Riddle 10

When I arrived downstairs I heard the tell tale signs of boiling water. Upon further investigation I discover three cups of instant ramen noodles near said boiling water. Since Cheri was preparing the ramen, I plopped down beside Nazo at the, of course, black, breakfast table. Thirty seconds later we each had a hot steaming bowl of processed calories, my personal favorite, in front of us. We dug in with a vigor that would disgust most vultures. Good thing they were extra large cups, otherwise we would be out almost instantly. Broth spilled everywhere, except on ourselves of course, it wouldn't be right for us to appear unprofessional. After a bit Nazo suddenly looked up with a blank expression on his face.



"We're a detective agency right?"

Cheri and I looked at him, then each other, then back at him again. In unison we let out a drawn out
"Yeah..."

"So we solve cases right? Like murders and the such?"

"That is usually the whole point of a detective agency."

"Oh, in that case you guys would probably want to know if something was about to happen right?"

"Typically so." My voice was drowning with sarcasm, though apparently Nazo had gills. Nazo reached
and grabbed a few more noodles with his chopsticks. Right as he was about to eat them he said.

"Well then I guess I should tell you that in a few hours..."

He paused to put some noodles in his mouth and began slurping them up loudly. When he ran out of
noodles he looked around and said.

"What was I talking about again?"

Cheri stood up and started shaking him by his shoulders.

"What is going to happen in a few hours?"

"Oh yeah..."

Nazo looked up at me and made eye contact. For a few moments all I could look at was his cold, blank,
eyes.

"A man will murdered in exactly two and a half hours."

Cheri slowly slid back into her seat. I looked at her in concern and was surprised when I saw a
calculating look on her face.

"How do you know this." She demanded.

"I don't know, for some reason I just do." I decided to take my part in the question.

"Do you know where this murder will take place?"

Nazo frowned, a crease forming between his brows as he focused on the task at hand.

"I think... a store. A bakery to be precise, it has a white interior. I'm sorry that's all I got.
While he was talking a let out a small gasp as my blood turned into liquid nitrogen. I had been to that store before, in fact it was one of my favorites, the owner, Robin, was like a father to me. Cheri looked over to me questioningly and I mouthed the words 'Robin's Delicacies'. She nodded and pulled out her phone, presumably to find out where said store was. While she did so I asked her two questions that were troubling my mind.
"Probi, do you know who will be murdered?"
He adopted an apologetic face and shook his head. A sigh of disappointment escaped my lips and I begun to ask the only thing that could perhaps calm me down.
"Can he or she be saved?..."
Nazo looked away from a bit, clearly not intent on answering my question. My temper flared and I lost my in a outburst.
"Dammit Probi can they be saved?"
"No... They will die, no matter what."
I felt my heart plummet, and I started to massage my temples in hoping of dampening my temper. Long deep breaths accompanied with the sound of thumbs hitting dials on a phone was all that could be heard in kitchen for a few minutes. Cheri abruptly stood up and started gathering her things. I looked up at her for an explanation. She glanced over at me enough to see her sad eyes. She averted her gaze after I made eye contact and said,
"We may not be able to stop this murder from happening, but we can make sure the murderer will be held accountable for his actions..."
I cracked a small smile and stood up, behind me Nazo did the same. The last word to be said in that kitchen this morning was a rhetorical question that might be able to change the not-yet-written history.
"Then what are we waiting for?"