Another eyebrow arch. Aurum gaped at her. "You do realize Holmes never actually said 'Elementary, my dear Watson', right? And why would I say that."

But Cyrano laughed. "Quit being such a nerd." He said. "It doesn't matter. No, sweetie. We haven't solved it yet, but." He grinned at her. "We're getting closer."

In fact.

Cyrano smirked. "I think I know who it is."

”He didn’t?” Riley said, brows drawing together skeptically as she stared the lawyer down. She had been sure that she’d heard that somewhere reputable…but then again maybe not. She shrugged.

”Then what did he say?” she challenged, ”He had to have said something. Otherwise he wouldn’t be so famous.”

It was the truth. Sleuths always had catch phrases. It was just one of those things.

Cyrano commented that the thought he knew who the killer was and Riley frowned at him for a moment. Oh yeah. There was a dead guy in the desk chair. She took a glance at him and wrinkled her nose.

Cyrano had also called her sweety. That earned him an ‘in your dreams’ look she usually reserved for the slime that took simply pictures.

”So who is it then?” she said, exasperated. ”Isn’t he going to start to stink soon? Besides, I need another glass of ginger ale.”

>>”He had to have said something. Otherwise he wouldn’t be so famous.”

Cyrano saved him the trouble of answering that. By insulting him.

Why was he working with this jerk again?

Cyrano thought he knew who. Aurum didn't believe that.

"Waiter." The prosecutor stated. "Only one who could spike his drink. Obvious." And since she wasn't keeling over and she'd drank the ginger ale, it would have had to be someone who could control when and what the man drank.

There was a sound behind them. A cough. In the doorway, a pair of police men stood impatiently. Cyrano turned, smiling. "Hey. About time you guys got here. I just solved the crime."

They didn't look pleased.

”A waiter? Really?” Riley scoffed at that. Screw the cops. They’d taken their time getting there, and they could wait a few more minutes.

” I really doubt that any waiter would be stupid enough to poison someone at their own party. They’re the most obvious suspect.”

The whole bottle of Ginger Ale hadn’t been spiked, just the guy’s glass. Riley dismissed the waiter, it was far too obvious.

”Who you need to look for is the person took the glass from the waiter and served it to our stiff.”

Riley scoffed. Aurum joined her.

>>” I really doubt that any waiter would be stupid enough to poison someone at their own party. They’re the most obvious suspect.”

Butler did it. A cliche, if ever he'd heard one. But the police. They were going with it.

One officer shrugged. He hadn't been happy to see Cyrano. Hearing the lady spout advice, he liked even less.

"Pool the waiters. Suspects for now." He ordered, voice guttural. He jerked a hand to point as he directed. A glance towards Cyrano was spared. "You ordered nobody leave her, yes?"

"Mhmmm," Cyrano crossed his arms with a pleased nod.

"Good."

"We should probably go over that party list, then. Cross it with everyone who is here now. You two. Out. Why are you even in the room with the victim?" He glared at the man and the woman.

The woman didn't like it. Neither did the man. "Guess we're leaving, then..." Aurum's tone was ice.

The cops turned their backs on them, expecting that to be that.

Riley smirked slightly, pleased with the deduction she’d made. This whole detective game was child’s play. Why did they even need the Police? What were they good for besides bossing people around? Riley huffed as she remembered another cop. Yeah. The only thing they were good for was snark and bossiness.

Nobody was supposed to leave, but they were supposed to get out of the room, so Riley followed Aurum and sighed, looking for a wall to lean against while she waited for something else to happen. They’d all probably get questioned…this was going to be a long night.

To pass a little time, the brunette started to people-watch, making note of all the people she’d helped Aurum network with. It had been a hell of a productive night…and now a murder. The lawyer was probably pleased as punch. It was funny, Riley mused, how some people could be thrilled with the way a situation turned out and how some people just ended up with mascara running down their…

She stopped mid-thought and frowned, then started working the crowd over with her eyes again. She did it once, then a second time, then a third to be sure the woman hadn’t simply washed her face.

”Aurum.” she said, tugging on his arm to get him to come closer so she didn’t have to shout for the whole room to hear, ”The chick with the runny mascara is gone.”

As they left, he turned the details of the case over and over again in his head like a quarter. It didn't make sense. The waiter was just so cliche. Even if it wasn't kosher to dismiss any suspect before all the facts came in... didn't make sense.

Maybe reading too many murder mystery stories gives a guy a sixth sense about things. Maybe hearing that someone's missing from a crime scene was just dumb plain as day.

"Figures." The quarter stopped turning. Aurum closed his fist around it. He had the whole case in his hand. "Who wouldn't have heard him at the party if he hadn't been quieted down? And who drew our attention to the oh-so-silent body?" He was ticked. Face caught in that classic sneer of deduction.

A fist knocked on the wall behind him. Aurum swung a glance over his shoulder as a police officer popped his head out of the room behind 'em.

"Thought Cyrano said he'd told nobody to leave." Aurum stated simply. "Someone left."

The officer vanished back into the room. There was talking. Cyrano stormed out, face flushed a second later. Started to bug people around the room to find out who.

"We'll let the cops handle it from here," Aurum smirked at Riley, crossing his arms as he leaned against that wall. "You solved the case."

Riley grinned at Aurum. She didn’t smirk, she didn’t subtly smile. It was a true and unabashed grin. Time would tell if she had actually solved the case, but her version of events made a hell of a lot more sense than what the other lawyer had come up with in the room with the corpse.

Her smile faded a bit at that. A person actually was dead in that room, and the only person at the party who’d really seemed to care appeared to be the one who had killed him. It was a sad story.

It was a true story.

”Yeah.” Riley said, looking at the cops. ”Hopefully they don’t screw it up after we’ve gift wrapped the whole thing for them so nicely.”

Maybe mysteries were okay. Riley decided. She'd have to pick one up the next time she stumbled into the Full Circle. After all, she had to figure out what it was that Holmes said, if it wasn't "Elementary, my dear Watson."