The pair soon meet Leeman (a hippopotamus), the last detective who was hired to find Fletcher. He proposes they all work together, but Blacksad is put off by his reckless driving and alcoholism. Blacksad tracks down and roughs up Fletcher's drug dealer, who admits that a masked individual paid him to sell poisoned heroin to Fletcher. Later, Blacksad meets LaChapelle's son, Thomas, who has formed a friendship with Fletcher's pregnant wife, Hannah. The two get on well until Thomas asks Blacksad to give up the case for his father's sake; he believes Fletcher is a bad influence, and his father is wasting his money trying to find him when he could be saving it for his cancer treatment. Disappointed, Blacksad walks out. The conversation does lead him to ponder if Thomas cares for Hannah more than a friend and may be jealous of Fletcher's attentions.