I lean back in my chair, the old kind that creaks no matter how you sit on it, typing up the last of my police report. With a heavy sigh, I click 'send' and thus clear my plate until this afternoon. That is, until something is inevitably dropped into my lap. With the crime rate as high as it is, slow days are becoming increasingly rare.

"Finished already?" Officer Laurent peeks over his monitor from across the desk. The younger, aspiring officer looks at me with curious eyes, eager to inject some levity into the monotonous day. He is still rough around edges, but hard working and good-hearted. I'm sure he will make a great Captain someday, but only if he learns to power through the tedium. Surely then he'll be promoted from desk duty. He looks at me with an early-morning pep that has long left me. "It's only ten in the morning, sir?"

"I work fast, unlike some people." I poke at him, cracking a smile. I lean forward, causing the chair to creak again, louder this time. "Ugh." 

"I'll never understand why you work out here when you've got that big, fancy office. Not to mention that comfy chair." He gestures to the room with the glass window and drawn curtains across from us.

I give him a tired look, contemplating whether to explain myself or simply tell him to focus on his work. "Maybe I prefer being out in the open instead of that little cage, or maybe I prefer the company. Either way, you've got a report to finish. Get back to work, kid."

"Right! Yes, sir..." He sits up straight and gets back to earning his paycheck. I hear the clacking of his keyboard, followed by the distinctive sound of a pill bottle being popped. This time I take a peek over our monitors, catching a glimpse of the label as he downs two of them.

"Moxanen. That's expensive stuff." I say, knowing well that while expensive, it works as advertised, and that there are no alternatives in the market. At least, not for Lillis.

"Ah, well, thankfully I can afford it. There are many who can't, or worse, who ration." He frowns, downing them with a sip of coffee. "I try to take them before work, but I was running late today."

I become quiet, a sympathetic expression on my face as I look at him. I always had my suspicions he was ill, but I'd hoped to be wrong. I feel I should say something kind, but compassionate words have never been my strong suit. Maybe back when I was his age, I guess.

"Heads up, detective." A voice pipes up from behind. I turn to see Deputy Chief Faisal just before he drops a folder labeled 'CONFIDENTIAL' on my desk. Right on time, I think, hating always being right. "The Chief's got a big one for you today."

"You don't say?" I pick up the file, rising to stand in front of him. "Let's talk in my office."

The two of us head over there to speak in private, locking the door behind us before we utter a single word. I take a seat at my desk while he remains standing in front of it. The look on his face tells me this is serious, even before reading a single word.

"Last night, the CEO of Harmony Pharmaceuticals suffered a heart attack during his company's gala over in Brobdingnag." He tells me, getting straight to the point. I've always liked that about him. He doesn't care for pleasantries, either. It's why we get along. "The man was old, and while it seemed natural, this morning their forensics team confirmed the presence of a rare toxin in his blood. Normally, this would strictly be their jurisdiction, but there were Lilli shareholders present at the time. They aren't letting the witnesses leave until they're questioned, but their officers can't question them without one of our own present."

"So they're keeping them hostage?" I ask, hardly able to believe what I'm hearing.  "What the hell do they think they're doing?!"

He gestures for me to hold on until until he finishes, stopping me before I can get too angry. "It's a messy situation for everyone involved. Believe you me, I hate the Brobs as much as you do, but this could become an international incident. With things as tense as they are nowadays, it's the last thing we need." He sighs, pinching his nose in frustration. "It's a high profile case, and seeing as you are the best, the Chief has assigned this to you."

"Tell the Chief I decline. I'm not interested in flying to Brobdingnag. This sounds way above my pay grade." I scoff, folding my arms, daring him to say what I know he will say. 'Turn in your badge' is a line I've heard many times in my career, but here I am, with my badge still in my possession. 

"He knew you'd say that. For once, detective, you can't decline." He tells me sternly. "This comes from the President himself." With a single word, my reluctance disappears, replaced by sheer intrigue. It must be obvious to him, as he cracks a smile. "There it is. That's the look."

"Get on with it. What does the President want with me of all people?" I lean forward in my seat, resting my elbows on my best, fingers interlaced, eyes unblinking.

"The Lilliputian and Brobdingnagian governments have agreed to cooperate to resolve this situation. That's what they've told the public. The real reason you're needed is to investigate the true cause of this homicide. They are sending their best, and as such, have requested ours as well." He explains, hoping to flatter me into accepting. It doesn't work.

"Absolutely not. I'd die before I work with one of them!" I growl at him, standing up and slamming my hands on the desk. "How would it even work? Maybe if he was a Gulli, but a Brob-"

"She." The Deputy Chief corrects me.

"What?" I give him a puzzled look.

"Your partner for this investigation is a woman." He tells me, catching me totally off guard. "You can read more about her in that file, if you ever decide to open it up."

With much reluctance but even more curiosity, I open the file and begin reading the first page. Much of the details were already summarized by Faisal, but there is also information about the main suspects, witnesses, and the Brob detective. They neglected to include a picture, so I have nothing to go on. She's closed a ton of high-profile cases, some I've even heard of. I've closed countless cases too, and brought justice whenever I've been called upon.The more I read, the more my intrigue grows. This case, however, is unlike anything I've ever come across. Who the hell kills with Virelith, these days, let alone a Brob? As much as I hate the conditions, I want to take this on.

Deputy Chief Faisal remains standing quietly, waiting for me to say something. He already knows he's convinced me, and all that is left is for me to formally accept. Closing the file, I stand up an extend a hand. "Fine, I accept. I have no interest in the giants, but a mystery is a mystery."

He takes my hand and shakes it firmly. "We leave it to you. Pack your things, your flight is in two hours." 

The next two hours fly by. I run home and haphazardly pack a small suitcase, catch a cab to the airport, and meet up with my liaison before boarding a private jet. It's really fancy, like the kind billionaires use. The seats are spacious and extremely comfortable, too. We take off shortly after, and I decide to nap until we land. The flight to Brobdingnag isn't as long as I was expecting. Unlike most commercial aircraft, this one is very, very fast. The entire flight takes only two hours whereas any other aircraft would have taken ten or more. I've heard rumors of technology like this, but experiencing it firsthand is something else altogether. I can hardly believe it when they announce we will be arriving soon. 

Instead of landing at an airport, we instead fly directly to their precinct. I see it below us as we descend. It is...tremendously big! I struggle to find words to describe it. Several cities could fit in the space that one building occupies. Only when we approach do I spot the Lilli-scale airstrip and a single building, all on the rooftop. I would have noticed it sooner, if not for the two Brobs standing a few feet away, clearly waiting for us to arrive. I cannot see them all that well through my tiny window, but I can tell that they are massive. A feeling of disgust forms in the pit of my stomach, and I tear my eyes away in repulsion.

We touch down and disembark, coming to stand at the feet of the two giants. Unable to avoid the inevitable, I finally decide to look their way. They stand close, but not too close. I would estimate a hundred meters between the toes of their shoes and the landing strip. Looking forward, I can see nothing but their shoes, each being almost as long as the airstrip, and much taller. Craning my neck all the way back, I can see the rest of them. On the left is a man, and on the right, a woman. My gaze fixes on her, wondering if this is the person I am going to be working with. I can't make out the details due to the bright sun. It's then that I regret leaving my sunglasses at home.

"Detective, please put this on." My liaison says, handing me an earpiece. "I have already established the connection for you."

I nod and promptly stick it in my ear. This must be how they plan to bridge the communication problem. It must mean that these two Brobs are each wearing a pair as well. Clearing my throat, I decide to speak first.

"Right. So, you asked for me, and here I am. Detective Flint at your service. Now, take me to the Lillis you're keeping hostage and let's wrap this up so I can go home."

"Detective!" He whispers at me, covering his earpiece with a hand. "I was tasked with introducing you. Please, do not-"

"Ehem." The Brob man silences our liaison before getting on with his own introduction. "Welcome to Brobdingnag, Detective Flint. We hope your flight was-"

"This is a waste of time." The Brob woman interrupts him, folding her arms impatiently. "The speck makes a good point. Let's get on with it." She then takes a step forward, closing the distance between us and producing a powerful wind as her low-heeled boot touches down dangerously close to us. Her colossal form then crouches down, her upturned hand dropping low and extending a finger toward me. A red, manicured nail digs into the strip, tearing up some of the asphalt in the process. "Climb on."

Unfazed, I look at my liaison, who seems absolutely horrified, and then back at the huge finger in front of us. If she had ordered me to, I would have refused, but her tone sounded respectful. "Have my things brought to the hotel. I'll see you later." I tell my liaison, shaking his hand and climbing aboard the giantess' finger. I climb her nail up until I reach her finger and climb onto that next. Finding a safe spot near the middle, I brace myself as she raises it from the ground and rises to her full height. The entire movement is an experience for me, more intense than any roller-coaster I've been on. She takes little care to make it safe, which is plainly obvious to her liaison who lets out an anxious yelp. She turns, putting the sun behind her and walking into the building. With all the brightness gone and her face much closer now, I try to make out her details, but cannot. My eyes are not yet adjusted to the dim lighting of the stairway.

The woman walks, each step causing her finger to bounce a little. I retain my grip on her skin, afraid of falling to my doom. I don't dare look down, knowing that it must be a kilometers-long drop to the floor. Not long after, the woman takes me into what looks to be an office and shuts the door behind her. With the glass windows and comfy chair, it's a lot like mine, but magnitudes larger. She stands in front of her desk and lowers her finger to it. 

"Stand here." She tells me, in a tone similar to before. I stand up and begin the trek downward, only for her to grow impatient when I am near the tip of her nail, and tilt her finger. I slide down to the table below, barely avoiding injury as I land on its surface. Her hand withdraws, moving to rest on her hip, while the other is placed just above her chest. With my eyes finally adjusted, I can finally make out just who I am dealing with.

Firstly, this titan of a woman is tall, even by Brob standards. She must be over six feet tall by her standards. That is closer to ten or eleven kilometers on my scale. Her face shows signs of aging, but is otherwise youthful in appearance. She is likely in her late forties or early fifties, like myself. I see minimal makeup apart from the dark mascara on her long eyelashes. She has long, brown hair tied neatly in a bun, a few gray strands here and there. She wears a tailored, black blazer under which is a crisp, white blouse that adds a touch of elegance, with the top button left undone, giving a relaxed yet professional look. Her trousers are slim-cut and dark, practical and stylish enough to tell me she pays meticulous attention to detail. A leather belt cinches at her waist, to which her holster and firearm are attached, discreetly hidden between her and the blazer. Lastly, there are her stud earrings and thin necklace which her fingers appear occupied with while she sizes me up. 

"My name is Detective Claire. I should let you know before anything else that I was vehemently opposed to this partnership. I am this nation's best, and I exclusively work alone." She declares, an imperious expression painted on her face. "Though, it seems neither of us have a say in the matter. Like you, I would prefer to complete this assignment as soon as possible. That being said, I cannot work with a total stranger. You may be a speck of a man from a foreign land, but you are to be my partner. We will be working closely together, and I would much prefer to call you by name than by 'speck'."

The giantess eyes me carefully, expectantly, and despite her authoritative presence, I can tell she is genuinely curious. This is only speculation, but everything about her tone and body language tells me this is a first for her as well. She has never met a Lilli before. There are many things I could say. I could comment on the derogatory word she used not once, not twice, but thrice to describe me, or I could give her the same arrogant introduction in some immature attempt to establish superiority. I could also hurl all the insults in my vocabulary at this Brob, taking full advantage of the fact that she cannot harm me in retaliation. All of those ideas, while appealing, would be counterproductive. Instead, I decide to be cooperative, for the most part.

"Detective Claire, if you use that word one more time, any chance of a partnership goes out the window. We are both too old for this crap." I chastise her, which earns a visible reaction of discomfort from her. I grin a little, far more satisfied with that than I would have been with any of my previous ideas. "I am Detective Flint, also my nation's best, and to no surprise, someone who prefers to work alone. Know that this is just as frustrating for me as it is for you, but we will get nowhere with pointless disrespect, let alone such unoriginal ones." I say, which now causes her to scowl. Ignoring that, I continue: "I never fail to close a case, and from what I've heard, neither do you. Speaking objectively, this partnership makes a lot of sense. I don't doubt we will benefit from each other's experience."

There is a brief pause after I finish, and a total silence from her. I clearly caught her off-guard, which was intentional. What I don't expect is for her to quickly regain her composure and respond. It happens too quickly, almost unnaturally.

"Hmph. Now I see why they sent you. You're a stoic." She smirks, crouching down to see my better. Her face approaches, until her green eyes are all I can see. "Uhuh. I can't see much, but this does help..." Then, her head raises slightly, her lips replacing her eyes to take up my view. They curl before she blows out a puff of air at me. The powerful gust knocks me backward and across the desktop several feet. She then stands up again, a hand on her hip and another extending to place an object before me. Outwardly, it looks like a ball earring, but upon closer inspection, I realize that it is far more. "I sincerely apologize for calling you a speck. I was eager to get to know you, and how better than to see how you act when provoked? Most tend to disagree with my methods, but they get results. You may be very small to me, but they would not have sent you if you were not capable."

"You are...not like I expected. In more ways than one." I shake my head at her, amused by her ruse and irked at myself for falling for it. "What purpose did blowing on me serve? I am waiting for an apology."

"Then you will be waiting a while." She speaks through grit teeth, her gaze turning cold. "You should not have called me old." She glares at me for a moment, before melting back to her calm but serious demeanor. She uses a finger to nudge the earring closer to me, sparing me the jog over to it. It is a small act of consideration, but it is much appreciated. "Well, I think that is enough chatting for now. I assume you aren't familiar with this either?"

"I am not." I say, walking up to it and pulling the hatch open. "But it seems fairly straightforward? I would hope the Detectives tasked with solving a mystery can figure out a simple Lilli-carrier accessory." I step inside, sealing the hatch behind me. Moving to my seat, I turn on the stabilization and relax as the cabin remains upright in spite of the movement on the outside.

Detective Claire picks it up, raising it to her ear and latching it back where it belongs. I look out from my new vantage point, so high from the ground, and nod in approval. I can see all that she sees, all from a safe place. Yes, this will do nicely. 

"Are you secure, Detective?" She asks me, out of necessity rather than concern.

"Yes. Everything seems to be in order..." I answer, seeing all green lights on my dashboard.

"Let's get moving. I am sending you the forensic report now. Take a look while I walk to the Crime lab." I brace myself, expecting things to become unstable once she begins walking, but they don't. The cabin is not entirely still, but the giantess' movements don't bother me hardly at all. 

Opening up the file, I take a look at the toxicology report. This one has much more information than the one I received before. Virelith, an extremely rare poison derived from a plant native to Lilliputia, was found in trace amounts in his bloodstream. It can theoretically induce a heart attack, but usually causes more alarming symptoms such as asphyxia and hemoptysis. I flip to the deceased's most recent medical report from a week ago, confirming his health was decent. There is no history of heart disease in his family, and all things considered, I am doubtful age was a factor.

"This doesn't add up. Virelith isn't accessible to the Lilliputian public, let alone in Brobdingnag. The lethal dose for a Brob would require tens of liters of the stuff. Not to mention how easily it breaks down in warm temperatures." I think aloud, letting her in on my thought process. "Maybe they found the wild plant? No, that still wouldn't be enough to do him in."

"Could it have been synthetic?" Claire asks, turning a corner and continuing down the hall. "The pharmaceutical company possesses the means to reproduce chemical compounds."

"It's possible, but it would be ridiculously expensive. The killer would have needed both the means and the money to do that." I finish my thought as she enters the lab. She walks over to a younger woman dressed in a lab coat. Beside her is the body of the victim, totally exposed except for his crotch area for modesty's sake.

"Good afternoon, Detective. Erm, Detectives!" The woman greets and then quickly corrects herself. She leans in a little to try to see me inside of Claire's earring. "I've laid out the deceased's personal effects over here and the body over here." She gestures for us.

"Thank you, Katie. Have you found anything new since this morning?" Claire asks, walking to the table with his clothes. She reaches in and probes all the pockets of the expensive suit, finding nothing other than a business card and his cell phone. "Have you managed to go through this yet? I heard we received the expedited search warrant within a few hours."

"Yes, and there was nothing on it." Katie shrugs. "The man only used it as a phone. Literally not a single application or photo or video, imagine that!"

"Hmm." Claire paces around the table, examining it. She mumbles something I can't hear before deciding to leave. "Thank you. That will be all for now."

"Hold on, I didn't get a good look at anything. Go back." I implore her, but she keeps on walking.

"There's nothing more to find. I've done this hundreds of times. If there was anything, I would have noticed it." She explains, walking down the hall with no intention of turning back for me. I don't appreciate that. Though, I suppose this loss of agency was unavoidable. That doesn't make it any less frustrating, though. Noticing my silence, Claire speaks up. "I will take you back, but first, we need to interview the suspects. I have a feeling we'll learn far more from them than the body."

"What makes you so sure?" I roll my eyes.

"It's a hunch. Come now, Detective, you of all people should understand." She says as she enters the interview room. "Let's go catch a killer."