I Know, You Know -CHAP.14--DN-

  I did eventually let L inside, after I was sure that he wasn’t going to disappear if I closed my eyes. I needed to get a grip – he was here, that was good and everything... But now I had to try and be professional.

  Though it’s kinda hard to be professional when there’s bright green wrapping paper decorated with cartoon caterpillars and ladybugs on your floor. Damn it, old man.

  “I hope I’m not interrupting you,” said L, casting his blank gaze over the childish wrapping paper.

  “No, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting company,” I replied hastily, grabbing the paper from the floor and scrunching it up. I tossed it into the wastepaper bin in the corner in one shot. Score.

  Unfortunately, L’s attention was on my desk and he hadn’t seen my awesome sport skills. I don’t think he’d even heard what I’d said. “Who sent you that?” He indicated the broken clock.

  “My grandpa,” I said. I still had to try and figure that one out.

  “Is your grandfather of British heritage?” he asked.

  “No, he’s Japanese,” I answered, feeling totally lost. “Why?”

  “Because it’s a bad omen to give a clock as a gift,” explained L. “The superstition originates from China, because their word for clock is similar to the word for death. I thought that maybe if your grandfather wasn’t of Asian descent, then that would explain his ignorance.”

  I just stared at him. “How did you even know that?”

  “Just trivia that I’ve picked up,” replied L.

  In my mind, that was not trivia. Trivia was knowing the capital of Denmark or the actor who played Blane in Pretty In Pink. Okay, the last one probably wasn’t a very good example – I was totally biased on that. Andrew McCarthy is amazing.

  But either way, that was definitely the answer I’d been looking for. There was no doubt about it.

  “Have I ever told you you’re amazing?” I said, going for my iPhone so that I could text my grandpa.

  “I can’t say that you have,” replied L, neither flattered nor embarrassed by my comment. “Is there any particular reason for that opinion?”

  “Because you just gave me the answer that I needed. My grandpa has a long-running tradition of sending me odd gifts,” I explained. “If I can figure out the meaning behind them, then I get the real present that he’s gotten for me. If I can’t do it, then he keeps it until next year.”

  “This probably would have been quite straightforward if you’d looked it up online,” L pointed out.

  “I’m not allowed to use the internet; that’s one of the rules,” I told him. “I have to work it out the old-fashioned way – either through traditional research or by word of mouth.”

  “But how does he know that you wouldn’t cheat?”

  “Because I don’t cheat,” I said simply, which was the truth. “Cheating just negates the whole challenge. There’s no fun in it. And my grandpa thinks the same way.”

  “Your grandfather sounds like an interesting person,” commented L. I was sure that that must be a genuine compliment coming from him and I appreciated it.

  “He’s the most interesting person I know,” I agreed. “He’s a great storyteller and totally eccentric. My mom says that’s where I get all my weird quirks from.”

  L just ignored my comment. Instead, he pointed to my desk and said, “You have a gift left.”

  “Err, yeah, I do,” I agreed, a little thrown by the abrupt change in subject.

  He clearly didn’t want to compliment me as well as my grandfather. The thought made me a little miffed. It was my birthday – the one day that people were supposed to be extra nice to me. Though I guessed maybe that was a stretch for L.

  Okay, I wasn’t saying he wasn't nice. He just wasn't really anything.

  I realised then that he was still watching me and that he’d probably been saying something. I’d gone into another mini zombie trance, so of course, I hadn’t heard anything. “Sorry, what?”

  “Aren’t you going to open it? I wouldn’t want to have interrupted you.”

  “Oh, no, it’s okay,” I said. The remaining present was the one with no card attached. I didn’t really want a repeat of the whole perfume bottle incident in front of L. But then there wasn’t really anyone else from my past who could provoke quite the same reaction.

  “Some cultures would consider it rude to leave a gift unopened,” L continued in his usual monotonous voice.

  I frowned at him. Geez, I’d forgotten how irritating he could be. I resisted the urge to complain ‘who are you, my mother?’ “Fine, I’ll open it!”

  I picked up the small yet heavy package and tore the wrapping away to reveal an ordinary, unmarked cardboard box. I dug my fingers into the corners and pulled one of the flaps back. Inside was a very small, but very real gun.

  I almost dropped the box in surprise. I managed to slowly set it down on the table and carefully picked the gun out. It really was tiny – I could fit the entire thing into my palm. I couldn’t think of anyone who would send me a gun as a present.

  “Do you know who it’s from?” L asked, completely casual.

  “Nope. There was no card,” I replied, my mind still boggling. I tested the weight of the gun. “It’s a Seecamps Autoloader. A .32 millimetre, from the looks of it.” Some detective I was – I couldn’t even figure out who had sent me a birthday present. But then I guess it wasn’t really your everyday birthday present.

  “It’s real,” said L suddenly.

  “Well, no shit, Sherlock,” I replied, bemused. What did he expect? “What; did you think it was a toy or something?”

  “It just seems very unusual for you to be sent a gun as a gift,” said L. He then added, “And I can’t say I’ve ever really cared for Sherlock Holmes.”

  That was certainly enough to push the gun mystery out of my head. “Hang on, what? You don’t like Sherlock Holmes?”

  “No, not particularly,” said L offhandedly, completely unaware of my outrage. “In general, I’m not really a fan of fictional detectives. The writers themselves are only writers, after all – they write detective fiction based on assumption, not actual experience.”

  I just gawked at him. Wow, we really were complete opposites. When I found my tongue, I managed to say, “If you start hating on Psych, then I’m not going to be your friend anymore.”

  “You think we’re friends?” asked L, seeming mildly surprised.

  I faltered again, though this time because it stung a little. The words sounded condescending, even though his tone was as empty as ever. “Err, you don’t?”

  “I guess I haven’t thought about it much. I’ve never really had friends before.”

  I couldn’t help but stare at him. He didn’t look bothered by what he’d just admitted – if anything he looked thoughtful. But again, it was the words that seemed to hold more meaning than anything else. I had to seriously resist the urge to give him a hug.

  Though I reminded myself that just because it was my birthday, it probably wouldn’t stop him from drop-kicking me if he decided he didn’t want any physical contact.

  “Well, I see you as a friend,” I said awkwardly. I felt stupid even saying it.

  As usual, L’s face didn’t give anything away. “Why, thank you.” And, as usual, he swiftly changed the subject. “So you really don’t know who might have sent you a gun in the mail?”

  I fought the urge to sigh. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. L usually moved the conversation along if it started to sway towards being too personal. “Your guess is as good as mine,” I said with a shrug. “Clearly somebody not very smart though. This could have easily fallen into the wrong hands.”

  I put the Seecamps back into the box for now. I was actually itching to go and try it out. Trigger-happy, who, me? But I knew I’d have to get a few things sorted first – I was only licensed to carry my Browning.

  “Well, either way, it’s not that important right now. We already have a much bigger mystery on our hands,” I continued. “So are we gonna go and get stuck in?”

  “Lead the way,” prompted L.

  So I spent the afternoon perusing the case videos with L. I couldn’t have asked for anything better... Except maybe some results. No matter how many times we watched the interviews and went over all the facts, nothing important leapt out at us. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised seeing as that was how the entire case had been going.

  We worked for a good few hours before we were interrupted by the distant sound of the doorbell downstairs. Man, the one day of the year that I was ever popular.

  “Erm, I’m just gonna go get that,” I said awkwardly, getting up. It felt weird to be leaving L alone in my apartment, even if it was only for a few minutes.

  “It’s not a problem,” replied L, not even looking up from the papers he was reading. “Please carry on.”

  Even so, I still hurried. Just the knowledge that it was only going to be me and L working alone together until this case was finished was enough to make me feel more on edge. My head was rattling with questions that I was a little too afraid to ask. Was he still staying at the hotel? Did he need somewhere new to stay? What had happened to Watari? Was it really just the two of us now?

  I tried to push it all to the back of my mind as I unlocked the front door. Having all this crap in my head really wasn’t going to help with anything. Thankfully, my visitor was enough to distract me for now.

  “Kalispera, Miss Georgia! Hronia polla!”

  It was my next door neighbour, Sophia. She’s an unusual combination of Japanese and Greek and she lives above a small deli that she owns herself. I’m pretty sure she’s into her sixties now, but she’s still as batty and lively as ever. And she harasses me about guys even more than Masami does.

  “Efkharisto, kalispera,” I replied with a smile. Greek wasn’t a language I was fluent in, but she’d taught me enough to be able to say ‘thank you’ and ‘good afternoon’. As well as a few curse words, but they weren’t really relevant right now.

  “I brought some gifts for you,” she beamed, holding up a metal tin with a wrapped present on top of it. She’s always had a strong Greek accent and slips into the language at times, but her Japanese is still flawless. “What is it now, twenty-three? Twenty-four?”

  “Twenty-four. But you really shouldn’t have worried about it,” I said, pleasantly surprised that she still remembered every year. I hesitated for a few seconds before asking, “Would you like to come in for a drink?”

  I felt I couldn’t not offer, especially after she’d gone out of her way to get me birthday presents. Plus I always invited her inside when she visited, so it would look weird if I didn’t do that now. I’d just have to hope that she left L alone.

  “Oooh, you know I’d never say no to some of your hot chocolate,” Sophia grinned.

  I smiled back in response. Masami had smuggled out some of the Starbucks hazelnut hot chocolate mix for me a while back. Sophia had just as keen a taste for it as I did. Thankfully, I still had a substantial amount of it left.

  “I thought you’d say that. I have pineapple upside down cake too,” I remembered out loud. “I have company inside at the moment though – I hope you don’t mind.”

  “No, not at all!” Sophia insisted as she followed me inside. I locked the front door again behind her. “It’s your birthday – you can celebrate it how you want.”

  “Well, it’s more working than celebrating,” I confessed as I led her upstairs.

  Sophia shook her head dramatically. “Always working, Miss Georgia. You don’t ever leave yourself time for fun.”

  I didn’t bother pointing out that for me work was fun. I’d already tried that before and she’d just scoffed at me. We got upstairs to the apartment and as soon as L saw that I had a visitor, he quickly but smoothly tidied the papers away. Nice move. I guess he wouldn’t have known whether Sophia could be trusted or not if she accidentally happened upon any information relating to the case.

  “Erm, this is my neighbour Sophia,” I introduced, feeling a little uncomfortable. I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about L meeting any of my friends. I wished I could have started him with someone a little less bonkers. Kay or Laura perhaps. “Sophia, this is my... colleague, Ryuzaki.”

  I couldn’t tell whether it was the name or the title that I stumbled over, but either way, Sophia still noticed. Goddamn.

  “Colleague, you say? Are you sure you don’t mean boyfriend?” Sophia teased, shooting L a knowing look and then winking to top it off. I just about died on the spot.

  “Wait, no!” I began to protest. “That’s not what I...”

  Of course, Sophia just ignored me and continued on. “You know quite a lot of men in your work, Miss Georgia.” She moved nearer to L, making a show of scrutinising him closer. “So what do you like about this one? Why are you singling him out and not inviting your other police friends round?”

  “I’m not singling anyone out!” I insisted. I didn’t even want to look at L – this was far too embarrassing. “The case we’re working on is separate from the police.”

  “Of course it is,” said Sophia in a way that suggested she didn’t believe me for a second.

  “Actually, Gee didn’t invite me. It was my idea to come here today,” corrected L.

  I was surprised that he seemed to be sticking up for me. Sophia seemed surprised that he’d spoken up at all. I chanced a look at him and saw that he didn’t seem particularly bothered by Sophia’s comments. His expression was as blank as always. I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad sign.

  “You came for her birthday, did you?” Sophia asked knowingly. “You look a little rough around the edges, but I’m sure you scrub up nice,” she told him in what she probably thought was a friendly manner.

  That at least seemed to provoke a reaction from him. “Rough around the edges?” he repeated slowly.

  I had to choke back a laugh. If you ever wanted someone to say something to you straight, then Sophia was your woman. She’d called me scruffy more times than I cared to count – it was nice seeing somebody else on the end of it for a change. But seeing as L was sort of on my side in this, I decided to jump in and rescue him.

  “So did you still want cake and hot chocolate, Sophia?” I asked loudly.

  That was enough to distract her. “Oh, parakaló, of course!” she remembered, proceeding to bustle over towards the kitchen area to help me. Ever the good hostess. I wish I could say the same – I often forgot to feed myself, let alone anyone else.

  “What about you, Mr. Rough-around-the-edges?” I asked L teasingly. “Cake and hot chocolate?”

  “Yes, thank you,” replied L monotonously.

  I went and rescued the pineapple upside down cake from the fridge, after reminding Sophia where the hot chocolate mix was. She bustled about making it herself. She did this every time she came round. I swear the woman didn’t trust me with anything as obviously dangerous as a kettle. Whilst she was busy, I cut three slices from the cake and took them over to the table where L was still sitting.

  “You sit down, Miss Georgia,” Sophia called from the kitchen area. “It is your birthday. I’ll worry about this.”

  “Thanks, Sophia,” I said gratefully. I often spent birthdays working by myself, so today had just been a series of pleasant surprises. I took up a seat next to L. “Sorry about this,” I said quietly. “I hope this won’t interrupt our work too much.”

  “It’s quite alright,” said L. “As she said, it’s your birthday. You should be allowed to enjoy it.”

  “And I am,” I smiled. “I appreciate you coming down here today by the way.”

  “You appreciate it even though it means you’ve been working on your birthday?”

  “Hey, I can’t think of a better way to spend it,” I said truthfully. “Working’s my favourite way to pass the time, so I don’t think I could ask for a better birthday activity.”

  “So that would have been your birthday wish all along?” said L.

  “Probably something like that,” I laughed. “I’m not the most creative with birthday wishes.”

  “What would you wish for if you could have anything?” L asked.

  I stopped and just looked at him. It was quite a personal question, especially coming from L – the world’s worst at real conversation. And what would I wish for if I could be granted anything I wanted? Part of me very much wanted to say that I’d quite like to jump over the table at him, but obviously, I was never going to say that in a million years.

  Plus in my life, work always came before my love life. My cases were just always that much more important. Solving this one in particular would probably be the best thing that I could ask for. And I remembered L saying that when a case went well, it was one of the few things that actually made him smile. That was definitely something I’d like to see again.

  “To make more progress on this case,” I decided. “To finally solve it all and give the victims’ friends and families the peace of mind they deserve.” I hesitated before adding with a grin, “And to make us feel awesome, of course.”

  L watched me for what felt like a very long time before responding. “Good answer.” The barest ghost of a smile crossed his face and that was enough to make me happy.

  But of course, I still had a crazy neighbour around that I’d almost forgotten about. “Here we go!” she suddenly announced, breaking the atmosphere as she clattered over carrying three mugs. I call that a gift – I can’t carry more than one in each hand at a time.

  “Thank you,” said L graciously, as she passed one across the table to him.

  Sophia handed another mug to me and then held her own one up in the air. “A toast,” she said cheekily. “To Miss Georgia’s birthday.”

  “Err...”

  I didn’t know what to say to that. I’d never been toasted before and certainly not by a guy I liked. But L dutifully held up his mug too and repeated Sophia’s words. It was enough to make me pink in the face. I hurriedly busied myself with taking a large swig of hot chocolate and almost burnt the roof of my mouth.

  “So, Ryuzaki, was it?” Sophia addressed L. Oh god, here we go again...

  “That’s right,” said L.

  “Tell me, what do you think of Miss Georgia?”

  “Sophia!” I protested. “I’ve told you already he’s just a colleague.” I shouldn’t really have been surprised – she did this with every single guy I knew. She’d even done it with Johnny. I don’t know which of us had been more appalled by the idea.

  “Just that one question, then I’ll stop,” Sophia promised me with an innocent look, her accent becoming even more pronounced. I sighed and mumbled something inaudible. I wasn’t sure that there really was any way of stopping her.

  Annoyingly, L actually seemed willing to oblige. “I suppose she’s quite charming in her own way,” he said.

  “Oh, thanks,” I said sarcastically. Talk about a back-handed compliment.

  L ignored me and continued to speak to Sophia as if I wasn’t there. “But she is a good detective, despite what she thinks. She’s hard-working and she always seems to put others before herself.”

  That was enough to shut me up. Was that really a genuine compliment? I think it was. So of course, I felt myself flush even darker than I had done before. Well, hell.

  Sophia seemed quite pleased with his answer. “I couldn’t agree more.” She then turned back to me briskly. “So Miss Georgia, are you ever going to open these?” She pushed the presents she’d brought with her across the table.

  “Oh, err, yeah sure!” I said, still a little thrown off guard. I pulled them towards me and prised the lid off the tin first. Inside was a batch of hand-baked biscuits. I grinned – Johnny wasn’t the only one I knew who was a good cook. “Ahh, thanks, Sophia! You know I can’t resist your cooking!”

  “Nobody can,” Sophia grinned back. “Now open the other one!”

  I obligingly picked up the wrapped present. She seemed a lot more excited about this one. It was slim and rectangular. Judging from the size and shape, it was easy to tell that it was a book. Most people knew that books were one of the best presents to get me. Though Sophia clearly had other intentions. When I pulled the wrapping paper off, I found that it wasn’t just any book... It was a kama sutra. I almost choked on my hot chocolate.

  “Sophia, what the hell!” I spluttered.

  “What is it?” asked L, craning to get a better look.

  “Nothing!” I insisted quickly, grabbing it and sliding it out of view onto my lap. Sure, he’d had no interest in seeing the biscuits... but this he wanted to see?

  Sophia laughed. “I thought you could experiment a little in your free time.” She then pointedly inclined her head towards L. “Maybe your friend will volunteer to help.”

  “No way!” I protested, feeling myself going red again. No one else had the ability to do that to me so much.

  Sophia just laughed even more. “Well, I’m sure it’s your loss, Miss Georgia. At least you have it for if you change your mind.”

  Urgh, could this get anymore embarrassing? “Well, thanks... I guess,” I said reluctantly, not wanting to seem ungrateful – even though I knew that the moment she left, the book was most definitely going to be either disposed of or hidden away forever.

  “Oh, parakaló,” said Sophia, seeming pleased. She finally made a start on her piece of cake, which had been forgotten amidst the present opening. “Mmmm, this is amazing!”

  “I agree,” added L. He didn’t usually volunteer his opinion, so it showed just how damn good this cake was. It was safe to say that most of L’s slice was already gone.

  “Johnny made it for me,” I said proudly. “I’m actually glad you’re here – I was worried I was going to have to eat it all myself.”

  “If he’s ever bored, then send him my way,” Sophia suggested.

  I laughed. “He doesn’t really cook much, as diabolical as that sounds. He’s too lazy half the time.”

  “A shame,” said Sophia dramatically. “All that talent gone to waste.”

  Sophia and I chattered more as we ate and drank. Unsurprisingly, L remained silent for the most part – probably preferring to observe us like we were some kind of foreign species. I really couldn’t have imagined more unusual company. I couldn’t tell if the atmosphere was awkward or quite homely.

  Sophia didn’t stay much longer, which I was grateful for. As nice as it always was to see her, I felt bad that our work had been interrupted after I’d already committed myself to it. “I’ll come and let you out,” I said when she announced that she was leaving. After she’d insisted on clearing away the empty mugs and plates for me.

  “It was nice meeting you, Ryuzaki,” Sophia told L. “Don’t let Miss Georgia work you too hard.”

  I rolled my eyes behind her back, which seemed to earn me an almost smile from L. “That won’t be a problem,” he reassured her.

  “Glad to hear,” said Sophia, as she turned to pick up her bag that she’d left on the couch. “Oh, isn’t this beautiful! This is new, isn’t it?”

  I looked over to see what she was talking about. It was the perfume bottle I’d gotten in the post this morning. I’d left it out on the sideboard. “Oh... Yeah, it was a present.”

  Sophia gave me a knowing look. “It must have been someone special to send you something as lovely as this.”

  I shrugged. “Just someone I used to work with,” I said, attempting to sound casual.

  “Ah. Another colleague,” replied Sophia, putting emphases into the word ‘colleague’.

  I didn’t like the look she was giving me and I really didn’t want to get into that story. Especially when I was acutely aware that L could still hear us. So I rather quickly changed the subject and continued to usher her towards the stairs. I thanked her again both for the visit and the presents as I let her out through the front door. I locked up once again before returning upstairs. I felt relieved that the ordeal was over. Nobody knew how to embarrass me like Sophia did.

  “Sorry about the interruption,” I apologised to L, as I sat back down and pulled some of the papers towards me so that I could pick up where I’d left off.

  “It’s fine. She was quite amusing,” replied L.

  I snorted. “That’s one way to put it. I hope she didn’t make you uncomfortable or anything.”

  “From what I could tell, you were more uncomfortable than I was,” remarked L.

  Oh, great, so he had noticed. “Yeah, she tends to have that effect on me. I know she means well though.”

  “She calls you Miss Georgia,” L pointed out.

  “Err, yeah, she does,” I said, unsure where he was going with that. Did he think I’d never realised?

  “I was under the impression that you prefer to go by Gee,” L continued.

  “Oh. Yeah, I do; I don’t really like my full name... But I think it’s a Greek thing,” I explained. “I met Sophia’s sister once before and she was exactly the same – she called me Georgia too. And she insisted on calling my friend Jonathan, even though his name is actually just Johnny. I don’t think Greeks understand nicknames all that well.”

  From the way L was looking at me, I could tell I was starting to ramble, so I mentally told myself to shut up. It was true though. God knows what Sophia would think if she knew I referred to Gibson as Gibs.

  “I like the name Georgia.”

  That was enough to snap me out of the beginnings of my zombie trance. “Huh?” Well, that sounded intelligent.

  “The name Georgia means earth-worker. It’s meant for those who are ambitious and can achieve great power,” L recited. “Plus it has a nice ring to it. Obviously, it’s not so commonplace here in Japan.”

  I stared at him. How the hell did he know all of that? Was that just more of his idea of ‘trivia’? And more importantly, how did he keep finding such simple ways of making me admire him even more?

  I tried my hardest not to gawk like an idiot and to move the attention away from myself. I wasn’t sure how to feel about him telling me that he liked my name, when I’d always personally hated it.  “So... how about you? I’m guessing you wouldn’t tell me what your real name is, huh?” I asked lightly.

  He just looked at me. Why was I not surprised? At least in this case, I’d known it was a long shot. But then I got an answer that I hadn’t been expecting. “Does that bother you? Not knowing my name?”

  I made myself really think about it, rather than just blurting out the first stupid comment that came to mind like I normally did. For someone who lived amongst shadows and behind secrets, identity was a very important thing. But what was a name, really? I didn’t feel that my name particularly defined me – why else would I go by another that I preferred?

  “Not really,” I decided. “A name is as interchangeable as anything else. I think a person’s actions are a much more significant definition of them than something as simple as a name.”

  “But can you love a being without a name?”

  That stopped me completely. I wasn’t entirely sure what he was asking me and I was afraid to answer. Was he just asking rhetorically now? Or was he asking me personally if I loved him?

  Did I? I didn’t actually know... I didn’t think so. Surely, it was too soon for that...

  I was saved from having to answer when my cell phone started ringing. “I know, you know that I’m not telling the truth...” Man, I was really going to have to change my ringtone. Those lyrics were going to continue haunting me for a long time.

  “Sorry,” I apologised to L as I fished my phone out of my pocket, though I wasn’t really sorry at all. I checked the caller ID before answering. Out of range. That wasn’t unusual. The reception in my apartment wasn’t the best, especially with calls from anywhere outside of Kyoto. “Hello?”

  I was met by a very loud and jumbled shout of, “Happy birthday!”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. There was only one group of people I could expect this kind of thing from. “Thanks, everyone,” I said loudly for all of their benefit, though I was probably on speaker phone anyway.

  “Did you get all your presents from Johnny?” my mom asked happily.

  “Yeah, they were great, thank you!” I enthused. “Especially the perfume – I’d needed a refill of that one!”

  “Yeah, Johnny told us that too,” Mom explained, sounding pleased. “He’s a nice boy.”

  I should point out that Sakura Shidou is the most innocent and naïve person I’ve ever known, even at her age. Just the fact that she thinks Johnny is a ‘nice boy’ only furthers my point.

  “Did Grandpa get my text earlier?” I asked.

  Mom laughed. “Yes, he’s been sulking all morning. He felt sure he’d got you this time.”

  I grinned to myself – score one for me, thanks to L. “Tell him better luck next time.” I decided to move into the bedroom. I didn’t wanna distract L with small talk with my mom. But first, I wanted an energy drink. All that cake had made me thirsty.

  “I will,” Mom laughed again. “So have you been having a nice day? You haven’t been working, have you?”

  “No, it’s been nice and relaxing,” I lied, as I pulled a can from the fridge.

  There was the barest of pauses. “You’re lying through your teeth, aren’t you?” She may not have been a detective, but any good mom knows their child inside out. She could certainly psych me out better than anyone else could.

  “Okay, okay,” I admitted, holding the phone against my ear with my shoulder so that I could crack the ring pull on my can. “But I’m not working on my own this time. And Sophia came round for a bit too. I’ve even had cake!”

  “Oh, you do know how to celebrate your birthday then,” said Mom teasingly. “You sound like you’re practically spoiling yourself.”

  “Very funny,” I said sarcastically, though I was still smiling.

  “Well, I don’t want to disturb you too much if you’re busy,” said Mom. Oh, okay, I hadn’t even made it to the bedroom after all. “We just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. Oh, and Shen asked me to pass his number onto you. He said happy birthday too.”

  “Oh, you saw Shen?” I’d worked with him numerous times when he’d been a forensic scientist. He’d moved to Osaka though now – actually quite close to my mom’s place – and was working as the city coroner. Mom read the number out to me and I hastily scrawled it across the memo board attached to the fridge. “You should have just given him my number and told him to call me.”

  “Well, I know how you can be about giving your number out. So I thought I’d just leave it to you to contact him,” she explained.

  “Oh Mom, you could have given it to Shen!” I said. There was only the barest handful of people that I’d trust with my life, but Shen was one of them. “Do you know what he wanted?”

  “He said it was about some death records he’d had to check for a woman from Kyoto and that he wanted to run it by you. Something about she’d died a few weeks ago, but somebody’s been using her credit card in Osaka.”

  I dropped my can. It hit the floor with a loud clang and the contents sprayed everywhere, soaking my feet. I barely even noticed. L was up in a second and at my side. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him move so fast.

  “What is it?” he asked sharply. He clearly knew me better than I thought – at least well enough to know that I rarely drop things carelessly without reason.

  And boy, did I have a reason. This could not just be a coincidence. It just couldn’t.

  “Mom, I’m gonna have to ring you back...”