Kyra was over by the bookshelves the next day, while Jordan played with another boy under the watchful eye of an older attendant. Lizzie breathed a sigh of relief and went to collect her son.
She'd been wary since she'd come back from the shop. The drive home had seemed to take no time at all, but it was dusk when she arrived home again. The box lay on the passenger seat, with the chrysalis safely inside, but she didn't remember getting around to paying the man. Too bad, she wasn't going back there unless it was with a cop.
The attendant, a plump, motherly woman named Rose, straightened up and smiled wide as Lizzie approached.
"Oh, Lizzie! And how are you today, my dear?"
"Fine, I guess." Lizzie smiled back. "Just tired I guess."
"Oh my, would you like something to drink? We also have aspirin, if you like."
Lizzie's smile turned pained. "No, thank you, you're far too kind."
"It's no trouble," Rose said as she took her arm and led her back to the 'helpers only' lounge, "no trouble at all."
Kyra followed them with her eyes. Lizzie repressed a shudderwhen the door closed behind her.
Rose busied herself making tea while the other attendants on break greeted her. They were all over forty, all of them maternal and solicitous about her health.
"How are you today, my dear?" Agnes said as she gave Lizzie a hug. Georgie did the same, Linda and Kelly too.
The door swung open and a male attendant emerged, coffee cup in hand. Lizzie's face froze completely, and Georgie immediately shooed him out the door.
"Ladies only," she giggled.
They asked how she was holding up, how her job was working out, how Jordan behaved at home.
"Oh he's just fine," she said, sipping watery chamomile, "I barely even notice he's there… But my work's getting pretty hectic, and I found out the other day that someone was stealing tips from me."
This led to outraged murmuring among the other women.
"How awful!"
"Despicable!"
"They should be let go!"
"Wellllllll…" Lizzie rolled the mug in her hands, basking in the warmth, "I'm sure she feels she needs the money more than me. I just wished she didn't lie about it to our supervisor. He's had it in for me since day one, and I just know he's going to fire me one of these days."
"Poor thing!" Linda patted her arm. "Don't you worry, if money gets tight, we can always take up a collection, I'm sure there are plenty of people willing to help out a single mother."
"Such a wretched thing to do," Kelly sighed, "And how awful for you, after all that you went through with Jordan's father—"
Lizzie sighed and tears spilled from the corners of her eyes. It wasn't long before she was sniffing and sobbing miserably.
"I just-" she whimpered, "I try so hard, and I-"
Before Lizzie was done crying she had been given a Tupperware container full of soup, two books of coupons, and Georgie's grandsons' sweater, which she accepted with tearful thanks. Jordan had neatly gathered his things together while his mother had been in the room, and stood completely ready by the bookshelves.
The attendants gathered in the doorway to wave them off. Lizzie saw Kyra, squashed to the side of happy well-wishers, chewing her lip.
At home, she gave the soup to Jordan and microwaved herself some nachos. She tried to watch TV, but a tantalizing scent kept drifting past her nose. It took her a while to realize the scent came from her bedroom. She opened the door and a wonderful, powerful smell washed over her. On the bed, by the open box, lay the tiny female mummy. Lizzie crawled on top of the figure and petted it, breathing in the wonderful scent. It was funny, but the woman in the sheet matched her almost exactly in height and build.
"Pretty," she said, "pretty."
Leon rolled his eyes. "So you're telling me you just sold the lady a cocoon."
"Correct, detective."
"Not some poisonous worm, or some kind of beetle that burrows into yours skin, right?"
Jill cut D's reply off. "What the hell kind of question is that?"
"I just want to make sure what we're dealing with here," Leon snapped, "and that we're not going to find her in a thousand pieces or swelling up and turning blue."
"My, detective," D said with mild reproach, "that's a little extreme, isn't it?"
Leon's stare bore down on him like a magnifying glass. "Is it?"
It was Jill's turn to roll her eyes. "Look, D all we really want to know was your impression of her. Was she anxious? Scared? Did she mention an ex-husband? Boyfriend?"
D considered the question for a moment, smiled sunnily and shook his head. "Nope."
Jill sighed. "Then we're lost. Sometimes the bastards are too good at tracking their families down, they don't even feel the knife."
D looked from her to Leon, puzzled. "What is she talking about, detective?"
"E-Li-za-beth Green-wood. Miss-ing. With-her-child." Leon spat it out in telegraph fashion.
The count seemed to pale slightly. "So," he breathed, "it's like that."
Leon blinked. "Like what?"
D did not answer the question. Instead, he fished a roll stuffed with delicacies from his basket, the aroma of which made Leon's mouth water. As he lifted the top and spread cream cheese on it he said:
"Perhaps you should talk with those she knew, detective. People she was familiar to."
Leon ran his fingers through his hair, trying to ignore his grumbling stomach. "Look, we talked to the daycare workers; they were the closest to her at the time. She picked up her son, like always, and dropped off the face of the earth. That all they can say."
"Really?" D purred, "Is that everyone?"
"Yes! She didn't have any friends, just a single mom working her butt off like a million others in this city. There's nothing special about her, besides the fact that no one knows where the fuck she went!" Leon stood up.
D put a finger to his lips. "Perhaps you're missing something. Perhaps…not everyone knows her the same way."
Jill smiled at him. "You've got a point. We need to do what we do best—detect."
"Yeah, yeah." Leon sat again, flapping his hand dismissively. D finished his administrations to the sandwich and slid it across the desk, coming to a perfect stop just under Leon's nose.
"Hungry?" D said.
It was getting harder and harder to leave the apartment. Lizzie managed to tear herself away long enough to pick up Jordan, but she could feel the guilt of separation in the back of her mind as she pulled into the preschool parking lot.
Once inside, she saw Kyra and Georgie standing over Jordan and felt cold fear bloom in her stomach. As she approached, Kyra nudged the other woman, who broke out into a smile.
"Lizzie, dear!" she cried, "Can we have a little chat while Kyra helps him get ready?"
Georgie drew her to the other side of the room.
"You haven't….your ex isn't back, is he?"
Lizzie fervently shook her head.
"Oh, good then." Georgie clapped her hands. "For a moment there I was quite concerned. Lizzie dear, we think it might be time to teach little Jordie about conflict resolution."
"Conflict resolution?" Lizzie smiled in the direction of her son. "What do you mean?"
Georgie gave a little laugh. "Well, I wish more children had his 'problem', to tell you the truth. Jordie's just too meek. He won't stand up to the other little boys."
"Oh…well I guess that's not so bad."
"They've been picking on him quite a bit, it seems. He has a few bruises to show for his pacifism."
Panic stole over Lizzie's feature before she suppressed it. "Well," she babbled, "when he plays at home sometimes he's just out there on the steps and I don't half know what he's up to-"
Georgie guffawed loudly. "Trust me, I know the feeling! Here's little Jordie now, ready to go home!"
The painfully serious little boy stopped in front of his mother, gazing at the bit of carpet between her feet. Kyra stopped beside him, wasting a questioning look on Georgie. The older woman waved a pudgy hand, flapping it at the wrist.
"Good-bye Jordie," she boomed, "take care!"
Lizzie took hold of Jordan's shoulder and steered him towards the door.
"Take care, Mrs. Greenwood!" Kyra called after them.
Lizzie's face froze once again, but she was on her way out the door and was sure no one had seen it.
Once they were home she heated a microwave pizza, tossed it in Jordan's room and locked the door. She resisted the urge to go straight to her room and instead went to the empty bathroom.
She shook her hair from its tight knot on the top of her head and slipped off her clothes. She stood there a long time, staring, the empty glass eye of the mirror staring back.
Elizabeth Greenwood had worked at a small bar on the outskirts of the city, more like a restaurant that sold food. A young woman greeted them at the door with a puzzled smile.
"Hey, can I help you?"
The two detectives smiled back in unison, and the waitress's internal cop alarm went off.
"I'm not ratting on anybody," she informed them and turned on her heel.
"Wait, we want to know about Elizabeth Greenwood!"
The young woman stopped and turned around. "Oh," she said, "that's different. Follow me."
She showed them to a small booth where Leon tried unsuccessfully to cram himself in after Jill, who slipped in with no trouble. The waitress, whose nametag read "Sandi", smiled knowingly.
"Sorry sugar," she said, patting his arm, "usually the big guys belly up to the bar. Can I get you some water?"
She blushed at their stares. "Sorry, instinct."
"It's no problem, really." Jill smiled.
"What did you want to ask me about Lizzie?"
Leon adjusted his torso, feeling the circulation cut off to the lower half of his body.
"We want to ask if you know where she went."
Sandi gave them a puzzled look.
"She's been gone for a while, right?"
"Oh yeah." Sandi nodded. "Never showed up for her shift. We had no trouble filling in for her, though."
Jill's face became grave, and Leon let out a low whistle.
"Well, do you know if she might have gone off with someone, maybe an ex boyfriend or something like that?"
"Maybe. It's not that usual, but knowing her…" Sandi trailed off.
Leon raised an eyebrow and looked at Jill.
Jill laced her fingers together. "So there was no trouble replacing her?"
"Yeah. You didn't know?" Sandi looked from Leon to Jill. "She was awful."
Author's note: from here on out time sort of jumps around, just keep in mind that Leon's scenes are happening in the present and you shouldn't get too lost ;)