The Case-Book of Kakashi Hatake

A Study in Silence {Part 6}

The necklace sat on the coffee table, untouched for several days, and next to it sat Hatake on the divan, also seemingly a permanent part of the decorations.

He had moved on to a book with a red cover as opposed to one with a orange cover, though the author remained unchanged, but other than that, the picture of Hatake that I saw every time that I walked into the main room was the same as the one that I saw the day that I had tea with my mother. Even Pakkun hadn't really moved. It's a good thing that the dog was just as lackadaisical as the master.

"Any progress? Any news?"

He sent me a dry look over the top of the page that he was reading, "None."

"How many days ago did you put out that advertisement in the paper for the necklace that you supposedly 'found' on the ground near Lauriston Gardens?"

"Three."

I sat down next to him, and Hatake sent me an offended look for having invaded his personal space.

"And how are the police doing on their end? Any new leads?"

"None."

"Are you-"

"This is hard enough without your constant badgering," he cut me off, tone carefully detached.

I sat there with my lips pursed for several moments until I could take it no longer.

"I had been so ungodly bored for months, and then you go and drag me into this case and get me all emotionally invested, and now you don't want to hear me complain about how boring it's gotten?"

"Exactly."

"That was rhetorical," I snapped.

Hatake flipped a page, "If you wish to ask questions that you don't actually want answered, maybe Pakkun would be a better source of conversation for you."

The pug's head lifted up at having heard his name before settling back down onto the large drool-stain that was spreading out over my housemate's left pant leg.

"I can't have a conversation with Pakkun. He's a dog!"

"Now, don't insult him like that. For a dog, Pakkun's extremely intelligent. In fact, I think that the two of you would be well suited to each other in terms of conversation level."

Did Hatake just say that I was as smart as the dog that was drooling all over him and our furniture? He had. There was going to be retribution for that statement.

"I beg your pardon, but I think that I may have misheard you there."

"Your ears are fully functioning. I'm sure that you didn't mishear."

I ground my teeth in frustration, "Admit it, you're just as bored as I am. That's why you're being this difficult right now."

He flipped another page, but his lack of an answer was more than enough of one for me.

That's when Genma poked his head in the room. Oh, how the universe loves to have a great sense of timing whenever inconvenient. Now, I'd never get a chance for the verbal tirade that I was mentally preparing.

"There's an old lady downstairs who said that she came for an advertisement that you put in the papers. What should I tell her?"

Hatake flicked his book closed and placed it next to him, "Bring her up."

The other man paused in the doorway, "Just a reminder, I'm your landlord and not your housekeeper. I don't answer your doors, Kakashi."

"Of course, of course. Now, our business is urgent so I'd be grateful if you'd tell this old lady that we're ready to see her."

The now irate man turned away, and I could hear him muttering down the staircase, "Oh, were you busy, Genma? Of course not! Why don't you just drop everything and answer the door for me? Why don't you just do my laundry too? How about feeding and walking my dog while you're at it?"

I glanced over at Hatake, trying to ascertain whether Genma was just ranting or if he had actually done those things. The unrepentant smile that I got in return answered that question. As I heard the slow shuffle of old and weary legs up the stairs, I sent a pointed looked at the large puddle of drool coating Hatake's left thigh. He just tilted his head slightly to the side and gave a noncommittal shrugged in response.

I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose.

The sounds of going up stairs stopped as an old lady shuffled into the room, head bent downwards and back curved with time.

Hatake's description of a six-foot-tall, man-in-his-prime killer ran through my head as my heart plummeted.  To me, this seemed like more of a setback than anything else, but Hatake's body language said otherwise. When you can't recognize faces, and through them many facial emotions, you get pretty darn good at reading the body language of your close companions. And what I saw in the man sitting next to me was excitement, the controlled energy of a bloodhound who realized that the hunt was on.

The diminutive lady in front of us was wearing a grey and blue kimono, the multiple layers obscuring most of her form and making her look a little like a lump of living clothing.

"I heard that you had found a necklace in Brixton Road?" Her quavering voiced asked slowly, sounding a little too contrived to be fully natural.

Hatake shifted his weight into a less lazy position, "Yes, I did. I put the advertisement in the paper because it looked like something that the owner would like to get back."

"You were right about that, dearie. It belongs to my niece. Poor girl's a bit scattered brained and has been running around in a tizzy trying to find it."

"What does it look like?" The charade of concerned citizen trying to return a keepsake continuing.

She fidgeted slightly, hands picking at broad fingernails at the edge of her long sleeves. "It's silver with a small snowflake pendant on it. It's not much, buts it's important to my niece."

Bingo. This wasn't just some random coincidence of a clumsy niece and her lost necklace in the same part of Konoha. Somehow, this little, old lady was connected to our murder. 

"Well, here it is." Hatake handed the necklace to the woman, finally moving the pendant from where it had lived for the last several days.

My jaw dropped suddenly as our guest took it without question. Had Hatake just given away an extremely important piece of evidence? Yes, yes he had.

"Thank you."

She left and Hatake stood up immediately after her, grabbing our coats and pulling his on. I barely caught mine as he threw it at me.

"What are you doing?"

"He'll lead us to our murderer."

"What?"

Hatake sighed heavily, "I'll explain it as we go, but right now there's no time to waste!"

That coming from the man who was perpetually late.

With a sigh of my own, I pulled on my coat and stared buttoning it up as I chased down the stairs after him.

We flew out the door and had just enough time to see the old lady getting into a cab before Hatake was taking off down the street, drool puddle swinging back and forth with the progress of his long stride. Taking a few deep breaths in preparation, I took off after him, and for some reason, all that I could think about was what my mum would say if she saw me sprinting down the streets after an eccentric man and a murderer.