"That, detective, does not look legal."
Raye scowled, slamming the door to her truck. Okay, so it was a little beat up. Maybe a headlight was missing. Or two.
"I didn't think I'd end up giving you a legal conscience, Joanes."
The lady in question chuckled softly, her bleary eyes alight with amusement. "Not quite yet detective. Keep trying though, you'll get there." She yawned, stretching her arms upwards and skewing her shirt up just enough to show a tiny bit of her stomach. "Why you picked six AM for a meeting is beyond me. You're not really an early riser."
Vallace had learned by this point not to question how Joanes had gotten that information. "No complaining about free rides."
Joanes could only shrug at that, obliging her partner and jumping into the passenger seat, which at this point was more of a glorified cushion, with the back missing. The seatbelt looked pitiful next to it. Actually, the whole vehicle looked like a death trap. Well, at least it was her deathtrap.
.........Maybe she should get a new car.
"I asked if you were ready to go?"
Raye hadn't even realized that she'd been zoning off. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry."
The two drove in silence to the camp, where they were to meet their first informant, the camp owner by the name of Kenneth Jason. They had been there the night T. and Raye had discovered the body, although Raye didn't recall ever talking to them. Then again, the weeks after that experience had gone by in a haze. But the officer had also claimed to know Mira, which was helpful for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, while T.'s connections to the Vadej family were very helpful, they were just as suspicious, and our detective couldn't quite admit to trusting her yet. Second, it seemed that nobody knew Mira, not personally anyway. She was rarely actually seen in class, although Superior Lake high school claimed she attended, and she seemed to stay off most social media. A local teenage weirdo, truly, not that Raye should be thinking that about a dead girl.
She couldn't help sneaking glances at T. as she drove. She was nodding her head along to a tune playing through her earbuds, her slender fingers tapping to the rhythm as if to indicate that she was still awake. Her eyes were closed, and the early morning sun flickered over her face, shining its golden light on her hair. She looked peaceful like that, carefree. Raye liked how she didn't try to have any awkward conversation. She could think of a few people who could benefit from a silence like that. Suddenly T. popped her earbud out and opened her eyes, looking at Raye questioningly.
"Did you say something?"
Raye hadn't even thought that she'd seen her looking.
"Huh? Oh, no, nothing."
Joanes rolled her eyes. "Just enjoying the view then?"
Raye felt her face grow hot as she directed her eyes back towards the road. "Was just wondering what you were listening to, is all."
T. hummed vaguely in response, but after a few seconds she leaned forward and brushed a lock of Raye's hair out from in front of her ear. Before she could question her however, T. had placed one of her earbuds into the detective's ear and slid back into her seat, closing her eyes again. Raye listened along. There was acoustic guitar being played in the background, and a voice that she didn't recognize from any of the popular radio stations she listened to in the office. The girl singing was young, younger than the both of them, and her voice was soft and sweet. It carried just a trace of an accent, much like T.'s. A careful glance at her phone showed that it was a recording stored away in some older files. The title read "Sis" and nothing else.
"You have a sister?" Raye asked, glancing back at Joanes.
She bit her lip. "Nope."
T. kept a calm demeanor, her face revealing nothing. She seemed like the kind of person that could learn everything about you from just a few conversations, and leave you without dropping so much as a name. The song ended just as Raye pulled into the camp-office driveway.
"We're here."
"Aww yeah," T. said, the words mumbled together in such a haziness that Raye had to chuckle. She'd slumped down in her seat during the drive, with her cheek pressed against her hand and her legs draped elegantly over the rest of the.... car. It didn't look comfortable, but Raye had never been one to judge sleeping preferences.
"Didn't get much rest, huh?"
At that T. mustered a tired smile, her lips just parting enough to show off her sharp teeth. "Don't need it. All you softies are just weak."
"Might want to say that after you get out of the car, Joanes."
"Ah. Yes." Then, just as gracefully as she'd slept, she got up, sweeping her legs across the dashboard and stumbling onto her impossibly tall heels. (With them on, she didn't even come close to meeting Raye's height, she noticed.) Her vehicle wasn't built for those kinds of positions. Or those kinds of shoes. Or really people in general.
They made their way into the office, where a gruff looking person with an extensively long beard greeted them. Following them was the tiniest, most well-behaved little service dog that Raye had ever seen. It gave two sharp barks when they entered, and although its tail wagged ferociously it stayed put next to its owner.
"HELLO THERE TRAVELERS!" Kenneth boomed, and Raye flinched a little at their voice. Lord it was early in the morning. T. seemed to have recovered from her bleariness however, because she slipped on a perfect smile and extended her hand to them with matched enthusiasm. "Hello, hello. I'm Sadie Rose. This is my partner, Detective Raye Vallace."
Sadie Rose? That one was new. Our detective didn't get a chance to think much of it though, because her and Joanes, er, Sadie, were getting pulled into a bear-hug so tight it felt like their necks would snap. "I MISSED YA RAYE! TERRIBLE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GIRL, JUST AWFUL REALLY! REGARDLESS, I'LL ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS TRAVELERS! MAKE YER'SELVES AT HOME!" They were then released from the hug and plopped onto an indoor couch while Kenneth went off to their office, leashing his pomeranian inside.
T. giggled helplessly. "This guy's gotta be a counselor, right?"
Raye hushed her, trying to hide her grin. "We cant joke, this is supposed to be serious!"
"I'm not!"
Kenneth returned with three steaming mugs of coffee, managing to carry two in one hand. T. reached for hers and handed another one to Raye, a slight smirk still tugging at the corners of her mouth. It vanished however when she turned to face Kenneth and was once again replaced with one of enthusiasm rather than humor. Raye sipped her coffee and fidgeted in her seat. She didn't like how easily T. could change like that, it made her feel uneasy.
Joanes made no time for small talk, taking charge of the investigation almost immediately.
"Kenneth, you told us that you knew Mira, correct?"
They quieted their voice a bit and gave the pair a solemn smile, one of genuine grief. They weren't lying. "I knew her alright, a good one, Mira! Always did her best! Quiet though, you could never get much outta' her."
T. shot a knowing smile at Raye, pointedly emphasizing her next question.
"And what was your relation to her?"
"Ah, well, y'see, Mira wasn't always the best at dealin' with her issues. She came over ere' a lot, after school and whatnot. I guess I was a counselor to her, and a good one indeed! She always seemed ta' feel better after talkin' to me."
Joanes shouldn't have known that. She really hadn't been joking earlier. Raye cut in, trying to look anywhere but at her partner, who was undoubtedly wearing the smug smirk of a winning bet.
"What issues did she describe?"
"And ya see, that was just the issue with er'! She never told me! Sometimes she'd come ere' in a daze, and just fidget around until I gave er' somethin' to do. Other times, she'd lie down ere'-" Kenneth made a grand sweeping motion towards the couch they were sitting on, "- and stare off! When I asked her what was wrong, she'd shrug n' talk about the weather or somethin'. I mostly did my best in distactin' her from whatever was goin' on. I always felt bad for her though, the poor girl."
Kenneth seemed to get a little choked up about their description. They'd had a month to grieve, but it must have seemed all too soon.
"Did you ever meet any of her friends or family?"
"I didn't know the Vadej family all that well, to be honest with ya'. Rich folk, they live up on the hills. Never once saw them come to pick up their daughter, just one second she was here, and the next, gone. Her friends though, I saw about a week ago. Strange kids, wearin' black, and hollerin' about some 'Pearl'. I had seen her with em' before, but Mira brought all sorts with er' so I wasn't quite sure at the time."
T.'s eyes widened, and she leaned forward with sudden interest. "Pearl? They mentioned a Pearl?"
Kenneth chuckled nervously, a little startled by her intensity. "Yeah, well, her friends came up ere' about a week after the incident. I wasn't quite in my right mind, with er' death n' all, I considered the girl a close friend a' mine. They kept talkin' about a Pearl Duke, sayin' that she was missin' and that they last saw er' here. I told em' we'd never kept a Pearl here, and they took off. Haven't seen em' since."
T. stood up with abruptly, setting her mug back onto the coffee table with a bang. She smiled a carnivorous grin at Kenneth, who eyed her with mild discomfort and confusement. "Thank you, Kenneth, I think that will be all. Now if you'll allow my associate and I-" She pulled me to my feet, setting my empty mug down and shoving me towards the door. "-We'll take our leave then! Thank you for all the help!"
Kenneth stuttered, still perplexed by T.'s motions. "Ah- but- Miss Rose, don'tcha need-" They were cut off as T. swept us both to the door. "No, no, that's all we needed! Have a good night Kenneth, thanks again!" And with that T. loudly closed the cabin door behind us. I glared at her when we got outside, my voice still shaking a little from the encounter.
"Mind telling me what the hell that was all about Joanes? We still had-" But I was shushed, T. still grinning at me as she punched in a number on her phone and held it up to her ear. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement and her eyes looked wolfishly up at me. Her shoulders rose up and down with ecstatic breaths as she proclaimed her next statement.
"Detective, I know where we need to go next."
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