had a better idea of who was aroudn, making it much harder for the culprit to spy on them, or any of their minions, if they had any. The thought of there being more than one culprit chilled them, and they hoped that this wasn't the case.

The three of them sat down on the bean bag chairs, trying their best to get comfortable. They knew they were going to be here for a long time, and they had a feeling that by the time they found anything, it may be time to leave. If they had to leave before they could see Snap again, they hoped they would at least find something on the cameras that could help them.

Penny took out a black tape, a copy of the footage that came from that street camera. She popped it into the VCR located underneath the television, the VHS fitting quite snug into it. Then she pressed the power button on the remote. There was a flash of snow on the screen, then a picture began to show. The three friends leaned back on the bean bag chairs and watched.

Mint wasn't sure how long they had been watching. So far, nothing unusual came onto the cameras. Usually it was just nothing, showing the building and that's it. On occassion, they would see a zoner walk by, which was not unusual. It may not have been a busy street, but seeing a zoner did not set off any alarms.

After a while, perhaps ten minutes, of mostly nothing, Rudy grabbed the remote and pushed it on fastforward. It was obvious why he did it. There was no way they could sit here for six to eight hours watching the footage on the tape. Fast forwarding it was a good idea.

Other than seeing zoners move faster and more jerky due to how quick the footage was playing, nothing else seemed to change about it. They could see the time stamp zipping along quickly, static lines moving up and down as a result of the speed up. And as time passed, they didn't seem to catch anything unusual.

Mint felt time get muddled up in his head as he stared at the screen, watching the footage. He and his friends remained quiet as they watched, unable to look away. Mint could feel his eyes start to become a little heavy. Staring at the screen, watching sped up footage of what was a mostly unused street with few zoners was starting to get to him. He opened up his mouth and yawned, trying his best not to fall asleep and close his eyes.

Rudy and Penny looked over at him, soft glares on their faces. But they did not look much better than himself. Both had a dreary look in their eyes as they watched the footage being played out before them. As time passed, this only got worse. Soon, before he knew it, somewhere close to two hours passed, and they still found nothing in the footage. Well nothing that was going to help them anyway.

After a while, Penny said, "Perhaps we should have fastfowarded it to the time when Sandra said she arrived..."

Rudy nodded his head. "That..would have been nice." He stretched out his arms. Despite his efforts, he was unable to stop his mouth from stretching into a yawn." It would have saved us a lot of trouble."

"Well," Mint spoke up, moving his hand forward. "Why don't we just shut it off and fastforward for a little while? The VHS will move more quickly if it's turned off."

"Good idea." Penny said, and she quickly shut off the tape. Mint never thought he'd be so happy to see a dark screen. Penny held up the remote and pressed a button. "Okay, let's fastforward this for about ten minutes and see what we have..."

Mint and Rudy did not protest. The three friends listened to the VCR's wheels turning and grinding as it fastforward. The familiar, high-pitched squeal of an old fashioned VHS tape could be heard. It brought back memories from when they were children, but they did not dwell on those for long. They kept listening, waiting for the right time to press play again.

Then the ten minutes were up. Penny pressed the stop button, and the gerk sound of the tape pausing its internal wheels was heard. She then pressed play, and the screen lit up again. They watched and waited, knowing that the key to what happened could lie in this footage.

sss

Rudy was getting frustrated. After several fastforwards and pausing, there was only one thing he and his friends had discovered so far. One thing that offered any potential of a clue.

Sandra had not shown up at the time indicated.

When they found that out, they had glanced at each other, each of them feeling their heart clench. They did their best not to jump to conclusions, however, knowing full well that Sandra could have just forgotten. Maybe she came in a while later, and with all that happened, thought she came in earlier than she did. They continued watching the footage, waiting to see when she did come into the picture.

But the more they watched, the more that Sandra didn't show up, the more that Rudy couldn't help but feel something was off. He could understand if Sandra was late. Everyone can be late to things. Work, parties, presentations. It happened.

Yet, to get the time this wrong... To be this off... Rudy wasn't sure just how much leeway he should grant Sandra before getting suspicious.

They had searched through about four hours of footage thus far. None of them held anything unusual. Just zoners coming into the party. Snap, of course, hadn't arrived yet; he would not show up until later. But where was Sandra? When did she come into the picture? Just how off was she with her claim of when she arrived at the party?

Perhaps they had missed something earlier. They had turned the tape off a few times to move through the footage faster. It was very likely that they had overlooked something, and that Sandra did arrive earlier.

Rudy did his best to control his frustration. He did not want to rush things along too fast, or they might miss something. He did not want to let his frustration get the better of him. He continued watching the footage, waiting and hoping to see Sandra on the footage somewhere.

And yet, she never came. No matter how much footage they looked through, no matter how long they stared at the screen, they saw no sign of the dragon coming into the party. They saw one or two other dragon zoners, but none of them looked anything like Sandra. They didn't even see anyone entering from the back. Then again, giving their angle, it was possible that...

"Look!" Penny cried, startling Mint and Rudy. She quickly paused the footage. "There!"

Rudy and Mint looked over at the screen. They stared for only a couple of seconds, and then they looked over at Penny, confused.

"Penny, there's nothing there." Mint said.

"Oh yes there.." Penny looked at the screen. Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh! I paused too late! Here, let me rewind that..." She pressed the button, and the two boys watched the footage move backwards, seeing flashes of color, but nothing specific. Then she paused, freezing on a particular frame. "There, now do you see it?"

The two boys looked back at the screen. After a few seconds, seeing there was no response from them, Penny moved in closer and placed a finger in the top right of the video. The two boys had to move in closer to see what she was talking about. Upon closer inspection, they both widened their eyes as they realized just what Penny was referring to.

On the video, just a little off from where Penny's finger was, they could see something blue. Barely there, a mere smudge on the screen, but there nonetheless. It didn't take them long to realize who it was, and this was confirmed when Penny moved her finger away.

It was Sandra. The dragon zoner was located behind the building, rather than the front. As Penny pressed a button to make the footage move again, this time forward and at a much slower pace, they could see Sandra moving towards the building, and with a slight movement of her arm, they noticed she was opening something up. The only logical conclusion they could come up with was that she was opening up a back door of sorts.

The three friends looked at each other, their minds reeling from this information. Not only did Sandra arrive at the party much later than they thought, at around 4:00ish, much later than she said she had arrived, but she had gone into the back of the building rather than the front.

Why was that? Why did she go to the back? Why not the front? It didn't seem to make much sense to them. She was the hostess, after all. Wouldn't it be considered rude to go in the back? Well they weren't entirely sure how fancy parties work, but they were certain that the hostess was supposed to go through the front door, where they could greet their guests. So why did Sandra go in the back? What was she doing there?

They remained silent for a few seconds, and then they decided it was best to go on. They had some more footage to look at. They wondered if there was anything else on this tape that they should be made aware of.

Fastforwarding, this time, keeping the television on so they could see the moving pictures, they watched as time passed by quickly in the scene before them. Then, not too long afterwards, they could see their friend arriving onto the scene. They froze at this, looking at one another.

The explosion that they had seen before, it ripped through the building. This meant that Sandra had arrived after Snap came into the picture. They recalled seeing Snap going into the building not long before they noticed Sandra. But the realization that Sandra had gotten into the building after him, and the time frame between arrival and explosion was even shorter with Sandra..it made them all wonder.

They stared at each other, each lost in their own thoughts. This still did not prove anything, but it left them all wondering what they should think of it. They began to wonder if there was a connection now, between Sandra and the explosion, or if it was a coincidence.

One thing was for certain now. They now truly had Sandra as a possible suspect. They would need to look into the matter further. But the question on Rudy's mind, and he was certain that Penny and Mint were thnking the same thing, was..where were they going to go from here? What should be the next step that they'd take? They had already spoken to Sandra and she was likely busy again right now. The building itself was largely destroyed, so that wasn't an option. Where else could they go?

Rudy hoped they would figure out a next step soon. Snap did not have that long of a wait.

sss

"So...this is the place.." Penny breathed, staring out at the building in front of them. Rudy and Mint weren't far behind her.

"This is that one fireworks place we haven't yet checked out?" Rudy asked her, looking at her expectantly. Wordlessly, Penny nodded her head. "All right then...let's get going.

The three of them approached a small building that stood before them. The building was one level and long, with a sharply curved roof, looking almost oriental in nature. The building was a bright gold color, and the roof, a deep crimson. It stood out rather well even in the colorful section of ChalkZone City.

They had heard about this place, which they found to be called The Factory. A rather odd name, given that this place sold fireworks and sparklers, but that was not of their concern. This place, despite being so obvious, had been overlooked by them when they were doing their investigation before. They had no idea how they could have missed it, and they felt pretty stupid that they had.

At least they knew about it now, and they could do some searching and talking around here. They had learned of this place on their way through the city as they pondered their next move. They heard the name The Factory and wondered what it was. When they found out it was a place that sold fireworks, they knew they had to come here and do some talking. They needed to learn more about the white flame fireworks.

Penny, being in front of the two boys, reached the door first. She reached forward and placed her hand on the door, made of solid, clear glass. She pushed it open. Her ears were greeted by the jingling sound of a bell hung on a string, signaling to the shop keeper that a new customer had arrived.

The three of them walked further into the building, looking around at the store. They could see several aisles filled with boxes of what they new to be fireworks and sparklers, but that wasn't all the store had. Some other oriential items, like small statues of chinese dragons and some beautiful candles, were laid out on display on multiple small, glass tables, arranged in a particular way.

Penny guessed that, from this and from the foreign lettering they could see, this store was drawn by someone in the eastern part of the world. Perhaps China or Japan. A foreign exchange student, obviously, due to the location in ChalkZone. She hoped that the zoner drawn would be able to understand at least some english, otherwise it was going to be pretty hard to communicate with them.

Not long after, due to hearing the shop's bell ringing, the shopkeeper came towards the front, emerging from an open door that Penny guessed led to the storage room. The zoner they saw was not the type of zoner they'd expect in an oriental store like this.

The zoner was a lion. Tall but a little thin, especially for a lion. It was clear that this lion was drawn with the intention for speed, not strength. He looked almost like a crossbred between a lion and a cheetah. The zoner had a comically poofy mane, and wore a rather friendly expression.

"Hello there!" The lion greeted, clasping his hands together. "I'm glad to have some visitors. I don't get much. My name is Arno! And you three must be the creators I heard about."

Rudy nodded his head. "Hey, Arno. We came because we wanted to ask you a question."

"Sure!" Arno spread his hands out. "Anything for you!"

Rudy smiled at this. Then his eyes furrowed slightly. "I'm sure you know about the explosion at the party?"

The friendly smile faded away almost immediately. Arno narrowed his eyes, nodding his head rigidly. "Yes, I'm very well aware." He paused for a moment, a look of guilt flashing in his face. "I..have heard it. Many times."

Mint was the next one to speak up. "I'll cut right to the chase." He moved in closer, straightening himself up as if to make himself look more assertive and confident. "Do you sell any white flame fireworks?"

The lion widened his eyes at this. "Did you say white flame fireworks?"

Mint nodded his head. He glared at the zoner. "You don't happen to sell them, do you?"

"W-Well I.."

"Do you?" Mint's voice was a bit louder and more stern this time.

Penny, not wanting this to escalate further, walked towards Mint and put her hand on his shoulder. Mint glared at her, but his expression quickly softened up. He sighed and looked back at the lion, giving him an apologetic expression.

"I am sorry for that. Let me explain better." Mint cleared his throat. "You see, we found out that the explosion was caused by fireworks, and reports indicated white flames, not the traditional red, yellow, and orange as you would expect."

"We have been doing what we can to learn more." Rudy said, holding his hand out in gesture. "We were hoping you might be able to help us. You're the only person selling fireworks we hadn't yet spoken to." He rubbed the back of his head. "The last person we spoke to, Xannon, he wasn't exactly a friendly guy..."

At this, Arno's face paled. "Xannon?! Why did you try talking to him? That guy is delusional!"

"Because he was the one zoner we heard about that sold white flame fireworks. Rudy here went to try to speak with him, hoping to find some answers." Penny looked at Rudy sympathetically as she recalled what happened. "He ended up chasing Rudy, thinking that he stole from him."

"I think the culprit is the one who took those fireworks. We are hoping that you might be able to help us find an identity to whoever may have been responsible." Rudy said.

Arno tilted his head, one of his eyes narrowing as his tail wriggled around. He remained quiet for a while, thinking about an answer. The three kids did not speak, and waited for an answer. "Well..." Arno said, grabbing their attention. "There is someone..."

"Do you know who stole the white flame fireworks?" Rudy asked hopefully.

At this, Arno chuckled. "Well that would be me." He placed a hand to himself.

Mint's eyes narrowed. "You? Are you saying that you're the one who..."

Arno widened his eyes and took a step back, as if sensing Mint's growing agitation. Penny and Rudy shot Mint a glare, stifling him from taking any step closer. They then turned their attention back to the lion, who had backed up to the counter. It was clear this zoner had little experience with creators and had no idea what to expect from them.

Penny decided to try to ease the zoner's mind. "It's okay. He won't hurt you. We're just trying to help our friend."

Arno appeared to relax at this. "Your friend?" He paused, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Oh, you mean Snap?" Penny nodded her head at this. "Yeah, I have heard some nasty rumors about him. I take it they are not true?"

"Yeah, that's right. The culprit has framed him." Rudy said, taking a step forward, putting himself in front of Mint. "We are just really desperate to try to help him. He's going to be executed in a few days." The lion's eyes bulged at this, like this was news to him. "We don't have much time left."

"Indeed you don't." Arno nodded his head. "It would be such a shame if Snap were executed for a crime he did not commit." He held up his paw. "And for that culprit to still run around..." He shook his head. "Such a darn shame..."

Penny nodded in agreement. Mint and Rudy did not protest to this. They were all on the same page with this. They all knew the consequences for someone getting away with murder. They could very well start up again. The idea that more people could suffer due to this zoner's horrendeous actions... It twisted their stomachs, making them feel nauseous.

Penny did feel some tinge of hope with this zoner. Despite their previous failed attempts at finding an answer, they were hoping that Arno could provide some kind of clue. Even if it was small, it was still a step forward. It would be a step closer to saving Snap, and the rest of ChalkZone City.

"To make myself more clear, when I said that I stole the white flame fireworks from Xannon, I should have been more specific." Arno leaned against the round, marble table where his register was. "Xannon was the one who stole the fireworks from me. Not the other way around." He held up his hand in gesture, his small yet sharp claws curving towards his palm. "I was just simply taking back what was mine." He looked over at Rudy, his expression saddening. "I am sorry that you nearly got hurt because of me. That was not my intention."

"I understand. It was just a mixup, that's all." Rudy said, smiling.

"Wait..." Mint took a step forward. This time, he sounded calmer and more in control. That didn't stop the lion from moving away from him again. "I am pretty sure we were told that white flame fireworks were illegal. How could you be selling them?"

Arno smiled nervously at this. "Why, because I have a license of course." He produced a small sheet of paper from his pocket, holding it out in front of them. "So long as I have this, I can sell them, but there are of course limitations."

"Oh yes, we have heard it was possible, so long as there were rules and regulations." Penny recalled that they had figured this out during their investigation. "But how could a zoner get a hold of multiple ones?"

"I'm afraid that would be my fault." Arno said. The children stared at him in shock. He smiled at them sadly. "I was coherced into selling one zoner multiple white flame fireworks. She had promised she had everything under control, though, and she had shown me the plans and it looked safe and.."

Penny wondered if this is why the zoner appeared guilt-ridden earlier. Did he believe that his fireworks caused the explosion? Did he think he was the one with blood on his claws? Did he blame himself for the deaths of those zoners?

One thing was for certain. They were getting closer. The conversation with Arno was turning quite eventful, and was starting to open up some doors that were previously closed. She wondered what more this lion could tell them. Would he be able to tell them the name of the zoner who bought the fireworks? Could he describe them? What else could he tell them?

"Arno..." Rudy spoke up, his voice stern, yet gentle. "Could you tell us who you sold the fireworks too?" It seemed that he got the same idea. "Is there anything you can tell us?"

"Please, we would appreciate it if you could tell us what you know. We don't want our friend to be killed..." Mint bit his lip. He turned his gaze to the side. "We also don't want more zoners to suffer because of this fiend."

"Sure, I'll be glad to tell you." Arno visibly flinched. "I can't imagine her being the one to cause all of this, but..."

Penny winced at that. She had a feeling she knew what name Arno was going to speak. And judging from her friends' expressions, they were thinking the same thing.

Arno looked at the children, noting their expressions. He hesitated, as if he were trying to wrap his mind around the possibility. Then he spoke. "Her name is... Sandra."

sss

"Her name is... Sandra."

That statement echoed multiple times in Rudy's head as he and his friends headed down the street. They had just finished speaking to Arno, and they had asked all the questions they could think of.

Over and over again, he replayed what was said in his mind. Arno had not just told them that Sandra bought the fireworks; he had offered up proof. He showed them her signature that she had given him when she got them. According to the date on the note, Sandra had bought the fireworks very close to when the part took place. Specifically, it was between when Snap inadvertantly destroyed the machine and when the party took place.

This itself wasn't too surprising. Sandra said she held the part in Snap's honor. She couldn't have done so prior to the machine being destroyed, since it wouldn't make a lot of sense, among other reasons.

However, she had still been linked to the crime. They now had a suspect they could look further into. Sandra was placed at the scene of the crime. She was the last zoner to go into the building. She had bought a bunch of white flame fireworks, having coherced Arno into giving them to her. He said that she insisted on having them now, but did not divulge why.

Rudy tried his best not to allow his anger to surface up. There was likely a good reason why Sandra wanted these fireworks in particular. Maybe she felt that Snap deserved something special. Maybe she wanted rare, hard-to-get fireworks becasue it made a bigger statement.

However, it did not explain why those fireworks were placed where they were. It would seem rather strange and counterproductive to have the fireworks stashed in the back. And why were they strung together like they were? What was Sandra's plan?

He knew that their best bet was to go find Sandra and talk to her again. She was the only one who could answer these questions. But it would have to wait a little while. She was likely going to be too busy for talk.

Rudy didn't want to believe that the one zoner they thought they could trust could be behind all of this. Snap had talked fondly about her, as he would with any zoner he liked. He had even helped her out when she was first erased about two months ago. And for her to repay Snap like this... It boiled his blood.

Rudy did not like being lied to, and neither did his friends. If Sandra truly was involved, that meant that she had been lying to them since day one. She had offered them advice, provided support, comforted Snap.. and to think that all of it could have been a lie... To think that she had been tricking them all.. It was difficult for him to wrap his mind around that. There was a possibility now that she had been lying to all of them, lying in their face about what was going on. She was hiding like a coward, instead of owning up to her mistakes. Such a despicable act...

He pushed the thoughts in the back of his head for now. Despite what it looked like, he knew that Sandra could still be innocent. That was why they had to try to talk to her again. He could imagine that she would not be very pleased, but it was necessary. If she was innocent, they would want to clear her name of that.

He glanced over at Mint. He would have to make sure that Mint kept himself calm during their second interrogation with Sandra. He could easily ruin things for them if he wasn't careful. Out of the three of them, he seemed to hold the most anger towards Sandra. He wondered if it was because, if she turned out to be the culprit, she reminded him of himself somehow. Mint hadn't always been such a great guy in the beginning.

Rudy's thoughts were interrupted when he saw they had reached Sandra's Alcove again. It was not far from where they had stopped, and there were a few zoners coming in and out of the restaurant. The dark windows made it impossible to tell how many zoners were inside, or if Sandra was watching them.

Rudy bit his lip. Although he was a bit nervous in what Sandra might think of them if they found them snooping around the front, or what the other zoners might say, they still had to do this. He looked left and right, taking note of what zoners were around, and then he and his friends moved forward.

Unlike last time, they did not head towards the door. They veered off away from it, moving by a couple of zoners that were coming their way. They did not intend on going inside just yet. They wanted to give Sandra some time with the zoners before they attempted to speak to her again. So they moved towards the large, black billboard where Sandra wrote her specials on and sat down next to it.

"I still find it hard to believe that Sandra..." Mint started to say. Penny reached forward and planted her hand on his mouth. He struggled for a second and pushed her away. He glared at her. "What was that for?"

"Shhh!" Penny hissed at him. "We can't draw attention."

Mint wiped his mouth, smacking his lips as if he had tasted something disgusting. "Well you didn't have to do that."

Penny smirked at this. But she didn't draw things out, much to Rudy's relief. Instead, she turned her attention back towards the restaurant. She moved her head from side to side, then raised it up. She appeared to be looking around to ensure they didn't draw unwanted attention to themselves. The last thing they needed right now was deal with any zoner who may think they were conspirating with Snap or something along those lines.

"So..how long do you think we should wait?" Mint asked.

Penny thought about this for a moment. "Not too long. I think half an hour would be good."

"What are we going to do for half an hour?" Mint raised his hand, looking at Penny with a small frown. "What can we do to keep our minds from wandering?"

Rudy chuckled. "Well, we could always..."

Mint's eyes widened at this. He held his arms out in front of him as if in self defense. "No! We are not doing that! Anything but that!"

"Oh calm down, Mint." Rudy waved a dismissive hand. "I was just joking."

Mint glared at him. He gritted his teeth and said, "Well don't. I'm not in the mood for it."

"Sorry."

Rudy didn't dwell on the topic long. His expression softening up, concern and uncertainty welling up inside of him, he turned his attention back to the topic on hand. He looked over at the restaurant, narrowing his eyes slightly. He hoped that Sandra would provide better answers this time around.

He and his friends sat on the curb, waiting in silence. They did their best not to allow their minds to wander off. They didn't want to miss their chance to speak to Sandra. He was glad that none of the zoners around them bugged them much. It allowed them to keep focus on what they had come here for. They were afraid they might get distracted, and Sandra might sneak past them and return home. They had no idea where she lived, so if they missed her today, they couldn't speak to her again until tomorrow. They did not want to waste all that time, not while Snap's life was on the line.

Rudy felt his heart twist in his chest. He could only imagine what his friend must be going through right now. He knew those zoners in there were not treating him very well. They were likely beating him up or at least, threatening him. Snap was going to have to endure that until whenever they were able to prove his innocense.

As much as he hated the idea of Sandra being the one responsible, a part of him still hoped this would lead them somewhere. They had been running around in circles with this for a while now. It would be nice to finally get somewhere with this investigation.

"Hmm...that is strange..." Penny said, rubbing her hand against her chin. Rudy looked over at her, as did Mint. "I never really paid much attention to this before..." Rudy wondered what she meant, but he soon noticed what she was looking at: the menu.

"What is it, Penny?" Mint asked. He looked from the menu, and then to Penny. "What do you notice about it?"

"Well..." Penny got up from the curb. She walked towards the menu. Rudy and Mint leaned back, supporting themselves with their hands, and watched as Penny got closer to the black billboard. "This says that the specials are never the same."

Rudy blinked at this. Why would this confuse Penny? Sandra's restaurant was relatively new, so it would make sense if the specials did not repeat for awhile. She likely had a lot of culinary ideas, likely given to her by whatever Mint's cousin embued her with.

"I admit, that's kind of confusing, but...it's hardly cause for concern." Mint said.

"What could be so unusual about that?" Rudy asked, holding his hand palm up. "I mean, she is relatively new to ChalkZone."

"Well yes. But I was reading the fine print." Penny placed her finger against the board. She used her head to gesture for the boys to get closer. They looked at each other, and then they got up to their feet. They walked over towards Penny and looked at where she indicated. "Here, read this."

Rudy and Mint stared at the small lettering. They were amazed that Sandra could write this small. They peered closely and read in their heads what the words said.

"In order to ensure a different experience, I never use the same type of meat from the same source twice. Even if I should serve the same dish, I guarantee the flavor will be different."

Rudy and Mint glanced at each other, and then shared exchanges with Penny. They let this information sink in. Despite the fact there could be a logical explanation for it, Rudy had to admit, something did seem kind of off about that. But he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Mint, however, did. "I can see using different spices, but she does not say that." He stared at the billboard again, looking at the tiny words, rereading them. "She makes no mention of spices. Just meat, and what does she mean by a different source?" He turned his head and looked at Rudy and Penny. "How is that possible? I mean, sure, I can see the first few times, but how could she..?"

"Well it could be that she gets her food from stuff that is erased. But that is pretty unpredictable, and that would be all over the place." Rudy said. "I do know Snap told me about a place that regularly erases specials, but I've seen Sandra's food and it doesn't look anything like that. And with how many specials she has, I have my doubts that she could get them solely from erased food."

"I agree, Rudy. But she must be getting the food from somewhere." Penny folded her arms against her chest. "Especially that meat." She furrowed her eyes for a few seconds. Then she softened her expression and sighed. She looked over at Rudy and Mint, giving a small smile. "Sorry, I just...can't get it out of my head."

"Neither can I." Mint glanced at the menu. "It does seem strange. I..." Suddenly his eyes widened, and he walked closer towards the menu. "I don't believe it.."

"What is it, Mint?" Rudy moved in closer, his eyes moving around to try to see what the thirteen year old had spotted. "What do you see?"

Mint kept looking at the menu. He raised up his hand, a shaky pointer finger facing towards one side of the menu. "Look at this..."

Rudy and Penny looked at where Mint indicated, curious to know what had him shaken up. Upon looking, it didn't take them long to see what had startled the boy.

The dates... They... No..it couldn't be true. They must be reading them wrong and... No, they were reading them right. Over and over, it always said the same thing.

Penny took in a few shaky breaths, her mind having trouble comprehending this. "The dates...they respond to the death of a zoner..."

The deaths at the hospitals... They weren't an overnight thing. It had taken place over the course of a couple of days. These dates of the past specials, they all corresponded perfectly to the days those zoners had been pronounced dead.

"You...You don't..." Mint looked over at Rudy and Penny, his body shaking in horror. "Y-You don't think...?"

Rudy held onto his stomach, nearly dropping over. A strong feeling of nausea swept through him, nearly causing him to lose his meal. He fought back the urge to vomit. Penny looked just as sickened, her face pale. Mint's eyes remained wide open, and he couldn't stop shaking.

Rudy put his hand over his mouth, a few times, nearly retching. He looked over at the restaurant itself, sweat beginning to drip down his face. He nearly threw up, and he swallowed, ignoring the sour taste in his mouth. He took in a few breaths, giving horrified glances to his friends, and then he looked back at the restaurant.

"I...I don't know..." He swallowed again, struggling to maintain his cool. He felt his stomach churn at the possibility of such a heinous crime. "But we'll find out..."

sss

Well that...could have gone a lot better. Mint was certain that they had her. He had thought that they had all the proof they needed that Sandra was hiding something from them. They just needed to get her to confess and tell them the truth of what happened.

But things didn't quite go as they had expected.

When they went into the restaurant to talk to her, the moment Sandra saw them, she immediately told them she was closing shop early. Something about how she had an emergency back home. She refused to elaborate on this, however, and just insisted she had to leave early. Despite their best efforts, they could not get her to say anything more.

Mint suspected that this was a lie. It seemed more like she just wanted to get out of talking to them. But the other zoners around them seemed to concer with what she said. None of them protested or looked confused. So perhaps it had been planned.

But Mint could not completely dismiss the feelings welling up in his stomach. There was still that possibility that Sandra just didn't want to speak to them. She could have been watching them, after all, and she could have realized they had figured out something they should not have. After all, the windows did allow her to see out, but not them see in. She could just be trying to slip away from having to talk to them.

Mint was still shaken up by their discovery from before. The fact that the past specials corresponded with the death of a zoner was rather unsettling. He was surprised the other zoners did not pay attention. Then again, they only ever saw zoners walking in and out, but none of them seemed to read the specials all too much. Just enough to know what was there, and then they'd walk in, or walk away to continue whatever it was they were doing.

If what they found was true, then it meant that Sandra was...cooking other zoners. If she was the one responsible for the death of those zoners, and if the dates really did mean what they thought... Then the only conclusion they could come up with was that Sandra was killing these zoners and then using their meat in the recipe.

The very thought of that boiled their blood and filled them with horror. What kind of disgusting, depraved zoner would do such a thing? They would already hate Sandra before if she was the one who framed Snap. But to kill and eat other zoners, to make them eat the flesh of their own kind... She was absolutely irredeemable after that.

At the moment, they were just walking through ChalkZone City. They weren't sure yet what they were going to do next, and they all mutually agreed that a walk could help them clear their minds. If any of them had an idea, they could relay it to the others.

Mint took advantage of this time to try to organize his thoughts in his head. He still felt some cold shivers from when he found out what Sandra might have been doing. He attempted to control himself as he and his friends walked down the streets.

He was trying to think about the case from a different angle. This was something his friends had mentioned before when they were trying to look for clues. Although Mint was becoming more and more convinced that Sandra, at the very least, played some kind of role, he didn't want to condemn her just yet. He wanted to still give her the benefit of the doubt, and hope that all of this was a big misunderstanding.

He tried to think of someone, anyone else, who could have matched the description. There had to be another zoner that could fit that bill, perhaps even better than Sandra. If he could think of someone, then he knew where they were going to do next.

But the more he thought about it, the more he couldn't think of anyone who could have matched what he and Penny saw in that hospital room. Four sharp claws, small. Sandra was the only one who could fit that. The only zoner who...

..wait a minute..

Hold on...

Mint's mind reeled, playing footage in his head. He couldn't believe that he had missed it. How could he have been so stupid? How could any of them have forgotten?

There was a zoner who matched that description. A zoner who had four claws... well five, but the fifth one was rather small. A zoner who had intimate knowledge of the hospital, who was always at the hospital, who knew where everything was...

Mosaic.

sss

Rudy wasn't entirely sure if he agreed with Mint. While he made a good case, he, as well as Penny, weren't entirely sure if he was right.

They were in an alleyway, as Mint wanted to talk to them in private, but did not want to go all the way to Snap's tree house to do so. They agreed after a few moments, and they went in the nearest alleyway to talk. It was there that Mint told them his thoughts. Rudy and Penny weren't sure what to make of it.

"I know what you're saying..but I just don't think that she could have done it." Penny said. "The cameras would have caught her. Besides.." She held up a finger, pointing it in Mint's direction. "You heard what the doctors had said. She is an animal zoner. Intelligent, but not to the point where she could plan something like this."

"Yeah, Mint. I understand why you would jump to this conclusion. Mosaic does seem like she fits the bill better." Rudy had to admit it, Mosaic does seem like a more likely culprit...if she were fully sentient and capable of orchestrating something like this. "I still must disagree, however. I think you might be jumping to conclusions."

Mint was pacing back and forth. He was still listening to them, indicated by how he would turn his head and stare at them once in a while. He remained quiet, continuing his pacing as he tried to think of something to say. Rudy and Penny did not bother him, and waited for him to give a response.

Rudy wondered what Mint was going to say next. Would he realize that he was mistaken? Would he attempt to defend his idea? Whatever he decided upon, Rudy hoped it would be quick. They didn't exactly have a lot of time on their hands.

Mint looked over at them. "But..she could have been lying."

"Mint, she never spoke to us." Rudy said. "How could she lie to us if she never said a word?"

Mint smiled nervously at this. "That..came out wrong." He put his hand, fingers curled inward, and coughed into it, clearing his throat. "What I meant to say is that maybe Mosaic was only pretending to be mostly animal. Maybe she has something to do with the security system going haywire, and the machines being shut off. I admit it's possible that Sandra or someone else could have done it but..." He held his hand out towards them, trying to emphasize his point. "Don't you think it would make more sense if someone on the inside was responsible?"

Rudy had to admit, Mint made a really good point there. What if Mosaic, or another zoner, in the hospital itself was responsible? Someone who had knowledge of the building's structure, where everything was, where the security system was. He had his doubts that Mosaic could be responsible, but what if one of the doctors...

Then he thought back to Dr. Gelcro. He seemed way too eager to throw Snap in jail. He had tried to dismiss him as just a desperate jerk who had good intentions, just going about them the wrong way. But now another thought entered his mind that he could not dismiss.

What if Dr. Gelcro was responsible? What if he was abusing the hospital's security system and infrastructure to get what he wanted? What if he was in cahoots with the police, convincing them to tell anyone who asked that the hospital's security system was going haywire?

At this realization, Rudy's eyes widened. He looked over at Mint. Penny noticed his expression, and he felt her gently nudge him. He looked down at her for a second. He then turned his attention back to Mint. "I think we should pay a visit to the hospital."

Mint nodded his head. "Yeah...I think so, too."

"Why? What's your idea, Rudy? Do you agree with Mint or did..." Penny started to say.

Rudy cut her off. "I'll explain on the way. Come on, let's go."

The three friends departed for the ChalkZone hospital.