It was dark inside the penthouse. Val guessed that it must have been weeks since she saw the light of day properly, but she'd been stuck inside for so long that she gave up counting altogether. Sneaking over to snatch the keys dangling from her mother's hand, she thought wistfully of joining VFD. The other VFD, of course. The dream of finally meeting everyone that they described, it was only her mother who turned her wrong. The anisette worked, for once. She thought. Since her prisoners came she had tried repeatedly to drug Esme and Cassie but it had never worked. And it finally did.

She tapped the two girls on their shoulders. "Psst. Wake up!" Violet groggily stirred, followed by Isadora. "What do you want, Val?" She showed them the keys. "We can escape! Or only you guys, at least. Esme'll notice if I'm gone." Violet stared up at her. "Why..why are you doing this?" Val squared her shoulders. "One, I'm not like my mother or Esme, or Carmelita or Quigley, that backstabbing filthy little cheat. He's been cheating on Carmelita, but she doesn't know yet. Two, I want to find out who my father is. He's in the Fire Fighting side." She pulled out a syringe covered in a plastic bag. "My DNA. Whoever escapes, please sample from all of the Quagmires. I need to know who my father is. Please." Isadora and Violet stared down at her, perplexed but in agreement. "Ok." Val clapped her hands softly. "Good. Now, I wish I could help both of you guys escape, but if both of you go missing, you'll be in even more danger than you are now." Violet and Isadora looked at each other. "You go. I'll be okay, nothing serious has happened. Yet." Isadora nodded. "B-but what about you?"

"I'll be fine."

Val cut Isadora's ropes and led her to a secret tunnel. "It leads straight to VFD. Quick!" Isadora looked at Val's wide blue eyes. "Thanks, and by the way, Duncan's your dad?" Val shook her head. "No, it was a wild guess. But my dad is a Quagmire though, that's for sure. You should go." Val closed the hatch behind her, leaving Isadora alone in the darkness.

"So that's how you escaped?"

Isadora nodded. Duncan sunk back into his chair. "Wow. Just wow." Lemony cleared his throat. "We should fulfil Val's wish. Swabs, please. I would like samples from only Isadora, Duncan and Mr. Quagmire as they are all of direct descent." He carefully placed each sample into separate bags and left the room to find Nicole, a genetics specialist who was a member of VFD. An hour later, everyone was gathered in a VFD tearoom, where they met Nicole. "I have the results," she announced. "Yes, this girl is a Quagmire. Yes, she's a direct descendant. And yes, she is Duncan's daughter." Nicole sat back down. "Look, Duncan, this is a lot to take in, so do you want a moment?" Duncan swallowed. "That would be nice. Can my parents, Isadora and Klaus stay?"