I was sitting in my chair recollecting on my old cases, most of them being affairs. "Man, I've worked some boring cases." I said sitting up, my arms slouching by my sides. I looked across my desk, looking over the tools and paperwork on there, "Let's see here, magnifying glass, pen, knife, paperwork, Sherlock Holmes collection, I really need to finish that. Mannnn, I am bored as the dickens. I guess I'll get some reading done, I'm tired of paperwork." I picked up the Sherlock Holmes collection and flipped to my bookmarked page. "Let's see," I said running my bookmark across the top of the page, "The Valley of Fear, Page 484, McMurdo shrugged his shoulders. 'If we handle it right, they can never prove the killing.' I remember what happened, a man found dead, his face damaged far beyond the point of recognition." I subconsciously smirked remembering how the crime happened. I started to speak but I was interrupted by a knock at my door. "Come in!" I shouted as a woman walked in.

She was a taller woman, about 5'10, making her a hair shorter than me, she had blue eyes, and brown hair with a layer of red near the top. "Excuse me," She said in a soft voice, "is this the Valentine Private Eye?" "Yes ma'am." I answered standing up, having my book fall to the floor, "I'm Cole Valentine, what seems to be your problem?" As I asked as I shock her hand before we sat down. "Well,' She said "it's about my husband." I learned back in my chair, Great, I thought, another adultery case. "You see, my husband died a few weeks ago." as she said that I perked up, seeing that she was clutching a ring around her neck, "And almost a day after I found out about his death, a small bouquet of flowers have been arriving at my home and have continued to do so once or twice a week since then."

This sparked my curiosity, I learned forward in my chair, placing my fingertips together. "Was there anything with the bouquets?" I asked as the woman reached into her pocket. "Yes, these cards came attached." She laid the cards on my desk and I picked one of them up. "You are the most beautiful woman God's ever made, you should never look down upon yourself. -W That's an interesting card to say the least." I said examining the card. "Do they all say similar things?" "Yes," the woman said looking down, "this was the first card. The date on the back is the day after my husband died." As she said that she slide one card forward and I picked it up. "This says basically the same thing, except for this last sentence." I said examining the new card, "I'm sorry for your loss, I pray you find someone who will treat you the same way your husband did. Okay, this tells me the sender, whether it's a man or a woman, knows who your husband was and what happened to him." "I've asked all of his friends about it, none of them knew anything." She said as I rubbed my hands with excitement. "Finally, a case that will actually allow me to use deductive skills." I said as I shook her hand. "If you'll leave me a name and number I'll get right on this case! If you'll give me a list of your late husband's friends I can see if I can get a little more information from them."

After a few moments and gathering information from my client, she left and I went to the kitchen to make food since I was hungry. I started making an omelet when I heard my door open. "Hey Cole!" Came a familiar feminine voice as I left my kitchen and entered my office, "Hey Alyx," I said hugging my short houseguest, "what brings you to my humble abode?" Alux looked appalled at my statement. "Do I need a reason to see the man I've seen as an older brother since high school?" Alyx asked setting back. "No, but you also seem to have recently quit your job." I said as she rubbed the back of her neck, "How'd you know?" she asked, "Well," I started, "first, your pin that you wore on the job is missing, you also have splash marks on your abdomen as if you dumped water on either the head of someone who was sitting down or a computer of some sort. Which leaves me to presume that you emptied a container of water onto a coworker or their computer." "Yeah." Alyx said looking down, "my boss pissed me off and I dumped a cup of water on his lap. So I'm in the market for a job and I figured that you would have an opening." "Let's talk this over with dinner, I need food." I said walking into my kitchen.

"Alyx," I said setting two omelets on my makeshift table, "I have no idea about what you could do for me that wouldn't bore you half to death." "I'll do anything, I can do paper work if you want me to." Alyx said snacking the table with her hands, "I can be a secretary and tell people when they can see you." "Alyx, this is a three room apartment, two of which I use to live." I answered, "My office doubles as my living room. Besides I don't get many clients to begin with." "Is the paperwork still an option?" Alyx asked. "Maybe I could help you on cases from time to time." "I'll agree to the paperwork," I responded drinking my tea, "but I make no promises about helping me with cases." "Deal!" Alyx said hastily.

After our meal I went back to my desk and looked at the cards I was left with. "Drat, no company name." I said snacking the card on my desk, "this gives me no leads." "I've seen cards like this." Alyx said holding one of the cards, "My ex gave me one with a bouquet of flowers as an apology. It wasn't this sweet though." "What was the company?" I asked getting up. "I think was Ortiz Flora, but I'm not entirely sure." Alyx said scratching her chin, "Ortiz, why is that name familiar?" I asked myself as I noticed my hand was on the list of names I received from my client, "Let's see here, ah, Ortiz, it's on the list of friends from my client. Alyx, this may a lead, thank you." "Does that mean I was helpful with a case?" Alyx asked with a smile. "Yes, come on, we can check it out." I said opening a drawer on my desk and pulling out my Smith & Wesson m1911 pistol. "Alyx, you shot a pistol often?" I asked placing my gun in it's holster. "No, do I have to?" She asked as I reached into another drawer. "I'd prefer it if you did," I said pulling out a Colt Peacemaker .22 and a chest holster, "I never know who or what I'm going to run into and I want you to be safe." "Can I cover it up?" she asked putting on the holster, "I wouldn't because you don't have a concealed carry license." I answered putting on my duster, "I may be a former LEO but I doubt I can convince the others to let you carry one."

After a quick drive to the Ortiz Flora, Alyx and I walked in to talk to the owner. "Excuse me," I said walking up to the counter as Alyx walked around, "are you Nick Ortiz?" "I am." said a tall, clean shaved Hispanic man with black hair, "And who might you be?" "My name is Cole Valentine, I'm looking into a Mr. Elm, are you familiar with the name?" I said as Alyx walked up behind me. "Yeah, I'm a good friend of Mikey's." Mr. Ortiz answered, "I thought his death was investigated." "How did Mr. Elm die?" I asked. "He died during a hostage negotiation. I didn't think there was much to look into." "so he was a cop like you Cole." Alyx said, "What do you know about his wife?" I asked. "Those two have been sweethearts since high school," Nick answered with a smile, "I feel bad for her loss." "Are you aware that Mrs. Elm was receiving bouquets of flowers after her husband's death?" "No." Nick stuttered. I could see his eyes dancing in their sockets, trying to find a way around. "Were you aware of anyone who would send Mrs. Elm a bouquet of flowers?" "No sir." he answered as I started piecing the parts together. "What if I told you that the bouquets were ordered from your shop?" "I would've remembered if they came from my shop." "Would you happen to keep a ledure or some other form of purchase records?" I asked seeing him sweat bullets. "Yeah, I doubt the information will be useful." he said reaching under the table and pulling out a large book and setting it on the table. I opened the book and skimmed through the pages, looking for anything that repeated itself. I found that the books was listed by the date the flowers were delivered, followed by the date they were ordered, all situated behind the name of whoever bought the flowers. "Let's see, here's a name, Wildman, no last name, but he has made multiple purchases to an address," I said tapping on the name, "Do you know who this is or where this address leads?" "No I don't," Nick answered hastily, "I'm pretty sure the address was Mikey's." "Perfect, I now know who the culprit is." I said as Nick and Alyx were in shock

No one in the room was able to understand how I knew who the culprit was. "What makes you say that sir?" Nick asked as I cracked my knuckles. "The culprit is Mr. Elm." I said seeing Alyx look at me with confusion. "How?" Alyx asked, "He's dead." "Exactly." I answered showing her the ledure, "Look here, the date ordered, this Wildman, ordered all of the flowers on the same day, as if he knew he had to make them soon. And the date delivered is different for each order, this one, is the same as the day after Mr. Elm died. So this means, the buyer had to have know when Mr. Elm would die. There also is one final purchase, and it's today's date, meaning the sender planned to reveal himself with this final bouquet." "Holy cow," Nick said in shock as I placed down the ledure, "you hit the nail on the head, Mikey was the one who ordered them, all to his wife. The last order was a birthday present, the card was replaced with a code, name and an explanation he wouldn't say more than that. I was actually fixing to make the delivery when the two of you showed up." "Awwww," Alyx said, "that's sweet." "Don't let us stop you," I said pulling out my keys, "drive out that way and we'll follow you."

After we left the store, we drove for a few minutes and arriving at the Elm house. Alyx and I stepped out of my car as Nick stepped out with a large bouquet of flowers in front of him. "What are you waiting for," I said walking up behind him, "this is your job." Nick knocked on the door and a second later, Mrs. Elm opened the door, "Nick, why do you have flowers," She asked, "Wait, Valentine, you're here, does this mean Nick sent the flowers? He's a married man!" "No ma'am," I responded, "But the flower's came from your late husband, I know it seems strange, but I believe this final bouquet will answer your questions." "You guys come in," She said taking the flowers, "I'll see what happens." We then went inside and sat on a couch. "What does this card say," Mrs. Elm said as she removed the card, "Des, I know you'll find this cheesy, but I have a message for you hidden in my safe, the code is 10-3-15, -Your Wildman. I don't know what to say." "I'd say you read that note." Nick said as our hostess left for a moment. When she returned, she had tears in her eyes. "I'm guessing the card gave you the answers you were looking for." I said standing up, "Alyx, let's leave her to mourn." "But I wanted to see this through to the end," Alyx said grabbing my hand, "I thought you always stayed till the end of a case." "I have." I answered, as our hostess spoke up, "The letter used the Tim McGraw song, If You're Reading This to tell me how much he loved me." She said with tears in her eyes, "That boy loved his country music. How much do I owe you for this case?" "It's free ma'am," I answered stepping towards the door, "you gave me a chance to stretch my brain."

Later that night, after Alyx and I had finished writing the reports on this case, I noticed that Alyx had fallen asleep at my desk while typing up her report. "Alyx, wake up." I said rubbing her shoulder, not getting a response. Guess I'm taking the couch tonight. I thought picking up Alyx and placing her in my bed. I then went to my couch and went to bed, wondering about what cases I would get in the near future.