Smiling Agent. Chapter 7.

~}I{~

Adrien opened a cardboard box and looked inside. He let out a sigh of relief at what he saw before he pulled out the item and started taking it out of the clear packaging.

Plagg worriedly looked at his Holder when he said, "Um, Kitten, you're… Not going to test that out now are you? I mean, I can tell you for sure that the only bugs here are the helpful ones on the roof's garden…" The Kwami honestly couldn't blame the blonde for doing this, but… The Dupain-Chengs were safe, so there was no need to use… That here…

Adrien stared at his new item when he said, "I know, Plagg. I know, but… I want to make sure everywhere else I go to aren't bugged…" He held up his new portable bug sweeper as he carefully slid the batteries into place.

This was going to make sure that Adrien will never be caught on a camera or recording without his knowledge ever again! Both as a Hero and as a civilian!

Plagg wasn't going to stop his Holder, but… He hoped that it wasn't going to make Adrien paranoid about it…

~}I{~

Officer Prowl couldn't help but stare at the butterfly-like and peacock-like Kwami happily eating the grapes as they sat inside his top left drawer of his desk. The fruits were cut in half and in a small bowl so they wouldn't get dirty.

This made the homicide Officer wonder how often Gabriel Agreste gave these two Kwami food. He knew enough to know that these beings didn't need to eat as much, but still needed to eat.

However…

"I'm not going to take the grapes away, so you don't need to eat so fast." Officer Prowl told the two softly as he went back to scrubbing through the footage from room spy camera #3.

Both Duusu and Nooroo paused in their eating and vocalised sheepishly, "Sorry…"

Officer Prowl kept his eyes on the monitor when he stated softly, "It's okay and I know you are deities, but eating too much at once could upset your stomachs."

The two Kwamis sheepishly repeated, "Sorry."

Nooroo then said, "It's been a while since we ate something…"

Officer Prowl paused his scrubbing when he placed a hand on his chin when he asked softly, "How often did Mr Agreste feed you?"

Duusu answered that with a rather depressed tone, "Only when we begged nonstop when he was trying to do that designing stuff…"

Officer Prowl looked at the two Kwami when he asked softly in a baffled tone, "Are you telling me that Mr Agreste only gave you food to essentially shut you up when he's actually working?"

Nooroo nodded when he stated, "Pretty much, despite me telling him that we needed to replenish our energy or else we will pull energy from him or Ms Secretary…"

That was painting a rather unpleasant picture of the two.

Officer Prowl then asked the Kwami, "Did either of you try to sneak into the kitchen to get the food you needed?"

Duusu folded his tiny arms when he stated with a pout, "The bully ordered us to stay in the stupid lare and safe at all times, so 'we don't get seen'. Even at night when everyone's asleep!" The Kwami looked up at the Officer when he stated in anger, "Can you believe G-" Pink bubbles came out of his mouth with a hiccup. Duusu growled before he continued, "Hawkmoth gave us such an order and hardly fed us! I will not cry if he drops dead!"

Nooroo nodded reluctantly as he nibbled on a grape.

Officer Prowl placed a hand on his chin as he asked the two while keeping an eye on the monitor, "Has he done anything else to you that would be considered 'unethical' or 'enevadibly harmful'?"

Nooroo swallowed the food he had in his mouth before he explained, "Aside from ignoring our warnings about using our Miraculous for selfish and evil deeds… Just the lack of food and ignoring me when I tell him about the price of the wish he's trying to get…" The purple Kwami then realised what he said and shrank at the revelation.

Officer Prowl only let out a hum when he mused, "Equivalent exchange?" He tapped his chin before he moved to pull the other freeze frames of the spy cameras.

Nooroo was surprised by this when Duusu said happily, "Exactly!"

The butterfly-like Kwami couldn't help but ask in amazement, "How did you know?"

Officer Prowl compared the still images when he replied softly, "My husband is the Magi Guardian of France, and he knows enough regarding the Miraculous to know about the Wish should one combine the Ladybug and Black Cat." He narrowed his eyes at the monitor.

Curiosity getting the better of the Kwami as they floated up to see what the Officer was looking at.

Duusu raised a brow when he asked, "What's N-" Pink bubbles came out of his mouth with a hiccup. The Peacock Kwami covered his mouth at this.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the office door.

Both Nooroo and Duusu darted into the open drawer. Officer Prowl looked at the door when he stated, "Come in," as he discreetly closed the drawer.

Another Officer opened the door and walked in with a folder in hand When they asked, "How's the process of going through the recordings?"

Officer Prowl let out a slow sigh when he replied, "On the upside, I have two major suspects to question. But the downsides…" He turned the monitor to show the other still frames of the two individuals that were caught on the spy camera recordings.

The other Officer raised a brow when they asked in confusion, "Uh… Wow… I… Didn't expect Ms Sancoeur to be involved in this…" They looked at the other individual when they mused, "Is that the Rossi girl the house staff told us about?"

Sure enough, two of the still shots of Nathalie Sancoeur were of her. One of her placing the spy cams disguised as speakers on the sides of the telly monitor and the other of her placing the metronome spy cam on the Grand Piano while the other two were of Lila Rossi. One of her going into Adrien's personal bathroom with her bag and the other of her sliding the spy cam in the book onto the bookshelf.

Officer Prowl let out a low hum when he replied, "That would be my best guess, but I'll give you a better image of her face for you to use to confirm with the Agreste house staff." As he turned the monitor back around when he added, "I haven't gone through all the recordings from the cameras found in Adrien's room, and I am NOT going to view the recordings of the spy cameras found in his personal bathroom. But given that Ms Rossi has been caught going into the personal bathroom three times on the recordings I've gone through, I'm very certain that she is involved with planting these spy cams." Officer Prowl let out an annoyed click of the tongue when he added, "And given what we've heard from the house staff, I have a few legitimate concerns with Mr Agreste being okay with someone going into his son's room without the teen knowing about it at all, even without the spy cameras being involved."

The other Officer let out an unpleasant shutter when they stated, "I feel yah…"

Officer Prowl glanced at the folder in the other's hands when he asked, "Is that the results of the fingerprints or the serial numbers on the spy cameras?"

The other Officer held up the folder when they stated, "The latter. The fingerprints on the spy cameras are still being processed." They placed the folder on the desk, opened it to reveal the close-ups of the serial numbers on the dozen spy cameras, and added, "We got a hit on all of them. They were bought by an indoor entertainment place for kids and teens three years ago in Ireland."

Officer Prowl raised a brow at this when he questioned quizzically, "These spy cameras originated from Ireland? How did they get here from a business that caters to children and teenagers?" He involuntary cringed at the irony of that fact.

With that, the other Officer explained the details of this case.

The dozen spy cameras were purchased legitimately from a security store by the manager of the kids and teen entertainment establishment. His original plan for these spy cameras was to use them as security camera decoys inside the building.

Officer Prowl thought that that was a rather clever idea.

The other Officer nodded in agreement before continuing with the report.

The night before the 'decoys' could be installed, they were stolen out of the manager's office. The first Officers on the scene quickly realised that the strange theft had to be an inside job. There were no forced entries and the person knew what they were looking for and where to find it. Of which was later confirmed by the real security cameras. These also confirmed that the thief did have a key and was roughly the manager's teenage sister's height and body type. Who, of course, was on the suspect list because of this, since she also had a key to the establishment due to working there part-time. However, the sister and her brother/manager had rock solid alibis during the time of the theft. But strangely enough, the sister's key to the business was missing from her keyring when it was checked, much to her shock.

Of course, this led the police to think that the thief had to be someone who knew the sister or attended the same school as her. And given the rough size equivalent to the sister, it was most likely another teenager. The key was later found in the school bag of a teenage girl who was having problems with a friend of the sister. So, of course, the sister accused this girl of breaking into the establishment and stealing the cameras.

But, there were a few major snags in this accusation that actually eliminated this person as a suspect. The first was that she was at one of her cousins' birthday on the other side of the city during the time of the break-in. The second was that this teenage girl was a lot taller than the sister and had more muscles, thus didn't fit the body type of the thief. The third was that this teen didn't have a close enough friendship with anyone matching the thief's size for them to do such a thing. The fourth was the fact that the stolen cameras were never found in the teen's bags, lockers, home, room, and all the locations this teen frequented.

The case ended up stalling due to lack of suspects. A follow up revealed that the sister was demoted at her job for losing her key to the building and her brother did force her to use most of her paychecks to purchase a new batch of security cameras to be used as decoys.

This punishment made sense, given that the sister's key was used and she didn't know they were missing until after the break-in.

Officer Prowl glanced at his computer monitor when he mused, "Hm, give that police department a call and tell them that we found their stolen cameras. You are going to have to inform them that they were used in an illegal spying case though. I do need you to ask them for more details about the cameras… Also, let me give you pictures of Ms Rossi and Ms Sancoeur so you can ask them to talk to the manager and his sister about knowing these two."

The other Officer raised a brow when they asked, "Given the situation at the sister's school, wouldn't it make more sense to just ask about the Rossi girl? I mean, given the issues the house staff told us, she's the most likely suspect for the spy cameras."

Officer Prowl nodded in agreement when he stated, "Very true, but for legal matters and protocol, let's make sure we cover all our bases. I want Adrien to get the justice he deserves without dragging anyone but the perpetrator through the mud."

The other Officer agreed with a 'fair enough' before leaving the office.

Officer Prowl took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he glanced at the four still shots of his prime suspects. He narrowed his eyes as he wondered if those two were somehow working together in some way.

"Is the term 'Euro for your thoughts' or 'seeds for thoughts' applicable to this?" Duusu suddenly asked as he floated near the homicide Officer's head. Nooroo timidly hovered near the drawer.

Officer Prowl didn't seem surprised by the Kwamis appearance when he told them, "According to the testimonies of the house staff, Ms Sancoeur personally inspects any bag that comes into the mansion for any 'unapproved items', removes them, and either tosses them if they stay there or returns them when the person leaves… Which is making me wonder why she didn't notice all these hallowed items that she would've had to look over before letting them through…" He glanced at the Kwamis when he added, "According to Soulkin and both Kantés, they noticed the inconsistent weight of the hollowed book and the rubber duck camera as soon as they picked them up. So wouldn't Ms Sancoeur also have noticed that during the apparently mandatory bag inspections?"

Nooroo sighed when he said, "That inspection stuff tracks with Hawkmoth's and his wife's controlling natures…"

That gave Officer Prowl pause before looking at the butterfly-like Kwami and asking, "Wait? Mrs Agreste was also like that?"

Nooroo nodded when Duusu said with a sigh, "Yup, but she was much better at doing all that subtly, spinning it as a good thing, and being able to make some reasonable explanation for said control."

This explanation made Officer Prowl physically uncomfortable when he got out in disgust, "That… Explains a lot…" He cringed when he added bitterly, "I'm going to have to ask Jazz if he can also test Adrien along with the house staff if both Agrestes had THAT much of a controlling nature…" He then had a thought as his attention was on the still shot of Nathalie when he mumbled to himself, "Is it possible?"

"What?" Both Nooroo and Duusu questioned in confusion.

Officer Prowl pulled his phone out and quickly selected a number. He placed the phone to his ear and waited for the connecting number to pick up. Once they did, Officer Prowl stated, "Jazz, I think we might have to add another person to the list to be checked when she returns! And I think you need to have everyone who has been inside the Agreste Mansion for long periods of time be tested for THAT magic!"

Both of the Kwami glanced at each other as they wondered what was going on.

}I{

The next school day brought a rather interesting interaction between Lila and Miss Bustier.

Being the teacher she was, and to see what the liar would do, Caline asked Lila if she gave her mother the teacher's note. As the redheaded woman suspected, Lila told her that she gave it to her mother. Miss Bustier then asked Lila in a serious tone if her mother had a date in mind for a parent/teacher meeting. Caline was Not surprised when Lila told her that her mother was really busy and wasn't sure if she could take time off for it.

So, of course, Miss Bustier sent an email to Mrs Rossi regarding the parent/teacher meeting, making sure to detail why she was asking for this meeting in the body of text. The redheaded woman then sent corresponding emails to the Forests and Dupain-Chengs.

}{

Nino was getting rather annoyed with Lila.

Mind you, it took A Lot to get him annoyed due to his laid back personality, but even he had his limits. And Lila was Really pushing those, even if the 'issue' wasn't directed at him.

"Uh… Lila… Can you let go of my arm?" Nino got out in an uneasy tone as Adrien gave him a worried look.

Sure enough, Lila was clinging to Nino's arm.

The reason the liar was on the red-capped teen's arm rather than the blonde model's was because Nino swapped places at the literal last second. And wow was Lila digging her nails into the usually laid back teen's arm!

Once Lila realised that she wasn't latched onto Adrien she recoiled immediately and tittered off anapology before saying that she'll see Adrien at the photoshoot later and then leaving.

As soon as the liar was out of hearing range, Adrien couldn't help but say with a smirk, "Joke's on her, I'm not modeling at all today or tomorrow." He noticed Nino rubbing his arm and asked, "Are you okay?"

Nino nodded when he said as he continued to rub when Lila had gripped him, "Yeah, but, yeouch, she's got a nasty grip." He then had a thought before he asked his boi, "But if she thought she was clinging to you with that grip… Does that mean she's always holding onto you like that?"

Adrien looked away as he shrank at the question.

Oh, boy… That was answer enough for Nino.

The red-capped teen was uncharacteristically serious when he told the blonde boy, "Adrien, we need to tell Miss Bustier about this. Because, dude, she should NOT be gripping you hard enough that you feel pain." Nino pointed at his buddy as he continued, "And don't give me that 'it's nothing' line. You're getting hurt, you're in pain, and I doubt you like it when she's digging her nails into you like that. You have every right to dislike it and to want to feel comfortable, so we are reporting this."

Despite not wanting to raise a fuss on this… Adrien knew that Nino was right.

So they found Miss Bustier and told her exactly what happened. To say she was not amused about this was an understatement. The redheaded teacher thanked the two for reporting and that she was going to add this to her list of things to talk to Mrs Rossi about.

Of course, both teens asked their teacher about this, to which she replied that she was planning on having a parent/teacher meeting with Mrs Rossi due to her recent behaviour.

Yeah, that made sense…

The next thing to happen was a policeman coming to Miss Bustier andher class, and it wasn't Officer Raincomprex nor Officer Prowl.

This officer was wearing a neat and tidy policeman's uniform with his short blue hair meticulously combed back, bright blue eyes, had rather plain face, and was average height. In a stern yet monotone voice, the policeman stated to the class, "Greetings, I am Officer Chase. I am here to ask everyone who has been inside the Agreste mansion to come to Police HQ for a thorough interview regarding what has been found." He looked at the teens when he added, "Given your ages, please contact your legal guardians and tell them to come to Police HQ."

The guys, Marinette, Sabrina, Chloe, and Kon saw this coming, but the girls and Miss Bustier were taken off guard by this and had to wonder what the hell happened at the Agreste Mansion to warrant this.

}I{ About 30 Minutes Later }{

It was a bit of a blur for the class on the time it took to contact their parents and get to the police HQ. Of course, none of the guys, Chloe, Sabrina, and Marinette could be questioned until their legal guardian arrives. And, of course, the girls came along, out of worry.

Ishi was currently talking to Officer Chase regarding his hearing-aids and Ki was informing him about the Translator. Of which, will be noted and will be given the proper accommodation for. They also told the policeman that their current guardian was also Kon's parents, so that was noted too.

Then something came about that no one expected… Or rather, someone…

Marinette gasped when she saw a familiar face walking towards them before she got out in confusion, "Uncle Jazz! What are you doing here?"

The man with the visor and dreads smiled at his little niece and her friends with a knowing expression when he told them, "Ah got a call about somethin' strange in muy department, so here Ah am."

Adrien was confused when he asked, "But aren't you the owner of that 'Rhythm of Music' shop?" He looked at Nino when he added, "The one you took me to that had every kind of music and instrument under the sun."

The corners of Jazz's lips curled into a small smirk when he said, "Ah am, but that's not the only thing Ah do in Paris, Littl' Hero."

Of course, the girls who weren't in on the 'Miraculous Secret' didn't understand the implication, but those who were aware… That somewhat surprised them.

Jazz then smiled when he added in a more of a humorous tone, "Yah know, 'cause your face is all over Paris, like yah're one of the Heroes."

This gave the girls an 'Oh, that's fair' as the 'we know' group felt relief at this.

Marinette then realised what her uncle had told them before she asked him, "Wait? Did something big happen that needs your attention?"

A gleam danced across Jazz's visor as the smile disappeared from his lips.

This set alarm bells off in Marinette's mind.

Soon enough, the parents, and Nora, arrived at Police HQ. of course, Tom and Sabine were just as surprised as their daughter when they saw Jazz. Of course, they asked why he was there without Prowl, and were uneased at the fact that the visor-wearing man wasn't smiling. The rest of the Miracuclass had no idea what was going on with the Dupain-Chengs, but, for some reason, Nino, Kim, and their respective families seemed to understand. The red-capped teen rubbed his left arm subconsciously during this, which his mothers and younger brother noticed.

Now that everyone's legal guardians were present, the interrogations can start… Right after a quick health check… Wait…

"Why do we need to go through a health check?" Everyone in the Miracullass asked in confusion, especially Sabrina and her dad. That made sense, none of them ever heard of people getting a health check before going into an interrogation.

That was when Jazz stated seriously, "Not all of yah, just the ones who have been in the Agreste mansion recently, invited in by the Agrestes, or visit the Agreste mansion often." He glanced at the group of teenagers before noting, "We're one person short… And it was the one who Prowl wanted to talk to the most."

Oh, did that make Tom frantic with worry when he asked as he tried to look the visor-wearing man over, "Jazz! Is everything okay? You're not sick or hurt are you? Wait? Is whatever you're here for that bad?!" Of course, Sabine tried to calm her husband down while Marinette thought about these words before looking over the class.

When the Ladybug Holder realised who was missing, she got confused before looking at her uncle and asked with a raised brow, "Why does Uncle Prowl want to talk to Lila?" The girls were also rather confused by this too.

Jazz, Tom, and Sabine watched the reactions of the Miracuclass. Dawning realisation crept over the faces of the male classmates, colour drained from Sabrina and Adrien's complexion, and Chloe went from confusion to anger in less than five seconds. Marinette noticed these expressions and became even more confused. Kon was just as confused as the bluette, just a little more perplexed. The rest of the girls were still in the dark.

Jazz was quick to state before Chloe could blow up, "Prowl's just following protocol, since she's been in tha mansion, and Ah also need to talk to her 'bout her relation to Mr Agreste."

Alya responded to that by saying, "Oh, she's just a model for Mr Agreste's company. She's on a modelling job right now, which is why she isn't here." She held up her cell phone when she asked wearily, "Um, I can text her and tell her to come, if you would like?"

Jazz shook his head when he stated, "No need, Ah already have people talking to tha Gabriel Brand, they know to bring her here if they see her."

Oh… Kaaay… That was… Telling…

Chloe folded her arms in anger as she huffed out, trying to suppress her rage, "Giving you the heads up, the bitch is a liar! So take what she spews with a whole shaker of salt!"

André was quick to get out in shock, "Chloe!" He looked around before he tried to cover, "Uh, she's not normally like this! She's just upset."

A gleam crossed Jazz's visor when he asked in a serious tone, "Understandable, but… Is the statement about Lila Rossi bein' a liar true?" He watched the reactions from the Miracuclass.

Everyone admitted that Lila did lie, a lot. Some more easily than others.

The Dupain-Chengs then asked if this was the same liar that Miss Bustier and Marinette told them about. Mr Forest was also curious about Lila Rossi too, given he also received an email about that girl from the teacher.

That was… Interesting… But before anyone could make any traction on that, Jazz reluctantly told them to put it on the back burner until the current issue was over.

Oh… Kay… Why was this guy being serious feel so… Scary…

There were a few plain-clothed Officers who talked to the group, to find out who was in the Agreste Mansion. The guys, Marinette, Chloe, Sabrina, Andre, and Officer Raincomprix were the ones sorted for the interrogation, and the health check.

They went along with this. with the blessings of the guardians. Roger and Andre did drag their feet on this, at least until Jazz commented, "Meh, if yah don't wanna do it, it's fine, but Ah know Ah want ta have healthy officials in office."

The plain-clothed policemen more or less agreed to that, somewhat adding their opinions on them like to know that the people they vote for won't drop dead all of the sudden due to an undiagnosed health issue.

That definitely spurred Andre and Roger to do this 'Health Check'.

Once everyone was in agreement, everyone was ushered towards a certain direction for this Health check. The Lahiffe mothers watched their oldest son rubbing his left arm as they walked down the corridor.

As it turned out, the 'Health Check' looked like a CAT scan, and it worked like one too. So far the only difference was the oddly muted colours of this device.

For some reason, Marinette and her parents seemed to go pale at seeing this CAT scan. The bluette then looked up in this bizarre combination of disbelief and horror when she asked in that tone, "Uncle… What does THIS have to do with the Agreste Mansion?"

Tom was next to say in that same tone and expression, "Does this also have to do with…" He couldn't stop himself from looking at a very confused Adrien.

A gleam crossed Jazz's visor when he stated seriously, "We're gonna find out soon enough. Let Netty get checked so we can at least eliminate her from tha list."

The rest of this group looked confused by this. After all, it was just a simple CAT scan… Right?

}{ Roughly 10 Minutes Later }{

Adrien went through the CAT scan without any issues. He was still confused on why they only did a CAT scan for a Health Check, but if that's what counts for one, then it's fine by him. Besides, the lights under the CAT scan when it was scanning were pretty to watch. Shame that it lasted for only 15 seconds.

"Alright, Adrien, your Health Check is done," the person manning the controls said once the scan was completed. As the teen got up from the slan bed, the person said with a smile, "And you're nice and healthy."

Adrien slipped his shoes back on when he asked, "Really? This thing can tell you that in just a few seconds?" He then moved to take the items he had to remove from his pocket from the tray he had to put them in when he looked at the CAT Scan.

The person turned off the device when they stated, "It can, except for the stuff relating to blood." They winked at the teen when they added in a humorous tone, "That's a completely different test."

After shoving his things in his pocket, Adrien returned the smile and was escorted to one of the interrogation rooms to answer a few questions.

}{

Thankfully, there was no mention of Chat Noir, or any implication of anything involving the Miraculous.

So the group answered all the questions to the best of their abilities.

}{

By the time it was all over, everyone decided to head to the Dupain-Chengs' bakery for something sweet. Until Sabine noticed two people missing from the group. "Where are the Raincomprixs?" was her question to get everyone's attention.

Chloe looked around when she suggested, "Maybe they're still being interviewed…"

Jazz watched the group until one of the plain-clothed policemen came up to him and whispered something into his left ear. A frown appeared on the visor-wearing man's face at what he was told. Jazz then turned his attention to Adrien, Chloe, and Andre when he asked them in a serious tone, "Can yah tell meh how long you've known tha Raincomprixs?"

Of course, Adrien and Chloe were confused by the question, while Andre raised a brow in confusion when he asked, "Why do you need to know that?"

Jazz glanced at the rest of the group before he motioned for them to follow him as he walked down a hallway no one had noticed before.

Both confused and concerned, the Miracuclass and their guardians followed the man with the dreads. A few chance glances at the Dupain-Chengs upped the worry when they saw their faces. They seemed to know something about this weird event… But what?

Soon enough, they came to a section of wall that was made of glass, for some reason… When they all looked into the room that was behind the glass wall, they saw both Raincomprixs. Both laying on comfortable stretched-like beds with computers attached to them, asleep, and laying on their backs. They looked almost peaceful.

But why were they here? Why were they sleeping at a time like this? And that wasn't the only question they had…

Adrien stared into the room with a flabbergasted expression when he asked in a baffled tone, "Why? Why are the mansion's house staff here?" He scanned the room to see familiar face after familiar face laying on one of these beds with the computers attached, asleep as far as he could tell. "And the executives of… Father's company?" The colour kept draining from Adrien's face at each person in that room he recognised. He was almost a pasty white when he spotted his bodyguard in a corner, asleep and on one of those beds, just like the others… The blonde boy almost squeaked out in a confused and baffled tone, "A-And… And Gorilla? W-what's going on? Why… Why are they sleeping here?"

"Are they sick?" "What happened?" and "Are they going to be alright?" were the most common questions being asked.

Horrified, Sabine turned to the visor-wearing man when she asked him frantically, "Are all of these people under Archome's Control Magic?!" Now both Tom and Marinette were in a near panic, or at least just as distressed at Sabine.

In a serious tone, Jazz stated, "Unfortunately, the Control Analyses Test confirmed they're unduh Archome's Control Magic."

The group watched as a couple of people in doctor's jackets checked the computers that were attached to the bed, probably to see the progress of whatever program was being used. The looks on their faces told the onlookers that things seemed to be going well but the situation wasn't the best.

Rose looked at Jazz when she asked in a worried tone, "What's… What's this Archome's Control thing? Is it bad?"

Jazz glanced at the group when he stated in a serious tone, "Considering that Archome's Control Magic is banned everywhere in tha world and yah can be in some serious trouble if it's found out someone has been using it, it's way more than bad." He then knocked softly on the glass to get the doctors attention. Once their attention was on Jazz, he signalled one of them to update him on the situation when they finished. The doctors nodded before they went back to what they were doing.

"Follow meh, Ah already got the Powerpoint fur explainin' Archome's Control to play in one of tha meeting rooms," Jazz stated in that serious tone as he motioned for the group to follow.

The Dupain-Chengs kept close to the visor-wearing man.

The Miracuclass glanced at each other before they followed. Nino rubbed his left arm subconsciously.

}{ Meanwhile }{

Officer Chase walked into the Italian embassy and looked around for the desk with the information he was looking for before walking towards it. Once he was standing in front of the desk, he politely got the secretary's attention before asking, "I hate to interrupt your workload, but I have an important matter to discuss with ether one of the directors or a diplomat to Italy, so would it be possible to call one here so we can reach an agreement for an investigation involving a family member of a high-ranked diplomat."

The secretary nodded before using the landline to contact one of the directors to come talk to the present Officer.

It took roughly ten minutes, but one of the directors came down to meet with Officer Chase. They were brought to a meeting room for some privacy before they could even talk about the matter at hand.

Officer Chase went right to the point by saying, "A child of one of your top diplomats is involved in an illegal spying case, and I would like to talk to her parents to set up a meeting at the Police HQ to ask the standard questions with said child, with legal representation, of course."

The Embassy Head nodded in agreement when they said, "Of course, I will get on that and, hopefully, they'll agree." They took out a pen to write this down when they asked, "What is the surname of the diplomat?"

Officer Chase checked his notes from his talk with the Gabriel Brand Staff for the earlier Photoshoot before he stated clearly, "Diplomate Rossi. There are also some things that the lead of this investigation would like to talk to Mrs Rossi about, so maybe inform her of that as well."

The pen in the Embassy Head's hand stopped moving when they glanced at the policeman and asked in confusion, "Mrs… Rossi? Are you sure?"

Officer Chase nodded when he stated, "I talked to her daughter, Lila Rossi, earlier. And she informed me of her mother's position here at this Embassy. It would be best if Mrs Rossi is contacted about this case as soon as possible." He then noticed the perplexed look on the Embassy Head's face.

The building overseer had to reply in a tone that was mixed with suspicion, "Uh… I hate to say this but I don't think that meeting is going to happen."

Officer Chase raised a brow when he replied, "We can get a warrant for Mrs Rossi's cooperation. She needs to know what her daughter has been up to."

The Embassy Head shook their heads when they stated, "A warrant isn't going to help." They took a deep breath before saying, "We don't have an Italian Diplomat by the surname of Rossi."

Perplexed but not deterred, Officer Chase asked, "Do you have any employees or staff with the surname of Rossi? Or if any of them have a daughter named Lila Rossi?"

The Embassy Head tapped their chin in thought before they finally said, "Not that I'm aware of off the top of my head…" They looked at the policeman when they asked, "Would you be willing to wait for a while? I need to check our employee records to make sure, for both our end and Italy's end."

Officer Chase agreed to that.

}{

Caline was rather pleased by how fast the Dupain-Chengs and the Forests responded to her email regarding this parent/teacher meeting with each other, the Rossis, the Headmaster, and her. Both families were very open about the date, with the condition that they be given at least a 24-hour notice for the given day if needed or earlier, since they were very busy with their jobs and needed to plan things so they could take the time off for the meeting. Miss Bustier could understand this. The Dupain-Chengs ran a very popular and successful bakery and the Forest had an important job to do here in Paris. However, both sets of parents loved their children and wanted to have a hand on this issue.

Miss Bustier already notified Damocles about the Dupain-Chengs and Forests openness about the meeting, so he was aware of this. Now all that the redheaded teacher needed was Mrs Rossi to respond to the email and help set a date for the meeting.

}{

Lila rolled her eyes when she saw the title of the email that her gullible teacher sent to her mother, or so she believed. Like heck the liar wanted her mother to get any news or emails regarding the school! There was no way Lila wanted her all too trusting mother to learn what she'd been up to at school, or learn that the school hasn't been closed.

So, of course, Lila copied and pasted the 'I'm too busy to take time out of my work to come in' paragraph that she made ahead of time, then edited it so it wasn't too identical to the last one she sent. She read the reply email to make sure it sounded like her mother before she sent it.

Lila scoffed when she thought as she lounged on her bed, 'Seriously, what was with today? First Adrien didn't show up to our photoshoot, then that boring policeman interrupted me for some dumb interrogation that I have nothing to do with, and now that stupidly gullible teacher actually wants a meeting with my mother?' She scrolled on her phone when she concluded that since she had diplomatic immunity, she didn't need to talk to the police, and since the school couldn't force a parent/teacher meeting, there was no need to worry about that. Especially since Lila made damn sure that Dupont couldn't contact her mother.

The only downside was that Lila had to keep those emails from the school on her phone, but no biggy.

Lila checked her calendar on her phone when she mused, "Ah, I need to check on my monitors. A few of these should have a full memory by now and need to get a new jump drive." She smirked at the thought of watching what her Adrien did when he was in his room.

Oh, Lila especially couldn't wait to go through the recordings from the cameras in Adrien's personal bathroom. Not only could she use these as blackmail but also admire her Adrien cleaning himself for her.

Now the only issue that Lila foresaw as being a problem was the house staff coming into Adrien's room while she was in there changing the jump drives. Seriously, it's like they go in that room to clean every hour or so! And because of that, Lila hadn't been able to check on her monitors, at all.

No biggy, Lila can make up something to tell Gabriel to put them in line if they bother her again. Everyone who works under Gabriel obeys him without question, and Lila knew how to manipulate him, so it was a win win for her.

}I{

From what everyone in the Miracuclass learned… The Archome's Control magic was the perfect combination of Mind Control magic and Mind Suggestion magic. They also learned these magics were too.

Mind Control magic does exactly what it implies, magic that allows one to control people's mind. This magic is only illegal due to how easy it is to detect and break. Apparently, Mind Control magic turns a person into a puppet that will obey all the caster's commands to the word, even if they are aware of what was going on. Which also makes it easy to know when it's being used. There were a lot of ways to break Mind Control magic, some can even be done by the victim themself if they can focus hard enough.

Mind Suggestion magic was more along the lines of pushing something that the victim already wanted to do while turning it up to ten. This kind of magic essentially prioritises certain desires over everything else no matter what. Mind Suggestion magic was banned due to how hard it was to detect and break. Since this magic enhanced the desires that were already there, it's not easily noticeable unless the person was doing a lot of out of character behaviours, and the only way to break Mind Suggestion magic is for the affected person to catch any inconsistencies in their mentality. Unlike Mind Control magic, Mind Suggestion magic will only work on what's already there, therefore, if someone does not have the desire the caster wants them to do, the spell won't work on them. That was probably the only good thing about Mind Suggestion magic…

Still… It was understandable as to why Mind Control magic was illegal while Mind Suggestion magic was banned.

But, apparently, Archome's Control magic was even worse than Mind Suggestion magic!

From what they learned, Archome's Control magic worked like Mind Control but acted like Mind Suggestion magic in a way. When an Archome's Control spell was casted, it 'installed' orders and then alters the person's desires to follow through on these orders while keeping their personality intact. One would think it would be easy to figure out that this kind of magic was being used but Archome's Control had this unusual side-effect of causing the victims to forget the orders given yet they will follow through on these orders. Meaning that those who were affected by an Archome's Control wouldn't even know that they were being affected by it!

That was horrifying!

Acting on an order you don't even remember? Not being sure why you're doing despite wanting to do it?

And that's not the scariest part…

The scariest part is the same as Mind Suggestion magic… Archome's Control magic prioritises the given orders over everything else despite the value to the victim. Meaning the victim will always follow these un-remembered orders no matter what and despite any prior commitments or events, and what made it worse… Depending on the given orders, the victims could even miss seeing, hearing, smelling, and touching certain things despite them being blatantly obvious.

For example, if someone were to use Archome's Control magic while ordering someone to never learn any of Shakespeare's plays outside the title, then the victim of that Spell will literally never be able to read, see, or hear any of the plays of anyone named Shakespeare. To them, any books with Shakespeare's works will have completely blank pages, a stage play of Hamlet will be completely void of actors and music, and even audiobooks of Shakespeare's plays would essentially have no one speaking despite the audio playing.

THAT was one of the very few signs of someone being under Archome's Control magic.

If anyone was suspected, the only way to be sure there was or wasn't any Archome's Control magic was to use, and also help breaking it, this techo-magic called a Control Analyses Test Scan.

After learning this, Adrien had an epiphany when he got out as he looked at Jazz, "Wait! Do you suspect Father of! Of using this Archome's Control magic!" He was hoping he was wrong. He honestly and truly didn't want to think that his father was somehow involved in banned magic! But… The circumstantial evidence was not in Adrien's favour.

Jazz frowned when he stated seriously, "Ah don't suspect, Ah have solid proof at least Gabriel Agreste was using Archome's Control magic." He folded his arms when he added, tone unchanging, "Yah bodyguard, Marques Guarde, had a few of tha major tells of bein' affected by Archome's Control magic and was later confirmed ta be undah it. We only checked his co-workers ta be on tha safe side, and ended up confirming that tha bulk of them were affected by Archome's Control magic. When we realised that all of tha affected have been given 'orders' from either Gabriel Agreste, Emilie Agreste, or both… Well, Ah think yah have a good idea on who Ah believe is usin' Archome's Control magic."

Kon's father, Mr Forest, couldn't help but chime in in a serious tone, "Vell now, I know zere are some people zat are considered 'control freaks' but zat is a whole new level of 'yikes'. Zat is most certainly going to earn some hard time in a Magical prison, yes?" Mr Forest was a man of mixed nationality who appeared to be in his late 50s with mossy green hair that looked to be tied in a double braided (basically braids within a braid) ponytail with a set of sideburns of the same colour, a slightly wide nose, squared jaw, cocoa brown eyes open but both eyes seemed to be sharp, wore a silver shirt with short red sleeves and red hems, wore a pair of khaki slacks with several pockets, and black boots.

Jazz replied dryly, "That would be an undah statement." A gleam glinted off his visor in a dark tone when he stated seriously, "It might be horrible fur us, but tha 14 Entities hate Archome's Control magic a helluva lot more and will punish those who use it worse than any prisons here could deal."

Oh…

Oh…

Oh!

Wasn't that a 'pleasant' description of what was in store for Gabriel Agreste when he returned from that work trip…

A dark thought crossed Adrien's mind when this information finally sank into his head. Given that everyone who 'stayed' in the Agreste mansion was under Archome's Control magic and how much his father demanded him to have perfect behaviour and obedience… Oh… Kwami… Adrien was already feeling sick to his stomach.

That was when the blonde model finally asked in a tone that was a combination of reluctance, disgust, and horror, "Mr Jazz… Do you think… I was under this Archome's Control magic?" Adrien's clenched closed hands were gripping the leggings of his slacks so tightly that they might rip and were visibly shaking when he added in that same tone, "Father practically demanded obedience from me… And… And now thatI think about it mother too… Just… Just nicer about it… They… They always wanted me to obey them in some way or another…"

The rest of the Miracuclass noticed how badly the blonde boy was shaking and almost tearing his slacks. Nino placed a hand on Adrien's shoulder at this, trying to comfort the other even if it was a little bit.

Tom, Sabine, and Marinette looked worried at Jazz, who was now sporting a sympathetic expression before he stated as calmly as possible, "Adrien… If yah were unduh Archome's Control magic… Yah would've been affected by the Control Analysis Test scan… And would be with tha Agreste house Staff and tha Raincompexs… Going through tha same 'Detox' as them…"

Adrien's eyes shot wide open at this realisation before he closed them, lowering his head and letting his bangs full forward, his lips were twisted in a mixture of a frown and folding into his teeth, and small droplets of water fell onto the back of his still clenched hands.

No one could blame Adrien for thinking those things and reacting in that way. Given what they've learned so far and this Archome's Control magic… Even they thought that Gabriel would've used this magic to control his son… And if one was to say that they didn't, then they're lying to themselves…

Chloe pulled Adrien into a soft hug and let him cry on her shoulder, not the least bit concerned about the name of the jacket she was wearing. That was not as important as her friend…

Marinette watched this in relief, glad that Adrien wasn't under Archome's Control. She closed her eyes for a few seconds before they shot open in realisation.

Adrien wasn't under Archome's Control… But Sabrina was… Why?

Marinette glanced to the side as the thought about that in suspicion. She honestly couldn't think of any good reason for either Agreste parents to want to control Sabrina. Emphasis on the word 'good'… All of the reasons Marinette could think of for the Agreste parents to have Sabrina under their control were absolutely NOT good! All just holy cow! Why is she even thinking these things!?

OK! OK! OK! Marinette knew she had a bit of a problem with spirilling on some of her thinking, but how could she Not think the absolute worst regarding THIS?!

Sabrina was not related to the Agrestes! Not that being related was a good excuse to use controlling type magic on a person! That was bad no matter what! Even if it might be with good intentions! But THIS is NOT good in any way! Sabrina was the same age as Adrien, which is probably making this even worse!

Oh! No! No! No! No! No! No! Marinette! Do NOT go thinking THOSE thoughts! That's bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! And with Sabrina! Not that Sabrina wasn't attractive or cute! She was pretty cute in a somewhat nerdy and bookish way, like Max. Wait! No! Not the time to be thinking about how cute all your classmates can be! Do that when you're not in a serious situation!

"Yah're spiralling in yah head, Pixienette," said the familiar voice of Jazz as he playfully poked his niece's shoulder.

This, of course, startled Marinette out of her skin and seat. The visor-wearing man managed to catch his niece before she fell over.

When Marinette's brain managed to register what was said. She was quick to retort in embarrassment, "Uncle Jazz! Don't call me that in front of people outside the family!" Her cheeks were as red as Nath's hair as her own hair somewhat prickled up.

Jazz had a playful smile when he replied cheekily, "Aw, but Prowler calls yah that all tha time."

Marinette turned even redder, if that were possible, when she retorted in embarrassment, "I tell him not to call me that in public too! But he does it anyway!"

Jazz let out a chuckle when he replied, "It's because he cares about yah." Both Tom and Sabine had to agree with that. Marinette pouted but knew her uncle was right. Jazz stared at his niece, a small glint danced off his visor when he stated seriously, "The doctors will figure out what orders were given ta yahr friend… And everyone unduh tha Archome's Control…" He folded his arms when he added in that same serious tone, "And Gabriel and Emilie Agreste will be charged fur their crimes when they return and found."

Adrien gripped Chloe's jacket when he mumbled something into her shoulder. The mayor's daughter had a conflicted expression when she repeated what her friend said, "Um… Auntie Emilie is missing… Has been for almost two years…" Chloe hugged Adrien at those words.

A gleam crossed Jazz's visor when he stated seriously, "Ah already got people on searchin' fur her. Might take a while, but she will be found. She an't gunna get out of this without consequences, weither she's found alive or dead."

Oh… Why did that sound ominus as heck?

}I{

"I apologise for wasting your time on this," Officer Chase stated in his monotone voice that had an odd sympathetic tone to it.

The Embassy head waved a hand when they stated, "It's okay, you were just doing your job." they folded their arms when they added, "I understand that you have a case to work on, but you might want to add our little meeting to your list of things to talk to Signorita Rossi about. Lila Rossi DID waste police time and resources with that 'my mother is an Italian Diplomat' lie." They let out a sigh before adding, "The only good that came of this is that we need to update our files for the local police."

Officer Chase couldn't help but state, "At least there was one silver lining in our meeting." He then bid the Embassy head a good day before heading back to Dupont. The policeman's thoughts were a logical one, they should have Lila Rossi's mother's contact information.

~}I{~

Marques wasn't sure what this weird dream was about, but he sure as hell knew there was a consistent pattern!

Orders from Gabriel Agreste, Emilie Agreste, or both!

All were orders! Just orders!

Small orders, large orders, and in-between orders.

Marques raised a brow as the next 'Dream Order' played in front of him, this one was Gabriel ordering him to forget about getting Adrien a pet dog who could double as extra protection, citing that he was not trusting some animal with his son's safety. That was strange? Marques doesn't remember asking about allowing Adrien to get any pet, let alone a dog.

At least until he saw a little orb of a scene from his point of view materialised in the corner of his vision. Marques was quick to reach out to that orb and caught it in his large hand. He then held it up so he could see this memory.

Coincedencially enough… It was a memory of him and Adrien having a conversation about pet care and the responsibilities that come with owning a pet. They managed to reach an agreement on possibly getting a dog, if they could convince Gabriel of it…

Marques' eyes widened at this as the orb sank into his hand. That was when that very memory that he just watched returned to his head.

Oh… God… How could Marques forget about that conversation with Adrien?! How could he forget how excited his ward was as he did his research? How could he forget how he encouraged Adrien to carefully think over what kind of animal he wanted that could also protect him? How?

How? How? How? How? How? How? How?

Marques then looked at the image of Gabriel Agreste in front of him, repeating the order to forget about getting Adrien a dog. This time, Marques noticed how Gabriel seemed to move his wedding ring so it gleamed in the light as he spoke. The bodyguard didn't know why, but he KNEW that Mr Agreste was behind his memory problems! Behind the fact that he was missing so, so, so many things that he wanted to remember! These memories were a part of who he was! Why the actual hell would Mr Agreste want to erase who Marques Guarde was!?

Suddenly, an image of Emilie Agreste appeared next to her husband with that cheery smile when she said as if she were having a pleasant conversation, "Now Marques, I want you to make sure that when Adrien is out on his modelling jobs and wants to go shopping that he only buys what Gabe and I allow." As she listed off the items that were 'approved' of, she somewhat waved her hand with her wedding ring, making it gleam in the light.

Marques stared at the image of Adrien's mother in disbelief and anger.

Her too…

Emilie was also causing his memory problems! All to control her son indirectly?!

What the actual-!

That was when Marques realised… All these 'orders' that Mr and Mrs Agreste were giving him, the ones that were also messing with his memories, were all about keeping Adrien under THEIR control! All those orders were essentially them micromanaging, conditioning, and manipulating their son to be exactly what they wanted him to be! THEIR Perfect Little Doll!

Marques clenched his hands into fists, he grounded his teeth as he bared them, and his eyes were glaring with rage at the so-called parents he worked for! For Years! Before Adrien was even born! And this whole time! This whole time! They only thought of him as a fucking tool that they could use for whatever they wanted!

And what was worse was the fact that those so-called parents decided to use him to fucking groom Adrien to be their perfect little doll! All without doing the fucking deeds directly!

Adrien was a person! Marquese was a person! They were individuals! NOT Fucking Tools or Dolls!

Marques started glowing white before he let out a roar similar to the one that his nickname was known for! That was when a wave of light shot out from the bodyguard and destroyed all the images of Gabriel and Emilie giving their orders to him the moment they hit.

After a couple of seconds of this, Marques was exhausted. He looked up to see that all the images of Gabriel and Emilie were gone and only memory orbs were left floating in the air. The bodyguard smiled as he motioned for the orbs to come to him. Marques didn't know why he thought it would work, but it did, and all of them sank into his being.

It felt a little overwhelming, but… It felt like everything was being put back in place… That he was whole again.

}{

Marques slowly opened his eyes. Things were blurry at first, but slowly got clearer after a few blinks… That was when he realised that he was staring at a ceiling…

Oh… Did he fall asleep during that CAT Scan?

Why was he getting a CAT Scan again?

Marques rubbed his head as he tried to think about the CAT scan, but things were hazy, strange… His head felt fuzzy, not fuzzy like a fluffy cat, but fuzzy like… Like there was too much going on in his head yet he couldn't focus on what all that stuff was…

How weird…

Marques slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. Emphasis on 'slowly'… His head was just swimming in some kind of fog of dizziness. Damn… What happened?

"Mr Guarde, glad to see you're awake."

Marques slowly turned to the voice to see a doctor who was looking at something on a computer attached to the bed he was on. The bodyguard slowly blinked at the person in front of him before he moved his arms so his hands were visible to see and slowly signed, "What… Happened… To… Me?"

The doctor gently coaxed Marques to lay back down when they said in a calm tone, "I know you're a little disorianted, but that's normal. Just rest for a while longer until it passes." As the bodyguard laid back on the bed, the doctor said, "You're going to have to take things slow for a few days. Let your mind settle."

Marques wasn't sure what was going on, but… His head felt better right now, so maybe it's a good idea to listen to the doctor. Soon enough, Marques fell back asleep, and this time, he had a more pleasant dream.

}I{

"You've got to be fucking kidding?!" Miss Mendeleiev, Armond, and Damocles blinked three times before looking at each other and then at the person who had just shouted in disbelief.

Miss Bustier was glaring daggers at her computer screen in an uncharacteristically unusual amount of anger. Bearing her teeth, caline practically seethed out, "Did Mrs Rossi even read the email I sent?! Or does she not care about her daughter's behaviour?! Or does she not care about what's going on at her daughter's school?! There is no fucking way she can be THAT busy to Not read more than the title of her emails!"

Oh… Were the rest of the Dupont's staff on edge after this… Outburst…

How could they not? Caline Bustier was completely pissed off! She was NEVER Pissed off! Oh… This was bad! Hawkmoth could target her!

Ms Mendeleiev was the one who decided to try to help her co-worker calm down when she asked, "Caline… Can I see the email you sent and Mrs Rossi's response?" she cautiously took a step towards the redheaded teacher.

Caline turned her computer monitor so the science teacher could read the body of the email she sent and Mrs Rossi's response. The redheaded teacher did a few calming deep breaths to help control herself.

Ms Mendeleiev read those with a critical eye. She was rather impressed with how articulate the literature teacher was in her email, but she could understand why given the current issue with Lila. The science teacher raised a brow when she got to Mrs Rossi's response, which… Felt almost too detached… Also…

"Caline…" Miss Mendeleiev got out inconfusion as she stared at the line of text on the screen.

Miss Bustier let out a huff as she folded her arms and slumped in her chair when she got out, "I know! Can you believe how uncaring Mrs Rossi is regarding her daughter's school life?!"

Ms Mendeleiev glanced at her co-worker When she said cautiously, "Uh… Well… That does seem apparent, but… I think this response is… Identical to the one you showed me regarding the Parent's Day event… Also from Mrs Rossi."

This got Caline's attention when she looked at the science teacher and asked, "Wait? Are you sure?"

Ms Mendeleiev placed a hand on her chin when she looked back at the email on the computer monitor when she replied, "Either identical or near-Identical, but I'm pretty sure Mrs Rossi worded it almost similar to this…"

Miss Bustier turned her monitor back to her as she opened a new tab and searched for that particular email. Once she found it, she compared that to the recent email.

The two responses WERE identical! Practically word for word!

Okay, that's certainly weird and rather suspicious.

That spurred Caline to look through the other responses from Mrs Rossi, and noticed how strangely similar these responses were from one another, not completely identical, but there were enough of a difference that the similarities weren't noticed right away unless you looked at all of them at once like Miss Bustier was doing right now.

Ms Mendeleiev stared at all this on the computer screen when she mused in a suspicious tone, "Caline… I don't know about you, but it feels like someone typed this response out beforehand, copied/pasted it onto an email, and edited it enough each time so no one would notice it right away," That was what the science teacher thought it was, so, of course, that's what she said.

Miss Bustier couldn't help but reply, "I… I think you're right… But… Why? It's not necessary…"

The teachers then looked at each other at this as it made them wonder about this situation.

A knock on the doorframe of the teacher's lounge got everyone's attention. And there standing in the doorway was Officer Chase.

Once the policeman saw that he had the staff's attention, he stated in a stern yet monotone voice, "Hello again Miss Bustier, I hate to disrupt your work, but I have an inquiry that involves one of your students." He pulled out his notebook to take notes when he continued, "I need the contact information for Mrs Rossi. Her daughter needs to be brought in for an interrogation but is a minor and needs her legal guardian to be there."

Miss Bustier was rather confused when she asked the policeman, "I thought you were going to talk to everyone who was in the Agreste mansion when whatever was found in there?" She innately wondered what Lila had to do with this issue.

Officer Chase looked through his notes before he stated carefully, "True, but we are talking to everyone who has been to the Agreste mansion." He flipped back to a clean page when he added, "And Ms Lila Rossi has been in the Agreste mansion, therefore, she needs to be talked to." Officer Chase then looked at the redheaded teacher when he asked, "So, do you have the most recent contact information of Mrs Rossi?"

Miss Bustier nodded when she stated, "We do, but I hope you have better luck with getting her to come in."

Damocles already started pulling that information near his desk.

Officer Chase raised a brow when he questioned in confusion, "Can you elaborate on that statement?"

Ms Mendeleiev folded her arms when she stated sternly, "Mrs Rossi is apparently 'too busy' with her job as an Italian diplomat to bother with her daughter's school, despite Ms Rossi's behavioural issues being sent to her in a detailed email."

The policeman's attention was picked up when he inquired critically, "What did you say Mrs Rossi's occupation was?"

Armond was the one to repeat, "An Diplomat from Italy." He let out an annoyed sigh before he rolled his eyes when he added, "A rather busy one who doesn't seem to take much time off from her job, even more so when she's out travelling and taking Lila with her."

Officer Chase was getting concerned when he asked the headmaster, "Is that job what you have on the paperwork for Ms Lila Rossi?"

Damocles pulled the file out of its place when he stated, "It is." He raised a brow before he looked at the policeman when he asked, "Hang on, why are you asking if we're sure about Mrs Rossi's job?"

Officer Chase flipped back through his notes when he explained that he went to the Italian Embassy after Lila told him about her Italian diplomat mother and couldn't go to the police station because of her rank, and then learned that there was no employee or staff of any kind working at the Italian Embassy. The policeman even quoted the lines from the Embassy Head that proved these findings.

Damocles opened the file to look at the contact information of Mrs Rossi when he said in disbelief, "But! But that information was in Lila Rossi's student file before we got it!" His eyes stared at the occupation line which read 'High-ranking Italian Diplomat'.

Officer Chase couldn't help but say in suspicion, "Aside from email correspondence, has anyone been able to have actual contact with Mrs Rossi?"

Now that the Dupoint thought about it… The only communication they've had from Mrs Rossi was via email, even after leaving who knows how many voice messages for her phone number…

Officer Prowl narrowed his eyes when he asked seriously, "May I see what you have for contact in that file?"

}{

"Um… Do you know how long it's going to be before… Sabrina, Gorilla, and the others wake up?" Kim asked in worry as he looked at Jazz.

The man with the visor was honest when he explained, "That's gonna depend on tha given order, how many there are, and tha person themself." He gave the group a sympathetic expression when he added, "But even then, yah won't be allowed ta see them right away."

The unanimous response from the Miracugroup was, "Why?"

Made sense, given that Sabrina and Gorilla were involved.

Jazz understood why they were reacting like this, but continued to explain, "It's fur their well bein' and yahrs. We don't know what orders were given yet, thus we don't know how they're gonna react ta realising that what was happenin' ta them… But…" He took a deep breath before he told the group in a serious and stern tone, "When yah are allowed ta see her… And everyone else in that room… Can yah keep assuring them that they aren't at fault fur what they did when they were under Archome's Control. Fur their sake."

The bulk of the group were confused by this, but for the Dupain-Chengs, the Lahiffes, and the Lês seemed to understand and were already worried about the ones that still slept…

}I{

Officer Prowl was going through the newly acquired data regarding the spy cameras. As expected, the fingerprints from the house staff, Marques Guarde, the group of teens he met didn't match the ones found on all of the spy cameras. Well, aside from one, but Max already explained why he had to touch the spy camera found in the fake book and his prints were closer to the edges of the jumpdrive. Therefore, all of them were eliminated from the list of suspects. Thankfully.

That also narrowed the suspect pool down to Nathalie Sancoeur and Lila Rossi, both of whom have been confirmed to have touched the items with the hidden spy cameras. However, they needed to be fingerprinted in order to confirm whose prints were on all the jump drives and the spy cameras.

Officer Prowl narrowed his eyes as he read through the data regarding the technical aspects of the spy cameras.

From what was learned from their counterparts from Ireland, these spy cameras weren't meant to be stationed close to each other due to them causing some interference with other electronics when their electric fields overlap. Which had been happening in Adrien's room. Makes sense given the size of it and the fact that all 12 of the spy cameras were crammed into it…

Yeah, that was still cringe… In so many ways…

Officer Prowl placed a hand on his chin as he read through the statement from the manager from that kids and teens entertainment place. Apparently, he was going to place these decoys sporadically throughout the business and wasn't going to use all 12 of them at once. The manager had planned to mound four in easy sight while he stored the rest as replacements when needed, with placing one decoy in the high traffic customer areas of the business. Officer Prowl admitted that it was a good strategy and would've liked to have seen these cameras used as intended.

The homicide officer then flipped the page to the next. That was where he had the connection from the entertainment business to the Agreste mansion. Via one Lila Rossi.

According to the manager's sister, Lila used to be her best friend when she attended her school. The same best friend who was having issues with the girl who was framed for stealing the keys for the business.

As Officer Prowl continued reading, he learned what else has been found out regarding what the 'issues' with Lila was and the fact that the manager's sister hasn't been able to reach Lila after she left the school, hench why they are no longer friends… If they were ever friends in the first place, given what has been learned after Lila left the school.

Officer Prowl couldn't help but compare these noted incidents with Lila to the 'crap' that Marinette had told him, his brother, sister-in-law, and husband regarding the same girl… It made the homicide officer wonder…

Officer Prowl shook his head before refocusing on his current case.

After all, Tom and Sabine were planning a meeting with Dupont regarding the issue with that Lila already, so he didn't need to worry about that…

Wait a second…

Has Officer Chase checked Dupont yet? Or has he found Mrs Rossi at her workplace and is now scheduling a meeting with the police for her daughter?

Right now, Officer Prowl needed to talk to both Rossis. One as a suspect in the spy cameras and the other regarding her daughter's actions.

The sound of the homicide officer's work phone going off broke him out of his thoughts. He checked to see who was calling, and was pleasantly surprised by who it was.

Talk about the phrase 'speak of the devil' being on point.

Officer Prowl answered the cellphone when he told the caller, "Status report."

That was when Officer Chase's voice came through the phone, "I am sorry to report that I have not been able to make contact with Mrs Rossi. However, there are legitimate reasons for that. Of which is also causing some rather serious legal concerns."

Officer Prowl raised a brow when he asked the other, "And what are these 'legitimate reasons' that would cause those issues?"

}{

Officer Chase glanced up from the contact information in Lila Rossi's file to look at the Dupont teachers while still on his phone. He could tell the teachers were already discussing this new issue and how to find a solution to it. The policeman couldn't blame them for this.

Officer Chase took in a deep breath before he told the leading investigator on the phone, "Well, for starters… The entire contact information Dupont has for Cecelia Rossi, Lila Rossi's mother, is completely fabricated to the point that I am not even sure that the names in this file are even real or that they might be from Italy… It is clear that someone didn't want the school to contact Mrs Rossi… Which might I add, is yet another concerning legal issue on that list of 'Legitimate Reasons' I have for the Rossis."

The only thing Officer Prowl could say was, "What!?"

~}I{~

To be continued.

~}I{~

Gale-Dragon: Okay, to any of you readers who know DC Comics or Batman lore… Yes, Archome is pronounced just like Arkham, and yes, that is a reference to the Asylum of the same name. Also, yes, Gabe is going to be in some serious trouble once he and Nathalie return to Paris once their "mostly work" trip is over.

Oh, and just to make one thing clear…

No, the Miraculous group have NOT been told that Nooroo and Duusu have been found nor who Hawkmoth is. This is more because Officer Prowl literally can't due to the ongoing investigation (two if you count the Magical Side of things), and he knows that Adrien and his niece are going to have too much on her mind to deal with the whole "Need to take down Hawkmoth" thing on top of all the other thing going on (double strain on Adrien, given the whole 'his dad is Hawkmoth'). Especially since Gabe has proven to be using Archome's Control and will most certainly going to be using it since he no longer has his Miraculous, which puts not just Marinette and Adrien at risk.

Don't worry, Lila will also be getting her due… Right after she tells a lie that Kon isn't going to be quiet about and an unneeded over drama. Yeah , I've got a lot of things planned for the next chapter and the chapter after that. Stay tuned~.

~}I{~