“So that’s the situation,” she said. “Will you take the case?”

No need to think about it. This was exactly the kind of case I’d been hoping for. I went through the motions of checking my schedule, though, and pretended to be shuffling a few things around. If you instantly agree to take a case, the client may suspect some ulterior motive.

“Luckily, I’m free until later this afternoon,” I said, shooting my watch a glance. It was eleven-thirty-five. “If you don’t mind, could you take me over to your building now? I’d like to see the last place you saw your husband.”

“I’d be happy to,” the woman said. She gave a small frown. “Does this mean you’re taking the case?”

“It does,” I replied.

“But we haven’t talked about the fee yet.”

“I don’t need any money.”

“I’m sorry?” she said, looking steadily at me.

“I don’t charge anything,” I explained, and smiled.

“But isn’t this your job?”

“No, it isn’t. This isn’t my profession. I’m just a volunteer, so I don’t get paid.”

“A volunteer?”

“Correct.”

“Still, you’ll need something for expenses.”

“No expenses needed. I work on a volunteer basis only, so I can’t accept payment of any kind.”

The woman still looked perplexed.

“Fortunately, I have another source of income that provides enough to live on,” I explained. “I’m not doing this for the money. I’m just very interested in locating people who’ve disappeared. Or, more precisely, people who’ve disappeared in a certain way. I won’t go into that—it’ll only complicate things. But I am pretty good at this sort of thing.”

“Tell me, is there some kind of religion or New Age thing behind all this?” she asked.

“Neither one. I have no connection with any religion or New Age group.”

The woman glanced down at her shoes, perhaps contemplating how—if things got really weird—she might have to use the stiletto heels against me.

“My husband always told me not to trust anything that’s free,” the woman said. “I know this is rude to say, but he insisted that there’s always a catch.”

“In most cases, I’d agree with him,” I said. “In our late-stage capitalist world, it’s hard to trust anything that’s free. Still, I hope you’ll trust me. You have to, if we’re going to get anywhere.”

# posted by Gerry Canavan @ 9:19 AM  |