Megumi quietly waited patiently at the doors to the kitchen at the high school and looking down the hall toward the school's library at the other end. She didn't know that at that moment, Melissa was lovingly joining were society with Trevor, but in many ways that wasn't a major concern. The concern was the fact that several people had been drugged, by what Trevor had speculated was Love Potion Number Nine, and that a Skulk member was among those affected and had come close to violating Statute 1A as a result. After the mess that Yvette Smith had put the Skulk through, there wasn't going to be much tolerance for another werefox turning someone against their well, especially if that person had made a choice to join a different group.
Megumi didn't know for sure what Melissa's final decision was, but given the talks that they had had as a group and Melissa's concerns over the threat of loss and what the loss of her mother had done to her father, Megumi generally felt that it'd be more likely that Melissa eventually joined the werecattle to be with Trevor than joining the Skulk. If so, that was Melissa's choice and one she had full right to make it, and no one had the right to take that from her. And as one of the student organizers for the Halloween Dance, it was Megumi's job to make sure that things like what had happened DIDN'T happen. She could admit that things like this did happen, as there were their fair share of instances where the punch had been spiked, but usually with alcohol.
And while alcohol wasn't a great mix with weres, as their heightened metabolism would rush the drug into the system and get them tipsy faster, a were could also potentially recover from it faster. The trouble that remained was even with an ultimately faster recovery time, a drunk were could STILL make big mistakes while drunk. It was why for the most part weres had learned to avoid it. An occasional wine or beer with meals was about all most weres imbibed with regard to alcohol, and actions of a drunk were would likely raise greater concern in a shorter period of time than what had actually happened. The present case, was different, as the drug the punch was spiked with was a powerful aphrodisiac, which while technically legal in Moon Lake, it was heavily regulated and that the use of it required prior knowledge of the drug's presence before being used.
And this was entirely due to the fact that when taken, Love Potion Number 9 had an almost immediate an uncontrollable affect on weres. In theory it made sex "even better," but the fact that the drug would drive a were's already high libido to the point where sex was the only thing on the were's mind was the point that had lead to the heavy regulations regarding the drug. The only thing that really kept Love Potion Number Nine from being banned outright was the potential that with development it may be able to be marketed as a means help normal humans with regard to things like erectile dysfunction in men and so on, but that wasn't expected to be ready for some time to come. Thus, Megumi's concerns and worries over the fact that Love Potion Number Nine was used and nearly took Melissa's choice in what she wanted to be away from her.
It took a little while, but eventually a familiar figure stepped in through the front doors of the high school and stepped into the hallway. He was dressed in a dark suit that was kept in excellent condition and mirrored the suits that Tachibana Security personnel always wore. However, he was a bit older than those presently at the head of Tachibana Security, but that didn't mean that her father, Gorou Tachibana, and Akane's fifth son, wasn't skilled or without ability. In fact, much of his work was presently involved in training those who worked for Tachibana Security. He calmly and quietly walked up to his daughter, who bowed at his approach.
"Hello, father," Megumi spoke as she bowed.
"I trust you are not harmed?" Gorou Tachibana asked, his voice formal, but Megumi could hear the concern in his voice. Her grandmother was over two hundred and had generally raised her sons and daughters in a traditional way, which had lead to many in Moon Lake getting the sensation that the Skulk and its leadership was overly formal in many cases, and some had even claimed cold and uncaring, but Megumi knew that to be false. Her family may be different from many American families, but family love was all the same. She could even remember Gorou taking her to a Mariners game the past summer to spend time with her, and that had been fun. In this, Megumi knew that while her father was being very formal, it was because he was presently working.
"I'm fine, father," Megumi answered.
"Mother said something of one of us nearly turning a normal against their will... I hope this was not the case," Gorou said slowly, "after what Yvette Smith put were society and the Skulk in particular through, I would have hoped that such foolish and roguish behavior would be guarded against..."
Megumi thought on David, the male werefox that had nearly had his way with Melissa. He had followed her, practically in complete submission after Melissa's rescue. He continued to insist that he hadn't spiked the punch and thought that Melissa was actively wanting to with him, but he also presently remained in the lunchroom behind Megumi, cowering in a corner. In this, Megumi felt that his story was basically true in that he had been drugged and acted only under its effect, which was what the main issue was.
"While a Skulk member was involved, father," Megumi admitted, "I believe his involvement and actions were the result of him being drugged..."
"Mother mentioned some chemical," Gorou said slowly.
"Trevor believes the drug used was Love Potion Number Nine," Megumi answered, "We have a small sample to provide to the police for testing, and the rest was disposed of."
Dumping it down the drain might not have been the smartest idea, as there was the chance that scientists elsewhere might find traces of the drug in the water, but Megumi felt fairly comfortable with her instructions to Jason and Alice. Once indoor plumbing came to Moon Lake, everything had been well hooked up and arranged. This was then connected county wide water treatment plants and sewage treatment plants. Their offices weren't in Moon Lake, but that wasn't a major issue. Testing in Moon Lake had shown that when diluted, Love Potion Number Nine did lose its effectiveness and many of the standard methods of water purification seemed to remove the drug's presence just as it also removed bacteria and other potential problems from the water. While was possible that the drug could be found, the odds were low and by the time the water could be recycled back into a reservoir or into the drinking water supply, any amount of the drug that remained would be so diluted that its effect would barely be noticed, if at all.
"Trevor?" Gorou inquired. "Trevor Tyson?"
"Part of the rescue party and the boyfriend of the girl who was nearly turned," Megumi answered with a nod at her father's guess, "and my friend. You've met him from time to time, father..."
Gorou nodded, "I take it he has taken the potential victim home, then? He has struck me as a most honorable young man."
"Yes," Megumi nodded.
"And the drugged werefox, where is he?" Gorou questioned.
Megumi paused and turned back to the doors that lead into the school's cafeteria. There were glass sections on the upper part of the doors that allowed her to look in. She found David where she'd left him in the cafeteria, cowering on the floor in a corner near the far wall.
"He is presently cowering in the far corner," Megumi stepped back and gestured to the door.
Gorou looked in and noted the werefox's position. He was back in his Halloween costume, but was cowered up on the floor with his legs drawn up to his head and face and with his tail wrapped around him. With that, Gorou walked in to approach and question him with Megumi following along behind. David looked up, hearing the door open and to Megumi's eye became visibly panicked by seeing Megumi's father.
"I swear I only just drank the punch!" David blurted, his voice filled with fear rather than lust, "I swear! I didn't spike the punch! I didn't..."
"Would you have any reason to, if I said I didn't believe you?" Gorou asked, "some rivalry with someone in the school?"
"No, sir," David swore and began to push himself against the wall, as if to try and get away from possible execution.
Megumi stood by quietly as her father looked down on the terrified male werefox. David was clearly afraid, and in pure theory if he'd spiked the punch he SHOULD be, but the way he was behaving seemed to confirm her suspicion that he had been drugged and had nothing to do with putting Love Potion Number Nine in the punch. After a few moments her father turned back to face her.
"I would agree with your assertion that this boy was likely drugged," Gorou said slowly, "though, the Skulk WILL expect a formal apology from him to the girl in question for the actions he did take."
"I will! I will!" David promised.
"In the meantime, we will look into the school's security footage," Gorou spoke calmly.
"The school's principal has been called and should be here, shortly," Megumi spoke.
Gorou turned and nodded. With that, they returned to the hallway with David getting up and following in Megumi's shadow. As they came into the hallway, they found a tired looking man come in from the outside. While the main doors were unlocked while the dance was on, he was already pulling a set of keys out from his pockets and turning to head to the main office area of the building, which was often locked for the purpose of keeping files safe. He eventually noticed Gorou and Megumi as he reached the main office doors.
"You all are rather prompt," Principal Andrews said with a small yawn. He had enjoyed fairly quiet night and figured the dance had been well in hand before going off to take his children trick or treating.
"The possibility of someone taking a prank beyond the rules for Halloween is of great importance to the Skulk," Gorou answered, "they can be all well and good... but a prank should NEVER go to the point of doing physical and/or emotional harm. And if this prank used Love Potion Number Nine... it nearly did BOTH."
Principal Andrews sighed and nodded. He'd remembered Virginia McCoy giving some warning on the aphrodisiac being brought into play, but the candy that had been brought had been sampled and had had no effect on the person testing it. With that he figured the issue would be solved. He only hoped that Alice Decrux was not the one involved in the present case. That'd only put the proverbial egg on his face. He'd just turned the key to unlock the door to the office when another voice spoke up.
"Not to mention that if it was Love Potion Number Nine that was used to spike the punch, it'd be a crime," came another male voice, making them turn to see a uniformed officer standing just inside the doors, he then spoke, "Officer Leprune. Your school officer is otherwise indisposed. The station assigned me to review what criminal evidence you may have."
Principal Andrews glanced to the interested parties and then nodded. Megumi Tachibana, as one of the dance's organizers might want to see to it that the right thing was done, and her father would have a vested interest because of the report that a werefox was involved in the incident. Officer Leprune was there as his duty as an officer of the law, though Principal Andrews didn't know that Officer Leprune had reasons beyond that. When the report came into the station that had mentioned the dance and "Love Potion Number Nine," he'd actually jumped at it. There weren't too many places in Moon Lake were Love Potion Number Nine could be legally sold, and ONE of those places was the Decrux Sweets Shop. While Officer Leprune wasn't a detective, getting true justice for his brother was a driving force in his life. He'd be professional, but he had to admit a part of him was hoping that it was Decrux so that he could put the woman away for ALL that she'd done.
Principal Andrews then lead them into the office which consisted of an open area at the front desk/counter where new students checked in. He lead the group around it and down the hallway-like space that then separated the front office area from the other offices in the building. Eventually they came to a lone wooden door with the word "security" engraved on a brass plate on the front of the door.
"We recently upgraded and rewired our computer systems and this includes the security cameras," Principal Andrews explained, "Stovall Systems did a good job. From what I was told, is that they didn't actually replace the cameras themselves, but the system they were connected to. It's essentially digitized it and we don't need to go through a whole bunch of VHS tapes and we can go to the specific points in time that you want to look at."
Principal Andrews then at down at the computer, which had to be left on and running to keep all the systems running. As the screensaver switched off, the screen soon showed a series of screens. They showed various files and windows, once there, he looked over his shoulder and asked, "Where would you like to start?"
"Say around forty minutes ago," Gorou spoke calmly, "let us confirm that the boy's story that he was drugged as well."
Principal Andrews nodded and when to the File marked "Gym" and pulled it open. It then had a long list of files that had various times and dates on them and would likely have various files within them. The group watched quietly as the principal brought up the eventual file. They watched as Principal Andrews went through the files and eventually a video came up on the screen. Given that the security cameras in the gym were at points where they couldn't get close ups over everything, the picture was rather clear. They could see a fairly detailed image of people dancing, but what drew their primary attention was that they noted Melissa's approaching the punch bowl and filling a cup. Around the same time, they noted David a group of friends approaching the table as well, though it was also clear that they were more interested in joking with each other and paid little attention to Melissa who was already there. And as they watched, it was not until after David and his friends drank their own glasses of punch that they even noticed that Melissa was even there.
"If the boy there planted it... that's the best acting I've seen," Officer Leprune commented.
"Yes, officer," Megumi spoke, "The werefox in question... by his actions was just as drugged as Melissa was. Though... what bothers me is that Ms. McCoy and Harold Jenkins both stated that that punch was spiked and I took the punch away. Yet... somehow... it ended up BACK in the gym."
"They warned you?" Principle Andrews asked with some surprise.
"When was this?" Officer Leprune asked questioningly, "and you removed the bowl... why not dump it?"
"I was busy and a lot of other things to attend to," Megumi answered, "I put the bowl in the kitchen with the intent to return and clean it once I'd handled some of the other matters I needed to attend to and had some spare time..."
"And when was this?" Officer Leprune asked.
"About thirty minutes into the dance," Megumi answered and shrunk back a bit as all eyes turned toward her.
"Go to shots of the gym and the kitchen about thirty minutes after the dance started," Officer Leprune stated.
Principal Andrews closed the video window that was up and then moved to change how things would be displayed, setting it to a split screen presentation. He then brought up a scene from the kitchen and the gym at the time presented. The spot in the kitchen appeared to be empty, though there were several bags of fruit punch mix that was on one of the sorting tables along with one empty punch bowl. The other screen showed two transformed weretigers in togas talking to four young wereraccoons dressed as cowboys or old west gunfighters, Principal Andrews couldn't tell which. The four looked more interested in the punch bowl and one of the wereraccoon boys was questioningly sniffing at the punchbowl. As he watched, Officer Leprune noticed that their toy guns were nothing more than water pistols, judging by the orange cap at the bottom of the handle. However, beyond wanting to fill the water pistol with the punch, he really couldn't see them slipping anything into the punch.
"It would seem that Ms. McCoy and Mr. Jenkins were trying to keep people from the spiked punch," Gorou said slowly in a calm voice.
"Which would indicate that they know it's spiked," Principal Andrews agreed with the Skulk's security training agent. "The real question would be in HOW do they know it was spiked?"
"We can wait to see how the spiked punch got back to the gym," Megumi urged, as she was at a loss as to how the spiked punch was brought back before she could get the time to do anything with it.
They continued to watch as Megumi approached and took the punch table and collected the bowl before the four wereraccoons could do anything with it. From what they could see, Harold Jenkins seemed to say something to the four wereraccoon boys who scampered off shortly after and headed toward the exit.
"I do hope he didn't threaten them..." Principal Andrews sighed heavily and rubbed his head as the other screen in the kitchen soon showed Megumi's arrival with the spiked punch. They watched as Megumi set that punch bowl in the sink that the staff would use to wash dishes with and then turning to mix a new batch of punch with the other bowl. Officer Leprune watched carefully and noted that Megumi only used the powder mixes for the next batch of punch. Once it was mixed, they watched as Megumi looked to her watch and then rushed out, seeming to forget about the spiked punch.
"Do you know on when the punch might have been switched?" Principal Andrews asked as he looked to Megumi.
"No, sir," Megumi answered.
"Can you fast forward?" Gorou wondered.
"I can... yes..." Principal Andrews nodded and moved the mouse and soon clicked on another speed and things began to speed up. No one seemed to move into the kitchen in that time. They could see people dancing quickly and by this point they watched Harold and Virginia leave the area around the refreshment table. Then they watched as a deliveryman arrived carrying boxes of pizza. He talked with Virginia for a moment and then with Harold. Principal Andrews only watched as the two weretigers seemed to savor some slices of pizza before moving on to other chaperone related duties. He didn't know Harold by name, and only had some mention of the name from the reported incident that came from Virginia's arrest over the fight with Alice Decrux. However, by the image, it would appear that the two were doing better. In that it looked good that Virginia was able to make things up with the man, but that wasn't the issue.
The issue remained trying to get to the bottom of the whole issue that had revealed that had lead to several weres drugged by a diluted batch of Love Potion Number Nine and a near Statute 1A violation. They continued to watch as the man delivering pizzas left and then later returned with a large stack of pizza boxes. As the man returned to refreshment and food tables, they soon saw the man accidentally bump the punch bowl that Megumi had brought down, which had been nearly empty, but it still fell to the floor and the man delivering the pizzas seemed to half panic before cleaning up the mess. He cleaned up the mess and then picked up the bowl, from there, he began to wander through the school until he got to the kitchen. He set the emptied bowl down and then looked around. From there, by chance he eventually found the bowl that Megumi had left in the sink.
"It was an accident... a complete accident," Megumi said slowly as they watched the man leave the kitchen with the spiked punch, "... I should have gotten back to it quicker..."
"Those things happen," Officer Leprune admitted, "and there is no way you could know that that pizza guy would knock the punch onto the floor... or that he would go out of his way to clean up the mess and make up for it... and he couldn't know that the punch he found was spiked."
"I could have requested to borrow the keys and make sure things like the kitchen were LOCKED when no one was using it," Megumi looked down.
"Considering some of the other activities your team had organized for the dance," Principal Andrews gave a sigh, "based on the scheduled activities for the dance, that you delivered to me at the start of October... while that may be smarter, you did have a lot on your plate... and to be honest... the school has never had an incident quite this bad with regard to spiked punch. Looking back on things, we can always see what we did wrong... predicting where problems could be ahead of time can be difficult."
Megumi felt a little bit of comfort from that. She soon felt her father put a hand on her shoulder and give it a reassuring squeeze. She soon reached up to touch his hand and he held her to him. From there she glanced over to Officer Leprune, who had turned his attention to the computer screen and carried slight frown.
"We still need something that would indicate WHO spiked the punch," Officer Leprune spoke up after a moment or two, "the werefox that came close to violating Statute 1A clearly didn't do it, as he drank the punch as well and didn't even notice the red haired girl until AFTER he drank the punch. He would have drugged himself. And from what we've seen... is that the two weretigers were keeping people from the spiked punch, so they couldn't have spiked it... and the wereraccoons they were talking to never got close enough to have had the ability to do anything with the punch. Unless you count the one who sniffed at it... and if he had it in his nose... he'd be affected by it and would be more interested in the tigress before him."
"It is likely that whoever spiked the punch... that person did so when the party was still being set up," Gorou commented, "there would be fewer people and thus fewer witnesses. If someone added it during the party, someone would have been bound to see it and with the punch bowl set up, it would be hard to conceal as something else. Interviewing party attendants would surely soon reveal some description of any odd happenings around the punch bowl. That interviewing process may take time, but it would lead you to the ultimate culprit."
"So, more than likely the culprit did it while there were fewer people there and they were busy setting things up for the dance," Megumi finished.
"Precisely," Gorou said with some pride.
Officer Leprune blinked and then nodded, as that made sense. And in a way, that would fit in with Alice Decrux's common tactics. While the detectives had been able to get her on the attempted drugging of Harold Jenkins, she had managed to skate out of being held until trial through some legal loophole and that fit in with how she'd often escaped Statute 1A charges over the years. She'd managed to make sure that her couplings had been set up to be such that proving that the person who had sex with her couldn't prove beyond all shadow of a doubt that the act was willing. It was how she got out on turning his brother. The only thing the Leprune family got out that whole ordeal was that when Decrux tried to sue for child support, the courts ruled that the attempted Statute 1A violation laid question into her ability to provide a safe environment for a child. As a result, Alice Decrux had lost custody of the child and George Leprune wasn't tasked to pay Alice Decrux a cent.
However, the thing that presented a potential problem was that if it was Decrux, it would represent a failure on HIS part. He had been sent to provide a reminder that she was under observation and other related legal restrictions while awaiting trial for the attempted drugging of Harold Jenkins. He'd thought that related the candy she provided for the dance, but she did sample it and didn't respond as though one would under Love Potion Number Nine. That would mean that she had to have brought the drug in some other way and thus brought the drug into play and he hadn't seen through her trickery, and thus he'd failed to protect and serve the people of Moon Lake. Decrux would pay if it was her who had brought the drug into play.
"Then let's go back to before the dance... say around the time that Decrux delivered her candy," Officer Leprune said a low voice, naming who he suspected as being the source of the spiked punch.
Principal Andrews nodded and closed the windows again and went back to a single screen display for the shot and went back to single screen viewer and then went back to the files that had been automatically saved in the late afternoon when they were still setting up for the dance and when Alice Decrux arrived with the candy she delivered. It did come up and Officer Leprune was pleased that the resolution on the cameras did show Alice Decrux clearly as she came in with her dolly of candies from the outside. She brought them in and set the boxes of candy down next to the refreshments table. From there, they watched as she looked around and then produced a vial from her pocket and poured the contents into the punch bowl.
"And it was Decrux," Gorou said slowly.
Officer Leprune barely held back a growl but went into a pocket on his jacket and presented a USB Flash Drive to Principal Andrews, "If you could copy that over to this, we'll then have the evidence to bust Decrux hard... not just on attempted drugging, but actual drugging and attempted Statute 1A violation..."
Principal Andrews nodded and took the Flash Drive, "gladly."
Principal Andrews might have some concerns with regard how or why one of his teachers and a man she had clawed, even if it was accidental knew that the punch had been spiked before anyone even showed signs of being drugged. However, that would have to wait a few moments as the video file was copied over.