— How is she alive?
— She’s alive because she was never in danger, — Emma said. — Not any real danger, anyway. — It was a hunch, but the hunch was developing in her mind.
She opened up the cell and Mary Margaret stepped out.
— Get home, get some rest, clean up. I’ve got a whole lot of questions. But one thing’s for sure: You didn’t kill anyone.
— But you knew that already, — Mary Margaret said.
— Yes, — she said. — I did.
Across town, Emma arrived at the hospital as Dr. Whale finished checking over Kathryn. David was there, sitting outside her room. He did not look well.
— How is she? — Emma asked.
David looked up and nodded at her.
— I think she’s okay, I don’t know, — he said. — This whole thing…
His voice trailed off.
— How are you?
— I don’t know, — he said. — Happy. Sad. Overwhelmed. I’m just so relieved she’s alive.
— That seems honest, — Emma said.
— Do you — do you know how Mary Margaret is doing?
— She’s okay. She’s relieved, too, obviously. But I think she’s been pretty traumatized by all of this. As you might imagine.
— I want to talk to her, — David said.
— I know— was all Emma said in response.
— So what do I do? — David said, when he realized she wasn’t going to offer any more.
— Maybe right now, the best thing is just to do nothing, — Emma said. She left unsaid what the two knew to be true: Mary Margaret didn’t want to see David. Not after he’d so easily lost faith in her.
David nodded.
He got it, Emma knew. He probably didn’t want to think about it, but he got it.
She went into Kathryn’s room.
Dr. Whale was saying something to Kathryn and after a moment of listening, Emma realized he was talking to her about his watch.
— … still the only Swiss watch with no Japanese parts, and it costs more because…
What is it with this guy? Emma thought.
He stopped when he realized Emma was standing in the room.
— Sheriff Swan, — he said. He gestured toward Kathryn. — She’s awake, as you can see.
Emma ignored him, went to Kathryn’s bedside.
— Kathryn, I’m Emma Swan, — she said. — We met at David’s homecoming party.
— I remember, — Kathryn said. — You’re the sheriff. And roommates with Mary Margaret.
Emma heard some tone there. Not great tone.
— That’s true, — she said, — but I’m not here to play favorites. I don’t want to take a lot of your time, but if you can remember what happened to you, or if you can help us in any way…
Kathryn nodded.
— I don’t remember much, — she said. — I had a car accident. I remember the air bag going off. The next thing I knew, I was in the dark, in some basement. I didn’t see anyone, but there was food and water. After that, I don’t know. I guess I was drugged.
Dr. Whale nodded.
— We’re still trying to flush it out of her system, — he said. — But she was. Definitely.
— I woke up in a field near the edge of town and just started walking, — Kathryn said. — That’s all I can tell you.
— You never saw anyone? — Emma asked. — You didn’t hear a voice, smell any perfume? Cologne? No details at all?
— Nothing. I wish I could help, especially since… while I was gone, everyone thought I was dead? Is that right?
Emma looked at Dr. Whale.
— Who’s been gossiping? — she said.
Whale shrugged.
I do not like this guy, Emma thought.
— I figured she needed to know, — he said. — She’ll read about her heart in the paper eventually, right?
— Excuse me, — said Kathryn. — My heart?
— You don’t have to worry about the details right now, — Emma said quickly, not quite knowing how to explain to the woman that her heart had been found in a box. — What’s important is that you’re safe.
— Although we do now know that somebody had to have doctored those DNA results.
— DNA results? — Kathryn said. — What are you talking about? I really don’t understand.
— Don’t worry, — said Whale. — Yours is still right where it’s supposed to be. The police found a heart and it was believed to be yours.
Great, Emma thought.
Kathryn, looking aghast at this detail, turned back to Emma.
— Who would do this?
— Somebody trying to frame Mary Margaret, — Emma said. — We don’t know who. Yet.
Kathryn shook her head.
— Why? — she said. — Why would anyone do such a thing?
— We don’t know, — Emma said.
That night, the party celebrating Mary Margaret’s release was very well attended. Even August was invited.
As Emma sipped some punch and watched August mingling, she wondered about the odd man who’d come to town so recently. She could not figure him out.
She came over just as Henry and Mary Margaret came together. Henry told her that he had a card to deliver. It was from the entire class of children at school, and it read, — We’re so glad you didn’t kill Mrs. Nolan.
— Why thank you so much, Henry, — Mary Margaret said, taking the message in stride. — Please tell everyone I’ll be back soon.
— I also got you a bell, — he said, handing her a little box. — For the class.
Emma smiled. When she looked up, Gold was watching her, and he nodded to the corner of the room. She walked over.
Emma decided to lay it all out for him:
— I don’t know what you’ve been doing with Regina, but I know this whole thing isn’t as clean as you’re pretending it is. You two somehow manufactured this. I don’t know how, or why, but I know something is going on.
— What would possibly make you think I had any agreement with Regina?
— I don’t know, — Emma said. — Call it a hunch.
— Hunches are not evidence, — Gold said, — and you are a sheriff.
— Were you the one who made Kathryn appear out of thin air?
— You speak as though I have magical powers, — Gold said.
— Sometimes it seems like you do, — Emma said.
— I don’t understand, — Gold said. — Are you proposing that I was both working with Regina and against her?
— I don’t know, — Emma said. — Maybe you were working diagonally.
— Perhaps, — said Gold. — It’s always hard to tell with me, isn’t it?
— Yes. It is.
— Let me ask you a different question entirely, — he said. — What do you think of this stranger? This August? Do you trust him?
Emma looked over at him. So did Gold.
— I’m starting to.
— His full name is August Wayne Booth, — said Gold. — It’s obviously a false name.
Emma was silent for a moment, and then she said, — Writers use pseudonyms. I’m not worried about August.
— So you do trust him, then.
— I don’t know if I trust him, — Emma said, — but I trust him a whole lot more than I trust you.
— Oh, you should trust me more, Ms. Swan, — Gold said. — I always follow through with my agreements.
— You always say that, too, — Emma said.
— I do, — said Gold. — Because it’s true.
The next morning, Emma was at the diner, trying to enjoy a quiet cup of coffee for the first time since Mary Margaret had been released. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t feel as relieved as she’d expected to. Sure, her friend was out of danger, and Kathryn was safe, but she’d seen too much, and sensed too many backhanded dealings, to really feel as though Storybrooke was «cleaned up». If anything, she now knew how broken it was. And if she didn’t know any better, Sidney Glass, former editor of the Storybrooke Daily Mirror, was drunk again at eight in the morning. He was in the corner booth.