Ruby grinned as she pulled her convertible into the lakeside park, the wind ruffling through her short-cropped hair. She wasn't sure what had drawn her to the park this morning, but she'd learned through hard experiences that her 'hunches' were usually worth investigating. They'd helped her make detective faster than anyone could remember, after all.

She swung the door open and stepped out of the car, making sure her badge was in plain sight on her belt. Usually, that was all Ruby needed at this stage, but the familiar weight in her shoulder holster was there just in case she needed it. She'd needed it once when she didn't have it, and ever since Ruby hadn't gone anywhere without at least a small pistol.

The brunette girl adjusted her sunglasses as she scanned the park. Luckily, this one was mostly wide-open fields, giving her a clear view of most of the park. This early in the day, the only people around were a dog-walker being towed by pair big enough to saddle and ride, a few joggers, and some maintenance people getting an early start on the day. Her eyes rested for a moment on a curvy blonde trotting down a nearby path, but she forced her eyes onward. Not who she was looking for this morning.

There, under those trees by the duck pond near the middle of the park. That's who she needed to talk to. Ruby took a deep breath and double-checked again that she had everything. Yup, all present and accounted for. Time to go to work.

She peered around the towering oak, her eyes taking in the black-haired woman sitting on the bench, sobbing softly, arms holding her knees to her chest. "Hey, are you okay? It's alright, I'm here to help. My names Detective Rose, and I'm a police officer," Ruby said softly, pulling back her jacket a little to make sure the other woman could see her badge. Out of habit, she started mentally taking down the woman's particulars. Mid-twenties, average weight for her height, black hair with cat ears peeking out from under it.

The woman jumped, startled. "I-I don't know where I am or how I got here," she said, looking around in panic. "I just woke up here, and nobody's answering me when I talk to them. I tried leaving the park, but I just, I just found myself back here."

Ruby nodded, sitting down on the bench next to her. This part always sucked. "Just woke up, huh? What's your name?"

"Blake, Blake Belladonna."

A memory twinged in the corner of Ruby's mind, but she dismissed it. That could wait. "Okay, well, there's bad news and good news. Let's get the worst of it out of the way, I usually find that's best. There's no good way to put this, but you're dead."

"What?" Blake yelled. "How can I be dead? I'm sitting right here." She jumped to her feet, waving her arms around.

Ruby sighed and reached out, waving her hand through Blake's stomach. The other woman jumped back, then leaned forward, waving her arm through Ruby's. "But how-?"

"You're a ghost. Your spirit hasn't quite left yet, usually because you've got some unfinished business. Something you need to say to someone you left behind, that sort of thing." She sat back on the bench, giving the spectral woman time to adjust.

"Wait. If I'm a ghost, how is it that you can see me? Are you psychic or something? Isn't it against the law, using psychic powers to solve crimes?" Blake crossed her arms and turned away, the morning sun shining on the pond visible through her form.

"Yes and no. Someone can't be convicted purely based on psychic evidence, but we can use it to lead us to evidence that is admissible in court. And we can call in another psychic that can talk to ghosts to help you give testimony if you're still around by then. Otherwise, it's considered uncorroborated evidence, just my word."

"'Still around by then?' What does that mean?" Blake turned around, glaring at Ruby, who shrugged.

"Sometimes a person in your condition moves on before we get to trial, sometimes even before we finish the investigation. That gets a little tricky sometimes." Ruby grinned. "You know what, you're taking this better than most people do. Usually, they start off screaming at me."

The other woman sat down on the bench next to Ruby with a sigh. "Occupational hazard. I've gotten used to shocking things." She turned to face the detective with a smirk. "Suppose that's true for you too."

"Kind of. I made detective pretty quick, mostly because once Homicide figured out what I could do, they were always hauling me off to crime scenes. They really liked having a psychic around who could see ghosts, knew police procedure, and wasn't likely to blow smoke up their ass. If I put it on paper, they know it's true. Now," Ruby pulled out her notebook, flipping it open, "let's open the book on you, shall we? Blake Belladonna, age…?"

"Twenty-five."

"Height, weight?"

Blake frowned. "What do you need those for?"

"You might be filed as a Jane Doe. Height and weight help identify you then."

"Five foot six, one-hundred-fifty-three pounds. I'm trying, I was trying to lose a little weight," Blake added, a hint of pink blooming on her cheeks as she looked away.

"You look fine to me. Occupation?"

"I was a reporter for the Vale Gazette."

Ruby sighed and pulled off her sunglasses and hung them on the front of her shirt, her silver eyes meeting Blake's amber orbs. "Stop. Don't think of yourself in the past tense. You're still here, you still matter. Maidens, you'd still matter to me even if you weren't sitting here talking to me. I'm a homicide detective, remember? It's my job to give voice to the voiceless, to find justice for those who have felt the ultimate injustice."

"Poetic words, Detective Rose. You might consider being a writer. But trust me, there are worse things you can do to someone than kill them. Believe me, I know," Blake's voice trailed off softly.

"Yeah, I've cleaned up some of that kind of things," Ruby said, wishing she could give Blake's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Now, on to some less basic things. What's the last thing you remember before waking up here?"

"I was laying on the couch in my apartment, curled up with a new book. Someone knocked at the door, and I went to answer it. It was a man, wearing a uniform for a courier service. He said, he said he had a package for me. I opened the door, and that's the last thing I remember. I was almost done with that book," Blake said wistfully. "Guess I'll never get to find out who the princess marries."

"Eh, I might be able to arrange that. Now, next thing: What's the last date you remember?"

"Huh?"

"Sometimes it takes a while for someone to come back."

"Oh. May, May fourth."

"Year?"

"2018."

Ruby smiled. "Good news, you've only lost a couple of months. It's mid-July." She asked more questions for half an hour or so before she glanced at her watch. "Alright, I've got to go."

"Okay. So, what next? I, uh, I've never been the subject of a homicide investigation before."

"Not many people can say they have," Ruby laughed. "Next is, I go look you up and see what I can find. I'll be back when I have news."

"What am I supposed to do until then?" Blake waved her arm, taking in the park around them. "I can't seem to leave the park, and nobody but you can hear or see me."

"Yeah, that kinda sucks, but there's nothing I can do about it, unfortunately. One of my long-term cases just kinda sits in a plaza downtown and people-watches all day. I check on him every week or so."

"What's his story?"

"Dunno. He was gunned down in front of the office building where he worked in 1943. Can't even remember his own name at this point."

"Detective Rose." Captain Ozpin sat behind his desk, hands tented behind him as he glared across at Ruby. "I know you're new to being a detective, but there are certain things I expect. One of them is reporting on time for your shift and being present for the morning briefing."

"Sorry, sir. I found another one this morning, really new this time. She's only been gone since early May," Ruby answered, shifting from one foot to the other and trying not to squirm. Ozpin had only been in charge of for a month, and he always made her nervous.

Ozpin frowned. "Rose, I may have inherited you and your… special circumstances from my predecessor, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Regardless of the ghosts you're helping, you still have to handle your normal cases."

"Sir, I-"

His face softened, "However, I am not completely heartless. Leo from forensics was looking for you. Make sure you catch up with him today, but first, go ahead and look into your new find. Let's at least get some idea what we're dealing with."

Ruby nodded and left Ozpin's office, heading for her desk. Sure enough, there was a sticky note on her monitor from Leo, letting her know he had ballistics she needed to look at. She stretched her arms over her head, cracking her knuckles and logged into the police database.

Okay, first step. Ruby's fingers flew over the keys, typing in Blake's name. Active cases involving Blake Belladonna, two. One for property damage and assault, someone taking a tire iron to Blake and her car. The other-

"What the hell?!" Ruby yelled, making everyone in the squad room turn their heads. A couple of them started to stand, but before anyone could reach her desk or even ask her what was going on, Ruby was bolting for the door.

"I don't suppose anyone knows what that was about?" Captain Ozpin stood in the doorway to his office, ever-present coffee cup in his hand. He wandered over to Ruby's desk to see what she'd been looking at. "Oh, I see. Well, this is an interesting development." slurp

Ruby's foot was tapping as the elevator reached the third floor. She had a real love-hate relationship with hospitals. On the one hand, they saved lives, no doubt. Ruby'd been patched up a few times herself, including... On the other hand, she'd met more than a few of her 'special friends' here over the past few years.

Sometimes she thought about quitting the police force and just making money off her psychic gifts. Yeah, it paid better, but it wasn't steady money, and honestly she would have felt a little ghoulish. And this way, she got the satisfaction of stopping people who had done some pretty bad things.

The doors opened, and she had to fight to keep from running. Security guards tended to view running people carrying guns as Bad Things, and Ruby didn't want to take the time to sort out the hassle. Besides, if she was right, the person she was here to see wasn't going anywhere.

Now where was the room? 426, 427, aha! Room 428. "Here we go," Ruby said softly to herself, reaching to open the door

Her hand stopped just short of the knob. What the hell was she doing here? If she'd 'seen' Blake in the park earlier, there was no way… No helping it, one way or another, Ruby had to be sure. She took a deep breath and took the doorknob, opening the door and stepping quietly inside.

Inside, an array of monitors stood sentinel around the woman in the bed, the steady beep-beep-beep of the heart monitor gave testimony that her heart still beat, the soft whoosh-whoosh of the ventilator attested to the fact that she still drew breath. Which was impossible.

Because lying there was the dead woman she'd talked to in the park by the lake not two hours ago, Blake Belladonna.