Capital City, 301 Hospital morgue.
Yusuf Zuck stood barefoot in front of an ice-cold corpse, wearing only a long robe.
This was Ariel Higgins. The bloodstains on her face had been wiped clean; her appearance had been carefully arranged by someone. She lay there quietly, like an eternal, unchanging pearl.
Yusuf Zuck had never thought Ariel Higgins would die, let alone in this way.
He gently knelt down, cradled her head in his arms, and began to sob deeply.
She said she liked to steal, but in fact, she did not. She just wanted to tell Yusuf Zuck that she would not interfere in his complex world of affection. She posed no threat to anyone, nor did she seek to influence anyone.
Their relationship was that of friends, lovers, and, even beyond lovers, soulmates deeply connected at the heart.
She was a woman of great wisdom and generosity of spirit.
In Yusuf Zuck's team, all the men held Ariel Higgins in the highest regard, giving her a thumbs-up.