Past an hour later the scene outside the apartment building hadn’t calmed down; it was just as chaotic as when gunshots had shattered the quietude of the neighbourhood. Police vehicles cordoned the street from two blocks down while officers struggled to keep the curious crowd at bay. An ambulance had pulled in front of the building to cart away the corpse. John Elwood had been revived sporting a protruding bump on his head and as well a deep cut on his arm due to a struggle he’d had with the deceased butler. He too rode in the ambulance but not before getting a hug from Constance and a handshake from Thad and thanking them for arriving at the nick of time. A night crew press van was there too, not wanting to be excluded from the fanfare. They too added further unrest to the crowd of onlookers turning the neighbourhood into a bedlam of noise and movement. Thaddeus was detailing the night’s event to several plai
Four days later.Thaddeus was in his office in the afternoon perusing leftover paperwork that had for days gathered on his desk when Sarah stuck her head through his door and made a hissing noise. He looked up at her and mouthed, ‘what?’“There’s a lady here to see you,” she said then opened the door further for his guest to enter.Thaddeus dropped the papers he had in his hand and stood up as Constance strolled into his office. She looked smart and breath-taking in a snappy high-neck cream blouse and jacket with a skirt to match, with a handbag slung over her shoulder. Her blonde hair flowed behind her shoulders; its lustre matched the warmth of her smile as she approached his desk with cat-like grace. Thaddeus swallowed and tried not to blush as he felt a sudden stirring in his pants as she came round his desk to kiss him on his cheek.“I finally get to see what your office looks
Dark grey sky. Repeated groans of thunder interspersed with brief flashes of lightning rumbled from within its underbelly. A spatter of rain fell upon the world. Constance Loftus stood five feet away in solemn silence staring at the open grave that was her husband’s final resting place. She was dressed in black with a shawl over her face; her earnest driver stood behind her holding an umbrella to her head. Rain drops splattered all around them. The wind kicked up and ruffled their clothes.The ceremony had come to a quick end. Most of the invitees had their umbrellas open and sauntering steadily towards their parked vehicles. Not Constance though. She remained where she stood staring at the grave site. Her eyes gave off no tears but in her heart, she cried. In her heart, she mourned and cried. There lay her husband Emmett G. Loftus in his coffin. Sixty-one years old, dead of a cardiac
Thaddeus Black lounged backwards in his chair with his hands wedged behind his head and thought, “Fucking arrogant ass!” at the impetuous-looking man who sat across his desk wearing a pin-striped grey suit that looked like it had been cut from glass. From the moment the man entered his office having shaken hands and offering him a seat to him then opening his mouth and making a remark about the filthiness of his office, Thad had summarised just about everything he could about him, neither of which sounded pleasant. The man rambled on and on while his eyes darted about making surreptitious glances about his small office if he noticed a monster lurking about. At one time he unfurled a handkerchief out of his pocket to shield his nose. Thad knew the bastard couldn't wait to get done with dispatching whatever message had brought him here to deliver so he could flee from this dump. He could almost read the man’s thoughts well
Thaddeus had enough time to tidy up his desk and open back his windows then went into a small room situated down the corridor leading to his office which served as a urinary and a bathroom to clean himself off. Sarah went with him to wash her face and fix her hair as well reapply make-up on her lips. She inquired if this was his typical mode of searching out someone to do secretarial work for him and Thaddeus replied yes, it was. She said she couldn't wait to begin actual work for him.Thaddeus told her he would make requirements to fix her with a separate desk and chair. For the time being, he took a while to explain the nature of his business before then handing her several of his recent files and told her to index and square them away and to report for real work the following morning at seven. He gave her spare keys to the office as well as his cell phone number should she want to reach him anytime. He took down hers as wel
The limousine was idly waiting to drive Thaddeus back to the city though he instructed the driver to take him someplace else instead. His actual destination was Main City precinct situated on Maynard Avenue, the city’s head department which oversaw all felonies, crimes and misdemeanours that poured in from surrounding counties. He would have preferred visiting the Sheriff whom Constance had talked about regarding her son’s disappearance but he surmised that his presence there might set off an alarm by cops wondering what his business there might be. Hundreds of questions would fly once cops got wind of how much he knew about the lonely rich widow in their county and her missing son. Since beginning his foray as a private eye, Thaddeus Black had come to realise that the second thing despised by cops beside criminals was snooping private detectives; sometimes it usually overlapped whom they tend to hate the most. She wanted discr
There wasn’t anyone following him when he arrived at his work building. He had made few stops along the way to carefully look and hadn’t picked out anyone suspicious. For all he knew it was another jolly hot afternoon with people going about their business, cars honking their horns, music blasting out of open doorways . . . almost all the music he heard sounded Caribbean. Brothers owning the street corners glanced his way with bleary eyes, some clutching and sipping malt liquor in brown paper bags while others flung dice on the kerb, nothing to do besides hustle their way through life.Thaddeus listened to the noise coming from his shoes as he walked down the kerb. His clothes felt damp with sweat; he sighed with relief as he took a turn into B Street and saw his building across from him.He went inside and almost immediately the air felt different. He took the elevator instead of the stairs and knocked on his out
Thad laid his hat on the seat next to him, got his notebook and pen out of his jacket and opened to a fresh page. He had his ‘strictly business’ face on to let the woman know he had more important things on his mind than wanting to gloss over her figure. He cleared his throat before he spoke.“When we talked on the phone, you mentioned something about being related to the missing kid’s mother?”Hilda nodded. She sucked on her cigarette and puffed out another cloud of smoke. “I’m surprised Constance never thought to mention it to you. Then again, I guess it’s ‘cos she never figured her boy would scuttle halfway across the city to see his Aunt.” She lifted an ashtray from the coffee table beside her. “You do know of her husband being deceased, right?”“Yes, I do. You’re saying Jonathan, was here with you in this apartmen
How time flies especially when you’re having (fucking) fun.The afternoon was giving way for early evening when Thaddeus left the high-rise building, having stopped to question Josh the doorman but their conversation went nowhere as Thad found out it had been his reliever who had seen the kid leave and not himself. Thaddeus couldn’t spare wanting to return upstairs to wrestle the facts from Hilda again. He pocketed his pen and notebook as he walked out and headed towards the parking garage for his car. His mind wandered back to the sex bout he’d enjoyed and he cursed himself for putting work ahead of pussy for once when he could have been enjoying more right now. Damn this fucking missing kid’s case! Some people ought to just stay missing or don’t even bother. He promised himself that once he got done with this case, providing he found the kid alive and not dead in some