Chapter 3

Henry peered over at the receptionists desk as the three men began to walk around the precinct. He got a glimpse of the younger man and immediately recognized him, "Oh, that guy!" He faced Mei, "That's Nathan Stilton. He works under Dr. Thompson at Krylo Tech."

"How come you know about him but I don't? I mean, Dr. Thompson drops by here at least once a week to chat with Chief Wells."

"That's because he usually doesn't stop by here. So far, I've only seen Nathan with Dr. Thompson while I was off duty. This is the first time I've seen this man here at the precinct talking to the chief." Explained the man.

"Oh? Well what's he doing here all of a sudden?" Asked Mei.

Henry shrugged, "Beats me. Maybe there's something going down at their workplace and they need our help."

The three men approached Henry and Mei.

"Hey there, detectives!" Greeted the chief, "I'd like you two to meet Nathan Stilton." He motioned over to the younger man wearing denim.

Henry and Mei both looked up at him.

Henry smiled as he extended his hand to Nathan, "It's great to see you here, Dr. Stilton!"

Nathan shook his hand and smiled, "It's great to see you too, Detective Mason! But please just call me Nathan." He let go of the man's hand, "So this is the precinct that the legendary Detective Henry Mason works at, huh?"

"Oh, stop that!" Said Henry, sounding very flattered, "I'm no legend."

"No legend?" Asked the chief, "Detective, you're the man who single handedly solved the case of Judy Wallace's missing son while nobody else had any leads."

Henry shook his head, "No, no! I didn't solve that case on my own." He motioned to the woman, "Detective Li helped me a lot on it. If it wasn't for her, then Tommy Wallace would've still been stuck in that junkyard."

Nathan peered over at her.

"So you must be the famous psychic detective that I've heard about from Mason."

Mei shook her head, "I'm not really psychic."

"Oh?" Nathan raised an eyebrow, "Well then I guess you're just a really intelligent woman then. I mean, how else were you able to figure out where Ms. Wallace's son was with little to no evidence?"

"I guess I am fairly smart." Mei chuckled, not knowing how to respond to a major compliment like that.

"So what brings you here to our precinct?" Asked Henry, sounding very curious.

"Well you see, Detective," began Brady, "One of our competitors, Epzido Inc., sabotaged us and caused one of our products to fail miserably."

"What?" Asked Mei, clearly shocked, "That's terrible!"

"I know, right? The failure of this product has led to one of our consumers getting badly injured and he successfully sued Krylo Tech. Now, we think Epzido had something to do with it and are trying to sue them. I was hoping maybe one of you could help us with this."

"Can't Krylo Tech just hire some private investigators to dig up some evidence instead?" Asked Henry, "I mean, I've got my hands full with this current case. I can't take on another one at the moment."

"I understand. However, Epzido stated that they don't want us hiring a private investigator because that could lead to bias results and bribery."

"Oh, then it sounds like they really want you to lose this case." Stated Henry.

"Exactly! That's why we need your help, Detective."

"Once again, I can't until I close this current case. Sorry."

"It's alright, gentlemen!" Said Chief Wells, "Detective Mason might not be able to take this on but I'm pretty sure Detective Li can."

"What?" Asked Mei, seeming very surprised, "But why me?"

"Well do you have any open cases that you need to be working on?"

"No, I just closed one on Friday."

"Exactly! Now that you're available, you can work on their case."

"But I …" The woman looked over at Nathan as she was caught by his captivating gaze. She noticed that he tucked his lower lip in and attempted to discreetly bite it as he looked deep into her chocolate brown eyes. She didn't know why, but something about Nathan made her want to take this case. "Uh …" Mei looked over at the chief, "Sure! I'll get started on this case real soon."

"Perfect!" Said Chief Wells.

"Really? Thank you so much, Detective Li!" Said Brady, sounding very sincere.

"No problem." Mei smiled as she peered over at Nathan again. The man smirked softly at her.

The chief looked over at Brady, "What are you thinking about for lunch?"

"Probably Italian." Responded Brady, "Wanna come with?" The two men walked away and continued their conversation.

"What about pizza?"

"You always want that." Brady chuckled.

"So Nathan," began Mei, "Can you give me a list of people who might want to sabotage the company?"

Nathan nodded, "Sure! But I have to go get lunch and return to the lab right afterwards. We've been swamped with work for the past couple weeks now."

"Oh, well is there a way you can make time and stop by and give us some leads?" Asked Mei.

"Maybe you could join me on my break and I could tell you more about our case." Suggested Nathan, fondly.

"I can't. I usually eat at my desk."

"Well then how about after your shift ends, we can meet up for coffee and I can give you more information?"

"Sure!" Mei smiled, "I'm alright with that."

"Great! I'll stop by here at five." He took a step back.

"Ok, I'll see you then." Mei waved to him, "Bye!"

"Bye, Detective!" Nathan waved back at her before he walked away from her desk.

Once he was out of earshot, Henry peered over at the woman.

"He likes you." Henry smirked.

"What?" She faced him, "No, he doesn't."

"So you didn't notice the way he was looking at you earlier? The way he bit his lip while looking directly at you?"

Mei shrugged, "That could've been anything. Maybe he was just staring off into space while thinking about what he's gonna have for lunch. That doesn't mean he's interested in me."

"Mei …" Henry began slowly, "That man just asked you out on a date."

The woman shook her head, "No, he didn't. He just asked me if I wanted to grab some coffee with him so we can discuss-" She paused for a moment as she suddenly realized something, "Oh, my god! Henry, you're right. He *did* just ask me out." Mei looked down at her desk in shock as she placed her hands on the sides of her head, not knowing how to handle this information.