When Dirk finally arrived to pick up Jakub, he found him wedged in-between some beer crates behind the counter, fast asleep. The Bar had mostly emptied out, and Stanni beamed a smile at him. They exchanged some banter, and Dirk paid his, surprisingly large tab.

The next morning, Jakub awoke on an old leather couch to the sound of boiling water and the smell of fresh coffee. Dirk was already up and about. Jakub had a solid hangover, and his clothes smelled like it. They sat down at Dirks kitchen table.

Dirk poured him a cup of coffee and lit himself a cigarette.

“C’mon, man, don’t make me pull the words outta your mouth.” Jakub said as he rested his head on his forearms. He made for a sorry sight, and he was quite aware of it.

“And a good morning to you.” Dirk smiled.

“You found something yesterday.” Jakub stated.

“I did.”

“Then tell the fuck what!”

Dirk was mildly surprised, but didn’t care much for Jakub’s impatience.

“Shut up and drink your coffee, I need to think. And you obviously aren’t able to have an intelligent conversation yet.”

Jakub was increasingly becoming annoyed. He stank, his head hurt, he was sitting at a stranger's kitchen table like they were best buddies, he had slept in, there was a murder he needed to solve, and all he could think about was his plants. He hated not having his early morning garden time, and hoped that he at least found some time to water them later today.

Dirk was thinking about what he needed to do. Obviously, Brandt wanted him to dig into Mindwave Technologies, and he tended to agree. He didn’t have any other leads yet, and even if it seemed a bit of a stretch, he kind of like the thought of pissing off some big bad tech company. But, realistically, he had nothing on them, they had legally acquired Ruth’s brain, and he needed more if he wanted a confrontation with them to be fruitful. He couldn’t just show up at their headquarters with empty hands. Some homework was due. Maybe he could make use of the kid for this. Give him something to do, something safe that doesn’t require him to show his face. As far as he knew, the only person that could implicate Jacub, right now, was the Don himself. The Don had given them a week, he wouldn’t break that promise, but Dirk wasn’t entirely confident in that statement. If the Don saw an opportunity to trade Jakub for profit, he would probably do it, if the profit was bigger than the loss of reputation he would suffer for selling out one of his own. It would be best not to give the Don an excuse by revealing Jakub. This was important. He would need to make sure that the kid understood the point, and kept his head down.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Jakub, understood the point well, even without Dirk telling him, and anticipated this development.

“Kid, I need you to lie low for a couple of days.” Dirk finally spoke.

“Nope.”

“What do you mean, ‘Nope’ are you a detective now? Do you know something I don’t? Or are you just plain stupid?”

“The fuck you calling me stupid for.”

“We don’t have enough information, so you are going to stay low and do exactly as I tell you.”

“ ‘We’ don’t have any information asshole, you are holding out on me, I’ve been waiting all night for your ass to show up, and now you’re giving me this lie low crap. I don’t have time for this. Just fucking tell me what's going on!”

“And then?”

“Then we go find the motherfucker, kick his fucking ass, go home, and I never have to see your stupid face again!”

“Look, I’m sorry Kid.”

“Shove your condescending bullshit where the sun don’t shine!”

“Alright … alright, Jakub. You are upset. Things are out of control, you have no idea what's going on … I get that. But you need to be smart now. I need you to be smart now.”

Jakub calmed himself a bit.

“Yesterday, when I went to talk to the Police, they offered me a deal. They think, someone murdered Ruth for her brain, and is trying to hide it behind a big wig corporate smoke screen.”

“Her brain? Seriously? Who wants the fucking brain of a hooker. Stupid motherfuckers.”

“Oy, watch it…”

“Oh yea sorry”

“Anyway, the way I see it, we are being played.”

“No shit Sherlock.”

Dirk sighed.

“Look …” “I’m looking, and all I see is your whiny ass wasting my time!”

“Shut the fuck up for a second and let me fucking explain!” Dirk had enough.

“What’s a ‘big wig corporate smoke screen’ to you. Start explaining that.”

“MindWave Technologies. The Police don’t have anything on them, or they maybe they do, I don’t know. Anyway, the Police say they can’t get to them, because they have friends in high places, and they want us to pave the way for them.”

“And?”

“We have nothing. We need to build a case first, before we confront these guys. If we don’t, we will just tragically end up as fish food. For now, our advantage is you. You said, you didn’t see the killer. They don’t know that. For all they know, you can identify the murderer.”

“How is that an advantage?”

“It means, we have bait.”

“I am bait?” Jakub smiled. “Brilliant! I’ll be the best fucking bait you have ever seen.”

“Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“I told you, we need more information first.”

“OK. Then let's get more information.”