The young girl walked over to her brother's desk, where he sat busy with his crayons and paper. He lifted the sheet from the desk, showing it to his sister with a big grin on his face.
The drawing was of himself, his sister and his father. They had curly red smiles on their faces, and their hands were linked in coral pink crayon. At a glance, it was like every other child drawing there had ever been. But watching the younger brother continue adding to the image made the sister realise he was no normal little boy.
He was extremely dangerous.
Alfendi took a deep breath. He and Emmy had managed to reach the nearest building in one piece, yet the several pairs of eyes that had met them made their stomachs feel weaker. All they could manage was a drink each - which was extremely strange, Alfendi knew, because Emmy was a great eater. He nor Flora were.
Oh, Flora...
Where was she? Al gripped his cup tightly at just the thought of what had happened. For all he knew, Flora could have been kidnapped. He had found it rather humourous when his father had told the stories about her being trapped in a barn one time. But this was more serious - a lot more serious.
"So," Emmy said, "who do you reckon that was back there? Not Flora, certainly."
Alfendi stirred his spoon around in his coffee. "Hm. No, it would seem not. I have an idea of who that person was, but they're probably not alone in this."
"Oh? And who might that be?"
"I can't say." Al's tone turned sharp as he turned away from Emmy. "Not yet, anyway."
Just then, a dark haired woman approached the table. She was wearing an apron accompanied by a name tag that read "Olivia" in scratched-out letters.
"Er, excuse me, sir, ma'am, but I was told by a young lady that you were looking for this basket?" she said. Olivia took the basket from under one arm and placed it on the table. Inside was something wrapped up, but from that distance, Alfendi couldn't make out what it was.
"And what might this young lady look like?" he asked.
Olivia stuttered for a moment. "Well, she had short hair - indigo, it was. And green eyes. She was a pretty lass, I tell you, but she didn't stay for long. She told me to bring this basket to "the interfering inspector and his violent woman-friend". I guessed that was you."
And with that, she was gone. The pair sat, confused, peering into the basket. That thing they had seen before had been a green model train, with golden-lined wheels and little plastic windows. It looked just like what Hershel had once called 'The Molentary Express', a train so luxurious it was like "a cruise ship on rails". This one was much more miniscule, though, and was the only thing that sat in the basket besides tissue.
"A toy train?" Emmy remarked. "Why would somebody send us this?"
"I...don't know."
Al turned to face the window. How mysterious would the case get? Then he saw it. The new lead.
Lucy?!