"It's... I..."

why are you like this, house

and also Plaire

"Sorry, I need to send a text real quick."

You sit down, and text Kate with "I don't remember the upstairs"

You put your notepad away.

You sigh.

You look at Kate's mom. "You kind of mentioned the mayor last time I was here, right? Have you met her?" You know she has, but you learned that from the mayor and you don't want to ambush Ms. Halford with how weird this entire situation is. ...Not yet, anyway.

"Parsons? I have," she says.

"What'd you think?"

She takes a sip of her tea. "She's nice," Heather says, "but she's not who she pretends to be."

You take a sip of your tea. "Oh, yeah?" Play it cool. Nice and casual. "The joke around town is that she's secretly a vampire."

"Oh, no," Heather replies with a small laugh. "Certainly not that. I just mean that... that stern face she puts on, like she has everything under control." She takes another drink. "She's barely keeping it together."

Hmm.

Your phone gives a boop.

You take a drink of your tea. You check your texts.

Hmmm indeed. Big hmmm.