Marvellous things

Chapter 2: Out of the woodwork

'His name is Ichabod Crane,' Abbie told the woman. One minute into the interview and Abbie was already tired of talking to her. The woman might or might not have information about a potential suspect. Not that Abbie was getting any closer to finding out. The woman kept getting distracted by Crane's presence at the far end of the room. It was truly disturbing. The woman was eyeing Crane like a cat that hasn't been fed yet eyes a can of cat food.

'Really?' she panted. Abbie rolled her eyes.

'Yes.'

'He could be cute.'

'Could be?' Abbie said, very much despite herself. She did not want to be sucked into this conversation. Conversations like this bored her to death. Cute? She simply didn't care about cute. Hadn't as a teen, didn't now. As for Crane being cute: she wasn't even going to entertain the thought. It was simply not on.

'Let's not get sidetracked. Do you...?' she tried, but that idiot of a woman interrupted her.

'If he got a haircut, bought some new clothes and dropped the mental patient act, he'd be cute,' the woman proclaimed. Abbie stared at her. Momentarily forgetting that she had also tried to make Crane wear something halfway modern, Abbie felt incensed on his behalf.

'So, if he changed everything about him that makes him who he is? Okay.'

Abbie almost expected the sarcasm to go unnoticed, but the woman surprised her by picking up on it. Then the woman leaned in, which was not good. Leaning implied intimacy.

'Well, he's weird now, isn't he?' the woman whispered. Who gives a shit? Abbie thought. What does weird even mean in a town where a headless horseman is a thing? God, why can't this stupid woman shut up?

'I happen to like him just the way he is,' Abbie said. Her tone was final. Topic closed. She glanced at Crane, who smiled at her. She returned his smile before focusing her attention on the woman again.

'Those eyes, huh?' the woman sighed.

'Eyes?' Abbie inquired, at a loss.

'His eyes are beautiful,' the woman insisted. Involuntarily, Abbie looked at Crane as if to check for herself. She averted her gaze immediately once she realised what she was doing.

'They... I don't know. I haven't noticed. Look, can we hurry this along?'