Let’s go camping.

That was Sao’s thought when he awoke. The phrase lingered, and he wondered who he’d intended it for. He looked beside him and saw Rai at the wheel, rust-red eyes glaring into the road ahead. The heating had been lowered to a mere grumble and air in the car was now frigid. The vicious drafts he had previously expected arrived in full force. Sao pulled his gloves back on and wrapped his arms around himself.

The car was cutting through a wall of mist, parted billows flying along the sideview windows. The towers of the city were far behind them, there were no more concrete barriers or overpasses, no beanpole streetlights and he couldn’t even see the harbor bridge anymore. Instead there were just small golden flickers in the distance, but with focus the shapes formed around them - large, square manors with sloping roofs and pale columns, each home large as police HQ. Their regal air and sprawling lawns made Sao envious, they had a permanent sense of calm and space that the city would never be able to maintain.

Outside the window on Rai’s side was a hill peppered with trees, their leaves replaced with boughs of thick snow, and the black iron bars of a fence. The drive continued, the treeline growing denser by the minute. Rai jerked the steering wheel in a sudden turn and there was an ominous crackle. The road here was unpaved. They had come to a full-fledged forest, its jagged silhouette filling the horizon. The street ended. The car ground to a halt.

Sao peered out the window. The iron fence was cut short a few yards back and ahead of them stretched an endless plane of white, untouched snow. They had slipped right out of civilization. Skeletal trees stretched towered overhead. They were still, observant and, most importantly, familiar. Sao pulled himself up in the seat.

“Is this where the bodies...?”

“This is just the way in.” Rai pointed toward the hill. “The Fleming house is up that way.”

“An odd place for an entrance. They really do value privacy.” Sao threw open his door and stepped out, pulling his coat around him. “Do they have a doorman?”

“They don’t have any full time employees. This way.” Rai began padding his way into the forest.

The forest loomed above and beyond. Sao stepped forward and felt dirt below the snow - no paving. “Are you sure this is the entrance?”

“Well, it’s one entrance. Let’s call it the kiddy entrance.”

“The way the trespassing children got in. Rai, this is...”

“You heard the story so far. The Flemings aren’t picking up calls and they’re so quick to kick out guests that they were the last to learn their own kid was dead. We’ve got a crucial update for them, so we’re taking any means necessary to let them know.”

“And we hope this enormously wealthy and obsessively private family don’t respond with a lawsuit.”

“I’m pretty sure we can avoid that.” Rai steadied his boots into the snow. “The cops got spooked when they were threatened to their face, but I have it on good word the Flemings menaced hospital staff way longer, near-daily, and fact is, they never followed through. Lawsuits are tricky and public and I’m sure they don’t really want to drag themselves into one right now. As long as we emphasize that we’re there for their safety and don’t step on any toes, they’ll keep their heads on and we should be able to get something out of them. Sweet talk. That’s your kinda thing, right?”

“And you?”

“What about me?”

Sao ran his hand along his hair. “I suppose it’s just coincidence that we also get a quick look around the property as we try to make our way to the house.”

“Say we got lost trying to find the gate. It sounds better.” Rai inspected his phone. “Bad reception out here. Someone really could get lost. Don’t wander off.”

Sao smiled. “I’ve had nightmares about getting lost in the woods.”

“And you say you aren’t a city slicker.”

They trudged up the gentle incline of the hill, hearing nothing but their own breaths and icy footsteps. The forest seemed endless from where they had entered, but Sao felt they had only walked a few minutes before the tips of a gabled roof rose into view. “There it is. That was fast.”

“The house is at the back of the property, which is a long walk from the official front gate, but happens to be just up the hill from where the fence ends. So we really took something of a shortcut.” Rai turned and surveyed the hillside around them. “That means we should be looking out for… hey.”

Rai broke into an unexpectedly childlike gait and approached a monument standing at the center of some perfectly smooth rings in the snow. The rings ran parallel to each other in layers, looping like a contour map around smaller shapes protruding from the ground. The markings stretched out several meters in diameter. Rai stopped at the edge of the lines with a muted crunch. “A rock garden. There’s sand under here.” He scraped his boot on the lines. “I like them. They remind me of crop circles.”

Sao laughed. “No doubt a smoother landing pad than a cornfield would be.”

Rai smiled without looking at him. “They have these gardens all over Life Fountain resorts and spas.”

“What for?”

“Meditation. Decoration. Why would the Flemings have one?”

“Extraterrestrial visitors?” Sao shrugged, and followed the garden’s lines past to where a path of gravel had been laid - the intended walkpath. He took its invitation and continued until they reached another gathering of stones, this time rough, boulder-size pieces laid on top of each other. The base of the pile had a circle of smaller stones around a hollow in the ground.

“Looks like a fountain.”

Rai tilted his head, and hopped into the basin and looked over the top of the rock pile. “No pipes.”

“Maybe it isn’t finished.”

Further down the path was a miniature house with the same slate-covered roof and cream slides as the mansion that lay just beyond the trees. There was one shuttered window beside a wooden door. It was immaculately constructed but a single-storey, thin building that could not have had more than one small room.

“Guest house?” Rai asked tentatively.

“I haven’t seen a guest house this small.” Sao circled the tiny wooden block. “I think it’s a shed.”

“And I’ve never seen a shed that big. Their shovels have a fancier home than I do.” Rai gazed up at the mansion sitting at the top of the hill, before spotting something more interesting. “Well, there’s something I have seen before.”

Sao followed him up back to the gravel path and another rooftop came into view. A dome held up by thin ornate supports, and low circle of delicate fencing. At its base, a flattened bed of snow - a paved area. The ground was white as bone, but the redness of the image taken here came back to him immediately.

“This is where Chiro was found,” he breathed.

What small humor Rai had in him before was vaporized and he began trawling the area. He stomped his way around the flattened snow and stopped at the gazebo. Knocking the snow off nearby grass, Rai leaned down, so low his nose almost grazed the stairs. Turning left, then right, he frowned, and removed his gloves and made for the bushes at the edge of the paving.

Sao watched. He thought he heard a crackling from the gazebo, which grew louder as a soft breeze ran through the clearing. He hoped the roof wasn’t about the collapse. The slim pillars looked impossibly fragile in the cold.

Rai was pawing through a hedge. Snow dropped from the leaves, revealing tiny pink dots - unbloomed buds, in the dead of winter?

Above the hedge Sao saw the head and shoulders of a person, shrouded in fog.

Sao went still. “Rai,” he hissed, “someone’s watching.”

Rai snapped upright. He looked at Sao, then over the hedges, and without hesitation, headed straight for the shape beyond them.

The gazebo creaked and crackled again. Shivering, Sao followed Rai past the bushes to another small clearing. Rai was standing among several human-sized forms, but it was evident they weren’t actual people.

“Just statues.” Rai mused.

“They still gave me a fright.” Sao leaned in towards one of the figures. Its was hollow, formed out of coiled copper wire with only the roughest approximation of a face. Perhaps they weren’t even meant to resemble humans, but with the snow laid over, he could believe they were at least trying. Pale faces with cold, unraveling shells for skin, their eyes ever closed since they couldn’t move out of the light.

Absently, Sao brushed his glove over his own face.

“Wonder if they’re part of security.”

“Why would they?” Sao asked.

Rai tapped one of the statues on the shoulder, sending a chunk of its snowy skin spilling to the ground. “Like scarecrows, but for people. Pretty creepy.”

“Ah, so you like them too.”

Rai snickered. “Should I get one? Prop it in the window while I’m out, to scare the neighbors.”

“Please don’t.” Sao moved beside the smallest of the sculptures, which seemed to be modeled after a dog. “So, this matches your taste, does it. Maybe you’ll get through to the Flemings yet.”

“I doubt it. I don’t think the family comes out here very often.” They both turned toward the mansion. They were now just a few yards away from what looked like a garden porch and doorway.

It was hard not to stare. The square bulk of the Fleming mansion soared overhead, the shed little more than a matchbook in comparison. What struck Sao was how humble it was in its detailing. The siding was a pleasant taupe, perhaps once a harsh white but mellowed by years in snow, rain and sun. There were no pools or projectors or cars parked nearby, its surroundings were smoothed, refined, even gentle. Still, there was no denying the sheer scale of the place. Its considerable height was interspersed with rows of monumental white pillars, reaching from the stone-rimmed foundation to the slate roof five stories above. Between each set of pillars was a towering bay window. Sao could just imagine a child nestled in the outcropping with a book.

“Reminds me of home,” he said.

“Your folks had lived in something like this?” Rai asked. “I got the impression their place was a dump.”

Sao blinked and gave a lopsided smile. “I was actually thinking of my old school.”

“Oh.” Rai puffed a small cloud. “That fancy boarding school out in the hills.”

“That’s the one. A big house, like this, similar style down to the pillars. It was beautiful in the snow. Magical.” Sao bit his lip for mentioning magic in such a frivolous manner when only earlier that day, it was been proposed as weapon. “Natural, but untouchable, you know the feeling? I didn’t even recall that it snowed there until now; we weren’t allowed out much in the winter but there was one day our class walked to the edge of the forest… The city has a certain charm, but there’s some comfort to seeing snow on the hills that will never be trampled on, never cleared until it chose to melt, the kind that seems to go on forever.”

“Yeah. Most of what I got out of winter in the city was shoveling duty.”

Sao did not tell Rai he was jealous. He had never been made to shovel snow.

“But my mom comes from this Life Fountain village way up north. She took me once and I learned the meaning of endless. No spring, summer or fall up there. It’s like the world condensed and flattened out. Half of what you see is black sky, half is white ground. Turn a full circle and that’s all you saw, no matter the direction. It messes with your sense of distance. Someone might be walking out for only a few minutes, and you’d totally lose sight of them, like the end of the world was just a minute away.” Rai made a low snort. “Or the locals were just fast walkers. But you know that the average Life Fountain isn’t exactly speedy.”

“Hm.”

“Kinda miss the frogs though.”

“I’m still not convinced you’re serious about those.”

“It’s true. There were whole farms. At night they might be the only thing you see, these little white lights hopping around and poking through the ice. Pretty cute.” Rai smirked. “And when you cut off their mushrooms and grill them-”

“Who’s there?”

They both froze, statues among statues. It took a while to spot the speaker. Behind them, on the garden path, was a tall, anxious man in a brown wool coat.

“Carion Fleming?” Rai said.

“Yes… who are you people? This is private property.”

“Investigators with Central,” Rai said, pulling out his identifying badge and card. “We have some urgent information for you regarding the cases of Kuro and Chiro Fleming.”

“Yes but what why are you… in the garden?”

Sao stepped forward. “We must have taken a wrong turn trying to find to the gate. Would we be able to speak to you indoors?”

---

Carion unlocked the door and pushed it open, holding back the animal-head knocker with a gloved hand.

Warm air rushed over them. Sao was nearly knocked off his feet.

The inside of the house lived up to its fairytale demeanour. The heavy door opened and they were greeted by a sunlit foyer with a grand staircase and a thick burgundy rug embroidered golden with trees and a hunting party. Sao was faintly horrified when Rai stepped right onto the tapestry without a glance, boots streaming with melted snow.

But there was plenty more to take his mind off the puddle on the carpet. Every door, every couch and surface seemed imbued with an innate pride and purpose, an inviting sensation not often found in over-rich furnishing. The velvet cushions were in a perfect disarray, the floor was scuffed and the vents had the finest patina of rust from reliable use. The deep red sofa set looked like a dream. All was unified in a dark wood grain, warm and decadent and the perfect frame for its long arched windows. Looking outdoors on the cool, endless white, he was truly grateful to be inside.

The absurdly large black television and towering speakers distorted the spirit a bit, hanging where a fireplace might be. But Sao could overlook it. You couldn’t have a family without a television these days.

Sao dried himself by the heating vents near the door. Beside him, there was a carved shoe rack with legs shaped like acanthus leaves. Sao counted a large number of children’s shoes scattered over it. He recalled Rai saying there was no housestaff. Perhaps that was what made it more of a home than a manicured mansion.

He was tempted to say it was just as luxurious, or even moreso, than the regal countryside school in his memories. But it was missing something - chatter, the voices. But there were children in the house, weren’t there?

Carion whispered something.

“Sorry?” Sao asked.

“Shh!” Carion hissed, and repeated almost inaudibly, “Would you like some water? Please keep your voices down, my wife is still--”

Right on cue, a woman’s voice rang out: “Carion, what are you doing? You know I have a headache. Haven’t me and the kids been through enough for the week? Why do you never listen? I swear, you do this on purpose...” Footsteps. “You’re back already? Did you finish...?”

Art Fleming emerged from the stairwell, rust-colored hair in a spiked crown, her body wrapped in a taupe satin robe. For a moment, her expression was blank, but a quarter second later, she was scowling at them and her husband as if they had already brought another ten deaths to her doorstep.

“What did you do?” she growled. Sao had never witnessed such immediate, powerful judgment. Even Rai seemed unsure what to say.

“I found them nearby when I walked out to clean the garden.” Carion notably did not mention they were found on the property. “They’re with the police. Important news regarding the investigation. Kuro or your brother...”

“It pertains to both cases,” Rai finished, reaching for his badge.

“Don’t. Don’t you interrupt,” Art said. She turned back to Carion. “And did you finish cleaning up? I recall you saying you were going to do it nice and early, but it’s almost noon. Did you forget?”

“The snow,” Carion said. “There was a heavy weather signal this morning. It never hurts to be careful, remember.”

Art considered this and nodded. “But you should have known better than to let anyone in here. Or do you want another accident? If anything happens, you know I can’t take much more...” She let the words trail ominously.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t have brought them in, but they might have gotten lost, I think they walked all the way from down the street in the snow. Did you just wake up? I’ll heat some water.” He glanced at his guests, but no longer seemed interested in them. “You two, wait here.”

Sao and Rai remained standing on the rug in cautious silence. Rai was still reeling from Art’s retort. But Sao was more surprised to see Carion so calm. The man may have been afraid, but it did not stop him from taking his wife’s hand and continuing a low conversation in earnest on the way to the kitchen. As they passed around the corner Sao saw them draw close, like shy schoolchildren as soon as they thought nobody was looking.

It stirred a quiet admiration in him. It was easy to forget after years of police reports detailing couples in discontent, but marriage happened for a reason.

Rai was picking ice off his shoelaces.

“Perhaps you should do that off the carpet.”

Rai instead inspected the hunting scene tableau under his feet. “This carpet’s pretty freaky.”

“Bring it up with the Flemings if you must.”

“I kind of like it, though.” He rubbed his glove against his chin. “Do you think the office needs a carpet?”

“It’s up to you. You’ll have to settle for one a bit less lavish than this. Space seems limited at your place.”

“Doesn’t need to be this big, I just like the picture. Look at the fangs on that devil.”

Sao felt a nerve in his head pinch. “That’s probably a fox. What would a devil be doing among horses and flowers?” The twisted heraldic animal grinned back at him.

“Horses, huh? So that’s what those tall things are.” Rai crossed his arms. “Can’t even tell what’s going on. Still, make for a good conversation piece. Think this kind of thing is expensive?”

“Look where we are.” Sao gestured at the room around them. “I thought you were supposed to be good at appraising items. You had a lot to say of my apartment.”

“I’ve looked at so many listings I can usually make a guess when it comes to city rent or tech equipment. For example, I’m pretty sure your TV is worth more than theirs. Not counting their sound system which is probably worth more than everything in my office, plus the car. The rest of this old school stuff is a mystery. I don’t look at a lot of carpets and sofas, don’t even know where I’d find the price for a sofa like that. Didn’t want any of that stuff.”

“I notice you still don’t have a television.”

“Never found what I was looking for. The computer works fine for movies, and I’m not usually home much to enjoy it...”

“So what’s with the sudden interest in renovation?”

Without looking up, Rai asked “What’s with the attitude?”

Neither question was answered before Carion came back to the foyer and signaled that they could enter.