The Havenport Files: Book One

Day One

Time: 6:30

"A grey rain falls on Martinaise. The city soaks in it, cold and dripping. Waves hit the concrete breakers. The homeless huddle by the fires behind the fences. There, among the shacks, is your home. Stay. Have a drink. Forever."

-Disco Elysium.

Outside the crime scene lies a wriggling mass of people by the time I arrive; they line in the small alleyway that leads to the apartment complex parking lot where it all happened, packed so tightly that I can't believe they are able to breathe properly, let alone fight for a good enough view of the end of the street.

Revving the engine of my old Ford 150 to try to grab their attention turns futile as everyone seems to be solely concentrating on the incident; the problem is that if they don't move, I won't be able to park my car properly. Sighing loudly, I take one hand off the wheel and rub the bridge of my nose while frowning.

"Great, just what I needed."

Slowly, insistently, a headache threatens to accompany me throughout the day as it becomes more predominant, but unfortunately, there isn't any time to deal with it now; after all, I don't want to be late for my first case as Havenport's newly appointed detective.

With a flick of my wrist, I turn the key, and the car engine dies down in one pained, crunching sound, allowing me the peaceful silence that quickly revolts inside the car and the smell of pastries that, at this point, have become one with the seats.

To prepare myself to brave the commotion, I stretch my hands up high, making sure to avoid hitting the ceiling, as usual; the 'pop' sound that follows becomes a reminder to stop sleeping on the DP's couch... and in the backseat.

Out of habit, I adjust the rearview mirror to check how much of a mess I look like and what I can fix to be more presentable. I brush my hand through my shoulder-length curly brown hair and immediately notice two dark circles hanging beneath my eyes—something that comes not as a surprise as the whole 'becoming a detective' stole most of my sleep this week, and it isn't even Thursday yet; three days are not enough to get used to a big of a change as this one.

My desire to procrastinate ends as quickly as it comes when I remind myself of the situation, so with no time to lose, I push the car's door open and force myself out.

The wintry air bites at my skin as soon as I step out of the warm comfort of my car, prompting me to hug my coat as close as I can to my body. I shiver at the slight relief it provides from the sharpness of the cold. Upon moving my eyes to the people, it feels like most of the city gathered around at the scene, which is more likely true than not, considering the city is composed of less than a thousand people, and most of them clearly have nothing better to do at six in the morning.

It is a pain to fight against the people to move forward, with the hardest part being getting in between them, but once done, I'm able to start getting through the thin path between bodies; some bumps and pushes, and I finally manage to do so, stealing myself of the little energy I had.

In front of me, a blue-and-white-stripped barrier stands in the way, the exact point these people don't dare to get past; too, the nervous officer standing behind it makes sure no overly courageous reporter even tries to. Poor boy, my first time guarding a crime scene was the same, and that was just three years ago. Calming people's nerves is hard, but tending to their worries is even worse, especially when they produce about a million questions for you to answer.

As I duck under the tape to get by, the officer's voice stops me. "Miss, I'll need to see your credentials first." He sharpens his expression, which in turn makes the cracks on his lips more perceptible.

Looking at his face closely, his request makes more sense to me. "You're the new officer, aren't you? Melissa's new partner."

Surprised, the boy widens his eyes only but a second as his gaze reaches my belt, where my new badge rests, easily on display to avoid this same scenario. "Oh, you're the new detective!" He exclaims, placing one hand on his face as he shakes his head. "I'm sorry, detective; I'm still getting familiar with everyone's face; and yes, I'm Officer Melissa's new partner." Guiding his hand away from his face, he lifts the tape enough to allow me to get past, something I do, making sure to place a thankful smile on my face.

"Don't worry about that; just relax a bit." I shake off his worry and move my eyes to the people behind the tape, who are already moving to question me about the situation that I am yet to learn. To avoid it, I start to ignore their gazes and look back at the officer, seeing his name tag carefully placed on his uniform. "Officer Lee, good luck with them; just some advice: ignore their questions; they will stop asking soon enough."

"Roger; good luck to you too, detective." The officer responds with a sweet smile, nodding his head a last time to me before gazing once more upon the mass of spectators, but this time, instead of trying to calm people, he focuses on calming himself.

'Detective', it is still strange to hear someone call me that. I thought after Melissa's insistent tease about my promotion these last days, things should have settled in my brain, but this feels more real now, somehow. A colleague addressing me this way feels odd yet strangely pleasant. Of course, the fact the title used to belong to old Detective Reele for so long makes me question if it fits quite yet; all the training I had was a rushed speech of the mayor about my 'many merits' and 'willingness', and that was the first time I've ever seen the guy; I'm sure it was hard for him to step down his high horse to waste his time on me.

I have nothing to complain about more than that. Reele placed his faith in me to follow in his footsteps; he made sure to let me know that when the squad got all out to drink; so I'll make sure that his words were not wasted on me.

I will solve this case.

"Finally, you sure took your time to get here; I was waiting for ages." My unfocused eyes center once more as they shoot to the side, landing at the owner of the familiar voice as it reaches my ears, a smile already taking over my tired expression as I see it's her: my old partner, Officer Melissa Rivers, also known as my dear sister; she approaches with a big grin on her face as her curly hair dangles at the movement. "Let me guess, you woke up from your car's backseat and came straight here, didn't you?"

"Good investigative work, Sherlock." I point out her words with sarcasm dripping off my voice in a mockingly friendly way. "I'm sure you would be better at my position," I say, grinning back at her as I move closer as well.

"Nah, I'm good; I'll leave you to the extra paperwork." Her reply comes with a tight hug afterward; her arms wrap around my shoulders affectionately as she pulls me close. In an automatic action, I embrace her back with the same level of happiness. "But seriously, your hair is looking like a bird's nest."

"I know that, but I didn't have time to go back to our house from the station when I got the clearly unhappy call from Sergeant Ed to come here; he asked me to hurry and said someone had been murdered." Explaining the situation to Melissa, we both break the hug and turn our curious eyes to the end of the street, where a bunch of uniformed people walk around, all familiar to me at this point. "I didn't expect the big city to get involved; does it have something to do with the victim?"

"I don't know, but Doctor Foster should know; he's already there with the corpse." She points out the middle space between the sea of uniformed ones, easing my job to spot the grizzled hair belonging to the only specialist doctor in this city. It comes as no surprise to see that the sergeant would request his help, as per usual.

"Any of the silver spoons bothered to show up?"

My question is met with a frown from her, making her hazel eyes turn slightly darker; her nose wrinkles, leaving her freckles more pronounced with a clear expression of disgust. "You know the answer to that. I'm sure they are very busy with yoga sessions or whatever to care for us normal folks. But let's forget about them for now. How's your head? Excited for your very first day as a detective?"

Now that is more likely; Melissa isn't one to be serious very often, so when she acts like that, it manages to leave anyone uncomfortable.

"It will depend," I answer truthfully, sighing and placing my fingers at the bridge of my nose. "If the murder is too gruesome or if we can't find the killer today still, things will be very hard to deal with, especially considering that the mayor surely will be on my neck from this point on."

"Well..." Melissa makes the face she always makes when she has bad news, so to prepare myself, I shove my hands in my pockets and wait. "Then I guess today will be terrible for you, I'm afraid. Sorry."

"You can't be serious; things are that bad?"

"You see, the face Doctor Foster was making was not a very happy one." She dares glance down at the scene again, where the same uniformed technicians still walk around with their cameras and expensive equipment at hand, placing the yellow tag at various spots in the parking lot. Occasionally, the flashes of their cameras threaten to blind me if I try to look more in their direction.

"Hey, what the hell is going on here?" A grumpy old man in a gray suit walks closer to us, interrupting our talk; the closer he gets, the more I notice how he's strangely small, standing proudly at about one meter and fifty. The single moment I see his face, it reminds me of the gnomes from Melissa's tabletop RPG game. "I need to know. No, I demand to know."

"Sir, I'm sorry, but we can't give any details at this-" My phrase is interrupted by Melissa's hand settling on my shoulder to grab my attention, bringing me out of my mechanical action.

"You forgot? You're no officer anymore; leave this to me and go be awesome there."

Giving me no time to reply, she pushes me towards the crime scene and pats my back, muttering an 'off you go' before returning to the very angry old man. Her tall, statuesque figure is occulted by the stiff, unshapely, dark blue standard uniform that she pairs with her favorite jacket, even if against Ed's orders; her features contrast against the heavy belt and boots she wears.

I don't get to look back much, as a few steps forward and I'm already in the technician's territory; in all directions they move, some fast, others slow, but all of them share the same unfocus from their surroundings.

I'm forced into a stumble to analyze my next move, and once done, I try my very best to be careful about where I'm stepping, but I fail as my boots almost land on a soda can resting on the ground. What saves me from doing so is the angry callout from one of the species around me.

"Hey, can't you fucking see?" A woman screams at me, kneeling quickly to the ground and using her gloved hands to grasp the object carefully, quickly sealing it in an evidence bag.

"Sorry." is all I mutter before continuing on, avoiding the woman's stare as she does her best to burn a hole through my back.

At least, after dancing my way through the technicians placing the tags, I reach Doctor Foster—holding the record of only one almost screw-up—he kneels on the ground near the victim's body, professionally studying them as I move next to the brick wall to do the same.

He shakes his head and looks at me, changing his expression from pity to a kind smile. "I wouldn't wish this to be anyone's first case, Olivia; I'm sorry."

"No, it's..." With a heavy sigh, I adjust my face to a more serious expression and crouch down beside him. I notice that the lack of sun due to the cold clouds makes his white coat look almost gray, and so does his hair, which every year is more white; at this rate, he can be Santa for this year's Christmas. "It's fine, really; just let's focus on the case; the sergeant wants me to report in before nine." An uncomfortable silence is accentuated between us, so I take it as my job to start the questions. "Do you know who the victim is, doc? Or if they are from around here?"

"No, I was waiting for you; the city boys wouldn't let me get close until they got all the pictures they needed." He says, glaring with a fake smile at one of the technicians that passes us by, almost able to hear our talk. "I'm sure no one has taught those idiots to respect their elders."

His words make sense; at this end of the world, in the middle of nowhere, it is very rare for something like this to happen. When a thing as complicated as murder happens, they send their 'aid' from the big city. I'm sure the mayor's friend being a well-known politician from their side helps to get them here so fast. It's the first time in my lifetime that this has happened, and the city boys and small town's people are not mixing that well by the way they are exchanging angry looks from time to time.

Havenport's folks are simple people and more of the quiet and calm kind, which means an event like this is something they are not used to, and that scares them very much, so I lean more towards our side, even if the city's equipment is of great help.

Foster gestures for me to help him roll the victim's body, a request that I promptly reply to; I recoil at the dull thud that echoes as it topples over completely, granting us the view of the victim's face. I'm not able to recognize the woman lying on the asphalt before me—something that already tells me a lot—her blonde hair and freckles, her pale skin is marred with bruises of all types, from cuts to what I assume is from a punch—she dresses pretty well, meticulous even, having on her arsenal a pretty dress, nice shoes, and a cool leather jacket—all the traits of someone planning to get lucky.

Looking over at the doctor, it seems he doesn't know her either by the way his frown rapidly turns into curiosity.

"I see to everyone's health in this city and know all the faces; this one I can confidently say to you is not a resident."

"That's no good," I admit, clicking my tongue and guiding my fingertip to my teeth to chew them before remembering I just touched a dead woman. "The mayor will not be happy once he hears this."

"When does that man ever get happy about anything?" The doctor shoots me the question with a click of his tongue, mimicking me.

"True." My eyes return to the woman's body, where I continue my visual search for whatever clues I can get. Placing my hand atop hers, I lift them up and check her nails, seeing dirt tucked beneath them painfully, almost to the point of breaking them—signs of struggle, maybe indicating she tried to run away from her murder.

Her purse was hidden beneath her body, so now that it has come into view, I am quick to snatch it up to check the contents: lipstick, cigarettes, a lighter, but no wallet or phone. If she was out to drink, she had to have money and a phone to call an Uber, so the only answer could be that the killer took it.

Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself, so to slow down, I give one more look at the surroundings, seeing that the crime scene is either entirely packed by the technicians or being their focus; I can't work like this.

"I guess I'll have to wait for the file to get to my table."

"You want me to pack the body up and send it to Astero's laboratory at the station?"

"Her." I correct him, earning a confused look on his brows. "Pack her up, right?"

"Yes, her." The doctor nods his head, shooting me an apologetic smile. "It is easy to get so used to this that we lose sensitivity. It's good to see you still have yours, kid. I'll send her up as soon as the city boys are done here, so go have breakfast; I know for a fact Melissa is planning to sneak out to get herself some pretty soon."

"Thanks for the heads up, doc; good luck to you."

While making my way to my car, the doctor's words make themselves true as I spot Melissa patiently waiting at the side of my car, leaning her body against the passenger door. That can only mean one thing: she plans to ask me to drive her to the Blue Wave Diner and have me pay for her food, as usual at this point.

Unfortunately, that will have to wait a moment, as from the edge of my vision I catch sight of a certain redhead leaning against the dirty alley's wall, ready to ambush me from its shadow. With a heavy sigh finding its way out of my throat involuntarily, I stop and let myself be approached by her.

"Detective Rivers," The journalist, Alexandrina, calls out calmly with her apathetic voice, striding ever so close with her camera hanging from her neck at ready, held by a strap with the initials of her website and podcast, HPTN: Heavenport Truth and News. "It is good to catch you here; would you mind answering some questions before you leave? The people would like to know if they are safe; you can understand, right?"

"You want to play this game with me after you pulled the rug under me?" I cross my arms tightly around my chest and frown, watching as she tilts her head in confusion. She really forgot, huh? It sure left a mark on me, but to her, it was just another day of a good job done. "The incident with Parker's family, the one you covered so attentively that your wrong information almost got me fired, remember now?"

Alexandrina's eyes squint as she remembers, soon shaking her head and adjusting herself to look confident, shielding herself from my harsh words. "I already apologized for that; besides, about the leak who got me the information, I long gave Reele the name of the bastard, and he took care of the problem; if you wished me to have kept my mouth shut and watched you be devoured by the wolves, you could have asked."

She had given Reele the name of the leak? He never commented to me about it; maybe he knew I would be mad anyway and decided that it was best to let the story be forgotten. You know what? I'll bite the bait for now; I have nothing to lose anyway.

"I'll believe you for now; regardless, I can't give you any information if I don't have any; we just discovered the body an hour ago."

"Well, that is unfortunate; let us do this then," She grasps from her brown overcoat her cellphone, bringing it into view and wriggling it, making me notice the cat drawings on the cover. "Add my number, or give me yours; this way I can help you out from time to time. I'm sure you'll appreciate hearing people's voices when they see something strange on the street."

"What are you talking about? Now you're playing me; you think the denunciation hotline exists for what reason?"

"Oh Detective," She shakes her head as if mocking my words as innocent. "People are not so comfortable sharing information that they are not so sure about; most that see a shadow in the street prefer to think their eyes are tricking them, but there are good eyes around the city, and they all come to me when they see something strange. That is how I got to the crime scene alongside your team. Believe me for once, and I guarantee you will be satisfied with my work."

"Ugh!" A groan escapes my lips; that is one thing I hate about her—she knows what to say to convince you. 'Learn to sell time to a clock' as some say, 'that is the most important skill there is; persuasion is the name of the game.'

Taking my phone from my pocket, I prepare myself to exchange numbers. "Fine, do as you please; just don't expect me to reply."

Swiftly, the journalist adds my contact and lets out a satisfied sound; seemingly having got what she wanted, she starts to stride away without looking back. "I look forward to working with you, detective."

Upon reaching my car, I grab my key and unlock the doors; promptly, Melissa takes the passenger seat and I take the driver's.

The moment I slam the door shut, feeling the pleasant warmth trapped inside start to warm my body, Mel crosses her arms and yawns loudly, allowing her lazy eyes to linger on the fading figure of the journalist as she disappears among the people that, starting to lose their interest in the scene, proceed to disperse out the area to open their shops, get some food, or even get back to bed for a five-minute nap.

The loss of people's interest was not for nothing, as the moment the view of the street is cleared, I'm able to notice the technicians carrying their equipment to their vehicles and driving away without ceremony; there is an empty spot where the body was lying before, meaning Doctor Foster should be already on his way to hand her to Astero, so I should expect a message from him in an hour or so when he finishes his analysis.

With a weak flick of my wrist, the key on the ignition is turned, and the car tries to come to life, only needing about two attempts to make it work this time; at one point I'll need to get it to a mechanic, but this day won't be today.

"Now that was strange; it is not every day that Alex shows her face around a crime scene. Did something happen?" Melissa's question makes me place my hands atop the wheel with a tired sigh: 'Maybe this is a good time to question her about Alexandrina's words', I think to myself.

"Nothing. She just wanted me to answer some of her questions about the case, and when I told her I couldn't answer what I didn't know, she told me something very interesting, and we exchanged numbers."

"Oh, I see how it is—the whole enemies-to-lovers thing, huh?" Mel's cheeky comments pull a frown out of me, especially as I take notice of how she sees Alexandrina; normally, Melissa would be mad alongside me and call her some slurs from time to time, but she acts differently than that, casual even. "I'm kidding, relax. You can't blame me for being happy after seeing you not give her the cold shoulder this time; that's a good thing, by the way."

"That's not it." I shake my head and turn completely to face Melissa so I can analyze her face in case she tries to lie herself out of the situation. "It is just that Alexandrina told me that it was her who snitched to Reele about the one who gave the bad info about the Parker's incident fiasco; you wouldn't know anything about any of that, would you, sis?"

"Uhm, well, you see..." A shaky smile, a dry laugh—how did I not see this coming? Of course, she would know something about it. At the click of my tongue, she continues talking to defuse the situation. "Look, Reele made me promise to keep my mouth shut; he said that if you got over that yourself, it would make you a better cop. I swear to you that I did what I thought was best for you."

"I'm not mad; it is just that..." Stopping myself, I breathe in deeply, concentrating on clearing my lungs and head before proceeding. My expression softens, my eyes not as squinted as before, and my words more understanding. "Just don't lie to me anymore, okay? Because now that I know this, I feel bad looking back at how I treated her these last three years. In any case, let us talk food; Blue Wave?"

With a relieved smile on her face, Mel nods her head and relaxes her shoulders. "Yeah, where else can we get that delicious strawberry pie?" At her own words, she starts to smile like a fool at the prospect of the sweet treat. "Look, I'll even pay this time, okay?"

Her offer is strange, but looking at her face, I can see she's trying to make me feel better. "There's no need; I need to get coffee for Astero to make sure he will be at full capacity, so next time you pay."

Stepping on the pedal, I make sure that the path back is clear before driving us to the main road. As I do so, Mel places her hand on my shoulder and talks in a low tone.

"I'm sorry for lying."

"There's no need for that; I can't be mad at you when you just wanted to help. Besides, you even offered to pay for the breakfast; that is the maximum proof you're sorry." I add a grin to my comment, managing to get a pout out of her. Freeing one of my hands from the wheel, I turn on the radio so she can pick up some music for us.

As she does so, she can't help but add a comment of her own. "I pay for things too."

"You mean your things, right? Because now that you're talking, I'm remembering a certain plushie you brought me a while back that, not even a week later, disappeared magically into your room."

"Shut up, you dork." She gives my shoulder an affectionate punch and finally picks up a station; the music that starts to play eases the road ahead. The soft guitar, the lyrics that fade into the background as I focus on the street ahead—it all feels too familiar at this point, so much so that I instinctively tap my fingers against the wheel rhythmically.

Because everyone was at the crime scene, the roads are pretty much empty, so the drive is quite uneventful. As we approach the harbor to take the road where lies the old red brick factory remnants that have built basically every building in this city, my eyes focus on the tracks that serve as paths for trains to make their way through our city, carrying supplies from the harbor to both the cities that exist atop and below ours on the map.

It is quite rare to see it active these days, so when I hear the loud, familiar click-clack of the wheels on the rails, I slow down to watch it pass by. The moment is nice, quite calming even regarding our situation; unfortunately, it lasts not long, as in its hurry, the old train quickly disappears from view behind the forest path that separates the street from it.

It doesn't take long before we reach the Blue Wave, the small family restaurant known for its old-fashioned service, home cooking, and the best breakfast option in town. Probably one of the oldest establishments around here, it existed even before the current mayor took his place about forty years ago.

The diner is, not surprisingly, very popular, particularly with the students that usually come here after their classes. Some of the officers, passing truck drivers, and fishermen also frequent the restaurant because of the easy access the bus stop at its side offers, the gas station nearby, and the generous parking lot space. The same parking lot where I quickly park my car, using the emptiness of it for now to my advantage, gives me the best parking spot.

Climbing out of my car and locking the doors, Melissa loses no time in walking to the front door and waving me to hurry up. With a scoff followed by a smile, I place the keys in my jeans and do as told, reaching her side and entering the restaurant together.

The moment we step in, Mel rushes to the booth at the end of the row, and I move my gaze to the empty ones, quickly noticing that not all are empty. A group of three women sit at the other end; one of them digs down a piece of pie like a desperate kid, the other silently sips her coffee as she stares at the outside, and the last one gazes back at me, so strongly in fact that I look away instinctively.

"What are you doing? Come one, sit down so I can order already; momma's hungry for some pie hehe." Melissa laughs lowly to herself as she stares at the menu so intently that it's easy to see she has forgotten my existence for the moment.

Placing myself in front of her, my hands come to rest on the menu as I flip it, only looking to order something to drink for now as my appetite was killed the moment I saw the body. Between choosing a cup of coffee, soda, or juice, I end up thinking about the day I'll have ahead and settling my mind.

Timely, Bella, the owner of the establishment, walks out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on the kitchen cloth hanging from her apron and spotting us in our booth.

She opens a bright smile and gestures for me to wait a moment as she gets the other table another cup of coffee; when that is done, she loses no time in dancing in our direction, swaying in her yellow and red waitress dress, showing off her bright colors to the world, making this gray morning a little more colorful.

"Well, oh well~" Bella talks in her singing voice, hugging the white silver plate she carries all the time closer to her chest. "I was asking myself when you two were going to show up, Officer and Detective Rivers."

"Hey, Bella!" Melissa finally takes her eyes off the menu and returns to the world. Her eyes travel up and down the waitress as if this is the first time they see each other. Even if we have known Bella for many years now, after all, we studied together. "You're looking prettier today."

If Mel had a dog tail, it would definitely be wagging right now; for my entertainment, I'm able to watch as she attempts to flirt like usual. Bella, Lee, who is going to be the next? The firefighters across the station? Most probably.

"You're saying I don't look pretty every day?" Bella answers quickly, with a frown on her brows that I can tell is fake at first glance, but is still well done enough to leave Melissa preoccupied. Unfortunately, the waitress doesn't manage to hold her frown for too long before breaking into a sweet laugh. "I'm kidding, honey; thank you for the compliment."

As my sister's expression turns to relief, I use the moment to ask a question. "You were expecting us; why?"

"Pappi called me on his way here. He saw people gathered near the apartments, like something bad had happened, and he spotted your car parked near them, so I just connected the dots. Given the fact that every time something happens, you two come here, I was already waiting."

"I see. Is Mister Hernandez in the kitchen today?"

"No, he actually got out to buy more ingredients earlier, but with the commotion, I'm sure he will be coming back late, so I'm handling the kitchen for now."

Nodding my head, Melissa takes her chance and taps the menu on the table to grab Bella's attention. "Can I get a coffee with two sugar cubes and a piece of strawberry pie?"

"The coffee is no problem, but I'll not be able to get you the pie; the ladies over there ordered the last piece we had."

"No way..." Mel hangs her head low and sighs, but not for long.

"Why don't we do this? I'll ask papi to make a delivery for you at the station when I get the ingredients."

"You can do that?"

Bella nods her head, already managing to help resurface a smile from the sweet-toothed officer.

Seeing that we will only take our drinks, I decide to hurry our return to the station. "Then, please, three coffees to go. Mel's with two sugar cubes, one with milk, and the last plain. include the pie as well." I hand her my credit card.

"Sure thing, honey, it will be ready in five." Before leaving, though, she places her hand on my shoulder and smiles. "Olivia, one thing: good luck. If you need more coffee or something sweet, I'll give you a discount, so keep me posted on how you're doing."

"Okay, I'll do my best."

Now, Bella truly leaves our booth and walks back to the kitchen. Strangely, when I turn my eyes to Mel, she's pouting. "'Something sweet', huh?"

Ignoring her comment, I focus my attention on the table when I feel my phone vibrate, warning me of a call, and once I take it out lazily, I can see the name 'Astero Lab Freak' stare back at me.

"Astero is calling," I tell Mel as I rise to my feet hurriedly. "Maybe he has the body already; I'll take the call outside; when the drinks are done, meet me in the car."

"All righty, now go take the call already."

In my mindless way to rush outside, I end up almost bumping into a woman as she opens the restaurant door. We awkwardly stare at each other's faces as the moment of surprise dies down.

Deep blue eyes and long, flowing blonde hair adorn her delicate face, all traits that tell me she isn't from around; my eyes travel to her clothing, seeing an identification card that I can't quite read on her business outfit before reminding myself of the annoying vibration of my phone; even so, I'm almost sure I caught the word 'federal' written in it.

"That was close; sorry, miss." I give way for the woman to pass by me and notice that her gaze too lingered on me, especially as it reached the badge in my belt. Raising a brow, the woman is quick to hide her reaction with a smile.

"The fault was mine; please go on first or you'll miss your call." She gestures for me to go on, and not wanting to miss my call, as she reminds me, I do so with only a nod of my head.

Now outside, I take the call and put the phone to my ear; in a moment, Astero's voice starts to sound from it.

"Hello, Olivia? Are you there?" Astero asks in a worried voice. I can hear the sound of his tools hitting his table as he rushes to take the phone out of speaker mode. "Why did you take so long to answer the phone?"

"Yeah, I'm here; sorry that I kept you waiting. Melissa and I are on the Blue Wave getting your coffee right now; did Doctor Foster pass by the station?"

"Yes, he did; actually, he's leaving at this exact moment. He stopped around to help me take the samples of the vic's blood and skin to send to the hospital for a deeper analysis, which should accelerate the process a bit."

"That's good. But, did something happen? I know you would not call me just to say that."

"You're right; indeed, something happened; good news for you. While taking in the samples, I noticed a strange vibration coming from the body and attempted to investigate the source. In the end, I found out that the victim's phone was located in a compartment in her left boot. A small string that seems to have been sewn by someone, likely the victim, was made to hold the electronic safe. For now, I have separated the item for your arrival; my advice is that you come check it as soon as possible."

"I'll be there in ten; we are just waiting for the coffee to be ready."

"You got mine, correct? Remember that I like mine with milk."

"Of course I got yours; just relax that it is as you like it; I wouldn't be able to forget anyway by how many times you remind me of that."

"Better to be safe than sorry. Anyway, I'll be waiting in the lab; see you soon."

He hangs off the phone, leaving me to think for the time being, 'We have the victim's phone, so that will be of help pretty sure; now the hard part will truly come. Better to get my pillows to my new office; I'll sure make good use of Reele's sofa.'

As I finish my thoughts, Melissa leaves the restaurant, carrying the bag with our order, hurrying me to open the car door before she spills everything; doing so, we enter it in sync and set off to the station.