The Affair of the Entertained Strangers - Part 1

Across the room, the screen glowed scarlet in the dark. 5:15 it read. It was also singing. A nasty, carnivorous sound like that of a giant pissed-off cricket.

The synapses in my brain began to work, and I knew it was the alarm. Someone had a message for me. A very important message since only a handful of people knew the connection. And those I'd threatened with death unless it was bloody fucking hell important!

I grunted my password, the chirping stopped, and an emerald dragon floated across the screen.

A voice of indefinite gender or age said, "Mr. Gambole?" "Yes," I mumbled. "Mr. Jonathan Gambole?" "Yes!" "There is a message for you"

The emerald dragon vanished, and a man appeared.

He looked like the quintessential legal agent. Silvered hair; alabaster cheeks; a wide sensual mouth; eyes the color of wet pewter. And then the voice! A quicksilver voice that could conjure serpents or beseech angels.

"Mr. Gambole, I'm Argent Thorndyke. And I need your assistance."

"Argent Thorndyke! Holy shit!" I thought. This was a man that few knew by name, and even fewer knew by sight. He made the Howards Hughes of the world look like Wendy Whoppers at the titty bar.

"I've been engaged to seek your assistance in a missing person case. Seth Spalding has disappeared. As you may know from the screen, Mr. Spalding has only recently returned from an archeological trip to Crete. He was to dine with his sister last night but did not appear. She did some preliminary checking, then called me earlier this morning."

To be continued...

PAX!