James rolled to the other side of the bed for more comfort as he thought of his conversation with Charlotte and Newt earlier that day.

Newt had told him he was sure he made no mistake in the contact details of Mr Grunger, but James didn't believe. He would just have to go see Mr Grunger without an invitation. That was no big deal for a detective.

'Newt should just start doing his job better, he thought with an eye roll.

Back to Charlotte, she mentioned a lot of information which were similar to what he had already gathered, which made them almost true. That meant that something had happened to Lily Pretty Plugger that no one really knew. They only had speculations.

With all these in mind, it meant that there was a possibility that Lily Plugger wasn't entirely innocent in the cause of her death. The thought alone made James' stomach hurt. He rolled to the other side of the bed and made a mental note to change his bed mattress. It didn't seem comfortable anymore.

Another thing James noticed but couldn't exactly put in words was the way Charlotte talked to him. He was a detective. He could detect these things. The only problem was that James couldn't exactly decipher what was different or wrong.

'Well', he thought to himself as he finally found a suitable sleeping position, 'if it didn't get in the way of work, he didn't care. '

And with that last thought, James finally drifted off to sleep.

If only he knew...

********
James sighed in his seat. He had been waiting for almost 10 minutes now. He wasn't a patient man and didn't like to be kept waiting. Although he had flashed his ID, he still wasn't considered important apparently since he was still sitting down here.

'Hold that thought', he told himself as the sour-looking receptionist approached him, 'finally'... Or so he thought.

Urgh, he would be here for quite a while. His mind drifted back to the sour-looking receptionist. He always thought it was a stereotype, but he was wrong. All receptionists are just always so sad.

If all mothers were sweet like everyone claimed, whose mothers were those at the reception, he chuckled to himself.

Well, sour or not, at least they still had mothers. He quickly shook the thought out of his mind. Now was not the time.

"Detective? "He looked up to see the sour-looking receptionist. It was even worse up close, "Mr Light is ready to see you now. Right this way. "

"Thank you," he replied.

He opened the glass double-sided door to see a man in his early twenties. He had a lollipop in his mouth, but the room reeked of cigarettes.

"Detective Anderson, Macy said you wanted to see a few of our workers, but you'll have to go through me first, you see," he said, adding a light chuckle to the end.

James returned it and said, "I understand Mr Light."

"So to what do I owe this visit? "

"I'm sure you must have by now heard on the news about the unjust killing of a reputable citizen here in East Wings a few days ago, Miss Lily Plugger. "

"Oh yes, I've heard of it all right, sad thing they did to her. She didn't deserve it, such a bright and promising future ahead of her. Met her once at a party about 4 years ago. Lovely lady. Sad what happened to her. If you ask me, life isn't fair. It always takes away the best people from us. "

James nodded in agreement and continued, "We know that the estate Miss Plugger lived in was guarded by security agents from your agency, which brings me here today. I need to speak to Mr Grunger, the head of the security unit in that estate, and that is why I'm here today, Mr Light. "

"I see ", he picked up the phone on his desk and spoke to whom James presumed to be the receptionist.

"He'll be here soon," he told James after dropping the phone.

James nodded.

"You're lucky he's in today detective," he said with a laugh, then looked up and said, "speak of the devil, and he shall appear."

"You called for me Mr Light", a new voice said, James was shocked when he turned around and saw a hefty, well-built man whose physique was a contrast to his voice, he was even more shocked when he realized he had indeed spoken to Mr Grunger on the phone.

"Yes, this is Detective Anderson. He's here to see you on the murder of Miss Lily Plugger,"

"Detective Anderson, I believe we spoke earlier," Mr Grunger said with an implied tone.

James smiled tightly, "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. "

"No problem. "

"I'm just going to go straight into it. We're running on a schedule. The sooner we solve the case, the better. "

"I understand. "

"Did you and Miss Plugger ever have any encounter other than at the gate? "

"Not at all. Besides, I'm rarely ever at the gate, I'm only ever there when there's no one to fill in. "

"I understand. The night Miss Plugger was murdered, who were those at the gate that night. "

"James and John"

James raised an eyebrow, "That seemed practised, Mr Grunger."

Mr Grunger opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get anything out, Mr. Light already spoke for him, "Oh, Grunger doesn't ever forget things like that. He was once in the military. Top memory. "he said laughing.

"Can I speak with James and John, please? "

"Yes, you can."

"I'll have Macy send them in," Mr. Light said.

A few minutes later, a young dark-skinned man entered. He looked around the room nervously and then said to Mr Light, "You sent for me, sir?"

"Yes, I did. This is Detective Anderson. He's here to speak to you on the murder of Miss Plugger. "

"Good morning, Mr James... "

"Bradford, it's Bradford. "

"Ok, Mr Bradford, what happened that night. "

"That night was like any other night, I was at my post, Miss. Lily didn't arrive late like she normally used to whenever I take my night shift. This time, she arrived an hour or so after my shift. It didn't even cross my mind much until I heard she was murdered. "

"What time does she arrive on a normal day?"

"Like 10 to 11 pm"

"She arrives alone or with other people?"

"She's usually alone, maybe once or twice she has come with others, but I can't really remember."

James nodded and said, "So Mr Bradford, you're trying to tell me now that you didn't notice anything out of the ordinary that night? "

"No, sir."

"I see, and there were no strangers that entered the estate that night? "

"Throughout my shift, no, there weren't. "

"Are you sure?"

"Very sir,"

"Can you email me the list of people that entered the estate that day?"

James looked to Mr Light nervously.

"I'll have Macy email them to you," Mr Light said.

"Thank you," James said, then turned to James

"Thank you very much for your time and help, Mr Bradford," James said while extending his arm from where he sat.

"No problem," James Bradford said as he made his way out.

A few seconds later, another man who James presumed to be John entered. Mr Light introduced them as earlier, and James proceeded.

"So, Mr John..."

"Michael,"

"Mr Michael, you and Mr Bradford were on the night shift the day, Miss. Plugger died. "James said more of a question than a statement.

"I was the day shift. "

"Oh, okay. So, did you ever have any encounter with Miss Plugger? "

"Not exactly, I only greeted her from the gate sometimes, nothing personal. "

"I see. The day Miss Plugger died. Did you by chance see anything out of the ordinary? "

"Not at all Detective, she was back around the time she normally is. Nothing else. "

"And when is that?"

"2:30 to 3pm"

"You're trying to tell me that nobody strange or unusual entered the estate that day. "

"At all, only the usuals. "

"Thank you very much for your time, Mr Michael. "

"My pleasure. "he said as he left the room.

"Sorry for our earlier misunderstanding, Mr Grunger. "James said

"No problem. "Mr Grunger said.

"Thank you for your time and office, Mr Light. "

"The pleasure is mine detective, I hope you catch this murderer. "

"I hope so too. "James said as he got to his feet and made his way out.

When James reached his car, he burst into laughter. It was hard keeping a straight face at the irony called Mr Grunger. The man's high-pitched voice kept coming to him as he made his way out of the agency.

Hey, hey, hey. Today's story was a bit longer than my usual amount. That's normal because as the story progresses, more ideas develop. I thought of Diggle in Arrow when writing Mr Grunger (forget the high pitched voice part). I'm also using this medium to apologize if you feel offended by James laughing at Mr Grunger, please it isn't personal and it's all for the book.

As usual, please vote, comment (constructively) and tell your friends to read my book.

I'm outtt.