Rebellious Duo (#Wattys2016)

2: A Toast is in Order

"Welcome. Make yourself at home." Kaine shut the door behind her and bustled around. Nori sat down at a scrubbed wooden table and examined the room. It was simple and rather old-fashioned. Stray papers were strewn here and there. Dust was visible through slats of weak sunlight from the windows. "I forgot to ask, do you want something to eat?"

"Uh, yeah. Maybe some toast," Nori said. "Is... is this where you live?"

"So?" Kaine paused in her collection of papers to stare inquisitively at Nori. "What is wrong with it?"

"You live in a city like London, you're supposedly famous, and this is the best you can do?"

"I prefer to live simply. It helps me concentrate." Kaine continued her frantic search for papers. She grabbed a tin from the cabinet and with one hand, put some hot water into a kettle on the stove. Then she sliced bread, still one-handed, putting that in the oven as well. Nori craned her head to try to see what the scribbling handwriting on the papers was, but she didn't have long to wait. Kaine ran to the table and set the pile down. "This is part of it," Kaine explained.

"Part of it?" Nori yelped. When Kaine hurried away again, Nori called after her, "what are you doing?"

"You wanted toast."

"I guess, but don't you want to-- I dunno, do one thing at the time? The toast can wait!"

Kaine glared over her shoulder while she calmly took heaping teaspoonfuls of tea leaves out of the tin. "You don't want toast?"

"But-- the papers--"

"I know." Kaine fitted the lid back on the tea tin and grabbed another few papers from under a jar of honey. "I'm getting those too."

Nori pulled some of the papers on the table towards her. The handwriting was so messy she could hardly read it. "Hey, what does this say?"

Kaine placed another stack of paper on the table. "My handwriting gets a bit messy sometimes," Kaine admitted, "but that isn't the point. These are my notes on all the cases of disappearing people."

"There are more?"

"Indeed. Oh, wait a minute." Kaine jumped up just as the kettle started to whistle. She poured two cups of tea in mismatched mugs and handed one to Nori. Before Nori could speak, she ran back to the oven and took the toast out onto a plate. "Here. Now talk."

"Talk?"

"Yes. You are my client. I want to know what happened."

"Oh." Nori thought for a second while Kaine took a blank sheet of paper from under the table and a pen from her coat pocket. "I'm a captain--"

"I know. You're clearly a sailor."

Nori leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the table. "Look, if you know so much about me, why don't YOU tell me what happened to my crew?"

"Just tell me what you know," Kaine replied calmly.

Nori took a deep breath. "I'm a pirate captain. And my crew and I-- we've worked together for years. They wouldn't just abandon me in the middle of the sea." She rubbed her temple at the memory. Why wouldn't the pain stop by now? It was hard to concentrate.

"You're a pirate?" Kaine put her pen down and squinted suspiciously at Nori. "How do I know you won't kill me?"

"You're the only hope I've got right now, okay? Just don't turn me in to the cops." Nori crossed her arms.

Kaine looked down at her paper again. "I suppose I don't have a choice either. I need your testimonial for this case." She took a deep breath. Kaine hated this, talking with someone like Nori. Just from her few deductions, she could tell that this girl was trouble. Obviously one of those idiots who relied on their brawn over their brains. But this had to be done. Her job depended on it. "People have been disappearing left and right for weeks now. The police are baffled. It's Jack the Ripper all over again. See those notes? I found out all that I could about the missing people, and I still haven't found any common factors, except that they all worked by the sea. But it just... Seems so strange. It's driving me insane." Nori leaned forward and grabbed some of the papers. With difficulty, she made out the words on the first page.