Act 3: By Duappy Avenged
Principal Folsom was NOT happy. Normally, that'd be the norm, but this time, she had a very good reason. When she sat Fillmore, Ingrid, and Ed down, she showed them a TV segment on the news show, More, which went over Winn Schott's tragic loss of his virtual pet.
"That story was SUPPOSED to be something the school would be proud of." Folsom said clearly upset. "You were SUPPOSED to find Duappy. This was SUPPOSED to be over."
"But Principal Folsom, we're…"
"I don't want to hear any more about disappearing crowbars and virtual petnappers that have virtual pets virtually petnapped from them!" Folsom interrupted. "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE BEST! NOW GO BE THE BEST AND FIND FLOPPY!"
"Um…" Ingrid started to correct her, but Ed stopped her.
"Let's not give her any more reason to be angry." Ed whispered to her. "Let's see if Lorraine knows anything."
"Anyone else know you had Duappy?" Fillmore asked as he sat back down with Lorraine in the interrogation room.
"No, just like I told Mr. Strange."
"Mr. Strange?" Fillmore asked. "How do you know him?"
"I've been to a few of his sessions. I told him that I liked Winn and how I felt about his obsession with Duappy, but I never told him what I was doing." Lorraine said. "In fact, he came by a little while ago asking me the same questions you're asking me. But like I told him, I don't know who took Duappy, and I didn't tell anyone about what I did."
"I see." Fillmore said. "So no one knows the full story."
"No." Lorraine answered. "Can I please talk to Winn? I just wanted to be his friend. I gotta explain it to him."
On the other side of the window, Ed, Ingrid, and Winn watched the interrogation.
"I'm never talking to that girl again!" Winn hissed viciously.
"Winn, she made a mistake." Ingrid said. "She said she's going to give Duappy back."
"Why are we wasting time with her?" Winn asked. "Duappy's out there! Please, just go find him!" He turned and stormed out of the room leaving Ingrid and Ed behind.
"Poor guy." Ingrid said.
"Well, that toy filled a void left behind by his awful dad." Ed said. "It's understandable."
"Since when are you the sympathetic type?" Ingrid asked.
"Don't read too much into it." Ed said. "Anyway, something about this case seems off. If someone took Duappy from Lorraine, maybe they left a clue at her place. Let's check there."
The three of them brought Lorraine back to her room and began their investigation. Among the wreckage of Happy Cathead products, they also found a carboard box full of pictures. One of them was a picture of Lorraine as a cheerleader which Fillmore picked up to examine.
"You quit the cheerleading squad."
"And the shopping club. And the gossip team." Lorraine said. "411, did you hear who likes Philsky? Sorry. Old habits."
"Why did you quit everything?" Ingrid asked.
"It's… hard to explain." Lorraine said. "I was cheering at the pep rally for the curling team a few weeks ago, and I caught my reflection in the ice. I kinda decided that I wanted to be someone else before it was too late. You can do that when you're twelve."
"And that lead you to virtual petnapping?" Ingrid asked.
"Winn always seemed so nice. So smart. And he sorta seemed like he needed to start being someone else too. And besides, I liked him."
"And all's fair in love and war." Ingrid stated with an understanding smile.
"Even rolling a couple of Safety Patrols in a ball stampede." Fillmore said.
"What?" Lorraine asked.
"The ball stampede?" Fillmore repeated. "In the mall. You swiped the Happy Cathead crowbar."
"I thought you brought it here." Lorraine said. "I don't know anything about a ball stampede."
"Is that so?" Ed asked looking out the window until something caught his eye. "Well, what do you know."
"What is it?" Fillmore asked.
"What happens to silence when one speaks?" Ed asked pointing out. Everyone looked out at a white lattice archway just underneath the window. He fixed his eyes at broken parts that lead below. "It's broken. Is that broken part a recent development, Lorraine?"
"No." Lorraine said. "My dad and I just installed it, and everything looked fine when we set it up."
"So someone must have used it to climb up to your room." Fillmore said. "They must have put the crowbar back for us to find."
"Yet, why go through all the trouble?" Ed asked. "If someone wanted it to make sure Lorraine was found guilty of virtual petnapping, they could've just let us keep the crowbar. We would've traced it back to her anyway."
"You know," Fillmore said examining the broken lattice. "Considering how these broken parts look, it looks like whoever did this was an adult. They went into the window, but there's no way they came down again. They had to go out the front door."
"Or not." Ingrid said.
Leaving Lorraine in her room, the three of them headed back downstairs where Mr. Almaden sat in the living room with a book in his hand.
"Mr. Almaden, have you left the house since we took Lorraine this morning?" Fillmore asked.
"Nope. Been reading right here, pretty much waiting for Lorraine to come back."
"And you haven't seen anyone unusual walk through your house today?"
"Nope."
"You know," Ed said as he walked over to the large cabinet that had its doors closed. "If I was a grown adult hiding from people, I'd say they'd be right about…"
Ed opened the door, and Mrs. Schott was found placed right on top of the television set.
"I'm getting out of here!" Mrs. Schott shouted. She tried to run, but she collapsed and fell to the ground. "Ow. Both legs asleep."
"Well, that at least spares us another pointless chase." Ed said helping Mrs. Schott to the nearest sofa. "Care to explain yourself, young lady?"
"You don't understand." Mrs. Schott said. "I don't have Duappy. I wish I did. Then I'd flush it or bury it or put it on the hibachi."
"Tell us what happened." Ingrid said.
"I was at the mall for lobster shop polish, and then, I saw the three of you with the crowbar in the evidence bag. And suddenly, I knew, it was Lorraine. Wonderful Lorraine. She loves Happy Cathead. She took Duappy. Nothing personal, kids, but with that crowbar, you were too close to solving the crime. So yes, I dropped all those balls on you so I could take the crowbar away. I needed time, time to save Lorraine from being found out, time to sneak into her room, and get rid of Duappy forever. But it wasn't there. And then, suddenly, the three of you were. I dove into the closet, but I dropped the crowbar when your consultant opened it. And instead of saving Lorraine, I just made it look like she was the one who took the crowbar. You chased her down, and I tried to sneak away." She looked over at Mr. Almaden. "I ALMOST made it out of the house. And then SOMEONE decided to read War and Peace in one sitting!"
"I'm on page 220!" Mr. Almaden proclaimed proudly annoying Mrs. Schott.
"I was just trying to help my son." Mrs. Schott said. "Any parent will want what's best for their child."
That remark made Ed frown. "Not always." he whispered getting Ingrid's attention.
As the night began to fall, Ed waited in the precinct office beside Fillmore and Ingrid, who sat at their desks.
"Lorraine was feeding and caring for Duappy." Ingrid said. "We still have time."
"But not much, and I don't think we're gonna find the perp in the case files." Fillmore said. "What do you think, Ed? You're the outside-the-box thinker. Any thoughts?"
"No thoughts. Just… It feels like we already have all the clues we need." Ed said. "We just need to put them together somehow."
At that moment, the station door opened, and Winn walked in. He was carrying a stack of missing posters in his arms. "Nothing?" Their silence indicated his answer. "Officer Third, Mr. Nygma, I wanted to apologize for this morning. I wouldn't have wigged out like that."
"Thanks." Ingrid said. "You know, Lorraine's dad let her go to the curling match tonight. You could talk to her."
"I'd like to," Winn said, "But… I just can't do it."
"We're going to get Duappy back, Winn." Fillmore assured. "But that's not gonna make it all good. What went down went down. Lorraine was your first good friend, and she made a mistake."
"Riddle me this," Fillmore said, "The less you have, the more one is worth. What is it?"
Winn didn't need to think much about it. His recent experiences already led him to the answer. "A friend."
"Exactly." Ed said. "I know how much that toy means to you, but nothing beats a good friend, especially someone who cares for you as much as she does."
Winn took a moment to think and nodded. Without another word, he left the room leaving the others where he left them.
"Hold on." Fillmore said. "Ed, I think that's the answer!"
"What?" Ed asked.
"That riddle you made. The one you also put in the paper." Fillmore said. "'The less you have, the more one is worth. A friend.' What if that's what this has all been about?"
"What do you mean?" Ed asked.
Fillmore reached into his desk and pulled out a yearbook. When he looked through them, he stopped at the pictures with the cheerleading squad. He fixed his eyes on the pictures that had both Lorraine and Biana Bully grouped up together.
"Best friends forever." Fillmore said.
"Lorraine quit the cheerleading squad, the shopping club, and all her old friends." Ingrid said.
"Including Biana, her former best friend." Fillmore said.
Ed smiled as the realization hit him. "Now that you mention it, there was one thing I found suspicious. Lorraine's crowbar was found in Winn's bushes like it was meant for us to find. You'd think something like that would be hard to forget. And when Mrs. Schott saw us with that crowbar in the mall, she immediately knew it belonged to her. So anyone who knew Lorraine would know that she was the only person close to Winn who liked Happy Cathead."
"Where are you going with this, Ed?" Ingrid asked.
"I'm saying that maybe Lorraine was set up. Someone wanted to subtly expose her crime and make her look even worse by making sure she didn't return Duappy." Ed said. "So who do we know who was close enough to Lorraine to know that all it took was a themed crowbar to incriminate her?"
"Biana." Fillmore said. "Disco."
Lorraine sat sadly with the cheerleading squad as they cheered for the curling team. Biana was away for a while having a chat with Hugo Strange. When he left, she returned with a startled expression on her face.
"Hey, is everything all right, Biana? What did Mr. Strange want?" one of the cheerleaders asked.
"Uh… Nothing. Nothing important." Biana shook her head before heading over to comfort Lorraine. "Listen, Lorraine, Winn's a jerk. He should have been grateful. I know if I was a goober loser like him, I would've been. I can't believe…"
"Hey, Biana." The head cheerleader stopped and turned to face Ed, who approached her with Fillmore and Ingrid behind her. "Hope we're not interrupting. Lorraine, I think you'll be pleased to know that I think we're making progress with Winn. We at least helped him consider forgiving you."
"Really?" Lorraine asked hopeful.
"Uh, excuse you!" Biana interrupted stepping in between Lorraine and Ed. "We were having a moment!"
"What? I'm just trying to cheer Lorraine up." Ed said, his knowing smile making Biana uneasy. "Why do you have to be the only one who gets to?"
"Biana, we got to talk." Fillmore said. "You mind coming with us?"
"Sure. Uh, yes." Biana said nervously.
"Biana!" another cheerleader called out holding up a purse. "Hold up, luv. You forgot your purse."
"That's okay." Biana said. "Can you hold it until I get back?"
"But it looks so lovely with your uniform." the cheerleader said before tossing the purse over to Biana.
The head cheerleader tried to catch the purse, but she failed to do so. And once it hit the ground, a bunch of small packets spilled out. Not only that, but a small ringing sound came from the inside of the purse. She heard the ringing and became even more nervous, especially when she realized that the Safety Patrol was onto her.
Biana acted quickly. She grabbed onto a broom and used it to trip Fillmore and Ed. She ran across the curling game and made it to the hallway with her pursuers on her tail. She tore through a banner and spilled a wagon full of oranges on the way, but that didn't stop the investigators.
Eventually, Biana ran into the pool area and ran across the room. She tried to get through the exit door, but it was chained shut. She was left cornered by Fillmore, Ingrid, and Ed. She finally pulled the virtual pet out of her purse and held Duappy over the swimming pool.
"You can make this right, Biana." Fillmore said. "Give us Duappy before it's too late."
"I knew Lorraine liked Winn. You tell your best friends who you like. I knew she took Duappy. I just…" Biana looked hesitant at first. "I just knew it. I had to split them up, permanently, badly so they would never be friends again. So Lorraine would need a friend."
"So after you realized Lorraine took Duappy, you decided to do the same." Ed surmised. "And you planted the crowbar to make sure Winn knew it was her."
"That's right." Biana said. "The night I took Duappy, I saw her Happy Cathead crowbar in her closet. I could plant it in Winn's so you could find her out. Duappy would be gone forever, and it would be Lorraine's fault. Winn would hate Lorraine, and Lorraine would go back to being my friend."
"But you didn't count on Winn's mom taking the crowbar from us." Ed said. "Thankfully, you got lucky that we got your address from Lorraine's book. So when we questioned you about Happy Cathead, you emphasized that Lorraine liked Happy Cathead so we could take a closer look and eventually find her out."
"She was MY friend, not Winn's." Biana stated beginning to tear up. "We were supposed to be best friends forever."
"I know." Fillmore said. "We can make friends, and we can break friends. Sometimes, those things are in our control, and sometimes, they aren't. Like now." He stepped closer. "Don't do this, Biana."
"All this…" Biana said glaring at the beeping virtual pet. "It's all because of Winn and his pathetic plastic pet! Well, if I don't get my friend back, neither should he!"
Biana chucked Duappy high into the air aiming so it would fall right into the water. Fillmore jumped into the air and reached out for it. Thankfully, he caught the virtual pet by the hoop of its chain with his pinkie finger. Thinking quickly, he swung his arm so he could then throw it over to Ingrid, who caught it and proceeded to care for its needs.
"He's gonna make it." Ingrid said proudly.
"NO!" Biana cried out.
"Riddle me this, Biana." Ed said. "What's red and blonde, and blue all over?"
Biana, the blonde cheerleader in the red uniform, fell to her knees saddened by her defeat.
The next time the kids saw the More show, they were proud to see the story having a happy ending. Principal Folsom happily thanked the Safety Patrol for Duappy's return, and the team cheered for the trio who cracked the case.
"So the answer was a friend?" O'Farrell asked.
"Yes." Ed groaned. "Sheesh, read in between the lines when you're asked a riddle."
"Hey, you three," Vallejo said, "You got visitors."
The trio turned their attention to the duo of Winn Schott Jr. and Lorrain Almaden. The two of them stood side by side with happy faces.
"Hi." Winn greeted. "I wanted to thank you three."
"We both did." Lorraine said.
"It's what we do." Fillmore said. "You don't need to thank us again."
"Not for saving Duappy." Winn said. "For helping save me. Last night, I finally got Duappy back, but I still felt terrible, like I still had something taken from me. I remembered what you said, Ed. That riddle you asked me about how valuable a friend is if there's not a lot left or something like that. Anyway, the three of you said I had a real friend in Lorraine. I guess I finally figured that out. So Ed, I'd like you to have this." He offered his hand which had his virtual pet in it.
"What?" Ed asked confusingly. "You want ME to take care of Duappy? I… don't think so. I'm not exactly the virtual pet type of guy. He wouldn't last long. Maybe one of the others can…"
"What's that, Dad?" Ingrid asked pretending like she was on a phone call. "I can't ever have a virtual pet? Never ever? Oh, snap. Darn."
"Don't look at me." Fillmore chuckled. "I might have allergies."
"Allergies? It's a VIRTUAL PET! How can you…" Ed stopped to make a loud groan before accepting the pet. "Fine. Could be a good gift for Emily anyway."
"Thanks." both Winn and Lorraine said before walking away.
"Emily?" Ingrid asked. "Is that your sister that you mentioned."
"I don't wanna…" Ed started to say, but he stopped himself and took a breath. He thought hard about what to say next before finally speaking again softly and sadly. "My father's ashamed of me."
That confession made Fillmore and Ingrid widen their eyes. They were taken aback by what they just heard.
"What?" Fillmore asked. "Your dad…"
"Yep." Ed nodded. "His idea of a perfect son is someone who puts physical activity over all. So you can imagine his disappointment when I was drawn to a more academic lifestyle. Sports have no sway over me, so he considers me a disappointment."
"That's horrible." Ingrid commented.
"It's nothing I can't handle. I'm smart enough to handle his cruel ignorance." Ed said. "The only reason I'm still around that jerk is so my little sister, Emily, can have a normal life."
"That's… a lot to handle." Fillmore said feeling sorry for Ed. "I can see why you didn't want to tell us, but why are you telling us now?"
"Because keeping things bottled up from her friend is what led Lorraine into nearly losing Winn and what led Biana into completely losing Lorraine. I didn't want that to happen to me, especially since I've grown to actually like you two. So for now, I guess you deserve to know that much."
"Thanks for telling us, Ed." Ingrid said placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Fillmore smiled and approached. "You know, there is room at my grandma's dinner. I don't suppose you two would like to come. You like mustard grains?"
"Mustard grains by your grandma, sure." Ingrid said. "Mustard grains by you, I'm not so sure."
"You… You're inviting me?" Ed asked nearly breathlessly.
"Sure. What are friends for?" Fillmore replied.
Biana Bully sat in the holding room all by herself. She was left to her own thoughts dreading having her scheme thwarted and her suspension imminent. She raised her legs to bury her face behind her knees trying hard not to cry.
All of a sudden, the lights began to flicker. They kept turning on and off catching Biana's attention. She raised her head to look around curiously and cautiously.
"Uh, he…"
"Don't bother."
Biana was spooked by a voice followed by a hand that was wrapped around her mouth. She tried to scream out when she saw a boy who was about her height, but wore a blue coat and fedora. She was even more scared when she saw that the figure didn't appear to even have a face. It was just a completely blank front of a boy's head.
"Shhhhhh!" the boy expressed until Biana stopped screaming. "Listen, there's nobody out there. Most of the officers are out, Vallejo's in his office with paperwork, and O'Farrell is getting his photos developed. I waited until you were unattended so I can come and talk to you. I'm not here to harm you. I just have a couple of questions to ask. Just answer them, and I'll leave you alone. Understand?"
Biana stared at the faceless boy before reluctantly nodding. He then gently removed his hand freeing her mouth.
"All right." Biana said nervously. "W-What do you want?"
"During the curling game, before the Safety Patrol caught you with the virtual pet, you had a curious encounter with Hugo Strange." Biana made a pale expression. "So it is true. Now, I'd like to know why he would talk to you. As far as I know, you're not a patient of his. So what did he want to talk to you about?"
"He… He, uh…" Biana said with heavy breaths. "I… I can't. If I told anyone…"
"So he was threatening you." the faceless boy surmised. "It's okay then. He'll never know you told me if you keep our meeting a secret. Now, please, tell me what you know about him."
Biana stared with dilated eyes before finally giving in. "Okay. So the other day, I was desperate to get my best friend, Lorraine, back. I needed something that could bring her back to me. But at the time, I didn't know what. I knew she having private conversations with Mr. Strange, so I sneaked into his office while he was out hoping he had a way to keep track of his sessions. And I was right. He was recording all his sessions. I just had to find Lorraine's tapes and play them back. I noticed something weird about her last talk with him, and later, when it was announced that Winn's plastic pet was taken, I realized then that it had to be Lorraine who did it."
The faceless boy tilted his head curiously. "You said there was something weird about her last session, something that helped you realize that Lorraine was the one who took Duappy. Why would it help you realize that?"
"Because…" Biana said hesitantly, "Well, the way they talked. The way he said things in a weird order… It almost seemed like taking Duappy was HIS plan, and that he convinced Lorraine to do so making her think it was her own idea.
"So you're saying Hugo Strange already knew who stole Duappy?" the faceless boy asked. "That the whole incident was masterminded by him, and Lorraine thought it was her idea? Why did he manipulate her like that?"
"I don't know. I didn't care much." Biana said. "And I guess Strange realized someone was snooping around in his office. Once it was announced that Lorraine took Duappy, but got robbed herself, he did his own investigation until he somehow realized that it was me. So back at the curling game, he pulled me away from my squad to have a private chat. From the way he was talking, I knew that he figured out it was me who found his recordings and that he was threatening me without actually saying it. So I decided not to tell anyone. That's why I didn't tell the Safety Parollers how I knew Lorraine took Duappy."
"I see. Thank you, Biana. That clears up a lot." the faceless boy said stepping away from her. "If I were you, I'd be thankful for the suspension. Something tells me things are going to get pretty messy around this school."
Like that, the lights flickered once more. Once they lit back up, the faceless boy was gone leaving Biana shaken by the intense encounter.
On the roof of X Middle School, the faceless boy stood on the edge. He looked down to see all the students leaving at the final bell. As he watched them pass by, he began thinking to himself out loud.
"So Hugo Strange is manipulating his young patients into committing crimes and letting them think it was their idea. That does track. Most of the biggest crimes in X Middle School lately were perpetrated by students who visited him prior. But the question is, what does he have to gain from turning random students into criminal masterminds? And who's next?"
He looked back down watching each student hard and intensely.
"Well, I guess I know what to do now. I should keep an eye on any student who speaks to Hugo Strange. Perhaps that Montoya girl can help out too. She's a sharp one, and very useful. I'm sure she'd be willing to help. After all, it could very well lead to the dark secret of X Middle School."