“I can see the house.”

“That was fast. Are there are any officers on the scene? I just got picked up...”

“Nope. They aren’t here yet.” Rai ramped his sedan onto a grassy patch of the sidewalk and slammed the parking brake.

“That makes sense. The report must have only gone out ten minutes ago. So how did you make it there in…?” Sao’s end of the phone call went quiet. “Well…  I’m glad you made it safely.”

“Don’t freak - even if I was speeding, I would have to be going 4-5 times over the limit to get here from the office in ten minutes. No - I just happened to be in the area.” Rai could have strangled himself. He sounded guilty already. “There was a noise complaint earlier this evening. I was on my way over before your report. I thought it was a strange coincidence, for there to be trouble in this area again, so soon. And what do you know, the complaint was reported by someone on this very street...”

“What - don’t tell me something happened at the North house?”

“I’m here to find out.” Rai kicked the grass and peered at the houses around him, uniform giants in the dark, with their anonymous yellow windows. “The complaint got retracted by the caller shortly after. Which is only more suspicious, if you think about it.”

“Of course.” One could tell Sao was smiling when he spoke, sometimes. But it was not always certain what he was smiling at. “You go wrangle the neighbors first. Some other officers will be there soon to check on the… situation inside the house. I’ll be on my way too.”

“Yeah, got it. I’m surprised you’re awake at this time.”

“So am I.”

And he was left to the dark and the trees. The road in was lacking in streetlights; possibly because they disrupted the natural beauty of the place; they were of course a hassle to maintain when they blew out, and the nearest resident would be the one to pay if some rich drunkard plowed into one.

Rai removed his gloves so he could look out for uneven sidewalks, but there was not a crack out of place. He shook his head at that. Not so natural after all.

The road was still relatively well-lit but the glow of windows, but the North home did not spare views of its windows to passersby. There was a flicker of white light in the distance, at the end of the street, beyond the black hedges. Rai squinted ahead, past the hedges and saw another flash, waving like a ribbon. The water of K Lake. The moon’s reflection was bright as the sun.

Not natural, he thought again, and speaking of.. 

He squared off with the North house, with its impenetrable fortress of towering walls, cloak of dark ivy and smattering of cameras where a normal person might set flowers or nameplates.

No lights on, from what little he could see. Rai hit the doorbell and heard the tiniest of chimes from inside the house, so faint it was lost with the breeze. He jabbed the bell again, and again.

A middle-aged woman with hair like a nappy sheep was peering at him through the fence of a neighboring property. On his first visit with Sao to K Lake, the police had been chasing a resident into that very garden, perhaps it was the same lady. She seemed far too interested in his futile ringing. Rai turned to her. Behind a row of iron bars, topped with spear-points, she looked something of a prisoner, but it was a welcoming affair in comparison to the North’s choice of barrier.

Rai waved a glowing hand and jogged over to the fence, digging in his jacket for his identification. “That’s house 14, right? Were you the one who called the police with a noise complaint earlier today?”

He expected her to shrink back, but instead she wedged her head between the bars for a better look - noticeably taking in his face rather than his badge. “Yep, that was me. And the other day, the one who noticed those two were home. Those two being the Norths. Cadoc North - the eater they say went missing. Course, he wasn’t missing after all. I’m surprised you’re here, officer - after I called off the alarm.”

“But you were watching the house.”

“Naturally. Cadoc’s a star now, I’m always keeping an eye out for him. It’s the least I can do - him moving here is what got me interested in the competitive eating scene. But he’s too laid-back. Never know when some nutjob stalker is going to sneak over the wall, rob the place.” She sniffed with pride.

“Has anyone ever tried?”

“Only in the beginning. Ever since the manager got those walls and cameras up, we haven’t been able to see a thing. A bit excessive, if you ask me. More harm than good. The walls go up and you’ve got to wonder, what are they hiding?” The neighbor sucked her teeth at the mention of Carme. “Makes it hard to see who goes out, too, but if my intuition is right, you just missed them. By a few hours.”

“Hold on, hold on. The Norths went out? Did you make the call before, or after they left?”

“Before. God, but not long before. I heard this terrible argument from inside the house, unlike anything you’ve ever heard from those two, anyhow - for the whole year - or is it two now? - they’ve lived here, they’ve been quiet as mice. Cadoc, sometimes you hear the tiniest whispers if a window’s open while he’s recording - other than that, perfect neighbor. Now the machines, on the other hand, they can make racket -- but, well, those are part of Cadoc’s training regiment. Stomach treatments and such.” She shook her wooly head. “But that argument, it wasn’t like them at all. It was all that manager of his - his sister, so they say - screaming and screeching the walls down.”

Rai frowned. “What kind of things were they arguing about?”

“Again, it was only the manager girl. I couldn’t catch much, but it was something like...” The woman took two steps away from the fence, and bellowed, “Don’t you dare talk to me like that! Please dont! I’ll tell them everything! I’ll tell them what you did!”

Every door down the street was opening for a look. In the woman’s own house, three small faces were peeking over the edge of their living room windowsill. 

Her impression took on a desperate whine, impressively without the slightest drop in volume. “Don’t think I’ll be the only one taking the fall here! You should have heard her! She was furious. I always knew-”

“Mom, dinner’s ready!” cried an equally desperate child from the window. “Please come in!”

The call was ignored. “Very interesting,” Rai said.

“I used to be an actress. Small roles only. But I can relate to Cadoc, in a way,” said the neighbor, coiling hair around a finger. “Living in close quarters with your manager, it can take its toll. You lose your life to work.”

“Okay. So the manager sounded serious. But you redacted the noise complaint not long after?”

“Yes, I decided it was best to go down myself and see what was the matter. I should have done it earlier.” She heaved a theatrical sigh. “Miss Manager herself picked up. It wasn’t the first time we’ve spoken, thought it was the first time we did over such a strange matter. She was… apologetic.” There was the sucking of teeth again. “Said they were preparing for a trip, and arguing over tedious matters - that they didn’t go on trips much, and preparations were putting some stress on the two of them. I’m not sure how much of that’s true, they’re often away for a day or more when out at the tournaments so I thought they did go on trips. But, in any case, they did indeed drive out around 8 p.m.”

“They both left at that time?”

“I should say so. As I said, you can’t exactly see the driveway from here. But one of them was in the driver’s seat. Likely the manager - she tends to be designated driver. But who can say - they do look alike at times, from a distance, and behind dark windows, how am I supposed to tell? But I can say that I haven’t heard a peep from the house since they left. So chances are, they’re both gone.” As if the word ‘gone’ were a trigger for trouble, she slapped a hand over her mouth. “You’re not here because something happened to Cadoc, are you?”

Rai had only looked at the blurry, phone-sized screenshot once. The head in the box behind Cadoc’s grinning mug - it didn’t prove much, but the smile, and now the neighbor’s words irritated him just a touch on Carme’s behalf. He gripped fists in his pockets and smiled - which caused the woman to back off a little. His smile waned slightly.

The curse of Sao was edging in on his life yet again. 

“No, there hasn’t been any indication that Cadoc’s in trouble.” Rai eyed the small row of heads staring at him from the house beyond the fence. “Although, it might get noisy around here again soon. The police are headed over.”

She was pressed back between the bars. “Really? What for?”

“Checking up on the house. Just… keep a lookout for anything.” He tapped between his eyes, and feeling a bit stupid, turned and walked away from the fence.

“Thank you, detective. And might I say, what fascinating gloves you have! Where can I get a pair?”

Rai looked at his hands. “‘They’re… an heirloom.”

“Mom, the spaghetti is getting cold!” cried one of the heads on the windowsill.

---

“I’d scale the wall and smash open a window, but the cops are headed over anyway, so it’s probably not the best idea.”

“Good. I mean, please wait for us.” Sao’s voice was hollow over the phone. “We’re almost there, I think.”

He sounded drained. Sao would normally have much stronger words regarding a break-in. Rai circled the stone wall, running his hands through the thick blanket of ivy. “How far are you now?”

“I think -- I don’t know. We’ve been on the road for half an hour. All I see are trees. That… seems close, if I recall? Sorry. I can’t tell in the dark.”

Rai knew that Sao had slept through their initial drive and would not know the features of the route whether it was night or day. “Township cops will get here soon and put it on lockdown, so no rush.” He trudged through the grass until he reached the front gate. “The neighbor said she saw Carme and Cadoc leave for their vacation after an argument - in the form of at least one of them driving the car out. This was at 8, so a couple of hours ago. Noise complaint was at 6, shortly before you had your call. I bet I sound like a broken record - did you feel anything off about Cadoc when you spoke? Thoughts?”

“I mean, he wasn’t covered in blood at the time. But -- good god. It’s really hard to consider the options based on what we saw in the video. The box and the… what are you doing now?”

“Just looking around.” Rai hammered the bell a few times for good measure. “Okay, we’re probably thinking the same thing, so let’s not focus on the head. Instead: why would Cadoc be arguing with his sister this afternoon? What would put a wedge between them so large that we’d wind up with one head in a--”

“You said that the neighbor didn’t hear Cadoc’s voice. Only Carme.”

“Who else would could she have been arguing with?”

“There was a hand in the video, the one that waved at me, and closed the laptop at the end. There could have been somebody else there with them. Though, that would mean Cadoc was lying to my face, and I didn’t suspect a thing.” There was a muffled noise and a sigh, and the thud of a head against a window pane. The distinctive sounds of Sao trying to settle in a very uncomfortable car seat. “Please don’t ask if I recognized the hands. They looked like they could have been Carme’s, but they were nothing so distinctive as yours - that's all I can say for sure.”

Rai cracked a smile, in spite of himself. “Okay, but the question still sort of stands. What got Carme so worked up?”

“She’s been stressed. She was threatening to take somebody down with her. I wish I’d paid more attention to the eating match history. I really don't..." Rai squinted at his phone. It sounded as if Sao's voice had cracked. But it returned with, "Are the semifinal rivals are all accounted for?”

“Nero and Kep in custody, Basil still in the ER with his guys. The expo staff are still getting grilled for all the LF corruption and sabotage that’s been running rampant under their noses. Some of them have admitted to bribery - it’s just a matter of time until the rest come clean. Threatening to take any of them down is pretty passe at this point. Of course...” Rai hit the doorbell again. “Carme could have just been throwing threats in desperation - if someone were trying to take her or Cadoc down first.”

“For what, though?”

“I didn’t want to say this, but considering the rest of his bracket, Cadoc cheating isn’t impossible to imagine. Is there really some kind of noisy machine that can be used for eater training?”

“Huh? You mean, the Chimera machine? I didn’t find - What are you suspecting him of?”

“I realize I don’t know jack about how eating prep and practice really works. It really would have helped about now. If I had really picked up on Cadoc cheating, then I’d have been the one initiating blackmail.” Rai snickered, but Sao did not, so he went back to punching the doorbell. “Normally, I’d dig into Cadoc’s past for enemies or even old friends, but his history is such a black hole of information that there isn’t even a starting point, unless you want to go back to his primary school days. Wonder what kind of dirt someone might have on him from back then.”

“Well… he did not exactly have a pristine childhood, I suppose.”

“Mom!” screamed a child’s voice, and Rai ran back onto the street to see what horror had raised such an racket. But all he saw was the friendly neighbor wedging herself up against the fenceposts again, children at the windowsill begging her to come back in for dessert.

“Is everything okay?” Sao bleated through the phone.

“Yeah.” Rai looked from the children’s looming faces, to their mother, feet in the flowerbeds, like a grinning lawn ornament. She waved at him. He blinked, waved back and pressed the phone back to his ear. “Just a reminder of something we - the two of us, at least - tend to forget. What about the North family? Those parents.”

“Carme said she was trying to avoid them, keeping Cadoc away from them.”

“Cadoc ran away from home at the age of twelve. It’s not hard to believe something fishy was up with the family. A dirty secret? It makes some sense - Carme’s argument wasn’t with Cadoc. Maybe it was with the parents. Or about the parents.” Rai switched to rapping his knuckles against the doorbell, which was now coming loose in its plastic casing. “But if this somehow led to Carme being done in - maybe Cadoc didn’t like being kept a secret. Him and his accomplice - perhaps someone he wanted to bring back to mom and dad...”

“A romantic connection? Family reunion? Wait - do you think he’d kill his sister over that?” Sao’s breath caught like he was being throttled. “I mean, not that it’s entirely out of the question. It seems - but I should have known - no, I keep forgetting that I really don’t know this man at all. What would have possessed him…?”

“People miss their family, some get real snippy about it.” The doorbell button fell from the panel with a clatter. Rai turned away quickly, the cameras tracking his retreat. “That’s a normal thing, isn’t it? Tons of homicides are rooted in family drama.”

Sao needed a moment to digest this. “Yes. But I would have thought -- if he really wanted to go see them, he could just drive down there, no problem. Or make a call. He wasn’t devoid of agency. Could he really be so spiteful simply for being kept hidden? Carme’s no jailkeeper - I didn’t get that impression, but those nasty comments did... I don’t know.”

Rai was eager to shove off the issue of Carme. “Cadoc’s got the kind of face that doesn’t say much. He looks harmless enough, but when you look close you realize there’s nothing there. In retrospect, he looks like someone who’s trying too hard to be predictable - there’s definitely a side he doesn’t want to show, under that all those pro-eating-tips and scripted talk. But I can’t pretend to know what he was thinking when he did what he did - if he did it.”

The other end of the call went quiet. 

Rai watched the little faces in the neighboring window pine and sway for their mother. Over the silvery murmur of the lake, he thought he heard the sound of approaching cars. “You’re probably close by now. Check the place over with the cops for me - I’m going to talk to the parents. They have to know something, even if it’s just a few clues in the mystery of 12-year-old Cadoc’s disappearance. Considering that’s the last time he had any clear medical or school records, we should have tried our hand at questioning them in the very beginning. Let me see, their names and numbers were in the local papers when notice of Cadoc’s disappearance went out, twenty years ago… I should be able to get their address from that...”

“You’re leaving? Wait - right now?”

“I’ll let you know when I get there.” Rai made his way back over to the car, where he’d hiked it up onto the sidewalk. “Upwater district, was it? That’s a nice long trip out of town.”

“It is. Are you sure you don’t want to see what they find in the -- no. I suppose if the box contains what it appears to, nobody would want to see it.” Sao exhaled in defeat. “I'm not sure how much use I can be. I'm missing so much of the obvious these days...”

“What exactly was so obvious about Cadoc in hindsight? ''Cause I'm not seeing it yet.”

Nothing. Sao started and stopped a couple of protests, before giving up. “Just - please drive safely.”

“Of course I will,” Rai said.

He stomped on the gas and blew out of his makeshift parking space, chipping at the perfectly cut sidewalk as he swung out. Sao’s lamentations about his inability to read Cadoc both pleased and irritated him slightly. The guy had to learn he didn’t have every mind at his fingertips, but if it wrecked his confidence, there would be problems.

Oh, well.

He wasn’t sure if Sao would find it comforting or not that Rai, unlike Cadoc North, was genuinely predictable - at least when it came to his driving.