Case 43: Part 2
My alarm sounded at 8am snaping me from a dream in which I had spent endless hours trying to fix a model T using nothing but a tooth brush and the buttons from my suit. As I rubbed sleep from face I couldn't help the feeling that this case would feel about as frusterating. 30 minutes later I was drinking coffee, black, and reading the 'Herald' that the newsie had left at my door that morning. It took a few minutes but I found the story on the bottom of page 7.
"Police investigate dissapearances at City Water Facilities"
Nothing in it I didn't know already. I needed to get digging but Sergent Banner had me on a short leash: no interviews with out his say so. Really he just wanted me to check their papers: the mess of documents spread over several city buildings that summed up a life, at least as far as the government was concerned. I reached for a second cup of coffee but though better of it then phoned Charlotte to let her know I'd be out for a while before stopping in the office.
"Could you call Dick at archives and let him know I'm coming over? I don't have the number on me," or the patience to talk with him I didn't say.
"Sure thing," she said and I rang off.
After getting to the archives on Hall Street I chatted with Dick for a few minutes, which with him is like a cheese grater to the noggin. After 4 fruitless hours of dusting the books I had turned up squat. Dick was out at lunch so I helped myself to his phone and rang the office.
"Charlotte, did the sergent call for me?"
"No but a woman came by looking for you."
"What did she want?" I asked.
"She wouldn't say, I told her you'd be back in later." I detected a small amount of distaste in Charlotte's voice. Or was it jealousy?
After a hotdog and a coke I went back to my office.
Charlotte gave me a raised brow when I entered and told me the woman was in my office.
"D'you get her particulars?" She handed me a pad of paper with the information scribbled on it.
The dame was sitting and having a smoke. She wore a white blouse, grey skirt, and was altogether lovely to look at. I didn't like her from the start.
"What can I do for ya, Samantha?" I asked reading her name from the pad. I started packing tobbacco into my pipe while she explained that her room mate hadn't come home one night several days ago and after seeing the article in the paper she thought she should talk to someone: her roomate worked at the Central Water Facilty.
"What makes you think I can help you with that? I asked smoking quietly.
"Some sergent down at the station said to talk with you," she said.
Her and her roomate live in the Liberty Building on the park.
'Swanky place for a city employee' I thought to my self as the frail talked on. After she left I made several phone calls and burned through the rest of my leaf. As I shook the ash from my pipe I convinced Banner to let me talk with the water facily staff.
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