BREAKING NEWS: Hydron Lyon's involvement in child labor and counterfeit fashion was exposed during election debate, followed by his sudden death.

Julie lowered the television volume and began presenting her results. "Believe it or not, Hydron was killed by this steering wheel lock in my hands."

Every DSP agent stared in disbelief. "But we found a gunshot wound on him!" Dan reminded. "How can you even shoot anything with that? Steering wheel locks aren't meant to be taken apart."

"You don't think I know? The real question is... why would the culprit leave the murder weapons behind? According to the preliminary ballistics report, the culprit modified this steering wheel lock so that one piece becomes a piston and the other becomes a gun barrel. You now have an improvised shotgun. Would you like me to demonstrate, Dan?"

"No thanks! Just keep explaining!"

"I thought so. There's absolutely no way to trace who did this because anyone can buy a steering wheel lock and do whatever they want with it. I also didn't find any prints or DNA on it at all. Aside from gunshot residue, it's super clean. This is an unusual way to smuggle a firearm past the metal detectors."

"I think the perpetrator left this behind for us to show off," Shun concluded. "Remember the hollow point bullet from Wardington courthouse and the advanced penetration bullet from the art auction? All of this is extremely meticulous and professional."

"Definitely seems like it. As for the mystery person who texted those photos to everyone, I ran into a dead end because it was a burner phone. I still need time to figure out how the culprit managed to only text the people at the debate, and that burner phone's last known location was in city hall. As for the projector that turned itself on, it was controlled by the actual device's remote control."

"Like a television remote? So the perpetrator would've needed to be nearby?"

"Definitely, with or without a signal booster. Once the projector turned on, someone logged into a city hall computer using another employee's credentials and downloaded the video from a cloud sharing website. Then the video got remotely cast via the projector. The credentials belong to an employee who's actually on family leave, and the security cameras only captured footage of a guy wearing a baseball cap during the login time. He's practically unidentifiable."

"I appreciate all the useful information," Marucho thanked. "Now we know how someone managed to sneak a 'firearm' inside city hall, but this further expands our list of cases with no possible suspects. We can't even do anything about the person who supposedly logged into a city hall computer using stolen credentials."

"And allow me to present some more incriminating information about Hydron Lyons." The analyst displayed several articles and photos onto the meeting screen. "Despite most of his campaign donations coming from a variety of donors, Hydron claimed that they were all from his mom's fashion company so that she could get a tax write off. Then it turns out that she was utilizing child labor to make her products, hence the high revenues. Long story short, cheap labor and cheap fakes saved and earned her a lot of money."

"What about Zenoheld?" Runo asked. "We saw him in the photos. What's his involvement?"

"That, I need to more time to dig deeper into. As far as I know, Hydron's mother oversaw all the campaign funds, while his father helped spread the word to people to vote for his son instead of Jesse Glenn."

Shun snapped his fingers. "Off topic, but how many people were originally running for this senator seat before it narrowed down to only Hydron and Jesse? Doesn't it seem weird that you're left with an experienced incumbent against a political freshman?"

Julie began typing on her keyboard again. "You're onto something. There were actually several people who announced that they plan to run. A few withdrew before even registering. Some registered but withdrew afterwards." She switched screens and expanded her results for all to see. "I guess we never paid attention to this because we're busy solving cases, but several potential candidates withdrew after negative news came out. Embezzlement, email scandals, tax evasion, nepotism... and now you have Hydron. If he never received funding from his mom, then none of this would've happened. Why try so hard to push a newbie?"

"Julie, can you pull up our evidence files from when we investigated Gus Grav and Volt Luster?" Marucho requested.

"You got it! But why do you ask?"

The blond director expanded the evidence files onto the meeting screen. "By some odd coincidence, Gus and Volt were actually digging up all the incriminating information that led to all the previous candidates withdrawing from the election, yet they never searched for anything about Hydron."

"It's possible that whatever Hydron's mom did isn't directly tied to Hydron himself," Shun suggested. "Either that, or someone's trying to make the election less suspicious by leaving Hydron as the only and only competitor against Jesse so that it doesn't look like a monopoly."

"Marucho, is it possible that Gus and Volt were working for Jesse to eliminate competition?" Dan wondered. "Or maybe these two are working for the vigilante group?"

"I don't think so, Dan. Given their history, they mainly hack if they get something in return. They've never hacked for a true noble cause. As for Jesse Glenn, there's no indication that he—or even Hydron—hired the hackers. Looking back at all the candidates that withdrew due to bad press, I think their wrongdoings would've been exposed eventually. The art of hacking—both white hat and black hat—is illegal to begin with. Even if Gus and Volt grew a conscience and sent us this illegally obtained information, we wouldn't be able to use it in court anyways."

What Alice said might be true... In some places, reporters do a better job of uncovering the truth than law enforcement does, especially when law enforcement is either corrupt or nonexistent. Shun's next question was, "Marucho, do we know anything about this reporter named Joe Brown? I'm sure the rest of us also have this burning question."

"Oh yeah, we absolutely do!" echoed the other agents.

"Do you mean that guy who was the first to ask authority figures if they know about any vigilante group out there?" The blond director sighed and typed in unison with Julie to pull up information. "Joe Brown is a self-proclaimed investigative journalist, although his travel history suggests that he's been researching mostly local news lately. What exactly are you looking for, Shun?"

"So he's actually an investigative journalist like Alice? But she worked overseas while he's always been in Bayview... or so it seems. Alice told me that Joe's freelance right now, but where did he use to work?"

"Last known real employer was Bayview Broadcasting Station."

"That's where Alice currently works, but she said she doesn't know him."

"According to his file, Joe was only an intern back then, and he moved on after his internship was over. Tax records indicate that he's been self-employed, which makes sense since he's supposedly freelanced now. Everything also suggests that Joe left on good terms with BBS, but the company changed ownership a few months later. The current owner and editor-in-chief is Mira Fermin."

"Marucho, look at this!" The silver-haired analyst expanded her search back a few more months. "There was a contractor named Michael Gehabich who assisted with replacing all the internet cables and all the other technological stuff. It was just a one-time job. Anyway, how did we end up from reviewing Hydron's cause of death to looking up the history of Joe—"

"I actually have an online meeting with city hall staff to attend," Marucho interrupted. "This meeting is adjourned. I'll reschedule another time to reconvene."

As all the agents left the meeting room, Shun excused himself to a secluded hallway and called Alice. "You're finally answering your phone."

"Wait... did I wander off again during debate night and left you behind?" the redhead panicked. "I'm so sorry for not telling you, Shun. My supervisor texted me to leave immediately. She didn't want me to get hurt."

"So that's why you were gone..." He breathed a sigh of relief. "I was really scared that you would end up in another situation like when Klaus held you at gunpoint. Your supervisor must've been watching the debate live as well. She clearly cares for your wellbeing. See what I meant about how grateful you must be to be in good hands?"

"Yeah... I was surprised that I could leave easily. There was no lockdown of any kind. Anyway, did you want to ask me something?"

"Actually..." At least she's safe. Maybe I shouldn't ask her about Joe or her grandfather then. "It's nothing. I just wanted to hear your voice after you 'wandered off' again."

"I knew you would check in on me eventually. If there's nothing else, then I have to go. My supervisor is trying to call me."

"Sorry about that. Talk to you next time." After hanging up, Shun gripped his phone tightly. I can't even explain what I'm feeling right now. Why am I suspecting Alice to be involved somehow... but could she also be in danger again?

-x-x-x-x-x-

While at home, Alice turned on her laptop and connected to a VPN before surfing the internet. I'm not sure how searching for what Gus Grav and Volt Luster have done in the past will assist with my current task. There's nothing respectable about these two.

After half an hour of fruitless research, she changed her search topic to Hydron Lyons instead. Interesting... he earned a master's degree in business administration. Is that even closely related to political science at all? Jesse Glenn had a valid point when he insulted Hydron for having zero political experience during the debate. So why is Hydron trying so hard to run for senator? Just to gain control of legislation? His father Zenoheld is already very influential locally.

After researching Hydron, the redhead went on a tangent by researching Klaus von Hertzon. Interpol went all out looking through his finances after DSP pronounced him deceased. All these other fraud and forgery crimes have come to light. After that, she searched for Barodius and his company. Aggravating the opioid crisis is one thing. Creating counterfeit medications using false hope is another. What's odd is that no one has discovered who shot Julio and Klaus yet.

Out of pure curiosity, Alice typed Bayview Broadcasting Station into the search bar and scrolled through the results. Wait... Joe used to work here? Is that how he met Mira? She clicked on a blog article and read the post. He was only an intern and completed his training before Mira formally took over, so it's unlikely that their paths ever crossed. Another blog article caught her eye. I didn't know Grandfather visited BBS in the past... But he was only there to install internet and other equipment... And this was also before Mira became the new editor-in-chief.

Alice ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. How come everyone knows exactly everything that's happening while I'm completely clueless? She didn't let go of her hair until her phone rang. "Joe, what do you want?"

"It's been a while since we met now. I wanted to apologize for leaving an unusual first impression when we interviewed Jesse Glenn in front of city hall."

"I don't need any of your meaningless compliments. Even though you got your message through to the public, you still shot and killed Hydron. I even heard Mira say to leave the murder weapon behind. Aren't you worried that DSP would find out?"

"You don't need to worry about that. We cleaned everything at the crime scene, and there's no way that anyone can trace a steering wheel lock back to us because it's a generic household item. I can also confidently say that you won't report us to DSP, because you need us to help you find your grandfather's murderer. I definitely underestimated you after realizing that you pinged my phone... but thankfully, I'm using a burner phone that's not legally registered to anyone."

"Did you send the photos and leak the hidden camera video of Hydron during the debate? Is that why you later kidnapped and shot him? How did you even get invited to become debate moderator in the first place?!"

"The incriminating evidence wasn't our idea at all. I knew about Hydron's suspicious activities, but my plan was to ask several leading questions to get both candidates to inadvertently expose themselves. Mira was supposed to turn the electricity off for Ace to use the makeshift firearm in the dark, but Hydron ran off after the photos and video leaked. We had no choice but to improvise."

"If you didn't hack the equipment system, then who did? And what do you mean by both candidates?"

"Do you really think Jesse Glenn is the perfect incumbent candidate that everyone worships without a doubt? He's nothing like that at all. I suspect he hired Gus Grav and Volt Luster to expose other candidates to eliminate the competition, but somehow saved Hydron for last. On the contrary, we plan to take out Jesse Glenn during his upcoming fundraising dinner. Even with his final competitor dead and out of the race, I bet he'll continue hosting all his upcoming campaign events for publicity. Basically, people with more experience hide their actions better."

"I could say the same about you, since you've supposedly been working as a freelance report but are secretly under Mira's payroll."

"What I do as a journalist is separate from Mira's plans. All I know so far about Jesse Glenn is that he secretly deals with explosives and firearms. ATF has been following this case but doesn't have solid evidence. I know you're tired of attending events that end in gunfights, but I think you should attend the fundraising dinner anyway... just to see how much more upset you can get."

Alice was about to answer when her phone vibrated violently. After checking her notifications, she opened her text inbox and saw a message from Ace. "Guess who I found again?"

After that message was a picture of the familiar pink-haired assailant interacting with a tall buff blond man wearing a red motorcycle jacket and blue denim jeans. The redhead continued her call with Joe. "I have another question. What else do Gus, Volt, and Lync have in common besides putting a hit on me? Ace just sent me a picture of Lync talking with an unknown blond male."

"Lync is just an opportunist. He does whatever benefits him, which could explain why he's everywhere. Surprisingly, I didn't find a direct connection between him and Hydron. Hold on, got a three-way phone call request coming..."

The redhead lifted her phone away from her face and saw Mira and Ace trying to call. After a moment to settle in, the editor-in-chief spoke. "Good evening, everyone. What happened at the debate was uncalled for, but I plan to recreate the same outcome for Jesse Glenn at his fundraising dinner."

"Recreate?!" Alice exclaimed. "I didn't sign up for this and definitely won't kill anyone outside of self-defense! Joe was trying to convince me to attend, but I really don't want—"

"Don't worry, Alice. Your hands will stay clean. The dinner venue has already been confirmed, and I'll follow up with the rest of you after I've obtained the floor plans."

After hanging up, the redhead saw two missed calls from Shun, in which she called back. "Sorry... I just saw your missed calls... Did you have something urgent to ask me?"

"Actually, I—" After a moment of silence, the raven-haired agent asked instead, "Is something wrong? You sound scared."

Alice covered her mouth immediately and tried to stop thinking about Mira's phone call. "I've been really exhausted from work lately... Just got off the phone with my coworkers... My sleep schedule is out of place, and drinking coffee can only do so much."

"Sorry, maybe I jumped to conclusions. My first instinct after hearing a trembling voice is assuming that the speaker is in a dangerous situation."

The redhead bit her bottom lip after hearing that sentence. If only you knew what was really happening...

"Anyway, Jesse Glenn announced that he's hosting a fundraising dinner at a local well-known restaurant. I believe he reserved the entire building to avoid having irrelevant guests allowed."

"Something tells me that you've been assigned to work security detail again."

"It's actually worse than security detail. We have to remain in close proximity to Jesse Glenn."

"Wait... whose idea of security detail is that? He wouldn't have a lot of personal space and time then."

"I need to ask Marucho. This is another request from city hall. The staff there must really want him to win the election again. What about you? Are you attending?"

"You know... Every time you ask that question, my initial answer is that I don't know yet. Then my supervisor somehow gets me a free way into the event without me even asking for it. Every time I go somewhere, I always end up in a dangerous situation." Alice took a deep breath before adding, "I have a lot to do and would like some time and space to myself."

"How much work did your supervisor assign you?"

"I need to work on smaller news articles and can't focus on large issues right now. Good night, Shun."

Unsure of what he just listened to, the raven-haired agent closed his phone screen and returned to watching late night news. How can she still work like this after experiencing so many recent traumatic events?

Alice leaned back against her chair and stared at the ceiling. The sooner I find answers to Grandfather's death, the faster than I get away from all this...