A/N: I hoped you all enjoyed the first chapter! Here's the next one.

edboy: thank you very much

CJ: I hope you like this story as much as the last one

I Wumbo: I'll do my best not to disappoint!

IrishRed: I will, just don't expect anything super realistic I doubt I can impress a criminal justice major with a crime story. I'll do my best though!

LoneAssassin: Elizabeth will be with Booker for much of the investigation

MrCheeseCake: I went back and changed it to her correct height. but thanks for the heads up!

OphisSnake: Thanks for telling me the right height, I went back and changed it!

SilencedVigor: This story is going to be as long as it needs to be

Trains: It will be somewhat related, but the stories will be pretty separate

KimJungUn: I'm glad I've made you so happy. Unless you're the real Kim Jung Un. If you are, then Your Missiles America's Missiles. Just saying.

Chapter Two: A Walk in the City

Booker stood in Madison Square early next morning, waiting for Elizabeth. It was a cold, snowy day in Manhattan, as usual, so cold he could see his own breath. Booker fished around in his pockets and fished out a pack of cigarettes. He pulled one out and lit it, taking a deep breath of the warm smoke. Booker exhaled with relief, feeling the heat of the embers close to his face.

He looked up at a nearby clock; Elizabeth should have arrived two minutes ago. Elizabeth was someone he had taken to be all about punctuality, seeing as she grew up on a farm. Then again, she still probably wasn't used to the city. For all he knew, she might have not even known where Madison Square was.

Booker took another drag from his cigarette, letting loose another cloud of smoke. As he smoked and watched individual snowflakes cross his sight, spinning daintily in the air, he spotted a figure in a leather coat approaching him. As the figure got closer, he saw it was Elizabeth, wrapped in a winter coat and a scarf. He could see she was still definitely not used to the weather. The cold was causing her to shiver just as much as she had been last night. When she saw Booker, a smile crossed her face and she cheerily jogged over to meet him. Booker smiled back, not something he usually did. Something about her happy attitude was infectious though, and he around her he couldn't help but feel a bit lighter.

"You know smoking is bad for you, Mr. Dewitt," she told him in a concerned tone of voice as she approached him

Booker pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and tapped it a couple times, letting a few embers fly onto the snow covered concrete.

"Believe me, this is the least of my worries," he responded, throwing the cigar out anyways, "and you can call me Booker, no need for formalities."

"Alright, Booker," she said, as if rolling the name around in her mouth, trying to decide if she liked the taste, "are you ready to head over?"

Booker nodded, "I'm ready. Lead the way."

Booker had decided that he wasn't going to let the city take advantage of this one. Her innocence was something that he thought should be put out. There was no place for innocence in the world, it only got the blissfully ignorant cheated and abused. He was determined to teach her a couple lessons on street savoir-faire. Hopefully, by the end of this case, she would know the way of the city enough to survive on her own.

"So Mr. Dewitt, when did you become a detective?" Elizabeth suddenly asked as they strolled along the sidewalks of the busy city.

Booker held his hand out, as if to cut her off, and said, "For this investigation, we're going to have to lay down a couple ground rules. First one is, no back-stories. I've got some things about myself that I'd rather others didn't find out."

Elizabeth nodded understandingly, and repeated back to him, "alright, no back-story."

"Good, but Elizabeth, I am curious about one thing. Why did you want to move to this city," Booker asked her

Elizabeth gave him a funny look and then said to him, "I thought you said no back-stories?"

"I'm an investigator, so I actually need this information."

"Oh, of course," Elizabeth said, realizing that he had a good point. She thought about how to answer for a bit, and then told him, "To be honest, I just wanted to experience life outside Fairfield. New York City seemed like the furthest I could get from a small farm town, so I moved here. But where I really want to go one day is Paris."

"Paris?" Booker asked curiously, passing by a couple homeless men.

Elizabeth nodded excitedly, "Yes, I read about it all the time back when I was in Fairfield. The city sounds so beautiful and lovely, wouldn't you agree Mr. Dewitt?"

Booker chucked gruffly, "Anywhere is better then here."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrow curiously and said to him, "You know, for a guy who has lived in this city for his entire life, you sure do seem to hate it."

"I have my reasons," Booker told her, being careful not to steer too close to the back-story subject again.

"Oh… right," Elizabeth sighed in a disappointed tone of voice.

Booker felt a bit bad for shrugging her off, so he told her, "Look, lets just say I'm in debt with some people you don't want to owe money to."

He immediately regretted it as soon as the words came out of his mouth. Why had he just told her his debt issues? What was he thinking? He had told her specifically, no back-story, yet her big blue eyes were able to coax it out of him.

"Well I'm sure everything will work out Mr. Dewitt," Elizabeth told him cheerily, "And the mayor will pay you handsomely once you find out who's been stealing from his office."

Booker chuckled; her tireless optimism was kind of cute, "Let's hope so."

The two finally reached the large white animal house. Elizabeth walked up to the door and opened it for him politely. Booker nodded thanks to her as he walked in, and she closed the door behind him. The place was fancy that was for sure. Booker was less worried about the case when he saw the expensive red carpet running down the main hall and more worried where the tax payers' money was going.

"It's a nice carpet, isn't it?" Elizabeth asked guiltily, "A couple generous donors let us have it."

"Of course," Booker answered suspiciously, eyeing the golden portrait hanging on the wall.

Elizabeth led him through the hallways to the finances room. She pulled out a key and unlocked the heavy wooden doors. Once they opened with a click, she pushed through and let Booker in. The detective was surprised by how quaint Elizabeth's workplace was. She had a picture of her farm on the desk, and a couple trinkets she had collected around the city.

"Over here Mr. Dewitt," Elizabeth told him, waving to get his attention.

Booker walked over and saw a large book of financial records, containing every withdrawal and deposit made. He picked it up and began to flip through it. Elizabeth peeked over his shoulder and pointed to one name.

"There, that one man has made multiple large withdrawals during my time here under the cover of one name, Mr. John Chatham."

"John Chatham?" Booker mused curiously, looking at the handwriting. Something seemed familiar about it… Where had he seen this before? The 'm' was curved in strange way, in which the tip curled up at the end. It was very distinct, if he could only just remember what it was. Booker then noticed something on the ground near her desk. He stooped over and picked it up.

It was a small clump of opium, a very illegal drug. Booker knew opium was as expensive as it was dangerous, though. Only those with a significant amount of money could afford it. This eliminated most low end establishments and people, with the exception of a couple criminals who may have been able to procure some of the stuff. But if someone had enough money to support opium usage, then why would they need to be taking money from the mayor's office?

"Are you a smoker Ms. Longworth?" Booker asked as he turned towards her, hiding the opium in his hand

Elizabeth shook her head and answered, "I've never smoked before in my life, I promise."

Booker looked at her carefully and saw she was telling the truth. Her lips were to red and full of life for her to be a smoker. Her teeth were practically perfect as well. Plus, from what he could gather, Elizabeth held herself to a high moral standard. Booker didn't think she'd be caught dead lying. It definitely wasn't her opium, but if it wasn't hers, then whose was it?

"I need time to think this over," Booker told Elizabeth, as he turned around and headed out the door.

Elizabeth stood still for a bit, stunned at how quickly he had given up. She then ran after him and called, "Wait, so are you taking up the case?"

Booker turned around and answered, "Yes, I am. Meet me in front of my office tomorrow morning and we'll continue this investigation. Right now, I just need to think."

Elizabeth suddenly began looking at the ground in embarrassment. Booker looked at her, trying to figure out what he had done. Elizabeth then spoke up, "Do you mind walking me to my apartment? I forgot my purse so I can't pay the cab, and I still don't really know my way around…"

"Alright," Booker sighed, "Where do you live?"

"Upper West side, I'll know it when I see it," Elizabeth answered as the two closed up and headed back outside.

As they headed down to Elizabeth's apartment, Booker kept silent, running the different possibilities through his head. Where had he seen that 'm' before, and who was Mr. Chatham? Booker looked at the small clump of opium carefully, feeling it in his hands. From the looks of it, it was high quality.

"Change, spare some change?" a man from the side of the street begged as the two passed by.

Elizabeth looked at him, and was about to reach for some loose change when Booker grabbed her wrist.

"If they know you have money, they'll tear you apart," he hissed silently

Elizabeth frowned back at him and retorted, "Who? This poor old man who's down on his luck?"

"No," Booker responded, nodding over to a group of gangsters and sharks across the street, who were eyeing them carefully, "Them."

Elizabeth quickly moved her hand away from her jacket pockets and walked on. Booker saw her face grow a little darker as they moved on, as if not helping that man caused a bit of her to die inside. He felt bad for stopping her good-hearted actions, but it was for her own well being. Booker still didn't know why he cared so much, but something inside him felt obligated to look out for this innocent soul.

Booker began to hear criers on the streets, calling out, "NY Times! Come get your times! The latest news in your own two hands!"

He decided since he had been reading the same paper from two weeks ago for a while, it would be a worthy investment to get a new issue.

"Wait here," Booker told Elizabeth as he pulled a couple coins from his pocket and walked over to the paperboy. The little boy smiled when he saw Booker and asked, "Would you like a paper sir?"

"Yeah, here ya go," Booker answered as he paid the boy and took one of the papers. He opened it up, just to quickly check what he would be reading at his own apartment. Apparently a new fancy bar had just opened up in the wealthier part of town. Booker folded the paper and walked back over to Elizabeth, who was waiting patiently for him.

"Alright, let's keep going," Booker told her, motioning for Elizabeth to lead the way.

Elizabeth nodded and said to him, "My apartment isn't too far from here."

Not too long after, the two reached Elizabeth's apartment. Booker was impressed with how nice the building was. He had a feeling Elizabeth was wealthier than he was, but the building she lived in was one of the best in New York. When the two approached the door, Elizabeth turned and told him, "Thank you Mr. Dewitt, I do hope you have a great rest of the day."

"You two Ms. Longworth," Booker responded, tipping his head to her

Elizabeth smiled and headed inside her apartment, leaving Booker alone again on the side of the road. Booker smiled to himself and made his way back to his office. Little did he know, this seemingly small job was about to become the most important case in his life.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed their little walk. For those who know a lot about animals, you may pick up on a more hidden clue I put in there.