The Pumpkin Lady

I: Fresh

Quiet. Peaceful, heavenly quiet. No new clients today, no new mysteries to solve, nothing. This realization came as a surprise to Dahlia, as she descended the stairs from her and Felix's apartment. They had been rather busy these past few weeks with new clients flooding in, wanting their questions answered. The usual 'My family heirloom is missing; I think my neighbor stole it!' here, or a more compelling 'The mayor of our little village is embezzling money, help us prove it!' there, it was nothing that Dahlia hadn't come to expect by now. It was as if people just became far more unhinged and paranoid around All Hallow's Eve. But in the past day or two, there finally seemed to be a lull in clientele. Dahlia imagined that Felix was made upset by such a thing, now not having anything to preoccupy himself with. She, on the other hand, was relieved. Running around the city with Felix was fun and all, but she liked these periods of stagnation where the only thing she had to worry about was what book she would read next. Eager to relish these precious moments of free time, Dahlia scoured the vast bookshelves Felix kept stocked as a kettle was left to boil over the stove. A warm cup of Oolong and a copy of Dorian Gray sounded like the perfect way to spend a cold autumn morning. Curled up in the big armchair they don't ever remember buying, she savored the first sip she took, cracked open the book, and was immediately interrupted by a very excited Felix barreling into the room.

"Come now, Miss Berrycloth, there's no time to waste!" he exclaimed, taking the tea from her hands and setting it aside before scooping her up in his arms, much to Dahlia's surprise.

"S-Sir-!?" Dahlia replied, holding on tight as he practically kicked the front door open and rushed down the streets. This wasn't the first time he pulled a childish stunt like this, claiming she was 'too slow' for his liking and proceeding to do the running for her, so to speak. Nevertheless, it still always caught her off guard when he did it. "Sir where are we going?!"

"A murder, Miss Berrycloth! Oh, we haven't had something like this in a long time, and that's not even the best part!"

Dahlia turned to him with a look of disbelief. She had never seen him so excited about the unfortunate death of an innocent. "Sir, someone died!"

"I know! Delightful, isn't it?" Felix replied with a wide grin. weaving in and out of crowds as they traversed the busy streets of London. "it's not too far away, either! Trust me, you'll love it!"

Dahlia could do nothing about it except roll her eyes.