"Can you explain why you're following me again?"

The Jim with the camera zooms in on your face as the other speaks up. "Well, if someone hadn't let the letter man get away then we would be following them."

"Look, you two needed someone to speak up for you or you would've been put in jail."

"Wouldn't have been the first time..."

"...What—"

"Shush shush, anyway," he crouches to the ground again, looking around. "It seems like you attract the mysterious letter man. Not only did you spot him but you rammed into him like a couple of magnets colliding together at light speed!"

You shake your head, going over and picking him up. "Look, you want to stick around while I work? Fine, but you have to walk normally."

"But, this is the way of the Jims! If we do not follow our ancestors in their footsteps, how can we hold the title of Jim?"

"Er..." He pushes up his lower lip and holds his hands together, giving you the biggest puppy dog eyes.

"...Fine. Fine! Just, try not to get in the way, okay? The lady probably doesn't need to think I have a couple of crazies with me looking for her husband."

"YES! ONWARD, JIM!" Your eye twitches. "I mean, onward, Jim," he whispers, stepping towards the apartment with careful steps.

You look at the building in its entirety, counting the stories and making careful observation of the fire escape. You enter the building and inquire about the location of the room you were searching for, the Jims zooming in on the face of the individual. You can only offer an apologetic smile before dragging the two with you to the elevator.

You reach the floor without too much trouble considering the two walking around in a seemingly order-like fashion while maintaining their crouched positions. Part of you hopes they are just playing around with you but another part tells you they are completely serious in their endeavor.

You go to the door and knock after clarifying the door number. The wife answers the door. "Ah, you're the detective, right?"

You nod, showing your badge. "You said that your husband went missing recently?"

"Yes. Ah, please, come in—Who are they?" She wags her finger to the Jims who are currently scouting around the hallway.

"My, er, associates. They are just going to take a look around and see if they can find anything off."

"Oh, uh, alright. Well, come in?"

Jim quickly scours ahead. You partially expect the same of the other Jim but he seems to be looking down the hall at something else. "Jim, come on."

He turns to you with the camera, nodding and crouching to the ground, following after the other Jim. Before you are able to see what Jim was looking at, your attention is brought towards the woman speaking, trying to give you a run through about who they are and what she recalls happening.

"I know usually you have to wait for someone to be gone for 48 hours but I have a feeling he doesn't have that much time."

"That's normal, ma'am. Can you tell me about what happened the afternoon he went missing?"

"Excuse me," Jim pipes up, peering into a cabinet, "You seem to be missing a plate."

"What?" Amanda blinks, confusion taking hold of her features.

You smile weakly. "Uh, sorry, my colleague is, er, a fan of plates?"

She appears to buy that and continues giving information, you offering the other a glare as they begin to look through the other cabinets. You should have told them to leave.

"He didn't say he was going anywhere?" you ask.

"No, he didn't say anything actually. I didn't even hear the door open at all. The car is still there too. If he was heading somewhere, he would take it, even the closer places."

"Mhm. Has he ever done something like this? What is his schedule like—"

"Look, Jim, a hammer. Strange seeing something like this in a kitchen."

You offer a smile to Amanda before turning back to the other two, giving a look to signal for them to quit screwing around. But they fail to catch the drift as they travel further into the place. "I'm sorry—"

"Your colleagues are very, er, thorough?"

"Yes, yes! They are, yes. They like to make sure they have a complete idea of what's going on."

"They kind of look familiar."

You laugh a little. "They get that all the time." You continue working with getting an idea of their schedules.

As you go to ask another question, you hear Jim ask, "Did you unlock this window?"

"Jim," you start.

"Wait, it's unlocked?" Amanda travels over to them. "I don't usually open these windows..."

You blink, heading over to the group. "Step aside," you pull out your fingerprint kit and dust for prints. You find none. "Whoever opened this must've been wearing gloves," you mutter, looking around. "And you said you didn't hear the door open?"

"Well, I don't believe I did. I was playing some music..." She looks to the window again.

"Is your husband someone to run away?"

"What? No, no. Without saying anything? No. He wouldn't."

"Mm." You open the window. "I'm going to go check it out—"

"We got this!" The Jims scramble out of the window without skipping a beat.

"Oookay then." You shake your head, looking out from the apartment. You see that there are skid marks on the road, not too old by the looks of it. "Has there been any suspicious activity in your area recently?"

"Mm, no, not really. Then again, I don't pay attention to the news much."

"Was your husband acting stranger than usual?"

"No. Well. He had a couple of nightmares he had convinced himself were true."

"Nightmares?"

"Yes but, you see, he'll freak out over the silliest things. I doubt it has anything to do with him missing."

"Well, tell me about them."

"Well, he said he was making a video about this new product, uh, some kind of android?" Her eyebrows furrow. "It was sort of like a maid I guess? Or meant to act like one but couldn't seem to figure out how to do anything like washing dishes or laundry."

You pencil the details in your notebook, the idea of an android sounding a bit off but it was still something to at least keep in mind. "What else?"

"I think he made it short out and then tried to repackage it? But someone knocked on the door and knocked him out."

"Someone? Someone you know or...?"

"Oh, no, I don't think so. We don't know anyone who carries around bats."

"Hm..." You end the note just as the other two came back. "Anything?"

"Other than the fire escape seemingly easier to knock down and someone yelling in a towel, no, not really."

"Wait, repeat that?"

"Someone yelling in a towel?"

"No, the other thing."

"No, not really?"

"The other thing!"

"...And—?"

"FORGET IT!" You breathe before recalling your client is still very much present. "Sorry, it's, been a long week. I may have to go and get some input from the neighbors below and around, someone probably saw something. What I'm wondering more though is why there aren't signs of a struggle..."

"I mean, there is a plate missing," Jim pipes up again.

You look at the news reporter Jim. "If the plate was used as a weapon, we would notice the shards or, at least, Amanda would've. It's been a day though."

"Mm..." The Jim stalks around the place.

"Y'know," Amanda starts, "maybe he went out to go see about cameras? I know that he was missing his but he would've said something about getting one. And it doesn't take this long to get back from the store."

You nod, taking note. "We'll check around just to make sure. I'll let you know if we are able to find out anything."

She nods, taking you and the Jims to the door. "Thank you again. If I remember anything else from that day, I'll contact you."

You nod, offering a smile. As soon as the door is closed, you turn to the Jims. "Why were you two so focused on plates?"

"Well, she is missing a plate from one of her sets. Usually people will replace those, y'know."

"Do they?"

"...The Jims replace their plates. But! This 'Amanda' person seemed to have no interest in it. It actually seemed like she didn't know what we were talking about."

"Hm."

A door opens up and you hear a voice speaking, sounding strangely familiar. "I don't understand why I have to go with you to look at this place. I trust you know what an apartment looks like." The individual has a messy head of hair mostly attempted to be guiding in an upward fashion. Dark hair, steady build, and—

He looks over to you and the Jims, pausing. It takes him a moment or two before he closes the door he came from. "Hello."

There is an awkward pause held between the four, the Jims choosing to keep their distance instead of jumping ahead to investigate. You see cameraman Jim look to you and then look at the stranger.

You finally speak. "Hello, do you have a minute? I would like to ask you some questions."

"What about?"

"We are doing an investigation for a missing person. If you can help by answering some questions we would appreciate it."

He nods slightly. "I can do that."

The Author watches the Detective as they question him. This is definitely them, seemingly dragging around the Jims in tow. He tries to avoid looking at the camera and even asks if it is necessary, claiming to not like being on camera. Eventually the camera is taken away but not without heavy interrogation from the one holding a mic.

He answers evenly about where he has been and what he has or has not heard. He claims to be mostly a hermit so he hardly steps out. Of course, he did happen to hear something on the street, stating that he thinks someone's car was taken. Whose, he is not sure but there is bound to be a police report.

"Alright, thank you. Can I get a name for the report?"

The Author watches them. "Can it be kept under Anonymous? If there happens to be any leads based on what I said, I don't want there to be a way to connect me."

"Well, a name is usually preferred. We keep track of our reports pretty well."

"Oh really? Hm, then I guess I must've read about a file getting misplaced about a Witness Protection client elsewhere."

The Detective pauses. "Look, I keep track of things I keep. If there are other questions I have, I need to be able to contact you."

"I have nothing else to say and if you really need to find me," he points to the door. "This is my current residence." The Detective doesn't budge. "The more time you waste here trying to get a name is more time you waste on finding whoever is missing. Who knows, your suspect could be getting away now. Your friends there made sure to make quite a bit of ruckus. Nervous people get antsy." He chuckles. "But, I suppose I shouldn't have to tell you this, Detective."

He sees the Jim with the mic whispering something to the Detective. They frown but scribble down the number of the door. They pull out a card. "If you remember anything else, give me a call."

The Author smiles placidly. "Of course. Goodbye."

The Detective watches his eyes for a moment or two longer before they are pulled away by the Jims. The first conversation. A treat indeed.

"I didn't like that guy," Jim says, the other nodding.

"I didn't either, seems like a pain in the ass," you mutter, getting into the elevator and seeing him stare at you. Not a harsh stare but not exactly a pleasant one either. Just as they are about to close completely, you swear you see someone stepping out with a blue shirt. Before you can confirm your thoughts, the doors close.

"Are you alright?"

"...Yeah. Just thought I saw something."