Don't Cage The Birdie (Book 2)(rough first draft)

Chapter 9. It's summer in the city

Central Park was the centre of Manhattan, and, in James' opinion, one of the best attractions of Manhattan. The city had Times Square, some of the tallest skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and the Twin Towers. And yet despite Central Park having a reputation as a dangerous place for non-locals and not to be there after dark, it was James' favourite place. There were forest walks around the lakes, the Loeb Boathouse by the lake with its own special restaurant and its statues and memorials.

He meandered down the paths of the forest, taking in the sights and the scents of the outdoors, a change from stuffy city smells or garbage and street foods and people. The heat was different here, cooler and more open, less stuffy than between the cramped buildings where there was no air flow and down in the streets crowded on either side by various bodies crushing their way through their metropolis life.

He was on his way to the office, taking the scenic route to clear his mind and try and reset. It was overflowing with thoughts and the realisation that he had absolutely nothing to go on and, indeed was getting nowhere. Normally things worked so much easier. He found things out and they clicked into place. But with this case every time he tried to focus on a lead the image of Claudia's body appeared in his head, pushing everything else away so that all he could focus on was her body sitting slumped in a chair, fragments of her brain and skull littered across the floor and the TV and the wall behind. The trouble was, when he looked closer at the body it wasn't Claudia, it was his mother's.

The vision cleared, dissipating to take on the form of someone else that James recognised. The recognition was there but the placement of where James knew her from took a moment and then it sprang into his mind. She was walking up ahead, just having picked up a hot dog from a vendor situated on the corner of two intersecting paths. She looked to be in her own world as James jogged up to meet her, slowing to match her pace beside her.

'Hi,' he said, loud enough for his voice to break into her thoughts and for his appearance to not be so sudden so as to frighten her.

Jasmine Kingstains looks up from her hot dog, her mouth full. She smiled in her own recognition of James then quickly covered her mouth with the napkins she held in her hand. 'Oh, hi,' she said, swallowing her bite of food. 'Detective Holland, right?'

'Yeah. Or James. You can call me James if you want.'

'James,' she said. 'How's the investigation?'

'Progressing,' he said. 'How are the studies?'

'Paused,' said Jasmine, taking another bite of her lunch.

'I'm sorry?'

'No need to be sorry,' said Jasmine. She slowed her pace as they neared a park bench and she sat down. 'I'm on lunch taking a break so I'm not studying. Hence it's paused.'

'Oh.' James chuckled. 'I see.' He paused a moment, standing awkwardly by her, wondering how to further the conversation.

'You can sit down,' said Jasmine, pointing to the spare seat on the bench. 'There's plenty of space and I have other things to bite into at the moment.'

Grinning, James sat beside her and crossed his legs, slumping into a relaxed pose. 'Well that's good to hear, I guess.'

'I'm sure,' said Jasmine. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. 'Was John very upset with me for breaking into his office?'

James shrugged. 'I don't think so. Not that I noticed. I had other things to worry about, to be honest.'

'That's fair, I suppose,' said Jasmine. She finished her hot dog and threw the wrapped into the bin beside her chair. 'Did you find out what you wanted yesterday?'