The woman in the photo had the figure and the face that makes a man write bad checks. The
garment she had wrapped about her look expensive, liked it was stolen from a Maharishi
traveling on the Silk Road. Her eyes were spellbinding and it took me a minute to gather myself
and turn my attention back to Brevis.
‘What’s this?’ I gestured to the envelopes on my desk. Truth be told I was more curious about
the photos than I was about the money. Already a bad way to start a case.
‘The money is half of what I intend to pay you for your services. And the girl, well that is why
I am here.’
‘Missing persons? Not that I don’t mind the work but why not go to the police? They have a lot
more feet on the ground.’
‘I was told that you were a man with integrity and that you could be trusted to be discreet. I
hope I was not led astray Mr. Stone. Besides this is not really a police matter.’
‘So exactly what kind of matter is it? And what kind of services,’ I flicked my fingers through
the cash, ‘is all of this scratch paying for?’
‘I want you to locate the girl, that’s all. She left unexpectedly and she has something of mine.’
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small round silver flask. Unscrewing the lid he took a
solid draught, neatly screwed back the cap and turned his attention to me once more.
‘Find the girl, collect what she took from you and deliver it; is that the ticket?’
‘No, just find the girl and let me know where she is. There will be nothing for you to retrieve.
The thing is you only have 3 days to find her.’
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THE CONE - ISSUE #15 - 2018