March 21, 3:30 p.m.

Franky hurried around tables, tending to all the customers. She almost jumped and screamed when Nate snuck up behind her. "Good God, why do you always do that?!"

"Sorry." Nate muttered, "Can you take a break? I've got some news."

Franky gasped, "You mean about the skull?" She quickly went over and whispered something to a fellow co-worker and returned to Nate. They both went to the upstairs loft and took a seat at a corner table. "So what'd you find out?"

"Belongs to a Bethany Kingston. Supposedly up and left for California ten years ago. Nobody'd seen her since. Apparently she was from around here." Nate muttered

"I've never heard that name." Franky shook her head, "Then again I wasn't around here ten years ago. Does she have any family up here?"

"One mother, Celia Kingston." Nate replied, "That's all we could dig up."

"I've never heard that name either." Franky muttered. Her face brightened, "Well on a lighter topic, Palmer and Ginny finally moved in to their new place."

Shivering lightly as she walked into the coffee house, Karly took off her coat, hanging it on the coat rack. She walked over to the register and asked where Nate had gone. They told her the loft, so she made her way over to the stairs.

"That's great." Nate muttered, looking down the stairs, "My sister's here again." He whispered to Franky and frowned when she noticed her giggling. He stood up, "Karly! Find someone else to run your business again?"

Franky rolled her eyes at Nate, "Hello Karly." She smiled.

"Hi Franky," Karly said, climbing the stairs steadily. "At least someone knows how to greet someone properly." Her eyebrow was raised and her hands were in her vest's pockets. "Yes, actually. Cassey said she'd do it and I said I'd pay her, so she's pretty happy about that. You remember Cassey, don't you?" Karly was now standing next to the table.

"Can't say I do." Nate stiffled a laugh, "So um, what brings you to Two Harbors." He cleared his throat, "Again."

"I'd heard rumors about something you found on Split Rock," Karly said, grabbing a chair from nearby and pulling it up to the table. She took a seat and leaned back. "Is it true?"

Nate quickly pointed a finger at Franky, "She found it!"

Karly didn't look to Franky. She continued watching Nate. "So it was human?" she asked, still sitting back in her chair.

"Yes. Belongs to Bethany Kingston." Nate replied, he turned to Franky, "Oh and the excavators found the rest of her along with the skull."

"Oh thats great." Franky muttered, "I'm gonna go get us something to drink." She walked down the stairs and behind the counter.

Karly leaned in, taking her hands from her pockets and folding them on the table. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking at her hands. "You seem a bit bent up over this whole thing." She was now looking at Nate, concerned.

"Karly I'm fine." Nate mumbled, "I was fine on the last case, I'll be fine on this one."

"You always say that, but if you were, we'd still be in Minneapolis enjoying the restaraunt and your work there," Karly said, sitting upright and pounding lightly on the table with her palms. She pushed off the table and leaned back, her hands finding her pockets again.

"Hey, don't blame this on me. If my partner wouldn't have gotten shot then we could still be there!" Nate yelled in a whisper

"Here we go!" Franky said, sitting down next to Nate, "Why do I have a bad feeling I came back at the wrong time?" She whispered to him

"Oh not at all." Nate muttered, "We were just discussing the um, the, the, the weather! Yes. You were saying its so much nicer in Minneapolis than it is up here? Isn't it great to live in Minneapolis and not here, Karly?"

"Then why don't you move back if it's so great, Nate?" Karly asked, standing up and moving towards the stairs. She stopped before taking a step down and placed a hand on the railing. "I suppose you didn't tell Franky why you moved?" she asked looking between Nate and Franky.

"What didn't you tell me?" Franky asked confused.

(March 21, 4:45 p.m.)
Karly only shook her head and with one hand on the railing, climbed down the stairs. She stopped at the counter to get a medium cup of hot chocolate to go, put on her coat, and left.

Franky watched through the upstairs window as Karly went to her car. She turned back to Nate, "Now what was she talking about? Was it something about the case?"

"It's nothing. You know Karly, always making a big deal of things." Nate replied, turning to leave, "I gotta run by the station. I'll see you later." He grabbed his coat and drove off to the station.

"Alright I suppose." Franky muttered as Nate was already out the door. She walked downstairs and tossed her apron to another worker, "Take over a bit, I have somewhere I need to go." And she ran out the door and headed for Ginny's house.

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