in·quis·i·tive

She smiled a bit, leaning back against the chair to get comfortable. “I mean, you’ve got a bit of reputation at the precinct, but not in a bad way. You have a certain way of thinking outside the box that I think people don’t quite get, or they jealous of. I envy it, a bit, it sure could help us every now and then, but some people aren’t always welcoming to that.” Judy tilted her head a bit, giving him her attention as he spoke. “Mysteries and unanswered questions must look different to us.” As he mentioned the name tag, she sat up a little straighter and nodded. “It seems a little too easy–and just the name tag was found?”

Milo beamed. He couldn’t help it. Who was able to fight the feeling when someone was handing over a heavy helping of praise. “I gotta admit, that does put a nice pat on my back. I try to the best I can, like anybody else. And I just work ridiculously hard, to the point where it might be unhealthy. But, we’ll cross that bridge when my lack of sleep catches up to me eventually. And just know I’m always happy to help down at the station whenever you guys need it!” Milo offered, feeling a little more than bolstered now. “Looks like it. But, at least it gives us a commonality of a goal. Doesn’t matter what motivates to solve them, what matters is that we want them solved, right?” Milo offered, brow raised. “Now, that’s what I don’t get. It seems so convenient. Ridiculously so. And if it isn’t Tremaine who had it, why wasn’t there a sign of a break in to plant it? Did the culprit use Jim and Morph’s break in as a cover up? So many questions.”

“Hula hooping to save the world is what I’m going to call my next fundraiser,” Jack joked softly, still thumbing through the files with his nose wrinkled. “I’m not very good at it myself, if we’re being honest here. There were a lot of fails, and eventually one of the neighbor kids had to cut in. Needless to say, I gave her the contraption afterwards because I didn’t want to embarrass myself anymore.”  He trained his eyes on the other, fully ready to be as stubborn as possible if he meant the other could vent a little if he needed to. “I work with teenagers, so every day is a long day for me. These papers? Helping me sign up for a big brother program so I can work with even more children. Trust me when I say, I bring the heavy upon myself because I enjoy it.”

“If you do, I promise to make a hefty donation. Nothing with a name that good deserves to make anything less than all the money in the world.” Milo offered the other a half-smile, it was all he could seemingly muster in the moment. The sheer amount of stress bubbling over in his stomach was enough to dampen his mood, regardless of how much he desperately wanted to shake it off and crack a smile or an ugly-belly laugh. “So, what you’re telling me is that you hold fundraisers consistently, donate toys to children, willingly spend your days with teenagers, and now you want to join a big brother program? Jack, I didn’t ask for the world’s best person to come into my office and make my problems seem petty and shallow in comparison,” He jested. Or at least, he tried. But, he could see that Jack cared. Or wanted to. So, Milo opened up the floodgates. “It’s Winnie. And the case. And the lack of answers. And the amount of time we’ve lacked answers. It’s all just...becoming too much. So, I’ve been rifling through papers for days on end since the news broke about the newest update.” Milo admitted with a heavy breath, sinking into his desk.

               “ WHAT ? I LOVE the sound of it ! it sounds so… fancy. and smart. i don’t know a lot of professors, you know. “, the brunette said as she wiggled her eyebrows at her friend. from her little position on his desk, audrey allowed her gaze to travel through his office. “ it’s a big deal, you know. i’m proud of you, thatch ! “, the girl reminded him once again, nodding fiercely as she fixed her eyes on milo and shot him a genuine, warm smile. when milo explained why he was examining the winnie case – more specifically the latest update on it – audrey pouted her lips and nodded slowly. “ hmm… a professor a n d an investigator to be ? you impress me a little more every single day, my friend. “, she said, a smirk tugging at her lips as she winked at him – though she meant it. “ oh shut up, professor ! you can crack a n y t h i n g. “, she said, nudging him a couple times in a teasing manner. 

“Homebody isn’t a word I’d ever use to describe myself,” the Irishman began, lifting a free hand to scratch at the stubble on his jaw. He’d just shaved two days ago, and he was beginning to wonder if a summer beard would be the better option so he wouldn’t have to keep bothering himself to tame it. “I get bored easily, and then I start performin’ unnecessary shenanigans. My neighbors, god bless their little old souls, watched me learn how to hula hoop the other day.” Jack laughed at himself leaning against the door frame only to watch Milo scramble to attempt to clean up his desk. His thick brows furrowed together in concern, head shaking. “That at’ll be fine. I’m more worried about you now. Looks like you could use someone to talk to.”

“I would venture so far as to say that shenanigans, regardless of their silliness, are never unnecessary. Who knows! Maybe someday you’ll use those hula hooping skills to save someone’s life. Stranger things have happened. Though, I will say I find myself a little jealous. My hips have always been too stiff and boxy to master it. Even as a kid.” Especially as a kid, Milo almost uttered. This was mostly due to his lack of wanting to do anything other than read, research, or learn in general. Outside activities were not his priority. “But! I’m sure your neighbors had a fun show and a laugh, so everyone wins.” Milo shrugged a crooked half-smile tugging on the corner of his mouth as he filed things accordingly, shuffling things into file cabinets and drawers, alike. When he looked up again, a sigh escaped him. “You’re very intuitive, I’ll say that. But, really Jack,” Milo emphasized, doing his best to communicate. Feelings, again, were not really his area of expertise. Less of all expressing them. “The last thing I need on my conscious is being a downer before you go home for the day. I’m sure you’ve had a long day. We all have.”

She tapped her temple laughing. “Knew you were gonna say that.” Kida couldn’t help but snort as she laughed, but tried to cover it with a cough. “What if it’s supposed to feel tropey?? Or like maybe it really is a game… some saw type shit…ya know??” Her features softened slightly as thoughts raced through her mind. “Milo, not everything is going to conclusive, some shit is just sketch.” She nodded, silently agreeing with Milo. “You’re stressing yourself out Nancy Drew…Everything gets personal in a small town…Sometime along this road it’s gonna involve someone we care about and we can’t avoid it.” Standing she threw out the apple core in the nearest trash can, taking a deep breath, eyes narrowed and a laugh escaped her. “This is so depressing…time for happy hour on me!! Get up, Professor.”

“Are you becoming a mind reader now? You’ve got a lot to catch me up on, then.” Milo jested, the laughter completely infectious. “But, then who’s orchestrating it to make it seem like that? All of the suspects so far don’t have the motive,  is you ask me. I doubt Mrs. Tremaine would wanna sully that reputation of hers if she was caught, y’know?” Before he could sink deeper into analyzing every tidbit of information, Kida snapped him back to reality. As always. “Mm. I don’t know about that. Of course, things can always seem sketchy, but that means that it leads somewhere. It means, it’s begging to be looked into. Everything happens for a reason. At least, that’s what I believe.” Milo suggested, his hands raised in surrender before she could even retort. “...I just wish it didn’t. I know that’s naive and silly of me to think or want. But, I just don’t wanna think what would happen...if something happened to one of you guys. Or anyone else! That’s why Nancy Drew is on it. This has to stop, Kida.” Milo spoke softly, but his words held meaning. Intention. It meant, regardless of how much he wanted to stop and relax, looking into this was a priority. Sighing, he forced a smile onto his face. Maybe he did need a break. A small one. “Okay, okay! But, I’m not getting too sloshed. I have work to do, you know.”

Jack was never one to judge people. Back in Ireland, he was the one judged daily for his appearance. He distinctly remembered being in the lower level schools, boldly exclaiming that he wanted to be a teacher when he was older, only to be laughed at. The skinny goth-looking kid could never be prim and proper like a teacher, and he was glad when he finally proved them wrong. That’s why, as Milo appeared embarrassed, Jack simply waved him off and shook his head, reaching out to take the papers. “You’re not botherin’ me, any. My big plans included going home to a cat that just bops around my feet constantly. If anything, I’m glad to get away from him.” Sighing, Jack thumbed through the files, scowling softly at them before looking back up. “What are you workin’ on?”

“Oh,” Milo hummed, eyes perking up from their crinkled state. “Well, then you’re welcome for giving you an extra little task to do. Unless, you’re more of a homebody and enjoy your alone time. In which, I’m sorry...again.” The young professor cringed internally. Socialization was never much his strong suit. At least with Jack he felt a kinship, of sorts; two oddballs with a love for educating? Couldn’t get more in common than that. And it still didn’t serve to help Milo out. “Wha-?” And then he remembered. The desk still looked like a travesty. His scrambling to clean it upon Jack’s arrival served no purpose, it seemed. “N-Nothing, nothing. You wouldn’t hear it about anyway,” Milo muttered, walking backwards to his desk (bumping his leg in the process) and finally doing his best to organize the space. “I’m sure the whole town is sick of all this doom and gloom lately what with the news, and Winnie...” He sighed, gripping a loose sheet momentarily. “No need to trouble you with all that too, Jack. Besides, I’m sure that cut, uh, misses you, yeah?” Milo asked from behind the desk, a chuckle escaping him.

“Just Judy is good,” she said with a light chuckle. “Besides, I’m not exactly here for work.” She gestured to her civilian clothing before she stepped all the way in to his office and took a seat. Sparing just a moment to look around, she took in the decor and the items of his desk. “I’m actually here of my own accord,” Judy said as she set her bag down on the ground and leaned back against the seat. “I’m not on the Winnie case, so I don’t know any more than you do, but if your reputation precedes you, I’m sure you have some ideas. And…if you’re anything like me, it means you don’t like mysteries and unanswered questions. So, completely off book, I figured it could help us both to bounce a few ideas back and forth, see if we can come up with anything that might help find Winnie.”

“Oh. Ok. Just Judy, then.” Milo noted with a small, but excitable smile. It was rare to be around people and not address them formally, but it was a welcome change. And the moment she mentioned the Winnie case, Milo couldn’t help his body from leaning forward in interest. His predictions of her being there were right, after all! “Wait, I have a reputation?” Milo asked, being pulled out of the moment, distracting him from his pile of questions that was building by the minute. “Weird. I just sort of come here. And go home. And back again. But, alright.” So, he shrugged. “But, I have a myriad of ideas! As you can see from my very well organized desk,” Milo gestured to the office depot mess that was his desk. “It’s been keeping me up at night like crazy. And actually, I love mysteries and unanswered questions. But, that only pushes me further to find those answers. So, yeah, we’re the same. And yet so different. Nevertheless, I’d be happy to help. The sooner we crack this wide open, the sooner this...dark cloud over the town can skedaddle. And we find Winnie. So,” Milo began, rifling through his papers. “The name tag. Tremaine. Jim and Morph.  Initial thoughts?

Judy didn’t go out of her way to talk about open cases with people that weren’t officers, but it wasn’t like she knew anything about the case that the public didn’t, so she saw no harm in it. She wasn’t quite sure what lead her to Milo’s office, but before she knew it, she was knocking on the door and stepping inside. “Hi, I was wondering if I could bounce a few ideas off you?” Milo was pretty well known for his brain and his outlandish theories, but she liked getting new perspectives on things. The different ways people thought always brought out new angles. “If you aren’t busy, that is?”

“Officer!” Milo gasped, rising to his feet. The decorum for officers was always a bit hazy for him. Did he take his hat off and stand? Well, he didn’t have a hat, so standing would have to suffice. “Y-Yeah, of course! Come in, come in! Make yourself comfortable. My office is your casa,” Milo tried and was already biting down on his tongue for it. Nevertheless, he waved his hand in, gesturing to one of the two plush chairs in front of his desk. Sunnyside pd officers were people he really admired at that time. They had to have been so busy. And so stressed. So, the fact that Judy even had a lick of time to spare on him? It meant a lot. He would’ve tipped his hat to her. If he had a hat, that is. “What can I help you with? I’m sure you guys have no shortage of things to do at the station right now. So, what brings you over to my academic neck of the woods?” And suddenly Milo worried it was all a secret ploy to get him to stay out of the case; to mind his own business. It was fair, but it would crush him. Working to find an end or a conclusion to the madness was really good for his stress management. 

“I think if I replaced Ron with another human trash can he would be very upset but he doesn’t have to know.” Kim teased with a small smile. She would tell Ron anyway. She told him everything. There was nothing that her best friend didn’t know but it was still fun to play around. Kim snorted at the pun and clapped her hands at the others effort to keep such a serious topic lighthearted. The girl practically rolled her eyes at herself. “I just don’t get how you could trust a person who says they don’t like sugar!”

              “ MR. THATCH ! “, AUDREY called out with a big smile on her features and her arms opening wide as she entered her friend’s office. “ nothing ! i just wanted to see your office. doesn’t happen every day that one of your friends is on the other side of the desks ! “, not that audrey had ever attended college – while some people were made for studying, the youngest ramirez wasn’t. though that didn’t mean she wasn’t proud of her friend – milo was much more brainy than her. “ what are you doing anyways ? “, she asked as she approached his desk, sitting herself down at the egde instead of in one of the seats across of it, eyes wandering across the papers he was looking into. “ planning on joining the pd, i see ? “, she teased, lifting a brow.

Despite reminding himself over and over again to pick up the stack of folders the receptionist had put together for him, Jack had left the building without so much as stopping by to even look at them. He had already had his tie loosened, the top button of his black shirt undone as he was ready to get to his weekend and avoid people all together. But no less than two hours later, and he was back in the parking lot, sighing deeply as he trudged back into the building, only to be told that his folders had been grabbed by Milo mistakenly, which is how the Irishman had found himself knocking on the door, giving a nervous smile as he pushed his long sleeves up. “I believe you’ve got somethin’ of mine in that pile over there,” he pointed, seeing the dark red folders the receptionist had gotten specifically for him. “I didn’t mean to interrupt ya…”

“Hm?” Milo hummed, finally being pulled into the conversation. The realization that someone was there initially was more instinct than anything else. But, now someone was asking something of him. He couldn’t be flighty. He had to focus. Scanning the mess his desk had become, he did spot the files under a stack of strewn papers. His cheeks reddened slightly and he shook his head, embarrassed. “You’ll have to forgive me. Or, I hope you do. Sometimes, with the day-in, day-out way this job is, I just sort of become and robot and assume every folder, every paper, every little thing left about is just more work for me.” Chuckling nervously, he waved off the extra papers, rearranged the stack of folders neatly before trotting over to Jack. “Again, so sorry about that! Some days I don’t even really know how I got this job in the, uh, first place. But, here you are.” Milo finished, stopping himself from babbling anymore before handing the folders off. “And you didn’t! Interrupt me, I mean. If anything, I might’ve thrown a wrench in your entire day by making you come up here. Sorry.”

Squinting her eyes at the other, Kida leaned forward. “You completely agree with me and I know it. The logical little brain in your head is telling you this is a trope, and tropes aren’t a real thing.” Chuckling she took a bite of the apple in her hand.”Exactly! if the house was never robbed, then well…if Mrs.Tremaine had anything to do with it we would’ve never known…” Kida shook slightly, not knowing things, important things, always made her tummy twirl. “Didn’t you read the paper Thatch? The only reason they found the name tag was because a robbery was taking place in the Tremaine residence…some guy. Jim or John, I can’t remember, was caught red-handed. And you call yourself a researcher…”

Milo pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. Purely reactionary. Kida always managed to stoke the fire and keep him on his toes. “I wasn’t aware that you’d become a clairvoyant. Yes, you’re right, it’s all very trope-ish. Almost like a game clue, if we’re being honest. But, all tropes are based on and in reality to some extent. They had to come from somewhere. And that’s why I’m not ruling this out. A logical person wouldn’t count out any possibility without proper evidence contrary-wise.” Milo explained simply, raising a brow. “Well, considering all you gave me was ‘what’s his face’ you weren’t really giving me much to go on! But, it’s Jim. Hawkins, if I’m correct. But, I will agree with you. It’s too clean. Too simple. The motive just doesn’t seem to be there for the guy. Or his supposed accomplice. And if it wouldn’t have been found without them...it just sort of seems...like a setup, maybe? I dunno yet. Not conclusive. But, something tells me Mrs. Tremaine wouldn’t have turned it in if she found it. Which tells me she knew it was there.” Milo groaned and rubbed his temples. “This whole thing is becoming too real. It’s only fun when it isn’t so...personal.”

“She could’ve! Winnie was an older lady… Perhaps she lost her noggin a bit and wandered away, old people do it all the time,” Sil knew that was stretch, Winnie was nowhere near age to start being senile, but they simply refused to believe there was a malicious reason for Winnie’s disappearance, “Perhaps there were signs of a break-in, but the police mistook them as evidence for Jim’s break-in, not a break-in that had happened previously,” Silvie tried to reason, starting to brighten, but then sinking down again, “But I don’t believe anyone in Sunnyside is capable of framing either…”

“She’s an older lady! She’s not a sleep-walker or one of those kids that the Pied Piper lured away in the night. It just doesn’t add up that she’d just...walk off and not tell anyone. At least not to me.” Milo concluded with a hearty sigh. He could admire Silvie’s sheer optimism and hope, but the possible crushing reality was just too much for him to ignore. “Look, as much as I believe in this town and it’s people, to say that no one is capable of this kind of thing...just doesn’t really add up. Bad people are everywhere, Sil. Unfortunately. Sunnyside isn’t exempt from the horrors of the outside world.” Milo mumbled, a slight frown coming to his lips. How he wanted to live in Silvie’s bubble of hope. He yearned for a mentality that didn’t bog down his thoughts every waking moment.

It wasn’t so simple. And yet it was! The newly acquired evidence meant that the investigation of Winnie’s disappearance was starting to open up a bit. Which had Milo’s researcher wired brain all over the place. Taking some refuge in his office, he was scribbling everything the public knew about the case thus far, trying to make a connection, any connection. Smoke was about to start pouring out of his ears, his mind was so hard at work, when he heard a small knock on his open door. “Huh? O-Oh! So, sorry!” Milo fumbled, haphazardly trying to shuffle his notes away. “...What can I do for you, then?” He asked, punctuated by the classic push-up of the glasses from the bridge of his nose back to his eyes.