STORY #4

I've always wanted to be a dictective. I grew up with Magnum PI, Max Hammer, and Spencer for Hire. I wanted to be in the rough and tumble underworld and do detective work with my fists. I majored in pre-Law in college, so I could figure out how far I could push things and not get my butt sued. I even did a short intern program with the cops so I could see how they work, and confirmed for myself that I didn't want to do the boring paperwork that being a cop entailed. I was so proud that I was able to borrow investment money from my folks to get that gold-lettered door on my office that proclaimed me as private dick.

Too bad that I never realized how much paperwork was involved in being a detective! I had yet to have a single attractive dame walk into my joint and plead with huge eyes about how she was in trouble and needed my help. Instead, it was always older women or men who were already married and wanted me to tail their spouse and catch them in the act of breaking marital vows. Once even, I had an older gent try to hire me to seduce his younger bride, but she was so hideous I could not bring myself to do it. It's boring playing peeping Tom, and I've managed to get arrested twice. This is nothing like the movies, and frankly, I'm disappointed.

This case that I am working on today is a little different. It's a missing person case, so the first thing I do is go down to the County Clerk's office and try to find out birth-death-marriage records to see all the possible names the young woman in question could have had. Sometimes this opens the case immediately- the new name is listed in the phone book, and I can just offer the phone number to the client.

When I went to the office, what alarmed me was bumping into my Aunt Millie. She was clutching a notebook and some photocopies and looking as flustered as usual. She almost dropped her bundle when she recognized me. I managed to see one name- Anna Tarkington- before she pushed passed me, and bustled out of there. She didn't stop for questions, or even to respond to her name. But I really wanted to know why she had the name I was looking for on the top of her pile of papers. I would have to find that out before satisfying my client.  ¶ 9:15 AM