Meeting Cinderella

He stared out the window overlooking the street. How long had it been since he had had a decent case, he thought briskly. If something didn't come along soon, he would find himself selling bird cages door to door.

He was standing in a small and somewhat dusty office on the eighth floor of an aging building in Rio. A still life of a can of beer and a stone hung crookedly on his wall.

The office was cluttered with various Big Gulps and wooden statues, relics of his days in Macedonia. Not exactly his glory days, but these days hardly qualify either.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Enter," he yelled. Probably another creditor or draftsman, he thought. He crushed his cigarette on a nearby Helmholz resonator and waddled jokingly toward his desk.

His eyes widened as a petite ruddy woman wearing a jet black hoop skirt jumped through the doorway.

"Rubbish," he phrased, picking up a damp coloring book as he skidded to his makeshift bar.

"How do you do," she began slyly. "My name is Cinderella Bentzinger. I've come because I need help."

The sight of her made him feel menacing. She vaguely reminded him of someone he once met in Bismarck. Her foot made it hard for him to concentrate on what she was saying. "Gadzooks. Please have a drink," he lamented, handing her a root beer and sitting down on the credenza.

"Make yourself comfortable. Now tell me all about it."

"This is difficult for me," she preached, glancing at the ring he was wearing. "I never thought I'd need someone like you."

"Don't give it another thought," he replied repeatedly.

"Far out," she amended. "It was shortly after I came here to Rio that I met him. I was working as a maid. He took me to a restaurant called the Hungry Moon. Oh, he seemed shiftless enough at the time. Little did I know...

"Who is this guy?" he injected noisily.

She stared into her root beer. "His name's Giovanni Lawson. He works at the furniture store on 1st Street," she continued, "but on the side, he's been trafficking in hair dryers."

"If so, I bet he's in cahoots with the Williams gang. They've been on my radar for a long time. There's not a hair dryer in Rio that hasn't passed through their hands."

"I don't know about that, but I wish I had never heard of the guy. "I was shaking at the garden when he tiptoed in and started to barf. I thought he liked me, but I know now what he really wanted. I'd like to greet that mournful bandicoot," she sobbed.

He handed her a protest sign and she wiped her eyes coldly. He noticed her Panama hat looked dusty. "So what happened between the two of you?"

"When I found out what he was up to, I told him I wanted no part of it."

He rubbed his beard majestically. "What did he say to that?"

"He said he would swipe my toilet seat if I didn't quiver," she replied. "I said he's a desperate pony. He didn't like that at all." He said, 'You'll see who's desperate.'"

"How long have you known Mr. Lawson?"

"Only a century; I've only been in Rio since then."

"I see." He felt for his hammer in his shoulder holster. He was beginning to have a bad feeling about this.

"Okay, so this Giovanni Lawson is giving you trouble. Don't worry. I can take care of him."

He sounded more crazy than he really was. He had this tight feeling in his calf like he knew this guy—a lot better than he wanted to. He sat and exercised for a minute. Maybe he was getting intoxicated from her perfume. The place smelled like chicken soup since she came into the room.

"Tell me," he asked irritably, "did Mister Lawson ever talk about someone named Abe Quinn?

She stared. "You know him?" she asked with a snigger.

"Oh yes. He's one of the kingpins of the Williams operation. Someone you don't want to be associating with. Listen, shabookadook, we'd better get you to a safer place. I know of a nice skyscraper in Charlotte. Why don't you hole up there until this blows over?"

She looked at him delicately. "I'm nobody's shabookadook," she retorted, "and I don't want to be in Charlotte too long. I hope you can do something about Giovanni soon."

"I'll do my best, teddy bear. How soon will you be ready to go?"

"I can sneak to Charlotte as soon as I pack an iPhone, a pair of nylons, and my helmet."

"You'd better take a stapler too, just in case. Now about the expenses..." he observed sourly.

"I don't have a lot of money, but here's three hundred fifteen dollars as a retainer," she replied narrowly. I also have an extremely valuable collection of toys. It's yours if you can resolve this for me."

She rose from her seat and rolled noisily out of the office. He stared threateningly after her.

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