Mary: Detective

November 5th, 2008: Mrs. Howland, I know you don't have the strength at the moment to give another pep talk, so let me do it for you.

I owe you an apology.

I didn't become a Private Investigator because I felt it was my calling. I wasn't driven to solve crimes or any of the other exciting things most people imagine P.I.'s do. I was a lowly process server, just making extra cash as I went through school, and mainly went for my P.I. license because it would allow me to get some extra work and make my life a little easier by granting me just a touch more credibility.

The license didn't much matter in the end, least of all to any police officers I ran across who looked down on me for "playing" detective.

This is a long and roundabout way of saying that when Agent Pierce (God rest his soul) turned up, I rolled over. I let him take over my investigation, content to relax in comfort at a bed and breakfast while he told me to sit and stay. When Pierce-when a "real" detective took interest, I felt like I should fade into the background.

I realized something about myself over the last couple of weeks, and I swear I will not forget it: I am a detective, and a damn good one. It doesn't matter what credentials I have, or what path led me to become what I am, I am a detective. I swear to you, Mrs. Howland, I will find the magician and I will learn who he is for you-for all of us. I will never just sit and stay again.

New rule:

-We no longer look at phenomena that we don't understand and think that it is impossible. We take everything in, no matter how insane, and grant it instant credibility. There is no room anymore for cynicism. We've seen too much. Think outside the box, and hold nothing back, no matter how foolish you think it might make you look. We're not going to catch the Magician (We are capitalizing it from now on, as long as we don't know his real name) by using outdated modes of thought.

We are in this together to the end, following this rule, or it's over. I want everyone to agree, and to put it in writing now, including and especially you, Yoshida. You're either in or you're out. If you're in, you're going to Nagasaki today and getting as much information as you can on the missing boat Liberator. All I need to see is the word "agreed". If I don't see it, I'm going to have Mrs. Howland cut you off, and if she doesn't I'm done. If I do see that word, then we get a fresh start and everything that's been done and said up until now is water under the bridge.

There are resources at our disposal. We are all remarkable in our own ways. We are capable and motivated. Look at us: a detective, a multimillionaire descendant of a King, the most educated woman I have ever known and one of the world's most brilliant geniuses. All I know is that if I were on the other side, I would not want the four of us coming after me.

Josh and I are checking out and chartering a flight to the west coast. This at least gets us closer to the North Pacific Ocean and the Liberator, hopefully.