{written by ana.}

Sometime in the final days of autumn, when the sky would turn to a darkened colour and the leaves were beginning to crisp at the edges like deep fried shrimp (which Jade had mentioned to Lilith and Lilith had only replied commenting that Jade had a very vivid imagination), Lilith and Jade found themselves on a cab ride to the lonely looking school outside the city. The sort of part of the city where you couldn't find a single grocery store for miles and roads were bumpier than the bottom of a lake.

The boy was only eleven years old when he was murdered in the school yard.

Lilith told Jade that she wasn't completely shocked at the fact someone had decided to kill such a young boy, while it struck Jade as absolutely horrifying.

Jade told her she was quite the twisted person.

Lilith rolled her eyes back and resisted the urge to push her onto the lifeless body as they stood before it.

"Died in the past twelve hours," Lilith muttered, the words that everyone already knew thanks to their lovely forensic officer (but there was no point in reminding her) as she looked down at the dead boy. She looked up, her eyes glistening. "Had everyone left the schoolyard by that time?"

"They're all on spring break," Inspector Lestrade told her. Jade thought his hands looked cold without his gloves on. They were bluer than usual. "And they have been since Friday. No one should have been at this school, not even the teachers."

"Well looks like someone missed the opportunity to sleep in and play video games," said the very unaffected Lilith. Jade crossed her arms and glanced at the inspector, who looked as though he was wishing he slept in himself.

Sometimes Jade thought if Branch had the choice, he just might make Lilith the next dead body they'll be standing over.

"That's quite the strange sort of hole," Lilith was saying, to apparently no one. "Jade, come here." She mostly just wanted Jade to come look at her marvellous discovery because she was absolutely brilliant and everyone needed to know it, obviously.

Jade came over.

"Look at the wound."

Jade looked at the wound.

"What sort of object could have made that?" she asked Lilith, going all Doctor Jade and peering at the bloody wound in the back of the young boy.

While Jade went all Doctor Watson, Lilith went all Miss. Detective Holmes.

She stood up and brushed leaves and dirt off her long trench coat. She held her hands out like she was talking to a pair of preschool toddlers. "Picture the attack. Young boy is out here, for some reason, and walking down the corridor following the respective path leading to the fountain at the center of the courtyard. Whatever tool they used to kill him, it had to have been already here. It's a large tool, and very hard to carry around without going unnoticed. Not the ideal weapon, but good enough to hit the internal organs and kill him. They come up from behind, entering the yard the same way the boy came in. They aren't noticed, and strike him from behind with a quick stab. Then they must have left through-"

"-through the back," Jade finished, beginning to her very used to Lilith's rambling. The detective rarely had a filter.

"Don't interrupt me."

"Sorry."

"The back archway leads to the forest," Branch frowned. "There's endless woods down there, it could take ages to find him."

"Then I suggest you start looking, inspector." Lilith gave him a grin. He really did wish he slept in today.

Maybe fall right into a coma.

"Right. Well then I want you two to start looking for the murder weapon," Branch instructed, pointing a cold finger at the two of them. "And please don't go off causing trouble."

"Right, father." 

When the body had been taken away and the grumpy Branch had left to probably go take a nap, Lilith and Jade were unexpectedly giggling and walking down the halls of the warm school like they were a pair of classmates themselves.

"I wonder how many kids can afford to go here."

"It's a private school."

"It's an expensive school." Jade rubbed her hands together and silently thanked the lords for indoor heating. "I wonder how many teachers managed to put up with you."

Lilith laughed.

A real genuine laugh.

A laugh that came much too quickly.

"I'm going to guess not many."

"None at all."

"How many times did you get suspended."

"I got expelled four times in just primary school."

Jade looked at her. "We're supposed to be looking for the weapon."

"I'm looking."

"You haven't looked ahead for the past minute. I'm surprised you haven't bumped into something yet."

"Do have some faith in me."

"That's become very hard to do nowadays."

Jade liked it when Lilith wouldn't be focused on the crime but focused on talking to her.

There was some silence before the detective spoke again.

"When I was in eighth grade, I climbed a tree because I was trying to estimate how high of a throw the kids in my grade could make with their frisbee before it would come back down." Lilith looked thoughtful, although Jade knew she didn't need to give much thought into saying that. She smiled.

"Were they aware you were trying to do that?"

"Nope. But I did fall out of the tree and broke my leg. August gave me shit for weeks, although I never saw how bad it was. I still don't."

"You need to start giving August some credit now and then."

"No, I really don't."

"No, you really do."

They walked so far into the hallways they didn't notice it had ended sooner than they expected. Lilith began randomly opening doors of different classrooms and peeking her head inside before slamming it once again two seconds later.

Jade watched because she would rather not like to keep slamming doors on themselves if there was nothing important in them anyways.

And besides, the murderer would be an utter idiot to leave any weapons in a classroom.

Even Jade knew that.

Then Lilith paused and held her hands in the air as though she was telling an entire audience to be quiet.

"Did you hear that Jade?" she asked.

Jade didn't hear anything except the annoying mystery in her voice.

"What?"

"That. That sound. The doors, the doors, the doors."

She spoke so quickly it took Jade a moment to process it.

"What?"

"The doors! Listen, did you listen? All the doors in this building are exactly the same, and all of them make the same noise! Even just opening them slightly makes a noisy squeak, it would be impossible for the killer to have opened the back door to the courtyard without the young boy hearing him!"

She was now pacing around and grinning from ear to ear like she had just won the lottery, and then she was running down the halls with her footsteps echoing across the walls, and leaving a very confused Jade at the end of the hallway.

"So what does that mean?!"

"They had to have entered another way!"

Lilith found the murder weapon, which was a long garden stick, and the blood stained sweater of our murderer at the rooftop.

He was arrested within the next two hours.

Apparently he wasn't very fond of his younger brother.