When Aphrodite and Lestrade walked into the beautiful corridor, Lestrade saw something and pulled back Aphrodite. "Aphrodite, who are they?" She pointed to a big portrait.

The painting showed a young couple that were standing together. The man, who looked stern, handsome, and formidable, was wearing a silver crown and black leather. He had dark brown hair that was slightly disheveled and a pale face. Standing very close beside him was a beautiful smiling woman with blond hair. She was wearing a golden wreath on her head and was wearing a simple white gown.

"Them? The king and queen of the underworld themselves. They..." Aphrodite stopped when she saw the very surprised look on Lestrade"s face. "What is that look for?"

"Well.... I thought Hades was supposed to be...." Lestrade trailed off.

"Old?" Aphrodite finished for her. Lestrade nodded slowly. "Well, we gods never grow old; we remain young and beautiful. Like me." she said proudly. Lestrade nodded and both of them continued to walk and search.

A few hours later...

"My legs are so tired!" Aphrodite wailed as she and Lestrade sat down on a bench of another corridor.

Lestrade nodded. "Mine, too. We had been looking for them everywhere and there is no sight of them. This palace is just so big."

Indeed it was! Hades’ palace had an indoor swimming pool and a tennis/badminton court, a big library, a ballroom, and a karaoke lounge (Lestrade wondered why a king and queen needed that lounge, and Aphrodite explained that there are some other gods beside the king and queen. And gods also need to relax; they are not as plain as the mortals think.), a study, a big dining room, a conservatory (for the Queen only.), a dungeon and even a billiard room!

"Maybe we did see Hades after all," Aphrodite said thoughtfully.

"Really? When? We have seen nobody except the guards and the servants."

"Well, Hades has a helmet of invisibility. He wears it sometimes. Darn!! If he wears that stupid helmet, we’ll never find him!" Aphrodite said.

"There must be somewhere we have not searched..." Lestrade trailed off.

"The bedrooms!" Aphrodite slapped her forehead. "How could I forget!" Despite the tiredness, she grabbed Lestrade’s hand excitedly and ran across the corridor.

***

Lestrade looked at the golden doors of a room and Aphrodite knocked on the door. "Hades, are you asleep?" she called out. No answer. Aphrodite knocked repeatedly; each knock was louder then the last. Lestrade counted the times that she knocked.

Finally, Lestrade heard a male voice yelled from inside: "All right! I’m awake! Stop knocking already!"

"Finally. How many times have I knocked on the door?" Aphrodite shook her hand in pain and asked Lestrade.

"8 times."

A few minutes later, a handsome man yanked the door open. Beside him was a woman who was wearing a white gown. Lestrade recognized them immediately; they were the ones who were in the portrait. The only thing that was different was that the man was not wearing a crown. "What do you want, Aphrodite?" the man demanded.

"Just a minute." Aphrodite turned to Lestrade. "This is Hades and Persephone, the rulers of this kingdom."

Lestrade bowed. "Good evening, Your Majesties."

Persephone smiled and responded, "Good evening. What’s your name?"

"Beth Lestrade."

"From New Scotland Yard, New London?" Persephone asked.

"How did you know?" Lestrade asked, surprised.

"I went traveling a lot with my husband and I’ve seen your uniform before."

"Well?" Hades asked Aphrodite.

"Well, my friend here wants to claim her good friend’s life back."

Hades groaned. "Not again! First Orpheus, now...." He took a deep breath and started again. "Come with me to the main hall." Hades turned to Persephone. "Darling, why don't you stay here and wait for me?"

Persephone shook her head. "No, I want to see how do you handle this."

"Fine." They walked towards the main hall.