I wrote this because I wanted to take on a noir piece. It's not supposed to be serious.
I stared out from my office window at the city below me. My city. My grimy shit hole. Rough factory buildings were repurposed to form what resembled a functioning city. Oh it functioned alright. It functioned as a home to some of the worst, like me. Well, not me. I was a detective tasked with helping the worst deal with the worst of the worst. Unworsifying it.
My office was dark. I hadn't paid my electricity bill yet. In cases like these, I kept a small lantern on my desk so I could solve other cases, more important cases. Cases that could solve this case. Everything was a case. There was a knock on the door.
Gruffly, I said "Come in." And the door opened. In walked the most beautiful creature I had ever seen and a woman. She wore a floor length dress and high heels. "Ma'am." I said. "Sir," she said.
I squatted so I could be eye to eye with her guest, a dignified Schnauzer with a look of pure contempt. "Who is your companion?" I said. I reached out the back of my hand to allow for the dog to sniff me and it turned away. I stood back up.
"His name is Sebastian. But I'm not here to talk about dogs," she said. I ushered her to sit down on one of the solid wooden chairs across from my desk. I sat in my chair, carefully positioning a pillow behind my back. It was on my mind to upgrade my chair, but electricity first.
"What are you here to talk about Miss..."
"E. Just call me E." Sebastian sat down next to her, his face a full of dogged confidence. "I'm here to ask for your help."
"You've come to the right place. I'm in the business of helping people. For a fee." I leaned back and immediately regretted it and leaned forward on my desk.
"I can pay. I can pay you whatever you need." There was an edge to her voice. Fear. Or confusion. Or was it a double entendre? If I could pay my bills with double entendres, I would do it in a heartbeat because damn these broads brought them in spades.
"Cash. Half up front. A quarter for me to listen." I said. Maybe it was the long satin gloves or the fur around her neck, but she looked like she could spare a pretty penny. She slid me a a wad of cash.
"So you understand my methods are not quite the most legal." I took the money and placed it in my secret money safe.
"I can't go to the police with this. I need your help find who killed my husband."
"Good hook. Now more details to draw me in."
"He was shot outside of his shop. Drive by. Now I know that he was involved with some unsavory types. Gangs. The mob. Possibly the mafia. The yakuza has been growing lately. I chose not to meddle in his affairs. I'm a dancer, sir, and my husband kept me in the lavish lifestyle I'm used to. I need to know who killed him and what their motive was. I need to know if I'm next."
"What makes you think you would be next? Did they leave a note?"
She looked around sheepishly but only for a second. Her face went back to an expressionless mask. "Nothing so obvious. But I feel like I'm being followed."
"So you have a stalker too. A pretty thing like you dancing on the stage is bound to draw attention. It could be your garden variety creeper. There are creepy people in this world, miss. Maybe if you stopped dancing for the lechers and laid low for a bit-"
"Spare me the condescension, sir. I know what I do draws attention but I am a widow and it is now my livelihood. I've given you five months wages. I'm desperate. Please. Help."
I leaned back on the chair. This was the perfect case. A vixen, caught up in a vicious game. A game with guns. I'd dealt with many women like her, but this seemed different. I felt like she had another motive hiding behind her need to shake her stalker and find her husband's killer. But what was it?
"I will help you. But only if you are completely honest with me." I said. She was playing with her ring and flashed a look of nervousness. She swallowed, her face again going unreadable.
"I will tell you everything that I know."
She did. She knew a lot. And I knew that I had a new case.
