Je te Plumerai

Miasma

"Poisoned?" questioned Arthur.

"Indeed. Such a shame. A nice, nice girl. No enemies, as far as I could tell. I feel bad for the family. It'll hit them hard."

"What was her name?"

"Aceline Roux. She was in twelfth grade."

Cadence gasped.

"So young. It's always a shame when a young person dies. She had her whole life in front of her. And from what you've said, it seems she had a lot of potential as well."

"She was going to college in England. I forget the name of it at the moment, but many famous people went there. A very good school."

"Well, thank you for the delicious meal, but we really must be going," interjected Cadence, already bored by the topic of conversation, and the fact that she was not really included in it. "Arthur, pay the check. We have places to be!"

Arthur did as she asked and walked out with Cadence not far behind. Once they were sufficiently far from the café, Arthur spoke.

"Why did you rush us out like that? It was quite rude."

"Well, she always walks out on our conversations to talk to someone else, so I thought it was only fair that I did the same."

"That's no excuse for being rude! Besides, she works at a café and has to greet new customers. It's her job!"

Cadence laughed. "Surely you didn't think I was actually serious? I knew you were dense, but I guess I didn't know the full extent of it until today."

Arthur scowled. He did not like being laughed at by anyone, especially not his talkative little sister. "But really? 'We have places to be!'" he mimicked. "In a town far from home, where we are for a funeral? Hardly a convincing story. Anyone could see through it."

"Not Mme Peron. She's even more daft than you, if that's even possible. But there's nothing to see through in this case."

"You mean we actually have somewhere to be?"

"Not just one place, Arthur. Multiple."

"And just where might those places be? Say, Cadence. This isn't the way we came."

"Honestly Arthur. Did I not just say we had places to be?"

"Well, I figured we would get changed first. Come on Cadence. This suit isn't the most comfortable thing in the world."

"Absolutely no changing. It would be disrespectful. We will be more efficient in funeral clothes. Ah- we're here!"

Cadence ran up to an old house and knocked on the door. A little boy of seven or eight opened the door.

"Hello, André. May I talk to your parents? Or are they out?" asked Cadence.

"They're at the police station."

"Thank you very much André. I expect we'll be seeing you again soon."

"Okay, bye Miss Cadence."

"Goodbye André. It was a pleasure speaking with you, as always."

And with that, André closed the door and Cadence stepped back into the street and took off in the direction they had come.

"Who was that? And why were his parents at the police station?" puffed Arthur, chasing after his sister once again.

"André Roux. The murderer's latest victim's younger brother. And his parents are likely at the police station to talk to the police," Cadence said. "It's quite convenient, actually. The police station was to be our second stop. This way we can kill two birds with one stone."