A POUND OF FLESH

It Clicks - Part 2

Emma slumps down in her chair defeated. Ron is a great detective, he never talked down to her and his only expectation was that she did her job. Even with all his years of service, he lacked the smugness some of the other detectives had. He gave the techs credit where credit was due and Emma very much appreciated that, even if he was a 'hard ass' as Ethan had put it. If Ron couldn't figure this out, what hope did she have?

She pushes her chair back and reluctantly retires to her spot on the couch in front of the television. Before she can even turn the television on, there is a knock at her door. Puzzled she gets up and makes her way to the door. As she passes a mirror, she gives herself a once over. Her long hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. She smooths the wrinkles out of her t-shirt and puts on a pair of thick rimmed reading glasses. Satisfied with her appearance she continues on her way.

Leaning forward and balancing on the balls of her feet, she places an eye to the peep hole. "Shit!" the word escapes her lips like the hiss of a boiling kettle. She had forgotten.

Ever since she had moved to the city, if you can call Clarington the city, her brother would stop in once a month to watch whatever sporting event was currently on. Emma knew that he came more so to check in on her. He did so for her parent's sake - even though she had been a cop, had taken multiple self-defense courses and lived in Clarington. The most dangerous thing happening in her area were the housewives protesting the construction of a smelter nearby.

"Hey Todd," Emma opens the door and moves to the side allowing him entrance to her apartment.

"Forget again sis?" Todd smiles at his sister as he kicks off his shoes and makes his way to the couch. Acting as if he owns the place, he rested his feet on her coffee table and turns on the television.

"Are you not going to search my closets and under the bed for the boogeyman?" She asks in a mocking fashion bringing her hands to her hips, slightly annoyed.

"C'mon now, I know my baby sister is more than capable of taking care of herself. I just think it's good for you to have a bit of social interaction - you know with people other than the dead." Todd cocks his head in her direction, with the smile still plastered on his face.

Todd was older than his sister by only a year, and unlike most older brothers, had never in his life felt a need to be over protective. Emma was as straight laced as they came, she had never experimented with any drugs or alcohol in high school, rarely kept a boyfriend and always excelled at everything she put her mind too.

Todd, the jock, had luckily landed himself a scholarship to play ball in the States. Four years traveling and a natural ease, made his career choice in sales a good fit. It also didn't hurt that he could relate to the guys on a sports level and simply charmed the ladies.

Their relationship was mutually respectful, Emma stayed out of his personal life and he stayed out of hers. They let each other share what they were willing too.

"You know I don't work with the dead right? I'm not a coroner." Emma retorted as she curled herself up on the other end of the couch, pulling her knees into her chest as she tries to get comfortable.

"Ya, ya I know. So what's new? Other than work." He accentuates the last part with a roll of his eyes. He always hated when Emma went on and on about a case that she was working on, or some small piece of evidence that she had collected that had helped make it stick. It meant nothing to him - he found it dull and exasperating.

Emma rested her head back and thought hard to herself. What was new? She had added another 5k to her morning run, the grocery store had stopped carrying her favorite brand of granola, she was attempting to play detective and failing miserably... Nothing that would interest her brother, so she shrugs her shoulders in response, making Todd sigh and turn his attention back to the flat screen.

"Well do you at least have anything to drink?"

Emma pursed her lips at the question and rose from her seat to make her way to the kitchen, "what did you have in mind?"

Emma rarely drank, she only kept a small collection of bottles for when she entertained, which was typically only her brother. He tended to prefer the hard stuff, which she kept in the cupboard above the fridge.

"Maybe a Rye and ginger?" Todd calls from the living room.

Emma takes a chair from her dining room table, debates hiding the documents from her brother and pushes the thought from her mind, and carrying it over to the front of her refrigerator. Stepping on the seat, she opens the cupboard doors and peers inside. She grasped her fingers around the first dust covered bottle she finds and pulls it towards her.

"Guess who I ran into the other day?"

"Who?" Emma poses as she pours the amber syrupy liquor over the ice cubes she had already placed in the glass.

"Remember that girl I used to date from one of your criminology classes?"

How could Emma forget? She had given her the creeps. They had been the oddest couple, her brother the All-American type and she was a slightly zealous goth with a penchant for historical crime.

Emma stops and looks at the bottle in her hand.

Jack Daniels.

The corset wearing criminology student.

"That's it!" She screams. The pieces had fallen into place.

A/N: In the second edit of this section, I added another little clue that pushes Emma to make the link. Please let me know what you think, does it add or take away from the original version, any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks - and please do not forget to vote!