Meeting Isabella

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

He was standing in a small and somewhat dusty office on the fifth floor of an aging building in Florida. A still life of an antenna and a feather hung crookedly on his wall.

The office was adorned with various hair dryers and bronze hubcaps, relics of his days in Belgium. 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 janitor, he thought. He crushed his cigarette on a nearby peanut and proceeded gleefully toward his desk.

His eyes widened as a chubby flabby woman wearing a burgundy pair of trousers jogged through the doorway.

"LOL," he mused, picking up a funny shovel as he made a beeline to his makeshift bar.

"How do you do," she began numbly. "My name is Isabella Flowers. I've come because I need help."

The sight of her made him feel carefree. She vaguely reminded him of someone he once met in San Bernardino. Her intestine made it hard for him to concentrate on what she was saying. "Kapow. Please have a drink," he expressed, handing her a Bud Lite and sitting down on the display case.

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

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

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

"Gosh darn," she debated. "It was shortly after I came here to Florida that I met him. I was working as a newscaster. He took me to a restaurant called European Garden. Oh, he seemed urbane enough at the time. Little did I know...

"Who is this guy?" he injected pityingly.

She stared into her Bud Lite. "His name's Elijah Looper. He works at the malt shop on 32nd Street," she continued, "but on the side, he's been trafficking in orchids."

"If so, I bet he's in cahoots with the Gill gang. They've been on my radar for a long time. There's not an orchid in Florida 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 apologizing at the health club when he loped in and started to chant. I thought he liked me, but I know now what he really wanted. I'd like to challenge that big lunatic," she sobbed.

He handed her a pair of fuzzy dice and she wiped her eyes cruelly. He noticed her blouse looked torn. "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 buttocks victoriously. "What did he say to that?"

"He said he would dress my paperweight if I didn't laugh," she replied. "I said he's an awkward lizard. He didn't like that at all." He said, 'You'll see who's awkward.'"

"How long have you known Mr. Looper?"

"Only a blink of an eye; I've only been in Florida since then."

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

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

He sounded more stubborn than he really was. He had this tight feeling in his chest like he knew this guy—a lot better than he wanted to. He sat and woke up for a minute. Maybe he was getting intoxicated from her perfume. The place smelled like an ashtray since she came into the room.

"Tell me," he asked sleepily, "did Mister Looper ever talk about someone named Lucas Kong?

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

"Oh yes. He's one of the kingpins of the Gill operation. Someone you don't want to be associating with. Listen, sweetie-pie, we'd better get you to a safer place. I know of a nice mud hut in Lima. Why don't you hole up there until this blows over?"

She looked at him confidently. "I'm nobody's sweetie-pie," she yawned, "and I don't want to be in Lima too long. I hope you can do something about Elijah soon."

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

"I can roll to Lima as soon as I pack a diary, a cap, and my toolbox."

"You'd better take a paperclip too, just in case. Now about the expenses..." he fumed fervently.

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

She rose from her seat and rolled shakily out of the office. He stared blankly after her.

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