Normandy Caterpillar's POV

"Oh... This is..." Normandy pursued her lips, staring at the run-down shack in front of her. Zulie Facilier's workplace, apparently. "Quaint." She knocked on the door, waiting a few minutes with the other Wonderlandians behind her. Suddenly, the door creaked and a short, chubby woman revealed herself. She was brown-skinned with her goddess curls tied in a piece of cloth.

"I'm closed for the day, no more tarot cards or palm readings," Zulie said, about to close the door. Alex stuck his foot in the doorway, stopping her.

"Wait, Zulie, we need to talk to you," he pleaded.

Zulie squinted, realizing how many of them there were. "Wait, I remember you." She pointed at Tilly. "You're the dead victim's sister. Matilda, wasn't it? Gosh, I'm so sorry for your loss. I knew Claudia from Freedom Year..." Zulie laughed, musing. "She was a wild streak, a fiery blaze!"

And that's how Normandy knew Zulie's opinion on Claudia was genuine. She didn't sugarcoat anything about Claudia. After some sweet-talking, Zulie allowed everyone to enter her humble abode. "Uh, don't touch that!" she shrieked at Cadien who was poking a crystal ball. "That cost $300—no! Don't use my tarot cards either!"

Normandy glared at Cadien. "We're not here to get kicked out."

He stuck out his tongue at her. "Whatevs."

"Guys, chill out," Hailee-Diane said, shaking her head. Normandy rolled her eyes as Zulie brought over a teapot and a tea set. It horribly reminded her of Claudia, throwing odd tea parties each week. Hadie smiled at Zulie, if not a bit strained. "Alright, let's stop playing games."

Zulie blinked. "Pardon?"

Normandy said, "We know that you and Claudia kept contact even after you graduated from EAH. And considering your current work—being a voodoo doctor in training—you must have some sort of enhancement to invoke..." She pursued her lips. "Well, visions."

"Oh." Zulie looked rather ashamed, almost as if she was caught doing something she wasn't supposed to. She stood up, sighing as she grabbed a small tin box off a shelf. She opened it, revealing a plant. A plant? Normandy questioned. "It's a herb called Moly, it's very rare, only making a few appearances in stories, such as The Odyssey. It can induce, well, hallucinations with some prophetic properties."

Tilly's jaw dropped. "You gave my sister drugs?"

"I mean... it's not exactly like weed or anything, it's just a herb. It's called Moly."

"Yes, we heard that part already," Normandy muttered, rubbing her temples. For Grimm's sake, she was getting a headache just speaking to Zulie. "Oh, and don't tell me you got paid for this crap!"

Zulie averted her gaze. Tilly shrieked—from laughter or hysteria, Normandy couldn't tell—as if she was getting axe-murdered. "You sold drugs to my sister?" Matilda shouted, dumbfounded.

"Claudia was the one who asked for them, she needed something to fall asleep quicker! Insomnia runs in the Hatter family apparently," Zulie said, trying to defend herself. But her shoulders slumped. "I need a side hustle since my current job isn't very high-performing, so I need other means of making money. Yes, I did give her the Moly, but I didn't expect it to work."

"Good Godmothers," Beatrice grumbled under her breath. "This is proving to be rather unfortunate."

They had gotten their answer, a pretty crappy one too, but their work was done. Back to Square One again, Normandy thought miserably. Just as they were about to leave, Alex asked, "Did anyone ask you for a sort of substance?"

Zulie raised her eyebrows. "Specify."

"Something enough to make someone so dazed and weak, that they can't fight back."

The girl narrowed her eyes, glancing around the Wonderlandian kids. "Now that I think of it, I got a mysterious message from someone a week ago. A note, actually. They requested a special concoction, something that describes what you just said. Anonymous, of course, but I didn't question it since I was low on rent."

"Anonymous buyer?" Bianca asked, swallowing hard. What's her deal about?

"Yup." Zulie's finger curled around a strand of her hair. "They wanted it delivered the next day at 7:00 PM sharp, they were pretty sticky about being late and shit. So I went to EAH's Courtyard and left it there. I don't know if they ever got the package or not, I never met the buyer."

Ruby sucked in a deep breath. "Oh God, that actually means..."

"Sounds exactly like our culprit," Adelaide said, jotting that down in her notebook. "Do you still have the note with you?"

"Nope, throw it out, it's long gone by now."

"And where did you drop it off?"

"On the stairs of Ever After High, near the Forever Bridge."

Cadien's eyes lit up. "Oh, aren't there cameras there?"

Hadie sighed, defeated. "Our school was built in 1812, the cameras are old and faulty, that's how no one can confirm what actually happened on the day of Claudia's death. They don't work."

Adelaide pursued her lips. "I'll get that footage. Of both events, of course."

Cadien glanced at her suspiciously. "Oh, yeah, princess? And how?"

"I have my connections, that's all you need to know."

୨ৎ──♤♡♢♧──୨ৎ

The Weaver's POV

"I'm starting to think you care about me, Adelaide," I said as I received another phone call. I spun around in my chair, taking my fingers off the keyboard. After a long night, I still hadn't found anything helpful on Claudia Hatter's death like I promised.

"As if."

I checked my fingernails boredly. "State your terms."

"I don't mean to boost your ego, but you're the best goddamn hacker I know." Whoa, that was unexpected. Adelaide Hearts barely gave out compliments, and they were usually cold-hearted insults in disguise. "Don't let that get to your head."

"Noted."

"Did you get footage on the night of Claudia's death?" Adelaide's words tripped on the death part and I couldn't blame her.

"No, it was somehow deleted, a technical and code-based error. So in other words, it was just a coincidence the camera was acting wonkier than usual, but... Well, there's always the possibility."

"Fine, can you get me a video on the front entrance of Ever After High on March 18th? The entrance with the stairs, closest to the Forever Bridge."

"March 18th? Why do you need footage from a week ago?"

"Just trust my word."

"Which is practically nothing."

"Don't play coy with me, not right now. Can you do it?"

I spun back around in my chair, my hands gliding across the keyboard. I had already hacked into the EAH database a few months ago, which meant it was easier for me to get footage access. Of course, there was the standard coding, but it would only take a few hours at most to decode. Milton Grimm wasn't slick, he needed better hackers. Suddenly, an error popped up. "Huh, that's not right," I mumbled, squinting at the screen. "That's weird, there'll be a whole new wall of code on the footage."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's strange, Headmaster Grimm never puts this much of an effort into the school security system." After a few minutes, another error page showed up. Shit, this would take longer than expected. "It's so odd, I think I've seen this code somewhere before, it might be copied. I'll figure it out, but I can do it."

"Thank you."

I faked a gasp. "Did Adelaide Hearts just thank someone? Damn, what's up with your A-game lately?"

"Nothing is," she snapped back over the phone. "I just appreciate you doing something for me, I spent the whole day with my friends, that made me admire everything in life at the moment. So shut up." So aggressively defensive for some reasons. I probably taught her that.

"Hey, an eye for an eye? We're both in this together—yeah, we both hate each other's fucking guts—and there's no stopping us now, right? We're, like, unstoppable." Alright, that sounded cocky of him. "I always got your back, no matter how—"

"Evil," Adelaide finished. "Yes, yes, I know your signature motto." After a pause, she added, "Keep up the responsibility and I might let you go near Bianca and my friends."

"Thanks for your permission, Mom," I said sarcastically. "God, look at us, we're talking to each other without clawing at each other's throats.

"Ride-or-die, right?"

୨ৎ──♤♡♢♧──୨ৎ

Hailee-Diane Dumpty's POV

Hadie and Normandy were walking down the corridor, talking about the upcoming Thronecoming. They'd go dress-shopping and try every perfume sample until they were asked to leave. Suddenly, Hadie overheard Headmaster Grimm's voice from an empty classroom. "Wait," she told Normandy, cupping her ears and pressing herself to the door. "I think it's Grimm and a woman." She peeked through the door's tiny window, her eyes widening. "Shit, shit," she said, eyes wide. "It's that lady AJ told us about, that Detective Bryony Pois, didn't she make an appearance on the MirrorCast?"

"You actually listen to Cressida Lockes' rambles?" Normandy stifled a laugh.

"She actually has a soothing voice, alright? Sue me."

"I bet AJ would agree with you," Normandy laughed quietly.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, never mind."

"Yes, I do intend on closing the case in a few days," Detective Pois spoke, leaning against a desk, arms crossed. She was a short brown-skinned woman, her hair in goddess braids. Hadie saw the police badge that was on her belt. "I will inform the Hatter family of the update, sir."

"Don't bother, Mr. Hatter is back in Wonderland, which is still sealed off. And that Matilda girl is too young, she's convinced that someone harmed her sister." Grimm leaned against the whiteboard, matching Detective Pois' posture. "Leave the files to me, I'll sort it."

"That doesn't sound very ethical," Pois replied, jutting her chin.

Grimm cocked his head. "I remember you, Bryony Pois, one of the worst students at Ever After High from thirty years ago. You almost failed every grade, Ms. Pois, so don't you dare forget what I did for you." He looked down on her. "I changed your exam scores so you'd pass, and you even graduated on time to become a teen-suicide detective."

Detective Pois' jaw tensed. "Milton, please."

"It's still 'Sir' or 'Headmaster Grimm,' Ms. Pois."

"Detective Pois," the woman said silently, but her voice was faltering.

"Which you'd never be if it wasn't for me." Grimm stroked his beard, smiling serenely at Pois. "So it's best to stick to the narrative I've laid out, no? Claudia Hatter, killing herself, and it was a tragedy. I need to keep my school's status reputable, Miss Hatter's death would ruin that. Understood?"

Detective Pois nodded. "Crystal-clear, sir."

Oh... shit. Hadie yanked on Normandy's hand, dragging her away from the door. "Oh my Grimm," she gasped out dramatically. "Did you hear that? Headmaster Grimm is blackmailing Detective Pois to close the case early and label it as a teen suicide!"

Normandy was disgusted. "All to keep up EAH's reputation."

Hadie's heart faltered. "What if Grimm had something to do with Claudia's murder?"