Kiara awoke with a violent start.
"Something is not right!" she murmured, quoting her childhood heroine, Miss Clavelle. She sat up ramrod straight, an almost inaudible noise vibrating in her eardrums. "Rochester! Where are you?" she cried, her voice trembling in fear. The frightened woman clutched the bed sheets to her chest, her heart thumping, as she watched the steadfast dog pad his way up the stairs. He wagged his tail comfortingly and jumped onto her bed. "Good dog, good dog," she murmured, more to reassure herself than Rochester. Slowly, Kiara's heart-rate returned to a pace more akin to normal, and she drifted back into sleep, albeit rather fitful sleep.
When she arose the next morning, she was greeted with alarming disarray; her belongings were all strewn about the first floor. Goosebumps pricked her flesh as she inspected the mess that encompassed the majority of her living space.
"So that's what I heard last night…" she thought aloud. After going against her hygienic nature and leaving the clutter lying all over the floor, Kiara broke down and called Agent Etherly. He materialized, seemingly, the instant she replaced the phone in its cradle.
"Thank you for not disturbing the scene, Miss Andërson. Even the slightest interference could be devastating," he stated gently.
"Well, don't worry, I haven't touched a thing, though it's nearly killed me not to," she replied rather sarcastically. He smiled.
"Again, thank you. This may very well be of utmost importance." He turned and began to question the technicians processing the crime scene.
When all the fingerprint dust had been swept away, and the forensics team had left, Kiara sat down in her favorite easy chair, next to the fireplace, and breathed a sigh of exhaustion.