"It's everywhere."

In a flash, the screen flicked off. Momentary silence fell upon them, a blanket of truth and horror covering their souls. She turned her attention to the woman in the chair before her, and the man standing behind her. The man's face was stern and stiff, though the woman was everything otherwise. That was the thing about the siblings. It was like they've been contrasting one another since birth.

"I can see that," she mumbled grimly. "Clearly."

"It's currently one of the highest viewed videos in all of the country," the lady dragged on, fishing for something other than the inescapable glares she was receiving. Her back was straight. Her voice was clean, as though it had been filtered through with politeness.  "We're unable to track who's responsible."

"As expected," the younger shrugged. Carelessness was an easy thing to accomplish, and a brutal one to endure.

"It was played on every possible screen in the country," a second professional man snapped, looking irritated. He held a similar gaze to the older woman, and the other people in the room. Two other men, and another woman. "This has become a matter of national security, the Prime Minister is demanding answers."

"Well too bad." A chuckle fled through her throat. "Because it's none of his concern."

"Watch your tone, Miss Holmes," the older woman scolded, a mother swatting her child with words. She was shooting looks at the man behind her. He read them perfectly clear, he just chose not to engage in a secret talk with her with only their eyes. "I thought the tests showed that you would be sober for this meeting."

"A lot can happen between a morning and an afternoon. One could kill a man. One could disprove the tests prior to now." 

Foolish banter didn't amuse her. "You had a connection with Jamie Moriarty before she died. You were the last person to see her alive." 

"If you're suggesting I have some information on this, then I don't." Lilith was on her phone now, which she had pulled out of who knows where who knows when, furiously typing something down as though she wasn't in an important meeting with government representatives. "If I had the slightest idea that she was alive then I would have been on this trail instantly." 

Boredom crawled through her skin and veins. She could have held this conversation a million times with a million different people and the outcome wouldn't have been different. She knew what and who she was, and she knew what others wanted with her. They wanted answers. Lilith was a walking, talking supplier of information. 

"Are you certain that none of Moriarty's criminal organisations have been active in the last year?" It was one of the men who spoke now, a deep accent hiding any emotion to his tone. Lilith was what one could call a newcomer to the concept of basic emotion. But even she could tell he wanted nothing more than to claw her own eyes out.

"Certain."

"And no one who she was close with, someone capable of uploading that video?"

"Nope."

"Were there any additional threats she made before death?"

"No. Question, Lady Smallwood, you have young children, correct?" Lilith looked up with curiosity at the woman, who blinked in return. "Judging by your attitude, impatience, your obvious working time, and your general attire, I'm going to say so."

"Ah, see these are the deductions I warned you about." August spoke to the lady and the men with a knowing, thoughtful look in his eyes. His finger was pointed down to his sister, despite there being no one else he could've been referring to.

Lilith was a small child in his eyes. She wanted to be rid of that thought more than anything. But there was little she could do in her state, she supposed. So much for proving a point. 

Lilith eyed Smallwood carefully, a slight innocent look on her face, clearly not matching the circumstances of their meeting. "What would you say is a fitting gift for a young baby boy?"

"Miss Holmes, we're not here to chat about babies," Smallwood snapped harshly, but Lilith was still unfazed. "We're here to discuss the matters of Jamie Moriarty's return, something that I suggest you take seriously. Need I remind you of the danger Moriarty carries with her?"

Lilith looked away from her phone for a moment to glare at the woman before her. Blue light shone on her face, showcasing the dark bags she carried under her eyes and the paleness of her skin. She took a few seconds of pure staring, a competition of deduction, before spewing out words at the speed of light. "Jamie Moriarty hired a man named Jeff Hope to poison innocent people, and then nearly poisoned me. Moriarty devised an elaborate themed scheme that involved bombing a building and resulted in numerous kidnappings. She made allies with a young ex-actress who was responsible for several murders and planned to ship them out to sea where nobody would find them. She broke into a prison, a bank, and the Tower of Trolldon just to make herself seen and she gave me the choice to either die and let someone I care about live, or kill them if I didn't kill myself. I was forced to fake my death for almost exactly two years, so really Lady Smallwood, do you think I don't know Moriarty and what she's capable of?"

That was the thing about deductions. People wear their stories like the clothes on their back, yet they're shocked when Lilith tells them about it. It was like forgetting the coat you were wearing. 

"Alright, Miss Holmes." Smallwood's eyes went down towards several files she had on the desk. August shuffled uncomfortably where he stood beside Lilith, and she quickly looked up at him while the attention was off her for the moment.

"What's the matter with her?" Lilith whispered.

August rolled his eyes. 

"Miss Holmes-"

"Sorry!" Without warning she suddenly bolted upright and up from the chair, wiping her hands together and smiling at the board of people before her. "I'm expected somewhere else. But this has been lovely, truly lovely. We really must get together sometime again, perhaps over a cup of tea or a chat about the next possible doom upon the nation of Trollstopia. And you-" She turned on her heel to August, who reeked of annoyance for her. She grinned at him and patted his shoulder. "Do not call me in the next twenty-four hours because I will most likely not answer out of spite."

Smallwood bubbled with irriation. You could see it in the crease of her eyebrows. "Holmes!"

"Yes?" At the exact same time, August and Lilith snapped their heads towards the woman, while she looked at them in exasperation.

"I was talking to Miss Holmes," Lady Smallwood snapped, and her eyes went towards Lilith. "I want to know what exactly you plan to do now. If Moriarty is indeed alive, then you're in grave danger."

"I've been in grave danger the moment I left my mother's womb," Lilith shrugged dramatically, as though that was a known fact to the world. 

"I think what my sister means to say is that she's aware, and she'll be on high alert." August offered, though he was uncertain how truthful he was really being. 

"If that lets you sleep at night..." Lilith muttered. She quickly darted around the chair, phone in her hand and a goofy smile upon her lips as she rested her elbows on the top of the chair. "Now as I said, I'm late. I hope this meeting was as undoubtedly unhelpful as it was to me. Cheerio!"

She was gone in a flash.

Smallwood blinked at August, who was sighing and heading for the door as well. "Is she a new mother?"

"Pardon?" The man stepped dead in his tracks, flipping around to look at her.

"She asked about... babies."

August, cold, calculating, and usually emotionless August, cocked a small smile and the tiniest laugh he could possibly muster. "No, but she is acting it well, isn't she?"

---

"She drowned."

Lilith crouched down beside the body. Above them, the sky spat out drops of rain, mournful tears She held an umbrella over her head timidly.

"Drowned or was drowned?" She looked up to stare at Anderson, who was rolling his eyes back. She chuckled and wobbled back to her feet, clumsy as the killer.

"Either way, she's equally dead," Anderson says, years worth of dealing with Lilith Holmes plastered on his face.

"Why are you here again?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the man, who looked slightly different than he did last time she saw him. He was shaven again, and held a new confidence in his stance. Still, he glared at her with all his power. "I'm pretty sure last time I checked you were running a cult in my honour."

"It was not a cult," Anderson defended, hand to heart. "It was a club to theorise and discuss your survival-"

"Anderson found the body." Branch Lestrade stepped in, seeing the familiar tension between the two. It was an odd situation to come across. The ex-dead and the ex-cop bickering like old friends in the presence of a newly dead corpse. "He called us about twenty minutes ago. He was taking a stroll along the pond, or so he claims."

She wrinkled her nose and crossed her arms in a similar fashion that Anderson did, mocking him. "I'm surprised he knows how to use a phone."

"Alright, you two." 

Branch looked to the body laying before them. A woman in her young prime stared back. Her clothes, which were torn and worn out striped and made for jogging, and hair were still soaked through, slightly ripped, and her body was in a state of decomposition. The familiar stench of death welcomed him. "Lilith, what have you found?"

She held the umbrella high above her head, turning over to glance back at the woman. "K-pop troll, judging by her outfit and skin tone. She's in her late twenties and I assume she's a Trolldon resident. There are small bruises on her wrists but they aren't from any major violence, like somebody just grabbed her wrists too long and tried to drag her somewhere. She's also missing an earring, married, no children. You can see that she's been in the pond for at least three days. Also, she didn't die by drowning."

"What?"

"Drowned or was drowned?" she repeated bitterly, then, after handing her umbrella to the inspector, she crouched down again and gently moved the woman's hair to show a thin blade wound in her spine. "Like something you'll find in a butcher's shop. Check to see if her husband was a butcher. And then check to see if said butcher has a missing knife and is prone to violence."

When she stood back up and took her umbrella back, looking pleased with herself, she frowned. "What? You're making a questionable facial expression. Anything to add, Inspector Lestrade?"

"Yes-"

"Not important, whatever it is, contact me if there's anything else revolutionary about her murder," Lilith said bluntly, shoving her hands into her pockets and beginning to stride off, leaving the officers alone with the body at the pond.

"She hasn't changed," Anderson mumbled, but Lestrade was smiling. "What?"

"Oh, you've been missing a lot." Lestrade laughed and clapped Anderson on the back whole-heartedly, and the look on the man's face was enough to make August Holmes chuckle. 

"I don't see what's so funny." Though Lestrade was leaving now, Anderson followed, a dog after its owner. For a moment there, it felt like Anderson was back on the job, wandering around demanding answers. Like the policeman in him still lived on, like his old craving for justice lingered on.

"She's changed a lot." Lestrade smiled fondly at Poppy Donovan, who was standing nearby with the police tape, talking to other officers. "You just haven't been around to witness it."

"And is that supposed to be my fault?"

"Yes, it is."

"So now how come you're making love-struck eyes at Donovan- OH-"

"You really have missed a lot. Come on, do I ever have a story to tell you."

***

"Her husband was a butcher."

Max half-listened to her constant rambling, far too focus on the various cords and cables he was fumbling with. His face scrunched up with something that resembled confusion. "Mhm."

"But he hasn't been in Trolldon for the last two weeks, he's been with his mother down in Techno Reef. I fear that this may be a case of framing."

"Yeah."

"We met with her sister this morning and she apparently hasn't kept tabs on her for years. Looks like Mrs. Heartstring doesn't have any close family. But we did find out she was pregnant when she died. Her husband had no idea."

"Lilith, how relevant is this right now?" Max was struggling more than ever now, and it physically pained Lilith to watch it. Finally, she sighed and bent down to help connect the wires flawlessly. He grumbled in response.

She didn't reply and went strolling over to the other side of the room, where a man with crossed legs sat on a small chair looking at his phone, obviously not paying attention to anything. She wondered how on earth Noe could tolerate him. And on the far other side of the room, Tilly was speaking to Noe intensely. 

"Why am I here again?" Lilith finally asked, tilting her head at the two. 

"Lilith, you practically followed me from the morgue here. If I didn't know you any better I would have called the police."

"I got bored. There's nothing to do," she complained, sliding her coat off and tossing it carelessly on a nearby chair. "The Heartstring case is boring, as usual."

"I don't know how Lestrade can put up with you."

"Me neither, he's truly remarkable at it."

"Okay!" Noe's voice came belting in, and Lilith and Max looked up to find them marching towards them, Tilly following suit. "We're going to try this again. If Tilly can get through it without bursting into laughter, that is."

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked, but she was laughing again. The fondness in Max's eyes was enough to have Cupid collapse.

Lilith made herself look small as she sat on top of her coat. She did that a lot now, as though she was trying to blend into the world around her. Max chose not to mention it, for fear of his life. "Alright, go ahead and get over it."

Tilly giggled, planted a kiss on Max's cheek, and dashed into the recording booth with Noe.

***

The world was dull. The day was nothing but a miserable downpour, the sky in a constant state of despair. And when the world was in misery, so was its residents.

Jade had her arms full. She carefully tried to balance the overly-large bag of groceries in one arm, while the other ransacked her pockets for the key. The rain sang and giggled against the pavement, the city erupted in noise behind her. She cursed, dropping the keys by accident. 

And when she bent down to grab them, a rough crash filled the air around her. 

Jade took no hesitation to drop the groceries like she didn't just spend twenty minutes walking around the supermarket, looking for cilantro. She shoved the key in the door, twisting it violently, and high-tailed it inside. 

"Lilith!?"

She rounded into Lilith's bedroom, the usual spot of destruction. The door was wide opened, but she wasn't inside. Jade searched the kitchen and the living room, face going pale. 

"Jade, I highly doubt I'm hiding under the rug."

She sighed in relief suddenly, dropping the rug and making her way inside. She was pleasantly surprised, though, to find that nothing caught on fire, nothing had been damaged, and there was no huge explosion she needed to worry about. No knives sticking out of objects, no bullet holes in the walls, no swords shoved in the drawers. 

"Jesus, you gave me a scare. What was that?"

Lilith was kneeling on the floor, in an oversized button up shirt. She wore what appeared to be pyjama shorts, something Jade rarely saw her wearing, but she was also completely soaked in water, like she had been the one treading downtown in pouring rain alongside her. "I really hope Rue didn't receive too many of your ex-fiance's genes, because he can be quite the troublemaker."

Jade took one good look at the situation, and laughed with all her might. The tub was half full, and the young baby was sitting in it with a giggly smile on his face. He wore a hat of bubbles, a rubber duck his new best friend.

"I don't get it," Jade smiled, and she knelt down beside Lilith (only to regret it, for the floor was soaked to the brim). "What was the crash?"

"He knocked this stupid duck from the shelf," Lilith explained, waving her arms about. "Knocked some of the bottles down. I can't even give him a bath without something spilling."

Jade looked at the other woman, and then noticed something she hadn't earlier. "You cut your hair."

"Actually, it got caught in the door hinge when I was trying to fix your bloody baby gate. Why didn't you tell me babies were almost as intolerable as adults?"

"So you cut it?" Jade stared at it. In the entire few years she's known the detective, she'd never seen it shorter than waist length. That was what Lilith was known for, other than the insanely accurate deduction skills: her hair.

"Of course I did, what else would I do?"

Jade rolled her eyes. Now, her curly hair was almost shoulder length. "Well, why don't you take a break-" She reached for Rue and wrapped him in a nearby towel like she'd done this a thousand times, more grace in a single bone than in his Lilith's entire body. "-and go and pick up all the groceries you had me drop on the front steps to soak in the rain?"

"What?"

"Do it. Now."

As Lilith got up and staggered out the bathroom door, she grumbled, "Motherhood has made you bossy."

***

Lilith missed silence.

Which might've been a cruel thing to say considering the only reason for the sudden new chaos in her life was because of the baby, but it was true. Most evenings, Lilith would've been sitting in a bubble of silence. She'd soak in it. She'd swim around in it. She'd settle into it like it was an old friend. Change was adaptable, given the right circumstances. 

Though when it came to Lilith, even the slightest change disrupted the entire cycle of her world.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Jade was sitting there, across from her, the usual seat. Book in her hands, something of a romance novel that Lilith couldn't stand. 

"What do you mean?" Lilith asked. "That's a very broad question, you know."

Jade knew, and she chuckled. "Well, for one thing you haven't said a word since supper."

"Am I supposed to notice that sort of thing, or...?" Lilith was teasing. Of course she knew, she was the greatest detective she'd even come across. 

Change was also familiar, though unpredictable. Change tangled itself into both of their lives from the moment they met. Change was a little red thread that tied itself to their fingers and remained there for the rest of time. Change was both new and old, the villain and the saviour. 

Lilith knew change like the back of her hand, is the point. 

"Well, maybe so," said Jade. "And maybe something's wrong with you and maybe I want to get to the bottom of it."

Jade liked to be a detective sometimes.

"There's something off about the Heartstring case," said Lilith, a terrible little secret.

Jade's eyebrows narrowed. "Is it just me, or is the Great Lilith Holmes stumped?"

"The husband's completely out of the picture and it's obvious he didn't kill her. But I spoke to her neighbour, or, well, I went to her flat and her neighbour just walked in. She said Mrs. Heartstrings often went to the pond when she wanted alone time. I'm going to assume that since Donovan found the murder weapon near the pond, although it did take her quite some time, she was stabbed there and then dumped into the pond."

Jade didn't say anything, she just listened. Something Lilith was more than grateful for.

"The neighbour looks suspicious in this case, but I highly doubt it. Although it's telling that the neighbour didn't know of Mrs. Heartstrings death upon me speaking with her, and yet, her words alone would've brought me right where she was murdered had I not known about that already." 

Lilith didn't know when she stood up and when she began to pace. She just knew she was doing it right now. 

"You said she was missing for a few days before she turned up murdered."

"Precisely. I feel that while the neighbour didn't do it, she knows more than she's letting on."

"Then maybe it's about time you went back to her flat."

***

So they did, and it was a short journey. The sun was shining that morning, a little reward for enduring the awfulness of the previous day. A thank you, a welcome, a present. It was refreshing for Jade, to say the least, and she breathed in the fresh new air like she hadn't in decades. Lilith gave her a strange look as they approached the victim's door.

"Her name was Goldie Madison," Lilith told her, looking the door up and down with determination. "Lives alone, recently divorced from an unhappy marriage, and she's just recovered from a depressive state so bad all she would eat was plain toast."

Jade eyed her. "She told you this?"

"What? Of course not. Who would tell a random stranger that sort of thing?"

"Right." Jade crossed her arms over her chest, an automatic protective shield. Lilith aggressively knocks on the door beside the victims'. After a moment, it opened.

"Good morning, Ms Madison," Lilith said, an award winning smile plastered on that showed her teeth and all her reassurance. "You wouldn't mind if we came inside your home for a moment and had a chat, would you?"

Ms Madison had nicely brushed dark hair and casual clothes on, like she had been planning to be out that day. Nonetheless, she frowned and slowly nodded, letting them inside.

"I've already told you everything I know," Ms Madison said, sitting down gracefully on one of her large sofa chairs. She held herself like she was speaking to the Queen rather than a stubborn detective with a knack for being downright rude. Lilith flopped himself onto an opposite one, while Jade stood beside. "I didn't even know Mari that well. She moved in not that long ago."

"What was the relationship between her and her husband?" Lilith questioned, noticing the way the sunlight hit her just right from the window.

Madison frowned. "...they were married."

"No, no," Lilith sighed, the world dawning down at her with a scold. "What were the circumstances of their marriage? God, you people are so dull."

"Well, I wouldn't know." Ms Madison chose to ignore the blunt insult. "Like I said, I hardly knew them. I only talked to her occasionally, but it seemed they were starting to want a baby. They've been married for a few years now."

"A baby?" Lilith blinked, like she'd never heard the word before. Like she didn't go home every day to coddle with Jade's child. "Mari Heartstring was pregnant when she died."

"She was!?" Madison gasped and clasped a hand over her mouth, horror swimming in her viens. While it did look dramatic, Lilith could see the pure dread in her eyes. "Oh my God, that's terrible-"

"I got the impression from our last encounter that there's something you're withholding information from me," Lilith said, bluntly. 

At the sound of that, Goldie's eyes widened, caught in the truth she fought so hard to avoid. Jade almost grinned. Seeing Lilith catch people in their lies was starting to become amusing.

"I- well..." Seeing there was no escape, nowhere to run and hide and cower from the veracity, she gave up. "...fine. The day she went missing, I was coming home from work when I saw a man roaming around the hall. I didn't get a good look at him, but I don't think it was her husband. I didn't know what to do about it-"

Lilith, to Jade's surprise, was suddenly growing uninterested. Her eyes glazed over to the window again, like she grew sick. Literally sick. Bethany didn't seem to notice, and instead sighed and got up to check on something in the kitchen, panicked and horrified and reeling. Faintly, they could hear a kettle going off. The ear-piercing sound bolted through Lilith's head, like nails were being slammed into her skull.

"Did you miss me?"

She was there, only for a split second. In the window. A shadow, almost. Still, she was laughing. God, Lilith would do anything to saw that terribly vile smirk off her lips. She came and went as she pleased, and there was no stopping her. Ever since that dreaded day back in the New Year. Lilith would do anything to take it all back. No, Jamie Moriarty. She didn't miss you one bit.

"Lilith?"

Her attention was snapped back in a heartbeat, and Lilith blinked back to the terrible bitch that was called reality. Jade was nudging her slightly, looking worried. "You blanked out again. You alright?"

But instead of answering the very easy question, Lilith cleared her throat and looked right at Goldie, who had returned with a plate of tea. "There was a robbery here recently. Tell me about it."

Goldie looked absolutely lost. "What?"

"Oh, don't play dumb. You've got a little shrine over by the window of your most valuable objects. Framed photographs and family heirlooms and whatnot. While it's important to you, it's not important enough that you'd take the time to dust every now and then. Therefore, there's a major missing spot on the table, evident by the clean spot. You've got a security camera installed in the front of the room but it's broken. And not to mention you've just changed your rug, as though something was broken on it and you had to clean it."

Goldie looked like a ghost, pale and lost. Jade cleared her throat, her usual indication to tell Lilith to take it down a notch.

"Well- sorry, what does this have to do with Mari...?"

"It doesn't, she's just going off on a ramble again," Jade explained.

"Well, in that case, yes, I've had a break-in the other day," Goldie told them both, as Lilith got up from her seat to go and investigate the table. "It was a one-of-a-kind statue my grandmother passed on to me. It's from the gathered artifacts called The Treasures. Each one is unique, and I'm not very happy it's been stolen."

"Interesting." Lilith looked at the rest of the items sitting there. "That's odd. There's obviously some much more pricier objects here, most of them are incredibly easy to take. So why the statue?"

"Well, I hope they regret taking it, because I found it here smashed on the floor."

"Sounds like the thief isn't the most graceful of them all," Jade muttered, watching Lilith grow more and more interested of the break-in than the actual murder case they came to discuss in the first place.

Goldie looked uncomfortable in her seat, and offered Jade some tea in the meanwhile. "So... will you ever find out what happened to Mari?"

Lilith, her back now turned to Jade and Goldie, right in front of the bright window and the shrine, eyes focused on the spot the missing statue once sat. "The baby isn't the husband's, she was cheating on him. The side affair was the killer. Now if you excuse me, I've got to go."

And with that, she turned on her heel and headed for the door.

***

"Lilith! Slow down!"

Jade couldn't count the amount of times she'd found herself chasing the detective down streets, halls, buildings, whatnot. When she caught up, Lilith was engrossed in her phone. "Lilith! Jesus-"

When she finally managed to catch up, Lilith stopped to a halt and shoved her phone in the other woman's face. Jade yelped and glared at her, taking the phone, which was on an open tab. "There's been a robbery just like this one before. A week ago, a statue from the same collection was taken and smashed in another family's home. This was in Sympthyville. Now it's happening here."

"It's a collection of statues representing every Troll Tribe. Do you think they'll be more?"

"It's the smashing of them that's compelling," Lilith said thoughtfully, and they continued their tread down the sunny street. "Those statues are worth a lot. Why would they break them unless they had good reason to?"

"Maybe it's some sort of grudge against them," Jade suggested, handing the phone back. "Or a grudge against the artist."

Lilith scratched at her neck, which was now suddenly more visible thanks to the haircut. Lilith's curls sat in much bigger waves, and Jade had to admit, it fit her tremendously. "Whatever it is, I'm intrigued."

"Yes, I could tell by the way you completely neglected the murder case."

"Right! Mind telling Lestrade we solved it? I've got places to be now. I'll see you at home!" Lilith suddenly exclaimed, and without any other words, shoved the phone into her pant pocket and started dashing off down the street, hair flowing in the wind. Jade stood there, dumbfounded.

"...right."

***

Noe was in the flat, and she wasn't exactly sure why. No matter. They weren't causing havoc sitting on the sofa and drinking a smoothie. They weren't as important as the things on her mind right now.

So she'd been keeping them entertained with gruesome details to an old murder case when Lestrade burst through the door. Honestly though, the things people can be fascinated by.

She looked at him like he was a pile of mud on the ground. "May I help you, Lestrade?"

"There's been another one."

He didn't even need to give context. She widened her eyes and sat up in her seat. "That's the fourth one this week. Let me guess, Lonesome Flats?"

"Yep."

Noe eyes flickered from the inspector to the detective. "...what?"

"That's the fourth statue that's been destroyed," Lilith filled in, like it was obvious. Noe sat there with the smoothie in their hands and a completely blank stare on their face. "I need a list. I need a list of everyone who's ever purchased one of the collection pieces."

"And how do you propose we get that?" 

"I was hoping you'd know. You are a police officer, correct?"

"I can try to find it, but it may take some time," he sighed. "I can ask Poppy to, I know she's at the Yard right now."

Noe leaned back in their chair and sent Branch a playful grin, the true tone of the room out of their field. "So what's the deal with you and the sergeant, hm? Max has told me most of the details, but in my experience, I love hearing it from the couple themselves."

Branch and Lilith stared at Noe, blank.

"Why are you even here, Noe?"

Noe's hand flew to his chest, offence on their face. "Honestly, can't I just drop by for a visit every now and then? I feel like we never hang out anymore!"

"Well." Lilith tilted her head. "Jade has a child, Max and Tilly are in the middle of moving in together, police work can be a bitch, and as far as I know, you're on your way to becoming a huge musician. If anything, you should be the busiest out of all of us."

"Well, you know how it is. Sometimes your agent can be a real asshole."

"Go home, Noe," Lestrade sighed. "I'm taking Lilith away anyways. If you're so desperate for company, Lilith's aunt is always free."

"God no," Noe shivered. "Last time I went to see her, she sat me down for a lecture about reasonable hat sizes. It was the worst half hour of my life."

"Don't you have a boyfriend or something?"

"I have an Asa. That's different."

"Get out."

"Fine!"