Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Mullen."

Her voice was dripping of vitriol. I had my back turned to her, leaning on the railing of the balcony. I didn't need to see her. I knew what view awaited me.

I took a long drag from my cigarette.

"Ruth." The smoke filled the night sky as I say her name.

"You don't sound surprised."

"Trust me. I am," I said flatly.

"You lied to me, Mullen." The small quiver in her voice betrayed her. "Why would you do this?"

"I lied? That's news to me." I slowly turned my head to see her in my peripheral. As expected, she was holding up a revolver - aimed directly at my head.

"Don't act stupid," she growled. "I thought I could trust you. You played me for a fool!"

"If you really believed that..." I stubbed the cigarette against the railing. "I wouldn't still be standing. You wouldn't have even alerted me."

She had nothing to say.

"You're smarter than this, Ruth." I turned around fully to face her, looking directly into her eyes - ignoring the gun. "We're getting close to the truth, so they're turning us against each other. You can't let them win."

"Sounds like the desperate pleas of a guilty man." She was standing inside the dark room. I could barely see her stiff silhouette in the moonlight.

"We can still solve this together." I took a step forward.

"If you move again, you're dead!" Ruth warned loudly, tensing up even more.

I searched her eyes, shrouded in the darkness.

I took another step-

"BAM!"

Annette screams as she's knocked out from the scene playing in her mind's eye, the book flying out of her hands. She looks around with wide eyes and a hand on her racing heart. She quickly spots the grinning freckled face poking out from the shack's roof, one hand holding up the wooden hatch door.

"Cuno's back, bitches!!" The boy laughs loudly.

Within a few seconds Annette went from shocked to excited to angry.

"Cuno! What was that for?!" She huffs as she adjusts herself on the pillow she was sitting on. She liked sitting up here on the roof but it's, unsurprisingly, not the comfiest.

"Oh, man! The look on your fucking face!!" Cuno was still laughing, now slamming his hand on the top of the shack roof - what used to be called Cuno's shack. "You jumped like 5 feet in the air – locust-style! I'm almost impressed! Don't tell me you shit yourself!!"

"You made me lose my place in the story!" She frowns as she picks the book back up. "Did you just come back to bully me?" She pouts at him.

"Yeah, why the fuck else?" His laughter finally dies down and he pulls himself up onto the roof proper. He plops down in front of Annette with his legs crossed and a smile on his face.

She rolls her eyes but matches his smile. "I missed you, too."

"You deaf or some shit? That's not what Cuno fucking said!" He sticks out his tongue with a grossed out look on his face.

"Mhmm." She nods with an amused hum. She flips through the pages with her gloved hands. It isn't as cold out as when Cuno gifted the gloves to her, but they were still comfortable and helped her to avoid messing with her nails as much. It also just made her happy to wear them. "Let me find my spot first then we can catch up."

"Oh! I've read this one," Cuno grins excitedly. "What part are you at?"

"Ruth was going to shoot Mullen!" Annette exclaims, looking up at him. "I can't believe she doesn't trust him. They're supposed to be partners!"

"Bitch is paranoid." He shakes his head, arms crossed.

"She's so cool, though." Annette pouts, turning back to her book. She didn't notice it before, but she didn't think she's read a story with a lady detective before.

"Cuno didn't say she wasn't cool." He shrugs.

It's been a few months since Cuno left to Jamrock with the plan to become a detective himself. He's visited a few times since then, but Annette was always busy with her schoolwork. Still, he would visit anyway and keep her company while she studied. Now that it was the summer break, Annette had a little more free-time on her hands – but not much. There was still the bookstore to manage.

Cuno lays down on his back and looks up at the clear sky as he waited for Annette to find her spot in the book. He looked a lot more stable than he used to compared to when Annette first met him. He didn't have dark circles under his eyes anymore and he wasn't as scuffed with dirt and bruises all over - though, his hair remained a short, red mess. His face was bright, his demeanor less jittery, and his eyes a lot more focused.

He's wearing a white t-shirt under a blue, long-sleeved, open button-up shirt that looked one- or two-sizes too big. He had the sleeves to the shirt rolled up to his elbows. He had brown cargo pants, and the same old black and white sneakers that Annette has always seen him in. Cuno did have other shoes, even new ones, but these were still the most comfortable to him. He refuses to wear anything else.

Annette hums as she flips through the pages of the book. She's wearing an olive summer dress that reached just below her knees. It had a square neckline, two buttoned pockets in the front, and short, puffy sleeves. She also wore black tights and a pair of brown sandals.

Annette didn't think she's changed at all, at least not as much as Cuno has. Her life was still relatively the same as it always has been. She was, however, a little more open about her grievances with her mother – at least, only to Cuno. He had a way of making her open up without making her feel guilty. It helped - not keeping everything bottled up all the time.

"Oh-! Here it is." Annette finally locates the last page she was on and bookmarks it. Before she looks up, she continues to read just a few more lines and smiles. "Of course she wasn't going to shoot him. She loves him!"

"Oh. Right." Cuno pretends to gag before sitting up again. "Bitch is cool until she makes googly eyes at Dick. Why does every bitch gotta fall for the Dick?"

"Shush you, she's still cool." She laughs a bit as she closes the book and looks back up at Cuno. "So! How have you been? What's new?"

"Uuugh, it's been fucking hell." Cuno groans and his shoulders slump. "Cuno's going back to fuckin' bino school again. Pig's been forcing Cuno to go out and buy school shit. Torture shit!"

"Aw, school's not that bad." Annette chuckles.

"I want to do cop shit!! Not this baby shit!" he exclaims. "But, noo, Cuno's gotta be fucking 15 to get into the program. That's 3 fucking years from now! 3 years Cuno could be pigging it up, solving crimes and shit!"

"That is disappointing." She gives him a small sympathetic smile. "But hey, I'm sure 3 years will go by in a flash."

"Nah! Cuno ain't waiting 3 years." He grins suddenly. "Cuno's pig said he'll convince them to get me in next year. Lie that Cuno's turning 15."

"Wouldn't that get you in trouble if they found out...?"

"Fuck that! I'm gonna be the best detective in the world. Solving crimes shit. High rank cop shit. Jamrock-style!" He puffs up his chest and points at himself with his thumb. "They're going to regret not recruiting the Cunn earlier!"

"Heh, I don't doubt it." She smiles genuinely.

"How about you? You better not have been spending your break just reading fucking books all day." He squints his eyes at the book in her hands as if it were a guilty culprit.

"What's wrong with that?" She hugs the book, shielding it from Cuno's judging stare. "I don't know, it's not like there's much to do around here… Oh, I heard they're building a youth centre over by the west coast. But it isn't going to be ready for like a year at least."

"Yeah, Cuno walked past that shit." He sticks a pinky in his ear, digging into it with an annoyed look. "Brutal on the ears. Cuno didn't see anyone but the construction fucks." He sounds disappointed, looking down at his lap.

"They started working a little over a month ago. A lot of the streets are blocked off there because of the construction." She shrugs. "Mum is really excited for it. She says it'll be good for business."

"I dunno. Cuno doesn't trust it..." He crosses his arms and spits on the roof.

"Why not?" Annette frowns.

"No one ever does anythin' good to shithole Martinaise," he says bitterly.

"That's probably why they're building it," Annette points out. "Why don't you trust it?"

"Look, Cuno just listens to his own gut on this shit," Cuno says with full conviction.

"Mhm…" Annette hums amused, a small smile on her lips. "I wouldn't worry about Ms. Lilienne moving away, y'know?"

"Wha-? The fuck are you bringing her up for?!" Cuno flushes red, scowling.

"What? I just said I wouldn't worry," she says, holding in a laugh. "Are you worried?"

"Cuno doesn't even live here anymore!" He huffs. "Why would Cuno care?"

"Mhm, of course," Annette says with a hint of sarcasm.

"Whatever," Cuno grumbles. "That shitty building is the future. What about now? What's happening right now!"

"Like I said, it's real boring here, but... There is one thing..." She looks to the right and left before leaning in dramatically, holding a hand up to cup her mouth. Cuno leans in as well, looking at her in anticipation. She then whispers: "There's a book thief on the loose."

"That is…" Cuno sits up straight again, now with a bored look on his face. "The lamest type of fucking thief you can be. Petty shit."

"I know!" Annette sits up straight again, brows furrowed. "It's not just a few books either. We came in one morning and a whole shelf was just gone."

"Seriously? A whole shelf in one day?" Cuno raises a brow, a little bit more interested now.

"Yes." She sighs, looking down at the book in her lap. "We've had a few thefts before; that's part of why we decided to stop having displays outside. But this was something else. Mum closed the shop and told me to do the stocktaking that day. It turns out we lost a lot more than just that shelf. The last time I did stocktaking was the end of May, and nothing was stolen back then, so we know all these thefts happened this June."

"Stocktaking is...?" Cuno asks. He thinks he knows what it means from context, but the thought of Annette doing that on her own was... 

"Oh, um, just checking all of the products. Counting all the books, writing down everything we have in the store. Things like that," Annette explains casually, pulling on the pinky finger of her glove.

"That whole fucking place? On your own?" Cuno asks with wide eyes, pointing at the bookstore just across the yard. Annette nods with a small, awkward smile. "How often do you have to do that?"

"Um. Usually every 2 months, but I'll probably have to do it weekly for a little while. I just did it yesterday, actually, so mum said I can take the weekend off." Annette laughs a bit and quickly continues when she sees his shock increases. "It's not that big of a deal, it's quite easy actually! Mum says it's a good way to build character. Teaches you patience and responsibility and-"

"Ann. Thats. Total. Bullshit." Cuno cuts her off, enunciating his words in an attempt to keep from shouting. He knows Ann didn't like when he made a big deal out of these things, but he could never just stay quiet about it either. "Making you do that on your own - that's real heartless shit. You're already the most responsible person I know!"

"Thank you, Cuno." She smiles sadly. She appreciates his kind words, but it makes her aware of how much she's normalized over-working herself. She didn't like thinking about it. "My mum does a lot of the work already, this is the least I can do. It's my bookstore too, you know."

"And you're doing a fucking fantastic job," he says with a serious scowl, pointing at her as if daring her to disagree. Annette can't help but laugh at the incongruity of his tone with what he was saying. He decides to drop it here.

"Now!" Cuno crosses his arms. "Back to the thefts! Any leads? Any suspicious fucks?"

"Well, I'm not sure. Maybe?" Annette shrugs. "It's really hard since we have no evidence at all. It's just a few hunches about people."

"You keepin' a close eye on'em?"

"Yes." She nods. "We made sure to be on high alert whenever anyone entered the store. We used to only keep records of purchases but, for the last week, we've kept a list of all the people who would even enter the store. We didn't really learn much, though…"

"How about outside of the store? You tailing any of'em?"

"That's stalking! We can't do that." She shakes her head. "It's just hunches after all."

"Okay..." He raises a brow, looking unimpressed. "Then I can guess you haven't tried snooping in anyone's house."

"Absolutely not!" She shakes her head even more.

"How about staking the store at night...?" He trails off when he sees her looking away with pursed lips. "Seriously!? Not even that? What kind of evidence have you tried to find?"

"Um, I guess mum tried casting truth spells? So that no one can lie when they enter the building." She looks embarrassed to admit this. "She doesn't want anyone to know we've been robbed - it's a bad look, with the curse and all… So, she would ask things like 'oh, what did you think of such-and-such book?' and say the name of a stolen book." She cringes slightly. "I don't know whether or not the spell is working, but most people just looked confused."

"Your mom is on some mumbo-jumbo shit. Crazy shit." He scoffs. "That's not real fuckin' evidence! What else have you tried?"

"Um... That's it." Annette picks at the gloves, pulling at each finger and then readjusting them by pulling back at the wrist. She does this over and over as she continues. "My mum's convinced it's something to do with the curse. That it's finally catching up to us."

"For fuck's sake- There's no such thing as a curse!" Cuno says in exasperation. He watches Ann fidgeting with her gloves then sighs and pushes himself up, standing tall. He looks down at Annette with his hands on his hips and a look of determination on his face. "Thats it! Detective Cunn's on the case! We're finding this culprit and dragging him back by the nuts. Pig-style!"

"Cuno... I don't know..." She looks worried and unsure, picking at her gloves at a faster pace. The ideas he brought up could get them in a ton of trouble.

"C'mon! You're gonna be my partner, right?" He grins as he holds out his hand. "Detective Ann and Detective Cunn! Solving the case of THE LAMEST THIEF IN REVACHOL!"

Annette stopped fidgeting when he held out his hand. She looks down at the cover of her book: the title "Dick Mullen and The Ruthless Detective" superimposed above the titular characters. Detective Mullen and Detective Ruth posing cooly back-to-back with grim looks on their faces. Mullen's gun pointed at someone covered in shadows and Ruth's gun pointed at an angle, high at the ready, next to her face.

"Well..." Annette couldn't suppress her excited smile as she grabs Cuno's hand with her own gloved one - still clutching the book in her other hand - and he helps her up. "I can't deny that does sound cool as hell."

"Oooh, Ann's saying 'hell' now!" He laughs. "This detective is gritty!"

"Shut up!" She laughs along as she lightly hits him in the shoulder with the book.

"Time to head out and investigate!" Cuno bellows as he leaps from the top of the ladder straight to the dirt ground of the shack.

"I haven't even told you the case details yet." Annette giggles as she throws her pillow in the hole right after him.

He groans, catching the pillow and tossing it onto the couch with all the other cushions. "Fine, but let's get through it quick!"

"Don't worry, I already did the hard part. I'll brief you," she says with a satisfied lilt at getting to use the terminology. She carefully steps down the ladder, Dick Mullen book in one hand.

"Cuno'll try not to sleep through it." He flops onto the couch's pillows and sinks into them.

The shack has undergone something of a rework. It was no longer just "Cuno's Shack" - it was "Cuno & Ann's Shack" - and the inside reflected that as well. It's still a dusty, dirty, dark place, but that was part of the appeal anyway. Annette just had a few of her own additions to the place.

The broken, old couch under the ladder was now covered by a comfortable teal blanket. On top was about half a dozen of Annette's own pillows and plushies of animals. The stuffed animals were already quite worn down as most of them Annette had gotten years ago - back when she still received gifts from her dad. She used to have the plushies hidden in her closet, thinking it too childish to display them in her bedroom. She figured she might as well put them to good use here. She didn't know why, but she didn't feel as embarrassed to have them displayed in the shack – strangely, even Cuno's loud objections didn't discourage her.

It quickly became apparent that Cuno's protests were just an instinctive 'defense of his masculinity'. The pillows were incredibly comfortable and he couldn't deny that even if he tried (which he very much did). As for the plushes, Cuno mumbled a throwaway line about 'only ever having one of these when he was like 6 years old' - he was pretty sure it was a bear. When Annette would study and do her homework in the shack with Cuno visiting, he'd settle into the couch and just fall asleep on the biggest plush she brought in - a brown teddy bear half his size. Annette decided not to tease him.

The throne at the top now had 'Mr. Pig' as the permanent resident. It was a small, round, rubber pig that, honestly, looked terrifying with its strangely porous, bright pink skin. Its one eye was a large sphere bulging out from its head, the other eye having been ripped out a long time ago, leaving a large hole in its place. Annette said it always scared her even before it got so torn up, but she's grown a bit fond of it now. She placed him up on the mantle in honor of that creepy mummified pig head Cuno used to have on display.

The walls were painted even more than before with a random array of colors of whatever the two were able to get their hands on. Cuno still had his posters up as well – vulgar as they were. The shack was both of theirs after all. On the table against the wall, there were multiple piles of books stacked on top of each other.

Cuno didn't need to pretend that he didn't like 'book shit' or 'art shit' anymore. Paradoxically, sharing the shack made it feel more his than it ever has before.

Annette places her Dick Mullen book onto one of the tower of books and then grabs a green spiral notebook and black pen from the table. She flops onto the couch next to Cuno.

"I've been making my own records and connections here," Annette says with a proud smile as she shakes the small book in her hand.

"Ohh, just like a real detective." Cuno grins, throwing a round plush of a frog back and forth between his hands. "Alright, lay it on Cuno!"

Annette opens up the notebook and holds it in between the two of them so Cuno could read. Her handwriting was clean and clear; it's obvious she took her time before writing anything down as there was barely anything scratched out or written in the margins. She's pretty excited to share this with someone who had the bravado to actually do something with the information.

"First, here's all the things that we found missing," Annette begins to explain, pointing to the list. "The main event was the shelf on the upper floor: 14 fantastique books."

"All 14 on the same day?" Cuno scoffs. "That's sloppy shit. Amateur shit."

"It's weird, right?" Annette furrows her brows. "I mean. If it's the same person who stole the rest of these books, why would they do something like that? They were already getting away with it unnoticed."

"Got cocky, probably. Cuno thinks this dick is trying to resell this shit."

"That could be the case... I guess we can ask around and see if anyone's been trying to sell these books in the area?"

"I would say that's a dead-end, because no one would be dumb enough to sell that much stolen shit in the same place. But this dumbass nicked 14 books in the same night, so who fuckin' knows?"

"Hm." Annette hums in thought then shrugs. "Well, then there's 6 'Man from Hjelmdall' books unaccounted for. These could have even been stolen while the store was open. They're small, abundant, and right next to the main door."

"Makes sense. What else?"

Annette continued to list all the missing wares she had written down:

• "Dick Mullen's Final Hour" (Dick Mullen book. Duh.)
• "The Dame Who Did It" (another Dick Mullen book)
• "The One Who Called Last" (horror book)
• "Cat-Astro Vizing: Cat-Atrophy!" (children's science-fiction comic book)
• "In A Bit Of A Pickle? Everything You Need to Know About Pickling" (guide to and recipes for pickling)
• A deck of cards

"That's..." Cuno quickly counts them as he drags his finger down the titles. "11 books and a deck of cards. 25 with the fantasy shelf. Fuck."

"I know." Annette frowns at the list. "The fantastique shelf was the last thing to be stolen, as far as we know, so all of these books could have went missing within the 2 weeks."

Annette then turns the page to a timeline of events:

May 31st, Sunday - Last stocktaking done before any theft

June 1~11th - Various books + deck of cards stolen (Exact dates/times unknown)

June 12th, Friday - Discovery of the stolen fantastique shelf + Stocktaking (discovery of all the stolen books)

June 19th, Friday - Stocktaking (nothing missing)

"On the 12th, we also found out that the backdoor was unlocked." Annette points at the relevant date on the notebook with her pen. "We have no idea how long it's been unlocked or how. Mum never lets anyone near the door behind the curtain and the key is with her at all times…"

"She probably forgot to lock it." Cuno scoffs then grumbles quietly. "Talking about responsibility… Bitch."

"Cuno." Annette looks at him pointedly, brows furrowed.

"What? Cuno didn't say nothin'." He forces an innocent smile. When he sees that her look doesn't change, he drops the smile. "Fine. Sorry. Keep going," he says in a flat tone, neither sarcastic nor genuine.

Annette sighs and continues. "We locked the door and pushed a bunch of furniture against it. The thefts stopped after. Mum says we've blocked off the curse from seeping in for the moment."

"It's more likely you blocked off the person from entering." Cuno tries to say without derision.

"True." Annette nods. "Still, that means they found a way to get in through the basement entrance and I haven't figured that out yet..."

"Probably messed with the locks?"

"Mum got a locksmith to take a look. He said he saw scratches around the lock on the door behind the curtain but not the other doors. He said if anyone did do something, they didn't leave a mark."

"Hmm… Isn't there some dice-lady that works in the chimney?" Cuno asks. "She could have done it. Or let someone else in."

"Mum thought that too, but I don't think Ms. Neha would do something like that… She seems very nice." Annette hasn't spoken to Neha that many times, but she definitely wasn't at all the 'evil entity' her mother believed her to be.

"You ask the dice-chick about this shit?" Cuno asks, a tiny bit relieved to hear Annette's mother had a little bit of common sense left in her.

"Mum says she's powering the curse, so she's too afraid to confront her and told me to stay away." Annette bites on the end of the pen.

"Ah." Well, there goes that bit of common sense. "So, Cuno's guessing you haven't tried talking to her either?"

"Yeah… I could get into trouble if mum found out." She keeps nibbling on the pen as she looks down at her notebook. Cuno notices the pen had a lot of bite marks.

"Well, we have to go into that building. We aren't going to find out much unless we do," Cuno points out carefully.

"I know…" She sighs. "I just hope Ms. Neha lets us in."

"We'll deal with it when we get to it." Cuno throws the frog plush up in the air and catches it. "Any other suspects?"

"Kind of. It's kind of flimsy evidence but…" Annette flips the page and shows a list of names. This page was the messiest by far, with a lot of notes and scribbled out details next to every name. Cuno stops throwing the frog and leans in to read the list. They had different labels, either 'suspect', 'witness', or 'unconnected'.

"It's really messy but… It's all I have by just observing the shop." Annette didn't sound too confident in this page. "But, anyway, there's Penny. She's a classmate of mine and she has, um… sticky fingers. I've caught her trying to steal a couple of times so she's not allowed into the shop anymore. That ban happened before this month and I don't think she's ever successfully stolen anything. We never saw any missing products until after the ban."

"That's a clear motive right there. This bitch could be stealing shit as revenge."

"The motive is there but I have no idea how she would get in," she says, doubtful.

"That's our job to figure out." Cuno nods. "Who else?"

"There's Mr. Gary, he's always coming in for the Hjelmdall books and saying… weird things? I don’t really understand him half the time." She shrugs uncomfortably. "He was also very interested in the wards my mum has on the curtains, and trying to see behind it, so I thought that was suspicious. But he's kind of... very clumsy. I don't think he could steal anything, to be honest."

"That's just what he wants you to think." Cuno squints his eyes conspiratorially. "Anyone else?"

"No… That's it for suspects. Most of these names on here are people I think we can ask for information."

"And you haven't talked to any of them yet, right."

"Yeah… Mum really doesn't want anyone to know about the thefts, and I couldn't figure out a way to ask questions without giving that away." She sighs.

"The longer we wait, the harder this is gonna be."

"That's true…"

"So, who's on the list?"

Annette went through the relevant names:

Neha, the Dicemaker

Garte and Sylvie ("The Whiriling-in-Rags is right next door, after all. We could ask the customers, too.")

Hardie Boys? ("They're the ones everyone goes to for problems, right?" "Psh. Those guys are fucking useless.")

Capeside Apartments ("Some of the apartments have a view of the yard. Maybe they saw something?")

"Oh, how about that pawnshop?" Cuno asks. "Dumbass could have tried selling shit there."

"Maybe? It wouldn't hurt to ask." Annette writes that down. "Now that you mention it, Mr. Roy is kind of strange himself. He actually rarely ever buys anything, but he... well, I think he's on something?" She says, tapping the pen on her chin. "He kind of just. Stares at books for a very long time. So, maybe some of those books were stolen just by pure accident, not maliciously…"

"Oh, that bird-bino is absolutely on some fucking la-la-land shit." Cuno rolls his eyes. "So you think it's multiple people?"

"I think it's possible. The shelf definitely happened when the store was closed, but the rest of these books could have happened at any time in the day." She shrugs, adding both 'suspect' and 'witness' next to Roy's name. "I definitely don't think he broke in. He hates being in the building, because of the uh- something about photo emissions? I don't really know."

"Maybe that's just what he wants you to think," Cuno repeats in that conspiratorial tone, squeezing the poor frog between his hands.

"Could be," Annette laughs a bit.

"Is there anything else?" Cuno asks.

"That's all I have," Annette says.

"Alright!!" Cuno grins, dropping the frog as he jumps back on his feet. "Let's bounce!"

"Oh! Before we head out, what should we call this case?" Annette goes back to the first page and bites the pen as she thinks.

"Cuno already said, it's: THE LAMEST THIEF IN REVACHOL!"

"Do you really want our first case to be catching a lame thief?"

"Hmm." Cuno rubs his chin. "Fair, fair, you've got a point. But we aren't complimenting this fucker, either."

"I agree. How abooout..." She closes her eyes, leaning back into the couch. "The case of THE MISSING BOOKS?"

"Nah, too bland... How about: THE SHITSHOW!"

"That doesn't even describe anything." Annette shakes her head.

They go back and forth like this for a while.

THE BOOK SNATCHER ("Still bland as fuck.")

THE BOOK FUCKER ("Cuno. No.")

THE UNTRACEABLE BOOKSHELF ("C'mon, Ann! Think bigger like-")

PICKLE DICK'S FINAL FUCKED UP HOUR ("No.")

MYSTERY FANTASTIQUE ("Pretentious as fuck.")

HORNY BOOK-BITCH ("I know you're just saying these to get a reaction.")

Finally, they settled on something.

"THE THIEF OF THE CURSED COMMERCE CENTRE!" Annette says with a sense of definitiveness.

"Hm. That sounds cool to Cuno." Cuno nods approvingly. "Even if it's got absolutely nothin' to do with a curse."

"Wouldn't it be cool if it was?" Annette laughs a bit as she wrote their new case name down. "A supra-natural mystery!"

Cuno thinks about it for a second. "Okay, true. Cuno won't rule that out yet, then."

"You ready?" Annette asks with a smile as she stands up. She closes her notebook and pockets it with her pen.

"Fuck yeah! Let's go solve this shit!" Cuno says loudly with a new sense of determination. He holds up an open palm and Annette grins as she connects the Ace's High with a satisfying slap.

June 20th, Saturday - Detectives pursue the case! 

Chapter Text

Annette missed a lot of things. She missed her home. She missed her old school. She missed her friends. She missed her dad.

No one asked her if she wanted to move to Martinaise. No one asked her anything. The news came abruptly and definitively with no room for discussion or negotiation.

Not like Annette would have really discussed much or gone against her parents' wishes… Still, it would have been nice to be asked.

A shiver ran up her spine. It was getting closer to the start of winter and Annette wished she wore a thicker coat. She sniffed and wiped her runny nose on her sleeve. Annette tried not to mull over all the things she's had to leave behind as she focused on filling up the displays outside their new bookstore. She managed not to keep shivering and just trudge along, kneeling down to pick up more books from the box on the ground.

"Look, Cuno! They're opening up a shop for book-f*gs to fuck in!"

"Hooking people on the book. Shit is sad."

Annette turned around to see two red-headed kids, about the same age as her. One of them was a lanky boy, freckled and red in the face, his clothes covered in dirt. Peeking out from behind him stood a girl who looked to be his little sister, equally dirt covered.

"Oh, um, good afternoon!" Annette said with a friendly tone as she stood up, books in hand. "My name is Annette. Me and my mum just moved here. It's nice to meet you!"

"You hear that, Cuno?" The girl chimed in, ignoring Annette. "Bitch is trying to fuck you!"

"You trying to fuck Cuno, huh?" The boy crossed his arms. "Trying to fuck Cuno with that book-shit?"

"Huh? Uh-" Annette turned a bright red, confusion on her face. "I- um, I just wanted to say hello."

"Uh- uh- um," the girl imitated mockingly. "Speak up, fä***i!!"

"There's no need to be so rude…" Annette spoke quietly with a frown, clutching tightly on the books in her hands.

"You trying to talk?" The boy (Cuno?) held a hand up to his ear as he stepped closer. "The fuck are you saying?" It only made Annette shrink even more. She doesn't say anything else.

"Look, Cuno! Bitch is gonna cry!" The girl grinned, watching Annette with amusement.

"Damn- Calm the fuck down, book-bitch," Cuno laughed. "Cuno's just shooting the shit. No need to piss yourself." He walked closer until he was right next to her, now looking at the books on display. Annette took a few steps back but kept an eye on the two of them. The girl kept an eye on Annette in turn, standing on the other side of Cuno. As loud and mean as she was, Annette noticed how she was always hiding behind her brother.

"Fuck are you doing, Cuno?" The girl hissed, now irritated. "Let's get the fuck out of here, Cuno!"

"Stop telling Cuno what the fuck to do, C!" Cuno snapped back, shuffling through the piles of books. He seemed to be idly swiping through them, making a mess, but Annette could see he was scanning the titles.

"Are you looking for something?" Annette asked, ignoring the glare of the gremlin named C. "I can help you find it-"

"Fuck no!" It was C that spoke up in anger. "You hear that, Cuno? She's calling you a fucking loser, Cuno! She's saying you're a lame bino baby!"

"I just-" Annette tried to speak up but was cut off once again, this time by Cuno.

"Cuno's not looking for shit!" He scowled at Annette and threw the book in his hand on the floor. "Fuck does Cuno care about this book-shit!?" He slammed some more books off the display, all falling to the ground.

"Hah!" C seemed satisfied, throwing a few books of her own. "Serves you right, vittupää!"

"What on earth are you doing?!" A shrill voice rang out loudly behind Annette. "Get out of here, you delinquents!"

The two kids ran off while laughing loudly. Annette turned around to see her mother standing by the door with her hands on her hips, an angry look on her face.

"My word. The children here are absolutely horrid – no discipline whatsoever!" Plaisance huffed, shaking her head. "Clean this mess up, Annette. Quickly now. Our grand opening is tomorrow!"

"Yes, mum…" Annette suppressed a scowl and bent down, quietly picking up all the books again as her mother re-entered the store.

She really, really missed home.

The logical first stop in any investigation would usually be the scene of the crime. Unfortunately, that location was currently being guarded by a very paranoid woman. She would never let anyone get near the curtains, let alone enter the rest of the Doomed Commercial Area through there. It also didn't help that said woman wasn't too fond of one of the detectives.

If they couldn't get in through the basement now, the investigation of the building had to happen under the cover of night.

"Locked," Cuno says with no surprise as he pulls at the basement door of the East Delta Commercial Centre.

Annette looks at the intercom and presses the button next to the last name card: 'Neha's Novelty Dice'.

A crackle then a voice comes through. "Hello, this is Neha's Novelty Dice," Neha's voice rings out. Annette opens her mouth to respond but the message continues: "I'm sorry, I am not in the office right now. You can leave a message after the tone."

"Hey!" Cuno speaks loudly. "We just want to get in! If you're in there, open up!"

No response. He groans and rings the rest of the doorbells, from top to bottom. He makes sure to avoid the bookstore's button.

Buzzer after buzzer. No response.

"Shocker," Cuno says blankly. "Knew it would've been too easy."

"Which means I need to steal the key..." Annette sighs. Cuno gives her an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

"Hey, you already did it once. You can do it again," he says nonchalantly, fully confident. It does ease Annette's anxiety a little bit.

"But… My mum usually sleeps at 10pm…" She purses her lips, grabbing onto her pinky finger. "Doesn't the last bus to Jamrock leave at 8?"

"So? I'm not leaving 'till we solve this shit." Cuno grins, his hand still on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Cuno." Annette smiles, grateful. "Oh, you should probably call the detective then."

"Yeah, yeah," Cuno says dismissively. He still wasn't used to someone checking in on him or caring about where he was.

The two walk around the deteriorating building to see if they could find any kind of evidence or other possible entry point. The Commerce Centre looked the same as it always did. Most of the windows were boarded up and the dilapidated roof was too high up for anyone to reasonably get in through there. Same goes for the window in the chimney to Neha's workshop.

The only non-boarded up windows were the ones that looked over the yard - the ones that led into the boxing club – and two of the three windows were broken. Cuno attempts to climb up to them with no success; there were barely any footholds or anything he could grab onto. Annette points out that the windows were barred from the inside so it would be too small for anyone to get in through there, anyway. Cuno reluctantly gives up with a grumble.

Cuno stares at the windows with furrowed brows then his eyes light up as he turns to Annette.

"Oh, I could give you a boost up!" Cuno grins and pats his shoulders. "You could look inside."

"You sure?" Annette laughs a bit as she pockets her notebook. In response, Cuno just turns towards the building and gets on one knee, his palms open behind him. Even though Annette didn't think it was possible to get in through these windows, she wasn't going to turn down a piggyback ride. She carefully hops up to sit on his shoulders, and Cuno puts his hands on her knees as he slowly pushes himself up to stand straight.

"Woah, careful." Annette leans forward to counterweight.

"Cuno's got this!" He huffs as he finally stands up fully and steps closer to the wall. Annette slowly sits up and reaches her hands to the edge of the windowsill and looks through. The windows were thoroughly broken, but not much else stood out to her in the room. "See anything?" Cuno asks.

"No..." Annette scans the room best she can. "There's a broken bar on this window, but it still looks way too small like I said."

"Could you squeeze in if you tried?"

"Maybe...?" She sounds doubtful. "Even if I could, I'd fall in head-first… Sorry, I don't think I can do it."

"That's okay." Cuno squats slightly. Annette slowly got off his back and back on her feet.

"I think we've looked at all we can see out here," Annette says in disappointment, pulling out her notebook and pen again.

"So. Where to now?" Cuno crosses his arms as he leans in to look at her notebook.

"Well... We have a couple people we can interview." Annette taps her chin with the pen. "I only really know where to find Mr. Roy, he should be in the pawnshop. I know Mr. Gary lives close - I think in the Capeside Apartments? We can ask around. As for Penny, I have her number, but I don't really know how to get a confession…"

"Alright, bird-bino it is!" Cuno grins as he walks towards the pawnshop. Annette quickly follows.

Cuno is the first to reach the door of Bird's Nest Roy's pawnshop, slamming it open with no hesitation. The shop was dimly lit and as cluttered as ever. Roy was behind the glass counter, focused on the projector lights before Cuno burst in.

"Bird-Bino! We got questions for you!" Cuno shouts, pointing a finger at him.

"Oh... Hello." Roy raises a brow in surprised confusion, though his voice remains low, neutral, and slow. "What's all this about?"

"Uh, so sorry, sir!" Annette apologizes as she stands in front of Cuno. "We don't mean any trouble, promise."

"I would hope not." Roy didn't really seem bothered. "I don't need any negative photon emissions in my shop."

"Then it'd do you good to answer the questions!" Cuno continues with his whole loud display as he steps in front of the counter. Annette follows behind with an apologetic smile up at Roy.

"Questions..." Roy's gaze moves from Cuno to the projector lights.

"Yo!! Pay attention when Cuno's talking to you!" Cuno snaps his fingers in front of Roy's face which does get him to turn back.

"I'm listening, kid. Ask away." Roy slowly drums his fingers on the table.

"You been to the bookstore recently?" Cuno asks in an accusatory tone, squinting his eyes as if that'd help him distinguish if someone was telling the truth.

"Depends on your definition of 'recent', I suppose." Roy hums as he thinks about it. "Today is Saturday. I believe I was there... yes, it was almost a week ago. Sunday."

"Yeah? How many times this month?" Cuno asks.

"Hm... 2 times, perhaps. It wasn't that often." Roy shrugs.

Cuno looks to Annette, who had her notebook open. Annette nods at him to confirm that was true.

"Alright. You get anything from there?" Cuno continues the questioning.

"In the past month? Hm... Yes, it was just the one book. I have it with me here, actually." He kneels down sluggishly, going through some things under the counter.

Cuno taps his foot rapidly, unable to withstand how slowly this man was speaking and moving. Annette tries to suppress an amused smile as she looks at Cuno.

"Here it is." Roy stands back up to face them, holding up the book. "It's the biography of a famous impressionist painter. His art has an inspiringly positive emission of photons. I wanted to read more about him."

Annette nods again towards Cuno to confirm that was the only book he's bought.

"Why do you ask? Do you need me to return it?" Roy asks Annette, placing it down on the counter.

"Oh. No, sir." Annette finally speaks, trying to have as polite a tone as possible. "Um... Well, sir, are you sure you don't have any other books from the past month?"

"Yes, this was all I bought," Roy answers.

"Well, um, maybe you could double check, sir?" Annette asks awkwardly. "Some books have gone missing, you see…" her voice went a bit quieter, as if her mother could hear her.

"Missing?" Roy raises a brow. "I didn't steal anything, if that's what you're accusing me of."

"I'm not accusing you, sir!" Annette adds quickly. "We're just asking in case you, accidentally, walked out with something?"

"I'm very deliberate with what I take with me." Roy shakes his head. "But missing, you say? That's interesting…" He trails off and goes silent. Annette and Cuno look to each other in confusion before turning back to Roy.

"Yeah? What's so interesting about it?" Cuno prods. "You steal shit? Is that interesting to you?"

"No, of course not." Roy shakes his head again. "I don't know anything about the bookstore thefts. But-"

"Well, if you didn't steal anything." Cuno cuts him off, impatient at his slow pace. "Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I took a look at what you've got behind that counter." He continues as he places both hands on the counter to push himself up and peak through the glass.

"No. No one is allowed behind the counter." Roy has an edge of annoyance to his voice, though he still spoke slowly.

"Why not? You admitting you're guilty?" Cuno glares at the man behind the glass as he continues to climb up the counter, pulling one leg up.

"If you don't get down from there, you'll get hurt," Roy says as he seems to mess with something under the counter. Annette could hear the clicking and clacking of a machine.

"What're you doing? Hidin' the evidence?! Huh?!" Cuno sticks his arm in the hole of the glass and tries to grab at anything.

"Annette, I would recommend you stop your friend." Roy holds up a tape player. "Or cover your ears." He is as blank as ever, but Annette recognizes that this was a final warning. For what? - that she didn't know.

"Uh- Cuno, you should really-" Annette grabs at Cuno's arm to try to get him to step back.

"Hold on, Cuno's got something!"

As soon as the words are out of the boy's mouth, Roy presses down the play button. It took all of 2 seconds for the high pitched noises that started playing to cause both Annette and Cuno to cover their ears and double over. Roy seems completely unbothered by the noise.

"What the fuck is that screeching?! You trying to blow up Cuno's brain?!" Cuno yells out as he got back on the floor, stepping away from the counter. Annette had dropped her notebook and pen.

"Sorry." Roy did sound legitimately apologetic. He presses the stop button once he saw Cuno step back enough and places the tape player back in its place. Both the kids finally relax and rub their heads. "Now. I hope we can remain civil?"

"That was fucked up! Torture shit!" Cuno shouts even louder than before somehow, his eyes shut tight and a ringing still in his ears. "You're a real psycho, you know that?" He says that with a hint of respect.

"I don't enjoy having to use that. But kids can be awfully rowdy," Roy says bluntly then turns to Annette, who was still rubbing the sides of her head, recovering from the headache. "I do want to help with this thief in any way I can, as one business owner to another."

"Th- thank you, sir." Annette slowly regains her composure. She continues speaking as she bends down to pick up her notebook and pen: "Y- you were saying something before, weren't you, sir?" In the background, Cuno was squatting on the ground and swearing loudly. He aggressively rubs his head with his open palms, mussing up his hair in the process.

"Yes." Roy nods. "I had some things stolen, too. Earlier this month, actually."

"Wait- Really?" Annette perks up. Cuno instantly seems to recover and he makes his way back next to her, eyes wide and listening intently. "What kinds of things?"

"It was a flashlight. A radio. And a quilt." He held out a finger with each item he listed. "The lock to the door was broken that day. I had to replace it." He sighs.

"What day was it?" Annette asks, rapidly writing it all down.

"It was…" Roy reaches down, slow as ever, to grab a notebook. He goes through the ledger before answering: "Yes. The third of June."

"Could it be the same person?" Annette asks, turning to Cuno.

"Hm. Cuno thinks we could be chasing the same fuck." Cuno nods with furrowed brows.

"Chasing, hm?" Roy raises a brow, his eyes moving between the two of them behind the shades.

"Fuck yeah!" Cuno grins. "Chasing. Sniffing out his shit. Popo-style!"

"Well, I do hope you can find them."

"Do you have any suspicions of your own?" Annette asks.

"No, none at all." Roy shakes his head with a frown.

"Hmm." Annette frowns. "Oh, has anyone sold you any books recently? Or a deck of cards, maybe?"

"Still 'past month' recently?" Roy asks. Annette nods. "No, I don't believe so. I don't usually accept books, anyway."

"Yeah, that would have been too easy." Annette sighs. "I think that's all the questions we have… Can we take a look around the shop?"

"Yes. I just ask that you not touch anything," Roy says. "Unless you plan to buy it, of course."

"Thank you, sir." Annette nods and starts to walk through the store.

"Okay- Another question!" Cuno asks, still standing in front of the counter. "How in the fuck does that screeching killer tape work?"

"It's quite simple." Roy taps his fingers on the counter again. "Young folk like you can hear higher pitched noises that older people can't. This tape happens to have the right combination of frequencies to cause the dramatic reaction you experienced. It helps discourage any unruly children from messing with the merchandise. I can't just strong-arm them out, you see. That wasn't the initial purpose of the recording, of course, but it comes in handy now."

"Can Cuno have one?" He grins.

"No," Roy snaps back quickly and flatly. "It's not for sale."

"Cuno," Annette says with a hint of fear. "We do not need something like that."

"Boring fucks," Cuno grumbles as he gives up and looks around the store as well. They are both extra careful not to touch anything. They examine the once-broken lock as well, but nothing stood out to them.

"I think that's all," Annette says as she finishes writing down her last note. She then turns to Roy with a wide smile. "Thank you so much for your help, sir."

"It's no problem," Roy smiles. "Just try to rein back your friend. I don't think others will be quite as patient in helping you with that attitude."

"What the fuck!? You talking about Cuno like Cuno ain't here?!" Cuno practically squawks at the man. "And the fuck you saying about 'reining'?! Cuno ain't a fucking horse, you bino-bitch!"

"Yes, that attitude." Roy nods at Cuno's demonstration.

"Cuno, come on..." Annette furrows her brows and frowns at him.

He scowls at Annette for a few seconds before he deflates, the anger running out.

She grabs onto Cuno's arm then turns to Roy again. "Thank you again, sir! And sorry for the disturbance. We'll take our leave now!"

"Good luck." Roy nods, already turning his attention back to the projector lights. Annette walks out, a disgruntled Cuno in tow.

Annette stood outside the bookstore, trying to keep herself from shivering. It was an especially cold and dark morning. She rubbed her shoulders and stomped her feet on the ground, still making sure to stay alert for any customers.

It's been a few months since Annette and her mother moved to Martinaise. She was just starting to get settled in the new school and make friends – but even that was abruptly taken away from her. Her mother told her the experience she would get working at the bookstore was much more useful and valuable than anything she was going to learn at school. Though, of course, she still had to do schoolwork at home anyway. It meant she barely had any free time for herself.

Annette didn't complain. She never did.

She snapped out of her thoughts as - finally - another living being entered her vision. It was someone about her height, wearing a baggy hoodie with the hood up covering their face.

"Good morning! Step right in, the bookstore is open!" Annette said with a chipper voice, putting on her friendly customer grin.

"Cuno fucking knows it's open!" The boy snapped at her with a scowl. She took a step back in surprise at the aggressive response. "You say that every fucking time anyone walks by!"

"S- sorry. I didn't realize it was you," Annette said in a small voice, clutching onto the collar of her jacket. It was dark and she couldn't see his face. "I don't mean to bother."

"Then shut the fuck up!" Cuno spat on the ground in front of her then went to one of the book stands. He angrily grabbed and looked through the books, and she could hear him swearing under his breath every few seconds.

Annette watched him carefully. She never saw much of Cuno until recently - when she started to stand outside the store – even then, it wasn't that often and he'd never really talk to her. Whenever he would stop by it would always be early in the morning – and always without C. He would just go through the books on the display outside, making a mess, and then leave. He'd never actually read anything. She didn't see anything go missing either, though, so she knew he wasn't stealing. She didn't know why he kept doing this. She assumed it was just to be mean to her by making the mess.

Today was different. He eventually picked a book up and just stood there to read it.

Annette couldn't contain her curiosity. She slowly stepped towards him. Once she was close enough, she tried to peek around his shoulder to see the book that grabbed his interest. She went by unnoticed for all of 3 seconds before Cuno jumped and turned around to face her, holding the book behind his back.

"What the fuck?" He glared at her. "You trying to sneak up on Cuno, huh? Spying shit. Stab me in the back shit. You'd keep your fucking distance if you were smart."

Annette looked at him with wide sad eyes, not really hearing the words out of his mouth. Now that she was face-to-face with him, she saw the black eye and his swollen cheek.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly.

"D- Don't look at Cuno like that!" He dropped the book from his hand and pulled his hood to cover his face even more. "Ugh, whatever, fuck you. Fuck Cuno. Cuno's stupid as fuck to come here." He walked away in quick strides.

"W- wait!" Annette called out, grabbing the book from the floor, and quickly running after him. She stepped right in front of him to stop him. "You wanted to read this, right…?"

"No! Cuno was just bored!" Cuno shouts, scowling at her. "Cuno's not into this book shit! Binoclard shit! F*g shit!"

"You can take it…" Annette said, holding it out. He looked at her in surprise, mouth slightly agape. "You- You can bring it back when you're done reading it."

"Is this some fucking- sale strategy bullshit? You trying to get Cuno hooked on the book so that Cuno sinks all his fucking money into this shithole?!"

"No, you can borrow any book you want." The words were flowing out of Annette without a second thought. "You know. Like a library."

Cuno furrowed his brows, looking confused at the book in her hands then back up at Annette.

"You're dumb as rocks, book-bitch." Cuno snatched the book from her aggressively. "You're not seeing this book ever again. Cuno's selling this shit. Fuck it, Cuno's going to burn it!"

And with that, he left as quickly as he could.

Annette saw the boy a week later in the early morning, his hood pulled up. She doesn't make the mistake of addressing him this time. He walked by, staring at the ground, not saying a single word.

When he was gone, Annette could see a 'Man from Hjelmdall' book on the top of the display.

Chapter Text

Cuno opened up the door to his apartment - tense and alert.

The sun was setting quickly, some light shining in from the window in front of him. He scans his eyes across the room. No one was there and everything looked the same as he last left it.

He exhaled deeply, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He was split between relieved and disappointed.

He missed C. But he was terrified to ever see her again.

A loud snore from the other room reminded him of the other person he's both relieved and scared to see here. Still alive.

Cuno closed the door behind him and went into his dad's bedroom. Cuno hated being in here, it smelled awful – not much better than the rotting corpse that was once hanging in the yard.

"Yo, dad. You awake?" Cuno asked, stepping up to the bed. He held up two Frittte chicken sandwiches in their plastic container. "Cuno's got food. You gotta eat shit."

All he heard, from the barely living man under a pile of clothes, was a grumble of slurs.

"Yeah, yeah, get the fuck up." Cuno rolled his eyes and sat down on the very edge of the nasty bed, placing down one of the sandwiches next to him.

The man shuffled under the blanket, incoherent noises escaping his lips. Cuno just sat there, eating his food. Calling it a sandwich was generous – it was mostly bread.

It took about a minute, but the man finally propped himself up by the elbows. Cuno looked up at him with something between hope and fear. His father looked back with hazy eyes. The man then looked around him, brows furrowed.

"Where's the fucking-" he slurred, almost incoherently, with a scowl at Cuno. "You shtole my booze, didn't you, you fuckin- fucking- fuckin…" He couldn't continue that thought before his head fell right back down. Cuno felt his body relax.

"Cuno doesn't drink that shit, dad," Cuno grumbled, mouth half-full. "Poison shit. Not Cuno's style." His voice tended to be a more subdued type of anger when talking to his dad.

It didn't take long before Cuno could hear the loud snoring again.

Cuno frowned at the last bite of his sad excuse of a sandwich in his hand. He finished the bite then stood up, taking the other sandwich off the bed, and placing it on the shelf next to the bed instead.

"Good night, dad." Cuno stood by the bed and waited. Nothing but aggressive snores in response.

Cuno left to the other room and got as comfortable as he could on his couch. He didn't want to sleep, knowing the nightmares that awaited him. But he didn't want to stay up either – alone and hungry. At least sleep meant the next day could come faster...

He curled up under the thin blanket, eventually managing to silence his thoughts and drift into a restless sleep.

"I think Mr. Roy is right," Annette says as she walks next to Cuno, looking into her notebook. "If we're aggressive then people might refuse to talk to us entirely. We have to at least try to be friendly at first."

"Uggh," Cuno groans, arms crossed. "…Fine." He knew she was right. He didn't want to ruin the investigation with his attitude.

"Thank you," Annette chuckles a bit. "So, we have a few options now. We can head to the Whirling-in-Rags to see if there's any witnesses. Then there's Mr. Gary who we can check over at the Capeside Apartments. Or, I could call Penny..." Annette didn't sound too eager with the last option.

"Cuno thinks we should find our second suspect. Let's find this Gary-Dick!" He points towards where the apartments were and began to march over.

Annette walks next to him, her smile slowly diminishing until it was just a small remnant of it. It only just occurred to her that he's never been to the Capeside Apartments since he left… He's never shown interest in the building at all. She felt bad that she was the reason he had to come back to see it when he so clearly was avoiding it. Still, she doesn't say anything.

They reach the building's southwest entrance near the pier and Cuno tries to open the door. It's locked - and he doesn't have any keys to the place anymore. He groans and slams his fist against the door multiple times.

"What?" an irritated voice of an old lady shouts from behind the door.

"It's Cuno! Open the door!"

"Why? Did you forget something? I've already cleaned out the apartment."

"You have…?" Cuno asks quietly. He doesn't know why hearing that surprised him.

"Whatever it is, it's in the landfill by now. I don't need another mess so just move along!"

"Whatever! Cuno's not here for that!" Cuno shouts with a scowl. "We need to talk to someone."

It was too late, they could already hear the sound of footsteps walking away. She is not going to be opening the door for them.

"Ugh!" Cuno kicks the door. "Fuckin' bitch!"

"Hey, we'll find a way in, don't worry about it." Annette places a hand on his shoulder with an assuring smile.

"Is that you Cuno?" A woman's voice calls out from above. Both kids look up to see Cindy the SKULL peaking down from the balcony with a smile. "Haven't seen you in ages."

"Skull bitch!" Cuno says with a wide grin. "Can you let us in?"

"Hmm… Sure." She shrugs and walks away. It doesn't take long for her to reach the floor below and unlock the door for them. "Welcome back. I see you've made a new friend?" She nods towards Annette.

"Thank you for letting us in, ma'am. My name is Annette. My mother owns the bookstore just south of here." She smiles up at her. Annette thinks she's seen Cindy before but she's never spoken to her - or if she has it was to invite her into the bookstore back when she stood outside to advertise it.

"No need to ma'am me. I'm not that much older than you." She smiles, amused, and holds out her hand. "It's just Cindy. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Cindy," Annette smiles shyly as she shakes her hand. Cindy dressed in pretty old, frumpy looking clothes. That along with her heavy make-up made it hard to really tell her age.

"Just Cindy," she laughs a bit, then turns to Cuno. "So, what brings you back?"

"We're looking for a book thief," Cuno explains. "Shit's been getting nicked from Ann's bookstore for like a month. Know anythin' about that?"

"Huh. Nope." Cindy clicks her tongue. "Looking for anyone specific?"

"We're looking for a Mr. Gary," Annette says. "Tall man, kind of thin, has his brown hair up to here?" She motions her hand to her neck.

"Does he talk like this?" Cindy pushes up her nose and imitates his nasally voice.

"Yes!" Annette laughs a bit.

"That fucker lives in the basement across the building. It's right behind the yard." Cindy says with an annoyed tone at the thought of him. "You kids going to talk to him?"

They both nod.

"Just the two of you?"

They nod again.

"Right... Maybe I could team up with you for that?" Cindy asks. She doesn't like the thought of that racist speaking with unsupervised kids.

"Oh, there's really no need," Annette says with a small, confused smile.

"I'd like to help. Just wanted to offer some muscle, in case you needed it." Cindy looks at her nails. "Strong-arm him so you can look through his shit." She clenches her hand into a fist.

"Fuck yeah!" Cuno grins, slamming a fist into his palm, already forgetting his agreement to refrain from aggression.

"Um- I don't think that'll be necessary!" Annette smiles nervously. "We don't know if he actually stole anything. We just have some questions."

"Don't you worry about it," Cindy smiles and motions for them to follow her down the hall. "I won't escalate or anything. Just be here for support."

"Well..." Annette says as both she and Cuno follow her. "Okay. Thank you."

As they walk down the hall, Cuno very pointedly kept his gaze ahead of him, looking at Cindy's back. Annette kept an eye on Cuno in her peripheral.

"Here it is," Cindy says, motioning towards the stairs that led down to Gary's door.

"Oh! This is mug fucker's place!" Cuno says excitedly.

"Mug- um, Mug who?" Annette asks.

"Cuno's pig caught this fucker stealing shit from the crime scene – clothes off the lynched gimp!" He grins morbidly. "Throwing his shit in the trash can in the yard. Suspicious shit!"

"Ohh," Cindy coos with a grin. "Mug fucker got a key to the Whirling's trash?"

"Yeah, think so!" Cuno nods then turns to Annette. "This might actually be our guy."

Annette has her doubts but stealing from a crime scene sounds like a riskier thing than a bookstore… so it does incriminate him.

Cuno runs down the stairs and instantly starts slamming the door with his fist.

"Wha- W- Who is it!?" A voice of a man squeals from inside, sounding a bit further in.

"It's the popo! Open the fuck up!" Cuno shouts and slams his fist again. The door creaks open slightly, and he peaks in. His view is quickly obstructed.

"Ah... I thought I recognized that voice," Gary says tiredly, peaking out through the side of the door that he only opened up a crack. "What is it, kid? I'm very busy."

"We got some questions for you. There's talk of a thief goin' around." Cuno squints his eyes up at Gary.

"I don't have time for this." Gary tenses up and tries to close the door, but Cuno already had his foot wedged in.

"Sounds like a pretty guilty response to Cuno," Cuno says.

"I don't know anything about any thief! Go bother someone else." Gary tries to push the door anyway, squeezing Cuno's foot.

"Ow! You're crushing my foot, fucking psycho!" Cuno tries to push against the man, Annette also quickly helping him after she heard his yelp of pain. They were in a stand still for a few seconds before the door swings wide open, knocking Gary back a few steps. They also heard the sound of furniture screeching against the ground behind the door.

"They just have a few questions, fucko," Cindy says with a scowl, both her hands on the door, keeping it open.

"Wh- why are you here, too?!" Gary exclaims but shrinks at her glare. He didn't have the confidence to turn her away. "Okay, okay, come in. But, I really am busy so make this quick!"

"Trust me, we don't want to be here any longer than we have to," Cindy groans as she and the kids walk inside to the middle of the room. Cindy's never been in here before and it was worse than she thought. The racist mug shelf instantly caught her eye – so that's where the mug fucker nickname came from. She's glad she came with them.

"Very sorry for the intrusion, sir," Annette says sincerely. "But this is really important to me. Some of the thefts were from the bookstore. You must understand how damaging it is for our books to be stolen."

"Oh, that's terrible. Of course, I understand," he speaks in a nicer tone to Annette. "Thieves truly are the lowest of the low." He tuts and shakes his head, pulling up a stool to sit down on. He motions for them to take a seat. Only Annette does.

"I can think of a few things lower," Cindy mutters, scanning the whole apartment with a glare. She looks down the hallway of the entrance and sees a couple of chairs stacked against each other – what caused the sound when she pushed against the door.

"Anyway, I truly don't know anything!" Gary says, now only addressing Annette. Cuno starts to walk around, picking up scattered books from the tables to inspect them. Most were a bunch of science-y looking books that Cuno didn't care to understand. "Hey, hey! Don't touch anything!" Gary scowls at Cuno who ignores him.

"I suggest you keep your attention over here," Cindy says in a threatening tone. And so he does.

"Sorry, sir." Once again, Annette sounds sincerely apologetic. "Cuno won't mess with anything, promise."

"Place is a dump before Cuno touched shit." Cuno scoffs, pulling up a chair so he can look at the top of the bookshelf in the corner of the room.

Gary groans and crosses his arms. "Is there a reason why I'm being searched? Have I done something wrong?" He frowns at Annette. "Annie, you know I'm a loyal customer. I would never do anything to sabotage the bookstore."

"Don't call her that, you fuckin' creep," Cuno calls out from above, 'accidentally' dropping a book from the shelf with a "whoops," his tone unchanging. Gary clenches his arms tighter, gritting his teeth.

"Aheh..." Annette laughs awkwardly. "I know, sir. I'm not accusing you of anything. It's just that a lot of the books were from the 'Hjemdall' series and I know you come in often for those-"

"Of course he does," Cindy mutters under her breath.

"-and I thought maybe you just, accidentally, walked out carrying some?" Annette continues, not hearing Cindy. "It's okay if you have! It can happen to anyone."

"No, if that happened I would have brought them back right away!" He's bouncing his leg now, glancing at Cuno every few seconds.

"Yes, but maybe you thought you paid for them?" Annette smiles apologetically. "I'm just trying to be thorough, sir."

"Well, I'm sorry, but this is a dead end." Gary frowns.

"Cuno found some shit!" The boy grins, holding up a pile of books from near the bottom of the shelf. It was all 'Man from Hjelmdall' books.

"Hey! I bought all of those!!" Gary shouts as he gets up.

"Then you won't mind if we went through them, right?" Cuno says with a grin as he sets the hefty pile all on the ground.

"I got some of those from other stores!" Gary exclaims as he tries to approach Cuno, but felt something hold him back.

"What? You going to fight the kid?" Cindy scoffs, holding him by the collar of his shirt.

"Sounds to me like you're already making up excuses!" Cuno laughs.

"Sorry, sir! This won't take long!" Annette does not sound as apologetic this time, her excitement getting the better of her. She sits down across from Cuno and opens up her notebook.

"You better put all of those back in their place!" Gary watches in pain as they make a mess of the books on the floor. This was going to take a long time to clean up and organize again…

"Stop whining," Cuno scoffs, picking up book after book to read the titles and double-checking with Annette's notebook that she placed on the ground between them.

It takes a little while to get through it all and Cindy does not let go of Gary even though he doesn't move.

"There's 3 of the stolen titles here!" Cuno shouts out triumphantly, handing the books over to Annette.

"What?!" Gary exclaims in disbelief. "Which ones??"

"'Man from Hjelmdall: Return to Hjelmdall'," Annette reads the titles. "'Man from Hjelmdall and the Night Beast' and 'Hjelmdallermann at the Gates of Tomorrow'."

"I'm almost a hundred percent certain I bought those from your store ages ago!" Gary insists. "Don't you have records of this?"

"We do. I'll definitely check, sir," Annette says with an apologetic smile as she took some of the books off the floor and standing up. She did believe him. More than just 3 were stolen and considering his large collection it was a given that they would find at least some overlap with the books that were stolen. She tries to place the books back on the shelf in a semi-orderly fashion. Cuno, however, grabs the rest of the books and just dumps them back on the bookshelf.

Gary sighs in relief as Cindy finally let go of him. He readjusts the collar of his shirt. "Fine. Is that all? Can I please get back to my work?"

"A few more questions, if that's okay?" Annette asks, dusting off her dress as she turns around to face him again. Cuno stands with his arms crossed just behind her.

"Okay. Just for you, Ann-ette." Gary quickly adjusts the nickname to her proper name as he sees the death glare Cuno gives him. The glare remains on Cuno's face, daring Gary to make a mistake.

"For this I'm just curious but- Why were you so interested in the Semenese wards?" She asks, head tilted slightly. Cindy already braces herself for whatever it is this man had to say.

"Yes, well, I'm just very interested in kipt cu-" Gary is cut off by the sound of ceramic shattering. He turns around, startled, and sees one of the mugs, once on his shelf, now split into pieces on the floor. It was one with a racist caricature of a 'Semenese' person.

"Whoops." Cindy copies Cuno's earlier flippant tone with an amused look, her hand still up near the shelf where the mug once was. "I'd choose my words very carefully if I were you."

"I only said a word! You broke my property!" Gary exclaims but quickly shrinks as he sees Cindy's smile get wider.

"I can break a lot more than just property, fuck-o." Cindy threatens with a casual tone and smile.

"Wh- whatever!" Gary shakes his head and turns to Annette again. "As I was saying- I'm just very interested in Semenese culture. I also travel a lot, you see. I just wanted to discuss the wards, how your mother got them and such."

"Mum didn't seem too happy with what you had to say about them…" Annette adds.

"Yes, well, your mother had some very different ideas than what I've read and heard. Basically, we just had some differing opinions, that's all." He keeps his explanations short, fearing saying anything that would upset the feral kids that have broken into his home.

"Is that so?" Annette hums as she takes notes. "Have you ever been behind that curtain? You know, the rest of the building?"

"Years ago, back when there were more businesses open." He shrugs. "I haven't had a reason to go in there once it was thoroughly abandoned."

"Do you know any other entrances? Other than the bookstore and the doorbell?" Annette asks.

"No, none." Gary shakes his head. At this point Cuno had already wandered off and was looking more around the apartment. Gary decides to just grit his teeth and keep an eye on him.

"There's actually been some thefts at the pawnshop, too…" Annette adds. "Do you know anything about that? Seen anyone suspicious around there?"

"Really…? No, I haven't." He furrows his brows in thought. "I don't really go there at all; I wouldn't know anything."

"Yo, mug fucker!" Cuno calls out near the main entrance. He has a hand on the door-knob and swinging the door back and forth. "Why's your door all fucked up?" The knob was loose, and the lock couldn’t be fully turned when Cuno shuts the door.

"Uh- I- I don't really know." Gary stammers. "I mean, well, someone broke it a while back."

"A break-in?" Annette asks, eyes wide. She quickly goes over to Cuno to inspect the lock.

"Is that why you got all these chairs and shit? 'Cause you can't lock the door?" Cuno points out, picking up one of the chairs behind the door.

"Yes- A temporary solution." Gary is even more tense than before.

"So, you had things stolen as well?" Annette asks.

"I- I really don't think you need to worry about it," Gary laughs nervously.

"Sir, please tell us." Annette frowns. "The person who broke in could be the same as our thief. We can help each other."

Gary taps his foot anxiously, looking at the floor as he considers it. Finally, he sighs and looks up at Annette.

"Listen, I already know who broke the lock," Gary says nervously, "and I don't think it's relevant to your thefts."

"Oh!" Cindy exclaims sarcastically. "Well, since you already know then we'll be on our merry fucking way."

"Yes, exactly," Gary says, ignoring her sarcasm.

"Can't you just tell us, anyway?" Annette frowns.

"You piss someone off, is that it?" Cuno asks with a smirk.

Gary doesn't respond. He just purses his lips into a straight line and his shoulders tense up.

"You did!" Cuno grins, amused. "Did you get in trouble with the pigs again?"

"A- Again?" Gary's face drops. "What are you…?"

"Yeah, bitch. Cuno knows everything. Cuno sees it all." Cuno grins even more at his reaction. "You throw more mugs in the trash? Is that it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Gary only gets more and more nervous with this turn of conversation. He tries to hide it with irritation.

"Listen, fucker," Cindy says impatiently. "We ain't got all day. Just tell us the fucking info and we'll get out of your hair."

"Or what?" Gary scoffs. He watches Cindy's hand go up to the mug shelf again and he instantly regrets it. "God- Fine! Just stop breaking my stuff! I've taken enough of a hit as it is…"

"Great. We're listening." Cindy smirks as she stops reaching for the mug and crosses her arms. It's pathetic how attached he was to these ugly mugs, but hey; it works in their favor.

"You're right," Gary sighs in defeat. "I made a promise, and I didn't keep it. I think they found out and… well, now I'm forced to keep it."

"A promise not to throw out mugs?" Cuno asks, very satisfied at making the connection himself.

"No- Well, okay, kind of-" Gary groans, rubbing his temples. "I don't even know how you know about that."

"So, you got a key to the whirling's trash," Cindy lays it out, "cops found out, didn't like it, told you to stop and you didn't?"

"…That's basically it, yes," Gary confirms with irritation.

"And you know that for a fact… how?" Cindy asks, a brow raised.

"Because… Among other things, the keys were gone the day the lock was broken," Gary sighs.

"Other things?" Annette asks, writing everything down.

"I had a pillow and some food stolen," Gary answers.

"Why would they take that?" Annette asks, confused. "Wouldn't they just take the keys?"

"I guess to punish me?" Gary shrugs with a frown.

"Did you promise that shit to Cuno's pig?" Cuno asks. He continues when Gary looks at him confused. "Harry Du Bois, the cop."

"Uh- yes…" Gary confirms, his nerves not calming down.

"When was the lock broken?" Annette asks.

"About 2 weeks ago…" Gary answers. "It was a weekday. I don't remember exactly which day…"

"Has the detective been to Martinaise recently?" Annette asks Cuno, brows furrowed.

"I don't think so. Pretty sure he'd tell me…" Cuno shrugs. "Cuno can ask him about this shit."

"A-ask him…?" Gary's eyes widen. He had no idea why these kids were talking like they knew the detective. Did they? Were they just messing with him?

"We're not talking to you, mug fucker," Cuno says dismissively. "Is that everything, Ann? We got any more questions?"

"I think that's all." Annette nods. Even if she doesn't believe Gary is the thief, she was satisfied with the information they got here. She turns to Gary with a genuine smile. "Thank you for talking to us, sir. I really appreciate it."

"I- Now, hold on-" Gary stammered. If it wasn’t the RCM that raided his home and these two kids really did tell the detective about what he just admitted to then he was going to get into even more trouble. "There's no need to-"

"Great!" Cindy cut him off, relief in her voice and demeanor as she walks down the hall towards the front door. "Let's get out of here, then."

"Goodbye, sir! And sorry again for the disturbance!" Annette has an apologetic look again.

"You don't gotta keep apologizing, Ann," Cuno scoffs as he walks out. Cindy and Annette follow after, leaving a stammering Gary behind.

"Thank you for your help, Cindy." Annette smiles as they stand behind the yard.

"Hey, don't mention it." Cindy smiles. "You two did great in there. It was hilarious watching him squirm."

"You too, skull bitch!" Cuno says with a wide grin. "Ah man, mug fucker looked like he pissed himself!'

"I don't know, maybe we were a little too mean?" Annette smiles a bit uncomfortably.

"Oh, Annette." Cindy pockets her hands in her jacket. "Men like him deserve a lot worse. You have no idea the shit that comes out of his mouth."

Annette shrugs, not knowing what to say to that - mostly confused.

"So. You kids needs to get back in?" Cindy asks. "Ask the rest of the building? Could be more thefts than just mister racist over there."

"Fuck yeah! Let's go!" Cuno pumps a fist into the air. Cindy laughs and struts right back to the complex. She unlocks the door and lets them in.

This time, Cuno can't help but see the door to his old home. The front door was slightly ajar, and he could see… nothing.

"Hey, uh, Cindy?" Cuno asks, stopping by the door they just entered, his head turned to the apartment. "Does… anyone live there anymore? Cuno's old place?" He nods towards it.

"Oh. No, no one's moved in since you left," Cindy says carefully, gauging his reaction.

"Alright…" Cuno nods, arms crossed. A few seconds of tense silence.

"So." Cindy smiles, deciding to switch the topic. "You actually friendly with the pig or was that just a really solid bluff?"

"How the fuck else you think Cuno got his info?" Cuno grins. "Cuno's living in Jamrock now. Cuno's gonna be a detective!"

"Heh. You're one tough kid, Cuno." Cindy smiles and holds up a relaxed fist.

"Thanks, skull bitch." Cuno smiles and bumps her fist with his own.

"You'll do fine without me for the rest of the building." Cindy nods and gives Annette a light pat on the head before leaving with a small wave. "Good luck, you two."

"Thank you, Cindy!" Annette smiles.

"So." Cuno smirks at Annette. "Change your mind on the bad cop strat?"

"We're still doing friendly first," she says with a small laugh.

"'First' means it's not off the table." Cuno grins.

Annette rolls her eyes with a smile - she does not deny it.

Cuno and Annette spend the next hour interviewing everyone who would talk to them in the building. They couldn't force their way into every flat like with Gary's – in fact they didn't force themselves into any flat at all. Seeing Annette's friendly face was enough for most of the tenants to allow the kids to check their bookshelves and talk about the thefts. Unfortunately, almost none of them had anything interesting to give out. They just said they would keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

They did learn something new, though. A man in apartment #28 on the east balcony told them he saw a fire, out on the yard behind the Whirling-in-Rags, on the date of the stolen shelf. He went back inside when he saw it, deciding not to get involved. He thinks he maybe saw two figures, but no defining features. They asked everyone else on the balcony about it, but no one else saw this fire.

All that was left was the door in the far end of the east balcony, apartment #20. Annette wanted to leave a friendly face for last.

"Just a moment!" The woman's gruff, muffled voice replies, after hearing their knocks.

Annette and Cuno wait – the girl more patiently than the boy.

"Pig work is so boring…" Cuno groans. He's already exhausted from talking to so many people and going through all the same questions over and over with barely any action or leads.

"Yeah, I guess in books they kind of skip over all of this, huh?" Annette chuckles. She wasn't as tired as Cuno was, she was far more used to monotonous work. If anything, this was the most excitement she's had in a long time, 'boring' interviews included.

The door opens and they're greeted by the wide smile of Billie Méjean.

"Oh – Hello!" Billie sounds happily surprised to see the both of them, especially Cuno.

"Good afternoon, auntie Billie." Annette matches her wide smile. "How have you been?"

"I've been well, thank you." Billie smiles. She notices Cuno absent-mindedly leaning forward a little and sniffing the air. "Oh, come in, come in! Join me for lunch, I cooked far too much food. I'm so used to cooking for me and the girls." She moves aside to welcome them in.

"Oh- Thank you, ma'am but-" Annette began with the polite etiquette of turning down the offer but was abruptly cut off.

"Fuck yeah, Cuno's starving!!" Cuno exclaims and steps right in with an excited grin. Annette laughs a bit awkwardly as she follows in, Billie only smiles wider.

"I just need to set up the table." Billie closes the door behind her before she to head into the kitchen.

"Oh, I'll help." Annette follows after.

"Thank you, dear." Billie smiles as she pulls out plates and utensils.

Cuno instead has his attention grabbed by the shelves of books on the wall across the room. He grabs a chair and brings it over to the shelf to examine them all.

"My, I haven't seen Cuno in so long." Billie reminisces as she wears oven mitts, opening the oven and pulls out a pan of lasagna. "You two are friends, hm?" It's definitely a surprising pair to show up together.

"Yes, ma'am." Annette smiles and spreads out the plates on the table.

"He looks so… Well, he looks like he's doing well." Billie looks out the room, seeing Cuno look over the books. "I've been so worried since… How is he doing?"

"He lives in a much better place now." Annette smiles sadly, assuring her.

"I'm really glad to hear that." The woman looks relieved. She puts down the pan on the table. "The food is ready, Cuno!" She calls out.

"Oh-!" He puts down the science-fiction book in his hand and leaps off the chair, rushing to the kitchen. "Thanks for inviting us, lady!"

"It's no problem. I enjoy the company." Billie chuckles as she opens the fridge and pulls out a bottle of orange juice, putting it on the table before sitting. "Careful, it's still hot out of the oven."

Cuno was already shoveling food onto his plate. Annette felt a sense of embarrassment at the faux pas, just smiling awkwardly as she filled up her own plate at reasonable pace.

"Thank you for inviting us, auntie." Annette smiles. "The food smells lovely."

"Thish shit ish amazhing!" Cuno says through a full mouth, already stuffing his face. His eyes water at the heat, but it doesn't stop or slow him down.

"I'm flattered!" Billie laughs. "But don't talk with your mouth full. Don't want you choking."

Cuno nods and takes a big gulp, washing the food down with the juice.

"How have you been, Cuno?" She asks, turning to him. "What have you been up to?"

"I'm joining the police academy." Cuno grins. "Gonna become a full-time pig!"

"Oh, that's ambitious!" Billie smiles, a bit of worry showing through her eyes. "Where are you living now?"

"Cuno's living with Cuno's pig in Jamrock!" He answers after swallowing his mouthful.

"He means the detective that worked on the hanged man case," Annette explains. "Well, one of them. He's the taller one with the beard."

"Oh?" Billie's eyes widen. "Is that so?"

"You've met him, right?" Annette asks. "I remember seeing you two talk at the book displays."

"Yes, we've met," she says with a sad smile as she looks at her plate. "He helped find my husband."

"Oh…" Annette frowns. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." Billie shakes her head. "I'm very grateful for his help."

Cuno looks between them in confusion, but otherwise keeps his mouth shut.

"The detective seemed like a kind man when I met him." Billie then adds with a laugh. "Although a bit of a 'cockatoo'. I do hope you're happy, Cuno."

"Yeah, Cuno's doing fine," Cuno says quietly, shy at admitting that.

"That's good to hear." Billie smiles. She could already tell he was, just from his health and demeanor. "And you, Annette? How's your mother and the bookstore?"

"Ah! That's actually why we came to visit." Annette perks up, remembering the whole reason they knocked on her door. "Mum is doing okay, but… well, there's been a few stolen books in the past month…" She quietly adds: "Don't tell mum I told you."

"Is that so?" Billie frowns.

Annette explains the whole situation, summarized, her notebook open on the table. She tells her about the books, the pawnshop, and Gary's apartment. Billie listened intently. By the end of the explanation, Cuno had finished eating one and a half huge servings and was now in a food coma with his forehead on the table.

"And… Here we are." Annette finishes and takes a sip of the juice from her cup.

"That sounds like quite a journey," Billie says. She thinks for a second, rubbing her chin. "It's strange… Things were stolen from the fishing village, too."

"Really?" Annette grabs her pen, eyes wide.

"Lilienne and Isobel both had clothes stolen," Billie explains. "They were out on a clothesline. I think they told me it happened about 3 weeks ago?"

"Probably those creepy drunks," Cuno grumbles, head still on the table.

"I have no idea." Billie shrugs. "But if you're referring to the usual drunks that lived in the village then it's not them. They all left ever since construction began."

"What about those speedfreaks?" Cuno asks, looking up.

"Who?" Billie asks, brows furrowed.

"There were some people who started a club in the old church," Annette explains.

"Oh, those kids." Billie nods in recognition. "I don't know. I can't say either way, really."

"Hmm…" Annette notes it all down as she eats with her other hand.

"Oh-" Cuno sits up, looking at Billie. "Have you seen a fire? Out in the yard?"

"Fire? When?" Billie asks, confused.

"The man in #28 told us he saw a fire on the 11th," Annette explains. "Well- the 12th, I suppose. It was already past midnight. That was when the shelf of books was stolen, so it could be relevant..."

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen anything like that." Billie shakes her head. "I don't stay up that late."

"That's alright," Annette says with a small smile then turns to Cuno. "We have a new lead now! We should go talk to Ms. Lilienne."

"Right… Cool," Cuno tries to sound nonchalant as he drops his head right back on the table, an attempt at hiding his discomfort. Annette holds in a laugh.

"Have you asked for help from the dockworkers?" Billie asks. "What were they called? The Hardies?"

"No fuckin' way," Cuno grumbles, his chin on the table now. "We're doin' this shit ourselves!"

"We're planning on talking to them at least," Annette adds with an awkward smile. It felt a little embarrassing saying they would solve this rather than leaving it to adults. "Mum really doesn't want anyone finding out, so... She never reported it."

"I see." Billie nods with an encouraging smile. "I have full confidence that you kids can get to the bottom of this."

"Thank you, ma'am." Annette smiles shyly.

They spent the rest of the meal just talking. Talking about their lives, about family, about work, about school. Cuno mostly just listened, only chiming in to talk about his own new life in Jamrock every now and then. It was a relaxing, comfortable atmosphere – what felt like a well-deserved break.

As they stand by the door, the kids thank her again for the meal and for her help answering their questions. Billie smiles and wishes them the best of luck on their investigation. And with that one last goodbye, they were off to continue their search.

As they reach the bottom of the stairs, Cuno slows down his steps until he stops. He can't help but stare at door #12 again. It was the only door they haven't checked through.

Annette stands next to him and looks between him and the door. She opens her mouth to ask something but decides against it.

Finally, he snaps out of it and shakes his head. "We were- Uh, where are we going next?" he asks, turning to Annette.

"We can… We can check the apartment. If you want," Annette says carefully. He furrows his brows and looks at the floor. Annette just waits on Cuno's lead.

"…Yeah, we gotta be thorough." He nods with a serious face. It was as good an excuse as any... He walks up to the door and slowly pushes it open.

It is nearly entirely empty, only the curtains still attached on the windows. Cuno looks at where his bed used to be – where he always dreaded sleeping. He looks at where his desk was - where C spent most of her time when she first started living with him. He spent so much of his life here and, instead of any kind of comfort or nostalgia, standing here only made him anxious. He manages to keep his breathing steady as he reminds himself: I don't live here anymore.

He walks in and looks around. Annette just stands behind him quietly. She's never been to his house before. It's so small… Suffocating, almost. She can only imagine what it used to look like before.

Cuno stands by the open bedroom door and stares at the dimly lit room. The curtains were closed and the only thing in this room was the broken shelf. Yet, he could still see the figure of his comatose father under the pile of dirty blankets and clothes next to it. The view was imprinted into his mind.

He walks into the room to the other end of the wall, and slides down it, sitting on the ground. Annette follows and sits next to him. He pulls his knees up, crosses his arms, and rests his chin on them.

"What happened to Billie's husband?" Cuno asks suddenly. His voice echoes slightly in the empty room.

"Oh… um…" Annette frowns, fidgeting with her gloves. "He… died. On his way back home."

"And Cuno's pig 'found him'?"

"I guess so. I think he was drunk and hit his head?" Annette mumbles. "That's what my mum told me. I never asked auntie Billie directly…"

"Hm." Cuno just stares ahead. Annette thinks maybe she shouldn't have said that part…

"Do you… Want to talk?" Annette asks gently, not sure how to get him to open up. He clearly had a lot on his mind.

"The fuck is there to talk about?" Cuno asks flatly, brows furrowed.

"…I'm sorry, Cuno," she says in a small voice.

"Don't talk like that." He scowls, still looking ahead. "Cuno doesn't need that pity shit."

She opens her mouth to apologize again but catches herself. Instead, she asks a more straight-forward question: "Do you want to talk about your dad?"

"Why the fuck would Cuno want to talk about him?" he answers bluntly with a scowl. "Cuno's dad was fucked up. Violent shit. Didn't give a shit about anything. He was dead long before his heart stopped for real. Suicidal shit. The fuck should Cuno care?"

It was rare to hear Cuno describe his dad in such a somber tone. He used to be so proud of it all – even eager to turn out just like him. But... that wasn't an inevitability in his life anymore. And it didn't need to be for his dad either.

"That sounds awful." Annette didn't know what else to say. Nothing that didn't sound like pity, at least.

"Cuno's dad was the fucking worst… But…" Cuno sinks his face into his arms. "Cuno still misses him. Cuno's so fucking stupid."

"You're not stupid…" Annette frowns and gently places a hand on one of his arms. "He's still your dad… It's normal to miss him."

Cuno doesn't say anything, he just grips his arms tighter. Annette can hear him sniffling.

She doesn't say anything, either. She just leans her head on his shoulder.

After what felt like forever, Cuno lets out a shaky sigh and looks up again. Annette sits up straight to look at him. His face is entirely red as he aggressively wipes away tears with his palms.

Annette pulls out a tissue packet with animal prints on it from her pocket and hands it to him. He takes it with a sniff. He wipes his face with a tissue then blows his nose. Crying was always embarrassing and awkward and Cuno hated it. But at least he knew Annette never brings it up – and she'd never tell anyone.

"Fuck him." Cuno finally says. "Not like he cared about Cuno. Fuck him and fuck everything."

"Yeah. Fuck everything." Annette tries to agree with a cool tone, but she ends up saying the swear word quietly and hesitantly. Cuno bursts out into a surprised laugh.

"Oh, man." Cuno's voice cracks a little as he laughs. He covers his face with one hand. "Ann, that's a cute attempt. We gotta get you some practice."

Annette just smiles slightly as she watches him laugh.

His exhales as his laughter dies down, still leaving a smile on his face. He wasn't one to linger on 'depression shit'. So he pushes himself off the floor and stands up with a look of determination. Annette gets up with him.

"Fuck this grief shit. We ain't got time for it," he scoffs. "We got a fucking thief to catch!"

"Hey, Cuno! I'm back-" Harry greeted as he closed the apartment door behind him. "Oh- Come on. I thought I told you not to sit too close to the screen."

"You don't get to tell Cuno what to do!" Cuno scowled, face practically glued to the television. He was sitting cross legged on the floor in front of it.

"If you want to become a binoclard then fine. Don't let me stop you." Harry shrugged as he took off his RCM jacket.

"That shit doesn't scare Cuno, pig." Cuno scoffed. "Cuno'll become a bino if Cuno wants. Cuno doesn't give a shit!"

"If you say so, kid." Harry chuckled and slumped onto the couch behind Cuno. He watched a bit of what was on the screen, squinting his eyes. "…Haven't you watched this one like… 5 or 6 times already?"

"Yeah, you just have shitty sad stuff. Only two of the movies are any good." Cuno sounded annoyed. "Cuno doesn't fuck with that depression shit. Cuno only fucks with action shit! Explosions and murder shit! Gruesome style!"

"All that action ain't real," Harry scoffed. "It's just a fantasy. Actual violence is depressing."

"Maybe for you, piggo." Cuno rolled his eyes. "Not for Cuno! Cuno's tough. Cuno takes violence shit with stride."

Harry laughed. "Of course."

They watched the rest of the film in mostly silence. Well, Cuno watched. Harry could barely see anything. Once it was over, Cuno turned off the TV and laid on his back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling.

Harry tried to read Cuno's face. It was blank.

"Cuno…" Harry pursed his lips into a line. "Are you happy here?"

Cuno sat up and turned around to face Harry. "The fuck kind of question is that?"

"The kind you ask a kid who ran away from home a week ago," Harry said bluntly, raising a brow.

"What? You think Cuno's stupid?" Cuno scowled. "You think Cuno wouldn't get the fuck out of here too if he wanted to?"

"I know you would." Harry nodded. "But I asked if you were happy here."

Cuno furrowed his brows, almost confused at the question. Finally, he shrugged, looking away. "Sure. Jamrock is way cooler than Martinaise. Lot less boring too."

Harry figured that was as close to a yes as he was going to get from Cuno for now.

"Do you want to talk to anyone? Back in Martinaise?" Harry asked carefully. "You told me no one knows you ran away, right? You can tell them now; you won't be taken back if you don't want to go."

Cuno still had his brows furrowed. "No."

That wasn't convincing at all.

"Do you want to talk to your dad?"

"Fuck no!" Cuno snapped loudly as he turned to look at Harry, face turning red in anger. "Cuno's dad doesn't give a fuck about anything! Why the fuck would Cuno want to talk to him?"

Harry could see that Cuno was lying. Not to Harry - but to himself.

"Cuno doesn't fucking care either!" Cuno continued in a huff. "So, don't bring up Cuno's dad ever again!"

"…Okay." If this is what Cuno believed now, then there was nothing Harry could do.

Cuno turned back around to the TV and pushed a button on the tape player to rewind the tape.

Harry furrowed his brows. It took a lot of energy for him to continue talking.

"Hey, Cuno… Do you… want to go to the video rental store?" Harry asked, forcing the words out. "You can pick out what you want to watch."

"Really?!" Cuno turned around, an excited grin on his face. Harry's discomfort at the idea instantly dissolved once he saw how happy it made Cuno.

"This weekend?" Harry smiled.

"Fuck yeah!" Cuno turned back to the screen, now swaying back and forth in excitement as he waited for the tape to finish rewinding.

Chapter Text

"Ann! Look at what Cuno found! Cool shit!"

Annette looked up from the sandcastle she and little Lily were busy building behind the fishing village shacks. Cuno was walking up to them with a wide grin, his hands clasped together like he was holding something.

"No!" Lily gasped, covering up Lamby's ears who was on her lap. "That's a bad word!"

"Ugh." Cuno rolled his eyes, losing his smile. "Listen, Cuno's sick of your shit."

"No! No more bad words!" Lily scowled up at him. "I'm telling mom!"

"Fine, fine, I'll stop," Cuno grumbled. "Snitch…"

"So?" Annette asked with a laugh. "What did you find?"

Cuno grinned again as he kneeled on the sand in front of them. He slowly unclasped his hands to reveal a large spider.

"Ahh, gross!!" Lily instantly screamed at the sight of it and ran away with Lamby.

"Good riddance," Cuno scoffed, amused.

"Cuno, that was mean." Annette frowned, scooting backwards a bit.

"What? How the fuck would Cuno know that would scare her?" He rolled his eyes. That truly wasn't his intent, but it was a fun bonus anyway.

"Put that away," Annette said with a small shiver. "It's so creepy."

"Oh, come on. It's cool!" Cuno shoved his hands up to her face. She yelped and threw herself back even further, falling on her elbows. Cuno laughed at her reaction and pulled his hands back.

"Stop that!" Annette pouted as she sat up again and dusted the sand off her sleeves.

"Why are you so afraid of it?" Cuno asked, amused. The spider was crawling up his arm now. "It's just an Insulindian Tarantula. It's harmless."

"It still looks scary…" Annette was thoroughly tense.

"Hell yeah, it does!" Cuno grinned, holding his arm up to watch it. "But you're not a bug. You've got nothin' to be scared of."

"Isn't it like… venomous or something?" Annette did not trust his morbid grin.

"Psh, no." Cuno laughed. "It can bite, but it's not fuckin' venomous, it'd just sting. Just don't fuck with it and it won't hurt you."

"Aren't you, um, messing with it right now?" Annette furrowed her brows.

"Nah. Cuno and this spider, we're cool." Cuno nodded, scooping it up from his arm with his hand. He pets it lightly with his other hand. "See? Harmless."

"For now…" Annette pursed her lips, still keeping her full attention on the creepy crawly.

"Come on, just touch it!" Cuno held out his hand but didn't get any closer this time.

She just shook her head, a definitive no.

"Don't be such a pussy, Ann." He scoffed. "You gotta face your fears!"

"I am very much fine with never having to touch that thing." Annette shivered again at the thought of it.

"Come on," Cuno insisted. "Do you know how rare it is to see one out in this weather?" Not that it was entirely unpleasant, but it was still pretty cold and cloudy.

Annette didn't move an inch. Eventually, Cuno sighed in resignation as he placed the spider on the top of the sandcastle. Annette let out a breath in relief, finally untensing her shoulders now that she knew he wouldn't throw it on her or do something mean like that. Still, she kept an eye on the spider. They both watched as it crawled over the sand.

After a few silent moments, Cuno reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a newspaper clipping, as he had done probably a dozen times all day.

"I still can't fucking believe they actually found the phasmid," Cuno whispered, looking at the picture in his hands. There was his pig, reaching his hand out to the massive reed-like creature.

"Right?" Annette smiled as she looked up at him. Cuno had spent all day telling her facts about the Insulindian phasmid since he saw the newspaper article. He hasn't wanted to leave the west coast, on the off chance they could encounter it, too.

"Man… A hundred years, Ann." Cuno looked up at the sea with a sort of wonder. "A hundred fucking years it's a myth - and now it's real. Right here in this fuck-hole."

"It is pretty amazing," Annette agreed. "It's so huge… I don't know how the detectives didn't run away at the sight of it."

"What? Are you a leaf, now?" Cuno laughed. "You're such a pussy."

"Shut up." She rolled her eyes with a small smile.

"I wish I could've seen it…" Cuno sighed, looking back down at the picture.

"I'm sure you will one day," Annette smiled.

"Maybe…" Cuno didn't sound too confident. Even spending the day here on this side of the canal, it wasn't like he actually expected to find anything - it's been a cryptid for so long for a reason, after all. Miracles like that don't happen more than once. Beautiful things like that don't reveal themselves to people like him.

"Ah, it's getting late…" Annette frowned up at the sky, getting darker quickly by the second.

"Yeah, okay." Cuno tried to sound casual, but his disappointment still leaked through in his voice.

"We can keep looking tomorrow?" Annette offered in an apologetic tone as she got up, dusting off her coat.

"Sure." He shrugged. He didn't know if Annette was actually going to get the day off from her studies or work or whatever else her mom made her do.

"Do you want to walk back home together?" she asked.

"Cuno's gonna stay here a while." He held out a finger towards the spider, which in turn reached out one of its legs towards his hand. It was less suffocating being here than in Saint-Ghislaine.

"Okay…" It wasn't like Annette really wanted to go back home, either. But not following curfew would only mean more restrictions later down the line.

"See you tomorrow, Cuno." She smiled slightly and gave a small wave as she walked away. Cuno forced a small smile back until she was out of view.

The construction site on Saint-Brune looked fairly quiet. The detectives decided to rush over now to ask about the thefts in the village before heading back to question the people at the Whirling-in-Rags. They walk across the canal and past the scaffolding over to the fisherman's shacks. Before they could reach the shacks, though, they came across a large group of about a dozen men in construction uniforms sitting around a foldable table and eating - looks like they were near the end of their lunch break.

Cuno and Annette decide to approach and question them. They learn that their workday ends at 6pm, and that most of them didn't even live in Martinaise. None of them had noticed anything particularly suspicious. They mention how nobody really comes through here except for the netpicker and her kids, as well as a group of 'strangely-dressed youths' (Probably the speedfreaks' posse, the detectives note).

Annette thanks them for their time and they continue on their way.

"Anna!" A young, excited voice yells out as the two walk up the stairs to the village.

They see little Lily rushing over to them, leaving behind her two brothers, with Lamby, in front of their shack. One of the twins looks up and waves excitedly, the other shyly looks back down and continues scratching a rock against the ground.

"Lily! Hello!" Annette smiles and squats down to give her a big hug. She looks up at the two boys a few meters away and waves back.

"Are you here to play?" Lily asks excitedly with a wide grin as she lets go of the hug.

"Sorry, we're really busy now." Annette smiles apologetically. "Another time?"

"Oh. Okay." Lily frowns. "What are you doin'?"

"We're doing secret detective work," Annette whispers, holding up a hand to her mouth.

"Woah..." Lily nods seriously.

"Can I talk to you and your brothers?" Annette asks as she stands up again. Lily nods and they walk towards the twins. Annette and Lily sit down next to them, Lily picking up Lamby and hugging it again. Cuno remains silent as he stands nearby, his arms crossed, deciding to leave this to Annette. He did not like talking to children - especially not ones that got mad at him for saying 'bad words'.

"Hi, Anna." The boy who waved smiles wide. "Are you here to play?"

"No, she's busy," Lily answers for her.

"I didn't ask you," the boy snaps at her, annoyed.

"Sorry, I'm not here to play," Annette interjects before they start arguing. "I just wanted to ask some questions?"

"Okay!" the boy replies, his annoyance gone.

"We heard you had clothes stolen. Did you see who stole them?" Annette asks.

"Stolen? That's bad." Lily shakes her head.

"Yes, very bad." Annette nods seriously. "So, you didn't see anything?"

"My coat is gone," the other boy says with a mumble, still not looking up.

"I'm sorry to hear," Annette says sympathetically. She knew it wasn't likely the kids had anything useful to tell them, but figured it was worth asking. "We're also trying to find your mum; can you tell us where she is?"

"Oh, she's umm... Down the coast!" Lily points away further west.

"How about Ms. Isobel?"

"Umm… I dunno." Lily looks towards Isobel's shack with a frown.

"She's not home?" Annette asks, looking between the twins.

"She dunno," the other twin mumbles, drawing a house on the ground with the rock.

"No, Auntie's not here anymore." The first boy shakes his head.

"Where is she?" Annette asks.

"We dunno," the boy answers with a shrug. "You should ask mom."

"Hmm, okay." Annette nods as she stands back up. "We'll go find her. Thank you for talking to us!"

"You're welcome!" Lily giggles. "Come back to play, okay!"

"Will do!" Annette smiles and gives a small wave as she walks away with Cuno.

"So. Let's try to find Ms. Lilienne then?" Annette says, looking at Cuno as they make their way through the coast.

"Yeah. I guess." Cuno shrugs, arms still crossed. Annette smiles in amusement.

"I bet she'll be happy to see you again," she says with a teasing lilt.

"Don't fuckin' talk like that!" Cuno scowls, gripping his arms.

"Like what?" She continues in the teasing tone.

"Cuno knows what's going through your nasty fucking head," he groans, ears growing hot. "Cut it the fuck out! We're partners. We gotta be professional here!"

"Of course, of course," Annette laughs.

They walk across the coast, keeping their eyes peeled for Lilienne. It wasn't long until they came across the church – hearing it before they even saw it. The church was definitely a bit more put together compared to a few months ago. There was also a large neon sign flashing the name 'DISCO ELYSIUM' placed just at the base of the bell-tower.

"Hey, maybe Cuno can talk to the speedfreaks, and you can, uh, keep looking for the fisher lady," Cuno tries to say with a neutral tone, but he can't look directly at Annette. "Split up. Get shit done quicker!"

"Oh, come on." Annette smiles amused, poking his cheek. Cuno swats the air where she quickly withdrew her hand. "What happened to being partners?"

"What's that got to do with it?" Cuno scowled. "Shit's just faster! We wasted so much time knocking on all those doors back there!"

"No way!" Annette grabs his arm and laughs as she walks up the stairs of the church-turned-club. "We're doin' this together."

Cuno just grumbles as he trails behind her.

The inside of the club was much more renovated than the outside. There was now a large disco ball hanging in the middle of what once was a chandelier. Parts of the floor were retiled to look more like a dance floor and there were posters and album covers plastered all over the walls. There were tables and chairs on the upper floor, with only one table on the ground floor placed strangely in the middle of the room to the right.

The broken window depicting Dolores Dei loomed over the club, untouched. Right in front of it looked like a stage with the DJ set, the large speakers, and a mic-stand.

Across from the entrance, on the other side, was a small bar with stools. As loud as the music was, there was no one but the small group of usual friends at the bar: Andre, Acele, and Egg Head sitting on the stools with drinks in their hands and Noid standing behind the bar, preoccupied with his toolbox. Andre notices them first and he sets his drink down as he stands up and approaches them.

"Woah, children are not allowed in here," Andre calls out as he heads to the door.

"Fuck you calling children!" Cuno shouts above the music, holding up two middle fingers.

"Oh! It's you!" Andre laughs. "You're still not allowed, to be clear."

"No one's even in here!" Cuno shouts. "Turn the fucking music down. We got shit to talk about."

"No way!" Egg Head shouts, pumping his fist in the air, his other hand holding a colorful drink. "You can never kill the beat! Hard core!"

"That's okay!" Annette has her hands up on her ears with a polite, awkward smile. "Could we talk outside then?"

She sees Acele lean in and say something to Egg Head which makes him sigh and nod. He gets up and heads to the DJ set, turning the music down, leaving it more as an ambient background noise.

"Thank you," Annette smiles at Egg Head, putting her hands down from her ears. He gives her a serious nod back.

"So!" Andre smiles, voice now at a normal volume once the music was turned down. "What brings you two here?"

"Hello, sir," Annette smiles politely, pulling out her notebook. "Cuno and I just had some questions."

"There's no need to call me 'sir'," Andre winces with a forced smile. "It's just Andre."

"Sorry, sir- Ah- Andre," Annette smiles apologetically. She never understood just why some adults got so offended. She's only trying to be polite.

"Aha…" Andre subconsciously adjusts one of the blond spikes of hair on his head. "So- You had questions, you said?"

"Yep," Cuno waltzes right into the club and sits on of the stools in front of the bar. "Shit's been getting stolen all over Martinaise. Know anythin' about it?"

"You're really not supposed to sit there," Acele says, raising a brow.

"I'm not touching that shit," Cuno says with a grossed-out face at the shelves of alcohol. Annette walks over and just stands next to him. "Just answer the question."

Acele and Andre look at each other with a worried look then back at the kids.

"All over Martinaise?" Acele asks. The two kids nod.

"Well. Yeah, here too, I guess." Andre sighs. "We had some of our booze stolen a while back."

"The lock was broken," Noid adds, not looking up from his toolbox. He was meticulously picking up screws and re-organizing them.

"Just like the others…" Annette says with a frown, writing it down. "When did this happen?"

"A week ago," Acele answers. "It was a Wednesday, so we closed up at midnight."

"What kind of shit was it?" Cuno asks, looking at the shelves and reading the labels.

"5 beer cans and 2 pilsner bottles," Andre answers then adds with a tone of annoyance. "We reported it to the Hardie Boys, but I don't think they're actually looking into it."

"Are you trying to catch the thief?" Acele asks, pointing at the notebook in Annette's hands.

"Yes, we are." Annette nods. "Things were stolen from my family's bookstore. Then we found out there were thefts at the pawnshop, someone's apartment in Saint-Ghislaine, and clothes from the village here. All within the month."

"That's a whole lot of thefts," Andre says with a frown. "You said they had their locks broken, too?"

"Yes." Annette nods. "Well, except for the bookstore…"

"So, notice any suspicious fucks?" Cuno asks.

"Crab-man saw who stole the booze," Noid points out, finally looking up from his tools. "But it was too dark to make anything out."

"Crab-who-the-fuck?" Cuno asks.

"CRAB-MAN!" Egg Head exclaims excitedly, pointing upwards with a quick and large swing of his arm. Both Cuno and Annette follow his pointer then look back down in confusion.

"Yeah. Crab-man. He lives in the bell-tower." Noid nods his head upwards.

"Uh… Can we talk to him?" Annette asks.

"Tiago!" Noid calls out to the ceiling. "You got a minute?"

Cuno and Annette scan the ceiling again, squinting their eyes and focusing. Soon enough, they see a shadow moving.

"The fuck?" Cuno whispers, sitting up on his knees on the chair in an attempt to get a closer look.

"You called, wey?" the shadow calls out, swinging through the rafters.

"Yeah, some kids here are asking about thefts around the place," Noid answers. "You saw the person who stole our booze, right?"

"Sure did," the man named Tiago says with a nod, stopping by and hanging on a rafter just above them, the light finally reaching him.

"Woah, how the fuck are you movin' around like that?" Cuno asks in awe. Annette just stares, her head craned upwards. "Fucking spider-shit!"

"Years of practice, homes." Tiago laughs a bit.

"Why do they call you crab-man?" Annette asks.

"Because he moves like a crab?" Noid answers as if it were obvious.

Cuno and Annette exchange another confused look before looking back up at the so-called crab-man. The man just shrugs, unbothered.

"You were asking about the beer thief?" Tiago asks, swaying slightly on his branch.

"Oh, right." Annette blinks back her focus, readying herself to write. "What did you see, sir?"

"Not much," Tiago admits. "They had a huge hood covering their face. Other than the noise they made breaking the lock, they were pretty quiet, too. I guess they must have seen or heard me because they suddenly stopped stuffing their bag with the alcohol and ran off."

"So, no idea on gender? Height?" Annette asks, noting it all down.

"None." Tiago shakes his head. "The coat looked big on'em is all I can say."

"They probably would have stolen a lot more if Tiago wasn't there," Andre says with a grateful nod.

"So, it's someone who doesn't know about Mr. Tiago living here," Annette points out then looks back up at Tiago. "Actually, does anyone know you live here, sir?"

"Not many, I imagine," Tiago answers. "I'm usually up here, imbibing. Nothing reaches me, and I don't make a habit of introducing myself."

"Imbibing, sir?" Annette asks, not entirely sure on the meaning of word. "Um, drinking?"

"No, chica," Tiago chuckles. "Accepting the Mother's love."

"Love! Is! HARD CORE!" Egg Head interjects loudly.

"The fuck does that mean?" Cuno grimaces at Tiago. "You fucking up there?" Annette gives him a light slap on the shoulder with a stern look. He holds up his hands and gives her a look of 'what?'

"You're a funny one, homes," Tiago laughs. "I'm just praying. Singing the Mother's glory. This is the Church of the Mother of Silence, after all."

"The Church of Love!" Egg Head shouts his helpful addition.

"You realize these speedfreaks turned this place into a nightclub, right?" Cuno asks, now convinced this man is on some 'hallucinogenic bullshit'. Tiago just shrugs.

"The Mother doesn't turn anyone away," Tiago says as he swings to another rafter. "Well. If that's all you had to ask, I'll leave you to it."

"Oh, yes, sir." Annette smiles slightly. "Thank you, and sorry to bother!"

"Not a bother at all." He smiles back before disappearing into the dark ceiling again.

"So." Cuno turns back to the posse once Tiago was gone. "You got no fucking clue who it'd be?"

"Not really." Andre shrugs. "Those construction workers are always around, though... I wouldn't be surprised if one of them popped in and snatched something. They got the tools for it."

"What about the people who show up at the club?" Annette asks.

"Be real. Nobody fucking shows up here," Cuno says flatly, before they could even answer.

"What? Why would you-" Andre furrows his brows.

"You're in buttfuck nowhere and there's construction blocking the road. Who the fuck is coming out here?" Cuno scoffs.

"I- Listen, there's no need for that." Andre tenses up, defensive. "Business is slow sometimes, but we get plenty of customers."

"Andre, just tell them the truth," Egg Head chimes in, face suddenly blank as he turns to the kids. "You're right, almost no one has been around in a long time."

"Ugh… Yeah. Fine. Fucking no one shows up," Andre says in a defeated tone, shoulders slumping. "It wasn't always like this! We were doing so well after that cryptid sighting, but then I guess the hype died down… Then construction began and it only got worse."

"I'm sure things will get better again once the youth centre is open." Annette gives a sympathetic smile. "I really like what you've done with the place, and the music sounds nice."

"Thanks, Annette," Andre smiles a bit in appreciation, even if she wasn't the target audience.

"That's a long ways away from now, though," Acele sighs, tapping a finger on the table. "We really need to brainstorm ideas for right now."

"Yeah, good luck with that," Cuno says with little enthusiasm as he hops off the stool. "If you've got nothin' else to add, we gotta get moving. Got a lot of pig work ahead of us."

"I think that's all," Andre says with a nod. "Let us know if you find anything, yeah?"

"Will do," Annette says with a smile. "Thank you for your time. And sorry for the bother!"

"Swear to fuck, Ann, if you don't stop apologizing over everything," Cuno grumbles they both head out of the church. "Gonna lose my shit."

"What? It's only polite." Annette laughs a bit awkwardly. It wasn't long until the speakers started to blast the Anodic music loudly again.

"Alcohol, food, blanket, clothes…" Cuno rubs his chin as they walk down the steps of the church. "Starting to sound like some hobo shit."

"That's true… I don't know how much of this is even related to the bookstore thefts," Annette says with a frown as she looks at her messy writings. "I think we might be in way over our heads…"

"Hey, hey," Cuno says sternly, holding up a finger. "Cuno doesn't fuck with that self-doubt shit, you hear? We're getting to the fucking bottom of this - end of story!"

Annette smiles slightly as she looks up at him. "Yeah. You're right," she says with a determined nod. "It's too early to feel stuck, anyway. We still haven't even gone into the East Delta building."

"Exactly!" Cuno grins and points back to where they came from. "Now! To the Whirling-in-Rags!" he says, ready to march right back. He couldn't get one step away before feeling a tug on his arm holding him back.

"Not so fast, detective," Annette scoffs. "We still have to talk to Ms. Lilienne, remember?"

Cuno loses his grin and deflates. "Right. Almost forgot." He did not, in fact, 'almost forget'.

Annette holds in a laugh as she lets go of his arm and continues to walk. Cuno had constantly teased her for a lot of things. This crush was the one piece of leverage she has over him, and she thoroughly abuses it when given the opportunity.

They walk past the church-club and the pier, walking further into Land's End. As they approach the end of the serpentine strip of land, they notice a figure standing with their back towards them, looking out into the horizon.

"Ah, there she is!" Annette smiles excitedly as she rushes over to Lilienne. Cuno follows at a slower pace, his eyes focused on the ground. "Good afternoon, Ms. Lilienne!"

"Hm?" Lilienne turns around at the sound and smiles widely. "Oh! Hello, you two!"

"I hope we're not bothering you, ma'am," Annette says politely, Cuno standing a few steps behind at her side.

"No, not at all. It's always nice to see you," Lilienne says then turns to Cuno. "I'm happy to see you visit, Cuno. Still living in Jamrock, are you?"

"Yeah," Cuno says simply, head tilted to the side, avoiding looking at her.

"Yeah?" She smiles softly. "How have you been? The detective been treating you well?"

"Cuno's fine. Pig's fine, too." Cuno shrugs, keeping his face neutral.

"That's good to hear," she says and taps on the sabre at her hip. "He gives you any trouble you say the word, hm?"

"Psh, Cuno can take that fatass down himself if he has to," Cuno scoffs, voice uncharacteristically quiet. "Don't gotta worry about Cuno..."

"Of course, I don't doubt it." She laughs a bit then turns to Annette. "How about you, Annette? You and your mother doing well?"

"We are, thank you for asking, ma'am," Annette smiles and holds her notebook close. "If you don't mind, could we ask you some questions?"

"Sure," Lilienne raises a curious brow. "What do you need to know?"

"We heard you had some clothes stolen? 3 weeks ago?" Annette asks, opening a new page on her notes.

"Aye. Some of mine, some of my kids." Lilienne frowns.

"We heard Auntie Isobel also had clothes stolen..."

"Aye, she did." She nods her head.

"Where is she, by the way?" Annette asks.

"She's in Faubourg now. Moved in with one of her sons," Lilienne smiles sadly.

"Oh, I see..." Annette frowns. "Was it because of the construction...?" She points vaguely in the direction of the village, where the construction is.

"Sort of. Her kids always wanted her to be closer," Lilienne says. "They're scared for her, being out here on her own. She's a stubborn lady, that one. The noise must have helped finally convince her to move."

"I wish I could have said goodbye..." Annette frowns.

"Aye, she left in quite a rush." Lilienne sighs. "Even the other family that moved here fairly recently left. Now it's just me and the kids here."

"Are you considering moving, as well?" Annette asks.

"Where else would I go?" Lilienne chuckles slightly. "No, I don't plan on going anywhere. Not for the foreseeable future, at least."

"I'm glad to hear that, ma'am," Annette smiles genuinely. She glances back at Cuno who's expression does not change. "I just hope they finish construction soon."

"Me too." Lilienne nods.

"So, about the thefts," Annette switches back topics. "You have no idea who the thief could be?"

"No, not at all," Lilienne shrugs. "Didn't really have the heart to report it either... Stealing children's clothes..."

"What did they take?"

"If I remember right it was one of my son's coats and trousers, one of my coats and shirts, and one of Isobel's shawls," she lists out.

"And it was just the one time?"

"3 weeks ago, aye," Lilienne nods then points to the notebook. "I see you're taking notes?"

"Oh, yes! We're trying to find the culprit ourselves," Annette confirms. "There's been a lot of thefts, as it turns out. Some from my family's bookstore too..."

"Huh, that's unfortunate," Lilienne frowns. "I hope you can find them, then."

"Thank you, ma'am," Annette smiles slightly. "Oh, do you know anything about the Disco Elysium club? They said they had some beer stolen last Wednesday."

"No, I haven't seen anything, sorry to say," Lilienne says. 

"Ah, that's okay," Annette says as she takes the final note. "Thank you for talking to us, ma'am."

"It's no problem. Good luck!" Lilienne smiles as the two begin to walk away.

"See?" Annette says with a teasing tone once they were far enough. "Told you nothin' to worry about."

"Fuck are you talking about," Cuno grumbles, pretending not to understand her. He quickly moves the topic along. "Whatever. We have one last suspect we haven't checked, right?"

"Hm?" Annette furrows her brows then sighs as she realizes what he was referring to. "Oh, right..."

"Don't be direct," Cuno says as they stand in front of the payphone at the pier. "You gotta be subtle with this shit."

"I have no idea how to even do that," Annette purses her lips as she stares at the phone.

"Just try to get an address first," Cuno says. "It'd be easier to get a confession then."

"I guess…" Annette pulls at her pinky finger awkwardly. "Um, do you have change?"

"Oh, right." Cuno digs into his pockets. He pulls out a coin attached to a string and hands it to her. Annette stares at it for a few seconds.

"You know we're trying to catch a thief, right?" she points out, a tone of amusement.

"Don't get all fucking moral on me." Cuno rolls his eyes. "It's just a few centims!"

She chuckles a bit and slots the fake coin into the machine, picking up the phone. She dials in the number and waits for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" A voice of an older woman.

"Good afternoon, ma'am." Annette says with a polite tone, a little more relaxed that she's not talking directly to Penny. "I'm a friend of Penny's."

"Oh, Penny's not home at the moment," the woman says apologetically. "I could give her a message?"

"Thank you, ma'am," Annette responds. "I lent some books to- uh a friend earlier this month and I think they said they gave it to Penny some time ago? Quite confusing, I know ma'am. I just thought I'd drop by to get the books." Annette winced at her rambling lie.

"Huh. And when did this friend lend Penny the books?" she asks.

"Umm, I think about a week ago? Maybe earlier," Annette answers.

"Then, no, it can't be Penny," the woman sounded confused. "We've been on the other side of the Isola until a few days ago."

"Oh! Uh- how long have you been gone?" Annette asks.

"Since the end of May," she answers. "I could ask Penny once she's back. Oh, you haven't told me your name, dear."

"Oh, uh, no worries!" Annette stammers. "I'll figure it out. Thank you, ma'am!"

"You're welcome?" the woman replies with a small confused chuckle. "You should really be more careful about who you lend your books to."

"You're right, thank you, ma'am," Annette laughs a bit awkwardly. "Goodbye!" She sighs after closing the call, pulling on the string to get back the coin.

"Uh, Ann..." Cuno says, raising a brow. "You didn't even get an address."

"I know, I'm sorry, I panicked." She frowns as she fidgets with the coin. She really hated making phone calls. "Whatever. I don't think it matters - she has an alibi. Her mother said they've been on the other side of the Isola since May."

"Bitch could be workin' with other people," Cuno points out.

"I don't know, I doubt that," Annette shrugs, handing the fake coin back to Cuno. "I could always call tomorrow if we're still stuck on leads... Anyway, you should call the detective now."

"Right." Cuno inserts the coin before picking up the phone and dialing in the number that now reaches to his new home.

It rings and rings a long while… no one answers.

"Ugh," Cuno groans, putting the phone back and pulling on the string. "Pig's not home. Probably workin'."

"Could you call the station?" Annette asks. He nods.

Cuno re-inserts the fake coin to dial the number of the station. This time, it doesn't take long until someone picks up.

"10-2, 10-5," he hears the rattly voice of Jules Pidieu on the line. "This is the 41st, come in. Over." 

"10-fuck, 10-bitch," Cuno says flatly. "Get Cuno's pig on the line. Over."

Jules sighs deeply, now sounding 10 times more tired. "The lieutenant is not in the office. Give me a moment to connect you. Over." He really would have rather a civilian child not have access to the police radio, but that was out of his control now.

Cuno taps his foot impatiently as he waits.

"Hey, Cunnster!" The loud, cheerful voice startles Cuno and he holds the speaker away from his ear.

"Stop shouting, pig!" Cuno shouts back, holding the phone back up to his ear. Annette covers her mouth to stop from laughing. "You're gonna blow Cuno's ears off!"

"Sorry," Harry laughs, moving the radio a little bit further from his face. "What's up? Everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine." Cuno rolls his eyes and continues in a serious tone. "I'm going to stay in Martinaise tonight. Got business here."

"Oh? What kind of business?" Harry matches his tone.

"Shit's been getting stolen from Ann's bookstore," Cuno explains.

"What? That's awful!" Harry says with a frown.

On the other side of the line, next to Harry in the Coupris Kineema, Kim gives him a pointed look. 'You and I both know you stole a 0.99 reál map from the same establishment.' Harry pretends not to understand what Kim's look meant.

"Do you want us to look into it?" Harry asks, once again ignoring Kim's look of 'Does it look like we have time for this?'

"Fuck do you think kind of business I'm doing here?" Cuno scoffs. "We catching this thief ourselves! Detective Cuno and Detective Ann. Scaping Martinaise shit. Interrogation shit. Legit shit!"

"Ooh, is that so!" Harry grins. "What have you found out so far? Any suspects?"

"We're struggling with the suspect department," Cuno groans. "But we did find out a shit-ton of stuff on our search. Turns out there's been thefts all fucking over just this month. The pawnshop, people's houses, and even the club-church shit-hole."

"Sound like you got a lot on your hands," Harry says with furrowed brows.

"Yeah. I'm also callin' 'cause we wanted to ask about mug fucker." Cuno snaps a finger. "Remember that guy you said was throwing mugs and clothes and shit in the Whirling's trash?"

"Sure, what about him?"

"Lock to his apartment was smashed to fucking bits. Break-in shit. Said the keys to the garbage can were gone," Cuno explains. "Fucker said the pigs broke in to teach him a lesson. That true?"

"Wait, has he still been using other people's trash?" Harry says with a tone of annoyance.

"Looks like it, yeah," Cuno says. "So, Cuno takes it you had nothin' to do with it?"

"Nope. Haven't even been to Martinaise in a long while, you know that."

"Thought so," Cuno says with a nod. "Well, that answers that. Thanks, pig."

"No problemo!" Harry says loudly. Cuno groans at his cringy phrasing. "So, you're staying at the Whirling's, right?"

"Yeah."

"Garte gives you any more problems, you call me," Harry says seriously.

"Yeah, yeah," Cuno says dismissively.

"You got enough money for tomorrow? You take your medic-?" Harry rambles.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Cuno cuts him off with clear irritation. "Cuno's got shit under control, get off my dick."

"Alright," Harry laughs a bit. "Make sure to tell me everything once you're back!"

"Sure," Cuno grumbles.

"Tell the detective I said hi!" Annette chimes in with a smile.

"Ann says hi," Cuno relays flatly.

"Oh, is she with you right now?" Harry asks with a chipper tone. "Tell her I said hi, too!"

"No." Cuno abruptly closes the call and pulls out the fake coin. "Pig says hi back," Cuno says nonchalantly as he turns to Annette who chuckles a bit.

"So, if I heard right, the detectives had nothing to do with Mr. Gary's break-in?" Annette asks.

"Yeah, wasn't them." Cuno shakes his head. "Another loose fucking end we gotta tie up."

"Hmm," Annette hums as she takes down her notes. "Okay, now you can say the line."

"Huh?" Cuno looks at her in confusion. She clears her throat.

"To the Whirling-in-Rags!" Annette copies his earlier hyped tone.

"Fuck you, Ann." Cuno rolls his eyes in irritation and just starts to walk ahead. She laughs as she falls in step with him.

It was late at night. Far later than Annette was used to being up at. She'd been tossing and turning in her bed for the past few hours, adjusting her blanket and her pillows, to no avail. She sighed as she gave up trying to get comfortable and sat up, turning on her night light.

She stared down at her hands with a frown, resisting the urge to pick at the hangnails. It was difficult. She had already bitten her nails several times throughout the night as hard as she tried not to.

Today, Cuno had left to Jamrock. She still hadn't heard back from him, and she didn't know when she would.

Annette opened up the drawer on her nightstand and pulled out the gloves she'd been gifted. She smiled slightly as she put them on, trying to calm her nerves.

She made a promise and so did he. She knows she'll hear from him soon.

Annette got up and headed to her bookshelf. She didn't read after bedtime because it kept her up, and her mother got mad when she would find out. But she was already up regardless, so why not read to pass the time?

She looked through the titles until her eyes landed on a shadow moving across one of the books. She held in a yelp as she realized what it was.

A small, thin house spider. Crawling on top of a 'Man from Hjelmdall' book. The sight of it made her go from scared to a bit amused. She stared at the spider for a little while and, against her better judgement, she moved a shaky, gloved, hand up towards it. She tried to keep her hand still as it moved from the book onto her hand. She watched it crawl across her fingers and up to her palm.

"Hello, Mr. Spider," Annette whispered. "Did Cuno send you to scare me?"

The spider said nothing. Annette smiled at it, feeling her nerves calm down as more time passed and the spider did not, in fact, attack her.

"Heh, you can tell him it didn't work," she said quietly, proudly, as she grabbed the book it was crawling on before: 'Man from Hjelmdall: Journey to The Unknown'. She wasn't a fan of the Hjelmdallermann series, but she did find herself enjoying a few of the books, thanks to Cuno's recommendations. She placed her hand on the bookshelf and the spider crawled away into the shadows again.

Annette slipped back into her bed and began to read. It didn't take long until her eyelids felt heavier and heavier and she finally drifted away to sleep, the book still within her gloved hands.

Chapter Text

"Cuno doesn't fucking live here anymore!" Cuno shouted in annoyance. "Why the fuck else would Cuno be here?"

"Fine-" Garte sighed, his arms crossed, standing behind the bar. "It's 20 reál for the night."

"We don't really have any money, sir..." Annette frowned.

"Then, sorry, you can't have the room," Garte said with a blank face.

"What the fuck?" Cuno slammed his hands on the bar counter. "You really just gonna let a kid sleep on the streets? Get stabbed by some hobo? You want a dead kid's blood on your hands?!" Cuno got louder with every word he said, a few heads turning to look at what the commotion was about.

"Hey, hey, no need to shout." Garte scowled at Cuno, keeping his voice levelled. "Sorry, but this is a business. I can't give out rooms for free."

"Please, sir," Annette interjected, placing a hand on Cuno's shoulder. "Just one night."

"No," Garte said blankly, turning to Annette.

Annette would have covered for him, but she didn't get an allowance or any pocket money of her own. Her mother didn't believe children had a need for their own money; that if Annette wanted anything she could just ask her mother for it. Annette had been denied enough times that she eventually just stopped asking for anything at all. She could try asking now but… even the thought of it made her grow hot with anxiety, and the fact she was out late far past curfew wasn't helping.

"Okay, what if we can pay later? Tomorrow?" Annette asked. Maybe then she could gather up the courage to ask.

"Sorry, Annette. We need all payments upfront," Garte said with a frown, finally a bit of guilt slipping through from her persistence. "I can't make exceptions."

Cuno could hear the rest of that sentence: not for someone like him.

"Fuck you!" Cuno inhaled and hawked a loogie right on the counter. "Cuno doesn't need this shit! Scam shit!"

Garte looked at the counter with disgust, grumbling as he grabbed a rag to clean up.

"Cuno…" Annette said quietly as she pulled him by his jacket sleeve. Cuno flipped Garte the double birds as he got dragged away by Annette. "It's okay, I can get the money."

"Fuck no." Cuno scowled, crossing his arms. "Cuno's just gonna stay in the shack."

"No, absolutely not. Not in this weather," Annette said sternly. "Maybe I could pawn some books or-"

"No, no- Ann, shut the fuck up," Cuno cut her off, growing humiliated at the whole ordeal. "Just go home, already. It's late as fuck. You're going to get in trouble."

"It's already late, so I'm not leaving till we get this settled," she said, leaving no room for discussion. "You should call the detective. I can wait with you until he gets here."

"Cuno's pig doesn't have a fucking car," Cuno groaned. It was also really late, and he hated the idea of being a burden… Any more than he already felt.

"Oh. Well, he's still a police officer," Annette said, tapping her chin. "Maybe he could convince Mr. Garte to make an exception?"

"Maybe…" Cuno grumbled.

It was loud and lively in the Whirling-in-Rags as it got closer to the evening. About a dozen people were laughing and drinking around the tables in the main hall, and maybe another half dozen occupied the Union box. Some people were at the pinball machines that littered the hall, loudly pinging and clanging. There was a man drunkenly singing karaoke on the stage and surprisingly didn't sound too bad - there was a polite round of applause as he finished up and stepped off the stage.

Cuno and Annette walk up to the counter where Sylvie was tending the bar, only one other person sitting there with a magazine in his hand. When Sylvie notices them, she looks a mix of confused and troubled. She hasn't seen Cuno in a long time, having only started coming back to work fairly recently - and seeing him with Annette was concerning.

"Hey!" Cuno greets loudly, leaning an arm on the counter. "Got a free room in this place?"

Sylvie furrows her brows as she looks between the two kids.

"Yes… Why?" She asks slowly.

"What, are you stupid?" Cuno says with a flat tone. "It's 'cause Cuno needs a place to stay."

"Okay… That'll be 20 reál for the night." She still speaks slowly. She really didn't trust Cuno not to cause problems with his stay.

"Listen, Cuno sees you're not caught up. Let Cuno loop you in." Cuno points at himself with a grin. "Cuno's a pig now! That means Cuno gets to stay for free. VIP shit!"

"You're a what now?" Sylvie just furrows her brows at him in utter confusion. "I don't understand."

"Fuckin- Where's babybeard?" Cuno asks loudly, now getting agitated.

"He means Mr. Garte," Annette interjects quickly with a nervous smile. "I'm sure he can explain."

"What's going on here?"

The three turn to the kitchen door, where Garte was stepping out. He instantly looks weary at the sight of Cuno.

"Sorry for the ruckus, sir. Cuno just needs a room for tonight," Annette explains before Cuno could start shouting again, looking apologetically at Garte.

"He wants the room for free," Sylvie adds with confusion.

"Oh." Garte sighs deeply. He frowns as he turns to Sylvie. "Right. Yeah, the kid is with Detective Du Bois now, so he does get to stay for free…"

"Oh no…" Sylvie says under her breath as she glances at Cuno. "This kid with that man?" She holds up her hand next to her mouth as she whispers, greatly disturbed by the thought.

"You think Cuno's deaf?!" Cuno snaps, slamming his hands on the counter and leaning forward. "You got somethin' to say, say it to Cuno's face!"

"Just give him the key," Garte says, looking drained. Sylvie purses her lips and reluctantly does so. Cuno snatches it from her hand with a scowl.

"Now that that's settled," Cuno says, pocketing the key. "We got some questions!"

"Lovely." Garte is predictably unenthused.

"We're looking into some thefts in the area," Annette explains, her notebook in hand. "Has anything been stolen from the Whirling-in-Rags recently?"

"I don't think so?" Garte answers, glancing at Sylvie. "I just got here a few days ago, though."

"No, nothing that I've noticed," Sylvie confirms, looking at Annette with concern. "Um, why are you kids looking into this?"

"Because the Hardie Fucks are sitting on their asses," Cuno answers, pointing a thumb towards the Union box, at which point they hear a loud rupture of laughter.

"Right…" Sylvie purses her lips. "Well, I don't know anything about any thefts."

"Are you aware there's someone with keys to the Whirling's trash?" Annette asks.

"What?" Garte looks confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, um-" Annette began to explain but was cut off.

"Details don't matter. Secret shit," Cuno says, arms crossed. "Just keep an eye out for trash rats and let us know if you see anythin'."

"Our keys are right here..." Sylvie says as she holds up the keyring from under the counter. "How do you know someone else has keys?"

"Just take our word for it," Annette says with an awkward smile, deciding to trust Cuno's lead. "Um, how about a fire? Out in the yard?"

"Oh no," Sylvie sighs, rubbing her forehead as she feels an oncoming headache. "I don't know anything and I want to keep it that way."

"What? What do you know?!" Cuno demands, eyes wide - finally, another person who's heard about this damn fire!

"Pipe down," Garte says with a scowl. "She said she doesn't want to talk about it."

"Um, I'm sorry, ma'am," Annette says softly with a frown. "But this is really important to me. Some of the thefts are from my family's bookstore and this could be relevant…"

"I don't know anything, really," Sylvie repeats, crossing her arms as she looks away. "I just know that it happened…"

"Yeah, like fuck I'd believe that," Cuno scoffs. "That means you definitely know something."

"Excuse me for being wary of what happens in that awful yard," Sylvie says bitterly.

"Listen, listen," Cuno says, leaning forward. "You tell us and we give you info on this trash rat. Informant shit."

"Absolutely not," Garte says flatly, unconcerned. Sylvie looks a bit relieved to hear that.

"The fuck?" Cuno scowls. "We told you about the key bitch, I think we deserve to hear something!"

"You could tell us if there's anyone else we could talk to?" Annette asks.

Sylvie thinks about it for a second before sighing again. "Yes, you can talk to Mira. I think she's sitting with the Hardie boys right now."

Titus looks up in confusion at the kids that entered the booth. He doesn't get up from his seat.

"Yo, Hardie fucks, we got questions for you," Cuno says coolly, arms crossed.

"What is it?" Titus asks, turning to them in his seat.

Annette looks around the room and slightly steps behind Cuno. She knew of the Hardie boys of course, everyone did. They're the ones who keep the peace here. Annette is only familiar with a few of them, however.

There was the leader, Titus, sitting on the table in the far right - she's only ever spoken to him when she stood outside the bookstore to greet customers. Sitting across from him was Eugene – she's spoken to him before, he's come into the bookstore every now and then, and she's heard him perform with his guitar. Sitting on the middle table near the window was Alain - she didn't know anything about him other than his name. Same went for one of the newer Hardie boys sitting across from him: Marco - a very tall, strong-looking, Samaran man, who looked younger than the rest of the Hardies.

There were two people she didn't recognize at all, though. She guesses they were even newer additions. One of them was a pale man with a bruised face, brown hair in a buzz-cut, and dark tattoos all across his arms – he was sitting next to Alain. The other was a slightly chubby looking, olive-skinned woman sitting in the far corner on the same side as Eugene, her head on the table, and one hand wrapped around an empty glass. Annette couldn't see the woman's face, just her dark frizzy hair in a loose bun.

She's not really used to this type of loud energy with this many adults. Much like when they talked to the construction workers, she leaves it to Cuno to start the interview.

"We're looking for a Mira. That her?" Cuno asks, pointing towards the woman who looked passed out on the table.

"Sure, that's her. She's, uh," Titus says as he glances back at her, "out of commission, as you can see. What do you need from her?"

"We want to talk to her about the fire," Cuno says curtly.

"The fire?" Titus asks, furrowing his brows. "Why?"

"Just wake her the fuck up," Cuno says, annoyed.

"Yeah, not gonna happen," Eugene says in a bit of an amused tone. "Once she gets like this, that's it for the whole day."

Only Titus and Eugene had turned to talk to the kids, the rest still loudly talking amongst themselves (or passed out).

"Did she tell you dicks anything about it?" Cuno asks.

"Nope. Nothing," Titus answers casually before taking a swig from his beer can, clearly lying and not concerned enough to hide that fact.

"Like fuck you don't!" Cuno snaps, insulted by the attitude.

"Listen, if you need to know about it, you'll have to ask Mira herself," Titus says with a shrug.

"Could you, um, ask her to meet us here tomorrow?" Annette asks politely.

"Sure." Titus nods. "She'll probably be up by the afternoon."

"Ugh, useless," Cuno grumbles. "Fine! Whatever. Next fucking question. You know about the fucking thief runnin' around Martinaise?"

"Might have heard something to that effect," Titus confirms and raises a brow, waiting for Cuno to elaborate.

"We're not just talking about the church-club shit," Cuno adds. "You hear about the other places?"

"Other places?" Titus furrows his brows again then turns to the rest of his crew. "Has there been any reported thefts other than that Disco place?"

A vague flood of negatives filled the room before they returned to their regular chatter.

"What kind of places?" Eugene asks.

"The fuck should Cuno tell you?" Cuno rolls his eyes. "You should already know this shit!"

"Uh, well," Annette decides to step in, seeing Cuno's short temper with them. "This month there's been thefts at the bookstore and, um, the pawnshop-"

"Sorry, Annette. Could you repeat that?" Eugene leans in, trying hard to hear what she was saying. Her voice is a bit smaller than usual and the chatter and laughter of the men didn't help either. Cuno scowls and opens his mouth, but before he could say anything, Titus' voice rings out.

"Hey!" Titus shouts, slamming his fist on the table, silencing everyone immediately. It makes Annette jump a little. "Be quiet! The little lady is trying to speak."

"T- Thank you, sir." Annette clears her throat, sinking even further behind Cuno as all eyes turns on her.

"Where'd everyone go...?" A soft, slurred voice with a Suresne accent speaks up from the corner before Annette could continue. She turns to see the woman sitting up, looking confused and dazed. Now that she saw her face, Annette did recognize her after all. Mira used to come into the bookstore semi-frequently, but Annette hadn't seen her in a few weeks.

"No one left." The tattooed man speaks up, irritated. His accent kind of sounded similar to Cuno's, but not quite the same - Annette couldn't place it. "Bossman said to be quiet!"

"Leave her alone, Randy," Titus snaps at the man. The drunk woman slams her head right back on the table. Titus sighs and rubs his temple as he turns to Annette, "Go on."

Annette nods and gives a quick summary of the robbed locations as well as general items. Once she was done, she looks up to see most of them still listening intently.

"That's interesting…" Titus says with a hum, rubbing his chin.

"Think it's the same person?" Marco asks.

"Could be," Cuno nods. "Shit happened real close together."

"I don't know about that," Randy chimes in. "I think it's likely 2 different people, at least. Most of these things sound like somethin' a person would steal just to survive. The books? I have no idea."

"People need entertainment, too." Eugene shrugs. "It could be the same person. Just that they love books."

"Or, they're trying to make a quick buck," Alain adds.

"Okay, if you geniuses are done making shit up," Cuno speaks up above them. "Do you have anything fucking useful or not?"

"Don't worry your little head, kid." Titus scoffs. "We'll catch this thief. Or thieves, as the case may be."

"You dense or some shit?" Cuno glares at Titus then waves his hand at the notebook in Annette's hands. "You see this shit? Detective Ann and Cuno are already on the case!"

Annette shrinks behind her notebook in embarrassment. The idea of being detectives is fun, but saying that in front of adults so confidently…

"That's real cute!" Randy bursts out laughing, which makes Annette turn red. "Aw, you kids can keep playin' pretend. We won't stop you."

"Pretend?! Fuck you on about 'pretend'?!" Cuno fumes, fists clenched and stepping closer to Randy's table. "We're out there getting shit done, while you dicks get drunk all day. Wasting away on that poison shit. Suck my dick!"

"Cuno…" Annette whispers, grabbing onto his sleeve.

"Okay, okay, calm down," Titus says in a tired tone, holding up a hand. "It's clear you kids put in the work and that's real admirable. We don't need to be in competition, right? We can help each other."

"Help? Cuno hasn't heard a single useful thing outta you dicks yet!" Cuno continues loudly.

"No shouting…" The woman groans, voice muffled by the arms she's sleeping on.

"I see your point, kid." Marco ignores the woman. There was no derision in his voice. "How about we reconvene tomorrow afternoon and we-"

"No, just fuckin' stay out of it!" Cuno spits through the gap in his teeth. He only sees Marco's tone as condescending.

"You still haven't told us why you're asking about the fire," Titus says, giving a casual shrug. "Maybe if you did, we could talk." It's clear he was more interested about what they had to say now.

"Um, well-" Annette begins but gets cut off.

"No, fuck that, we're not telling you shit," Cuno says. "If this Mira-bitch isn't up and useful by tomorrow, then fucking forget about it!"

"Huh…?" The woman in the corner looks up confused at hearing her name. Her head was still on the table, now laying on her cheek. She looks at Cuno with tired eyes.

"Fuck do you want?" Cuno turns to the woman.

The woman furrows her brows and squints. She forces herself to sit up.

"The fuck you looking at Cuno like that? Got something to say, say it." Cuno tenses up. The woman just looks confused.

"What you doin' here?" She asks, her words slurred.

"Wasting my time, clearly." He's growing more and more frustrated, especially dealing with a drunk. "You awake enough to talk about the fucking fire?"

"Ah… Dun worry, I deal with it," the woman slurs, waving her hand dismissively. "All good."

"Deal with it?" Cuno's scowl softens as he grows more interested.

"She's totally fucking wasted," Randy groans.

"Shut up, fuck-face," Cuno snaps, still looking at the woman. "Yeah? How'd you deal with it?"

"NO smoking," Mira says sternly, holding up a finger at him.

"Someone was smoking?" Annette asks quietly. The woman's head falls right back onto the table.

"She's way too out of it, kid," Titus cuts in sternly, shuffling in his seat so that he obstructs Cuno's view of Mira. "Like we said, we can ask her tomorrow for you."

"Hm." Cuno glares at Titus for a good few seconds before finally turning around to leave. "Fine. See you tomorrow then, fuckers."

"Um. Thank you for talking to us, sirs- and ma'am," Annette says in a small voice and with an awkward smile before quickly following after Cuno. They stop in between the bar and the Union box.

"You notice that shit too, right?" Cuno says with a scowl. "Fuckers are hiding something."

"Yeah…" Annette says, biting on the tip of her pen. "What do we do if even Ms. Mira doesn't want to talk to us?"

"That's not up for fucking discussion," Cuno answers. "If she doesn't say shit, means she's fucking guilty."

"You think they're covering for her?" Annette asks quietly, leaning in closer so he still heard her over the noise of the music and chatter. "She seems like she has… a problem. Maybe that's why they didn't look into the club thefts?"

"Fuck. Maybe," Cuno matches her tone. "We need to form a plan. Discuss shit in private." Annette nods, a determined look on her face.

"Oh, but first we should ask the rest of the customers," she says, looking at the dozen or so people in the hall.

They spend the next while asking people all over the floor about the 'thefts', 'fire', or any other suspicious activity. Garte warned them about not bothering the customers after seeing them go from table to table, but they insisted they won't take long – not like he could throw them out, really. True to their word, it really didn't take long, not for a lack of trying though. People mostly ignored them, or answered in annoyance, and/or were too drunk to even understand them.

By the end of it, they didn't really learn much.

They asked Sylvie if there were any guests in the other rooms. Once again, they are told not to bother the customers. Cuno threatens to slam on the guest doors if she doesn't just tell them who they are, and Sylvie begrudgingly tells them to 'go ahead' - and it clicks.

"Hey- You think Cuno's stupid?! No one else is in the other rooms!" Cuno exclaims, holding up his key. "So, why the fuck is Cuno getting Room #1?! Give me the big room!"

"No." This was exactly why Sylvie didn't want to tell him. "The other rooms are taken. They just aren't in right now." She did not sound convincing, but Cuno had no way to prove it.

"Bitch," Cuno grumbles as, once again, he is dragged away by Annette.

"Let's just go to the room and discuss, right?" Annette suggests.

"Hmm..." Cuno rubs his chin in thought, trying to think of anything else they might have missed. "No, I think there's a place we could still check."

"Excuse me," Annette greets with her usual friendly smile. "Could we ask you a few questions?"

The Frittte store clerk looks up from her magazine with tired, bored eyes. She first looks to Annette then scans Cuno standing next to her, before going back to her magazine.

"Everything you can buy is on display," she says, idly chewing gum. "If it's behind the counter then you're too young to buy it."

"Oh, don't worry, that's not what we're here for," Annette laughs a bit. Cuno rolls his eyes but otherwise stays quiet. "There's been a lot of thefts happening around the area. We wanted to ask if you saw anything suspicious recently?"

"Uh, no. Not really," the girl doesn't look up from her magazine.

"How about a fire behind the Whirling-in-Rags?" Annette asks.

"I dunno? I don't go there," the girl answers curtly.

"Um, okay. Has anything been stolen from Frittte?" Annette asks.

"I dunno. Probably not."

"Probably not?" Annette tries to get any sort of elaboration. At this point, Cuno had walked away to the fridge on the other side of the shop, knowing he didn't have the patience that Annette did to deal with this.

"Yeah, probably," the teen repeats. "You know. Nobody fucks with Frittte and all that."

"So, uh, you don't know for sure?"

"No, nothing got stolen from here," she exhales in frustration as she looks up from her magazine, seeing that this girl clearly wasn't going to let it go unless she gave a definitive answer. "Now are you going to buy something or not?"

"Uh, no, that's all," Annette says with an embarrassed smile at the frustrated response. "Sorry for the bother." She turns to find Cuno now browsing the snacks on display and walks over to him.

"Ann, you want anythin'?" Cuno asks as he picks out a chips bag, an energy drink already in his hand.

"Oh, I didn't bring any money with me," she says. It was still the case that her 'allowance' was saved up for her for the future.

"Cuno didn't ask if you had money," he scoffs. "Cuno asked if you wanted anything."

"Ah, no thank you," Annette says politely with a small smile.

Cuno rolls his eyes, recognizing that tone she uses when she's performing 'proper etiquette'. So, he picks out a candy bar that she likes and a carton of strawberry milk from the fridge before heading to the counter, dropping it all in front of the clerk.

"Uh- You don't…" Annette says as she recognized what he was trying to do, attempting to stop him, but he quickly pays for it and grabs the Frittte bag with all the snacks from the clerk.

"Alright!" Cuno grins as he heads for the door. "Let's keep it moving!"

"Cuno, you didn't-"

"Ah- We don't got time for this," Cuno cuts her off, waving a dismissive hand as he walks out. Annette smiles shyly as she follows him – she can't help feeling a bit bad.

"Is this the real reason you wanted to stop by?" Annette chuckles a bit.

"It's called being thorough," Cuno tuts. "Cuno's a professional like that."

"I'm sure." She rolls her eyes, smiling. "So, anywhere else?"

"Hm... Let's head back to the shack," Cuno says, lowering his voice. "You can never be too careful on who's listening in."

Annette nods in agreement and they make their way to the shack.

Cuno flops onto the couch next to Annette who had her notebook open on her lap. They were back in the not-so-hidden hidden shack after a long, long couple of hours of investigation.

"Let's go over the notes!" Cuno says excitedly as he pulls out the snacks from the Frittte bag, handing Annette her candy bar and strawberry milk. She takes it with a sheepish 'thank you'.

Cuno snaps open his bag of chips and offers the bag to Annette before taking any first. She smiles and thanks him again as she takes off her gloves, placing it on her lap. She grabs two pieces of chips and eats them one at a time as she flips through her notebook.

Cuno takes note of her hands, as he tends to whenever she took off her gloves. Her nails were growing in unevenly, but there were no new bite marks that he could see. He smiles as he shuffles closer to look into her notes.

Annette's new notes through the day were a far cry from what she started with. They're much messier and had a lot of unclear shorthand instead of full sentences. Before Annette could begin to go over the notes, she hears the hiss of a can opening and turns to see Cuno glugging down the energy drink he got.

"Uh- Cuno," she says awkwardly as she recalls something. "Are you sure you should be drinking that?"

"Too late," he laughs, already having drank a good amount.

"But, um, your meds?" she points out with a worried smile. "Isn't it, like, kind of bad to mix caffeine with it?"

"Ugh, what are you, Cuno's fucking mom?" Cuno grumbles, rolling his eyes. "Cuno used to drink buckets of coffee while riding the lightning like nobody's fucking business. This shit is nothing to Cuno."

"If you say so…" she says, obviously unconvinced. At the very least it was one drink and one dose.

"Hey, don't use that tone on Cuno," he snaps, shoving more chips into his mouth and continuing with his mouth full, spitting a bit as he does. "Cuno does whatever the fuck he wants!"

"Gross," she just laughs. "Stop talking with food in your mouth!"

Eventually, they did finally start talking about 'the case'.

They ate and drank as they both went over the events of the day; everything they learned, everything they still need to find out, how it all connected…

Annette went to the page with the timeline and wrote in all of the new information:

May 31st, Sunday - Last stocktaking done before any theft

June 1~11th - Various books + deck of cards stolen (Exact dates/times unknown)

 

June 1~7th - Food, pillow, garbage keys from Gary (broken lock) + Clothes from Lilienne and Isobel (clothesline)

June 3rd, Wednesday - Flashlight, radio, quilt from Bird Nest Roy's Pawnshop (broken lock)

June 10th, Wednesday - 5 beer cans, 2 pilsners from Disco Elysium club (broken lock)

June 12th, Friday – (1am~5am) Fire in the Whirling-in-Rags' yard (relevance? Mira knows something)

 

June 12th, Friday – Discovery of the stolen fantastique shelf + Stocktaking (discovery of all the stolen books)

June 19th, Friday - Stocktaking (nothing missing)

June 20th, Saturday - Detectives pursue the case!

Then they discussed the leads they needed to follow up:

They needed to confirm if Gary really did buy the books as he claimed. They could find that out once they get into the bookstore tonight to look through the ledger.

They still needed to talk to Neha, the dicemaker. They rang the doorbell on the way here and heard the same 'away' message as earlier. Annette knows she works late, so there's still a chance they could see her tonight.

And lastly...

"This fucking Mira-chick," Cuno says with irritation. "Didn't that guy tell us there were two people that night of the fire?"

"I think so." Annette furrows her brows as she turns the pages to go back to the Capeside Apartment interviews. "Ah, yes! He did - I wrote it here."

"So, we know one of them is this Mira bitch, 'cause she said she 'deal with it'," he says, repeating her phrasing.

"And the other person could be one of the Hardie boys?" Annette says, biting her pen again. "I wish Ms. Sylvie would talk to us..."

"Bitch completely clammed up after saying Mira's name," Cuno grumbles. "Looked like she was scared of the Hardies. Coward shit."

"Do you think they were acting when talking about the thefts? The Hardie boys?" Annette asks. "Like, pretending they didn't know about it?"

"Yeah, I think so," Cuno says with annoyance. "They only admit to the church-club because the Speedfreaks actually reported it. They can't lie about not knowing that."

"True... So, what do you think the fire is about, anyway...?" Annette asks, a hint of worry in her voice.

"I don't know... Could be anything," Cuno says with a shrug. "Burning alcohol? Burning the clothes?"

"The books..." Annette frowns then shakes her head. "No- that doesn't make any sense. That doesn't seem like something Ms. Mira would do..."

"Oh, you know this bitch?" Cuno asks.

"Sort of. Ms. Mira is an occasional customer of the bookstore." Annette shrugs. "She seems pretty nice, and she gets along with a lot of people, including my mum. I know she works with the Union, but I'm not sure what she does."

"Well, bitch could've been drunk the whole fucking time. You know how drunks get."

"Maybe?" She sighs. "I think we're getting ahead of ourselves... We don't actually have any good evidence to connect her to the thefts in the first place. Sure, the fact that the Hardies aren't taking the club thefts seriously is suspicious enough, but... would they really cover for all of it?"

"In case you forgot, the Hardie fucks faked a whole hanging to cover up a murder," Cuno says blankly. "I think a few thefts is below their radar."

"I guess…" Annette still didn't sound convinced. "But I don't know, the murder seemed like a complicated case. They didn't actually do it, after all. But senselessly stealing from the people they're supposed to be protecting sounds… a bit hard to believe?"

"Protecting?" Cuno scoffs, crushing the empty can in his hand and throwing it into the Frittte bag. "Sure. Let's call it that."

Annette fidgets with her pen as she looks at Cuno with concern. She knew he didn't like the Hardie boys, he's talked shit about them before, but the anger in him when they were talking to them earlier felt… personal. There was the condescending tone - and the alcohol, of course. But she felt there was something else.

"The why doesn't really fucking matter right now," Cuno continues, grabbing the frog plush off the couch and throwing it to keep his hands busy. "We just gotta prove she fucking did it."

"Well, okay. We might as well consider the possibility." Annette nods. "Let's look at the means. She could've broken the locks, sure, but how could she get into the bookstore?"

"Dice-chick could've let her in."

"Multiple times?"

"She only needed to get in once," Cuno points out. "She could have stolen all of it the same day."

"Hm, good point," Annette agrees. "So, okay, she enters through the basement. Then how does she get through the door to the bookstore?"

"You said there were scratches around the lock, right?" Cuno squeezes the plush in between his hands, speaking a bit faster than usual. "Clearly lock-picked."

"But why would she break all the locks except this one?"

"Think about it." Cuno starts throwing the plush between his hands and bouncing his leg. "All the broken locks were outdoors. She'd have to work quick so no one would see her, right? But nobody can see her in there. She can take her sweet fucking time."

"Sounds like a solid theory," Annette suppresses a laugh as she watches him grow more and more fidgety – the caffeine was clearly in his bloodstream now. "Now we just need to figure out a way to get the confession, but... If it's true that the Hardie boys are covering for her then is there even anything we could do? It's not like they'll just give in to a bunch of kids…"

"Uh, hello?" Cuno points to himself as if it were obvious. "Cuno's a pig now. Cuno's got fucking connections. Got straight access to the popophone. They don't talk to us, we bring out the big guns – real guns!"

"There's no need for 'real guns', I'd hope," Annette smiles nervously. "Do you really think the police would help us with something like this? They've only ever shown up for, um, really serious things."

"The pigs work under Cuno's command," he says with full confidence. "Just leave it to Cuno."

"Ughh, this is so fucking lame…" Cuno grumbled as he grabbed the Whirling-in-Rag's phone in the kitchen and began to dial in a number. He rapidly tapped his foot as he waited for someone to pick up. It took a while but, finally, he heard a familiar voice on the other line.

"Hello?" The man sounded legitimately confused; never expecting anyone to call.

"Yo, pig," Cuno said flatly. "Cuno's stuck in the shithole. Bus fucked off, never to be seen again."

"Oh- Cuno! Why? What happened?" Harry asked loudly in a panic.

"Calm the fuck down." Cuno groaned. "Cuno doesn't fucking know. Waited at the bus stop for ages and no one showed up. Point is, Cuno's coming back tomorrow."

"Are you sure? I could call Kim, come pick you up-"

"Fuck no, Cuno's staying." Cuno cut him off. He could hear the man was pacing back and forth.

"Well… Fine. Where are you staying? Annette's?"

"Fuck. No." Cuno repeated even more strongly. "You think that crazy book-bitch is gonna let me in there?"

"Who- Plaisance? Come on. I'll talk to her, I'm sure sh-"

"Pig, that's not happening," Cuno said definitively, his lips pursed. Annette didn't offer. He wasn't going to ask.

"Okay..." Harry reluctantly dropped it. "So, where?"

"Cuno was planning to stay in the Whirling-in-Rags but the dick is forcing Cuno to pay. Cuno didn't bring enough money for no dinky fucking room."

"What?!" Harry exclaimed, leading Cuno to move the phone away from his ear. "Are you calling from there right now?"

"Yeah," Cuno confirmed.

"Get Garte on the fucking line!"

"Alright, alright, don't get a fucking stroke over it," Cuno said before walking to the door and peaking his head out. He glanced at Annette who was sitting at one of the tables, waiting for him (she refused to leave until she confirmed he had a place to stay), then turned to Garte behind the counter.

"Hey, babybeard," Cuno said flatly. "Got the popo on the line. You're in deep shit now."

Garte didn't even look up from the ledger in his hand; not at all acknowledging the boy.

"Hey!!" Cuno snapped loudly. "Does Cuno sound like he's fucking joking? Get your fat ass in here."

Garte sighed and placed the ledger back down. He followed him, if only to get him to stop shouting.

"Babybeard's here," Cuno said into the phone before handing it to Garte.

Garte took it in confusion. "Hello? This is-"

"Garte, you greedy fuck!" Harry bellowed loudly into the receiver which made Garte jump and move the phone away from his ear. "You're extorting a child now?! What the fuck is wrong with you!?"

"Is that-?" Garte looked at the phone in even deeper confusion. He definitely recognized that voice. He placed the phone back to his mouth, but the speaker still away from him. "For the last time!! Asking for money for a service is not extortion!!"

"It is when it means the kid is going to be sleeping on the streets if he doesn't pay!!"

"Well, why don't you pay if you care so much?!"

"You said the RCM is welcome for free! That should extend to family members!" Harry shouted.

"Fami-? What the fuck are you talking about?" Garte glanced at Cuno. He very much doubted Harry was a relative of any kind. "Well, it doesn't. But even if it did, it wouldn't apply!"

"The fuck do you mean 'wouldn't apply'?!" Harry shouted even louder. "I took a bullet for your establishment! If I say Cuno gets to stay for free, then he does!"

Garte closed his eyes and pressed the bridge of his nose as he sighed deeply. It's not like he actually wanted to turn down a child – but Cuno lived here. Or well, he used to. He figured he'd find somewhere else. Knowing that this mess of a detective seemed to be taking care of him now meant… Well, it meant Cuno did not have much else to turn to.

"Fine. Fine!" Garte gave up. "But, if I see any damages - anything at all – it's on you."

"Great! I'm glad we could come to an agreement," Harry said in a now chipper tone. "Put the kid back on."

Garte groaned and handed the phone back to a smug-looking Cuno before leaving.

"Alright, that's settled," Harry said. "You better be on your best behavior."

"Cuno's always on his best fucking behavior," he scoffed.

"Do you have enough money for the bus ride back?"

"Yeah, yeah, Cuno's got shit under control now." He rolled his eyes. "…Thanks. For talking to babybeard."

"No problem, Cunnster!"

"Don't call Cuno that ever again," Cuno said with an unamused tone. Harry just laughed.

"I'll see you tomorrow, kid." Harry still sounded the tiniest bit worried. "Take care of yourself."

"Whatever. Bye, pig." Cuno placed the phone back into its cradle and kept his hand there. He stared at it and stood still for a while.

Harry's voice was loud enough talking to Garte that Cuno could hear all of it.

Family.

Cuno scowled as he felt his eyes sting with tears. He rapidly blinked and wiped his face with his sleeve, quickly composing himself before heading out of the kitchen.

Chapter Text

Cuno walked up to the curtains and crawled under instead of pulling it open to avoid showing evidence of anyone entering. It was almost pitch black. He turned on the flashlight before standing up and looking around. The dust particles danced in the light, all around the junk filled corridor.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this, after all…"

He turned towards the small voice behind the curtain. He could see Annette's silhouette as he flashed the light towards her.

"Cuno's been in here a billion times before your crazy mom blocked off the entrance," he scoffed. "There's nothing cursed here."

"But… My mum…" She was fidgeting and Cuno could make out that she was biting on one of her fingernails.

"C'mon, Ann! She won't find out and nothin' bad is gonna happen." He kneeled down and pulled the curtain up with his free arm so she could see his face. He didn't seem irritated or impatient. "You can trust the Cuno!"

Annette looked at him anxiously. She had told him how curious she was about the rest of the building and Cuno was able to convince her that they could go check it out at night - when her mother wouldn't be there to guard the door.

Annette looked around and behind her, then back down at Cuno. She took a deep breath and nodded, crouching down and into the opening Cuno was holding up.

"I've seen some of the basement, but this is as far as I've gone before on this side..." Annette whispered as she looked around, still fidgeting. "Even then, never at night."

"Everything is way cooler at night." He walked over to the ward-covered door and tried the handle, just in case. Locked, of course. "Wanna do the honors?" He grinned at Annette.

She nodded with a look of determination as she stepped forward and pulled the key out from her pocket. Stealing this key was probably the scariest thing she'd ever done (before this). She tried to slowly and quietly insert and turn the key.

Click. Click. Then a creak as the door opened.

"Ha! We're in!" Cuno's grin somehow got even bigger.

"Shh," Annette hushed him, looking worried.

"Okay, okay," he whispered, amused. "Come on, go ahead!"

"Um, I'll follow behind you." She steps back to let him go.

Cuno sighed as he went in, Annette closely following behind.

"Woah... What is this place?" She asked as she tried to make out what she could see in the dark room with the little light available. She clutched onto the back of Cuno's jacket with both her hands which made him roll his eyes.

"It's a gym. Look," he pointed the light towards the equipment littering the floor. There were windows at the top but, since it was night, they didn't really help at all in lighting the place up.

"Oh, right, I heard there was a boxing club here. It was one of the many places hit by the curse..."

"Are you deaf? You listening to Cuno? Is Cuno speaking to a fucking wall?" He dug a finger into the side of his head as he turned to look at her. "There is no curse. Just stupid fucking people making stupid fucking choices."

"If you say so." She did not sound at all convinced. "This place is still creepy, curse or no."

"Yeah, Cuno'll agree to that," he says, amused in comparison to her fear. "Let's keep it moving."

They walked up the stairs at the end of the room, their footsteps echoing loudly across the building. At the top was a hallway, one side blocked by a pile of debris. They continued walking the other way where more junk, papers, and broken wood littered the floors and pushed up against the walls. Annette only moved in closer and closer behind Cuno. By the time they got to the creepy mannequins at the end of the hallway, she was practically hugging his arm.

"Ann, you're getting on Cuno's nerves," he said, an eye twitching as he tried to hold his arm up. "You're gonna cut off Cuno's blood circulation!"

"S- sorry..." She frowned and slowly loosened her grip, but still held onto his sleeve.

Cuno couldn't understand why Annette was so anxious over an empty building. He never had to deal with this with C. Him and C just did shit, no hesitations, no questions asked…

"I just... I don't want to get separated," Annette said quietly, bringing Cuno back from his thoughts. "I've never been in here before and it's really dark..."

"Ughhh, what? You wanna hold Cuno's hand?" he said in a mocking tone, holding out his free hand. To his surprise she quickly held onto it with one of hers which made him turn to look at her in confusion.

"Thank you, I promise I'll try to keep my distance." She smiled apologetically.

"Cuno wasn't- UGH, fine, whatever!" he exclaimed, feeling the heat in his face. "Just try not to shit yourself."

He forgot how sincere Annette was. She didn't care about looking like a wuss, so these tactics didn't work on her. Still, as he kept walking, she did finally give him enough space to breathe.

"Ah, fuck." Cuno looked around the room in disappointment. "They took the fucking radio-com-whatever-shitter. Cuno could've made big bucks with that."

"A radiocomputer? Like the one Ms. Soona has in the church?" Annette asked. He nodded. "How would you even move that thing? It's huge…"

"Cuno was gonna think of somethin'…" he mumbled, without much confidence.

He tried to continue walking right past the blackboard in the room but felt a tug on his hand as Annette stood still in front of it. He walked back and stood next to her, pointing the light at the board. They stood there a while, with Annette reading the board - biting on the nails of her free hand - and Cuno staring at her hand with furrowed brows.

"What's all this?" she finally asked, resting her fingers on her chin. "That drawing looks like one of those Wirrâl characters."

"Yeah, Cuno has no fucking clue. It's some 'clard-nerd project." He shrugged as he pointed the light at the fireplace-wall with all sorts of confusing lines and graphs. "Cuno used to fuck with their shit all the time."

"Oh! Is this Ms. Soona's project?" Annette asked. That explained why she wasn't so eager to talk to them - not that Annette couldn't already guess. "I wonder what happened…"

"Dunno. Don't care," Cuno said with a bored tone. "But Cuno always heard them arguing over stupid shit."

"Hmm… Have you ever played Wirrâl?"

"Fuck no." Cuno rolled his eyes. "It's stupid as fuck. Playing pretend is for babies. Kiddie shit."

"I've never played it either, my mum says it's a gateway to the occult or something. But I think it seems kind of fun." Annette hummed with a dreamy look on her face. "Playing whoever you want to be, in a fantasy world with all sorts of magic. Going on all sorts of adventures…"

"Ann, don't tell me you're into this lame shit," he groaned, cringing.

"Cuno, your definition of lame has shifted like a dozen times since I met you," she chuckled quietly in the echoey room. "What makes Wirrâl different from reading books? They're both imaginary adventures."

"It just is," Cuno said with no energy or interest in the discussion.

"You know, for someone who hates 'kiddie' stuff, you act pretty childish," she teased, an amused smile on her face.

"Hey, fuck you! Cuno's just practical," he scoffed. Annette just rolled her eyes.

"I've never read the rules or anything but if I played, I think I'd like to be a faerie folk," she mused as she looked at the drawings. "They're small and have wings to fly... I think they can talk to animals, too!"

"Of course," he grumbled, hating this turn of topics. He almost wished she'd go back to being scared and talking about the curse.

"What about you?" she asked, turning to look at him.

"No."

"Come on! Just play along a little bit," she pouted.

"No!" He refused to even grace the question with his usual verbose vulgarity.

"Okay, then I've decided we're both faerie folk." She nodded. "They’re known to play pranks, I think it fits you!"

He groaned even more, sounding like he was in actual pain from the cringe, which only made her laugh.

"Cuno… what do you want to be when you grow up?" she asked, turning back to the board. "You know. Here in the real world?"

He looked at the board for a few moments before turning his blank gaze down to his feet.

When he grew up…?

Cuno sits in the shack on his own, looking at the teddy bear in his hands with a bored look. He was far from tired, but the initial energy spike from the caffeine a few hours ago was more or less gone.

Annette had to leave as it was closer to her curfew now. The bookstore was still open for another 2 hours, so Annette said she'll make sure to go through the store ledger in the meantime. Her mother shouldn't think much of it; Annette had gone through the ledgers pretty often this week after the thefts.

So, Cuno had a few hours to burn before him and Annette could investigate the Doomed Commercial Area.

Cuno looks around the shack, scanning it slowly. It's been a very long time since he's last been in here on his own. The shack barely looked like what it used to, with the vibrant colors covering the walls and stuffed animals sitting next to him. Still...

Even though it's been months since he's parted with C and months since anyone's even seen her… It was still so hard to breathe in here.

He scowls as he stands up from the couch, throwing the bear back, frustrated by his anxiety. He heads to the desk, picking up the books and looking through them. He just needed to read, that's all. That'll get his mind off of things. No - not things. Because there was no thing to be anxious about.

The next thing Cuno knew, he was in his room in the Whirling-in-Rags, leaning against the door - a book held tightly in his hands and his heart pounding hard in his chest.

It was like he blanked out the whole walk here.

Cuno doesn't want to think about it. He tries to convince himself that everything was fine – because everything is fine. He sits down on the couch with a huff and flips through the pages of the book with shaky hands.

It was the Dick Mullen book Annette had been reading earlier today: "Dick Mullen and The Ruthless Detective". He lands on the bookmarked page and decides to read from there. He's already read this book before, so he didn't need to focus too hard on the words. He could just let his eyes glide through the sentences, his mind's eye replaying the scenes for him.

It takes a while, but eventually it starts to work. His breathing settles as his mind remains occupied with the book, fully absorbed with the story. 

The sound of glass shattering makes Cuno drop his book and jump to his feet. It takes him a few confused seconds to come back to reality. He hadn't realized how dark it got.

He squints as his eyes refocus in the dark. He turns to the windows – one of them was shattered with a massive hole in the middle. He sees glass scattered across the floor and a rock right in the middle of the mess. He runs to the window, looking outside, searching for the culprit. He sees nothing but black.

"What the fuck did you do?!" An angry voice startles Cuno and he instantly turns around to see Garte standing at the door. Cuno didn't hear the door open.

"Cuno didn't fucking do that!" Cuno shouts back, pointing at the rock on the floor. "Look, the rock is right fucking there! It came from outside!"

"I knew I couldn't trust you." Garte crosses his arms and shakes his head. He doesn't even acknowledge what Cuno was saying. "You need to leave, immediately."

"No, fuck you! You can't pin this on Cuno!" Cuno's voice cracks as he shouts even louder, his hands balled up into fists. "Use your fucking brain, dumbass!"

"Kuuno!" Another angry voice, gruffer. "What did you do?!"

Cuno's eyes widen. He rapidly looks around the room, trying to locate where it came from. As he does, he realizes it wasn't just the window that was broken. The room was a mess, with furniture thrown across the room, piles of garbage and broken beer bottles splayed all over the floor. The place is suddenly both foreign and familiar. A room he's never been in before but still knew all too well.

"I didn't do it!! I swear!" Cuno's anger turns closer to fear.

"You expect me to believe that shit?" The angry voice comes from behind him now.

He turns around and sees a figure draped in shadows stepping out from his father's bedroom. It was indiscernible and unstable, like trying to put an image to a distant memory - it hurt to look directly at it.

"Dad, you g- gotta believe me," Cuno stammers, taking steps back. "I didn't do it!"

"You never fuckin' learn," the figure slurs as it gets closer.

Cuno knows what's coming. He shuts his eyes tight and holds up his arms to shield himself. He braces himself for the pain, but… nothing. He slowly opens one eye and sees nothing in front of him anymore.

"You havin' fun without me, Kuuno?" A shrill laugh echoes around him. He puts his arms down and fully opens his eyes. He's back in his shack. Cuno's Shack. Dark, empty, and drab. He looks up at the laughing creature, sitting on the throne.

"You! You threw that fucking rock!" Cuno's face turns red, fuming.

"You love to blame me, don't you, Kuuno?" The creature in the shape of a girl continues to laugh. She had one foot on top of the mummified pig head in front of the throne. "Makes it easier to hate me, doesn't it?"

"Why the fuck are you back, C!?" Cuno shouts. "You just want to ruin shit for me, huh!?"

"Why am I back?" Cunoesse scoffs and finally stops laughing. "Why are you back, Kuuno?"

"Stop calling me that!" He feels a rock in his hand and he grips it tightly. "It's Cuno, bitch!" He throws the rock, aiming directly at her.

The rock misses entirely, hitting the wall next to her. She scowls at him.

"You're not Cuno." She gets up, angry. "Look at you! Running around like a fucking pig! Like a pathetic snitch-bitch! Fucking books all day - fucking pigs all day. Fucking ****! *****!"

He couldn’t hear words anymore. It was just loud, vitriolic static coming out of her mouth. It felt like his head was going to explode.

"I don't care what you think about me! You don't get to control Cuno anymore!" He throws another rock; this one hits her square in the face, shutting her up. "Cuno does whatever the fuck Cuno wants!"

The static starts again, louder this time, as she lunges straight at him. They both fall to the ground, covered in broken glass. Cuno tries to push her off, but she grabs at his hair, pulling hard and screaming into his face. They tussle on the ground - Cuno trying to escape, C trying to pin him.

The static ends. She overpowers him and wraps her hands tightly around his throat.

"You left me behind, Cuno," she hisses sharply. "You betrayed me."

He desperately tries to push her away, but he has no strength left in him. He can't breathe.

"You cry about your dad, but you're the same," C continues, gripping tighter. "You never asked about me. You're the exact same, Cuno."

Cuno jolts up from his sleep with a gasp, covered in sweat and breathing heavily – the book on his chest falling to his lap.

Cuno blinks a few times to regain his vision, furrowing his brows in confusion. He examines his surroundings. It's dark. He is in his room at the Whirling-in-Rags. There is no broken window. There is no angry figure. He touches his throat - there is no C.

He picks up the book on his lap, the bookmark now misplaced… When did he even fall asleep?

It's been a while since he last had a nightmare, especially one so vivid… it still didn't compare to anything he'd seen when going through speed withdrawal, but it got pretty damn close near the end.

He really hated being back in Martinaise.

He looks up when he hears a knocking at the door. Probably what woke him up.

He rubs his palms into his teary eyes and shakes his head.

"Cuno? Are you there?" Annette's muffled voice behind the door.

"Yeah, give me a minute," he croaks as he gets up. He looks at the clock. 11:44pm.

He goes to quickly wash his face and dries it off before opening the front door. There was Annette, smiling, with a flashlight in her hand.

"Heh, you fall asleep?" Annette chuckles. His hair was mussed up more than usual and he had red imprints from the couch all over the right side of his face.

"I guess," he grumbles.

"Caffeine crash?" Annette tuts. "I told you not to take that energy drink, didn't I?"

"Uhuh." Cuno rolls his eyes. "Did you look into that ledger or what?"

"Oh, yeah," she sighs in disappointment. "Mr. Gary did buy the books, like, ages ago. I expected as much, but you know…"

"Boring shit," Cuno says mid-yawn.

"That doesn't matter, though." Annette turns excited now, pulling out a keyring from her pocket and holds it up proudly. "You ready to go?"

Cuno nods, smiling a bit at the sight of her excitement. He makes sure he has the room key in his pocket before closing the door behind him.

Finally. They arrive at the scene of the crime.

Cuno turns on the flashlight and looks around the bookstore as Annette quietly locks the door behind them.

Annette told Cuno that she already went through the whole store, several times, especially when stocktaking, and found nothing incriminating. Still, he insisted on looking around himself.

They tried not to make a mess as they did. They looked as thoroughly as they could but it was just as Annette predicted; they find nothing.

But that was fine. Because that wasn't really what they came here for. The main event was waiting behind the curtain.

They both squat down in front of the curtain and crawl in from underneath. They stand up in the dusty, littered corner of the bookstore. Unlike the last time Cuno's been here, the mess wasn't pushed against the walls. It was all concentrated in front of the door that led to the rest of the building. Huge piles of what looks like boxes, draped in dusty covers, and chairs stacked against it all.

"We have to try and squeeze in without moving too many things," Annette says as she walks over to the barricaded door. She attempts to nudge the pile of mostly heavy boxes away gently and slowly, careful not to topple them over. She doesn't really move much at all.

"Here, hold this." Cuno hands her the flashlight before cracking his knuckles. He pushes the pile a lot more confidently, worrying Annette that it was all going to fall. Luckily it doesn't. He manages to push it away just the few centimeters needed for them to squeeze in.

"There! Eas-" Cuno's smugness was cut off by his own sneeze. He sneezes loudly 3 more times, without covering his face. He exhales tiredly by the end of it, snot running down his face.

"Ew, gross." Annette laughs as she hands him her packet of tissues. "Sneeze into your elbow."

"Fucking dusty shithole…" he groans and wipes his nose with a tissue. He almost sneezes again but manages to hold it in.

"You've completely blown our cover." Annette chuckles as she pulls out the key from her pocket and walks to the door.

"Ha ha," Cuno laughs humorlessly as he tosses away the tissue and the now-empty packet.

Annette smiles in amusement as she squeezes her hand into the crevice between the door and the boxes, unlocking the door. It creaks open – fortunately it opens outward, so it was easier to get in.

They both squeeze their way through the door to the next room. It was dark here too, but the light from the windows helped it from being completely pitch black.

"Look…" Annette points her flashlight at the corner of the room to their right.

One of the bench presses was pushed against the wall. The floor was littered with glass shards and rocks, some under the bench. She aims the light up at the window above the bench press. It's the same broken window they tried to climb into earlier today. On this side, the windows are barred, but this one has one less bar than the rest.

"Huh… I couldn't see this through the window since it's directly under it…" Annette says quietly. "Do you think…? There's no way, right? It's way too small…"

Annette turns to Cuno, his face slightly illuminated from the light bouncing off the wall. His brows are furrowed in anger and focus.

"Cuno?" she calls out softly to get his attention.

"Hm? Huh?" He blinks a couple of times and finally looks up at Annette. He sees the worry on her face, and he quickly turns his attention back to the ground. "Yeah, dunno…" He hadn't heard what she said.

They both crouch down and Annette lights directly onto the shards.

"Is that... blood?" Annette asks, the last word a whisper. Cuno leans in even closer. There was indeed blood on the shards of glass and drops of old blood on the wooden floorboard.

"Looks like it." Cuno is also whispering now. He gets up and points to the flashlight, which Annette hands over to him. He then hops onto the bench to look out the window.

"I think I could fit through here if I really forced it… But that Hardie bitch definitely wouldn't," Cuno says as he tries to judge his size compared to the window.

"A small kid could probably sneak in from there…" Annette says with a frown.

"Ugh, that'd be so fucking lame if it was," Cuno grumbles, his shoulders slumping. "Maybe the blood is from some stupid bird? Fuck if Cuno knows." He slowly steps off the bench and gets back on the floor.

"But then who rearranged the equipment? And why?" Annette whispers, fidgeting with her gloves.

"Probably spying shit," Cuno whispers. "Let's just keep looking around."

They both continue to search the room, finding nothing else. However, they do see more droplets of blood on the ground leading up the stairs. As they approach the dark hallway, Cuno notices Annette wasn't next to him anymore. He turns to look behind him and find her standing at the base of the stairs, awkwardly fidgeting with her gloves.

"Don't tell me you're still fucking scared." Cuno rolls his eyes.

"Kinda, yeah…" She smiles a bit apologetically. He begrudgingly holds out his hand and she smiles wider as she takes a hold on it. "Thank you."

"Whatever," Cuno says flatly as he continues going up the stairs. "Don't need you pissing yourself over this."

It wasn't until they held hands that Cuno noticed his own anxiety subside. He didn't even realize how tense he was. In his head, he instantly denies it ever happening.

They follow the stairs up to the hallway that's even darker, near pitch black, without any open windows. They examine the debris and all the windows in the hallway. They don't find anything specific amongst the dust covered mess, but things somehow seem… messier than they remember. Taxidermies of animals and creepy mannequins litter the floor, broken and crushed.

Once they reach the room where Fortress Accident's development was, it became very obvious that – yes – someone had trashed the place. The blackboard was toppled over, and the tables and crates looked like they've been smashed or thrown around. There were planks of splintered wood, what probably used to be window panes, all over the floor.

"You haven't been in here at all since Cuno left?" Cuno asks, slowly scanning the light over the room.

"I haven't…" Annette whispers. "So, this could have happened anytime in the last 3 months."

They look through the room as thoroughly as they could, examining the mess. They don't find anything useful amongst the broken furniture and discarded papers. Once they felt they've looked around the floor sufficiently enough, they decide to make their way down to the basement. Their footsteps echo loudly as they walk down the dark stairs – the lightbulb was fried. Near the bottom of the stairs, Cuno slips on something and almost falls forward, but Annette pulls him back with both hands as he rebalanced himself

"W- What happened?" Annette asks in worry, keeping a hold on his arm.

"Fucking slipped on something…" Cuno says, hiding his embarrassment with a scowl. He points the light directly beneath him.

Annette lets go and quickly bends down to grab the 'something' he'd slipped on, staring at it with wide eyes.

"Is that one of the books?" Cuno asks, lighting the thin paperback book in her hands.

"Yes!" she says in an excited whisper as she examines the cover and flips through the pages – it was fully intact. "It's one of the fantastique books!"

"Holy shit!" Cuno was less quiet in his excitement, grinning widely as he moves the light up and down the stairs, trying to see if there was anything else they missed. "What if the rest of it is- Oh, man! Let's go!"

They both excitedly continue their way down the stairs with a new burst of energy, their anxiety a little more alleviated with the discovery. Annette pulls out her notebook and places a checkmark right next to the title of the book they found - as well as where they found it.

It was harder to tell if things were messier down in the basement compared to last they saw it; it was mostly loose wood and stone littering the place. It definitely didn't look any cleaner, at the least. They try to be as thorough as possible, including checking the inside of all the freezers and the ice bear fridge – now powered off – as well as the furnace.

Eventually, after finding nothing, they decide to check out the hidden bunker. They make their way to the hole in the wall finding a wooden pallet leaning against the wall, hiding the entrance to it. Cuno places the flashlight down before he and Annette both grab the pallet on each side to carry it away.

Cuno picks up the flashlight again and lights up the room as he heads in first. He lets out a whistle as he looks around, mainly shining the light on the ground. "Someone's been partying down here."

Annette goes in after him and examines the room. She squats down to get a closer look. Cigarette butts and small pieces of torn paper littered the floor, as well as a few crushed beer cans and some empty snack packets.

"What're these papers?" Annette frowns as she begins to pick up some of them.

"Huh, dunno. There's a whole bunch, though." Cuno crouches down as well.

They decide to collect as many they could find. Once they feel they've gathered most of it, they both sat across from each other in the middle of the room and placed the papers in between them, Cuno holding the light on top of it. They notice some of them were not just torn but singed at the edges, too.

They both start to examine the papers closely to decipher the context of the writing – if they were relevant to the books they were looking for. It doesn't take long before Cuno picks up on something.

"Ann…" he says with a bit of an apologetic tone. He had separated a few torn pieces from the rest. He holds them up for Annette to see. These did not just have words like the rest.

"This is-" Annette's voice drifts off. "It's the Cat-Astro comic…"

"That means the rest of this shit is…" Cuno frowns as he sifts through the papers. "Fuck. Sorry, Ann."

"That's okay." Annette smiles sadly. She's bothered by this discovery, but what's done is done. "This actually tells us a lot. It means we're definitely not looking for someone trying to sell books or even likes books."

"Stupid fuck," Cuno grumbles as he continues looking through them. "At least fucking sell'em. That's 100 fucking reál, easy. Wasteful shit."

Amongst the rest of the papers, they're able to find some sentences referencing Dick Mullen, some using Hjelmdallermann vocabulary, and some others with variations of the word 'pickle' in it. The rest of the sentences were too vague or broad to determine context.

That's - at least - 4 damaged books confirmed, and 1 undamaged book found.

"So," Annette sighs as she stares at her notes. "What do we make of this?"

"Hmm." Cuno puts down the flashlight so that it's facing upwards. He crosses his arms and stares at the pile of papers with a scowl. "I hate to say it, but pretty sure this proves the fire has somethin' to do with this…"

"Yeah…" Annette frowns. "And we know Ms. Mira was there for the fire…"

"And a second person's involved," Cuno says. "Partners in crime shit."

"I mean, I would have believed the club thefts, but this book burning is so strange." Annette sounds doubtful. "I really don't see what she would have against my mum…"

"Eh, I wouldn't be surprised if your mom pissed her off somehow," Cuno says nonchalantly. "Didn't you mention how she stopped going to the store?"

"But this seems awfully petty, doesn't it?" Annette frowns. "Regardless, I think the books are unrelated to the rest of the thefts now. If they were stealing the books to sell it then it would make sense… but this is a targeted attack, and the rest of the thefts seem closer to survival…"

"Yeah, yeah, hobo shit." Cuno nods. "I still think the Hardie fuckers are actin' weird about the whole thing."

"We really need to get answers from Ms. Mira tomorrow," Annette sighs as she rubs her temples. She wasn't used to being up this late at all and trying to make up theories was pretty hard with her current brain fog.

"Alright, if we're done here," Cuno says as he grabs the flashlight and stands up. "Time to corner the Dice-chick. Interrogation style!"

Annette nods and gathers up all the torn papers, putting them carefully into her pocket. She also makes a quick note of the brands of the beer and snack packets that were trashed around before they finally head out.

Cuno slams his fist several times against the metal safety curtains to the chimney.

Annette looks behind them in worry. As if someone would hear them and catch them up here.

"Hey!! Dice lady!" Cuno shouts, his voice echoing loudly. "You in there?"

"Huh…? Yes?" The soft muffled voice of a woman behind the door. "One moment."

They hear footsteps approaching and then the creek of metal as the curtains are pulled upwards. Neha stands in front of them, squinting at the flash of the light in her eyes. Cuno lowers the light so that it's out of her face.

"Oh, hello uh,… Annette, right?" Neha asks, blinking a few times to get the light out of her eyes.

"Yes, that's right, ma'am." Annette relaxes at the sight of the familiar face and soft tone. "Good evening. Sorry for the bother…"

"And you." Neha turns to Cuno, a hand on her chin. "You look familiar."

"The name's Cuno," he states simply. "Cuno used to live in shithole Martinaise. Not anymore."

"Ah, Cuno." Neha nods in recognition at his voice. The kid with a sailor's mouth. "You're the one who left a message earlier, aren't you? What are you kids doing up here so late? It can't be to buy dice, is it?"

"Yes, well… Could we come inside, ma'am?" Annette asks in a small voice. "We'd like to talk, if that's okay."

"I suppose." Neha shrugs and heads up the rickety stairs back to her desk.

Cuno and Annette follow inside, turning off the flashlight. The room was filled with moonlight from the window and there are several lamps around the room. It's a cozy kind of dark in here.

Neha sits back down at her desk and motions towards two chairs near the corner of the room for them to sit down. The kids do so, looking around the place. Cuno notices a shelf of books next to him, so he starts to look through the titles out of the habit he picked up today.

"You could have just come by tomorrow," Neha says, grabbing a bright red polyhedron die and a paintbrush from the table. "This must be important?"

"Well, ma'am, someone's stolen a lot of books from the bookstore. And a bunch of other stuff all around the area." Annette pulls out her notebook and opens it on her lap. "Well, it could be more than one person…"

"Oh, that's awful." Neha frowns. She focuses on the die in her hand, carefully painting the numbers onto it. "I'm sorry, I have no idea about any of this."

"We think the thief snuck in from this side of the building and not the main bookstore entrance." Annette continues. "So, we were wondering if you could let us know who you've let inside. Specifically, from May 31st until the 12th of this month."

"I don't know if any of my clients would steal your books…" Neha furrows her brows as she thinks. She puts down the die and the brush to open up one of her drawers. She grabs a ledger and opens it on her table, flipping through pages. "Hm… I've had 3 clients in that period. I've only let 2 of them in. The third refused to enter, so I went outside to meet her."

"Do you let them walk up on their own?" Annette asks.

"Yes, unless they're new clients." Neha nods. "These two were regulars. They came in together on the 2nd to place their order and again on the 4th to pick up their dice."

"Who were they?" she asks.

"Their names are Steban and Ulixes," Neha responds.

"Oh. We've met Mr. Steban, right?" Annette looks to Cuno.

Cuno looks up, unsatisfied with the bookshelf. He sees they've both gone quiet and were looking at him. "Hm? What?"

"Mr. Steban came in to order dice earlier this month," Annette repeats, flipping through her notebook to the Capeside Apartment interviews.

"Do we know him?" Cuno asks.

"Yes, he's the one with all those political books. In the Capeside Apartments?"

"Oh." Cuno slumps in his chair, demotivated. "This is another fucking dead end. It's not that loser."

"Yes, I don't think it would be either of them," Neha agrees. Cuno makes sure to pay attention this time.

"Who's the 3rd person?" Annette asks.

"Her name is Gemma. She was too scared of the bear to come inside." Neha chuckles a bit. "She's just a kid, probably the same age as you. Very timid, too. I don't believe she's your culprit."

"Oh! Was she kind of tall, with long blond hair?" Annette asks with a smile at recognizing the name.

"Yes, that sounds like her," Neha confirms. "Is she a friend of yours?"

"I know her from school, we've played Wirrâl once together!" Annette says.

Cuno groans as he sinks into his chair, but otherwise refrains from any comments.

"I didn't know she came here to get dice," Annette continues, ignoring Cuno's predictable reaction. "But, yes, I don't think it's her, either."

"If you say so, Ann." Cuno shrugs. He's a lot less eager to suspect anyone and everyone anymore. It's been a long day of talking to a lot of people and learning a whole lot of almost-nothings - which felt worse than total nothings.

"Okay, so, have you seen anything suspicious this month?" Annette continues with the next question.

"Hmm… Well, there's the wreckage downstairs, you might have already seen that," Neha says with a frown.

"When did that happen?" Cuno asks.

"Earlier this month," Neha rubs her forehead. "It was very strange. I came in one morning, a Sunday, and it looked like an earthquake had hit – well, more than it usually did. I guess someone got in somehow."

"Did anything in your space here get fucked up?" Cuno asks, looking around. "Anything stolen?"

"No, not at all," Neha answers.

"Did you tell anyone about the wreck?" Annette asks. "Like, report it or something?"

"Who would I tell?" Neha shrugs. "This place is already quite run down; it's not going to be a high priority on anyone's list. My workshop is fine and that's all that really matters to me."

"So, you told nothin' to the Hardie boys?" Cuno asks.

"Oh, definitely not," she scoffs, amused at the idea. That does get her more on Cuno's good side.

"So, you saw the gym, too?" Annette asks. "Do you know what that's about?"

"Oh, no, I don't go to that side at all to be honest," Neha frowns. "Is it bad there too?"

"You should go look yourself," Cuno chimes in to answer, not wanting to waste their time with explaining.

"How about anything suspicious in the basement?" Annette asks next.

"I don't believe so?" Neha hums in thought as she continues her work on the dice. "No, nothing, really."

"Torn papers maybe…?" Annette adds.

"That sounds like a normal view in this building," Neha answers. "Nothing stood out to me."

"Didn't even see a book in the middle of the fuckin' stairs?" Cuno asks, a little irritated at the memory.

"No, nothing like that." Neha shakes her head. "Which stairs?"

"What? You just fucking black out walking up here or somethin'?" Cuno asks, raising a brow. "It was, like, right fucking there in the basement!"

"I don't know what to tell you," Neha says as neutrally as always, his tone not phasing her. "I didn't see anything. It's pretty dark in case you haven't noticed."

"Fine, how about a fire?" Cuno asks, pointing out the window with his thumb. "Out in the yard? 'Bout a week ago."

"No, not at all. I don't really look outside my window," Neha answers, not looking up. "What's the fire about?"

"Doesn't matter," Cuno grumbles, what little good will she gained was gone.

"Okay… Have you let anyone who isn't a client in?" Annette asks carefully.

"Oh- yes! I've had one woman ask to enter a few days ago." Neha looks up - her voice has a small peak of energy as she can finally answer a question with a positive. "What was her name… Sam? Sammy?"

"What did she want to come in for?" Annette asks, writing quickly. Both her and Cuno were listening intently after the new name.

"She said she dropped something in here? I don't know, but I didn't think much of it," Neha frowns apologetically. "But this was definitely after the 12th. Quite recent really."

"Did you see her?" Annette asks.

"No, sorry," she shakes her head.

"What did she sound like?"

"I don't remember - and you know how unclear these intercoms can get." Neha sighs, her small energy depleted as she realized she didn't have much information to provide after all. "I wish you could have told me about the thefts, I would have been more careful."

"Yeah…" Annette frowns. "Mum is… well, you know."

"Ah." Neha nods knowingly. "She suspects me, hm?"

Annette just looks away awkwardly and Neha chuckles.

"Trust me, I have nothing to gain by leading yet another business to ruin," Neha answers with a bit of amusement. "This building has an awful reputation as it is."

"I suppose so…" Annette didn't really suspect Neha anyway.

"You know a 'Mira'?" Cuno asks suddenly, studying her reaction carefully.

"Hmm… I don't believe so?" Neha tilts her head. She didn't seem phased at all by the name. "Who is she?"

"One of the Hardie bitches or somethin'," Cuno says.

"Doesn't ring a bell," Neha says. "Do you think she's responsible?"

"She might know something," Annette says cautiously, not wanting to accuse anyone.

"Alright," Cuno exhales in irritation as he stands up. "That felt like a major waste of time."

"Uh- Cuno doesn't mean that…" Annette smiles apologetically as she stands up as well. The boy rolls his eyes. "We're just tired. We really do appreciate you talking to us so late."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help," Neha says genuinely towards Annette. "Actually- you said you play Wirrâl, right?"

"Heh, well, a couple of times," Annette answers as she pockets her notebook.

"Do you have any of your own dice?" Neha asks as she opens up a drawer, looking through it.

"No, I don't play often enough for that," Annette says, a little wistful at the idea.

"Well, how about picking out your first dice now?" Neha smiles as she pulls out a box, opening it on the table under the lamp. "Consider it a gift for being a good neighbor."

"Really…?" Annette asks with wide eyes as she stares at the dice in the box. Neha nods.

"Pick out any one you want," Neha insists. "These are all standard dice, 24-sided, so they're perfect for Wirrâl games."

"Oh, I couldn't do that…" Annette denies politely, very unconvincingly. She doesn't take her eyes off the dice.

"A lot of these are paid for already," Neha says with a small dismissive wave of her hand. "For one reason or another, no one's come to pick them up. It'd be a shame for them to go to waste."

"Well..." Annette just stares, slowly picking up one dice at a time, unable to make a choice. Cuno resists the urge to tap his foot or make any comments as he grows impatient. He could see this made her happy and he wasn't going to shit on her for it.

"Ohh… This looks pretty." Annette smiles wide as she finally picks one out. It was a slightly translucent soft green die with tiny, white flowers encased within. The numbers are engraved in a golden color. "What flower is this?"

"It's a type of carnation. The common name is Snow-In-Summer." Neha smiles. "As the name suggests, it blooms at the start of summer. They tend to spread pretty quickly and looks like fresh snowfall in large bunches. A bit like a fond farewell to the winter."

"Can I take this one?" Annette asks with an excited smile.

"Of course." Neha nods. She looks at Cuno who seems to have wandered off to another world, staring idly out the window. "Cuno, would you like to choose one?"

"Huh?" Cuno snaps back, looking at Neha then at Annette, seeing the die in her hand. "Oh, you done?"

"You can pick one, too," Neha offers again with a small smile now that he was listening.

"Yeah, no, I'll pass," Cuno says blankly. "Cuno doesn't do this kiddie shit. No offense."

"I really think you'd like Wirrâl if you gave it a chance," Annette insists.

"Eh. I doubt it." Cuno doesn't even look at the box of dice.

"Can I pick one for you?" Annette asks. He just sighs and gives an indifferent shrug.

Annette already knew which one it'd be. She picks up an amber die with a winged insect trapped within. She hands it over to Cuno who holds it up to his face, squinting his eyes.

"That a wasp in there?" he asks, turning the dice in his hand. The bug looked like it was mid-flight.

"Yes, it's fossilized in the amber," Neha responds as she closes the dice box. "Everything lined up for this insect to be preserved. A little piece of the past."

Cuno stares at it for a few more moments before he gives it a roll on the table. It lands on 24.

"Woah, you've got a lucky dice!" Annette says excitedly, leaning forward towards the dice.

"Heh- that's fucking right! Cuno can make anything bend to his will," Cuno says smugly, puffing up his chest.

Annette rolls her dice next. It comes up with an anticlimactic 11.

"Oh, boo..." Annette pouts as she picks it up again.

"Hey, don't feel too bad," Cuno says amused, picking up his own dice again and closing his hand around it. "Wasps are just brutal like that. Go for the kill, just like Cuno."

"I'm happy to see that you like them," Neha smiles as she puts the dice box back in the drawer.

"Uh, yeah. It's okay," Cuno clears his throat and crosses his arm as he goes back to his neutral tone. He almost forgot that Neha was there.

"Thank you so much, ma'am," Annette says, her wide smile returning as she clasps the dice in between both her hands. "Are you going to be here tomorrow?"

"Yes, I should be." Neha nods.

"Would it be okay if you let us in through the intercom?"

"Sure. Just don’t let your mother get wind of it." Neha smiles with a wink.

"That's the plan," Annette laughs a bit nervously.

Feeling confident that they've been thorough in their search, the two detectives make their way back to the bookstore. They make sure to lock the back door and push all the boxes into their original positions before leaving.

"Sam... Sammy… Samantha...?" Annette mumbles idly as she locks up the entrance to the bookstore. "I can't think of anyone…"

"Me neither. It has to be the second person, right?" Cuno says, turning his new dice in his hand. "Cleaning up evidence shit…"

"Well, if it is, they didn't do a good job." Annette holds up the fantastique book they found. "They left behind all the torn papers, too. We'll just keep a note of the name, I suppose…"

"We'll figure all this shit out tomorrow," Cuno says with full conviction, pocketing the dice.

Annette nods as she attempts to hold in a yawn, covering her mouth.

"Hey, I can walk you home," Cuno offers.

"Hm? Oh, there's no need," Annette smiles slightly. She clearly looked tired. "It's not too far, and I don't want to keep you up…"

"Trust me, I'm not going to sleep anytime soon," Cuno scoffs. "Got enough sleep already."

"Well… Okay, thank you," Annette says. Cuno could see her demeanor relax.

They walk through the roundabout past the statue of the Filippian king. The streets were no longer still from the traffic jam they got so used to seeing earlier in the year. It was late, but it was also a weekend, so the streets weren't as empty as it would be this late, with the occasional motor carriage down the road, and the drunks walking down the sidewalk.

"Hey, Cuno…" Annette starts, holding the book with both hands in front of her. "Why did you decide to come today?"

"Uh, what do you mean?" Cuno asks, slightly confused.

"I mean, you know, it's just been a while since the last time..." Annette elaborates.

"I guess." Cuno shrugs awkwardly, pocketing his hands. The last time he'd visited was almost a month ago now, a few days after Annette started her summer break. He used to visit a little more often before that.

"Did something come up?" Annette asks casually, knowing he'd shut down if she spoke with anything close to concern. Cuno never said as much but she knew how uncomfortable it made him to be in Martinaise. It meant a lot that he'd still come over to see her.

"Been busy, you know, pig work and shit," Cuno nods seriously. "The 41st falls apart without Cuno around. Officer Cuno keeps'em in line."

Annette studies his face for a few seconds before looking ahead again.

"Maybe I could visit you in Jamrock?" Annette suggests with a smile.

"Huh?" Cuno looks at her a bit surprised. "Would your crazy mom even let you?"

"It's my summer break! I should be allowed to visit friends now," she says with a small pout.

"Uh, I meant visiting Cuno," he adds awkwardly, pointing towards himself. Cuno knew Plaisance didn't like him, to say the very least. He saw the way her face would turn at the sight of him, especially when hanging out with Annette.

"Oh." Annette frowns with a small hum. Then she shrugs, looking unbothered. "Well, I guess she doesn't need to know who I'm visiting."

"Psh-" Cuno laughs a bit in surprise at hearing the idea coming from Annette and not himself. "I think you might change your mind after getting some sleep. You're clearly tired as fuck now."

"Oh, come on. I've been breaking rules all day," Annette says proudly. "And visiting a friend isn't even breaking any rules! I just need to be back by curfew…"

"You don't got a car, do you?" Cuno asks. "'Cause it's like an hour on bus."

"Yeah, I know," she says. "That's why it's not fair for only you to keep making that trip."

"Eh, it's nothing to Cuno." He shrugs. "But… Yeah, it'd be cool if you did. Visit."

It doesn't take much longer until they finally got to Annette's apartment complex.

"Thank you for today, Cuno," Annette says with a tired smile as they stop in front of the building. "It's been a ton of fun."

"There's nothin' fun about detective work," Cuno tuts with mock seriousness, tipping up an imaginary hat. "Just another gruesome day on the job."

"Heh, of course, of course," Annette says with a nod, trying - and failing - to match the serious tone. She gives a small salute. "Good work today, detective."

"You too, partner," Cuno says, holding out his hand for a handshake.

Instead of taking his hand, Annette steps forward and gives Cuno a hug. He drops his arm and groans in annoyance.

"I'm not even leaving," Cuno grumbles, not really moving to return the hug or to separate it either. "We're seeing each other tomorrow!"

"I know," Annette chuckles a bit as she lets go. "But it's not like you need a reason to hug, you know?"

"Ugh, gross." Cuno rolls his eyes, keeping his focus on something slightly to the right of Annette's face. That was something Harry would say as well...

"I'll see you tomorrow," Annette says with another small laugh and a wave as she enters the building. "Goodnight, Cuno."

"Goodnight," he mumbles back.

Once she was gone, Cuno reaches into his pocket and pulls out the amber die - declared lucky. He holds it tightly in his hand as he makes his way back to the hostel, with hurried steps. His eyes don't stop flitting all around him.

Cuno sits on the couch-bed, back in his hostel room - feeling the same strange, unplaceable sense of dread he's felt all night. He unfurls his hand and looks at the amber die. There were red imprints on his palm where he'd gripped it tightly.

"Stupid…" Cuno scowls at it as he tosses it on the couch next to him. As if some bug in a pebble was supposed to protect him…

Protect him from what?

Cuno grips his knees tightly as he looks up at the window.

Why was he still so scared of her? Why does she still persist in his nightmares?

'You betrayed me.'

He shakes his head, trying to get the image of her out of his head.

The boy reaches into his pocket and pulls out his small circular pill case.

It was a stimulant (prescribed; because that's just the kind of life he lives now). He's supposed to take one every morning. It helped him focus and gave him the energy to get shit done instead of being barely able to move all day. It also helped with his insomnia since he'd be pretty tired by the end of the day; once it was out of his system.

He looks at the clock. 1:20am. It's definitely out of his system now and today has been a very, very long day.

He opens the pill case and stares at the pill. He was only allowed to carry the one at any given time.

Cuno takes a deep breath and exhales. It takes a lot of effort, but he closes the case and puts it back in his pocket.

With the Dick Mullen book in one hand and the new dice in the other, he heads out of the room and out onto the balcony. He sits down on the corner of the platform, his feet dangling off the edge, and places the book on the ground next to him and keeps the dice in his hand. He crosses his arms over the railing and stares ahead.

He scans the area and keeps a diligent watch.

"I think you'd be a good artist."

"Huh?" Cuno turned his head to look at Annette in confusion. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You know! When you grow up," Annette said with a wide smile, her eyes lighting up as she continued. "Oh! Maybe you could be, like, a bug scientist!"

"Oh, you're still on that shit." Cuno rolled his eyes and turned his attention back up to the sky.

They'd finished going through the 'cursed' building without finding much anything of interest. Annette was just happy to finally have her curiosity satiated. Cuno, on the other hand, was hoping to find something valuable left behind, but it was mostly just old furniture and random papers. In the end, Cuno and Annette just grabbed some of the dumbbells lying around, as well as a broken taxidermy bird, and dropped them off at their shack, with the plan to pawn it off tomorrow.

Neither of them really wanted to go home yet.

So, here they were. Sat atop the roof of the Union's secretary office. Looking over the traffic jammed streets under the big, dark sky.

"Cuno told you already," the boy sounded exasperated. "Cuno's already an adult! Got business ventures set up all over Martinaise. Enterprise shit. Cuno's not gonna do any of that binoclard shit you just said. Cuno's a businessman!"

Annette hummed, unsatisfied with the answer, now hearing it for the second time. She knew that meant selling the stuff he stole from the lorries and tare-collecting. But that's not really what she was asking about - and she gets the feeling Cuno knew that. That he's just dodging the question.

"What about you, huh?" Cuno asked, almost accusatorially. "So focused on the Cuno, you didn't even answer it yourself."

"Okay, okay, fair enough," Annette said sheepishly then continued even quieter. "I think… I'd like to be a writer."

"Ooh, wait- I didn't know you wrote shit!" Cuno sounded intrigued now. "What kinda writer? Murder mystery shit? One of those like science-y bullshit space stuff you like?"

"Um, this and that…" she answered - noncommittal - fidgeting with her hands nervously. "I'm not good at it or anything, and it's probably not a realistic goal. But it's fun for now."

"Can Cuno read any of it?" he asked excitedly.

"No way! You'll just make fun of me," she said, pulling up the collar of her coat to hide her face.

"Oh, c'mon! Please? Cuno won't take any digs at it," Cuno insisted, leaning a bit forward to see her face.

"Yes, you totally will." Annette shook her head, looking away. "You make fun of me for everything."

"Hey. Cuno's just shooting the shit. Banter between friends shit," Cuno said, furrowing his brows. "Don't tell Cuno it's actually hurtin' your feelings."

"No, it's not that. I get that," Annette said, sounding honest enough. She's still hiding her face. "But I don't know. I've never shown anyone my writing before… and I know you'll think it's stupid, so..."

Cuno instantly recognized that feeling. How could he not?

Cuno saw it in himself doing graffito and holding back lest it started looking like 'art'. In hiding his Hjelmdall books lest he started looking like a 'binoclard'. In destroying Locust City... Even with the pig complimenting Night City, it was still ruined. It wasn't just his anymore.

She hides it because writing makes her happy. Because she doesn't want to risk holding herself back knowing someone's judging her. She wants it to stay fully hers.

"Yeah, yeah, Cuno gets it." Cuno nodded sagely. "Some shit's just personal. Not anyone's business."

Annette peaked up from her collar, a little cautious, not knowing what she expected him to say.

"You don't gotta show Cuno shit if you don't want to," Cuno said with a shrug. "But… you got Cuno all wrong. Writing shit's hard. Cuno respects the hustle. Point is... I won't make fun of you, okay?"

"…Thanks, Cuno," Annette said with a small smile as she brought her collar back down. "I don't know if I'll ever be confident enough to share my writing but… I appreciate it."

They both sat in silence for a while. Annette had pulled her knees up close, resting her head on her crossed arms. Cuno had laid down on his back, arms sprawled out. He stared up at the polluted sky.

He thought of Le Royaume, the catacombs; what was once his escape plan with C... the closest thing to a 'future' he had imagined for himself. He didn't even have that anymore.

"...Cuno doesn't know what Cuno wants to be," Cuno said suddenly, flatly. "Cuno's never thought about it. Not really."

"Well..." Annette looked up and turned to look at his face. She was glad to hear a sincere answer, even if it was uncertain. "You've got plenty of time to figure it out."

"...Yeah, I guess so."

Chapter Text

Cuno stares at the book in his hand, only seeing shapes and lines without any meaning attached. He couldn't even picture any of the scenes in his head anymore.

He doesn't know how long he'd been sitting out here on the balcony. He barely moved from his spot. Through the tiredness and the brain fog, his anxiety remained high. He felt like a sitting duck, out here in the dark, wide in the open…

Just before his anxiety could escalate even more, he sees the six Hardie boys finally leaving the Whirling-in-Rags. He puts his book aside and pulls his legs up. He kept a close eye specifically on the woman - Mira. She was stumbling, walking in between Titus and Eugene. Titus tries to hold her arm to help her along, but she shakes her arm and waves limply as she walked ahead of them. They still followed after her.

"Hey, kid!"

The voice came from below. Cuno looks down to see the Samaran man from earlier looking up at him with concern. Cuno didn't catch his name. He was really tall and muscular, with clean, black hair in a crew-cut.

"Fuck you want?" Cuno asks with a scowl as he turns his focus back to the rest of the Hardie boys walking away. "I'm busy."

"It's really late. Shouldn't you be heading to sleep?" he asks - a bit of a Suresne accent.

Cuno flips him the bird without even turning his way. He sees Titus and Eugene continuing to escort Mira, heading towards the building across the street with the big FALN sign. Alain and Randy had separated from them and kept walking further down the street.

Once he sees them disappear from sight, he looks back down and finds no one there.

"Hey-"

Cuno jumps in his spot as he turns to look up at the sudden voice next to him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle," the tall man says with an apologetic smile, now up on the balcony with him. "Can I sit here with you?"

"Cuno's not in the mood for your shit," Cuno scowls up at the man. "If you're just here to treat Cuno like a baby, you can fuck off."

"Yeah… I do want to apologise about earlier – especially for Randy, he's an asshole." The man takes that as a conditional 'yes', so he sits down. "Name's Marco, by the way. You're Cuno?"

Cuno takes note of how sober he sounds. Still, he doesn't respond,  just turning his focus ahead again. Scanning the area.

"Keeping an eye out, huh?" Marco asks.

"What do you want?" Cuno snaps back.

"Just want to chat," Marco says simply, now sitting with one leg dangling off the balcony, leaning back on his hands. "Can't be very interesting, sitting up here for hours."

"Cuno's a professional. Night-long stake outs are nothing." Cuno stifles a yawn at the last word, undermining his confidence.

"Right, I see the Dick Mullen book," Marco says with a smile. "You said you're a detective, huh?"

"Fuck you." Cuno scowls in an attempt to hide his embarrassment, putting a hand over the book and pushing it behind him. "Cuno doesn't need your patronising bullshit."

"Oh- No, sorry. I wasn't trying to be." Marco loses his smile. He sounded genuine enough. "You and your friend, you've clearly done a lot of work. I'm not dissing that at all."

Cuno just rolls his eyes, remaining focused ahead.

"In fact, I'd really like to hear what you know," Marco continues.

"Of course," Cuno scoffs, looking back at the man. "That's why you're talking to me, huh? Wanna cover your tracks? Cuno's not stupid. Cuno sees through your shit."

"Cover my tracks?" Marco asks, raising a brow. "What tracks?"

"Yeah, you and the Hardie fuckers. You can't get Cuno to talk. Cuno's a fucking professional," he repeats smugly.

"You really don't trust the Hardie boys, huh?" Marco points out.

"No one does." Cuno rolls his eyes again. "You all act like you run the place, like you actually fucking help anyone. Just self-serving assholes – smelling your own shit."

"Hm…" Marco frowns as he turns to look out at the plaza, leaning forward. He drums his fingers against the railing. "I suppose that explains why I've rarely seen anyone ask for help."

"You fuckin' new here or something?" Cuno asks, raising a brow.

"Well… I moved here a little over a month ago," he smiles awkwardly. "That obvious?"

"As fuck," Cuno scoffs. "So, one month in and you're already Hardie's bitch? The fuck did you do?"

"I was hoping to help people by joining them." He shrugs. "I was pretty involved in my last community, though not quite in a 'policing' sense. I got along with most of the Hardie boys, so I figured I'd give it a try."

"Do you even know what they did?" Cuno furrows his brows.

"In what sense?" Marco asks.

"The whole fake lynching shit," Cuno nods his head towards the plaza below them. "Half the Hardies died right fucking here because of it, you know."

"Ah, that." Marco frowns. "Yes, I've heard about that, of course. As I understand, they were protecting people from mercenaries gone rogue."

"The whole reason those mercs went crazy was because of them," Cuno says bitterly, still staring at the plaza ahead.

"…Were you around for it?" Marco asks, looking at Cuno's face.

"No. Cuno was dealing with some other shit," Cuno still sounds bitter, his focus moving up slightly. "Cuno wasn't around for the bloodbath."

Marco follows the boy's gaze - the bookstore.

"The Hardie fuckers were lucky my pigs were around to clean their fucking mess up," Cuno continues, the energy returning to his voice, now sounding smug.

"Your pigs?" Marco asks.

"Yeah, yeah, the smart fuckers that found the real killer." Cuno grins, throwing two quick punches in the air. "One of my pigs even got shot in the leg, right here in the shoot-out. Bled like a bitch, but that didn't stop him! Psycho went out there and faced the killer head on!"

"Oh, them. Yes, I've read about them." Marco smiles at the sight of Cuno's enthusiasm. He wonders which came first, Cuno's interest in detective work or the admiration of the detectives that solved the case. "You got to meet them, huh?"

"Meet them? Cuno's their boss," he corrects him, crossing his arms and puffing his chest. "I keep the fuckers in line at the 41st. Cuno-style."

"That's all the way out in Central Jamrock, huh?" Marco notes. "You seem pretty familiar with Martinaise."

"Yeah, Cuno's lived here pretty much his whole life," Cuno says, resting his crossed arms over the railing again. "I finally got out of this shithole a few months ago."

"What brings you back then?" Marco asks.

The boy shrugs as he turns to scan the area again.

"…Here to visit your friend?" he asks with an amused smile.

"Look, unlike you, Cuno's a real fucking cop," he huffs, side-stepping the question. "Detective Cunn's here because there's a mystery that needs solving!"

"Heh, I see," Marco says with a nod.

"Why the fuck did you move here?" Cuno asks. "This place sucks."

"It's not too bad," Marco says with a shrug. "I moved because it just seemed… more stable? Despite everything that's happened, the Union still managed to claim the terminal. I didn't want to be around for, uh, other strikes, you know?"

"Right, right," Cuno says seriously, nodding along as if he completely understood. "So… you just here to shoot the shit with Cuno or what?" He didn't sound as irritated as he first did anymore. It was boring sitting up here on his own.

"I don't mind if that's all you want to do," Marco says. "But I'm still quite interested to hear what you were able to find out. In regard to the thefts - and especially why you think the fire's involved."

Cuno scrunches his nose, narrowing his eyes as he thought about it. "What does Cuno get out of this?"

"Hmm… I guess if you have any questions, I'll answer them best I can," Marco offers. "You seem to have your suspicions on the Hardie boys after all."

"Okay, meathead…" Cuno nods and sits up straight. "You wanna talk? Swap intel and shit? Secret snitch-bitch shit? Cuno's not opposed to it. But if you try to lie to the Cuno, this arrangement is over."

"Understood." Marco smiles, a little surprised he managed to get through to the kid.

"First question: why the fuck aren't you dicks investigatin'?" Cuno asks, pointing an accusatory finger. This question was more a test of how truthful this guy was going to be.

"Because we weren't aware," Marco answers. "I told you; no one came forward about any of the thefts."

"Nah, Cuno's talking about the club thief." Cuno watches Marco's face carefully. "Why aren't you trying to find that fucker?"

"What makes you think we aren't?" Marco asks. He didn't sound surprised by the accusation.

"'Cause we only knew about the bookstore, and it took just one fucking day for us to find out everything else," Cuno says matter-of-factly. "Look - me and Ann? Top-tier detectives. Wouldn't expect you fake pigs to get all the info we did. But you expect me to believe you fuckers found out about nothing else?"

"Hmm… Well, yeah. You've got it right." Marco shrugs. He doesn't look offended. "The kids running the club didn't really have any helpful description of the culprit and we couldn't find any sort of lead at the scene. So, we just decided to ignore it for the time being."

"Really?" Cuno squints. "You remember the arrangement, don't you?"

"Yes?" Marco says, not sure what part seemed like the lie.

"There's no other reason for you ignoring it?" Cuno prods again.

"What other reason would there be?" Marco asks, confused. It seemed like genuine confusion to Cuno.

"Maybe covering for someone?" Cuno leans in closer to the man, furrowing his brows even deeper.

"Covering?" Marco scoffs. "No, definitely not. I don't think the Claires would appreciate that if they caught wind of it."

"Those fat fucks have some investment or some shit?"

"I just know that they don't take kindly to sabotaging local businesses," Marco answers. Not without their say so, he leaves out. "We won't waste our time looking for someone without a lead, but if we knew anything, we would already have dealt with it."

"Right. Sure." Cuno's sarcasm is clear. He does not seem to believe him.

"Sounds to me like you might already know who the thief is," Marco says with a raised brow. "Mind enlightening me?"

"Hmm…" Cuno sits up straight again. "No. Cuno's still got more questions."

"Fair enough. Lay it on me." Marco nods.

"What's the whole deal with the Hardie bitch and the fire?" This is what he really needs an answer to.

"You're talking about Mira?" Marco asks. Cuno nods. "Well, first off. She's not a Hardie boy- girl? If that's what your very classy nickname is implying."

"Huh. So, which one of you is she fucking?" Cuno asks casually.

"Uh- I don't know what you think that word means…" Marco laughs awkwardly.

"You think Cuno's stupid?" Cuno scowls, voice growing louder. "I asked which one of you is having sex with the bitch!"

"Okay, okay, no she's not with anyone," Marco answers quickly, almost in a panic, just to get the boy to stop talking.

"So, what the fuck is she doing hanging around the Hardies?" Cuno asks, going back to his normal – still loud – volume.

"She's a translator for the Union, so sometimes she helps with that," Marco replies, relieved to move on.

"She was fucked up when I saw her, so clearly that's not what she was doing yesterday," Cuno points out. "Give Cuno the specifics."

"Okay, yeah, I don't know. She showed up drunk," he sighs. "She passed out in the corner after venting. It's been like that for a while. We just sort of ignore her. Probably why Titus didn't want you talking to her or waking her up; she'd just start crying again."

"Sounds like she's unstable…" Cuno points out, suspiciously. "What's got her crying?"

"Bad break-up," Marco says uncomfortably. "I think there's more to it, but I'm not one to pry. I tune her out."

"Boring shit," Cuno groans. "Fine, whatever. What about the fire?"

"Oh, yeah, that mess," Marco sighs again. "Again, I'm not one to pry. As far as I know, she got super drunk one night and started burning her ex's stuff out in the yard. She's very embarrassed about the whole thing."

"That's her fucking cover story?" Cuno scoffs.

"Again, with the 'covering', hm?" Marco points out.

"We have evidence, meathead." Cuno taps the side of his head. "We got this shit figured out. It's just about getting her to confess and pay back for the bullshit."

"Confess to…?"

"She burned books in the yard. Books were stolen from the bookstore that's right fucking there!" Cuno says in annoyance, spreading an arm towards the store's direction. "You really got fucking nothing going on up there, huh?"

Marco furrows his brows before nodding slowly and clicking his tongue. "And how many books were stolen…?"

"Twenty-fucking-five," Cuno emphasizes each word. "All on the same fucking night as the fire."

"Oh…" Marco nods again, realization falling across his face. "Okay, well. Shit. No, yeah, I see where you're coming from."

Cuno's eyes widen, and he blinks a few times. He did not expect this complete lack of resistance at the accusation. Marco sees the shocked look on Cuno's face and quickly continues.

"I'm not saying that she did it," Marco clarifies. "It's just that knowing about the bookstore… it did make me suspicious."

"Wait, fuck, so we were right?" Cuno asks, growing quieter. "She really was burning books out there?"

"I thought you said you had evidence?" Marco raises a brow.

"Uh- we do!" Cuno crosses his arms and sits up straight. "We already knew that!"

"I mean, if you didn't then you made a real spot-on guess," Marco laughs a bit awkwardly. "Er, you didn't hear any of this from me, yeah?"

"Don't fuckin' sweat it, meathead," Cuno says, tapping the side of his nose. "Cuno's no snitch to people who respect the Cuno."

"Okay, you're right. She was burning books, among other things, out in the yard," Marco confirms.

"And you really just believed her 'ex' story?" Cuno asks.

"We didn't have a reason not to. We already knew how badly this break-up was hitting her." Marco shrugs. "Also, Sylvie was there that night, and she said the same story… If Plaisance had told us about that many missing books, we might have suspected something was up."

"So, the bartender chick was the other person in the yard with her?"

"'Other person'? Did someone see them?"

"Yeah, someone told us there were two people out there," Cuno elaborates. "Couldn't see them clearly, though."

"Then, yeah, makes sense." Marco shrugs.

"Okay- okay- what else?" Cuno asks eagerly. "Like other than the books? What else was she burning?"

"I'm not sure. We helped Mira clean it up that afternoon on our break. It was mostly ash left behind. The only things that were recognizable were the pile of half-burnt books."

"Fuck- did you throw out the books in the trash behind here?" Cuno asks, pointing towards the yard.

Marco nods.

"Oh shit, I need to check it out!" Cuno starts to adjust himself to stand up.

"Pretty sure it's already been emptied…" Marco stops him with an apologetic tone.

"Ugh," Cuno deflates as he sits back down. "Do you remember any of the titles?"

"No, not really…"

Cuno groans even more in annoyance. "Well, whatever! It doesn't matter. We know this bitch did it. The 'ex' story is a fucking cover-up."

"You think so, huh?" Marco frowns. "I don't know Mira as well as the others, but I still find it hard to believe Mira would do this. Does she have something against the bookstore?"

"Dunno. Ann says she hasn't been in for weeks, so maybe?" Cuno taps the railing in annoyance. "Was her boyfriend, like, a librarian or some shit? Seein' books put her in a frenzy?"

"I don't know much of anything about her ex," Marco hums in thought. "Pretty sure it was a girlfriend, though."

"Oh, so she's a fff-," Cuno holds on to that first letter for a second as he catches himself and awkwardly self-corrects. "Uh, one of those…"

"…Gay?" Marco suggests, a little amused.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Cuno says with a dismissive wave. "Anyway, doesn't matter why she did it. We know she did it. End of."

"Okay… what about the rest of the thefts?" Marco asks. "You said you thought we were covering for someone? So, you think it's Mira, too?"

"That's what I think yeah. But Ann thinks it might be someone else – hobo or some shit."

"Makes sense…" Marco frowns at the thought of it. "Mira's got a lot of explaining to do…"

"Damn right she does," Cuno says, annoyed.

"So… have I earned your trust?" Marco asks. "Do I get access to your secret info?"

"Hm… You're alright in Cuno's book, meathead." Cuno nods slowly and seriously. "But… My partner still needs to vet you. Cuno's given out enough shit without her present."

Marco sighs dramatically as he hangs his head. "You're one tough nut to crack, huh?"

"Fucking. Professional." He restates once again.

Truth was, Cuno was exhausted and could barely remember much of what happened. He knew he must've also missed asking a bunch of important stuff. Annette was the one with the better memory, as well as the one keeping notes.

"Alright, I think I'll call it a night then." Marco grunts as he pushes himself up, stretching his arms once he was standing. "You probably should, too."

"Nice try," Cuno scoffs, looking up at him. "Cuno's not falling for that."

"Look, I really doubt Mira is going to do some crazy shit again," Marco chuckles a bit. "I think you can rest easy."

"Cuno's not tired-" Cuno tries - and fails - to stifle yet another yawn.

"It won't do you any good to be sleep-deprived when you've got to interrogate Mira." Marco tries not to laugh at Cuno's clear denial.

"Fuck off, Cuno doesn't need your shitty lecture." He rolls his eyes.

"Alright, alright," Marco couldn't help laughing a little. "Well, regardless. It was nice to meet you, Cuno. Goodnight and good luck."

"See ya, meathead." Cuno gives a lazy wave of his hand before the man takes his leave.

Chapter Text

Annette sighed as she continually tapped her pen against the notebook, staring blankly at the math problems in front of her.

She was finally going back to school instead of working in the bookstore, but because she hadn't gone a whole trimester, she had a lot of work to do to catch up with her peers. Sure, her mother home-schooled her during that time, but it still couldn't cover everything.

"Annette, stop that tapping. It's getting on my nerves." Plaisance exhaled slowly, trying to keep her composure. "And sit up straight. You're slouching again."

"Sorry, mum." Annette smiled apologetically as she adjusted her posture, pulling her chair closer to the table in front of her.

Plaisance nodded in approval before turning back to the bookshelf, continuing to re-stock the shelves with new books.

Annette was sitting behind the counter, keeping her mother company in the empty bookstore. Well... she knew it was more that her mother wanted to keep an eye on her – making sure she's studying and not wasting her time with fiction books. But she liked to think of it in the former way.

She continued to stare at the math problems, idly biting at the end of the pen, like if she just looked at them for long enough it'll all click and make sense. Her focus is interrupted by some movement in the corner of her eye, making her glance up instinctively for a second before going back to her notebook...

Annette did a double take, dropping her pen and now looking up towards the movement proper.

There was Cuno, standing outside the store window with a grin, waving his arm widely to get her attention. Once she finally noticed him, he waved her over and pointed a thumb to his right – 'let's get out of here!'

Annette matched his grin as she sat up in excitement - Cuno was back! He'd finally come to visit! She wanted to just get up and run out, but...

Her smile slowly got smaller as she looked towards her mother - completely unaware of the boy's presence, with her back towards the window.

It was no secret that her mother didn't like Cuno, so it was just easier to hide that she was friends with him. That along with the fact that she had a lot of work to finish now...

She looked back towards Cuno with a sort of lost and panicked look, unsure of what to do.

Cuno rolled his eyes, his expression going from excited to annoyed as he held up two fingers to his head like a gun. He mimed pulling the trigger and falling very dramatically to the ground.

Annette snorted a laugh and quickly covered her mouth, looking right back down at the table.

Hearing the sound, Plaisance turned to look at her in confusion. She followed her daughter's earlier gaze out the window, seeing nothing.

"Annette, if you keep day-dreaming, you'll never get anything done," she said sternly as she turned back to her daughter.

"Oh, uh," Annette stuttered as she sat up straight. "Well- um- I just-"

"It's okay," Plaisance cut her off from her stumbling with something close to a reassuring tone. "I just don't want you falling behind, so please try and focus."

"O-okay, I'll try..." Annette said with a nervous smile. She kept pulling at her gloves as she tried to think of a good excuse to get out of schoolwork today.

Plaisance looked at her with furrowed brows, suspicious at the sudden nervousness. Annette made the mistake of giving another quick glance towards the window. Even though she didn't move her head, her mother still caught it. She looked back towards the window again. This time, it was hard to miss the red head of hair peeking out from below - though he attempted to quickly duck further at the sight of her turning head.

The woman marched right up to the door, opening it to find Cuno – sitting on the ground with his back against the wall, slumping low enough so that he was out of view from the window. He sighed in annoyance at the sight of Plaisance. He was really hoping to avoid her.

"Cuno?" Plaisance blinked in surprise.

"Yeeep..." Cuno pushed himself off the ground, grabbing a blue backpack from the floor and slipping his arm into one of the shoulder straps.

"...What were you doing?" was the first of many questions Plaisance had on her mind.

"Cuno was just looking at the books, what else?" Cuno shrugged.

"Right..." Plaisance adjusted her glasses as she eyed him suspiciously. He was obviously trying to hide from her for a reason... 

At this point, Annette had slowly made her way outside as well. All she could think to do at the moment was just quietly give a small wave, and smiling apologetically.

Cuno couldn't help the big smile that spread across his face at the sight of Annette; she was still wearing the gloves he'd gifted her last he'd left.

"Regardless." Plaisance cleared her throat as she took a step in front of Annette. Cuno dropped his smile as he looked up at her. "It's... good to see you're well."

"Uh, thanks?" Cuno said awkwardly. Her insincerity was loud and clear – at least to him.

"You've been gone for... quite a while," Plaisance noted, looking like she's trying to be careful with her words. "Everyone has been quite concerned."

"Right. Sure." Cuno didn't try to hide his sarcasm. "Whatever. Cuno doesn't live in this shithole anymore."

"Khm. Is that so?" Plaisance held her tongue on policing his language; she already knew that was a waste of time and energy. While it was a relief to see him safe, it was a bigger relief to learn that he also wasn't going to be living here anymore. "Well, thank you for stopping by, I suppose. Annette and I have a lot of work to get to, so we'll be on our way."

"Uh- well, mum-" Annette tried to speak up despite her anxiety. "I thought maybe..."

Her voice soon trailed off - though not from the anxiety. Her focus was instead turned to something behind her mother. Cuno had also turned to look towards the south, his face now twisted into a grimace.

Plaisance followed their gaze in confusion and her eyes widen at yet another unexpected visitor.

It was the familiar disco pants and mutton chops of the (self-proclaimed) para-detective. He was running up with shimmering hubcap spinners in his arms.

"Phew- Good morning!" Harry called out with a wide grin as he jogged up to the three of them.

"Officer!" Plaisance smiled wide and clasped her hands together. "What a lovely surprise! It's good to see you again."

"Good morning, detective!" Annette greeted as well, finally stepping out from behind her mother.

"Good to see you both!" Harry said with a warm smile. He continued walking up to Cuno, giving the annoyed boy a pat on the shoulder. "Have you and Cuno caught up already?"

"Pardon?" Plaisance looked at the two of them in confusion, her smile growing tense.

"The fuck are you running around for?!" Cuno yelled up at the man with a scowl. "Cuno's not gonna take care of your fat ass if you fuck up your leg again!"

"Pah, I'm in top condition, kiddo!" Harry just laughed, waving his hand dismissively. "Don't gotta worry about me."

"Cuno's not worried, bitch," Cuno said, not getting any less annoyed. "You're gonna bleed out and die - suicidal pig shit! Cuno's not helping!"

"Okay, okay, you've made your point," Harry said with a chuckle. "Oh, mind if I put these in your bag?" he asked, already zipping the backpack open.

"Ugh, yeah, yeah. Cuno'll carry your shit. Old fuck," Cuno grumbled, holding onto the shoulder straps. "'Top condition', my ass."

Harry rolled his eyes before he carefully placed the spinners in the bag and zipping it up again.

Annette had been covering her mouth to hide her amused smile. She'd never seen them together before. It was very endearing to see Cuno so worried about the detective - even expressing it his own way.

"You two are here... together?" Plaisance asked, smile strained after witnessing the scene in front of her. She could not understand what the officer found so amusing about being thoroughly disrespected like this.

"Oh- yeah!" Harry beamed proudly as he continued, placing both hands on Cuno's shoulders as he stood behind him. "You're looking at a future detective right here!"

Cuno just rolled his eyes, looking away with something of an embarrassed scowl.

"Oh, is- is that so? Well, that's- um-" Plaisance stumbled over her words, not even sure where to begin in clearing up her confusion. The thought of Cuno being a police officer was concerning to say the least.

"It's still pretty cold out, huh?" Harry said, nodding towards the store. "How about we head inside to catch up while the kids hang out?"

"Excuse me?" Plaisance blinked several times. He could not possibly be suggesting-

"Great, cool, see ya!" Cuno spoke hurriedly as he took long strides, walking away towards the Whirling-in-Rags' yard - the fence gates have been entirely removed ever since a certain Motor Carriage crashed into them.

"I promise I'll finish my work tomorrow!" Annette blurted out and followed Cuno before her mother could object. She could deal with the consequences later.

"Now, hold on- Young lady-!" Plaisance called out with wide eyes, grabbing tightly onto her golden pendant. Before she could take a step towards her, Harry had placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Plaisance, could we talk?" he asked in a hushed tone, his earlier bubbliness replaced with a more somber disposition.

"I... I suppose..." Plaisance stood still, taken aback by his sudden seriousness. She gave a worried glance towards the yard before they both headed into the store.

Annette wakes up to the sound of her alarm; bright and early at 6am as always. Even on weekends. Even during her summer break.

She groans as she sits up and grabs her alarm clock, shutting it off. She slips back under the blanket and tries to get a few more minutes of shut eye.

She's only gotten maybe 3 hours of sleep, which was not something she's used to at all. Her mind just kept thinking about the case all night, trying to make connections and planning for their next moves. She felt exhausted.

"Rise and shine, Annette!" Her mother enters her room without a knock. She opens up the curtains in one swift movement.

Annette groans in response, covering her face with the blanket to hide from the light.

"Come now, stop being so lazy," Plaisance tuts as she walks over to the bed. "Just because you have the weekend off does not mean you get to waste that time sleeping."

"Muuum... Just a few more minutes," Annette whines, not moving from under her cover.

"It's already half past 6," Plaisance sighs, her hands on her hips.

"Pleeease?" Annette whines again. "Can't I sleep in, just this once?"

Plaisance frowns at the tired lump under the blanket. Hearing the words 'just this once' stung... but she couldn't just break one of her set rules.

"I know it's hard, but keeping a consistent schedule is one of many important steps to success," Plaisance says sympathetically as she relays this advice.

Annette doesn't move at all.

"Hm..." Plaisance hums as she thinks about a different strategy. "How about this? If you get up now, we can make pancakes."

"...Really?" Annette peaks out from under the blanket, an excited pair of eyes looking up at her.

"Oh, of course sweetheart." Plaisance smiles and gently pats Annette's head. "I see how hard you've been working recently. Even yesterday, you had the day to yourself, and you still chose to review the store ledger! You're growing into such a diligent young woman."

Annette beams at the praise. If only her mother knew just how hard she's been working.

"Now, you go get ready. I'll start in the kitchen."

"Okay!"

"Is that…?" Plaisance asks under her breath, squinting as she looks up.

Annette follows her mother's gaze and finds Cuno sitting up on the Whirling-in-Rags balcony. His legs were dangling off the edge and his head nestled in his crossed arms over the railing.

They both stand just under the balcony. Plaisance has her hands on her hips as she sighs.

"Cuno!" she calls out, not quite shouting but still loud enough.

"Wha-! Huh?" Cuno sits up in surprise, looking around confused.

"Good morning, Cuno!" Annette laughs a bit, waving to get his attention.

Cuno looks down and resists the urge to grimace at the sight of Plaisance. He really was hoping to stay entirely out of her sights, but he just had to fall asleep…

"'morning, Ann," he says tiredly, resting his chin on his arms again.

"Young man, that is dangerous!" Plaisance says, both stern and concerned. "Why on Earth are you sleeping up there?"

"G'morning to you too, book-miss," Cuno responds casually, ignoring her question.

Plaisance holds in a sigh and rubs the side of her head. It was strange to see him here so early, and he looked exhausted as well… She didn't know what to make of it. "Regardless… It's good to see you again. It's been a while."

"Uhuh," Cuno says flatly, holding in a yawn. He could tell she was hoping his absence was for good. It doesn't particularly bother him - he expected nothing different. "Martinaise can't get rid of Cuno that easily."

"Right..." Plaisance looks down at Annette who was looking back at her with muted eagerness – waiting to be dismissed. She did give Annette the weekend off for doing the stocktaking, but she really would have rather her daughter not spend that break with Cuno…

She sighs, grabbing a hold on her pendant. "You remember the rules, right?"

"Yes, of course," Annette says with an eager nod.

"Alright…" Plaisance still sounded worried and hesitant. "Go on then."

"Thank you, mum." Annette smiles in relief and gives her mother a hug. Plaisance hugs her back and gives her a quick kiss on the head.

"Send my regards to the detective," Plaisance says up to Cuno as she walks to the bookstore.

"Mhm." Cuno will not be doing that.

Once Plaisance was in the store and finally out of earshot, Cuno sits up, grabbing a hold on the railing as he leans forward with a grin.

"Ann!" he says in an excited - loud - whisper. "You won't believe the shit Cuno found out!"

"Oh?" Annette raises her brows in interest.

He motions for her to come up. She nods and rushes in through the cafeteria, giving Sylvie a quick 'good morning' before she continues her way up to the balcony.

"Okay, okay, before you say anything!" Annette sounds lively as she steps onto the balcony. She smiles as she sits down on her knees, facing Cuno. She had a drawstring backpack that she shrugs off and opens in front of her.

"Hm?" Cuno turns so that he's facing her as well, cross-legged.

"You haven't had breakfast yet, have you?" Annette states more than asks as she pulls out a dull grey, plastic lunchbox and hands it over to him. "I'm surprised you're even up this early, to be honest."

Cuno opens it and sees a stack of pancakes sliced into halves, a banana, and a fork.

"Did you make these?" He ignores the fork and just picks up one of the pancakes with his hand.

"Me and mum, yeah!" Annette says happily.

Cuno just stares at the pancake in his hand, his brain-fog not allowing him to fully process the nice gesture. He takes another look into the box. "…What, no syrup?"

"Oh- uh, no," Annette says, her smile turning apologetic. "Mum doesn't like having sugary things in the house."

"Boo…" Cuno frowns and takes a bite. It still tasted plenty sweet. "Mm… it's pretty good."

"I snuck in a ton of sugar in the batter," she whispers with a mischievous smile.

"Psh, good call." Cuno laughs a bit at how proud she sounded. It takes a few seconds, staring down at the box, but he finally manages to say the words bouncing in his head. "Uh, thanks. By the way."

"Heh, you're welcome." Annette smiles wide again.

It was not hard to notice how uncharacteristically slowly he was eating. Now that Annette was closer, she also saw the red in his eyes.

"Why are you up here?" Annette asks. "Did you not get any sleep?"

"Hm?" Cuno blinks as he looks up at her. He swallows the bite in his mouth before continuing. "Did you? You look exhausted."

"Don't dodge the question," Annette responds sternly, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, fine, I didn't." Cuno rolls his eyes. "Kept watch all night."

"What? Cuno, you shouldn't have done that," Annette says with a frown.

"Someone had to," he says mid-yawn. "I'll be fine. Oh- actually, what time is it?"

"I think it's just about half past 7," Annette answers.

"Cool, cool." Cuno digs into his pocket and pulls out his pill case. It was a little earlier than usual, but he might as well take his medication before he forgot.

"Come on, go get some sleep," Annette insists. "You can take it after you wake up."

"Cuno doesn't take orders from anyone," he scoffs as he opens the case and pops the pill into his mouth.

Annette lets out a long exhale. "So stubborn…"

"Say what you want! You're gonna eat your words when you hear what Cuno was able to find out 'cause of this!" he says proudly.

"What do you mean?"

"So, so! You know that bulky Hardie fuck? Marco?" Cuno asks with a grin. Annette nods. "Him and Cuno, we came to an agreement. Alliance shit. Intel shit!"

"You talked to him?" Annette asks. She was honestly surprised Cuno managed to spend any amount of time with a Hardie boy in a positive context.

"Don't worry, Cuno was careful. Meathead's on our side," Cuno continues excitedly.

"What did he tell you!" Annette leans in, eyes wide.

"Okay, okay," Cuno tries to keep his voice down. "Mira did it!"

"What?" Annette blinks. "He really told you that?"

"Well- okay, he said he 'didn't know'." Cuno rolls his eyes as he did quotation marks with his free hand. "But! He said she was definitely burning books out there!"

"Really...?" Annette was still in disbelief. "Which books?"

"Ugh, dumbass didn't remember any of the titles," Cuno groans as he took another bite from the pancake and spoke with his mouth half-full. "But it doesn't matter! What other fucking books would it be?"

"Hold on, hold on," Annette says as she reaches into her bag, pulling out the notebook and pen. She opens a fresh page. "Tell me exactly what he told you."

"Okay, okay." Cuno nods as he crosses his arms and closes his eyes. "So, so, he said--"

Cuno tries his best to accurately relay everything Marco had told him earlier - hoping he wasn't forgetting anything.

Annette listened carefully as she scrambled to write everything down. It was quite hard given the scattered and non-linear way Cuno was talking in. He would give a piece of information only to cut himself off several times to add context as he remembered them. Still, it was easy enough to catch all the important parts, and by the end of it, she was able to re-write a small list of the pertinent information while Cuno continued to eat.

Hardie boys ignoring club thefts - claim not to know anything

Mira is not a Hardie boy + consistently drunk & crying over a bad break-up

Mira's story: she burned Ex's stuff (includes books) in the yard while drunk

Sylvie is the 2nd person in the yard - she confirms Mira's story

Hardie boys cleaned up yard that afternoon - threw everything in trash (since emptied)

Annette stares at her finished notes with furrowed brows. The evidence they found before this already did point to Mira, but she didn't actually expect it to be true...

"Did you really not see anything in the yard that day?" Cuno asks. They hadn't cleaned up until later in the day, after all.

"Not at all. I've barely had time to do anything because of the stocktaking," Annette sighs. "I still can't understand why she'd do this..."

"That's the question we couldn't answer," Cuno grumbles as he throws the banana peel into the now empty lunch box and closing it. "Did you ask your mom if she got into a fight or something with the bitch?"

"No. I guess I could," Annette taps the pen against her chin.

"Hey... What if the 'Ex' story is real?" Cuno asks with an amused grin. "Maybe your mom's the mystery Ex and they had a bad fall out. This is revenge shit."

"Cuno, come on." Annette rolls her eyes. She does not find it as amusing.

"I'm serious! It makes sense!" Cuno says in between laughs. "We know it's a chick and your dad's been gone for like ages. Who knows what crazy shit your mom's up to?"

"Cuno!" Annette frowns and lightly slaps his arm with the back of her hand. "That's not funny."

"Okay, okay," he only finds her reaction more amusing, but he manages to at least stop laughing.

Annette huffs and looks back down at her notebook. She scans through the previous pages.

"Hmm..." She hums in thought. "Did you ask him what she meant by 'no smoking'? Back when we spoke to her?"

"Bitch was drunk, who fuckin' cares?" Cuno shrugs.

"I guess..." Annette hums, turning more of the pages. "Oh! Did you ask if he knew who 'Sam' was?"

"Ugh, no!" Cuno smacks his forehead in frustration. "I knew I was forgetting something!"

"Hey, it's fine. We can still talk to him again, right?" Annette says reassuringly. "Besides, they said they'd get Ms. Mira to meet us this afternoon. We could probably just ask her directly."

"True... Do we got something to do until then?" he asks.

"You can go get some sleep," Annette suggests.

"Nah." Cuno responds almost instantly. She sighs.

"Alright. In that case, we can try to talk to Ms. Sylvie again. She's a direct witness to the scene, after all."

"Yeah, yeah, true." Cuno grabs the Dick Mullen book off the floor and hands it over to Annette before he gets up. "Gotta do it before babybeard gets here. Fucker won't let us get a word in."

"Try not to be mean to her…" Annette frowns, putting the empty lunch box and the book in her bag before she stands up. "Ms. Sylvie seems very stressed… she hasn't been to work for months, you know?"

"Cuno's gonna do whatever Cuno's gotta do to get the info," he scoffs as he walks back in. Annette just sighs again as she follows after him.

"Hello again," Annette greets with a friendly smile as they approach the bar. The cafeteria was still empty this early in the morning.

"Oh, hello…" Sylvie didn't seem too happy to see the both of them again. "Are you here for breakfast?" she asks, almost hopefully.

"No, we got shit to talk about." Cuno hops up onto one of the bar stools. Annette stands by next to him.

"You're not allowed to sit on there," Sylvie says tiredly - she already knew it was a waste of time to try and talk to him.

"Whatever." Cuno predictably ignores her comment as he continues speaking in hushed tones. "Look, Hardie fucks aren't in here. You can talk to us; they won't find out about shit."

"What are you talking about?" Sylvie already sounded weary.

"We know this is difficult for you to talk about," Annette says gently, but getting to the point. "But we really need to know what happened the night of the fire…"

"It's this again?" Sylvie groans, rubbing her forehead. "What did Mira tell you?"

"She told us everything," Cuno replies with no hesitation.

"Wonderful," she says flatly. "What else do you need from me?"

"We don't believe her story," Cuno leans over the counter, narrowing his eyes. "We want the truth."

"Why would she lie?" Sylvie asks, shaking her head.

"Ms. Sylvie…" Annette spoke up with a frown. "25 books were stolen from our store a week ago. She said she burned her 'ex-partner's books' on the same night… Does that not sound suspicious to you?"

Sylvie shrugs, looking away as she crosses her arms.

"I don't want to believe she did it," Annette continues. "Since you were there that night, I'm hoping that you have a reasonable explanation..."

"My story is the same as Mira's." Sylvie is still looking away. "So, if you don't believe her, then there's nothing I could say to change your mind."

"That's a real fucking suspicious way to phrase it," Cuno scoffs. "Just tell us your side of the story, then we'll decide if we believe it or not."

Sylvie rolls her eyes and does not respond.

"Miss... You know how hard it is to keep a business open here in Martinaise," Annette says, pleading. "Mum is trying to hide it, but the truth is we're struggling and this is a huge loss. If it is Ms. Mira, then we need all the proof we can get so she can compensate us. So if you know anything..."

Sylvie looks at Annette with genuine sympathy. It takes a few silent seconds before she finally exhales deeply, still looking tense.

"Annette, I promise you; I don't know anything about the books," she says quietly, sounding sincere.

"Could you tell us your version of events anyway?" Annette asks.

Before Sylvie could even think to respond, the door to the main entrance swings open forcefully. They all turn to see a fuming Plaisance standing by the door. Annette instantly goes pale at the sight.

"Annette!" she calls out sharply. "Get over here this instant!"

"W- what's wrong, mum?" Annette asks quietly, wishing she could disappear.

"The store! Now!" Plaisance demands with a huff before she leaves, the door closing behind her.

"O-okay," she squeaks out as she starts to make her way over. She stops, a light tug on her arm holding her back.

"The fuck is happening?" Cuno asks quietly, brows furrowed. He wished he could shout back at Plaisance's face, but he did his best to bite down on his tongue. He knew better than to talk back to an angry parent.

"I don't know, but I'm sure it's- it's nothing," Annette says with a nervous laugh. "Probably just misplaced a book or- or something."

"Cuno's outside, alright?" He frowns as he lets go of her.

"You don't have to worry," Annette tries to give a reassuring smile, but the anxiety was practically radiating off her. She quickly rushes off before her mother could get any angrier.

Cuno waits inside by the door. Once he sees that they've both made their way into the bookstore, he runs out as well.

Sylvie says nothing during this exchange - simply watching the door with a frown as they left.

Plaisance waited for Annette by the counter with her arms crossed and one foot tapping rapidly.

Her daughter soon rushes into the store and stands in front of her, eyes firmly locked onto the floor. She tried to stand up as straight as possible and had her hands clasped together to resist fidgeting. Annette waits for her mother's lecture, every silent second only working to increase her sense of dread.

"Now. What do you have to say for yourself?" Plaisance asks, finally breaking the silence.

"F-for what?" Annette is barely audible.

"I am going to give you one chance to come clean," Plaisance says coldly.

Annette bites down hard on her lower lip, her eyes flitting around the floor as she tried to think of just what her mother was referring to. She did a lot of things yesterday - she could have found out about any one of them.

Was it the fact she's been talking about the thefts to other people? Or maybe the fact she stayed out past curfew? Or worse- Did she know that she went into the cursed building? Talked to the 'Entity'?

"What were you doing here so late at night?!" Plaisance finally blurted out after waiting for Annette to say anything to no avail.

"I- I don't know," Annette mumbles quickly, too anxious to even think of denying it. Annette had no idea how she found out. Maybe someone saw her and told her mother? Regardless - this wasn't the worst thing to be caught for, she thought. She could talk her way out of this, surely.

"You don't know, do you?" Plaisance asks, exasperated. "You're putting us in danger by messing with these cursed forces! You had better have an explanation!"

"I didn't mess- I just- I just forgot something, that's all." Annette couldn't think of a good excuse at all.

"Behind the curtain?" Plaisance grabs her pendant in horror.

"N- no, of course not!" Annette's eyes widen as she looked up. Okay, this was harder to find an excuse for - but maybe it was just an empty accusation.

"And you're lying," Plaisance practically gasps in fear, clenching her hand tighter around the pendant. "All my truth spells- no, no, this is worse than I thought- You went through the door- You went past the wards, didn't you?!"

"What? No, mum, I would never...!" Annette shakes her head, confused and panicked. That would be impossible to get forgiveness for. There was no way she could have actually found out about that, right?

"Really? You would never? What's this then?" Plaisance held up a handkerchief in her other hand; within it was an empty tissue packet with animal prints on it and a balled-up piece of tissue.

Annette stares at it, her mind blank. It felt like her heart was beating in her ears.

"No excuse?" Plaisance asks, dropping the handkerchief on the counter behind her. She sounded hurt. "So, had I not seen this you would have been perfectly fine lying to my face?"

"I- I don't know what that is," Annette says quietly, unconvincingly. All she could think to do was deny all of it and just hope it ends. "It's not mine!"

"Still lying?" She looks utterly betrayed. "You know full well where I found this. I check behind the curtain every day to make sure no one broke in. This was not there at closing. We spent the entire evening together, so I know you came here after I went to sleep."

Annette just stares, mute. It grew harder to breathe. Years of built up goodwill was crumbling right before her very eyes.

She worked so hard to never get on her mother's bad side, always doing everything she asked for with no complaints. Regardless of what Annette did, it never stopped the wave of snippy comments and harsh critique. Annette learned not to take them personally and just accept them as her mother's way of showing how much she cared - of wanting the best for her. She's come to terms with that...

But it's been a very long time since she's had to face a confrontation quite like this. Suddenly she felt so stupid for even doing any of this, for thinking that her mother was going to be proud of her for finding the thief, for thinking that it was going to end in any way other than this.

"What am I supposed to make of this?" Plaisance asks, grabbing a tight hold on her pendant again. "You're going behind my back? Lying to me? What else are you hiding!"

"Nothing, mum, I promise..." Annette quickly wipes away her tears, trying to hold herself from fully sobbing.

"How can I believe you?" her mother exhales deeply. She didn't know if she should feel more angry, disappointed, or terrified. "I never would have expected this out of you, Annette."

"I was just being stupid, I'll never do it again," Annette sniffs, her nose turning a bright red. "I'm sorry..."

"Oh, stop this sniveling!" Plaisance snaps. "You cannot go about life doing these reckless acts and crying when you get caught. You need to own up to your mistakes!"

"I'm- I'm not trying to-" Annette only grows more fearful as the tears flow. She wipes them away quickly. "I'm sorry- I'm sorry-"

Plaisance sighs and rubs the side of her head, twisting the pendant in the other hand. She catches something move in the corner of her eyes, and she turns to look outside the store window.

It was a familiar sight - Cuno's pair of eyes peeking out from the bottom, quickly ducking in an attempt to hide.

"Was he here yesterday...?" Plaisance asks, still staring outside as she adjusts her glasses.

"Huh?" Annette continues to sniffle and wipe away her tears.

"That horrid boy! Was he here yesterday?" Plaisance repeats as she turns to Annette with a scowl.

"Mum- You don't need to talk about him like that..." Annette frowns. Cuno didn't need to be dragged into this as well.

"You were with him yesterday, weren't you?" It wasn't a question.

Annette didn't know how to respond to any of it anymore. It felt like any word she could say would just make things worse.

Plaisance purses her lips into a straight line. She nods slowly as she seems to quickly connect the dots in her head.

"This isn't the first time you've tried to hide the fact that he's visiting," Plaisance speaks slowly at first, but the words quickly flood out as she continues. "I knew it was suspicious that he 'hasn't been around' for weeks. He has been visiting, hasn't he?"

"What? No, he hasn't!" Annette didn't like where this was going.

"Of course, you wouldn't do something like this on your own. He's been using you to get in here." Plaisance ignores Annette. The pitch of her voice went higher and her eyes widen as she reaches her conclusion. "He's the thief, isn't he?!"

Annette just stared, mouth agape. She knew that look on her mother's face, and she knew that tone of voice. Plaisance had already made up an entire narrative in her mind - absolutely no amount of evidence was going to sway her now.

"I warned you, didn't I? I told you he was always up to no good! His dreadful energy-" Plaisance seems to grow more distressed as she spoke. "I knew I should have trusted my instinct. I'm ending this once and for all."

Before Annette could even object, Plaisance was already making her way to the exit. She slams open the door and glares down at the surprised boy kneeling on the ground in front of the store-window.

"You!" the woman exclaims with an accusatory finger. "How dare you!?"

"Wha-? The fuck you shouting at Cuno for?" He scowls as he quickly gets to his feet.

"You know exactly what you did!" Plaisance has both hands on her hips, looming over Cuno. "How dare you take advantage of my poor girl? You've got her so terrified she's lying to me!"

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Cuno shouts, hands balled up into fists. "Cuno didn't do jack shit to Ann!"

"Mum!" Annette has rushed over, now grabbing onto her mother's arm. It was getting harder to speak, but she forced herself to. "Calm down. Cuno didn't do anything. Let's- Let's just talk-"

"You had better return everything you stole," Plaisance demands, ignoring Annette.

"What the fuck?! Cuno didn't steal shit!" He's baffled by the seemingly random accusation. "How the shit would Cuno steal anything? Cuno just fucking got here!"

"It pains me to know I have to tell the detective about this." Plaisance was thoroughly talking over him. "I can't believe you would do this! After everything he's done for you?"

"Don't fucking bring Cuno's pig into this! You don't even have any proof!" Cuno felt a wave of dread that he masked with more anger - in the moment, he legitimately struggled to know if Harry would believe him over her, even with all the evidence on his side.

"Mum, please-!" Annette steps in between the two of them, trying hard to speak through her shallow, rapid breaths. "It's not Cuno-! I'll- I'll tell you everything-"

"No, I've heard enough," Plaisance cuts her off and grabs a hold on Annette's arm. "I can't trust you to be honest with me. You're not leaving my sights from now on. I only pray the darkness has not corrupted you beyond help."

'Can't trust' were the last words Annette could hear. Everything after was muffled under the loud sound of a high-pitched ringing in her ears. She could barely see anything through her tears. She can't breathe anymore. She had to leave, she had to get away from her mother.

She pulls her arm out from her mother's grasp and storms away towards the Whirling's backyard, running as fast as she could. Cuno is quick to run after her.

"Annette! Get back here!" Plaisance yells out, though she knew it was a wasted effort.

She huffs as she re-enters the store. This was going to be something to deal with later. For now, she had a business to run - and a curse to keep at bay.

Annette doesn't know how she was able to run the whole way to the shack, because as soon as she reaches there, her legs give way, and she flops right onto the couch. She takes off her bag and throws it aside on the ground.

"Ann-! The fuck happened?" Cuno asks as he steps inside after her, closing the door behind him.

He finds Annette sitting on the couch, her face buried in her hands as she sobs and hyperventilates. Cuno panics at the sight, entirely lost on what to do.

"Uh- Are- are you okay?" is all he could think to ask as he slowly steps closer. "Fucking- that's a stupid question. Of course you're not."

She doesn't seem to react to him at all. Suddenly, she uncovers her red face and looks at her vigorously shaking hands in distress.

"Can't- Can't feel my hands-!" she panics, her breathing becoming even more short and rapid as she tries to pry the gloves off to no avail. She can't seem to have any control over her hands. They vaguely go in the direction she aims for, but none of the movement seem to carry intention.

"It's- it's okay!" Cuno tries not to exacerbate her panic with his own as he kneels in front of her and helps her take off the gloves one hand at a time. They were wet with tears. He throws them aside on the table behind him.

"Sorry- sorry- sorry-" She presses her palms against her teary eyes as she apologizes through her shallow breaths.

"You're alright, you don't got anything to be sorry for," Cuno says with his hands just hovering in front of him, not sure how to help. His eyes flit around the shack, as if something here could help.

His eyes settle on the big teddy bear next to her on the couch. He grabs it and holds it in front of her. Annette looks up for a few seconds before slowly taking it. She places it on her lap and hugging it, burying her face into its fluffy back.

"Dizzy..." Her voice is muffled. She sounds completely out of breath.

"Just, here- lay down," Cuno suggests as he stands up, pushing the rest of the plushies off the couch so she had space to do so. "And try to focus on your breathing. Like count up to 5?" He didn't sound sure. He wished he had better help to offer.

Annette's head falls straight onto the pillow that remained as she lays down on her side, hugging the bear and covering her face with it. She is still shaking.

Cuno tries to think of how else he can help. There was the teal blanket that covered the couch. He grabs a hold of the edge that hanged over the backrest and drapes it over her.

"Can- Can Cuno do anything?" he asks, fidgeting with his idle hands. "Get you something?"

She just shakes her head, face still covered. She closes her eyes and attempts to focus on just breathing.

"Okay..." He sits down on the ground in front of the couch, legs crossed. "Cuno's right here..."

It feels like forever for Annette, but eventually she feels like it's easier to breathe and think again. Unfortunately, the clearer her thoughts, the more prominent her embarrassment and shame felt over acting this way. She moved her face away from the bear and saw just how much tears and snot she'd gotten on it, as well as how much was still on her face. She grabs the blanket and pulls it up to cover her face.

Cuno, meanwhile, passed the time by making lines in the dirt and messing with some lost ants. When he saw Annette move, he sat up straight and moved his attention back to her.

"...Tissues," she said, words muffled through the blanket. "In my bag."

"Oh- Yeah, sure." Cuno leaned over to grab the backpack on the ground, opening it and quickly digging out a packet of tissues. He opened the packet and pulled out all the tissues, holding it out. "Here, got'em."

Annette only extends her hand out from under the blanket. He hands it over to her.

She quickly wipes her face and blows her nose. After which she slowly sits up, pulling her knees up. She's still not getting out from under the blanket, covered from head to toe like a teal ghost.

"...Sorry," Annette says quietly with an embarrassed, weak laugh. She clears her throat and sniffles. "I don't know what got into me."

Cuno didn't even know what to say. He could not believe that she was apologizing even now.

"Such an over-reaction... So stupid..." She sounds tired and nasally. She wishes she could just stay under here and never have to show her face again.

"It's not stupid." Cuno frowns. "You can't control shit like that."

"But I should be able to..." She just sighs, losing even her forced smile as she massages her hands, the numbness slowly fading away.

"What the fuck happened in there?" Cuno asks quietly. "She find out we, like, went into the building or somethin'?"

"...Yes." Annette shifts uncomfortably. "I don't know how..."

"Cuno saw her showin' you something, gettin' real mad. The fuck was it?" he asks.

"You know... One of her magic pendants or wards or whatever she calls them." She shrugs. She couldn't tell him the truth. She didn't want him to think it was his fault.

"What the fuck is wrong with that paranoid bitch?" Cuno scowls. "Okay, fine, we went into the building, so fucking what? Why is she shoutin' at you like you committed murder or some shit?"

"You know how afraid of the curse she is." She sighs tiredly. "I just- I can't believe she's accusing you. I'm sorry... You've done nothing to deserve that."

"Yeah, hey, why the fuck is she blaming Cuno for the thefts?!" He speaks louder in frustration, grabbing fistfuls of his hair. "There's no proof! Cuno was in Jamrock when this shit went down! How the fuck does that make sense to that stupid bitch?!"

"Probably the same reason she blames Ms. Neha for the curse," Annette says wearily. She still felt a tinge uncomfortable hearing Cuno insult her mother, but she also felt he had every right to after the way she spoke to him. "It's just- so irrational."

"Can't believe it. Blaming the Cuno for this shit," he grumbles bitterly at the ground, crossing his arms. "And threatening to snitch to the pig? Man- fuck you, no way he'd believe you..." It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself of it.

Annette felt bad that he had to be dragged into her mother's paranoid narrative - though a part of her knew her mother was already looking for any excuse to blame Cuno for something. It felt like this argument was inevitable; if it hadn't happened now, it would have later...

"Hopefully the detective could talk some sense into her..." Annette says, trying to sound reassuring. She had no doubt that the detective would know Cuno was innocent - it didn't even need to take a detective to know that.

"There's no talking sense to that mumbo-jumbo shit." Cuno rolls his eyes. "That dumb bitch couldn't find a thief if they were kicking her in the ass."

"Psh." Annette let out a small exhale, smiling and shaking her head.

Cuno hears the scoff - a laugh? - from her. He smiles a bit.

"Thanks, by the way..." he says, looking down. "For standing up for Cuno. I know how crazy your mom can get..."

"Of course I did," Annette sounds surprised he'd even bring it up. "You've done nothing but help chase down the thief. You even stayed up all night keeping watch! I'm telling her about all of it when..." Her voice trails off, then she corrects herself. "If she decides to listen to me..."

"Cuno doesn't give a fuck what she thinks about Cuno," Cuno scoffs. "I'm not doing this shit to prove anything. Bitch can believe whatever she wants."

"Well, I care," Annette says. "We have to prove that Mira did it so that we can fully clear your name."

"You really still wanna do this?" Cuno asks, smiling.

"Of course!" She sounds determined, the energy returning to her voice. "We can't stop now, we're so close!"

"Cool, cool..." Cuno nods then sits silently for a few seconds. "You do gotta get out from under there eventually, you know?" He sounds like he's holding in a laugh. She was still very much hiding herself under the blanket.

"Uh- Yeah, I know! I will..." She clears her throat, still not moving. "After my face stops looking like this..."

"Come on." He gets up from the ground, dusting off his pants. "We can use this! You could probably guilt the bar chick into talking to us if she thinks you've been crying." He laughs.

"Noo, no one is seeing me like this!" she whines as she grabs a tight hold on the blanket, afraid that he'd pull it away from her. "Just give me a minute."

"Alright, alright. Take your time." He laughs a bit as he heads to the door. "Cuno's gonna come back with water. You need anythin' else?"

"No, I'm fine... Thank you."

After Annette hears him leave and the door closing behind him, she peaks her head out from under the blanket. Her hair was all mussed up and her face still a faint red. She looked and felt as if she were sick.

She gets up, the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders, grabbing the gloves from the table before sitting back down. She just keeps a hold of them in her hands, trying to focus on anything but the dread she felt at the thought of the next time she has to see her mother...

She's already come this far. She'll deal with the consequences later.

Chapter Text

The streets were empty and quiet to an uncanny degree... Nothing like the loud, hectic panic of yesterday. Annette was in the store with her mother when it all happened. Neither of them could look away. Her mother closed up shop and they both quickly headed home as soon as they could.

Snap.

It was now the day after it all. Annette was sitting at her usual spot in the bookstore, her pinky finger in her mouth. She just stared blankly at the floor.

Snap.

The store was closed today as well, but Plaisance insisted that she had to go back in there and mitigate the 'dark energy' from the earlier events. She told Annette to stay home, but Annette couldn't let her mother go to the store on her own... And she didn't want to be at home on her own either.

Snap.

"Sweetheart. Your nails."

Annette looked up in a panic at her mother, quickly clasping her hands together. Instead of the expected anger, her mother was just looking at her with worry.

"Are you alright, dear?" Plaisance asked, turning back to the book she had open on the counter - a book on strengthening existing wards.

"Oh, yes. I'm okay..." Annette still sounded nervous - even if she didn't show it, Annette felt the disappointment in her mother.

"Well. I'm going to be another hour or so, I think," Plaisance said, flipping to the next page. "You should head home, get some lunch. No need to wait for me."

"Oh, I'm-" Before Annette could finish her response, she's taken by surprise when she noticed a familiar face had been watching her from outside standing by the edge of the boarded-up windows. The boy looked even more surprised than she did at being noticed, quickly stepping back and out of sight.

"I'll..." Annette stood up from her chair. "Get lunch ready for us and wait for you at home."

"Oh, thank you, Annette." Plaisance smiled as she looked up at her again. "Be careful now - no getting side-tracked! Head straight home."

"Of course, mum," Annette said as she stepped over to her mother, giving her a quick hug and wishing her good luck on the wards before hurriedly stepping outside.

She heads towards the plaza, where she saw the boy slipping away, scanning the area until her eyes finally land on him.

"Cuno!" Annette called out, finding him standing by the intercom. He grimaced at the voice, not looking towards her, his arms crossed and shoulders tense. As she approached, it became even clearer to her that he was not doing well. His eyes were red and swollen and his nose was a bright red - he'd been crying.

"Are- Are you okay?" she asked as she looked at him with a deep worry, her hands clasped together.

"Cuno's fucking fine," he grumbled, glaring pointedly at the ground. He held out a book towards her. "Just wanted to give this back..."

"Oh- uh- thank you..." She takes it from him - The Final Case of Dick Mullen. He said he'd return this last time they'd seen each other a week ago...

"I, uh... You- are you sure you're-" Annette stumbled over her words, unsure how to even start.

"Cuno's just off speed," he sniffed, scratching his cheek.

Annette frowned. She's seen him off speed before... This was clearly something more. She stood awkwardly for a few seconds, wondering if there was even anything she could say to help... She perked up suddenly. "Oh- oh! I got you the book!"

"Cuno doesn't-" Cuno tried to dismiss it, but Annette was already rushing to the book displays. He groaned as he slowly made his way after her.

"There we go!" Annette said with a smile as she held out a Man from Hjelmdall book towards him.

"Cuno doesn't want it," he repeated, not even looking at it.

"Oh... um..." Annette held both the books in her arms now, losing her smile. Of course it was going to take more than a book to cheer him up... "Okay. Then... is that all you wanted?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just giving the book back," he replied half-heartedly.

"Okay..." Annette looked dejected. She really wished he'd talk to her about what happened - or even really just talk to her at all. She'd missed him. But she couldn't admit any of that out loud.

"...Cuno's gonna hang out in Cuno's shack," he scowled as he spoke, pocketing his hands into his jacket. It took a few more seconds of silence before Cuno continued. "You can come. If you want."

"Really...?" Annette was baffled, blinking in surprise. Up until now, their interactions had been limited to talking in front of the bookstore in short spurts... In huge part to avoid the ire of another certain red-head. She didn't know what to make of his offer.

"Yeah, whatever..." Cuno mumbled, finally looking up – but not towards Annette. He glanced around and behind his shoulder before looking back to the ground again.

He was afraid...

"Sure, that sounds fun," Annette said with a small smile.

Cuno just quietly walked ahead of her, leading the way. As happy as she was to be invited, Annette couldn't help but feel only more worried...

"Dad, you g- gotta believe me, I didn't do it!"

"You expect me to believe that shit?"

"I swear! It wasn't me!"

"Kuuno!"

Cuno wakes up in a start, snapping back into reality dazed and confused. His head was in his arms.

"Cuno?"

He turns his head up at the voice to find Sylvie, looking at him with a concerned expression. He hated that look.

He sits up and quickly takes in his surroundings. This was the Whirling-in-Rags cafeteria - light chatter filled the air from the handful of customers sitting around. Cuno was at the bar when he accidentally fell asleep on the counter. How many fucking times was he going to randomly pass out today?

Cuno groans and rubs his face. He feels drool at the side of his mouth and he quickly wipes it off with his sleeve, scowling.

"You okay?" the woman asks.

"Cuno's fucking fine," he grumbles. Even with his eyes firmly focused on the bartop he could see that awful, pitying look on her face. He was unfortunately very aware of the fact that he talks in his sleep sometimes. He really hoped it wasn't the case now. He wasn't going to ask.

"Well, here's your drink," she says, placing a shot of espresso down on the counter. "And please get off the bar."

"Mhm." A dismissive hum - he does not get up. Cuno grabs the cup and takes the shot in one swig. He scrunches up his face at the bitterness and shakes his head. If he knew of a way to get rid of the need for sleep for the rest of his life, he would do it in a heartbeat.

Behind the bar, Sylvie picks up a book on the counter behind her. She leans on the counter as she opens the book, passing the time before the cafeteria got busier.

"Why won't you just tell us what fucking happened that night?" Cuno asks, arms crossed over the bartop. "She threatening you or something?"

"Like I said, this is something Mira and Plaisance need to settle," Sylvie says tiredly, not looking up. The regret in her voice was clear - she shouldn't have told these kids anything. "And no, I will not tell you anything about her personal life either."

"Her crazy mom isn't going to believe this fucking story if we tell her," Cuno says, irritated at her tone. "And Mira's definitely not going to admit to shit. Could you talk to that book-bitch at the very fucking least?"

"Honestly, it doesn't seem like Plaisance is as concerned about this as you kids are." She sighs, looking up from the book. "If she's not chasing compensation, then that's her choice. You two don't need to get involved in this mess."

"Don't need to get involved?" Cuno glares, growing quieter as he leans in. "Because of this fucking shit the bitch's been makin' Ann do the stocktaking every week. Whole place. On her own. And she'll keep having to do it until we prove Mira did this."

Sylvie's expression softens to a guilty frown.

"That outburst earlier? Gonna be happenin' a lot more too," he continues. Sylvie looks away, pursing her lips. "When that book-bitch is stressed it all goes back on Ann."

Annette stares blankly at the ground, feeling a strong drowsiness and a lingering headache. She was forcing herself to stay sitting upright on the couch instead of laying down. She wanted nothing more than to sleep the day away - or even sleep for as long as she could possibly manage. Maybe she could just hibernate here until everything goes back to normal... If it ever does.

A loud banging at the door causes her to jump - biting down hard on her thumb. She winces as she pulls the finger away from her mouth, only now realizing that she had been biting on her nails again. She quickly clasps her hands together on her lap as the shack door opens.

"Back!" Cuno announced as he enters, closing the door behind him. "Catch." He barely gave the warning before he underhand throws the water bottle towards Annette. She manages to grab a hold of it with a surprised squeak, shutting her eyes tight as if it would have hit her in the face. Cuno snorts a laugh at the reaction.

"Thank you." She laughs awkwardly. "But do you always have to knock like you plan to break the door down?"

"Look, it's not Cuno's fault he's strong as fuck," he laughs as he props himself up to sit on the table.

Annette rolls her eyes as she twists open the bottle cap. She takes a sip which turns into several gulps. Her throat was incredibly dry. She breathes out in relief once she was done, closing the bottle and keeping a hold of it in between her hands. Unfortunately, the headache still refused to leave all the way.

Cuno notes that the gloves weren't on the table anymore, seeing that they were on her lap instead. It wasn't surprising that she didn't wear them considering what had happened earlier. He resisted the urge to ask if she was 'okay'. It wasn't a question that ever got a meaningful answer. He would know.

"Did you..." Annette asks, looking down at her lap. "Uh, did you see my mum?"

"Nope," Cuno replies with a shrug. "Didn't go past the boarded-up window. Probably still in the store."

"Okay..." Annette didn't know if she was relieved or upset. On one hand, she really didn't want to see her mother right now, but on the other... Why isn't her mom checking in on her? Was she not worried?

It shouldn't have been Cuno who had to help with her panic attack. It should have been her mother... Even if it was her mother that caused it in the first place. She didn't want to think about it.

Cuno waits silently to see if she had anything else to say or ask. Seeing her remain quiet, he breaks the silence by clearing his throat.

"Well, good news," he says, sounding all serious as he sat up straight. "Detective Cunn secured an interview with the witness."

"Huh? Really?" Annette blinks in surprise, looking up. "How'd you convince her...?"

"Dunno. But she said she'll only talk to you," Cuno says, shrugging. "Which, yeah, fine. Whatever gets her to talk."

"So, she didn't tell you anything yet?" she asks.

"Nope," he says. "You gotta go before the place gets busy, though."

"We should go now, then!" Annette smiles and gets up with a new surge of energy.

"Hell yeah!" Cuno grins, hopping off the table.

"Wait- uh, do..." She grows quiet again, brushing her fingers through her hair. "Do I look okay?" Her face still felt swollen, her eyes stung, and she can only imagine what the static from the blanket did to her hair.

Cuno rolls his eyes and walks to the door, entirely ignoring the question.

Annette frowns as she watches him head out. She didn't know if the silence was a 'no' and he didn't want to be mean(er), or if it was a 'yes' and he had an aversion to saying nice things. She sighs and does her best to pat her hair down. She grabs her bag, putting the water bottle and her gloves in, before following after him.

Sylvie nods absent-mindedly at the man sitting in front of her. He was speaking more at her than to her, but she was used to that. It was easier to tune out, if anything.

She turns towards the door as it opens, seeing that Cuno was back, this time with Annette behind him. Sylvie quickly excuses herself from the - now annoyed - man as she steps out from behind the bar.

"Hey, Annette," Sylvie says with a small, sympathetic smile as she gets closer to the pair. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Annette says with a small smile of her own, trying to look more energetic than she actually felt. She hoped Sylvie won't ask about what happened earlier. "Sorry to bother again-"

There is an audible sigh from Cuno as she apologizes for the umpteenth time.

"-but Cuno said we could talk?" Annette continues, ignoring him.

"Yes..." Sylvie sounds unsure about her decision - but she follows through anyway. "We can talk in the back."

"Thank you so much," Annette says, relieved that she wasn't prodded for an explanation.

Sylvie nods and makes her way into the kitchen, the both of them following after her. The cook was at the stove - he looks up with a friendly smile as they enter, saying something foreign that sounded like a greeting. Annette responds in turn with a 'good morning'.

Sylvie stops by the blue door at the end of the room, looking back to see that Cuno had followed them as well. She turns to him with crossed arms and a tired look on her face.

Cuno looks back with a blank smile, as if oblivious to what she was annoyed about. Annette looks between them, amused. They stand there for a few seconds before Cuno dramatically sighs, face dropping.

"Fine, fine," he says, throwing his hands up as he leaves the kitchen. "Worth a shot."

Once he's gone, Sylvie opens the door and Annette enters after her.

The backroom was comparatively dark to the rest of the hostel, both in lighting and in color. It looked old, with exposed brick walls, and grimy wallpaper. There were piles of boxes, orderly stacked on top of each other to the left of the door. To the right, on the far side of the room, were two pinball machines and a workshop table with tools and loose parts. One of the pinball machines was dismantled; its parts were probably what littered the worktable. The other machine was put together, but the colors and designs were scratched and faded.

Sylvie sits down at one of the two chairs at the worktable. Annette sits on the other one, taking off her backpack and pulling out her notebook and pen.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not talking to your mom," Sylvie starts with an apologetic frown. She tries not to talk to Plaisance on the best of days, let alone a stressed and high-strung one. "So, I'm hoping me telling you this is enough to convince Mira to settle things with her."

"Okay. I understand," Annette says, losing a lot of confidence already.

"Did Mira have any good reason to prove that the books in the yard weren't the same as the ones in the store?"

"No..." Annette resists telling her the truth that it wasn't Mira that told them at all.

"And you're sure that the books were stolen that same night?" Sylvie asks. She felt like she could trust what Annette would tell her.

"Yes. The whole shelf was gone that day," Annette nods. That means at least 14 of the books were stolen that night. The rest could have been the same night or earlier in the month, but she doesn't say that.

"Well. It's not Mira," Sylvie finally admits, no doubt in her voice. "She didn't steal anything that day and she definitely didn't start the fire. She was here at the Whirling-in-Rags the entire night."

"What?" Annette leans forward, eyes wide in surprise.

"When she saw it, the fire, Mira went out with a fire extinguisher," Sylvie continues. "She didn't come back in."

"What time did she first come in?" Annette asks, writing quick notes. "And when did she leave?"

"She came in later in the day, I don't know when. Sun was still up," Sylvie answers. "The fire happened about 4am?"

"So, then... What happened?" Annette asks, brows furrowed.

"I have no idea," Sylvie says, shaking her head. "I didn't see anything that night."

"You never went into the backyard?" Annette asks. If Mira didn't start the fire, and Sylvie didn't go outside then...

"No," she confirms.

"But... Then, why would you tell the Hardie boys that Mira's story was true?" Annette asks, doubtful.

"...I didn't," Sylvie says after a second of consideration. "I didn't want to get involved at all, so Mira told me her fake story and left it at that. I guess me 'confirming' her story is another part of the lie."

"So, the Hardie boys are all in on it?" Annette asks.

Sylvie just shrugs, shaking her head. She doesn't know.

Annette didn't know how much she even believed any of this. It sounded like another excuse to cover up for Mira... How was this supposed to convince Mira to admit to anything?

"Did you not look out the window at any point?" Annette prods.

"I only saw the fire. I never went outside," Sylvie repeats.

"You didn't see a second person out there...?" Annette asks.

"I did not," Sylvie says slowly.

"But... You knew there was someone else out there?" Annette says the implication out loud.

"Someone must have started the fire," Sylvie says, noncommittal.

"I don't understand," Annette furrows her brows. She didn't know if this complicates things or clears them up - if it was even true. "Why would Ms. Mira take the blame?"

"I don't know," Sylvie says simply.

"You must know something," Annette insists, a bit frustrated.

"I keep my nose out of these things," she responds, shaking her head again.

Annette sighs, looking down at her notes. If Cuno were here he probably wouldn't let it go until Sylvie told the full truth - but there was a good chance that she would simply not tell them anything at all anyway.

"Why should I believe this story over the other one?" Annette finally asks as she looks up.

"You don't have to, I guess," Sylvie says with an unbothered shrug. "I have nothing to gain by making up a lie that goes against Mira's story."

Annette considers it... She still didn't know what to think of it. She decides to accept it for the time being.

"Sorry that I didn't have much to tell you," Sylvie says as she stands up. She's thankful to have a quick, civil conversation. "I hope Mira can explain everything."

"Yeah..." Annette doesn't get up quite yet. She thinks about what else she could ask about- "Oh, actually, do you happen to know any woman named Sam?"

"Hm... I don't think so...?" Sylvie tries to search her mind, tapping a finger on the table. "Why?"

"It's just a name we heard," Annette shrugs. "She might also go by Sammy...?"

"Ah." Sylvie nods in recognition. "Well, if you don't already know, Mira's just a nickname. Her name's Samirah. Sometimes she goes by Sammy... Usually when she's drunk."

"Oh." Annette's eyes light up at the connection. Even if it wasn't Mira who set the fire, she went into the cellar, so that was something. "Thank you, that's good to know."

"Great." She didn't need to know why they were asking about that. "Now, if that's all, I do have a job to get to."

"Mhm, thank you for talking to me," Annette finally stands up as well, grabbing her bag.

"You're welcome," Sylvie says as she steps out into the kitchen. "And... Good luck."

"Thank you," Annette says with a smile.

She gives one last goodbye to Sylvie and the cook before heading out of the kitchen.

As she steps out, Annette hears the loud clanging of a pinball machine fill the sparse cafeteria. It was the machine by the entrance next to the Union box.

She sees Cuno, hunched over the machine and playing aggressively. The man from earlier was standing next to the machine watching him. Annette approaches, standing a few steps away so as not to interrupt.

The golden lettering at the head of the machine read 'CORNELIUS GURDI AND THE MOUNTAIN GOATS'. Cuno was intently focused on the game, his tongue sticking out as he slammed his hands against the sides, shaking the machine every now and then.

"Hey, hey, no cheating!" The man snaps, scowling once he sees Cuno shaking the machine.

"It's not cheating, bitch!" Cuno scoffs, not moving his attention away. "The thing isn't bolted to the ground, shit's allowed!"

"Well, it's cheating on my terms!"

"Sore loser," Cuno grumbles, furrowing his brows as he focuses. He does stop moving the machine. "Fine, fine. Cuno doesn't need that shit to win anyway!"

Annette stands by patiently, watching entertained. The man seems to only grow more and more antsy as he watches the score go up. Cuno does not break his attention from the game at any point, keeping as many balls on the playing field as possible.

Eventually, the words 'PALE RUPTURE' light up on the machine and the game field is covered by fog. Cuno squints and leans even closer as he tries to see through the smoke. Despite the cheap trick, he still manages to stay in the game for a long while - but not long enough to win. He loses the last ball to the void and the game ends.

"Ugh, stupid fucking game," Cuno kicks the machine's leg before looking up at the score. His face instantly lights up and he grins wide at the man. "Hah! What'd King Cuno tell you? Even played by your stupid terms."

"You didn't even win." The man scoffs, rolling his eyes.

"Uhuh, still did way better than you did," Cuno says smugly as he walks to the side of the machine. He does a little hop to reach the top of it where two crumpled up 5 reál bills were.

"Very impressive." Annette smiles as she steps closer, clapping lightly.

"Oh, Ann!" Cuno turns to Annette in surprise, smiling wild. "Just in time to watch me wipe the floor with this old fuck."

"Yeah, yeah." the man waves dismissively as he walks away. "You just got lucky, kid."

"Sore fucking loser." Cuno just laughs.

"Mhm..." Annette waited until the man was far enough before turning to Cuno. "I thought you said pinball was lame." She smiles amused.

"It is lame," Cuno rolls his eyes, pulling at a string hanging from the coin slot; the ever-so-useful fake coin. "You know what's not lame?" He holds up the newly acquired bills with a grin. "Cold hard cash."

"How come you seem so good at it?" Annette asks.

"Cuno's just good at everything," he says matter-of-factly, pocketing the bills. He quickly moves on from the topic, wanting to get rid of that look on her face. "Whatever! Catch me up! What'd she tell you?"

"Well..." Annette sighs in frustration. She continues talking as she walks into the Union box. "She says Mira didn't do it-"

"Like fuck she didn't!" Cuno snaps.

"I don't know how much I believe her either but," Annette says as they both sit next to each other on one of the benches. "Just listen to the full story first."

Annette opens the notebook on the table between them as she relays everything near exactly as she was told it.

Cuno listens intently, trying to remain quiet until she said everything so he doesn't interrupt her train of thought. It was harder the more she revealed, accenting every other one of her sentences by swearing.

"--and that's all Sylvie claims to know," Annette ends.

"I don't believe a single thing that bitch said," Cuno grumbles, arms crossed. "The story doesn't make any fuckin' sense. A double cover-up? Stupid shit."

"Yeah, I don't know," Annette sighs. "But at least now we know her name is Samirah? It's almost definitely her that went into the cellar."

"Sure, we could use that," Cuno nods. "Even if she didn't do it, she's still gotta pay. Partners in crime shit."

"Oh, did you ask the man from earlier anything about Mira?" Annette asks.

"Yeah, yeah," Cuno says, bored. "Said the same shit meathead said. She's always in here and crying about her Ex, especially to the bar chick. He wasn't there night of the fire, though. Asked the other fucks in here too, but they didn't even know who she was."

"Hm... I guess now we just wait?" Annette stares at the notebook, elbow on the table and resting her cheek on her fist. "What time even is it? This morning is lasting forever..."

"We don't gotta wait you know." Cuno grins, tapping the side of his head. "I know where the bitch lives. Stake-out shit. Spy shit. She's in the building 'cross the street, with the FALN store that shut down ages ago."

"The East Delta Apartments?" Annette asks, looking back at Cuno.

"Yeah, that's the one." He snaps his fingers with a nod. "We can ask around for which flat she's in."

"Hmm..." Annette considers it. "Well... We're not just waiting for her to show up, but also for Titus to ask her to talk to us. I feel like she might entirely refuse talking to us, otherwise..."

"If what the bar chick said is true, the Hardie fucks are in on it," Cuno says. "Doubt they'll tell us the truth. Maybe they'll even help cover it up even more."

"I guess that's true..." Annette sighs, looking at the notebook again. The idea of finally talking to the person who's probably responsible for it all made her stomach turn. If they couldn't get Mira to admit the truth, then that was it; there was no reason for her to tell the truth to a bunch of kids... Cuno did mention the other day that he can get the detective involved if we had enough proof and no one admitted to the truth, but she really would rather get things solved today...

"Ann." Cuno waves a hand in front of her face, trying to get her attention. This was the third time he'd called out her name.

"Hm?" Annette snaps back out of her thoughts. She sees the frown on his face at which point she realizes she was biting on the pinky finger of the hand she was leaning on. She sits up straight and clasps her hands together, smiling embarrassed. "Sorry, I was just thinking about how we should approach this..."

"We head in there and accuse her of this shit," Cuno says, not lingering on her zoning out. "If she still denies it, we pull out the story bar chick told us - see her reaction."

"And if she keeps denying it?" She frowns.

"We just gotta play bad cop, corrupt cop," Cuno says confidently, pointing towards Annette then himself to signal which cop was which.

"You mean good cop, bad cop?" Annette breaks out into a small laugh, pointing at herself then Cuno.

"I said what I said." Cuno grins as he gets up from the bench. "We've been doin' good/bad cop this whole time, but now is the part of the story where shit gets real – gotta play mind games on the criminal. Grill the suspect. Pressure shit. Final-showdown style!"

"It all comes down to this, hm?" Annette smiles as she gets up as well. "Let’s do it!"

"Fuck yeah!"

The young detectives walk across the street from the Whirling-in-Rags over to the East Delta Apartments. The building had a big FALN sign, signaling the location of the sports store that was once open at the ground floor. It didn't seem like there was anything taking up the space at the moment.

As they get closer, they notice a woman leaning against the wall near to the entrance. She was middle-aged and thin, with long brown hair visibly frayed at the ends.

"Uh, excuse me, ma'am," Annette tries to get the woman's attention as they approach.

The woman turns to look at her but doesn't say anything, just taking a drag from the cigarette in her hand. She looks exhausted with dark circles under her eyes.

"Do you know if Ms. Samirah lives here?" Annette asks with a friendly smile.

The woman exhales sharply into Annette's face. The girl tries not to cough as she covers her face from the smoke.

"Yeah, she sure does," the woman answers with a groan, rubbing her forehead at the mention of the name. Her voice was rough and raspy with a Vespertine accent.

"Could you tell us which apartment she's in?" Annette asks, waving away the smoke from her face.

"#32" The woman says without hesitation. "Top floor."

"Oh- thank you." Annette was a little surprised at the lack of resistance or questions.

"You really don't like her, huh?" Cuno notes.

"She's not a great neighbor," the woman says flatly, not looking at them.

"Yeah?" Cuno prods. "What she do?"

"Loud," the woman says curtly - a long sigh leaving a trail of smoke.

"You know anythin' about a fire she started last week?" he continues questioning.

"No," the woman answers uninterestedly before taking another drag.

"Could you tell us anything about her ex-partner, maybe?" Annette chimes in.

The woman exhales a smoky laugh, smiling slightly now. "Aren't you a little too young for gossip?"

"Is that a yes?" Annette asks, matching her smile.

"Maybe," she says, her tired eyes glinting in interest as she turns to look at them. "What do I get out of it?"

"Like... Gossip?" Annette asks.

The woman shrugs, still smiling. She would like to see just what the kids thought was interesting 'gossip'. They both seem to think about it for a bit, but Cuno quickly comes up with something.

"Alright, you didn't hear this from me, but-" he starts as he leans forward, going quieter as he held up a hand next to his mouth. The woman looks amused as she stands up from the wall, leaning in a bit as well. "-That Mira bitch is fuckin' every single one of those Hardie fucks. Real rebound shit. Sad and lonely shit."

"Ohoo!" The woman bursts into a loud, surprised laughter as she stands up straight. "And just how did you find this out, lil man?"

"Cuno's got ears like a hawk," he says smugly. "She's always hangin' at the Union box with them - and those drunk fucks never stop talking about who they're fuckin'.

"That's pretty good, I'll give you that." She leans back against the wall. She notices the girl was looking at Cuno unamused, her cheeks flushed - the woman laughs again. "Alright, you said you wanted to know about her Ex?"

"Yes, please," Annette answers, clearing her throat as she turns back to the woman.

"Man, they broke up like... It must be 2 months ago by now," the woman says, tapping her cigarette. "I unfortunately live right below them. They were real fucking loud, lemme tell you."

"What's her name and what'd she look like?" Cuno asks. "The Ex."

"Kat. I think short for Kathy," she shrugs. "She's pretty tall. Blond. Graadian-looking. You know."

"There goes my theory," Cuno says as he turns to Annette. She just rolls her eyes.

"Why did they break up?" Annette asks.

"I don't know," she answers, sounding surprised herself at the answer. "Mira doesn't stop crying about it, always saying something about her Ex being a mean bitch or something, but she's not very specific... Although hearing about the Hardie boys thing, that might have had something to do with it." A small laugh.

"Was she a librarian or some shit?" Cuno asks. "The Ex?"

"I don't think so." The woman furrows her brows as she thought. "I know Mira works for the Union, but her Ex... Yeah, I have no clue."

"So, the bitch lives on her own now?" Cuno asks.

"Yeah," she answers. "Her kid pops in every now and then, but haven't seen her in a long time."

"Her kid?" Annette asks.

"Mhm. Moody teen, runs away, gets into trouble. You know how they are." She looks them over. "Well. I guess you'll know in a few years."

"Hold up," Cuno cuts in, growing more interested. "What kind of trouble?"

"The usual delinquent stuff. Stealing, drinking, drugs..." She shrugs. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Is she not in Martinaise now?" Annette asks.

"Probably not. Like I said, haven't seen her in a while," she says.

"Can you tell us about her?" Annette asks. "Name, how she looks...?"

"I forget her name but," the woman thinks about it. "She just looks like a smaller Samirah, you know? Paler, though. Quiet. Dark clothes. Really keeps to herself, that one."

"How much smaller?" Annette asks - the broken window in the gym comes to mind.

"Oh, like about the same height as her mother actually. Just thinner, I should say." The woman shrugs.

"Is she into burning shit?" Cuno asks.

"Hmm..." The woman thinks about it. "Wouldn't be surprised. Lots of kids love to burn shit. I like burning shit every once in a while. Fire's satisfying to watch."

"Does Ms. Mira or her daughter have any particular grudge against the bookstore?" Annette asks.

"Aha... I thought you looked familiar." The woman smiles sympathetically at Annette. "Plaisance's daughter?"

"Yes, ma'am." She nods.

"Don't take this personally, but..." She takes a drag from her cigarette as she measures her words. She exhales slowly. "Well, not a lot of people get along with your mother."

"Shocker," Cuno mumbles, rolling his eyes.

"To the point of a grudge?" Annette asks, ignoring both of their comments.

"Hmm..."  The woman raises a brow. "Did something happen?"

"A lot of books got stolen from our store and, well, possibly destroyed," Annette explains. "That's why we're asking about a fire."

"Yikes," she says with a click of her tongue. "Wait, you mentioned something about Mira starting a fire?"

"Yes," Annette nods.

"Unstable bitch," she clicks her tongue again, shaking her head. "What're you gonna do about it?"

"Get her to cough up the cash, or else," Cuno says seriously.

"Well, good luck with that," the woman says. "You'll need it. Especially if the Hardie boys thing is true."

"Aha..." Annette didn't want to know if Cuno was lying or not about that - it was bad of him to tell her either way. "Well, thank you for talking to us, ma'am!"

She just nods with a smile before watching them both enter the building.

"Do you think... Maybe her daughter's involved?" Annette asks quietly as they walk up the stairs. "Sylvie's story would make so much more sense, wouldn't it? Why Mira would lie about the fire... Covering for her daughter."

"Yeah, yeah, was thinkin' the same fucking thing," Cuno whispers, sounding excited. "And if she's thin enough to get through the window... Explains how she broke in."

"Right?" Annette matches his quiet excitement as they piece things together. "So, when Mira went into the cellar... She really was trying to hide evidence?"

"Badly," Cuno scoffs. "Left a shitton of stuff behind."

"True," Annette hums in thought. "So... How do we approach this?"

"Bad cop, corrupt cop," he repeats with a grin. "First we pin the blame on her, like she wants. If she admits to it and pays - then fuck it. That's all that matters. If she doesn't? That's when we bring her kid into it."

"Sounds like a plan," Annette nods, feeling both nervousness and anticipation as they reach the top floor. They finally stand in front of flat #32.

Annette knocks politely but Cuno steps forward without even giving enough time for a response, slamming his fist against the door.

"Hey!! Hardie bitch!" Cuno shouts. "Open up!"

Annette stands awkwardly, shuffling in her spot. They wait and hear nothing.

Cuno slams the door several more times.

Then he tries the handle - it opens.

"Cuno!" Annette whispers in shock as she grabs his hand and pulls it away from the door. "We can't do that!"

"Not my fault it's open." Cuno rolls his eyes, easily shaking her hold on his hand.

"Cuno..!!" Annette whispers sharply, standing in place.

Cuno ignores her and marches his way in.

The first thing that stands out is how cramped and messy the place was. It felt smaller than it actually was - it was almost suffocating. Beer bottles and takeaway boxes litter the floor. Plates and pots filled the sink of the open kitchen, as well as more takeaway boxes on the kitchen table. A lot of the drawers and cabinets were open, everything within an unclear mess. There was a fridge with several children's drawings placed up with magnets.

The small living room area on the right had a couch with a pile of jackets on it, and a coffee table with a few dirty cups and more bottles and cans of alcohol. There was a balcony window across the room, closed, with the curtains drawn open - it lit the place well enough. There was a door to the left and two to the right. Cuno steps over the mess with relative ease - it wasn't an unfamiliar sight to him - and goes to the one on the left first.

"Hey, bitch! You in there?" Cuno calls out as he slams his fist against the door. Hearing no response, he opens it and heads in.

It was a small, dark bedroom - no one was in it. It didn't look as messy as the rest of the flat, but that was a very low bar to clear. The bed was unmade and a fair amount of trash littered the floor. There was a single shelf of books on one of the walls. With a quick look, a lot of them were kids books and comics.

He continues to snoop around, looking into the bedside table's drawers. One of them had a framed picture, placed face down. Picking it up, he sees what looked like a younger Samirah, carrying a small girl that looked a lot like her, just paler, about 6 years old, both smiling wide. Samirah looked chubbier here, and a lot healthier than when he saw her the other day. He wonders if things were actually better back then for her, or if it was always bad.

He huffs, dismissing the thought, and just drops it back before continuing to go through the room. There was a closet filled sparsely with dark clothing on hangers. On the ground was a small, colorful pile of neatly-folded clothes that looked like it could fit a toddler. It was probably safe to assume that this was the daughter's room.

Cuno leaves and heads to the other two doors. One was a bathroom - not a pretty sight or smell. He quickly moves on to the last door. He slams his fist against it several times.

"Hey, Mira!! Get the fuck up!" he shouts.

"Wha- wha-?" he hears a muffled shock, a thump, then a pained groan. "Kid... this is no way to wake someone up..."

"I don't give a shit! Get up!" He tries the handle. Locked.

It takes about half a minute, but the door finally opens. He sees the woman, exhausted and still in her clothes from yesterday - dark jeans and a large, dirty green hoodie. She was barely a few centimeters taller than he was, his eye-line at the same level of her nose. She had olive-skin with blotchy dark spots on her cheeks and under her eyes. Her dark frizzy hair was in a very messy, loose bun and had traces of grey throughout.

She looks down in confusion at Cuno, rubbing her blood-shot eyes.

"Who... Huh?" Samirah looks up and around before turning down to look at Cuno again. She didn't even know what question to start with. He seemed kind of familiar... Wasn't he in the Whirling-in-Rags yesterday? "Uh- How did you get in?"

"Cuno lock-picked it," he says bluntly.

"Th- That's not true!" Annette's voice calls out. She's still standing by the front door. "The door was unlocked, ma'am..."

"Who...?" Samirah groans and rubs her forehead. She couldn't see Annette from where she was standing. "Okay, why are you in here?"

"We know you burned the books." Cuno glares up at her. "You better fucking explain everything right now."

The woman looks at him with wide eyes, then furrows her brows in confusion.

"...Well?!" Cuno snaps. "You gonna stand there like an idiot or are you gonna explain?"

"Kid, you cannot just break into people's homes and shout at them," Samirah groans again, rubbing her temples this time. "Please leave before I throw you out."

"I'd love to see you try," Cuno scoffs.

Samirah rolls her eyes and grabs a tight hold on his big ear as she steps out of the room.

"Ow! The fuck- Let me go!" Cuno shouts as he grabs onto her wrist with both of his hands, trying to pull her away. It does not work. She just keeps walking until she reaches the front door, Cuno trailing behind her to avoid the pain of her pulling.

"Miss!" Annette quickly steps in and closes the door behind her. Samirah stops in front of her, face dropping at yet another unwanted visitor. "Please let him go, we just-"

She is cut off by the woman's yelp of pain as Cuno kicks her hard in the shin. She lets go of him, grabbing onto her leg, at which point he quickly steps back, covering his red ear with both of his hands, wincing in pain.

"Fuck you, bitch!" Cuno shouts. "You don't get to drag Cuno around like that!"

"You broke into my house!" Samirah shouts, looking between the two of them baffled. "What is going on?"

"Um, hello ma'am," she says with an awkward smile, still leaning back on the door. "Sorry for th-"

"No, we're not fucking sorry!" Cuno cuts her off loudly.

"Please just explain what the hell is going on," Samirah groans, pressing her palms into her eyes, then dragging her hands down on her face. "I do not have the energy for this."

"Well- We were hoping to talk to you about the thefts that happened at the bookstore a week ago," Annette says, watching Samirah's reaction.

"And the fire that happened that same fucking night." Cuno narrows his eyes as he glares at her, recovering from the pain for the most part.

"Thefts...?" Samirah shakes her head, holding up both hands. "And hold up- who told you about the fire?"

"We're detectives, we figured this shit out ourselves," Cuno snaps back quickly.

"Right. Of course." She sounds even more tired hearing that. She turns to Annette, pointing a thumb towards Cuno. "Can you at least tell me who the hell this kid is?"

"Cuno's right fucking here! Talk to me!" he shouts. Samirah holds up her hands over her ears in pain.

"Huh. Cuno. You know what, you do sound familiar," Samirah says tiredly. It was not a voice she's heard screeching in a long while. "Annette - it's Annette, right? - Your mother knows you're hanging out with a potty-mouth?"

"Why do bitches keep talking like Cuno can't hear'em?!" he only grows more exasperated.

"I sure wish I couldn't hear you," Samirah says, her hands still over her ears. He just rolls his eyes.

"Um, ma'am, we're really hoping to talk about these thefts..." Annette finally cuts in.

"Fine, sure, we can talk, but can we do it..." She looks around the mess of a room as she drops her hands from her ears. "Well. Literally anywhere else?"

"No fucking way," Cuno says, trying not to shout. "We're getting this over with right here, right now."

"It's barely 9am..." Samirah says as she looks at the wall clock. "Way too early in the day to be sounding that impatient."

"We've been waiting since yesterday to speak with you, ma'am," Annette says with an apologetic tone. "It's really important that we clear things up as soon as we can..."

"Right." Samirah exhales sharply. "Fine. Can I at least grab a coffee before we start talking?"

"Yes, we'll wait," Annette says with a small smile. "Thank you."

The woman just turns to the open kitchen and stops in the middle of it. She slowly scans the place.

"Did... Did you kids go through my kitchen?" She asks, looking through the cabinets in slowly increasing panic.

"We didn't touch shit," Cuno says. "Place was fucked before we got here."

"Um, what's wrong, ma'am?" Annette asks in concern.

"Uh- I- Hm..." Samirah bites her lower lip, tapping her fingers against her chin nervously. "Just- hold on. Stay there."

She takes hurried steps back to the bedrooms, first going through her daughter's then running into her own. Both Annette and Cuno give each other a confused look before they step closer. Annette takes a bit long to get to the door, carefully and awkwardly stepping around the littered floor. As they reach the bedroom door, they see her wardrobe was wide open now, and she was hurriedly going through her desk drawers.

"Fuck!" The woman shouts suddenly, surprising the both of them. She slumps onto the bed, her head in her hands.

"M-ma'am, what's wrong?" Annette asks with genuine concern at the sight of her panic.

"Hey, bitch, what the fuck is going on?" Cuno asks as he walks into the room, looking more confused than angry now.

Samirah doesn't respond.

"Ma'am?" Annette asks softly as she walks up to her. They both stand in front of the woman. The room was as messy as the rest of the flat, with more dirty clothes and empty bottles and trash. There was a desk with piles of books and documents, haphazardly strewn about.

Samirah takes a deep breath and exhales as she drops her arms on her knees. She looks up at them, somehow even more tired than thought possible.

"Change of plans, can we do this tomorrow?" she asks, devoid of energy. "I really need to deal with something-"

"Absolutely not," Cuno cuts her off. "The fuck is going on?"

"Nothing, I just have a hangover and forgot about something I have to do today- Please just leave," she says half-heartedly.

"Ma'am, 25 books were stolen from the bookstore last week," Annette states bluntly, ignoring her. "You burned a pile of books that same night in the Whirling-in-Rags' backyard. We want to know why you did it."

Samirah sits up, looking at the girl disoriented. "When did you say they were stolen?"

"Thursday night, the 11th," Annette answers.

"Again, who even told you-?" Samirah sighs and shakes her head. "Whatever. Doesn't matter. I didn't steal anything. Those were my own books."

"Uhuh, that's the story you're telling everyone," Cuno says. "Like fuck we'd believe that."

"Why would I do something like that?" The woman asks, baffled.

"That's what we're trying to find out..." Annette says, frowning. "Did my mum do something to upset you...?"

"I didn't do anything," Samirah insists.

"Do you think we're stupid?" Cuno grows more irritated. "Ann, you got the book?"

Annette nods and pulls out the fantastique book they found in the building. Samirah has no reaction to it other than more confusion.

"We also found this…" She puts the book back in and pulls out the torn and singed pieces of paper they collected from the cellar. They were held together by a paper clip. "Pages from the stolen books. All in the building… If they really were your own books then how come these were in the East Delta Centre?"

"I don't know about that…" That sounded less convincing than the rest.

"By the way, sloppy fucking job," Cuno scoffs. "We know you went in to the building to hide the evidence. Left all this shit behind."

"Woah, that is not why I went in there," Samirah holds up a stern finger. "I literally just found out about these thefts now."

"But you did go in there, huh?" Cuno sounds smug at her admission. "What were you doin' then?"

"I went in to see the dicemaker," she says.

"You never went in to speak with Ms. Neha," Annette counters. "She only let you in through the intercom because you 'dropped something'."

"Fine, you caught me," Samirah says dismissively. She had way too big of a headache to really keep up with what she wanted to lie about and how. "What's your point?"

"What did you do in there?" Cuno asks.

"Clearly not 'hiding the evidence'," Samirah retorts, gesturing towards the paper. "Did a 'bad job' as you said."

"So? What were you doing?" Cuno asks again.

"Why are you kids here?" she asks instead, waving generally between the two of then before turning to Annette. "Where's your mother? What's with this interrogation stuff? Does she even know you're here?"

"Well, um- I..." Annette stumbles, clasping her hands together over the paper. She grows hot with anxiety at the thought of Samirah approaching her mother and telling her about this conversation.

"The fuck - you trying to weasel your way outta this?" Cuno cuts in. "We know you did it, we followed all the clues, and now we're here! So, you better fucking cough up the money you owe!"

"Okay. Great. Is that all?" Samirah seems more tired than bothered by the accusations now. "Can I go?"

Cuno and Annette exchange a confused glance.

"So, what? You're admitting to it?" Cuno asks.

"Sure, whatever, if that's what you think," Samirah says dismissively, standing up. "I've got things to get to-"

"Are you gonna pay for this shit?" Cuno cuts her off, rushing to the bedroom door. He leans on it, closing it shut.

"Sure, sure, move aside," Samirah waves her hand, signalling for him to move. Cuno cups both of his ears as she approached. She sighs.

"Ma'am..." Annette walks over and stands next to Cuno. "We... We know you didn't do it."

"What?" Samirah turns to her, brows furrowed. Cuno uncovers one ear just so he can hear what they were saying.

"You went out there to stop the fire," Annette admits. "Someone else started it."

"So. First I'm the thief - setting things on fire, hiding the evidence," Samirah points to a finger as she lists them, sounding drained. "Now I'm actually the one who stopped the fire? Which one is it?"

"We know you're covering for her," Annette continues, hoping the use of the right pronoun gets her to react. She sees her lips purse into a line - Annette continues with more confidence. "We just wanted to see if you would tell us the truth yourself."

Samirah seems to be holding her breath, staring Annette down. Annette doesn't look away. The woman finally exhales, deflating. She digs her palms into her eyes and groans in pain and frustration.

"What did I get myself into?" the woman grumbles as she turns around and paces back and forth, hands on her head still. Cuno finally brings his hands away from his ears.

"We're just asking for compensation, ma'am. That's all," Annette says with some concern over the woman's mental state.

"Yeah, well, you and me both," Samirah huffs, finally stopping and dropping her hands away from her face - she stares blankly at the ground.

"The fuck does that mean?" Cuno grows more impatient by the second. "Spit it the fuck out."

"Please?" Annette adds anxiously.

"The reason I'm in such a hurry is because she's gone," Samirah says - she seems to have given up on trying to hide anything anymore. "I need to try and find her - or, well, probably pull in a favor from Mr. Edgar; see if any of his 'eyes' saw her leaving..."

"She steal your shit, huh?" Cuno states more than asks - that explained the hurried run through the apartment. Samirah just shrugs in response - pretty much.

"I'm sorry, ma'am..." Annette says with a sincere frown. The thought of Samirah going out of her way to cover for her daughter only for her to backstab her...

"Honestly, why do I even try?" The woman sighs deeply, dejected. She bends down, kneeling on the ground and looking under her bed. She reaches in and digs out several beer bottles. They were all empty.

"You call this 'trying'?" Cuno asks under his breath. Annette lightly smacks his shoulder with the back of her hand - she has that stern 'don't be mean' look on her face. He rolls his eyes.

The woman seems dissatisfied with the trash she's dug up, standing back up and walking over to the door again. "Let me through. Really need me a drink..."

"Are you... Not going to look for her?" Annette asks as she steps away from the door.

"I don't know. Probably not." She's entirely lost whatever short spurt of energy she had.

"Are you gonna fucking pay, at least?" Cuno asks, still leaning on the door, arms crossed.

"How much are we talking...?" she asks.

"Well, since we only found one book intact..." Annette does a quick subtraction in her head. "Um. Around 120 reál, if I remember right."

"200 with interest," Cuno adds instantly. "And another 50 for emotional damages."

"Considering I just got robbed," Samirah says with all the same lack of energy and urgency. "That's going to take a while."

"So... You'll take responsibility for it?" Annette asks, blinking a bit in surprise.

"Eh..." It was not clear what that meant.

"...Why did she do it?" Annette asks. This felt... Very unsatisfying. They finally had the real answer, but she couldn't feel any sort of relief over it.

"She was drunk and really out of it? I don't know," Samirah shakes her head. "I think she was just really angry at something and needed an outlet. The kid's not stable."

"Why the fucking bookstore?" Cuno asks.

"I don't know?" Samirah sighs. "She told me that she just grabbed whatever was in the building. She didn't tell me it was from the store."

"And you just believed that?" he scoffs. She shrugs.

"So... Why did you want to go in through the intercom?" Annette asks. "If you say you didn't know they were stolen..."

"To get her stuff," Samirah answers.

"What stuff?" Cuno asks.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess she was squatting there before I found her," she seems like she's just answering on autopilot, waiting for them to let her leave the damn room.

"Fuck. Shit's that bad between you she'd rather sleep in there?" Cuno raises a brow.

"Huh?" Samirah finally regains a bit of energy to her tone - confusion.

"That explains the trash we found..." Annette notes. "Was she sleeping in the bunker? Down in the cellar?"

"Yes..." She's still looking at Cuno, puzzled.

"Wait, so if she's been squatting in there," Cuno says, sounding excited, snapping his fingers twice. "That means she's the one who's been stealin' other people's shit, right? Yeah?!"

"Other...?" Samirah looks between them now.

"Oh, there were a couple of other thefts around town," Annette explains. "Do you know if she stole from other places?"

"You can tell us the truth, we only give a shit about the books," Cuno adds. "Just wanna tie up all the loose-ends!"

"I mean... Maybe?" Samirah shrugs awkwardly. She feels lost. "I wouldn't be surprised..."

"Told you it was the same person!" Cuno grins.

"We still don't know for sure," Annette adds.

"Listen, I'm really out of it right now." Samirah holds up a hand, shaking her head. "Go slow. What happened?"

"Well... It sounds like your daughter has been living in the basement of the East Delta centre?" Annette says, looking for confirmation. Samirah looks even more lost. "And that she might have been stealing food, clothes, and other things to get by. Right up until she- uh- burned the books."

"Oh, oh, that explains the flashlight!" Cuno says - referencing the stolen flashlight from the pawn shop. "Place is dark as fuck."

"Okay, woah, woah, slow down," Samirah's energy turns to frustration now. "You think it's my daughter?"

The two kids look at her in silent confusion for a few seconds.

"Who the fuck else would it be?" Cuno asks.

"Where did you even-? NO, it's not my daughter!" The woman scowls, going louder. "Who the hell told you that!?"

"We pieced it together ourselves, dumbass." Cuno seems amused at her irritation. "You already admitted to it. You're tryin' to tell us we're wrong now?"

"Did Sylvie tell you that? Is that what she thinks happened?!" Samirah asks exasperated.

"She actually didn't tell us anything, ma'am," Annette tries to suppress a smug smile. Did they really get a full confession out of this woman without even being right? "She only told us you didn't start the fire."

Samirah's face drops, she slams a hand on her forehead. The hangover was really taking a toll on her judgement.

"So, who's this kid you've been talking about?" Cuno asks, not hiding his own smug look. "Might as well tell us at this point."

"It's just some troubled kid I took in for a bit," she grumbles. "I don't actually know who she is."

"You don't?" Annette asks. "Then why did you lie for her?"

"She told me she's hiding from people," Samirah explains. "I just took the blame so no one would ask questions. I didn't think it would be anything more than just the fire."

"What kind of people she hidin' from?" Cuno asks.

"I don't know," she repeats. "She just said they were looking to hurt her. Kid is really paranoid about giving out her information. Not even a name. I just called her kid."

"Then why the fuck would she start a fire?" Cuno scoffs. "Dumb as fuck if you're 'hiding'."

"Like I said, she's really unstable," she says. "I was hoping she'd talk to me once she trusts me, but... Well..." She sighs, crossing her arms.

"Is she from Martinaise?" Annette asks.

"I don't know, probably not?" the woman shrugs. "She's Suruese - at least she speaks it. There's no Suru people here this side of Martinaise - none that the Claires know about anyway - so I have no idea where she came from."

"Suruese...?" Cuno furrows his brows, losing his smug look. He feels his blood run cold at the thought of it... That was...

"Cuno?" Annette breaks him out of his thoughts. "What is it?"

"It's just..." Cuno seems to grow anxious. "The only person I know who's Suruese is... C."

"Oh..." Annette frowns, feeling herself grow tense. "Would it be...?"

"Oh! There's a chance you know her?" Samirah perks up with interest. Maybe some good could come out from telling them.

"Hold on, fucking-" Cuno shakes his head holding up his hands. "What the fuck does this bitch look like? She... She look like Cuno?" He points at himself, trying - and failing - not to look too obviously anxious.

"Uh..." Samirah looks him over. "Not really? ...Maybe? Are you Suruese?"

He doesn't know if hearing that quite eases his anxiety. "So what the fuck does she look like?" he asks again, ignoring her question.

"Okay, well... She's probably the same age as you two," Samirah describes, uneasy at the sudden thick anxiety in the air. "She's a little shorter though, very thin. Pale, freckled, short black hair, thick eyebrows... Brown eyes? I think?"

"Black hair? ...She got red roots or somethin'?" Cuno asks, only growing more paranoid. The rest of that sounded like her...

"I... Don't know, she never takes off her hat," Samirah says, only now taking note of that weird fact. "You know what, actually? I think she does... Pretty sure I saw it the first day."

"Fuck you, fuck you," Cuno hisses, eyes wide as he balls his hands into tight fists. His nails dig into his palms. "It's her, it's- it's fucking her, isn't it?"

"It might not be..." Annette says quietly, pressing her thumb into her palm.

"Who is she? What's-?" Samirah asks.

"She say shit like Näkk, fä***i, vittu? Shit like that?" Cuno cuts her off with another question.

"Oh boy, lots of vulgarities in Suruese, yeah." Samirah rubs the back of her neck. "The Näkki talk is... Something. So, you do know her?"

"She's been living here?" Cuno asks, fuming. "You're fucking with Cuno, right?"

"I...?" Samirah is taken aback by the anger. Maybe letting them know about the girl was a mistake after all...

"Fuck-! Then she was-? Fuck- fuck- FUCK!!" He shouts in Samirah's face, his fists shaking. "YOU DUMB FUCKING F*G! WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU HIDE THAT BITCH!? Do you even know what she-!? WHAT SHE COULD HAVE-!? UGH!" He couldn't even form a coherent sentence, just waving wildly or grabbing at his hair.

"Cu- Cuno," Annette calls out quietly, placing a hand on his arm. He aggressively jolts away from her touch and she clasps her hands together.

"Woah, woah." Samirah holds up both her hands. "What's going on?"

"THIS WHOLE FUCKING TIME!?" Cuno kicks the desk hard, causing a pile of unstable books to fall over, some onto the floor. "FUCK YOU!" He flings open the door and storms out of the room. They hear a loud slam after a few seconds in the other room.

"What's with that reaction?" Samirah asks quietly, feeling like her head was going to explode from the shouting. "Who the hell is she?"

Annette doesn't really hear her. She steps out of the room, her mind static.

Samirah frowns as she follows them out. They were both sitting down on the couch, the pile of jackets that were on it was now scattered across the floor and the coffee table was toppled over. Cuno had his head in his hands, his elbows on his knees.

Annette looks up at Samirah and shakes her head. Give him a minute.

Samirah holds her breath as she walks past them and into the kitchen. She opens the fridge and looks through... Of course her beer was stolen too. She sighs and slams the fridge shut. Coffee it is. She starts to work on making that.

Annette waits patiently and silently next to Cuno. She wished she knew what to say. Only a few minutes ago it felt like they could celebrate a case solved, but now it seems like an entirely new set of complications have revealed themselves.

It takes a while, but Cuno takes a deep breath in as he finally sits up straight - then exhaling deeply. He looks ahead with angry eyes.

"Okay. Great! We know who did it." Cuno breaks the silence with bitter sarcasm. "Mystery fucking solved. Real fucking great. She's back. Guess she's got black hair now? Fuck it. Sure."

"Are you sure it's her?" Annette asks quietly.

"Of-fucking-course it's her!" Cuno snaps loudly, turning to her. "You meet anyone else talking about fucking Näkki shit?!"

Annette shrinks and looks down at her lap. She knew he wasn't mad at her, but... It was still her fault that he was here. It was so selfish of her to ask him to visit, knowing how he felt; knowing what had happened... He shouldn't be here, dealing with this.

"Why the fuck is she back? What the fuck does she want?!" Cuno continues to shout, exasperated.

"Maybe she really is just hiding," Annette says, hoping to calm his nerves - as well as her own. "People come to Martinaise to hide..."

"Yeah, 'hiding'. Fucking waiting for Cuno to come back..." His voice trails off as he glares out the window. The Whirling-in-Rags was obviously very visible from here.

Cuno huffs and leans back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling with crossed arms and one knee bouncing rapidly. He thought of all the places she could be at right now and what her possible plans were. She obviously ran away because she saw him - but ran where? Was she waiting for him to be alone? Waiting until he's at that fucking bus stop in the middle of nowhere? Did she know where he lived? Know about the pig? No, no - how would she know? And why would she be here in Martinaise if she did?

As always, he had no fucking clue what was going on in that psycho's head. He had no idea what to make of any of it. He just knew that he had to do something.

"It's fine, you can- you can just head back to Jamrock," Annette says, breaking the silence again. "We know who did it and Ms. Samirah can vouch for you. You don't need to stay..."

"No, no, fuck that!" Cuno huffs and gets up, arms crossed as he paces the room. "It's not just about the fucking books anymore! Cuno's not leaving 'till we get this whole fucking thing settled!"

"Settled how?" she asks.

"Cuno has to fucking find her!" he says like it's obvious.

"Why?" Annette furrows her brows, baffled. She only saw that as asking for more trouble.

"Do you think that psycho'll stop at the books?" Cuno stops in front of her, scowling down.

"What else would she...?"

"You fucking know what else she could do," he says gravely.

Annette looks down at her hands, rubbing a thumb into one of her palms. "Yeah. I know. That's why you should just go back to Jamrock."

"It's not just about Cuno!!" he seems to grow frustrated at the fact that Annette wasn't seeing the severity of the situation like he could. "She's seen you with Cuno now! She's already attacked your store-" He seems to come to another realization. "-was that on fucking purpose? She must have seen you in the shack or- or somethin'... Did you notice anythin' weird at the shack?"

"I don't think so," Annette says, trying to search her memory. She shakes her head. "Look, I really don't think you need to worry about me. I'll be careful. But I really think she might be gone, considering she stole from Ms. Mira."

Cuno would think that's the most logical plan of action for her to take, sure. But she's done a lot of things that seem illogical so far. He couldn't bet on 'logical'.

"Hey, bitch," Cuno finally addresses Samirah who's been quietly listening to them while leaning on the kitchen counter, a coffee mug in her hand. "You said you were gonna talk to the fat fucks at the Union, see if they know where she is?"

"Hopefully, yeah..." she answers slowly. She's still trying to piece together what the relationship between them and the girl was.

"Alright, let's fucking go." Cuno just walks to the door.

"Cuno, you really shouldn't go after her," Annette says as she follows after. "Knowing where she left would be good, but-"

"We're not going anywhere until you tell me who this girl is and why you're so mad at her," Samirah cuts her off, not moving from her spot.

"Bitch tried to kill me," Cuno says bluntly. Samirah's eyes widen. "So, yeah, Cuno's got a fucking bone to pick."

"Why did she try to do that...?" Samirah furrows her brows now. "Who are you?"

"Who's Cuno?" He scoffs - a bitter smile. "A fucking dumbass, that's who. Just like you are."

Samirah just stays quiet, pursing her lips.

"Cuno used to protect her, take care of her, but she fucked Cuno over because she's a psycho like that. Backstab shit. Paranoid as fuck bitch," Cuno continues. "You're real lucky she didn't stab you in your fucking sleep."

Samirah frowns, gripping the cup in her hands. She sees the look on the kids' faces - whether or not it was true that this girl would kill, they clearly believed it was.

"So," Cuno says, opening the front door. "You better clean up the mess you made and fucking find her. Now."

"Hey, Cuno..."

"Hm?" Cuno tossed a pebble across the water. It hopped 3 times before it sunk. They were at the coast of Land's End, standing next to the old radio tower. It was a cloudy and cold afternoon. "Cuno doesn't like that tone. Better not be some depression shit."

"I know, I'm sorry, but this has been bothering me..." Annette sighed, staring at the jagged rock in her hand. Cuno braced himself for whatever was coming up. "Where's... Where's C? I haven't seen her at all since... You know..."

That was a week ago. A week ago, a lot of people got shot and killed in the plaza between the bookstore and the Whirling-in-Rags. A week ago, Cuno invited her to his shack for the first time. That very next day, to her surprise, he asked her to hang out again. And again. Everyday this week.

Annette knew that meant he didn't expect C back any time soon.

"Cuno doesn't fuckin' know. That bitch is always up to some crazy shit." He tried to keep his tone neutral but his next pebble throw was aggressive. It got thrown far and sunk immediately. "Nothin' to do with Cuno."

"What happened between you two?" She couldn't forget just how distraught he'd seemed that day in the shack. Whatever happened that day must have had something to do with C.

"Shit was toxic as fuck between us, you know that," he grumbled as he bent down and looked through the rocks on the sand. "Cuno decided that Cuno didn't need that shit in his life anymore."

"But... Isn't she your best friend?" Annette left the implications in the air. She felt like the only reason he was choosing to hang with her now was because he was in some sort of argument with C.

"C is not Cuno's best friend! Got no need for that shit. The Cuno trusts nobody but Cuno!" He stood up with more rocks in his hands, not once looking towards Annette.

Annette couldn't help but feel a little hurt. Even after spending more time together, she still didn't know if he even considered her a friend. Would he ever?

"C is just some feral weirdo that Cuno took pity on," he continued. "But she ain't Cuno's responsibility."

"But doesn't she live with you...?" Annette started to scratch the sharp part of the rock into the palm of her hand. It would be one thing if they were just arguing, but she hadn't seen C at all.

"Not anymore," he grumbled, chucking another rock. "Cuno doesn't know where she is."

"...Aren't you worried about her?" Annette frowned.

"Why do you care? Cuno saw her treat you like shit." He threw another rock. It sunk upon hitting the water.

"So did you." There was no bitterness or blame in her voice. Just a statement of fact. Cuno stared at the horizon, his brows furrowed. Annette continued: "If things could change between us, then I'm sure things can change with C."

"Ann, you have no fucking clue what that psycho's like. She's nothing like Cuno." He flung another pebble, it only hopped once. "You're too nice. She'll skin you alive. Cuno doesn't say that lightly either."

Annette sighed. He's said something like that before... She used to think he hid his interest in books from C just to avoid teasing, but the more she spent time with him, the more apparent it was that there was more to it than that. He was afraid of her. She couldn't understand why.

"Can you at least tell me what happened?" Annette asked.

"She pulled a knife on me, Ann," Cuno finally answered with a blunt tone. He threw the next rock without a lot of strength. It sunk a meter away. "It wasn't an empty threat, either. I could see it in her eyes. Bitch was gonna kill me right then and there."

"W- What..." Annette stared at him with wide eyes, not even noticing that she cut her palm with the rock.

"Only reason she didn't do it was 'cause she knew she'd be caught." He scoffed. "Wouldn't take a fucking genius to figure out who'd kill Cuno. There'd only be two suspects - and Cuno's dad is in a fucking coma."

That was truly the scariest sentence Annette had ever heard - and Cuno just said it like it was nothing.

Cuno doesn't look away from the sea ahead, twisting around the last pebble in his hand.

"Don't bring up C anymore. Please."