Days passed slowly as I watched Scarlett pace the length of the flat. We had pulled any clues and statements together; one that killers were brother and sister, twins for that matter, and two, which we had both seen them before. Scarlett spent all of her time, talking to herself and rummaging through what she told me were her father's old notebooks and journals. I tried to help, to do what I could, but really there was nothing I could do without Scarlett's aid.
Once night, we sat in the living room. Scarlett playing her violin while I looked for the next murder story. "According to this, the next murder is, 'The Red Cap' which is 'Little Red Riding Hood.' That doesn't make sense."
Scarlett stopped playing and looked at me. Her eyes danced in the light of the fire. "How so?"
"Well, in the story, a wolf eats the grandmother and girl, and it's the woodsman who cuts open the wolf and frees the girl."
"Yes," Scarlett agreed.
"It's a wild animal that eats Red, and she doesn't die. What could the killers possibly to do play off this story?"
"They're training a dog to attack anyone in red, most likely. I could smell the scent of dog all over the man while in was hunched over me."
"So are they just going to pick a random victim like they did with the first two?"
"No, they have someone pegged."
"Who?"
"No one important," she said picking her instrument and playing again.
"What the hell do you mean by that? We can't let them kill a little girl!" I protested. Scarlett didn't respond; she just glided the bow across the strings without saying a word. Just then, the buzzer on the front door rang. "Who could that be this late?" I went to stand up but Scarlett motioned me back down.
"It's for me," she said and walked down the stairs. I heard the door open and close. Scarlett came back up the stairs with a large cardboard box. "I've been waiting for this for a long time."
"What is it?" I asked somewhat suspiciously.
"Good-night, James," said Scarlett. She took off down the hall with the box and locked herself in her room. If this had happened to me a few months ago, it would have struck me as incredibly rude but now it was just Scarlett. I have also noticed that she has grown so much smarter in the time I have known her. Her deductions have gotten faster and more accurate. And not to brag but, I feel as though I have grown smarter as well. I saw things differently when I walked with her around London. I couldn't pass by people with looking at them first. Everyone was an ally and everybody was an enemy.
I shook my head, closed the book of fairy tales and went to bed. I had trouble sleeping that night. In fact, I didn't at all. I lie under the covers with head covered by a pillow.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps going down the hallway. Thankfully, they were ones I recognized as Scarlett's boots. I looked at my alarm clock; half past one. Where was she going at this hour? Then, I heard the front door open and close. I waited, thinking she come right back in. Nothing. I got out of bed and went into the living room. Scarlett's inhaler lie forgotten on the end table.
Two o' clock. I panicked. I grabbed my jacket and fled out the door. I yelled her name in the darkness of the city; "Scarlett? Scarlett? Scarlett!"