The first day of the investigation was over, and now a brand-new day presented new obstacles and opportunities for the two detectives.
Mayhew and Margret both ate breakfast in silence.
The hazel-eyed detective looking over a small notepad while eating, and the blondy looking out the window at the light morning snow.
...
"Hey Meg, you feeling alright?"
She turned her head with a confused look on her face.
"Huh?"
Mayhew pointed a finger at her plate as he continued to read the notepad.
"You haven't touched your food at all, are you feeling unwell?"
Looking down, Margret frowned as she looked at her food.
"Well... I just didn't get a lot of sleep, since we spent a large portion of the night speaking about this dumbass case."
He sighed.
"I feel your pain, I'm also really tired."
...
...
...
"Mayhew, can I ask you a really random question?"
Mayhew smiled.
"Sure, go ahead."
Looking out the window once more, she spoke in a hesitant tone.
"When you and I first met, which drink did you think was my favorite?"
Mayhew stayed silent for a moment, pondering the question.
Then, with a polite smile, he said:
"Coffee. That's why I took you to a coffee shop first."
Looking at him, the blond detective nodded with a natural expression.
"You were just able to guess, huh? I guess you really knew me from the beginning."
He nodded with confidence.
"Of course I did. Our situations were so similar, guessing what you liked was as easy as guessing what I myself liked."
The apartment returned to silence, and both detectives continued doing what they were doing before, one staring at a notepad while the other looked at the snow outside.
Though eventually, the silence would be broken once more.
"Do you think that there is someone else out there that can understand me like you do?"
Mayhew chuckled with a warm smile.
"Why, of course. You just have to look for that person. That's why I keep telling you to make some friends while we do our jobs."
For a moment, Margret looked on with a blank expression that Mayhew didn't catch, as he was looking at the notepad. But that expression only lasted a second or two.
Frowning, the blond detective picked up her fork and aggressively stabbed the egg on her plate.
"Well, fuck you. Just how are you so good at talking with people, you prick?"
He shook his head and put the notepad down on his lap. Looking up at her, Mayhew spoke.
"Because I see the light in everyone."
Margret scoffed.
"You are so goddamn vague all the time. We have been working together for years, and I still don't understand some of your slang."
She paused for a moment, hesitating to ask a question that she had already asked once.
Despite not showing any outward change in her face, the hazel-eyed detective picked up on her nervousness.
Finishing up his meal, Mayhew quickly sat up from his chair with a wide smile on his face.
"Thanks for the breakfast, Meg. It was delicious. I have to go now, though. My tour with that Novak guy is in exactly ten minutes."
She could only nod as the brown-haired detective walked toward the door.
"It's only the second day, so don't take any huge risks, okay, Meg?"
Margret replied in a low tone.
"Sure."
The door opened, then closed, and Margret now sat alone looking at her eggs.
She let out a sigh.
'I better get to work as well, then...'
********************************************
Mayhew walked down the hallway toward the stairs, a natural expression on his face.
'The park and forest are going to be the priority, so I need to stall the tour there for as long as I can manage.'
The guy had said that he liked to play chess and even offered to play with Mayhew. So stalling was not going to be an issue. The problems would arise once the detective began trying to gather important information, because it would undoubtedly require him to ask some pretty suspicious questions.
He could only hope that Konrad didn't catch on.
Moving down the creaky steps, the detective arrived at the lobby and was instantly met with a polite smile mirroring his own.
'He came even earlier than me.'
Mayhew approached, and the two men shook hands, both smiling at each other.
"I wasn't expecting you to be here so early."
Konrad chuckled.
"I could say the same for you, Mister Mayhew."
The duo talked for some time inside the lobby before exiting the building and walking toward Słonecznej Polany Park.
It was 9:50 in the morning. The air was colder than at midday but still not as cold as night. Light snow was raining from the cloudy sky, although the clouds were purely white and did not seem gloomy.
But the atmosphere still didn't feel right for some reason.
As the detective and Konrad walked in silence, Mayhew couldn't help but look around uncomfortably.
'Why do I feel like this?'
There was something, but he couldn't quite place a finger on it.
"Hey, Mister Mayhew."
The detective turned a side eye.
"Yes?"
Konrad spoke in a polite tone.
"Not to sound rude or anything, but why have you come here? It's not that surprising to be visiting Poland itself, but this town in particular is pretty remote. Do you have family or friends here?"
Mayhew hid a frown behind a small smile.
'Now why did you have to ask that, kid? If I lie here, I could be setting myself up for a big failure in the future.'
And he also hated lying to get his way, so it was a failure even if he got away with it, at least in his book it was.
"No, I don't have any friends or family here."
In a desperate attempt, the detective made a statement but didn't actually answer the question. He hoped that Konrad would just move on to another topic.
"Beautiful sky today, wouldn't you say, Mister Mayhew?"
...
'Oh my, it actually worked.'
Looking up and smiling, Mayhew spoke in a cheery tone.
"Yea—absolutely. Perfect for a walk around the park."
To the detective's pleasant surprise, the rest of the walk was spent making small talk that didn't focus on his background and reasons for being here. And eventually, the duo made it to the park.
"Here it is, Mister Mayhew, our town's pride and joy. Słonecznej Polany Park."
The two of them spent some time looking at the shallow carpet of snow that had covered the short grass, and at the distant trees that were also covered in snow.
"Yesterday, you told me that we could play a little bit of chess. Want to have a match before we visit the forest?"
Konrad chuckled.
"Yes, we can. But hold your horses a little, Mister Mayhew. We haven't even toured around the park yet."
The detective also chuckled.
"Sorry, I'm just excited."
Walking across the grassy field, Mayhew and Konrad began their tour of the park. With their first stop being at a large gathering of old men, and not just any old men.
'Aren't those the guys that refused to play chess with me after they learned I came from Britain?'
It seemed that today's tour was going to be even more intresting then he had thought.