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[Mystics Apprentice]

Alvin considered his partner briefly, sun partially blinding him.  "You think so, huh?" The brunet smiled, his frappucino noticeably melting by that point.  "A lot of people kind of view letters as a dying art, but I'm rather old-fashioned and like them."

 

He didn't, of course, realize that Veemon thought the exchange of letters to be romantic, and even if he did he could hardly object without seeming to lie.  It wasn't often that he mentioned Pressa, mostly because the situation was just so . . . complicated.  It partly surprised him that he even brought her up with Veemon.  Maybe he just felt like he could be open with the new recruit, something he hadn't felt with anyone in quite some time.

 

As Alvin reached for the brass door handle of the office he heard Veemon alongside him thanking him for the treat, but as he offered to pay for the next one the brunet merely held up a hand.  "Nah, don't sweat it.  It's what friends do, yeah?  Besides, it's your first day, and goodness knows you well deserve a treat."

 

He opened the door for Veemon, granting him entrance before following.  The cute secretary was not at her desk in the front lobby, which was a rarity in and of itself.  Either she skipped off to lunch or she had an early day, though Alvin was assuming the former.  It wasn't often that anyone got off early in their line of work, even as far as the secretaries were involved.

 

He led Veemon back in the direction of Kyoko's office door, which he knocked upon before entering the room.  "Well, we visited Miss Shop Lady, though we've walked away with a big pile of nothing."

[Veemon]

As the duo entered the building and into Kyoko's office, Veemon looked for a trash bin to throw away his empty frappuccino cup. He saw one over by Kyoko's desk, and made his way towards it as they approached Kyoko herself. "... Except for this video tape she let us borrow." Veemon said, following Alvin's report and pulling out the video tape from his bookbag.

Kyoko was currently working on something on her laptop at her desk. She looked over at Veemon, then at Alvin. "Alvin, Veemon. Please tell me what information you were able to obtain so far. Or is it all in the video?" She said, quieting the office for a moment.

Then, Veemon broke the silence with some information they got. "Well, one thing we discovered was... The time of the robbery may have been mixed up." He placed the video tape on Kyoko's desk, taking out his small notepad with the notes he took during their investigation. "The time she wrote to us through the request was 10:00 PM, but then she turned around and said it was at 1:00 AM. Could this be a mistake?" Veemon said, reading off of his notepad.

Kyoko was certainly intrigued by the drastic time differences. "Hmm... That is quite unfortunate for us as detectives. Things will be much harder if there is not a single hint at when the crime actually took place..." She said, thinking out loud.

"That's what I believe we could discover through this video tape." Veemon put his hand on top of the video tape, keeping eye contact with Kyoko.

Kyoko was quite pleased with the positive attitude Veemon had. "Hm, I hope you are right, Mr. Veemon." She then turned to Alvin once again, asking him what he picked up on during the investigation. "What about you, Alvin? Did you find anything else worth mentioning?"

[Mystics Apprentice]

Alvin shifted his weight to his left side, folding his arms across his chest.  "The strangest part of the entire thing is that we saw a break-in at ten o'clock that night, but from what we can see nothing was taken.

 

"I hate to say this, but I wonder if the shopkeeper is giving us the runaround, or if she knows something she isn't telling us.  She kept referring to the missing item as a 'he,' as though it were a person.  Regardless, if something was taken it has a lot of personal value to her, though I am not convinced that anyone stole it.  For all we know she could've misplaced it and blamed it on one of her coworkers that came in the night to check up on something in the store."

 

He rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand, thinking deeply upon the situation.  A frown furrowed a single brow.  He hesitated before continuing.  "I hate to say this, but we just don't have much to go by.  At least there's the video to prove someone did come in, but it isn't particularly proving anything that will be of use to us"--he gestured toward the tape on Kyoko's desk--"I guess our next step would be to watch the video in its entirety, but that's going to take us an awful lot of time, and from the robbery we did see, well, there wasn't much to observe.  I'd suggest talking to some of the surrounding shops and see if anyone knows anything, maybe take some fingerprints.  Either way, this case is going to take some time to crack."

 

If at all, Alvin thought to himself, but he wasn't going to admit to defeat just yet.  He helped himself to the seat in front of Kyoko's desk, despite not having received an invitation to do so.  The office was much tidier than his own, something that suddenly dawned on him.

 

"Anyway," Alvin continued, shifting topics slightly.  "We shouldn't keep our new detective too long on his first day, so we should probably try to wrap this up soon."

 

It wasn't that Alvin was being dismissive, but, rather, he feared Veemon getting burnt out.  They'd already covered a lot on their first day working together, and he didn't want him to suddenly leave and never return.

[Veemon]

Veemon was listening to Alvin's view on the situation, checking the time on his Misfit watch. It was already almost 5:00. He kind of figured it was best to watch the video tape now, but given how late it's became and how quickly time flew by, Veemon was expecting a dismissal from Miss Kyoko.

Kyoko thought about it for a moment, deciding whether to watch the video with the detectives now, or watch it on her own. "A stolen object claimed to be a he, two different times, and a single video tape... Why would Miss Lutus hide so much from us?" She pondered on these thoughts for a short moment, folding her hands together and propping them up on her desk from her elbows, covering her mouth slightly. "... Well, I suppose we should wrap things up for today. I don't know how you two are getting along, but you both did an excellent job today, despite the minor details obtained. We shall continue our investigation tomorrow." She smiled a little bit as she got up to give Veemon a handshake. "Mr. Veemon, you did quite well for your first day in the Detective Agency."

Veemon looked up at Kyoko and smiled, shaking her hand in return. "Thank you, ma'am, I mean, uh, Miss Kyoko! I'll be sure to do my best to help out in any way that I can from this point on."

Kyoko remembered something important that she had to do. After their handshake, she turned around and opened a drawer, pulling out a document. She handed it to Veemon. "Here, this is for you. If you ever wish to have an office here in the Agency, fill this out and hand it back to the lady at the front desk, and we'll have you scheduled for an open office on the 5th floor. It is totally optional, and is not required to continue working here, however it is reccomended to all our detectives here at the Agency." She said, with a more cheerful look on her face.

Veemon held the paper, reading it while listening to Kyoko. He was very surprised by the offer, and was quite excited. "Whoa, really?! This is awesome! ...I mean, thank you. I'll definitely think about it." He said, looking over it for a little longer, then rolling it up and placing it in his backpack. "So, is there anything else you want us to do?"

"Hmm... I suppose the only thing I could ask of you is to be ready for tomorrow. Today I'm letting the both of you off early, but tomorrow, that's when the investigation truly begins."

Veemon suddenly felt a bit pressured by the intimidating words Kyoko spoke. "G-Got it. I understand. Well, see you tomorrow then, Miss Kyoko!" Veemon said as he slowly walked to the door, getting ready to leave the office.

(I'm not sure if Alvin was gonna follow Veemon or not, but if he is, I'll let you decide whether Veemon will open the door or if Alvin's gonna open the door for him again.)

[Mystics Apprentice]

Alvin rubbed the back of his head upon Kyoko's praise.  "Aww, shucks," he said playfully.  "But yeah, Veemon and I are hitting it off quite well, if you ask me.  Isn't that right, Partner?"  He shot Veemon a wink before moving toward the door, following Veemon as they both exited the office.

 

The rest of the building was relatively silent; even the sound of traffic on the busy street could barely be heard.  It was partially a blessing that the building was so soundproof, as it made concentration and focusing that much easier.  The receptionist was still busy at work, from what Alvin could tell, as the sound of her frantic typing carried through the hall to where Alvin and Veemon stood.  Alvin extended a hand in the direction of his new friend.

 

"Well, bud, it's been fun," he said.  "I'll walk you out, but I still have some paperwork to finish up before I leave here for the day.  There's no rest for the wicked." He let out a hollow laugh, which turned into a yawn that he stifled with the back of his hand.

 

True to his word, he followed Veemon all the way to the front entrance of the tall building.  Curiously, he withdrew his pad of paper and pencil and scribbled something down.  It only took him a few moments, before he snatched the sheet and handed it to his partner.

 

"In case you need anything," Alvin explained.  On the sheet read "Alvin" and below it a phone number, which lead to his personal cell.  He smiled over at Veemon before offering his hand.  "See you tomorrow."

[Veemon]

"Haha, yeah..." Veemon laughed in a sort of fake way, in response to Alvin's claim of the two working together quite well. It wasn't so much in a sarcastic way, but it just felt kind of awkward in the sense that they just met and Veemon just started working at the agency.

As they were walking out, Veemon's partner passed him a paper with his name and phone number written on it. "Uh... Oh, okay." Veemon looked at the little piece of paper for a short while, with a sort of innocent and curious look in his eyes. He then looked up to see Alvin's hand held out towards him. He raised his arm slowly to reach out and shake the tall partner's hand. Veemon nodded with a hopeful expression on his face. "...See you tomorrow." He walked out the doors of the agency building, heading towards his apartment for the day.

Veemon got back to his apartment building, and entered the lobby, encountering a different worker at the front desk. He wasn't exactly a close friend to Veemon, but the man at this hour enjoys greeting and saying goodbye to the apartment's residents. Veemon talked to the guy about his day, and his new job, and also told him how his mother is doing. Afterwards, Veemon headed back up to his apartment, taking the elevator this time. He was a little more tired than he usually is, ironic given that he likes to exercise often. When he got home, he made some spaghetti, and sat down at his table, alone. While eating, he began writing down some stuff in his journal, his daily activities, for one thing. Once he finished eating, he clean his dish and headed to bed. He sent one last text to his mother before resting his head.

"Hi, mom! Today was quite a journey. I got to work with a partner on my first day! Tomorrow, we're gonna begin our official investigation. I think this job will work out.

Love you!"

[Mystics Apprentice]

It was a long day for Alvin when he finally closed up his briefcase and locked the safe in his office.  The sun was already setting, and most of his colleagues had already left for the day.  Alvin gathered up a few necessary folders that he needed to take home, flicked off the overhead light, and rode the elevator down to the first floor alone.

 

The man sighed as he stole a glance down at his watch.  It was already seven o'clock in the evening.  He wondered what he would have for dinner that night; pizza had been exhausted that entire week, and his refrigerator was completely bare.  Maybe he'd do Chinese food that night.  Yes . . . that sounded rather appealing.

 

The doors slid open for him as he exited, the hall already dark and vacant with the exception of typing from one of the downstairs offices.  Probably coming from that cranky man that he'd been telling Veemon about earlier.  He always worked late and grumped when people left on-time.  

 

He tried not to think about the case as he flicked on the TV to unwind to a cold deli sandwich (because he decided not to do Chinese food after all).  However, blocking out a puzzle was akin to trying to blot out the sunshine--it was stuck there in his mind, and a part of him just wanted to shut off the TV and growl rather than try to focus on both.  Eventually he did end up turning off the TV and rubbed his palms on his closed eyelids.

 

The whole case didn't make sense to him.  Why didn't the robber steal anything, and why did Elize give them an invalid time of the robbery?  She also seemed terrified when she first laid eyes on Veemon.  At first Alvin had just thought that Miss Lutus was a small, scared young woman who had been robbed, but she always seemed especially frightened around Veemon.  Was there some connection between his new partner and the burglar?  Of course he never suspected Veemon for a second, but her actions were curious to him.

 

He kicked off his shoes and buried himself further into the leather sofa, the warmth of his body expanding over the leather and making it an even comfier place to try to doze off.  Hopefully their questions would be resolved in the morrow, when he'd be looking at the case with a hopefully clearer head.

 

(Feel free to start with the next day, Veemon.  I thought about continuing on into the next day as well, but thought I should really conclude the previous day first to give you a chance to decide whether you wanted anything to happen, plus it just seemed like a better continuation of the timeline.)

[Veemon]

After sending his text to his mother, Veemon put his phone down on a small table next to his bed, and rested his head. "*sigh* today was definitely busy..." He said to himself out loud. I wonder what she would think of me if she saw me now... he thought to himself, remembering his long lost "friend". He didn't want to remember the day of the incident, the day he lost his best "friend" for the rest of his life, and yet, he also remembered why he wanted to forget about it.

He decided to get his mind off the matter by getting up and grabbing the document regarding an office at the Detective Agency. Skimming through it again, he pondered on his decision, wondering if it would be necessary or not. "Hmm... Maybe I'll... think about it tomorrow..." Veemon said in a sleepy, yawning voice, really wanting to just get some sleep. So, he got back into bed, turned off his lamp, and rolled over.

----------------(The Next Day...)-----------------

Veemon had finally woken up, only to be welcomed by a somewhat dark morning. He looked at his watch to find out that it was actually only 6:15 AM. So, he still had plenty of time to get ready and eat breakfast. He figured it would be okay to just grab something to eat and drink on his way to the Agency. Veemon decided to look over the document he was reading last night, and came to a final decision. He signed the paper in the areas necessary, rolled it up, and put it in his backpack. "Okay, I think that should do it..." He spoke to himself out loud again.

A little while had passed. He approached the door out of his apartment, preparing to leave. He began reaching for the silver doorknob of the blue door, when suddenly his apartment's phone started to ring. Veemon turned around, looking at the phone, watching as it rang three times. Eventially, he walked over to the phone, and picked it up. "Uh... Hello?" He asked, nervously.

"Oh, good morning, Mr. Veemon. It's your boss." It was Kyoko. It was certainly a surprise to Veemon!

"Oh, good morning to you, too, Miss- er, Ms. Kyoko! It's quite a surprise to get a call from you so early, both literally in time of day and in terms of how long I've been working. What's going on?"

"Haha, well, you see, I need you to come here as quickly as possible. I think I've discovered something about the video tape you and Alvin gathered. I'm going to try and get Alvin to come early as well, but I doubt he will get up." Kyoko said, ending it with a short laugh.

"Oh, you have? Okay, then! I'll be there as quickly as I can." Veemon responded excitedly.

"Thank you, Veemon. I'm glad I can count on you. See you soon."

"Okay, see ya." CLICK!

Veemon put the phone back where it was, and made his way back to the door. Checking his watch, it was now 6:45 AM, and Veemon still planned on heading out to the Donut Shop on Apollo Boulevard, so he ran out of his apartment and rushed down the stairs as fast as he could, while staying cautious as to not to trip and fall. He had arrived at the lobby, passing by the receptionist lady before leaving. "'Morning! I apologize, but I gotta go. My boss needs me!" Veemon waved as he ran through the front doors.

"Oh, alright... Good luck, again!" The lady waved and saw Veemon on his way.

Veemon headed down the street towards Alvin's apartment, and turned right, crossing the street just before North Wright Avenue, and onto Apollo Boulevard, where the Donut Shop resided.

(I'll leave it up to you on what Alvin does before heading to the Agency, Mystics. If you want him to head straight to the agency or meet up with Veemon at the Dount Shop, it's up to you. Or, if you wish to, you can just have him sort of "sleep in" or something. )

[Mystics Apprentice]

The sound of rhythmic snoring filled the entirety of Alvin's small apartment.  The TV set in the living area, which hadn't been active for over an hour, had shut off automatically, leaving Alvin in silence upon the sofa.  Apparently he was more tired than he'd thought, for he didn't get very far.  His leftover Chinese food and dishes were still stretched out over the cluttered coffee table, his shoes still on his feet and his necktie askew.  The sound of his phone ringing could be heard from the kitchen where he'd left it on the counter, though it wasn't loud enough to awaken the sleeping beast.  No, he slept right on through it, and it wasn't until his alarm screamed at him at seven o'clock did he finally close his mouth and stir.

 

The rock-and-roll musical alarm continued for at least twenty seconds before Alvin grumbled and pushed himself to his feet, gliding across the living room floor and turning the alarm off.  Alvin had wisened over the years and now kept an alarm clock in both his bedroom and his living room, for there were many a night where he'd be too tired to make it to bed, and thus miss his alarm clock going off.

 

He rubbed his head sleepily as he strolled over to the kitchen counter, throwing a bagel in the toaster as he stole a glance at his cell phone, causing him to frown slightly.  The time was perfectly fine, though it surprised him to see that he'd missed a call from his boss.  Normally she didn't call him so early in the morning.  Was something urgent?

 

Apparently there was, from the message that she'd left in his voicemail.  Alvin hesitated, before slapping the phone into his pocket and spreading cream cheese onto his bagel.  There wasn't anything that he could do about it now.  All that was left was for him to make it over to the office in record time and offer her as many apologies as he could muster.  He greatly desired a shower, but he didn't dare risk taking more time than he already had.

 

Alvin couldn't, however, go into the office in the same pair of clothing, which were now wrinkled thanks to sleeping in them.

 

He managed to throw on something relatively nice before darting out the door, briefcase at his side.  Hopefully Kyoko would be understanding that he didn't come in any earlier than usual.

 

(I had an opportunity to write and thus I seized it!  If we decide to go a different direction and you need me to edit, though, please let me know and I'd happily do so.)

[Veemon]

Veemon had arrived at the Donut shop, rummaging through his backpack to find his wallet. It was a regular brown open-up wallet, with several pockets and slits for money, cards, and the like.

Like most wallets, people liked having a photo somewhere in their wallets; in Veemon's wallet, he had a photo of himself with his parents. There was also a photo hidden behind that one, but the pocket had one too many photos inside, so it was stuck.

Veemon having his wallet out approached the counter, looking at the flavors and styles of donuts. He decided to go with his usual: a Chocolate Frosted donut. "I'd like just the Chocolate Frosted," he said. He didn't have that much time to think, that's why he simply went with what he was used to. The Digimon behind the counter told him the total, Veemon paid, and the donut was prepared early, along with many other customer favorites, so the donut was on the counter in no time flat! "Thank you! Take care!" Veemon said, grabbing his donut and making his way outside.

Eating his frosted donut, Veemon began making his way back where he came and headed towards the detective agency. While doing so, Veemon couldn't help but wonder what the truth behind the stolen "Teepo" was. Was it really 10:00 PM, or did occur at the later time? Hopefully, these were questions that would be answered by the video.

[Mystics Apprentice]

In the end Alvin arrived a mere ten minutes earlier than his usual.  His hair was slightly disheveled, though it seemed he wasn't particularly approachable that morning.  The receptionist, who normally had much to chide Alvin with, didn't even bring it up, or say anything to him at all.  He quickly moved past her desk and rapped his knuckles on Lady Kyoko's door.

 

What he would've done for a coffee at about that moment, he thought numbly as he awaited Kyoko's response.  He had a headache from bouncing up too quickly and being in a rush to get ready, whereas he normally had enough time to get himself some breakfast, a nice hot cup of coffee, as well as a decent shower.  Unfortunately he managed to miss all of these everyday luxuries.

 

Eventually he opened her door ajar, proffering his boss a wave.  "Good morning, Kyoko.  Sorry for being late; I heard your message and couldn't get to the phone in time."

 

He wondered what sort of information she would have to share, and what was so urgent to call Veemon and himself in at this hour.  Was there more to the case than they had first seen?

[Veemon]

Kyoko was at her desk as Alvin had arrived. "Oh, good morning, Alvin. You are right on time, actually. I had guessed that your partner Veemon would show up by now-" Kyoko said, hearing the front door open, as Veemon had just entered the building.

Veemon headed into Kyoko's office, only moments after Alvin arrived. "Oh, good morning, Ms. Kyoko! And you too, partner!" Veemon greeted them. He had a few bits of the frosting from his donut on his mouth, which he eventually noticed, wiping them off. "Heheh, sorry about that." Veemon had a seat in one of the chairs in front of Kyoko's desk, taking off his backpack and relaxing. "So, you said you had discovered something on the tape?" He asked Kyoko, hoping she might explain.

She nodded in turn. "Mm, yes, I came across a portion of the tape that is exactly what we were looking for." Kyoko said as she turned over to pick up a little remote on her desk, which goes to a small television next to her desk, with a video tape slot. "So, we shall skip ahead to the part you two saw the first time, then, I will show you the part you didn't see."

Veemon felt puzzled. He was thinking about the two times that they were given by Elize: there was 10:00, as well as...1:00. Veemon only then realized that they only watched up to the 10:00 part! "*cuh!*...The part we didn't see?" He was not sure what to say now. They were going to get a better idea of the crime itself, and that's what scared him.

Kyoko turned on the television, with the video tape inside and ready to start. "So, this is what you guys saw..." Kyoko fastforwarded the video to the 10:00 PM mark. "We see the potential culprit here..." She then played the video frame-by-frame for the moment, giving Alvin and Veemon enough time to recall and remember.

"Yeah, so far, we only see what could be the culprit. He doesn't steal anything..." Veemon stated what they are witnessing so far.

[Mystics Apprentice]

Alvin blinked in surprise, expecting Veemon to have beaten him to the office.  His partner was close on his heels, however, appearing in the doorframe moments after Kyoko had greeted Alvin.  Still slightly dazed by sleepiness, Alvin's reactions were slow, offering Veemon a slight nod before fixating his attention on Kyoko once more.  He closed the door for privacy.

 

The tape began to play as Alvin leaned against a nearby wall, watching the pale-colored footage as it appeared on the small television set.  So far they were shown exactly what they'd discovered the other day: the burglar breaking into the premise without touching a thing.

 

Or at least a noticeable thing, Alvin thought to himself, frowning slightly as he watched the screen.  It was possible that their burglar had stolen something small and unnoticeable that he was able to fetch quickly and cram in a pocket, but it wasn't likely.  Elize sold clothing and relatively large items that couldn't be stored stealthily.  The only exception to this would've been money, but he didn't think Elize would've referred to a wad of cash as a "he" and proceed to sob over it.  Unless she had a rather unhealthy relationship with money, but this was heavily unlikely.

 

For quite some time the tape displayed a still and eventless shop, causing Alvin to nearly fall asleep where he stood.  He'd almost forgotten what he was staring at, and almost didn't react when the burglar showed up on the scene of the crime once more.  This time he disappeared into the shop for several minutes, and didn't make his getaway for over ten.  Under his arm was something, though Alvin couldn't quite make out what it was.  It seemed like a swaddled piece of cloth the size of a rather large bread loaf or turkey, but with the speed of the burglar's movement it was hard to discern what it was.

 

"Wait a sec," Alvin said, raising a hand.  "Can you rewind it a sec?  What is that thing?"