Will, Max, and a young man wearing a white lab coat exited a building and stopped near a large ground sign that read: "Automata Innovations".

"Thanks again for the tour, Sam," Will said as he shook the man's hand.

"No problem," Sam replied. "I'm just glad you were finally able to take me up on my offer. I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help though."

"That's ok," Will said. "If you get any news about Dr. Ferryman, just give me a call at the office."

"Of course," Sam agreed. "Be careful out there, Will."

"I'll do my best," Will replied as he turned to leave.

"Thank you for the tune-up, sir," Max said to Sam as he put his hand out for a shake.

"My pleasure, Max!" Sam said as he shook Max's hand.

Sam watched as Will and Max returned to their car. As Will drove away, he waved goodbye out the window, and Sam returned the gesture.

"Mr. Townsend is certainly an agreeable chap," Max said a few moments later.

"Yeah...Sam and I go way back. Aside from you, Hank, Emily, and Jennifer, he's probably the only person I know I can trust," Will stated. "Oh, and Anne and Alastair too."

Will and Max drove for quite some time until they eventually pulled into the parking lot of Millie's diner.

"Hmmm...I don't see Hank's truck, but we're a couple minutes early," Will stated as he checked his watch.

"Here he comes now," Max said pointing toward an old truck that had just turned into the parking lot.

"Perfect timing! Come on, let's go," Will said as he exited the car.

Will and Max walked over and met Hank just as he was getting out of his truck.

"Well, gents, fancy meeting you here!" Hank greeted.

"Four o'clock on the nose!" Will said with amazement as he tapped his watch. "How do you always manage to do that?!"

"Tell ya..." Hank began.

"Later," Will interrupted, finishing Hank's sentence. "Yeah, yeah, I know...always later."

"Hehe...come on, let's eat!" Hank said cheerfully as he put his arm around Will's shoulder.

As Will, Hank, and Max neared the entrance to the diner, two men dressed in suits and ties exited. The taller of the two men noticed Will and then elbowed the other man, nodding in Will's direction. Both men stopped and waited to meet Will and the others.

"Oh, great," Will muttered under his breath when he saw the two men waiting.

"Well, if it isn't Irving," said the taller man, taking a toothpick out of his mouth and flicking it into a nearby bush.

"Dante," Will greeted with a hint of disdain, and then he turned to greet the shorter man. "Grayson."

Detective Clyde Grayson remained silent but gave a nod.

"Hank," Detective Nick Dante greeted with a nod.

"Fellas," Hank returned.

"You guys solve any big cases lately?" Clyde asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, just now actually. For the past few weeks, I've been getting calls about plants dying all over the city. Seems that in every case, toothpicks were found near the dead plants," Will stated as he shot a smirk at Nick.

"Smart ass," retorted Nick. "Why do you even bother, Irving? You're a damn lousy shamus. Your old man wasn't much good either, but he was a damn sight better than you. Do us all a favor...Stay home and play with your metal doll, and let us real detectives take care of business!"

"Dirty business," Will mumbled.

"What was that?!" Clyde snapped.

"Nothing," Will replied as he turned to Hank and Max. "Come on, guys. I'm hungry."

Will took a few steps, opened the diner door, and held it as Hank and Max entered.

"Better watch yourself, kid. You don't have many friends left in town," Nick cautioned.

"That's ok," Will said, turning to look back. "I've got all I need."

Will entered the diner and let the door shut behind him as Nick and Clyde shuffled off toward the parking lot.

"Hey, Will!" greeted a man who was looking through the kitchen partition as he was working the grill.

"Hey, Bob!" Will returned as he made his way to the booth where Hank and Max had seated themselves.

"What did I miss?" Hank asked as Will slid into the booth.

"Nothing...I can't stand those guys," Will muttered.

"Well, well...two days in a row? You just can't get enough of my brother's cooking, huh?" came a cheerful voice from over Will's shoulder.

A woman, dressed in a waist apron and holding a newspaper in her hand, walked up to the booth and smiled.

"Hey, Sue," Will greeted with a chuckle.

"Hey, Will," Sue returned before turning to Hank. "Hank! We've missed you. How was your trip?"

"It was great, Sue! Thanks for asking," Hank replied. "Glad to be back though."

"Well, I'm glad you're back too!" Sue stated before she turned her attention to Max. "Paper today, Max?"

Sue held the newspaper up and waved it.

"Sure! Thank you, Susan. I haven't had a chance to finish it yet," Max politely returned.

Sue passed the newspaper to Max.

"Do you fellas know what you want?" Sue asked.

"I'll have my usual, please," Hank said.

"I'll take a tuna melt, please," Will replied.

"Anything to drink?" Sue inquired.

"Just water, please," Will and Hank both responded.

"Coming right up!" Sue chimed.

Sue turned and made her way back to the kitchen partition where she passed along the order to her brother, Bob. Bob and Sue Leonard were the co-owners of Millie's diner, which was named after their late mother who had started the diner with her husband nearly 30 years ago. Sue usually worked out front, while Bob was most often found cooking in the kitchen.

"Hey, Hank, why don't you already?" Will asked, slightly motioning toward Sue with his head.

"What?" Hank responded nonchalantly.

"Sue...ask her to dinner or something," Will suggested.

"Shhh, she'll hear you," Hank said, blushing slightly.

"Awww, come on! You're a grown man," Will said, lowering his voice slightly and leaning in. "Anyone can see that she likes you...and you like her. So what are you waiting for?"

"I have to agree with William on this one," Max interjected as he peered over his newspaper.

Hank remained silent and gave Max a reprimanding look.

"Well, you better do something before I do it for you...Su—" Will was about to say when Hank reached across the table and slugged him on the shoulder. "Owww!"

"Keep your big mouth shut!" Hank said. "I'll do it when I'm good and ready."

"I forgot to ask for rye bread," Will stated, rubbing his shoulder.

"Yeah, right," Hank replied.

Will smiled coyly, and Max chuckled.

"That was some punch," Will noted. "You still got it, old timer."

"Damn right I do!" Hank said with a grin. "And I ain't old."

"Just teasing," Will apologized. "Do you ever miss it?"

"Sometimes...but those days are gone," Hank answered with a reflective look. "There are better things to do with these hands than boxing."

A moment of silence passed before Hank spoke up again.

"We didn't come here to reminisce though," Hank said abruptly before lowering his voice. "How'd it go at the factory?"

"I'm guessing you didn't find out much since you're asking me first, huh?" Will replied quietly.

"Nothing. No sign of Claire's dad...business as usual for Moe," Hank shared. "I checked out as many places as I could without being made. Sorry, Will."

"No need to apologize. We didn't fare much better," Will consoled. "My friend Sam wasn't able to tell me much more than what we already knew. Her dad never made it to work yesterday, and no one has heard from him."

"Did Sam say anything about the work Art was doing?" Hank inquired.

"Nothing out of the ordinary...no special projects that he knew of anyway," Will answered.

"Damn!" Hank vented. "Back to square one."

Will nodded in frustrated affirmation as Sue returned with food in hand.

"Here's your dinner, fellas," Sue said warmly. "Bob fixed yours up with a little extra to welcome you back, Hank."

"Thanks, Sue. You guys are the best!" Hank complimented.

"Can I get anything else for either of you?" Sue offered.

"No thank you," Will and Hank both answered.

Sue smiled at Hank and then turned and walked away. Will looked over at Hank, smiled, and suggestively raised his eyebrows. Hank furrowed his brow and returned a menacing look. The playful tension was interrupted by another voice coming from over Will's shoulder.

"Hey, you!" the voice happily chimed.

Will turned to see a smiling young female police officer standing beside him with one hand on her hip and her hat under her other arm. Her badge read: "Hardy". Next to her stood a tall, young male police officer whose badge read: "Graham".

"Anne!" Will greeted with a smile before turning his attention to the other officer. "Hey, Alastair."

"Howdy, Will. Hank...Max," Alastair returned, politely tipping his hat.

Hank and Max each offered their own greetings to the two officers.

"You guys just get here?" Will inquired.

"Actually, we're on our way out. We were sitting on the other side," Anne stated, pointing over her shoulder. "Is that a tuna melt?!"

"Yeah, why?" Will replied.

"That's what I had! I had been craving one for so long," Anne shared.

Will chuckled and then suddenly got serious.

"Anne, do you have a minute? I want to ask you guys about a case we're working," Will asked.

"Sure. What's up?" Anne replied.

"You gotta keep it on the down low though," Will said.

"You know we always do," Anne assured.

"I know. I trust you. We're just being extra cautious on this one," Will noted, lowering his voice. "Have either of you heard anything about a missing Chief of Research and Development over at Automata Innovations? His name is Arthur Ferryman."

"Arthur Ferryman?" Anne repeated quietly as she looked questioningly at her partner.

Alastair shrugged and shook his head.

"Sorry, Will," Anne said, also shaking her head. "How long has he been missing? Has anyone reported it?"

"Since about yesterday morning from what I understand, and it doesn't sound like anyone has reported it yet. We have reason to believe that Moe Salley may be involved...and I think Nick and Clyde are too," Will confided.

"Dante and Grayson? Hmmm..." Anne said pensively. "Is that what you all were discussing before you came in? We saw you through the window."

"No, that was just Nick being Nick. No one else knows we're working this case except you two," Will answered.

"Well, now that you mention Dante...maybe I do have something that might help. It's probably a long shot, but..." Anne hesitated a moment.

"I'll take it," Will interjected hopefully.

"Before you got here, Nick came over to our table and asked me to come over to his place for dinner tomorrow. He's been trying for a while now. Anyway, he was bragging about having some kind of expensive, fancy fish he was going to grill. I told him no, of course," Anne stated with a look of annoyance. "There are two things in this world that I can't stand: fish and Nick Dante."

Will and Hank both chuckled.

"Here's the thing...Nick is cheap...really cheap. There's no way he would fork out the dough for a fancy, candlelit fish dinner. But...Moe Salley owns that big fish market and warehouse down by the docks on the corner of 1st and Magnolia...If Nick is working for him, then he might be getting a fishy bonus for doing fishy jobs. Maybe you'll find something down there," Anne suggested.

"Wow! Thanks, Anne. I think you may be on to something. It's the best lead we've got anyhow," Will said excitedly. "You'll be a great detective someday...sooner than later, I hope!"

"Thanks, Will," Anne replied. "I wish Chief Canton saw it that way."

"Screw Canton," Will encouraged. "Don't give up! You'll make it...I know you will."

Anne smiled. Suddenly, a crackle was heard over the radios that the two police offers had on their belts. A dispatcher's voice could be heard calling out a unit number. Alastair grabbed his radio and motioned to Anne with his head.

"See ya, fellas," Alastair said, waving and turning to leave.

"Gotta go," Anne said. "Keep me posted, and I'll let you know if I hear anything."

"Thanks again, Anne. You're the best!" Will warmly complimented.

"If you all go down there...be safe, ok?" Anne said with a look of genuine concern. "Moe Salley is no joke."

Will smiled, gave a little nod of assent, and then watched as Anne left the diner.