Josefine sat at her desk adding the finishing touches to a rough sketch of Sachiko with roses when Bates returned from visiting her new apartment. Josefine had stolen the other paintings in the series and now had them leaned against the wall facing the wall so that no one would notice them, though Bates still shot them a frown. She started to speak, maybe to ask about them but Detective Janzen Andries let himself in with a knock, rounding the partition with his partner Davidson hot on his heels.
"Hey Jo, I come bearing coffee," he set the steaming cup of coffee on the desk in front of her so she kicked her feet off of it and sat up straight, "We have a case we could use your expertise on." Davidson muttered something Josefine didn't catch, though judging by the look that crossed Bates's face, it wasn't anything good. Josefine took a sip of the coffee and leaned forward, setting the sketch aside face down.
"Alright, fill me in."
#
It was good Josefine liked a challenge because the case Andries was bringing her was a missing persons case she'd already solved. He told her about Sachiko being the only true connection between the five victims. According to the mother, Ms. Minami, the first missing person, Yūto Hoshino, Sachiko's fiance, left her for her sister Kimiko before the two of them both disappeared. The rest had dated Sachiko for a few weeks before disappearing as well. She was described as having severe mood swings and impulsive behavior to go with her apparent difficulty with personal relationships, the borderline between psychotic and psychoneurotic in all of Josefine's studies. All signs pointed to Sachiko being the one behind the missing people, the problem was Josefine had picked up on it faster and already dealt with her.
"What do you need me for?" Andries leaned back on his heels.
"If this girl did it, we'd like you to take a look at her psyche and see what made her do it." Josefine feigned interest, it wasn't hard, she was mildly curious, but it was too late to ask now.
"That means you know where she is?" He nodded.
"You want to ride with us?" She glanced at Davidson where he was glaring daggers at her still. Then she finished off the coffee and stood.
"No, I'll take my bike. Don't want to give Davidson an aneurysm regardless of what he thinks."