Moondagger

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  Jill arrived at the office early the next morning, only to find the door already unlocked. She opened to hear music blasting out. She couldn't tell who the band was, but she already knew who was inside. "Deadguy! I swear to God," she yelled, storming into the office. She stopped. Valkadaidan was at her desk. Deadguy sitting behind him, looking over his shoulder. "What are you two doing," she tried to screamed over the music. They still didn't hear her. She walked over and pulled the plug to Deadguy's stereo out of the wall.

  "Hey boss," DG said, not taking his eyes off the computer. "Breakfast is in the break room."

  "You can't woo me with breakfast," she remarked as she walked into the break room. There, sitting on the table, was a box of a dozen donuts. Almost a dozen. A few were missing, but there was one with pink frosting. She grabbed the pink donut and took a bite, discovering the gooey strawberry goodness inside. "Why did it have to be strawberry," she muttered blissfully. She came back out to see the guys still hard at work.

  "Did it look like this," Valk asked.

  "Not quiet," DG replied. "It curved a little more to the right."

  "I'm still mad at you," she said, taking a bite of the donut.

  "Even after I brought you strawberry-filled donuts with pink icing," he asked.

  "That doesn't get you off the hook," she answered.

  "Then maybe this will." The printer behind Valk's desk began to hum and whirl as it printed out a few sheets of paper. He rolled the chair over, grabbed them, and wheeled back to hand them to her. "Try not to get strawberry gunk on it."

  She moved the donut away as she read over the papers. "This set of kanji says 'Moon' and 'Dagger'," she observed.

  "It's the mark of the Moondagger clan," Valkadaidan said. "It was a clan of thieves started during the feudal era of Japan.

  "Which feudal era," Jill asked.

  "The Kamakura Period, if I remember correctly. Been awhile since I last dealt with them."

  "How long's 'awhile'," Deadguy asked.

  Valk glared at him. 'Awhile,' he repeated.

  "So you've dealt with these thieves before," their boss asked, interrupting them.

  "Yeah, but they weren't murderers. Not then. Something's changed them."

  "Maybe there's more money in killing people than just taking their stuff," DG suggested.

  Valkadaidan shrugged. "Doesn't matter. They get in my way, they get cut down."

  "I've got an idea," DG announced. The others looked at him, concern on their faces. "Let's catch one of them. Find out exactly what's going on."

  "You have a plan to go with this wild idea," Jill questioned.

  Deadguy looked at her as if she had not been paying attention. "Have you even met me," he asked. "When have I ever planned anything?"

  "Which means the planning falls onto you," Valk answered, looking at Jill.

  She thought for a few moments. "I think I may have an idea," she stated finally. "and we'll use Deadguy's little stunt last night as a basis." She finished off the donut and smiled.