The Supernatural Private Detective

Jasper and Rob lived in the same apartment building, directly opposite the alley where Cafe Two was located. Rob made his way up the stairs, clutching the case file and fiddling with the cafe keys, spinning them around his index finger. He passed his apartment door, just before Jasper's, and knocked on Jasper's door, intending to drop off the keys. However, there was no response. 'He must have fallen asleep,' Rob thought, still waiting briefly for Jasper to respond.

When Jasper didn't respond, Rob walked to his own door and unlocked it. As he entered, he was greeted by a sleeping Shaggy amidst a messy living room—pillows scattered everywhere, empty bags of chips, and discarded plates from Mama Tinuke's Mama Put restaurant. This was where Rob had been staying since he returned to Birchwood.

He navigated through the clutter, dodging trash on the floor, and gently petted Shaggy's head. "Sleep well, girl," he whispered.

The apartment consisted of one bedroom, a living room, a small kitchen, and one bathroom. Rob headed to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and downed it quickly. Returning to the living room, he surveyed the space before checking his watch.

"1 am, and I'm still awake. I never really do get enough sleep, do I?" he mused. He stretched wearily, then began cleaning up the living room, picking up wrappers and plates from every corner, humming a tune as he did. "No love; baby, don't hurt me; don't hurt me; no more." When he was done with cleaning, he staggered over to his couch and collapsed onto it, falling fast asleep like a koala in a tree.

The sun was still rising when Rob woke up from his slumber; he sat up on the couch, booting up for a few seconds, before he got up on his feet, taking off his overcoat and flying his shirt. 'Didn't even make it to my room.'

 He turned his head to find Shaggy still sleeping soundly on the floor by the couch. He reached to pet her again when she raised her head, startling Rob a bit. With her tongue out of her mouth, she hopped from her spot and pounced on Rob, licking his face with agitation.

"Good morning to you too, girl." He laughed as he petted her. He and this dog had been together since they were both kids; she was probably his oldest friend. 'Me and you against the world, Shaggy.' Rob thought to himself as he played with the dog's fur, petting her. This touching moment of a man and his dog was interrupted by the sound of Rob's stomach rumbling; both Rob and the Shaggy took a moment to look at his stomach.

"You're probably hungry too, right, Shaggy?" Rob chuckled, got up, and walked to his kitchen, where he opened a shelf and brought out some dog food. He came back to the living room and poured it generously into Shaggy's bowl. "Eat up, girl," he said as Shaggy energetically hurried over to her bowl, munching down on her meal.

After returning the dog food to its bowel, Rob picked up his phone and dialed Jim's number.

—Ring—Ring—Ring—Beep

"Morning, Jim."

"Damn it, Rob, it's 7 in the morning."

"Nice to hear your voice too; I went on a stakeout at the cemetery last night and ran into some thugs. Turns out they were members of Soul Whisper."

"That old cult?"

"Yeah, I found out SoulWhisper was still active, and I want to believe their return is linked to our gravedigger somehow, seeing as Vincent, their former leader, was one of the bodies that the gravedigger stole."

"Is that what you called to tell me?"

"No, not just that; I got an address; it crossed my mind to ask for a time, but do you want to check it out later today? If you're not busy with another case, that is."

"Sure, I'm sort of free; do you want me to pick you up?"

"You know I don't own a car."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll come with Joe to pick you up at 4 pm." Jim sighed.

"Can you tell me anything about SoulWhisper or Vincent that may not be in the case file?"

"Don't think I can help you with that. The file I gave you has all the information the police have on the matter; if I were you, I'd ask Uche."

"My uncle?"

"What other Uche do we know?"

Rob let out a sigh of exasperation.

"Look, Rob, you and your uncle may have had some disagreements in the past, but he's still your uncle. I think it's time you reconciled with him."

"Fine, I'll go visit him today." Rob muttered.

"Really? Convincing you was way easier than I thought."

"What's the worst that could happen?"

Jim smiled. "That's great; I don't like seeing my friends fight."

"Bruh."

"What?"

"You sound so cringe."

"Huh?" Jim's eyes narrowed. "Whatever, see you this evening." He reminded.

"Alright, see you later."

—Hangs Up—

After his phone call, he headed to Jasper's apartment to hand him his keys.

"Morning, Jasper."

"Yo," Jasper responded, sporting a robe and a pair of fluffy slippers. He took a sip from his mug, which contained a red viscous liquid, similar to wine.

"Here's your car key." Rob said, handing the keys to Jasper, who responded with a "Yeah." They both remained silent for a moment while Jasper continued to sip his beverage.

"Well, see you later then." Rob broke the silence.

"Yeah." Jasper responded as he closed his door shut.

By 9am, Jasper opened Cafe Two, preparing the pastries, the coffee seeds, and everything else he needed. While cleaning up the place, he stared at the vending machine for a few seconds before continuing to clean. After cleaning, he waited behind the counter for any customers. Not long after, Rob walked in with Shaggy tailing him from behind. "Hey, Jasper, I'm heading out."

"Where?"

"To my uncle's house."

"You're going to reconcile?"

"Yes, that, and he might be connected to the grave digger case somehow."

"Oh, okay, kid, enjoy your day."

"I told you I'm not a kid anymore; I'm 20 years old."

"Right, sorry, Mr. Adult."