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.The desk officer walked away.Ellis understood enough to have made out a few words of what the woman had said.Whether or not he comprehended anything, he’d been a cop long enough that he would have known the woman was distraught and frustrated.She sat adjacent to him, her cheeks flushed, her heavy bosom heaving from her fast breathing.Whatever makeup she had applied that morning was now working against her, smeared like clown paint from the tears and face-rubbing.“Everything okay?” he asked in English.She turned to him, frowning, but answering him in broken English.“No.My brother, he is not here.”“Not here?”She opened her hands, unable to find the English word.Her large green eyes welled with tears, childlike, displaying a ray of hope that perhaps this strange American with the deep lines in his face might be able to help in some way.“Missing?” Ellis offered.“Oui.I call the police two times today and they no help.” Her voice was deeper than most, but marked by high notes as she strained to get the words out.She mopped her face with a tissue, pointing behind the counter.“They no help, so I come here to get help myself.But I do not know what to do.” A fresh bout of sobbing began.Ellis placed his mug on the table between them, patting her hand.He was a public servant at heart, no matter where he was or what he was doing.“First, try to calm down.Take deep breaths…there you go.Your being upset won’t help your brother, okay? More deep breaths.Ah-ha, that’s good.” When she seemed to regain her composure, he took his hand off of hers.“How long has he been missing?”“This is what the police ask.I tell them he is just today gone and they say no worry.But this is not Michel.He speaks everything to me.” Talking about it appeared to exasperate her.She tugged on the ends of her brown hair, agonizing on every word.“Why do you think something is wrong?”“He is gone, his shop not open! His shop, it is his life.He needs money, oui? He not close shop on day of work.Never.”“Does he have any employees?”“Oui, one man, and he no here either.”Ellis nodded, understanding why she might be upset.“What kind of shop?”“La librairie,” she said after stammering for the English word.She pointed to his Stephen King novel.“A book store,” Ellis said to himself, staring at the novel as his mind went elsewhere.Slowly, like when he had been a boy and seen the garage door being reeled up on the Meridian Fire Department, an old-fashioned siren started low and quiet, building, building, until it blared full force in his head.A book store…As an officer entered the room, Ellis patted the girl’s arm again and told her everything would be okay.The officer gave her a brief nod and ushered her into the back, leaving Ellis with his thoughts as he waited.His mind went back to what the American man had said, whispering forcefully in the hotel lobby: Hide the diaries under the back seat!Diaries.A bound and gagged desk clerk.A missing security tape.A man telling his accomplice to hide the diaries in the back seat.And now a book dealer has gone missing.Fluke? Perhaps.Enough to at least take a look-see? Definitely.Metz wasn’t large enough to write off those kinds of coincidences, especially when they occurred on the same night.From the same door the distraught lady had exited, Officer Lloren appeared.He didn’t invite Ellis into the offices, staring at him with an indifferent gaze and speaking to him with the same warmth that he might welcome a panhandler.“Monsieur Ellis.”Ellis wished he had just gone on back to the hotel and drawn the hot bath.“Yessir, just wanted to drop by and see if you learned anything else about last night?”A long blink as he sucked on his teeth.Clearly patronizing.“The hotel’s proprietor, Monsieur Ellis, and the clerk, chose not to seek charges against anyone since nothing was stolen.A cursory look into the clerk’s past revealed that he has had some regrettable situations involving narcotics.So…” Lloren folded his arms in front of him and arched his eyebrows.“Ah,” Ellis hummed.“So you guys think he might have had some little deal going and would rather just let the chips fall where they may?”“Monsieur Ellis, we really don’t have time or resources to chase after some mystery man, who might be German or English, who is alleged to have performed a simple assault resulting in no injury, and who didn’t steal anything other than a three euro DAT tape.” He stepped closer.“On the registry, the alleged couple gave an address in Wieseck, Germany that does not exist, nor do the names they provided.So from here, we simply advise our force of their description and move on.We have more pressing issues.”Ellis was about to speak when Lloren cut him off.“You leave tomorrow, oui?”“Yessir.”“Then I would advise you to go and enjoy our city [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.The desk officer walked away.Ellis understood enough to have made out a few words of what the woman had said.Whether or not he comprehended anything, he’d been a cop long enough that he would have known the woman was distraught and frustrated.She sat adjacent to him, her cheeks flushed, her heavy bosom heaving from her fast breathing.Whatever makeup she had applied that morning was now working against her, smeared like clown paint from the tears and face-rubbing.“Everything okay?” he asked in English.She turned to him, frowning, but answering him in broken English.“No.My brother, he is not here.”“Not here?”She opened her hands, unable to find the English word.Her large green eyes welled with tears, childlike, displaying a ray of hope that perhaps this strange American with the deep lines in his face might be able to help in some way.“Missing?” Ellis offered.“Oui.I call the police two times today and they no help.” Her voice was deeper than most, but marked by high notes as she strained to get the words out.She mopped her face with a tissue, pointing behind the counter.“They no help, so I come here to get help myself.But I do not know what to do.” A fresh bout of sobbing began.Ellis placed his mug on the table between them, patting her hand.He was a public servant at heart, no matter where he was or what he was doing.“First, try to calm down.Take deep breaths…there you go.Your being upset won’t help your brother, okay? More deep breaths.Ah-ha, that’s good.” When she seemed to regain her composure, he took his hand off of hers.“How long has he been missing?”“This is what the police ask.I tell them he is just today gone and they say no worry.But this is not Michel.He speaks everything to me.” Talking about it appeared to exasperate her.She tugged on the ends of her brown hair, agonizing on every word.“Why do you think something is wrong?”“He is gone, his shop not open! His shop, it is his life.He needs money, oui? He not close shop on day of work.Never.”“Does he have any employees?”“Oui, one man, and he no here either.”Ellis nodded, understanding why she might be upset.“What kind of shop?”“La librairie,” she said after stammering for the English word.She pointed to his Stephen King novel.“A book store,” Ellis said to himself, staring at the novel as his mind went elsewhere.Slowly, like when he had been a boy and seen the garage door being reeled up on the Meridian Fire Department, an old-fashioned siren started low and quiet, building, building, until it blared full force in his head.A book store…As an officer entered the room, Ellis patted the girl’s arm again and told her everything would be okay.The officer gave her a brief nod and ushered her into the back, leaving Ellis with his thoughts as he waited.His mind went back to what the American man had said, whispering forcefully in the hotel lobby: Hide the diaries under the back seat!Diaries.A bound and gagged desk clerk.A missing security tape.A man telling his accomplice to hide the diaries in the back seat.And now a book dealer has gone missing.Fluke? Perhaps.Enough to at least take a look-see? Definitely.Metz wasn’t large enough to write off those kinds of coincidences, especially when they occurred on the same night.From the same door the distraught lady had exited, Officer Lloren appeared.He didn’t invite Ellis into the offices, staring at him with an indifferent gaze and speaking to him with the same warmth that he might welcome a panhandler.“Monsieur Ellis.”Ellis wished he had just gone on back to the hotel and drawn the hot bath.“Yessir, just wanted to drop by and see if you learned anything else about last night?”A long blink as he sucked on his teeth.Clearly patronizing.“The hotel’s proprietor, Monsieur Ellis, and the clerk, chose not to seek charges against anyone since nothing was stolen.A cursory look into the clerk’s past revealed that he has had some regrettable situations involving narcotics.So…” Lloren folded his arms in front of him and arched his eyebrows.“Ah,” Ellis hummed.“So you guys think he might have had some little deal going and would rather just let the chips fall where they may?”“Monsieur Ellis, we really don’t have time or resources to chase after some mystery man, who might be German or English, who is alleged to have performed a simple assault resulting in no injury, and who didn’t steal anything other than a three euro DAT tape.” He stepped closer.“On the registry, the alleged couple gave an address in Wieseck, Germany that does not exist, nor do the names they provided.So from here, we simply advise our force of their description and move on.We have more pressing issues.”Ellis was about to speak when Lloren cut him off.“You leave tomorrow, oui?”“Yessir.”“Then I would advise you to go and enjoy our city [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]