Hello, again everyone! Another chapter has arrived! I know the last chapter ended in a torturous cliffhanger, but this chapter will hopefully satisfy you. :)

The detectives managed to find the basement, which was across the hall from the kitchen. They opened the door to find a dark and eerie staircase leading down. Daffy began to tremble again.

"Y-You can go first." He gestured to let Bugs go ahead.

"No, thanks. Here, you'll go first while I find the light switch."

"No! I won't do it!" Daffy refused.

"Okay, I'll find the light switch and you go first!"

"That's better!" The duck said. Thinking that he won the argument, Daffy turned around and tripped on the first step. Bugs watched as his partner fell, creating a racket all the way down. The hare noticed a switch on the wall and flipped it. The lights in the basement turned on; Daffy was sprawled out at the foot of the stairs, almost fully unconscious.

"Found it!" Bugs called. His friend groaned. The rabbit headed down the staircase and helped him up.

"Today just doesn't seem to be your day, duck." Bugs said with a hint of sympathy.

"Oh, you've noticed, too," Daffy muttered. They scanned the area and focused on a wooden table in the middle of the room. In the dim light, they could see something hidden underneath a large tablecloth. They approached the table to examine it closer.

"Hmm. . . What's this?" Bugs asked as he lifted the cloth. The detectives gasped. Piled in neat stakes were hundreds of gold bricks, all stamped with the words "Property of Fort Knox" followed by their serial numbers.

"Wow! The two guys upstairs must have somehow robbed Fort Knox and stashed the stuff here!" The bunny whispered.

"Yeah!" Daffy replied. He turned away from the money to continue searching and froze. Looming over him, smiling, was Mugsy; his gun was aimed right at Daffy's chest. Shaking, the duck tapped on Bugs's shoulder.

"I wonder how much money all of this gold is worth?" The rabbit said, ignoring him. Daffy tapped on his shoulder again. "What is it, Daffy? Did you find some-?" Bugs felt a gun pressing against his back.

"Okay, rabbit. Stick 'em up and turn around slowly." Bugs did as he was told. He looked up and saw Mugsy grinning evilly at him. Daffy suddenly came up with an idea.

"Look! There's. . . uhh. . . a police officer right behind you!"

"Huh?" Mugsy turned away from them to look and the detectives made their move. Bugs and Daffy ran around the big oaf and up the basement steps. Realizing he had been tricked, Mugsy shouted at them.

"Hey!" He fired a couple of shots at them, one just missing Daffy's head. The detectives sprinted out of the house and got into their car.

In the mansion, Mugsy's boss, Rocky, came out of the bedroom and rushed down the stairs.

"Mugsy? What's going on? I thought I told you to check the basement!" Mugsy met Rocky at the top of the basement steps.

"I did, boss! Some detectives were looking around! They ran away after I spotted them!"

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get them, Mugsy!" The thugs ran out of the house and got into their car, Mugsy sitting in the driver's seat.

"Hurry up, Mugsy!" Rocky yelled. His idiotic partner started the car and took off after them.

A short distance ahead, Bugs was approaching the first intersection.

"Turn left here!" Daffy said, frantically flailing his arms. "The two criminals are right behind us!"

"But Daffy-"

"Turn left!" Bugs made a sharp left and the bad guys followed. Rocky leaned out of the window of his car and fired several shots. Bugs swerved the car to avoid getting hit by bullets as he and Daffy ducked (no pun intended) for cover. They reached another intersection.

"Turn left! Turn left!" Daffy shouted over the gunfire.

"Daffy, that won't wor-"

"Just turn left!" The duck yelled. Bugs sighed and turned left again, Rocky and Mugsy still on their heels. "They're right behind us!"

"I know! There's never a police car when you need one. . ." Bugs replied. The next intersection came into view.

"Turn left!" Daffy screamed.

"Daffy, I'm trying to tell you-"

"And I'm trying to tell you to turn left! I'm not stupid! I know what I'm doing! TURN LEFT!" Dafy shouted, fists waving in the air. Bugs made another left and followed the steet as it curved. He finally stopped in front of a house.

"Hmm. . . That house looks strangely familiar." Daffy said, looking at it.

"I know - it's the abandoned mansion we just came out of less than five minutes ago."

"Oh."

"That's why I was trying to tell you that turning left wasn't going to work." Bugs said, noticeably annoyed.

"Well, you weren't following my instructions right! Move over, Bugs! I'm driving this time!" The duck shoved Bugs over to the passenger's side of the seat while he sat behind the wheel. Rocky and Mugsy came barrelling toward them.

"Here we go again!" Daffy said. He slammed on the gas pedal and zoomed down the street.

"Get 'em, Mugsy!" Rocky shouted. Mugsy sped up to chase after the detectives. Bugs and Daffy reached the first intersection again.

"This time, we'll go right!" The duck made a hard right, causing Bugs to slam into him. Daffy pushed him off with his shoulder.

"Get off of me! Can't you see I'm trying to evade these criminals?" Rocky leaned out of the window again and shot at the detectives. Bugs hid behind the seat as Daffy got to the next intersection.

"Hmm. . . Let's go straight!" Daffy shouted above the noise. Bugs looked at the road ahead.

"Daffy, I don't think that's a good idea." The duck didn't pay attention to him and went straight anyway. The route Daffy chose went uphill and had a ton of twists and turns. Rocky continued firing at them; Bugs could hear the rounds hitting the metal of the car's body. A sign appeared on the horizon.

"What does that say?" Daffy inquired.

"It says, 'Danger: Bridge Out'." Bugs answered. Daffy began to panic.

"Uhh. . . I think this is a good a time as any for you to take the wheel!" He let go of the steering wheel and climbed over Bugs to return to the passenger's seat.

A shot rang out and Daffy collapsed onto the cushion. The rabbit looked over to his friend and grabbed the wheel. They were getting dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. he slammed on the brakes and the car squealed to a stop. Behind them, Rocky and Mugsy continued driving at full speed.

"Hey, boss! What does that sign say?"

"It says, 'Danger: Bridge Out', Mugsy." Rocky realized what he just read and grabbed onto his partner.

"STOP, MUGSY!" It was too late. Their car zoomed right past the detectives' car and went off the cliff.

"MUGSY!" Rocky's voice faded as the car fell out of sight. Bugs watched for a second before turning his focus on his friend. The rabbit moved closer to Daffy to check on him; a patch of red seeped through the duck's jacket. Bugs reached for a cloth while he tried talking to him.

"Daffy? Come on, Daffy. Speak to me!" The duck slowly opened his eyes and glanced at his chest.

"AHH! I've been hit!"

"Daffy, calm down! Everything will be okay!"

"Oh, I never thought my end will come like this! Me, the number one detective at the Acme Detective Agency, with so much to live for, gets his life cut short by a couple of lousy criminals!" He started to cry hysterically.

"Please stop crying, Daffy. You know I hate to see anyone cry. . . " Bugs pleaded, tears starting to blur his vision. Daffy kept crying and reached under his jacket to touch the wound; suddenly, he stopped.

"Wait a minute!" He said, pulling his hand back out to check it. "This isn't blood - it's ketchup!" Bugs looked at Daffy, puzzled.

"Ketchup?"

"Yeah. I saved a few packets in my cigar case from lunch."

"Why?"

"I was all out of ketchup at home!" Bugs facepalmed and shook his head.

"You had me worried sick!" He exclaimed, slightly angry. "Oh, well, at least you're okay."

"Yeah, that would have been tragic if my cigar case wasn't in my pocket." He pulled it out; it was all dented and covered in ketchup. Daffy took the bullet out of the metal and held it up.

"This would have hurt!"

"You should keep it in a safe place; we could use it for evidence." Bugs suggested. Daffy wiped it clean with a hankerchief and put it in his other jacket pocket.

"So, what do we do now, Bugs?"

"Let's go back to headquarters, so we can tell Porky what we've found." Bugs carefully made a U-turn and drove back in the direction of the Acme Detective Agency.

I apologize for any minor heart attacks that might have occurred due to that kind of dramatic and sad part. X) If anyone doesn't know who Rocky and Mugsy are, just look up the 1954 Looney Tunes episode "Bugs and Thugs". :) And, as a random note, I'd like to give a shoutout to my friend Jessica for reading chapters one through four in only four minutes! ;)