My Clients Are Dead

I always thought having a power would be so much fun.

But honestly, the truth is, it's not really that fun.

You see, I'm Adrian Vale, a human detective by profession. But my clients?

Well... they aren't exactly human.

And to explain this properly, we have to go a little into the past.

When I was a kid, I always prayed to God to make me special. To give me some kind of special power so I could help other people.

And maybe I was God's last fav kid, because I actually got the power.

But guess what my power was?

.

to see SPIRITS!

.

And I'm being completely serious. The power to see ghosts.

Really, God?

This was the special power you gave me?

I mean, I had a few other things in mind.

But what could I do? The power was already mine, so I learned to live with it.

Eventually, I became a detective. It was something I genuinely wanted to do.

But having the ability to see spirits made my job a little... different.

Most detectives have human clients.

Most of my clients are dead people.

And you might be wondering, why do I keep helping them?

Because I'm such a great person, obviously.

.

.

.

Okay, that was a lie.

The truth is, they pay me really well.

So yeah@ Money, guys!

That's pretty much all there is to know about me.

Now, let's come back to the present.

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“Do you understand what you're saying? Like, are you asking me to find you a stripper's spirit?”

I looked at the spirit of the man sitting in front of me, blushing and nodding at my question like some kind of shy teenager.

“Mr, I'm a detective. I don't do that kind of thing,” I said, trying to keep myself calm.

“Come on. Plenty of spirits come to you. You must know at least one of them,” the man said.

I was losing my patience.

I put my hand on the table with a loud bang.

“I'm telling you for the last time. Get lost from here. I don't do those things!”

The spirit made a face and got up from the chair.

“Huh, Useless human.”

And with that, he left.

“Ugh! Perverted spirit! What does he think I am? Doesn't he remember that he's dead?!”

I mumbled to myself, still annoyed, when I heard a knock on my office door.

“Come in.”

I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible.

A woman's spirit entered the room.

She was calm. That kind of calm that doesn't mean something good.

“Let me make this clear. If you have any stupid requests, then please don't. I don't do those things.”

The woman didn't say anything.

She simply looked at me.

Then, without a word, she silently placed a picture on my desk.I picked up the picture.

It was black and white. There was a girl in the frame, maybe around 11 or 12 years old, smiling with the biggest smile.

I looked at the picture carefully, then looked at the woman standing in front of me.

I put the picture back down.

“So... what do you want?”

I waited for an answer.

She didn't say anything.

“So... is this you?” I asked, tapping the picture.

No response.

“Your sister? Or cousin?”

Still nothing.

“Umm... your daughter?”

This time, she nodded.

I leaned back in my chair.

“Okay, okay. So this is your daughter... and you want me to find her?”

Another small nod.

“Okay. Is she dead?”

The woman remained silent.

“Or alive?”

Still no response.

I stared at her.

She stared back at me.

“Great,” I muttered. “We're going to have a very long conversation.”

I tried a few more questions. I even tried sign language, but she either just nodded or gave me no response at all.

I took a deep breath.

“Listen, ma'am, I understand that you need my help to find your daughter, but you need to understand that I'm a detective, not a mind reader or a fortune teller. I need something to work with. And if you can't give me proper information to investigate, I can't help you.”

I pushed the pic towards her.

“You may leave.”

The woman looked at the picture, then at me.

Then she slid a bag towards me.

I looked at her, waiting for her to say something.

But nothing.

So I opened the bag.

My eyes literally popped out

Cash.

A lot of cash.

There was also a note sitting right on top of it.

I slowly looked back at the woman.

“Ma'am, why are you standing? Please, sit. Let's discuss this case properly.”

We sat together. I took out my notepad and pen, ready to write down whatever information I could get.

“Okay, so we are clear that you are looking for your daughter. Ma'am, I'm willing to help you, but you need to understand that I need you to talk to me. Please, tell me some details.”

The woman slightly turned her head towards the note.

“Do you want me to open it?”

A small nod.

I opened the note.

[My name is Sato Sakura. The picture I showed you is of my daughter, Hana. I died at the age of 28, 8 years ago. She was 11 at that time. As I was a single mother, my daughter was sent to an orphanage. I was with her until she was 15, but then her new family moved away. I don't know where. I want you to find her and give her the diary.]

I looked up.

“What diary?”

She pointed towards the bag.

I looked inside and found one hidden among the cash.

Then I continued reading.

[I don't know where she moved. I only have her old address.]

I slowly looked at the woman. For the first time, I felt a little sad for her.

I folded the note and placed it on the table.

“Ma'am, I will help you find your daughter, But it's going to take some time.”

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

I got to the address given in the note and started asking the neighbours, but I couldn't find much.

Apparently, the family had moved four years ago, and honestly, people can't remember everything from four years back, right?

Still, I kept trying. I showed the picture to a few more people.

“Have you seen this girl? She used to live here four years ago.”

An old man looked at me, clearly annoyed "Young man, are you crazy? I don't know how many people have moved from here or started living here. How the hell am I supposed to remember this girl from four years ago? She must look completely different now. And who knows if she's even alive?”

Before I could say anything, he closed the door in my face.

“The hell! I was asking you nicely! You should reply nicely!”

I shouted at the closed door before walking away.

“Ugh... this is going to be one of the hardest cases I've had so far.”

As I walked towards my car, I noticed an elderly woman sitting on a bench. She was looking at me, then moved her hanf.

I looked around. there was no one else there. Maybe she is asking me to come over? So I walked towards her.

“Young man, I saw you asking people questions and wandering around here and there. Are you looking for something... or someone?” the woman asked politely.

“Thanks for asking, ma'am. I'm looking for a girl who used to live here four years ago. But my luck isn't really on my side today because I can't find anything about her.”

The woman looked at me softly.

“Can you show me the picture? Maybe I can help.”

I hesitated.If she can't tell me anything, this would be a big waste of time. Then again, I had got nothing so far.

I showed her the picture.

The woman stared at it for a few moments.

“Oh... I think I know this girl.”

My eyes instantly lit up.

“Really, ma'am? You know her?”

I leaned a little closer.

“Her name is Hana Sato. Can you tell me where she moved? Where is her family now?”

The woman looked at me with a confused expression.

“Hana?”

She looked back at the picture.

“Who is she?”

I blinked.

“You just said you knew her.”

"Yes but"

She pointed at the picture.

“As far as I remember, her name was Emma.”

~°~°~°~°~~°~°~°~°~~°~°~°~°~°~°~~°

I was in the car, driving towards the orphanage.

After talking to the old lady, I had found out that I had been looking with the wrong name this whole time.

“Her name is Emma, not Hana. You were her mother. You should've known that,” I said, glancing at Sakura, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

“I didn't know this,” she said almost like a whisper.

I nearly slammed on the brakes.

“The hell? You were with her for 4 years and you didn't know her na—Wait—WHAT?! YOU CAN SPEAK?!”

I looked at her

She was staring out of the window.

Then finally turned towards me.

“You assumed I couldn't.”

“Oh, come on! You could speak this whole time, but you still just nodded at everything!”

“I never said I couldn't speak. You assumed that.”

“Oh-ho! Now that's my fault? Very well!”

Sakura turned back towards the window.

I focused on the road, annoyed.

We didn't speak for the rest of the drive.

The old woman had told me she didn't remember where Emma's family had moved. But if Emma had been adopted, she said, the orphanage should have her records.

So that was our next stop.

The orphanage.

And hopefully, this time, we'd finally get somewhere.

°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~~°~°~~°~~°~°~°

I walked out of the office, already feeling tired.

We hadn't found much. They confirmed that Hana had stayed there, but only for about a month. Then a man came and took her.

When I asked who he was, they refused to tell me. Apparently, they couldn't share personal information about the family.

So, basically, another dead end.

I was about to leave when Sakura, who had been quietly following me, suddenly pointed towards the other side of the hallway.

I looked where she was pointing.

A little girl was sitting alone near the window.

I walked over to her.

“Hey.”

The girl looked up at me.

“What are you doing here all alone?”

She shrugged.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

She nodded.

“That's a pretty boring answer.”

She looked at me for a second before smiling a little.

I sat down a few steps away from her.

“So, do you come here often?”

She nodded.

“Why?”

“Because I like it here.”

I looked around the old hallway.

“Really? This place?”

She nodded again.

“Okay... you have different taste.”

She giggled.

I took out the pic and showed it to her.

“By any chance, do you know this girl?”

The girl's face immediately lit up.

“Yeah! She was my friend when she was here.”

My eyes widened.

“Really?”

She nodded.

“But then a man came and took her away.”

“Do you know where she went? Or who that man was?”

She shook her head.

“No.”

I sighed.

“Of course.”

I was about to put the picture away when she suddenly spoke again.

“But I remember something.”

I looked at her.

“What?”

“Before she left, she told me, ‘I'm Emma Williams now.’”

I froze.

“Emma Williams?”

She nodded.

“Yeah. And after that, she came to visit me a few times.”

“She did?”

“Yeah”

I looked down at the picture in my hand.

Hana Sato.

No.

Emma Williams.

°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°

For the past 2-3 days, I kept searching for the Williams family.

I even asked Ms. Sakura.

“Do you know anything about this?” I asked her. “Anything at all?”

She looked away, completely ignoring me.

“Umm... excuse me? I asked you something. If you know anything, even a small thing, please tell me.”

She just shrugged.

“idk"

I stared at her.

So, so far, all I had was;

Hana was actually Emma.

Someone with the surname Williams had taken her being her legal guardian.

And a spirit who seriously didn't want to cooperate.

After a lot of digging, I finally found something.

How? I have my ways.

I returned to my office with the news.

“I have good news for you, Ms. Sakura. The man who took your daughter was Alexander Williams. Does that name feel familiar to you?”

Silence.

Then, almost like a whisper, she said,

“That's my boyfriend.”

I blinked.

“Uh... what did you say? Maybe I misheard you.”

“That's my boyfriend.”

She paused.

“Hana's real father.”

Silence.

Absolute silence.

I was so shocked that my brain stopped processing anything.

“Since when did you start joking?”

“I'm not joking.”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”

I stood up from my chair.

“I worked my ass off to find this man, and you already knew this Williams?! Why didn't you tell me if you knew?”

“He isn't the only Williams in this city. It could have been anyone.”

She looked at me calmly.

“And you never clearly asked.”

I stared at her in disbelief.

“Seriously? Now this is also my fault?”

Sakura just shrugged.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down.

“Whatever.”

I sat back down.

“So your daughter is with her biological father and living in another city. Case solved. You can go there and see her.”

I leaned in my chair.

Sakura looked at me.

“Your job isn't done.”

I frowned.

“What now?”

“You have to give her the diary.”

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