Chapter 1

It was 5:00 when I woke up. Jumped out of bed was more like it. I didn't usually wake up this early. I was on edge, probably just the dream I had. I pulled on my dressing robe and scuffled to the kitchen to put the kettle on. I sat on the sofa and started to rub my temples, headache. I knocked over the pile of books I had on the living room table looking for yesterday's newspaper. I found the corner of a newspaper hiding under a particularly heavy book and snatched it out. The newspaper had ripped in half, I sighed and looked at the date, and it was old. No matter. I threw it to the floor with the rest of my piles of books and headed for the kitchen. I made myself some tea and stood in my dark kitchen drinking it slowly. Closing my eyes I drifted into thought. Tea was something I had always been fond of, but sometimes I missed having coffee in the morning. When I was young I always used to wake up to the smell of coffee pouring out of the kitchen. Coffee was my parents' daily dose of energy. After my parents died I mostly just drank it as a tribute to them. Coffee wasn't as common here in England so I found myself longing for it from time to time, but I usually just tried to push those thoughts from my mind. I exhaled deeply and opened my eyes. I brought my cup to my mouth only to discover my tea had gone cold. I wasn't surprised. I was often lost inside my own head, sometimes for hours. I gulped down the tea and shook my head.

I was sifting through my closet to find something suitable to wear out. "No. No. No." I wasn't particularly picky about my clothes but I hadn't done laundry in awhile and I hadn't anything clean that I liked. I walked back to the bathroom and pulled the towel off of my wet hair and started to comb through it with my fingers when I heard a knock at my door. It was just 3 short raps at the door. I listened carefully for another. "Who is it?" I yelled out of my bathroom. No answer. I wrapped my towel tighter around my body and walked to the door. I opened it, no one outside. "Hello? Anybody there?" I stepped out the door to look down the hallway and saw no one. After coming back inside I felt something stuck to my foot, a sticky note. I examined closer.

They need you to make a deposit. The banker may owe someone a little more than change. Blood is always repaid.

I flipped it over looking for more information. There was nothing. "Owe..." I whispered. "Owe, owe, owe. …OH!" I smiled and held the note into the air. "A case." I said with a grin.

I slid into a cab and continued reading an article in the newspaper. "Vandalism at Shad Sanderson a Mystery" Paint on the walls in an executive office. Nothing was stolen. Curious. No sign of forced entry. I closed the newspaper and started to think. How do you get into a bank undetected? Couldn't have been an employee, the key card would have been recognized. No forced entry, anything being broken would have been caught on film. How do you get in?! I yelled inside my head. The cab stopped and I stepped out. I turned around to face the massive building in front of me, it nearly hurt my neck trying to see the top of the building. I flung my shoulder bag so it rested against my back and I strutted into the building. I stood still and looked around, noticing. Trading hours, security cameras, not to mention 24 hour security guards, there were people in this building all hours of the day, how does a vandal slip by unnoticed? I turned up my face from the confusion. I approached the front desk. "Detective Meyers." I stated "I need to see your supervisor." The woman sitting behind it looked at me with big doe eyes and she held her shaky hands to her chest. She was frightened, nervous. She hesitated.

"I'm sorry ma'am. Uh…uh… he isn't seeing anyone today"

"Look…"I glanced at her name plate. "Cindy. This is important, vandalism isn't the worst of the problems going on here. I need to speak to your supervisor immediately!" I placed both my hands on the counter and widened my eyes "IT COULD BE LIFE OR DEATH!" I said harshly. She jumped at my exclamation and I smiled to myself. She started typing away at her computer then stood up.

"P-please if you'll follow me ma'am."

I almost felt guilty. She was a new employee, her uniform was crisp and was still an alarming shade of white, brand new. Her hair was curled and pulled up, she had on nice jewelry and a bright red lip color. She was trying to make an impression, only been here a week I presumed and here I am scaring the girl. I chuckled in the elevator and she gave me a startling look.

"Excuse me" I said. I cleared my throat and smiled under my hand. Poor girl.

I stepped out of the elevator and gave the girl a nod. There was a well dressed business man waiting for my arrival. He offered me his hand and I shook it.

"Tabitha" I said to him. "Tabitha Meyers, Detective."

"Sebastian. It's a pleasure." He responded. I began to look around, examining the room. I started making my way into the vandalized room when I was interrupted.

"I'm sorry Ms. Meyers but another detective has been here already I'm afraid he is already looking into the matter." He smiled politely at me. I smiled back at him, how naïve he was.

"He doesn't know what he's looking for. This is more than just a simple act of vandalism and I'm not looking for any kind of compensation. Would it be alright if I just had a look around?"

"Help yourself. If there is anything I can get you please let me know." And he didn't try to hide his glances down at my body and smile before turning round.

"Right" I responded sarcastically, making sure to stress the word. I scoffed and got to work. I walked into the painted room. It was a poor brand of yellow spray paint that is usually bought in bulk. The artist wasn't looking for recognition for his work, the lines were muffled and messy, he was sending a message. "To who?" I noted. The symbols, I'd seen them before, I snapped a picture so I could analyze it further later on. This wasn't an office that gets used often so the message wasn't for whomever it belonged to.. Who would see it and know what it meant? I stood in front of the painting and turned around trying to narrow down who would be able to see it clearly. I started to walk. "Nope. Not you. Excuse me. Aaahhh." Clarity. I stood in front of an office that had two labels Hong Kong and another one that was empty. I peeked inside. As far as I could tell it was an average office. It looked like he spent a lot of time abroad, his office was hardly used. He didn't have many personal items here save one, a Chinese kite mounted on the wall. I called for Sebastian.

"Whose office is this?" I asked

"Eddie Van Coon. Why?"

"Thank you for your time Sebastian." I shook his hand and left.