It had been just an hour since Sheepmon told the others about the thief. The rain was still pouring outside, but it had become quieter. Biyomon had gone off to the back room, leaving Sheepmon and Dati to talk about things in the front room.

"And then he asked, 'You mean cotton candy isn't made with real cotton?', and all I can do is think, 'Uh-oh...'" Sheepmon said.

"So, what did you do?" Dati asked.

"We ended up keeping that batch," Sheepmon explained. "In fact, we still have it somewhere in the back room. Too bad we can't think of anything to do with it. I mean, you can't eat it if it has cotton in it, but if you made it into clothes or something else like that, you wouldn't be able to wash it because of the sugar."

Dati shrugged. "Maybe you could stuff a pillow with it? I don't know..."

"Like I said, we're trying really hard to think of something," Sheepmon replied. "I'll tell you one thing, though: he knew how to make a caramel apple...even if it wasn't the conventional type."

"What do you mean?"

"You know how a caramel apple is usually an apple covered with caramel? Well, he took globs of caramel and made them into apple shapes. So if you wanted to, you could literally eat the whole apple, and you wouldn't have to worry about seeds or cores getting in the way. The only downside is that you'd have to spend quite some time brushing your teeth afterwards!"

The two digimon laughed, and Biyomon walked out of the back room, holding a tray with three cups of cocoa.

"Anyone want some cocoa?" she asked. "I figured I might as well use the last of the cocoa mix for now. Spring is almost here, so there's not going to be much of a market for hot cocoa. Don't worry; it's on me."

"Thank you!" Dati said, taking his cup. Sheepmon nodded and took one of her own.

"So, what's up?" Biyomon asked after taking a sip.

"I was just telling Dati about Kamemon," Sheepmon said.

"Oh, I remember him! He had a little trouble learning the ropes of baking and candy-making, but he did have a very good heart."

Dati looked at Biyomon. "What happened to him? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

Biyomon sipped her cocoa again. "He decided this wasn't for him and quit. Last time I talked to him, he told me he wanted to be a DJ, and was practicing his skills. Hopefully, he's been able to find a market for those skills."

"Yep," Sheepmon said. "There are lots of places he can go to: Mesozoic Isle, the Island of Balance, Server, Mainframe...if he can't find business in one place, he can always find another place to go. I'm sure there has to be a demand for a DJ somewhere; it's entertainment, and there's always a demand for entertainment."

"I've heard Mainframe is really dangerous, though..." Biyomon replied. "And I've also heard rumors of a crime boss on Mesozoic Isle. Somehow, he and his goons got to be so powerful that not even the island's toughest fighters can stop them."

"Just a thought. He doesn't have to go to those places if he doesn't want to."

"Wait a minute!" Dati exclaimed. "There's a crime boss on Mesozoic Isle?"

Biyomon nodded. "I was going to set up shop there, but some Chuumon started threatening me, so I ended up coming back here. That's when Sheepmon and I decided it would be safer to sell our sweets here. But, considering there's a thief running around, I'm not so sure. Were you planning on going there?"

"Maybe. But one of my friends said he wanted to go there because there's an engineer there who could teach him engineering. I'm just scared for my friend, 'cause if he got hurt, I'd feel really bad."

"Well, there are lots of digimon there who could protect him," Sheepmon said. "Apparently, though, the Chuumon on the island have been stirring up some animosity between everyone. Or at least, they're trying to. I don't know how well they've managed to succeed. Hopefully, they've been failing."

"Huh. Well, at any rate, I hope he'll be okay."

When everyone finished their cocoa, Biyomon looked out the window. "Hey, Dati, I think the rain stopped," she said. "Wanna go see if the detective's still in town? Maybe you can help him find out where The Heartbreaker is."

Dati walked up to the door. "Okay...who do I look for?"

"A Pandamon named Vladimir."

"Vladimir?"

"Mm-hmm," Sheepmon replied with a nod. "You see, there are a lot of Pandamon where he comes from, and so he goes by the name Vladimir to distinguish himself from the others. Even when he's not in his homeland, he still uses that name. He told us himself when he and his partner came in."

"Okay."

Biyomon opened the door for Dati. "If you need anything else, just let us know."

"Thank you!" Dati said as he walked out the door. The scent of moist earth wafted through the air as he made his way across the wet stone pathway into the plaza of File City.

"Okay, so I need to look for a Pandamon," he said to himself. "And apparently he had an assistant. But what does this assistant look like? Is he a Pandamon, too? Does he at least look like a bear? Maybe I should've asked these questions before leaving..."

"Excuse me," a male voice said. Dati turned and saw a purple and brown dog-like creature with long rabbit-like ears, green pants, an ammunition belt over his chest, and metal machine guns on his forearms.

"Huh? What's up?" Dati asked.

The dog crouched down and asked, "Have you heard about the thief going around town?"

Dati tensed up a little. "Um, yes."

A somewhat concerned look was on the dog's face. "Oh, I'm sorry. I should probably introduce myself before asking these questions. My name is BlackGargomon. I'm trying to find out more information about the thief."

"You mean The Heartbreaker?"

"Well...whatever thief's been going around town recently. How do you know about him?"

"He stole from Sheepmon."

"The candy store owner?"

"Yep. He left a piece of paper with a broken heart on it. Biyomon and Sheepmon told me to go into town and look for Vladimir the detective."

BlackGargomon nodded. "Yeah, I've heard about him. Hopefully, I'll get to meet him, and we can compare notes. The Heartbreaker stole from me too, you know."

"He did?"

"Uh-huh. You see, I had bought a special present for my girlfriend Taomon, but when I was bringing it home, The Heartbreaker ambushed me. Of course, I didn't see him, but I know it was him because I suddenly started feeling totally depressed. I couldn't help but lie down and bawl my eyes out. When I finally started to feel better, I found that my present was gone, and this was in its place."

BlackGargomon reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, and Dati gasped at what he saw. On it was the exact same drawing that was on Sheepmon's paper: a grey heart, a red outline, and a jagged, cream-colored line running down the middle of the heart.

"You recognize that drawing?" BlackGargomon asked.

"Sheepmon had one just like it!" Dati responded.

BlackGargomon stood up. "Hmm...so that makes at least two known targets of The Heartbreaker. I think Vladimir might know about some more. Honestly, I didn't get involved in this whole thing until my present was stolen."

"Excuse me," Dati said, pointing. "Is that Vladimir right there?"

BlackGargomon turned around and saw a panda with a red scarf. The panda was being escorted by a fox wearing fancy robes.

"I think maybe it is Vladimir!" BlackGargomon said. "And there's Taomon with him!"

With that, BlackGargomon ran up to the pair. Vladimir cringed and stuck out his paws in front of himself.

"Please watch where you're going, sir!" he said. BlackGargomon quickly stopped in front of them.

"Hey now, I wasn't going to run into you," he replied.

Vladimir squinted. "It's hard for me to tell without my glasses. Anyway, did you want something?"

"Yep! To be specific, I've learned some more information about The Heartbreaker. Not only did he steal from me, but as this little digimon told me, he also stole from Wool and Wings." He looked at Dati and motioned to him. "By the way, what's your name? Sorry I didn't ask before."

"I'm Dati."

"Hello, Dati. My name is Vladimir," Vladimir said. "Please forgive me, but it's a little hard to see you right now. Without my glasses, everything looks blurry. So you say that The Heartbreaker stole from Biyomon and Sheepmon as well?"

"That's right. Sheepmon had bought some supplies, but The Heartbreaker stole them from her before she could get them back to the shop."

"Did he leave the paper?"

"Yes."

Vladimir sighed. "There's no stopping The Heartbreaker once he's let loose. He's an incredibly greedy fellow who wants everything he sees as long as it isn't nailed down. The residents of Ursa Town have taken several security measures to make sure he doesn't get their stuff, but even so, he can still make them depressed, and then try to bypass those security measures. We don't know why he acts like this, and he doesn't seem to want to tell us. Regardless, we've chased him from Ursa Town all the way to File City. Unfortunately, he was able to outsmart me and steal my glasses."

"Do you know what kind of digimon he is?" Dati asked. "I think maybe that would narrow it down a bit."

"I only know of one digimon that can make opponents feel depressed," Vladimir replied. "That digimon is called WaruMonzaemon. He basically looks like an evil teddy bear with the same color scheme as the broken heart drawings."

"Hmm..." Dati said. "So why haven't we seen him?"

"He must have improved his stealth abilities," Vladimir explained. They were all about to continue the discussion, but then...

"Hey! Vlad!"

The four digimon saw a smaller bear running up to them. This bear was a greyish color with various dark blue accessories, including a backwards baseball cap with the word "BEARS" printed on it. He was also wearing a backpack.

"Is that you, Hovis?" Vladimir asked.

The bear stopped in front of everyone and looked at Vladimir. "Yep, it's me! I just thought I should tell you that I found another clue."

Dati walked up to him. "So, your name's Hovis?"

"Mm-hmm. Hovis the Bearmon!" Hovis replied. "I'm Vlad's assistant. Not only do I help him find clues, but I draw sketches as well."

Hovis took off his backpack, unzipped it, and reached inside. "And I just found something rather interesting." He pulled out a sketchpad and flipped through the pages until he found the picture he was looking for, and then he showed everyone what he sketched. It was the area near the sweets store. There were some hoofprints and bear tracks in the mud, and while the hoofprints led to the entrance to the store, the bear tracks appeared to be leading to another place.

"Good thing I'd brought my umbrella with me, or else I wouldn't have been able to do any sketching in all that rain!" Hovis said.

Vladimir squinted again. "What's on the page?"

BlackGargomon told him, and Vladimir said, "Hmm. This must be what Dati told us about. I wonder where his tracks lead."

Taomon shrugged. "Maybe we'll find out soon enough."

"That's right, sweetie," BlackGargomon replied. "But I'm thinking that maybe we should formulate a plan before we try to take the fight to The Heartbreaker. If we all just rush in like a bunch of maniacs, he may do more than just steal from us."

"True," Vladimir said. "So, why don't we all take a break for a while? Maybe tomorrow, we can try to learn more information."

BlackGargomon nodded. "Yeah, if we get too involved in this right now, we may just keep going in circles and stressing ourselves out. What do you guys wanna do?"

"Um..." Dati began. "I don't really know my way around here. Maybe I could go for a walk and learn where everything is?"

"You know something?" Hovis asked. "I don't know my way around here, either. How's about we go around and see what's in File City? Maybe I could even draw us a map. I'm not really the king of cartographers, but still."

"Good idea," BlackGargomon said. "Maybe I can show you around and tell you about all the different places." He looked at Vladimir and Taomon. "Wanna come with us?"

"All right."

"Mm-hmm."

So, for the better part of the day, BlackGargomon and Taomon took the others on a tour of File City. Hovis took notes on the different locations within. Aside from the candy store, they spent time at a video store, went to the docks (where a serpent named Seadramon was offering ferry services, and a pink clam digimon named Syakomon was offering jetski rentals), visited a stadium, and even went to the outskirts of File City, where they could see a trailer in the distance.

"I've heard that's where a rock band hangs out!" BlackGargomon said.

"A rock band, huh?" Dati replied.

"It'd be cool to hear some of their songs!" Hovis chimed in.

By the time the tour was finished, the sun was beginning to set in the sky.

"You guys wanna stay with Taomon and me at our place?" BlackGargomon asked. "We don't mind!"

"Okay. Thank you!" Dati said.

"I'm in!" Hovis added.

"Yes, I'd appreciate that very much," Vladimir stated.

So, the five of them went to the house where BlackGargomon and Taomon lived, and they agreed that tomorrow, they were going to ask everyone about The Heartbreaker.

While they were eating dinner, Dati decided to tell them his story.

"And I mean, I wanted to help people, but I wasn't expecting to get involved in a big thing so soon!" he had said.

Hovis slurped some noodles. "Well, it doesn't mean you can't help with little things, you know. Honestly, we don't care if you end up helping other people while you're helping us. And why would we? I mean, you're helping people!"

"That's right, Hovis," Vladimir said. "Honestly, this must be exciting for you. I mean, this is only your first day out, and you're getting involved in a mystery!"

"Hopefully, everything will work out," Dati replied.

BlackGargomon sipped some water. "I'm sure it will! If you need anything, don't forget that you have friends here."

"Thanks, everyone."

As Dati continued to eat his dinner, his mind was racing with thoughts of what tomorrow could bring.