Emma left Gold's shop with her parents' voices ringing in her ears, and Pongo trotting along at her feet.

She had finally convinced her parents that, as the Sheriff, she needed to go and speak to Regina alone, not least because there was something strange about the whole thing, and not least because her parents' presence (or at least her mother's) was only going to make the whole situation more difficult.

She would have dearly loved to speak to August about the case, but she hadn't seen him since breakfast; after walking Henry to the bus stop (and watching him get on the bus), he had gone straight to his father's workshop to break the news.

And, theoretically, no one else knew about the murder; Emma had asked Snow to take Ruby back to the loft and to stay with her, while David helped her with the investigation.

Everything pointed to Regina, which in Emma's mind meant that everything pointed to Gold - at least until he had pulled that dreamcatcher out of one of the cabinets.

In theory, she had an arrest to make.

But something just didn't sit right.

Regina answered the door immediately, looking genuinely startled to see her. "Miss Swan. Come to apologise on your mother's behalf?"

Emma sighed. "Seriously? What part of 'look after Ruby and stay away from Regina' was difficult?"

Regina smirked. "Welcome to my world."

Pongo whined, nudging his nose against Regina's hand, and she crouched down to rub his ears. "I assume you're here to ask me some questions abut Dr Hopper."

Emma watched her with Pongo for a few seconds. "I didn't know you were a dog person."

"I'm not really," Regina said. "But our morning walks crossed paths every day. We'd exchange a few words, normally about the weather, and he's a very affectionate dog."

"I am here about Dr Hopper," Emma said, making her mind up. "May I come in?"

Regina nodded, stepping back to allow Emma - and Pongo, surprisingly - to step inside. "Can I get you a drink?"

"I shouldn't," Emma said. "I'm on duty."

"I won't tell if you don't," Regina said.

Emma laughed. "I thought you hated me."

"I did," Regina admitted. "I hated the idea of you more though. And what you said this morning - you're right. Henry doesn't need us at each other's throats."

Emma followed her through to the kitchen, taking a seat at the island while Pongo curled up at her feet. "In all seriousness, we have a problem."

"Of course we do," Regina said. "There's a murderer on the loose and, once that gets out, everyone's going to think it's me. So let's cut to the chase: I had no issue with Dr Hopper. He was one of the few people I never had any problems with over the years. I actually went to him for therapy, which I've been reluctant to continue now the curse has broken. I appreciate Miss Lucas saw us having a heated discussion a few days ago, but that was because he was trying to convince me to pick it up again, and I was resistant. Certainly no reason to kill him. I was here all last night, I never left the house, and, no, I don't have anyone to confirm that."

"I was afraid of that," Emma said with a heavy sigh.

"Miss Swan, the only reason I would have to kill him would be that he knows far more about me than I am comfortable with people knowing," Regina said. "And he is far too self-righteous to ever break that confidentiality. Not to mention, Henry is extremely fond of him. If I was going to kill someone, do you really think it would be him?"

"No," Emma admitted. "I would have put money on Whale actually."

Regina scoffed. "That's … That would be a good bet, to be fair."

Emma smirked. "Better hope he doesn't drop dead then." She sighed again. "Look - Regina - that's not the point. I have magic."

"You do?" Regina asked, sounding startled.

Emma nodded. "I mean, I figured it out when your mother tried to rip my heart out and couldn't, but Gold taught me a spell to see what Pongo saw last night."

"And?" Regina asked. "If you know who killed him, why are you here?"

Emma grimaced. "Because I watched you kill him."

Regina went very, very still. "What?"

Emma reached into her jacket and pulled out the dreamcatcher, holding it up to the light. "it's all here."

Regina slowly reached out and took it. As the dreamcatcher flowed, Emma bent down to stroke Pongo's head, unwilling to watch it again.

"I didn't …" Regina cleared her throat and put the dreamcatcher down. "I didn't do that. That wasn't me."

"I know," Emma said.

"I would … How?" Regina asked, cutting herself off. "How can you possibly trust …?"

"Because it makes no sense," Emma said flatly. "You know magic. You'd know that Pongo's memories could be used like that. That wasn't a crime of passion; that was a cold-blooded, pre-meditated murder. Whoever that was went there specifically to kill him. Why in God's name would you go to so much trouble, only to leave a witness? Not to mention, I know when people are lying. Call it my superpower. You're not lying. But neither is Gold. So if neither of you killed him, who did?"

"Whoever it was knows magic," Regina said, "and is trying to frame me."

Emma shook her head slowly. "But it's only the fairies who have magic aside from you two. Isn't it?"

"None of them have it in them," Regina said darkly. "Not to mention, they're more useless than they pretend to be. What do we do now?"

"I'm going to tell my parents that I tried to arrest you and you disappeared," Emma said. "If it looks like I believe you did it, maybe we can smoke them out. And avoid anyone else being killed in the meantime."

"What about Henry?" Regina asked quietly. "He'll …"

"I'll have to tell him about Archie," Emma said heavily. "I should be able to avoid anything else. I shouldn't be telling him about ongoing cases anyway."

"But what if he thinks it's me," Regina asked.

"Then I'll tell him the truth," Emma said. "That I don't believe it is."

Regina nodded. "Hang on." She hurried out of the kitchen and Emma waited, feeling Pongo huff against her leg.

"Don't fall asleep on me," she murmured to him. "I'm taking you back to Geppetto in a minute."

When Regina returned, she was holding a very old stuffed dragon, which she handed over after a moment of hesitation. "It's Henry's, from when he was a baby. He stopped sleeping with it when he was about six, said he was too old, but whenever he was upset … Well, it always popped up again."

Emma smiled, a lump forming in her throat as she looked at the dragon. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

"No," Emma said quietly. "Thank you. You said, when I first arrived here, that I signed over my rights and wanted nothing to do with him, but that wasn't true. I grew up in the system. I knew that it was easier for kids to be adopted if there were no strings attached. That's the only reason I made it a closed adoption. And it haunted me right up until the moment Henry knocked on my door. What if he wasn't adopted? What if he was, and they gave him back, like I was? What if he was miserable? What if he was like me? Crying himself to sleep every night wondering why Mommy didn't love him."

"Miss Swan …" Regina began.

"I was so relieved when I got here," Emma said. "That was what I was going to say to you. When I brought him home the second time and told you that I'd wished for a family on my birthday candle. That I'd done the right thing by giving him up, because you clearly adored him, and he was so lucky. Much luckier than me," she added quietly.

"So you're saying," Regina said, "that if I'd just kept my mouth shut, you probably would have left town and not thought any more about it."

Emma smirked. "The lady doth protest too much. The more you tried to get rid of me, the more I worried that there was something wrong."

"Well, then, we'd better learn from our mistakes," Regina said. "I give you my word, Miss Swan, that I will be completely honest with you going forwards, and I will trust you to do right by our son, if you extend me the same courtesy."

Emma shook her hand. "Deal."

Emma walked to the bus stop to pick up Henry via Geppetto's workshop to drop Pongo off - it made sense for Archie's best friend in Storybrooke to stay with his best friend from the Enchanted Forest.

She was not surprised to find that August was still there, but she was surprised to find him sitting outside the shop, his head in his hands, rather than inside with his father.

As soon as he picked up the scent, Pongo raced away from here, jumping up at August to lick his face.

August cracked a smile, rubbing the dog's head. "Hey buddy. Is she under arrest?"

"No," Emma said quietly, sitting down beside him. "She didn't do it."

"How can you be so sure?" August asked. "Your father called me; he told me about the dreamcatcher."

"Of course he did," Emma muttered - she really needed to have a word with her parents about the importance of law enforcement investigations; this wasn't the Enchanted Forest and she did not need vigilante justice. "Regina wouldn't leave a witness. I've ignored my gut in the past, and I've been wrong."

"I trust your gut," August said heavily. "You need to get Henry."

Emma took his hand. "I've got time. Are you okay?"

"No," August said honestly.

Emma glanced towards the workshop. "Is he?"

"He's grieving," August said. "He's lost his best friend and his son. That's hard on anyone."

Emma frowned. "But you're his son. You have told him that, right?"

"He knows," August said. "He feels guilty for a lot of things and I'm not the happy-go-lucky kid I was." He sighed. "You need to go."

"You're avoiding things," Emma said gently. "You know you can talk to me."

"I know." August managed a very weak smile. "I love you."

Emma hesitated, but leaned over to kiss him softly. "I love you too. I'll see you tonight?"

"Henry's going to need you."

"You need me too," Emma said.

"Henry comes first," August said, pressing his forehead against hers. "I'll be okay."

Emma wasn't convinced, but he was right about her son (and she loved him even more for it). So with one last kiss, she left him with Pongo and set off in the direction of the bus stop.

She half-expected her parents to be there as well, and was half-disappointed when they weren't; she could have used moral support for this.

On the other hand, they were fully convinced of Regina's guilt, and she was fully convinced of her innocence, so maybe it was for the best.

When the bus pulled up, Emma took a deep breath, bracing herself. As the bus emptied, the nervous anticipation in her gut began to blossom into worry, as her son did not appear with the rest of his classmates.

Just as she was about to really start panicking, he appeared at the top of the steps, one of the last to disembark, a girl hovering at his shoulder.

Emma raised an eyebrow in silent question as they approached her, the unknown girl gripping Henry's hand tightly, but as they drew closer, she realised that this was not a first girlfriend situation; she seemed to be the only thing keeping him upright, his face pale and drawn.

"Henry, are you alright?" She asked, meeting them halfway. "You look like you're about to pass out."

"Is it true?" Henry croaked out.

"What?" Emma asked.

"I … She …"

"Hi Sheriff Swan," the girl said, her voice strong, but shaking a little. "I'm Grace."

Grace … Of course she was. Now she'd said it, Emma recognised her from before the curse, when her name was Paige and she was …

"Jefferson's daughter," Emma said.

Grace managed a small smile. "That's right. Someone at school said something horrible to Henry at lunch time. I tried to get him to tell a teacher, but he wanted to get it from you."

"What did they say?" Emma asked urgently.

"They … They …"

"They said that Dr Hopper is dead," Grace said quietly, "and that Mayor Mills killed him."

Emma's heart dropped into her stomach, and she bit back her immediate questions for the sake of trying to comfort her son. "Henry … Let's go and sit down."

"Is it true?!" Henry demanded.

Emma sighed. "I don't believe Regina is responsible. But I'm afraid Archie is dead, yes."

Henry's face crumpled and Emma pulled him into her arms as he began to sob. He didn't let go of Grace's hand, though, so Emma didn't miss that she started to cry as well.

Emma wasn't great with children usually; her relationship with Henry was one that she had managed to form through emotion-driven instinct.

All other children were usually a different matter entirely.

Still, she had one child breaking down already - one more would hardly make a difference. Once she had guided Henry - and Grace by default - to the nearest bench, she pulled Henry on to her lap, ignoring the fact that he was probably a bit too old for it, and freed one arm to wrap around Grace.

The girl leaned into her gratefully. "It's not fair."

"It never is," Emma said quietly. "But I will find out what happened, alright?"

"But Mom didn't do it?" Henry asked shakily.

"I don't believe so, no," Emma murmured. "It makes no sense for it to be her. Who told you about what happened?"

"One of the other kids," Grace answered. "I don't know her name."

"Whose class is she in?" Emma asked. "No one's even supposed to know what happened."

Grace shrugged. "Don't know. I didn't recognise her. I could probably draw her though. Maybe Miss Blanchard … Sorry - maybe the Princess would recognise her."

"That would be very helpful, Grace," Emma said, releasing her so she could dive into her school bag. "Henry, are you okay?"

Henry scrubbed at his eyes. "No."

Emma smiled sadly, letting him slide off her lap to sit beside her, passing him a tissue. "I hear you."

"Is August okay?" Henry asked.

"He's with his father," Emma said, dropping a kiss on his forehead. "I don't think so."

"Are you going to see him tonight?" Henry asked.

"No, I'm staying with you," Emma said firmly.

"He could come stay with us," Henry said. "I don't mind."

Emma had already thought about that. However, the loft was getting pretty crowded, with two bedrooms, three adults and a child. As it was, Emma and Henry either shared the bed, or Emma took the couch.

Adding another adult to the mix seemed a bit much.

"Maybe," Emma said. "Grace, something tells me if you don't get home at the expected time, your dad's going to panic."

"He will," Grace said, scribbling in her sketchpad. "I can calm him down though."

"I've got a better idea," Emma said, pulling out her phone. "I'll drive you home."

Grace smiled. "Thanks Sheriff Swan."

Emma couldn't actually remember getting Jefferson's number - she assumed that he must have added it to her phone at some point between kidnapping her and being kicked out a window.

"Sheriff Swan - to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Henry had a bad day at school," Emma said, not bothering with pleasantries. "Grace has very kindly helped him, so she's going to be a bit late; I'm going to give her a ride home."

There was a brief pause. "Is everything okay?"

Emma hesitated. "No, but it's nothing you need to worry about. I don't suppose you've noticed anything … odd recently, have you?"

"Aside from the … You know what, I'll show you when you get here. It's hard to explain."

"Finished," Grace said brightly, so Emma thanked Jefferson and hung up the phone.

"Thank you; that's …" Emma trailed off, staring at the picture she'd been given. It was far from a perfect portrait, but it was far better than she had expected and certainly good enough to act as a composite drawing. "Grace, this is fantastic!"

Grace turned a little pink. "Thanks."

"Grace is really good at that," Henry said, causing the girl's blush to deepen, and Emma to reassess her earlier dismissal of Grace as a potential girlfriend.

There was, at least, a one-sided crush here.

Still, she had far more to worry about right now than childhood crushes.

"Okay, come on then. My car's not far."

As they walked, Emma sent a quick text to Snow, letting her know that she was dropping one of Henry's friends home and would be later than expected, intentionally not mentioning that it was Grace.

She had a feeling they would automatically panic, and she was fairly sure that Jefferson was no longer a threat, not now his daughter was home.

Still, it was better to be safe than sorry, so she texted August as well.

E: Taking Grace home - Jefferson reckons he's seen something. If you haven't heard from me in half an hour, send help.

Henry insisted on letting Grace take the front seat, something that made Emma irrationally proud of him, and she drove then out to Jefferson's isolated house near the edge of town.

He was waiting for them at the door and swept his daughter up in a hug that settled Emma's nerves even further.

"Thank you, Sheriff," he said, once he'd checked on her.

"No problem," Emma said. "Where's this … odd thing then?"

Thankfully, Jefferson seemed to be on board with her decision not to be any clearer around the kids. "I'll show you. Can I offer you a cup of tea?"

"Very funny," Emma said dryly, seeing a glint of humour in his eyes. "I assume that you're feeling better?"

"Much better," Jefferson said. "And I apologise for my behaviour."

"With hindsight, I'm not surprised you were desperate," Emma said. "But I appreciate the apology. Although, I still don't understand why you kept your memories. Not even Snow White suffered the way you did, and she was the target of the spell."

Jefferson pulled a face. "In Regina's … defence, I don't think she intended for me to keep my memories. She left me in Wonderland after she rescued her father. It was Cora who sent me back, and I think she was the one who preserved my memories."

"That makes sense," Emma said. "She was the one who did that in the Enchanted Forest as well."

"It is still there then," Jefferson concluded. "I figured it must be."

"How so?" Emma asked.

"I've been watching this town for nearly thirty years," Jefferson said. "I might not know everyone who lived in the Enchanted Forest, but I could at least notice that we were missing certain royal families." He led her to where his telescope was still set up, pointing in the direction of the town.

"Obviously you don't need to watch Grace anymore," Emma said warily. "Do we need to have a conversation about the ethics and legality of stalking?"

Jefferson cracked a smile. "No. There's a pod of dolphins that sometimes passes through the bay. Grace really wants to see them, so I'm keeping an eye out. And then I saw this." He took a look and adjusted the angle, before stepping back and gesturing for her to look as well.

Hesitantly, Emma bent down to do just that. At first, she could not figure out what he was talking about; all she could see was the docks, various people milling around, the fishermen cleaning the day's catch, Frederick and Abigail going for a jog …

"Okay, what am I supposed to be seeing?"

"There are three boats, right?" Jefferson asked.

"Yes," Emma answered slowly. "One right on the left, and then two to the right."

"Okay, look at the empty space," Jefferson said. "At the sky."

Emma did so, but she still couldn't see anything.

And then, suddenly, she realised - that was the point.

"Are those birds … landing on thin air?"

"Yes!" Jefferson said. "You do see it then?"

"Yeah, I do," Emma said, straightening up. "Like they're landing on something we can't see."

"An invisible ship," Jefferson said. "It's about the height of a mast."

"Well, I know where I'm going tomorrow," Emma said. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Jefferson said. "What's happened anyway?"

Emma sighed. "Dr Hopper has been murdered."

Jefferson cursed under his breath. "Seriously? Who … You don't seriously think it was Regina, do you?"

Emma hesitated. "All of the evidence points that way."

"She didn't do it," Jefferson said firmly.

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"I don't trust her," Jefferson said darkly, "and I certainly don't like her. But if she did it, there wouldn't be any evidence. Not to mention, she's not that stupid; she knows she doesn't have anything like the support she had in Misthaven."

"That's my thought," Emma agreed. "Thanks for letting me know about this; I need to get Henry home."

"Of course." Jefferson showed her back downstairs, where Henry and Grace were talking - or rather, Grace was talking and Henry was listening.

Emma couldn't quite make out what she was saying, but it looked like a pep talk, and when the two parents reappeared, Grace reached out and gave Henry a brief hug.

Emma bid them both goodbye and led her son back to the car, sending August a quick text to confirm that she'd left and that all had gone well.

"What did he want to show you?" Henry asked.

"Nothing," Emma said, not untruthfully.

"Mom," Henry protested.

"Henry," Emma said firmly, pulling out of the driveway. "This is a murder investigation. I cannot discuss it with anyone outside the investigation, and that includes you."

"You'll talk to August," Henry muttered.

"August is an honorary deputy," Emma said. "And he's not a child."

"He's not a deputy," Henry said, apparently ignoring the second half of the sentence.

"Honorary deputy," Emma repeated.

"What does that mean?" Henry asked.

"He brings me coffee and makes me take breaks," Emma said. "By the way, there's something for you in my bag."

Henry twisted round to retrieve it from the back seat and pulled out the stuffed dragon. "Is this …"

"Your mom thought you might need it," Emma said gently.

Henry smiled, apparently sufficiently distracted from Jefferson's information, given some time to try and sort through what had happened.

She had a dead cricket-turned-therapist, a framed Evil Queen, a mysterious schoolgirl, and now an invisible ship.

She was fairly sure most sheriffs didn't have this problem.