“You know, he might be an idiot, Julia, but in some ways he’s a really smart idiot.”
Umbry sighed. She had tried every trick she knew to get through Lindsay’s added security locks, but it was no use. The computer was shut tight, with all their files inside. The only thing that would display on the monitor was an endless slideshow of cats – cute cats, cats doing stupid tricks, cats in funny costumes, fluffy cats, furless cats, cats with big eyes and small eyes. After staring at the screen for 15 minutes, Umbry swore she’d vomit if she saw another cuddly cat scene. The worst of it was, some of the pictures were starting to look familiar. Maybe it was a big loop and she was seeing the same slide show over and over. By this point, her eyeballs were too numb to be able to tell.
She heard a soft purring noise and looked up to see that the cat had nestled up next to the monitor and was beginning to fall asleep. Ordinarily she would have found this cute, but right now petting a cat was the last thing she wanted to do.
Julia emerged from her office. “The computers in our offices aren’t working either,” she said to no one in particular, stretching out. She shuddered away from the cat, who looked longingly after her, and instead decided to look over what Francesca was doing.
“Want another espresso?”
“I am quite fine. Thank you, dear. The five espressos you’ve already provided were absolutely delicious, and now I am feeling very, ah, energized.”
If there was a note of irony in this response, Julia didn’t notice, as she was already absorbed in looking over the contents of the envelopes, now strewn across the table in no particular order. Each piece of thin paper had a letter on it, and there were a great many of them. The pieces from the sun-and-moon box were white on black paper, while the pieces from the earth box were black on white paper, but they were the same font and the same size. Occasionally Francesca would carefully reach out, delicately pick a letter up with her fingertips and place it next to another. In her eyes was a look of intense concentration.
Julia was never one for anagram puzzles, so she relaxed and settled for watching Francesca working.
Clay also looked on. He too had been working on the puzzle for the last few hours, and now his head hurt. He glanced at the cat, who looked slightly dejected, but before the feline could entice him to come over and pet it a disheveled Umbry emerged from behind the computer screen. She was leaning against the desk, looking completely exhausted and somewhat pale, and Clay went to say something encouraging. But when he’d arrived at her side, she had already straightened herself up. “Are you okay?” He asked, although the answer seemed obvious.
“I’m fine,” she said, sounding very unconvincing. “Just too many darned cats.”
“Wait here.” Clay ran to the kitchen and poured a glass of cold water from the fridge, and thankfully Umbry was still there when he returned with it. An entire glass in three gulps later, the colour returned to her face.
“You’re a brave young woman,” Clay said, “Being able to look at all those cat pictures in one sitting.”
Umbry chuckled. “It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.” She took a pause to attempt – futilely – to get a last drop of water out of her glass. “Actually,” she continued, “I didn’t think Lindsay would have it in him to actually betray us. From his actions it was obvious he wanted to, but Lindsay was never good with following through on things…”
“Well, people will always surprise you. Just look at the people in this room.”
Umbry looked at each of them in turn, and ended up pointing at Clay himself, a look of amusement on her face. “You sir, look like an intelligent, well-kempt and organized man, and as far as I know that’s what you are.” He blushed and looked away, trying to find a graceful way to shift the conversation. In the nick of time Julia arrived and did it for him.
“Clay, don’t you think it impolite to have fetched only one glass of water? Francesca is hard at work over there. Do you want her to dehydrate before she has a chance to solve the puzzle?” Before Clay could even begin to respond, she was already pulling him toward the kitchen. “Come on, you big lug, let’s do it properly. One tray, four glasses, a pitcher with ice. Be a dear and help me.”
“Umbry,” she said while heading for the kitchen, “maybe you should help Francesca out with the puzzles. I’m not that good, and I think the computer is a lost cause for now.” With a bemused Clay in tow, she headed toward the kitchen. She avoided the cat on her way out.
Umbry, happy to be away from computers with virtual cats, took a seat next to Francesca, who had completely switched around the order of the letters – they still didn’t form anything coherent, but it seemed like she was getting somewhere.
“They’re just a barrel of laughs, aren’t they?” She said as she adjusted herself, glancing at the older woman next to her.
“Hm.” That was the only answer she’d get. Umbry looked away, sorry she’d opened her mouth, and instead turned to the puzzle in front of them. She took a deep breath and let everything fall away, and suddenly the room went quiet as the both of them became completely absorbed in rearranging the little pieces of paper.
Julia and Clay worked silently for a while, gathering all the components of a proper tray of ice water. Clay had amassed a list of questions in his head about the two young detectives, and he decided this was a good moment to ask some of them.
“You two are very, uh, close, aren’t you? You and Umbry, I mean.”
She turned towards him. “It’s difficult for you to talk about these things, isn’t it, Clay?” She smiled. “Yes, we’re close.”
“How long have you known each other?”
She stared at him, confused. “What are you talking about? We’ve always known each other.”
“Oh.” He scowled, trying to imagine it, but couldn’t. “You… aren’t related, are you?”
Julia giggled. “Of course not!” She thought for a moment.
“Everyone asks that,” she continued. “but personally I can’t really see it. We’re so different, down to the way we walk and write, and in our tastes for food, and…” Clay tried to recall their handwriting, and found that he couldn’t really differentiate one from the other in the few documents he’d seen lying around. Going on to thinking about how they walked, he could maybe see a bit of a difference, but it was hardly significant, and they made their coffee the exact same way…
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Julia said, “I do go on about her, don’t I?” She turned away, embarrassed. Clay realized she’d been talking this whole time. He tried to think of something to say, but found himself unable to interrupt the mysterious look she had at the moment. They finished preparing the tray in silence.
By the time they got back to the office the atmosphere between them had become so peculiar that it seemed to jolt even the cat as they entered. Francesca was completely absorbed in her puzzle solving, but Umbry, seeing Julia’s expression, gave her a quizzical look. Julia mumbled something incoherent about the water, and then lay the tray down on the table. She barely looked at Umbry as she swept into her office, and Umbry watched after her as she walked in, not bothering to turn on the light, and closed the door behind her.