Nomura's first thought, when she officially met Barbara Lake, was that she'd seen this woman before.
It wouldn't be impossible. Nomura had been stationed in the Arcadia Oaks Museum for years now, and it was a small town. They could have passed each other on the street any number of times.
The sense of familiarity nagged at her throughout the evening at the police station – at Strickler's insistence, she dropped the breaking and entering charges against the Trollhunter and his friend – and would have persisted all night if not for the distraction of Strickler and Bular's attempt on her life.
If she hadn't recovered the Fetch when she did …
The persistent feeling came back full force the next night, when she brought tea to the Trollhunter's house to get his mother out of the way while she killed him and took the amulet. While she waited for the drugs to take effect and the boy to get home, she had to make … small talk … with Dr Lake.
They'd already exchanged greetings, and the Trollhunter's mother had thanked her for the tea and promised 'Jim' would be home soon – he was 'grounded' until he apologized for 'frightening' Nomura the night before – and then they'd discussed the museum a bit. Nomura had disclosed she also had a private collection of antiquities.
It was innocuous enough, but Nomura didn't care to discuss personal matters with humans. She cast about for some topic that could turn the conversation away from herself.
"As a doctor, I suppose you don't have much time for hobbies."
Was it something about the woman's hair, maybe? Or her eyes?
"I paint, when I can, actually."
That was it! She looked like a painting!
"Landscapes or portraits?" Nomura smiled across her cup. "Bowls of fruit?"
"Portraits, usually." Dr Lake took off her glasses a moment to wipe away a bit of steam from the tea. "I don't know why I said that like I still do it. I haven't had the time to paint anything in years, but when I was younger …"
And off she went on an anecdote, carrying the full weight of the conversation while her guest and poisoner made interested noises once in a while. That suited Nomura just fine.
Yes, Dr Lake looked like a painting. A collection of several paintings, in fact, and at least one tapestry. Nomura saw her every day at work. No wonder she'd half-recognized her.
"You know," she said, when Dr Lake took another sip of tea, "a surprising percentage of art at the museum features blue-eyed, redheaded women. If you ever paint a self-portrait in Medieval or Renaissance garb, I could sneak it into the display."
Dr Lake nearly choked on her tea, laughing. Well, hopefully she had still swallowed enough for the drugs to be effective.
"That's … a generous offer, Ms Nomura. Maybe for an April Fool's joke, to see how long it takes anyone to notice."
That was when the Trollhunter got home.