“Won’t Ms. Zest wonder why you’re taking someone with you?” Marianna wondered as they waited at the bus stop. She smoothed down the skirt she was currently wearing, frowning at the stubborn wrinkle that remained.

  “Likely not,” Alna replied, looking at her phone. If Marianna had to guess, she would say Alna was doing some sort of research to assist their case.

  Well, she didn’t even have to guess that. Obviously, Alna was researching. With cases like this, Alna threw herself into it with a vigour that could be unhealthy. Sometimes she would neglect her basic needs, such as eating or sleeping. Not because Alna was unaware of her need to remain healthy, but because when she dived deep into a case, she could really lose track of time.

  Which was why Marianna took it upon herself to text Alna from school, making sure she took a couple of breaks long enough to eat or drink something. Alna rarely said no to her, and Marianna was guilty of taking advantage of this.

  The fact that they shared a bed almost every night made it easier to make sure Alna wasn’t awake for twenty-four hours at a time.

  Presently, Marianna waited for Alna to elaborate on her earlier remark, giving her an expectant look. Nearby, a young woman played on her phone as she, too, waited for the bus.

  Seeming to sense Marianna’s eyes on her, Alna glanced over. She tore her eyes from Marianna’s face, casting a glance at the people around them before looking back at Marianna.

  “Opening a bank account can be a daunting process. I doubt it is uncommon for one to take someone they know with them.”

  Marianna nodded, still not entirely satisfied. “I get that, but I was thinking more like a parent or something.” She gestured at the space between them. “I’m pretty sure we both look more like teenagers than adults.”

  Well, Marianna and Alna were both eighteen, but that was beside the point. It was one thing to become an adult physically. Actually feeling like an adult, she found, was a different matter.

  “Indeed, we do,” Alna murmured. “But we are both old enough to open our own bank accounts. I doubt anyone will wonder too much at your presence.”

  Accepting this answer with a nod, Marianna sat back, casting a subtle glance at the people around them.

  As far as she could tell, no one seemed to find their conversation all that odd. They hadn’t even been talking all that quietly, which made it safe to assume someone had overheard them. However, no one seemed to pay them any mind.

  Who was she kidding? Marianna thought. They lived in a city: people weren’t as curious about each other as those who lived in a small town.

  Marianna was broken out of her thoughts by the arrival of the bus. Adjusting her purse on her shoulder, Marianna grasped Alna’s hand and followed her in. Alna paid the fare and she and Marianna stood by one of the many metal poles, gripping it.

  Alna only looked up from her phone long enough to pay for their ride before her eyes dropped back to the device. She grasped the pole with one hand, still intent on whatever research she was doing. Marianna let her be.

  After a boring twenty-minute ride, the bus stopped at their destination. They were let off at a bus stop a block away from Ms. Zest’s bank, the sun bright in the sky. Squinting, Marianna observed the sky with a slight smile. She was all too happy about the departure of winter, revelling in the warmth of spring, even if its coming meant her graduation was just around the corner.

  Marianna took Alna’s hand as they walked toward the bank, pleased to note that no one gave them a second glance. The looks they would get sometimes…

  Not important right now.

  Forcing herself to focus, Marianna squeezed Alna’s hand for no particular reason. This earned her a curious glance from the girl in question. At Marianna’s shrug, Alna smiled.

  Soon they were inside of Fortune Financial, waiting in line to talk to Ms Zest. If you asked Marianna, the name was a bit egotistical. As they waited for a teller to open, she said as much to Alna.

  This, of course, earned her an amused look. “It is, isn’t it?” Alna mused, her gaze drifting around the bank.

  It looked like any old bank, its walls painted with neutral colours of dark blue and white. On the walls hung pictures ranging from tasteful to tacky. The drawing of honest to God green money growing (and falling) off a tree only reinforced Marianna’s idea that whoever chose it was full of themselves. Or simply couldn’t tell a decent joke.

  Although it was possible she was being a bit too judgemental.

  Just as Mariann’s eyes had landed on Clair Zest, looking professional with her glossy black hair pulled into a bun, Alna started speaking again.

  “Fortune Financial is not all that old,” Alna said, looking briefly at Ms. Zest, before continuing to look around. “Just over ten years, in fact.”

  “That explains the decorating,” Marianna commented, still not impressed.

  Alna smiled a bit. “Indeed.”

  The line thinned and soon they were standing in front of Ms. Zest’s counter, who gave them a friendly smile. “What can I do for you?”

  “I’m Alna Holt,” Alna introduced herself. Marianna resisted the urge to wince at the use of her actual name. “I called some time ago about opening an account here. A Ms. Zest was supposed to assist me…” Alna trailed off, playing the uncertainty convincingly. If Marianna hadn’t known better, she might have thought Alna knew next to nothing about Ms. Zest.

  “Oh, yes, of course,” Ms. Zest said, glancing toward a clock behind her. “If you would give me a moment, I’ll be right with you.”

  Alna voiced her assent to this, and Ms. Zest walked off for a moment, going further into the back to do who knew what. Marianna grabbed a caramel candy from the little bowl set next to a pen, unwrapping it and popping it in her mouth. She chewed slowly, savouring the taste.

  Reappearing after only a few minutes, Ms. Zest gestured them (or, rather, Alna) over to a small swinging door that led behind the counter. She shot Marianna a confused look.

  Clearly noticing this, Alna said, “I’m unfamiliar with the entire transfer process, so I brought a friend along to help me out. I hope that’s all right.”

  For a moment, Marianna wondered what would happen if Ms. Zest wasn’t all right with her presence. Probably get left behind, much as she loathed that idea.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “No problem at all,” Ms. Zest assured them, however. Marianna relaxed a bit.

  Opening the swinging door for them, Ms. Zest waited for the two girls to step into the back before leading them to an office. It was rather spacious, square, with two large windows behind the desk.

  “Have a seat,” Ms. Zest requested, coming in behind them. As Marianna and Alna did so, Ms. Zest sat on the other side of the desk, setting some papers onto it. She was looking quite professional in a purple pantsuit, with a black shirt underneath. On her wrist, Ms. Zest wore one simple gold loop that slid up and down her arm with every movement. The bun she was sporting, with a few errant strands here and there, only made her look more competent.

  Marianna felt a brief flicker of guilt for their partial deception and quickly extinguished it. She never seemed to accomplish the emotional distance Alna could wear like a cloak during these investigations. Even if it slipped sometimes.

  “All right,” Ms. Zest began, sliding one of these papers toward Alna. “To begin with, I’d like you to sign this.”

  And thus the process began. Despite herself, Marianna tuned out a good portion of it, paying just enough attention to realize when she was being addressed. A few times, Alna pretended to ask for her opinion on something, in which case Marianna would offer her advice, trying to sound like she knew what she was talking about.

  Finally, after what must have been ten minutes of talk about the transfer, Ms. Zest asked, “Any plans for the rest of the day?”

  “Not really,” Alna said, still scribbling away at yet another piece of paper. She sounded completely uninterested, which Marianna knew was the point.

  This was her opening.

  Pasting a confused look on her face, Marianna turned to Alna. “But I thought we were gonna go to the museum after this,” she said.

  Alna glanced over at her, looking surprised. “Oh, right, I forgot.” Turning back to the paper she was working on, Alna said, “You’re sure you still want to go? It seems a bit pointless.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Marianna could see Ms. Zest watching them with what seemed to be boredom. Although she looked as though she was trying to appear interested.

  Marianna frowned. This wasn’t hard to fake, mostly because focusing on both Alna and Ms. Zest (without giving away that she was surveying the latter) was quite the task. “Yeah, I still wanna go. It could be interesting.”

  Still no visible reaction from Ms. Zest. She stared over their shoulders, lost in thought.

  Shrugging, Alna said, “I doubt we’ll even see police tape at this point. It’s not like they’re going to turn this entire thing into an attraction.”

  This seemed to catch Ms. Zest’s attention. The bored look left her eyes, and she refocused on Alna, glancing at Marianna as well.

  “You’re heading to the Brigate Museum?” she asked, sounding curious and not at all alarmed.

  Good, Marianna thought. She had wondered if they would have to flat out say which museum they were heading to. Not having to do so made their “questioning” more subtle. Alna didn’t have to tell Marianna for her to know that.

  Pretending to perk up, Marianna smiled. “Yeah. We heard this ring got stolen not that long ago and wanted to see what’s going on. A security guard was killed, too.”

  Marianna wanted to slap herself for acting so careless about the poor man’s murder, but she and Alna had agreed that acting the part of the callous and curious teenager would suit the situation.

  “I heard about that,” Ms. Zest admitted, eyebrows drawing together. “Poor man.”

  Ms. Zest sat with her hands folded atop the desk, displaying a simple silver ring with a blue diamond nestled in it. She looked poised, if a bit troubled, but not in the least bit worried. She was either an excellent actor or had nothing to do with the theft and murder.

  It occurred to Marianna that she should try to learn the name of the dead security guard. Thinking of him as “the security guard” felt disrespectful and a little dehumanizing. She resolved to ask Alna later.

  “I heard he hit his head,” Marianna continued, pretending to examine her nails while trying not to hate herself. “Fell over or got pushed or something. Hit a display at the right angle, and that was it.”

  Marianna was going to wash her mouth out with soap after this. She would fill a tall glass with water, add a generous amount of soap to it, and gulp down the entire thing. Maybe then she would feel less guilty.

  Rather than looking bored, Ms. Zest now looked annoyed. Well, it seemed like Marianna’s acting skills had improved.

  “Really,” Ms. Zest said, in a way that indicated this conversation was over. She turned to Alna, who had sat back in her chair, evidently finished with the paperwork. “Are you done?”

  “Yes.” Alna slid the paper over to Ms. Zest. She seemed to care little about the conversation that had taken place in her presence. “Is there anything else you need me to do?”

  Ms. Zest glanced over the papers, flipping through them and seeming to regard them with care. Her eyes still held a hint of annoyance.

  “Everything appears to be in order,” she said, pasting a fake smile on her face. “I think we’re done here. It will take a few days to transfer your money to your new account, but other than that, you’re all set.”

  With a nod, Alna leaned forward and offered her hand. “Thank you for helping me out. This turned out to be a much easier process than I thought it would be.”

  “And thank you for doing business with us.”

  With that, they left the bank, holding hands once they were outside.

  “Wanna get something to eat?” Marianna suggested, casting a sidelong look at her girlfriend.

  Alna looked distracted, which was to be expected.

  At the sound of Marianna’s voice, however, Alna seemed to come back to the present moment. She agreed readily before falling quiet once more. Unperturbed, Marianna took the lead.

  After locating a fast food restaurant and ordering some hot chocolate, tea, and donuts, the two girls found a table outside. It was protected by a blue sun umbrella, preventing the sun from beating down too harshly on them. Marianna glanced at her hot chocolate as Alna set the tray down, regretting her choice of a hot beverage, no matter how favoured. She’d be sweating within minutes.

  Oh, well, nothing she could do about it now. Not without wasting the money spent on her drink.

  After sitting down, Marianna waved her hand over her chocolate donut, banishing the bee that had flown over to investigate. Thankfully, the little menace flew off, leaving her in peace. She took a bite, savouring the sweet cream that exploded onto her tongue. The only thing that would make it better would be some kind of spice.

  Looking over at Alna, Marianna was met with the sight of Alna deep in thought. She always got a certain look in her eyes when she was pondering something: distracted and not all there. It was a different look from when she retreated into her mind (where Alna had built her own little world). When that happened, Alna’s eyes would become vacant, appearing as though she was a million miles away. Which she was, in a sense.

  Both were looks Marianna knew well.

  Reaching forward, Marianna pressed her fingers to the inside of Alna’s elbow, trying to get her attention without startling her too much. Alna disliked being startled, especially when she had retreated into her mind. Being ripped back into the real world, abruptly and with no warning, was more than a little disconcerting, as she’d once explained.

  Her intention worked because Alna didn’t startle, but redirected her gaze to Marianna, coming back to the present.

  “That was a bit of a bust, wasn’t it?” Marianna commented, pulling away. As she waited for Alna’s reply, Marianna lifted her hot chocolate and took a sip.

  Alna frowned. “Somewhat,” she agreed, still looking a bit distracted. She drank some tea before taking a bite of her donut. Casting a glance at a group about their age sitting at a nearby table, Alna lowered her voice. “I am not willing to rule out Zest, but she did not seem concerned about the stolen ring.”

  “Or the security guard,” Marianna reminded her, a bit annoyed. Alna nodded.

  “Yes. Or him.” Alna took another bite of her donut before looking to her left. Marianna followed her gaze and realized Alna was looking at the sky. The sun hadn’t started setting yet, but it wasn’t that far off. Victoria and Aiden would expect them home soon.

  Alna spoke again. “For now, we will put Zest to the side and look into her more later. I’d still like to take a look at her house if I can find the right time.”

  With a nod, Marianna drank more of her hot chocolate, thinking of what their next step would be. “Do we have any more suspects yet?” she inquired, making sure not to speak too loudly. Most city people were not overly nosy, she found, but that was no excuse to go blurting your illegal activities for the public to hear.

  “I do. I’ll show you when we get back home.”

  “Good.” Marianna reached forward to grasp Alna’s hand. “Then let’s enjoy ourselves for the moment, okay?”

  With a slight smile, Alna squeezed her hand, no longer looking distracted. “As you wish, my darling Whitlock.”