SouthSide 1

Smith Greeves was nervous.  He finally convinced someone to come south of the wall to investigate the disappearance . His sister was one of the victims of disappearances, so he was grateful but at the same time wary.  North city detectives tend to be very expensive and tend to judge the capabilities of payment on the surroundings. Greeves house as the community leaders was the nicest, a late twentieth century house with decent heating. It was a nice brick and mortar two story . In an age of constant innovation  it was by far not what a person from the inner city expected. He heard a knock. He shuffled to the entryway. He opened the brown wooden door to find a tall black man dressed in a trench coat and brim hat standing there in the rain.  

“Who are you ?” He said cautiously.

“You hired me “ , the man was just a couple inches taller than he was, and was looking down upon him. Smith shivered at the coldness in the man's eyes. Coldness that would seem to be in an old beggars except for the fact this man looked to be in his twenties.. The man had a neatly cut goatee. The most startling feature was deep cut scar running from across his right eye down his cheek under his chin. The eye in which the scar cross was slightly discoloured , the sign of him possessing a prosthetic eye.   Smith swallowed, “ Come in , its raining”

The detective stepped in and closed the door behind them . Then he stooped over to take his muddy boots off . 

Smith led him into the adjoining living room. They sat in the two chairs facing the street facing window . 

“ You're detective Williams right” He asked , the moment the words exited his mouth he knew how stupid they were.

“Yes” the man's voice was moderate , neither deep nor shrill just moderate.”I need the exact dates of the disappearances and need the contact information of the families affected.”

Smith was aghast at how upfront this PI was.

“Hold on , we have not discussed a price.” Smith said , flabbergasted.

“You do not need to worry about that , it has been attended to .”He said  then added , “ Even if it has not I would have charged you half of what you were willing to pay or not at all . ‘

Smith questioning, “Why?”

“A magi was investigating the disappearances and went darke , not before sending a message to me asking for aid, when I went to register an investigation the government sent a paycheck for finding the whereabouts of the Magi. The answer to that second question in your mind  as of to why I would be willing to not be paid , to be simple , is that I am sorry for you . Not many people across over there are aware of what is happening over here. They are in their own world . It does not help that the few newspaper sections that try to cover issues over here are downvoted and ultimately ignored . This country allows free speech , but the populace censors itself from the issues of their neighbors . You deserve better , even if the police just brushed you under the rug . .”

Smith’s apprehension was somewhat eased with this speech the detective gave. He felt like he could trust this man . At the same time he felt that this was a half truth . He felt that the whole truth was routed in some distant trauma that he faced. He saw it in how the detectives right hand was shaking. 

The detective stood  up , “ I will begin right at noon tomorrow, I will start with you first, then I will start with the Watanabe’s in house 303 , I assume that is alright.”

Smith nodded. “It's raining outside , do you have lodging for the night. “

“ I am staying in the bed and breakfast at the end of the street.”

The Kinders owned that establishment, Smith hardly talked with them , they tended to be very introverted which was weird about a couple who tended to a Bed and Breakfast.. 

Detective Williams  stooped to put on his shoes and then left.

The next day at 12:00 PM sharp Williams was back to ask questions about Smith’s sister

Rea.

He answered the questions robotically.

Q :What ethnicity? 

A:Human , caucasian 

Q:When was the last time you saw her?

A:Thursday May 8th of last year.

It went like this for thirty minutes, the detective wrote notes in a small leather notebook that he kept in his trench coat pocket. After the questions were asked the detective left to question the other families. Some of them complained about how direct he was in attaining the answers. He especially rubbed the Watanabe’s wrong. Apparently he had a stare off with Mr. Watanabe and made Ken surrender, a first.After questioning everyone the Detective left looking for more clues.

Smith was doubtful that the detective would be able to help but he had a feeling that the detective is the best shot he had to finding closure. After watching Williams leave he went over to the fireplace and picked up the picture he had of the family vacation he took his twelve year old sister on . It was to the formerly grand canyon in Section 47 of the Midwestern region. He hoped to see her again. He promised their parents that he would look out for her. He felt like a complete failure for not protecting her.