Bette gave her a playful whack on the arm, “Tomorrow at my place, say about 7:30pm? I’ll text you my address.”

“Well, I guess if it’s bad, we can always order in,” Gen called out as Bette walked out of the lab, giving her a wink.

***

hows work, up 4 coffee? – jin

can’t. working till 4. – G

its ur first week and u haf to burn a wkend? – jin

big case. n have a dinner date 2nite, will fill u in soon. – G

◊◊◊

“So fill me in on what’s up, I rarely see you marketing,” Ollie teased, watching Bette select two ripe green capsicums. Bette laughed, “I’m cooking dinner tonight.”

“You? Cooking?”

“Yes, it’s for someone special,” Bette said with a wistful smile.

“Interesting, and why haven’t you mentioned this person before?”

“Well, remember I told you about that thing that happened at the museum? It must have been fate coz she happened to be the new Forensic Anthropologist. Her name’s Gen Taylor.”

Ollie laughed, enjoying her friend’s gleeful excitement as Bette continued to ramble on about Gen. “I’m glad you’re happy, B, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you smile like that.”

“Enough about me,” Bette said, taking two thick slabs of steak from over the counter, “How has stuff been at home and with work?”

“You know, things at home with the wife and the girls are the same,” Ollie explained, “Work is the usual as well, hectic. Not everyone’s life is as exciting as yours, B.”

The women laughed, looking at each other. Bette thought of the time she had nearly lost Ollie, and was so glad that they had worked everything out, despite the countless complications.

“Ok, I have to dash,” Bette said after paying for her purchases, “But we’ll catch up soon, ok?”

She gave Ollie a quick kiss on the cheek before hurrying to catch a cab.

“Remember to tell me about your date, and spare no details!”

◊◊◊

After spending the early afternoon skimming through cooking books, Bette found the perfect recipe for steak. She quickly got the steaks out of the fridge, busying herself chopping and slicing the vegetables for their meal. As she prepared the ingredients, she lifted the steak off her wooden chopping block, preparing to tenderize it before grilling.

As she held on to the steak, she felt the coolness of the meat in her palm. She stood still for a moment and looked at the steak quizzically, reaching for a large metal chopper and tried to slice a little bit of meat off. She slanted her head, thoughts of the case running through her mind. The sound of the 5pm ice-cream truck drove past her apartment as she suddenly looked up in realization. She washed her hands, hurriedly leaving the unprepared ingredients strewn on the table top, before grabbing her coat and bag and rushing out of the house.

As she drove to the office, she grabbed her mobile and sent a text to Gen:

Found a lead. Goin 2 office 2 check. Hv 2 change dinner plans. Sry! – B

◊◊◊

The office was empty on the Saturday evening as Bette hurried over to her computer and turned it on, once the screen loaded, she quickly found the program she was searching for and started typing frantically. She cross referenced a few words, trying to search for a hit:

frozen goods. jodi lerner.

Nothing.

frozen goods. phylis kroll.

Nothing.

frozen goods. tom mater.

Nothing.

Bette sat and starred into her empty office for a while, frustrated and frowning hard. She stood up and paced around her office. She had run out of names to try. She picked up her notebook and started flipping through the pages. And suddenly, it dawned on her.

She sat down again, typing in a flourish, and then, she saw it.

A name and an address.

She scribbled down the address into her notebook, and hurriedly left the office.