{Melistair}
Melistair's muscles ached as he packed up his tools. Nine hours of trying to focus on construction while wondering if his best friend was a would-be murderer had left him exhausted in ways that had nothing to do with physical labor.
"Psst! Dad!"
He nearly dropped his hammer at Melisa's voice from a nearby alley. His daughter's silver-dyed hair caught the evening light as she waved him over.
"Have you been waiting here all day?" he asked, glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention to the nim girl flagging down a construction worker from an alley. That would be... difficult to explain.
"Of course not!" Melisa grinned, reaching into a bag at her feet. "I've been very busy doing very important investigation things. Also, I got us these!"
She produced two street-vendor mystery meat pies, still steaming. The kind that probably contained more mystery than meat, but smelled amazing after a long day's work.
"Well... Thank you," Melistair took one.
