Detectives Wanted: Book I - The Beginning

Chapter V

The knock from the door vibrated through the hedgehog's skull. Curiosity stirred within Zoey's mind as she felt her legs subconsciously slide over the side of the bed frame and gently plant themselves on the cold, wooden floor. Slowly sitting up and rising from the bed, Zoey dragged her feet towards the hallway. Her body responding through impulse to answer the door, but a certain fox had beat her to it.

"I'll be right there!"
Sofia's voice suddenly hollered from downstairs, causing Zoey to pause once she got to the top step. Quietly, the hedgehog listened to the clatter of plates that resounded from the first floor. She also heard Sofia lift something heavy before dropping whatever it was with a loud thud. Carefully, Zoey took a step down to try getting close enough to listen in without being noticed, sitting on the top step and making sure that she was hidden by the walls that covered the upper-half of the staircase.

There was no reason for Zoey to be eavesdropping on the fox. She could just go back and get some much needed rest like the two had discussed earlier, but she had a nasty habit of being a bit too nosy at times. She got into a lot of trouble for it as a kid, yet she never learned her lesson.

As soon as Zoey got comfortable on the step, she heard the front door gradually creak open, allowing the crisp breeze from the night air to swiftly rush into the house.
"Oh, it's so good to see you again, Annie!"
Sofia eagerly expressed as she welcomed the new stranger at the door.
Zoey tried to peer around the wall to get a better look at what was happening, but knowing that she would risk revealing herself she remained where she was and continued to listen in.

"It is a pleasure to be back in your presence, Mrs. Ebbeit."
The voice by the door, who Sofia referred to as "Annie", said.
The woman's voice was filled with the sense of formality and sophistication, as well as being mixed with an underlying, monotonic tone. The complete polar opposite compared to the friendly fox.

"Come on, Annie. We've been on a first-name basis for ages! Just because I'm married now doesn't mean you need to be so formal."
Sofia reminded the stranger with a chuckle, propping her hands on her hips.

"Apologies, Sofia. I'm afraid that it has become a force of habit. Ever since I was appointed, I have had to attend an excruciating amount of deliberation meetings with company owners from across the Refarion region on ways to improve the current economic struggles along the outskirts of the city. Well-refined mannerism is often required for tantalizing processes, such as these. Especially, when many of them are too stingy to make the necessary changes for our people to grow as a nation. It will take more than my usual persuasion tactics to convince these tycoons otherwise."
The stranger openly complained while still keeping her voice level.

"Have you tried your usual negotiation method, yet?"
The fox asked.

"Unfortunately, no. I have been advised to refrain from my 'usual' persuasion methods as they were deemed too extreme for these types of scenarios. If I had it my way, those greedy pigs would be groveling in the dirt."
Zoey could hear the stranger walk into the house, her heels softly clicking on the hardwood as the door casually closed shut behind her.

"You do have to agree with them, though. Your idea of negotiation is more like an interrogation with a hint of physical aggression."
Sofia said.

"Are you suggesting that I need to be more hospitable?"
Annie asked the fox, sounding unamused.

"It might help."
Sofia said with a shrug.
"But you have to admit that you've gotten more irritable, lately. You used to have more civilized ways of getting your point across. Remember when you had that meeting with the college board about some of the medical practices they taught us?"
The fox then recalled with a pointed finger.