She was a very good listener. But she wasn't a very good talker.
She could listen to him as he unloaded his on past on her, and he knew how difficult it had been telling Sweets what had happened in one of her foster homes.
She couldn't unload herself, she compartmentalised herself too much.
The last time it had been just after Russ had left the first time. After she had solved her mothers case, after she had had a message of her father.
She'd looked at him and just said "My first friend in care, she was called Samantha. She was my roommate. She was a year older than me, and she had this job. A terrible job, and she refused to do it any longer. But they thought that she knew too much about it, so they beat her up." She smiled sadly "She was in a coma. And she was still in care and she was taken off of life support after 72 hours, as for the rule for children who are wards of the state"
She moved around the room and went to the bookcase. She pulled out a bible. "She told me to start making a list. She wanted to make 20. That was her goal. She only made it to 19" She handed him the bible.
"I didn't think you believed in God" he commented
"This was hers. When you get into care, you use something durable to make a list. At the time, it's the most important list of your life, she used a bible. I used a shoe." She stated
He opened the bible, and immediately saw the list she was talking about "19, there are 19 places" he whispered to himself "What does it represent?"
"It represents where you've been" she looked sadly at the bible
"How many did you get?" he was dreading the answer
"I got 27. That includes the different care homes and everything" she looked at him in the eyes. "It was different. I'd never know anyone to die. Like my family left but nobody died" She left me the bible as a birthday present"
After that, they'd talked and talked about different things. But that was the second time she opened up to him.
He'd make sure it wasn't the last.