Note/s: Big shout-out to my readers! Glad you like the story so far! If there are any grammatical errors, I'll get right on them later.
The pier seemed like the perfect place to catch a sunrise. But from where I stood, nothing came to view but the smoky veil of a cold fog. It suited me fine. I wasn't out to see Mr. Sun but a little birdie. And you know what they say: the early bird catches the worm. Hopefully that bird hadn't fled yet. I made my way slowly, the wood creaking under my step. As I neared the edge of the pier, the silhouette of a figure blotted against the soupy ocean. I stopped a short distance with an informal greeting.
"I'm here."
He had been looking out at the water this whole time. His back stiffened from my words, before turning around and—
"ACHOO!"
Flynn glared at Anna from his side of the diner booth as he rubbed his arms for warmth. Even though they were seated away from the air conditioning, he was still shivering.
"Anna," his teeth chattered, "tell me again why we couldn't just talk on the phone? Like, I don't know, normal people?"
Anna chuckled weakly, her eyes looking down guiltily at her hat on the table. She did not have a good excuse. "Sorry Flynn, I just thought it would make for a cool meet-up scene."
"Cool? You mean freezing! I was standing on that pier forty minutes before you finally showed up!"
Anna twiddled her thumbs under the table. "Look, I'm sorry…I had to do something important at the last minute…"
It was called waking up at the last minute.
Thankfully, Anna did not have to worry about Flynn pressing for details as an unenthusiastic waitress sporting an orange beehive arrived to take their order. She whipped out her pen from her ear and addressed them in a bored borough accent.
"Welcome to Mudka's Meat Hut. Home of the mug…" She paused when Flynn sneezed. A loud one. The powder blue of her eyeshadow visibly creased as she side-eyed him in annoyance. "…of meat. What'll it be?"
Anna already knew what she was getting. Diners like these were a staple in the detective world. She looked up to the waitress with a somber expression.
"Coffee." She intoned seriously. "Black. And the newspaper."
The waitress made no comment as she scribbled on her notepad. She then eyed Flynn.
"And you?"
Anna expected Flynn to order something equally simple.
Unfortunately…
"I'll have coffee, sugar and cream. Buttered toast with jam, the pancake special, fried eggs and bacon…plus a side of fries. Well, that should do for—ooh! And a vanilla milkshake to wash it all down."
He tossed the menu down with a satisfied smile. Anna seethed internally. Gee thanks for ruining my cool image!
The waitress pushed back the pen behind her ear. "Okay, got it." Then, walked from the two customers while shouting in her wake. "I need two belly warmers, draw one in the dark, the other blonde and sweet! A shingle with a shimmy and shake. Two dots and a dash with frog sticks in the alley, a short stack, and a white cow!"
…
…
Flynn looked to Anna with confusion. "We did order food right?"
Anna shrugged. "Yes," she said, "but don't you think you ordered too much? I mean, for breakfast?"
"Anna," Flynn said, tone flat. "I left my game way too early last night and let me tell you, I was on my A-game."
Anna rolled her eyes. "You lost."
"I left early," he went on, "because I had to make a few phone calls to some old buddies of mine. I stayed up all night with barely any sleep in. Do you know why?"
"Flynn"—
"Because a certain someone told me to meet up at the pier at an ungodly hour. That certain someone also showed up late."
Anna groaned. She had hoped they'd gotten past that already.
"I'm sorry, okay!"
But Flynn prima donna Rider still wasn't done. In a haughty voice, he declared, "I deserve everything I'm getting for what I had to do for you. So I don't need you to breakfast-shame me!"
"Again, I apologize!" Anna sounded more irritated than sorry though.
"Fine." He said, and then cheerfully added, "I accept your apology and your gracious offer of footing the bill." He waggled his eyebrows at her.
"Huh?"
"You owe me."
Anna was about to protest but decided to let it go.
Ugh whatever.
"Two coffees and a shake," said the waitress, appearing with their drinks and the newspaper Anna asked for.
Flynn licked his lips. "Hello glass of deliciousness." He then proceeded to slurp down his shake with his straw; all while making loud satisfied noises in his throat.
Anna regarded his sweet frothy drink as she pretended to be seriously engrossed with a fascinating article from the paper (and not the comic section), then looked at her own drink. She was suddenly regretting her choice…
"So…" Anna said, folding back the newspaper. "Did the names I give you get any bites?" She took a small sip of her coffee…and instantly blanched. Yep. She definitely regretted her choice.
"Hey," Flynn said (thankfully he missed her reaction), some white cream on his lips, "let me enjoy my shake first!"
"Flynn, this is kinda important and also your job." She stated matter-of-factly while trying to ignore the bitter taste left by the coffee in her mouth.
Flynn clearly did not appreciate the reminder. "Ugh, pull that one on me." He wiped his mouth clean with the back of his hand and set aside his half-finished drink. Despite, being in an isolated booth, he looked around, making absolute sure they were out of earshot. "Okay, so I ran the names with my reliable connections. I had to cross out one unlikely suspect."
He was about to say more but Anna cut in with an annoyed, "Hey that's my job!"
"Anna," Flynn snorted. "I'm just making it easier for you. Narrows it down. My sources have never failed me."
Anna didn't care even if his sources came from President Mickey himself. "Well, that's still up to me to decide! And which one did you cross out?"
"Mr. Agrabah."
Before Anna could ask why, their food arrived and Flynn lengthened the suspense by diving straight into his breakfast. Anna watched him eat, annoyed and mildly concerned for his arteries at the same time. He picked up the conversation after finishing his toast.
"Okay, one of my guys," he said, bits of crumbs flying, "Ali, my former partner"—
Anna discreetly flicked off a crumb that landed on her wrist, her face trying to hide her disgust.
"You mean former fellow thief…"
Flynn rolled his eyes. "Tomato, to-mah-to, same difference. Anyway, Ali says that Mr. Agrabah was interested in the Blue Olaf but changed his mind at the last minute. Because get this…it was too cheap."
Anna blinked, wondering if she just heard correctly.
"Huh?"
"Mr. Agrabah is a tycoon," Flynn explained, "rich as a sultan. He could have bought that diamond for his daughter but decided it wasn't expensive enough."
Anna raised an eyebrow. She had never questioned it, not even when it dealt with Kristoff's cases, but she always wondered how he could get such detailed inside information like that. "And your former partner learned this how…?"
"He's Ali's future daddy-in-law."
…
…
"What?"
Flynn brushed off her surprise expression and continued. "Yeah, he hit it off with the old man's daughter. I think her name's Jasmine…She's the reason he straightened out, wants nothing to do with our great Robin Hood past." He sighed sadly over the last bit.
Anna shot him a look. "You never gave what you stole to the poor."
His face scrunched. "Dammit Anna, I'm no Literature major. You get what I mean!"
"Wait," Anna frowned, "he wants nothing to do with the past but yet still keeps in touch with you? I mean, helping you out in all this."
Flynn reached for the sugar packets, tearing them open as he talked.
"Well…you see, Ali's girl and her pops don't exactly know a lot about his origin story." He paused as he added extra sugar into his coffee (a lot of it). "As in…not at all. I don't exactly blame him for wanting things in the dark, especially when they're grooming him to be an up and coming politician…soooo…" The words trailed off on an impish note, not helped by Flynn's smirk that disappeared as he took a sip.
Anna's eyes rounded, the implication gripping her sensibilities. Flynn had done a lot of wrong in the past, but doing something like that?
"Oh my god. Flynn…don't tell me you're blackmailing him?!" Poor Ali.
Anna's accusation caused Flynn to choke on his coffee, brown droplets spraying over his leftover breakfast. He coughed lightly as he reached for the napkins. His face matched his indignant tone when he finally looked at Anna.
"What! No! Geez Anna, wait for me to finish. Contrary to what you think, I'm not that bad."
Anna smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I thought it was going in that direction."
"I clear away any marks he left in his former career"— he saw her mouth open and quickly said, "don't ask me how, trade secret—anything that could leave a blemish on his otherwise perfect princely resume. In exchange, he gives me the dirt on the Arendellian upper crust. He's acquainted with most of them."
He looked down mournfully at the rest of his ruined breakfast, then finished off his explanation. "Mr. Agrabah could buy out the insurance company if he wanted to. It makes zero sense why he'd go to all the trouble of stealing the gem when he could just throw spare change and get it."
Anna considered everything he said. Flynn's arguments and his inside source made a lot of sense.
"Fine…" She nodded. "I'll drop him out for now." If she still was not sure, she could have Rapunzel look into the man's background. "What about the others?" There were still four other suspects to consider.
Flynn rubbed his goateed chin. "I checked with my "downtown" connections. They haven't been hired to do any deals with any of the characters you got on your list. They weren't sold anything too. See, thieves usually take stolen jewelry to, what we—err, they call, a fence. They get taken apart and wind up on the black market. All in a short span of time."
Anna felt like banging her head on the table. "Are you trying to sink my spirits?" She asked sullenly. "Because you're doing a good job. Maybe it was a really hush job?"
He crossed his arms, tilting his head snootily. "Unlikely, the heist circle is pretty tight. We even have Christmas parties with other circles." He looked at Anna, as though waiting for her to ask about it but she only stared at him blankly.
When it was obvious that Anna was the least bit interested in his parties, Flynn sighed reluctantly. "Look, I know it sounds hopeless, but let's not forget, the Blue Olaf isn't just any diamond. I know my tra—former trade. Diamonds that big usually only have three options. You either hold on to it or try to change its features…but anyone in the business will be able to tell at a glance that this is a one of a kind gem."
"The third option?" Anna asked, leaning forward.
Flynn smiled slowly. "You sell it to someone who doesn't care it's stolen." After a beat, he then asked, "Does Madame Medusa ring any bells?"
"Who?" Anna had never heard of such a person. If anyone went by such a name, she would undoubtedly remember them.
"I don't blame you." Flynn sat back, his arms over the cushioned seat. "She's not from Arendelle but she's notorious for her obsession with priceless objects, namely…" his eyes brightened excitedly. "Ding ding ding! Diamonds. Word is, she's in the market for one with a twenty million dollar price tag."
"She sounds like a real piece of work but…" Anna said with a sigh. "Nobody outside the family knew about the Blue Olaf until the night of the party, which was also the night it disappeared, so I don't think Madame Medusa fits in…I mean the Blue Olaf is only worth two million. I have to limit myself to the names on the list."
Her disheartened reply wiped the grin off Flynn's face.
"Why just them? What about the company? The family? Your client has twelve brothers." He pointed out.
Anna shared his sentiments. "That's what I think so too. But Hans is adamant that they have nothing to do with it. That I have nothing to do with it! They're off-limits to my investigations. It's frustrating!"
"Well, why not just talk to him again?" Flynn suggested. "Try to persuade him."
"He won't budge." Anna said. Though…she actually had not tried yet. But how could she have a chance to when she blanked out after his bold admission! Her cheeks flared immediately at the memory of last night…from his song number to his parting words…it was a miracle she got home (and paid the Uber driver) in one piece, considering the state of her frazzled mind!
"Hey…" Flynn's concerned words entered her mind. "You're looking a lil red there, Detective. You okay?"
"I'm fine!" She said, albeit a little too loudly.
"I can see you're wound up about this…hey, why not give Bjorgman a call?" he suggested. "He's your mentor, he could"—
Anna stopped him there. "Absolutely not! I have to show Kristoff that I'm my own detective! I can't act like some fledgling rookie!"
Also…Anna added mentally. Elsa told me he conked his head when they were checking out the hobbit houses in New Zealand.
He did not need any more headaches than that.
Flynn shrugged. "If you say so…oh by the way, about my payment…"
Anna gave Flynn a puzzled look as she picked her hat up. "Didn't I already put an advance deposit in your bank account"—
"No, not the money! You know…" he finished the rest of his statement with a whisper. "Blondie."
There was a noticeable color on his cheeks and ears.
Anna looked to the ceiling with exasperation.
"Fine. I'll try to convince Rapunzel to go on a date with you."
It was around half past ten in that same morning and Anna was busy in the office. She was strategizing how to pull off a discreet investigation on the rest of the four suspects. Since Ms. De Vil lived the closest, Anna planned to start with her.
Her cellphone rang. It was Rapunzel.
"Anna, I need to talk to you."
"You already are," Anna pointed out amusingly, "Funnily enough, I was going to contact you. I have two tickets to a movie but can't go. So I was wondering if you and Flynn could"—
"Forget that for now!"
Anna offered a silent apology to Flynn.
Well, she did try.
"What is it?" Anna asked.
"I did more digging around." Rapunzel said. "I got some additional details that didn't add up to the information I gave you before."
Anna frowned, dropping the pen she held. "What? You mean about Hans?"
She heard Rapunzel take a deep breath in the other end.
Then…
"Guess who's actually head of security?"
Detective log: That stinking liar! ಠ▃ಠ I had been played - played like an amateur on poker night (or maybe monopoly?). I should have known something was off when a man in tight pants - clearly a size small - sits down with his legs spread wide open as the Arendelle newspaper. ლಠ益ಠ)ლ