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Oct-28-2008 02:14


...

“He’s just gone!”

“What do you mean gone?”

“I mean gone, detective, disappeared without a trace.”

“Barry Grant? Gone?”

“…”

“And what do you expect out of me?”

“What should I expect out of you?”

Oct-30-2008 03:14


Clift smiled. “Inspector, your input has been invaluable!”

“You’re a good kid Mr. Garrett, be careful when investigating Barry Grant, he has made some serious enemies during his time as a Detective.”

Clift responded. “From what I hear, some really good friends too.”

Chief Inspector James Mulligan couldn’t help but smile. “Indeed.”

Oct-30-2008 14:17

***

Clift made his way out of the police station. He was pretty tired even though it was the beginning of a new day. The Barry Grant case had started to give him sleepless nights. It seemed that he was completely absorbed in the persona of Mr. Barry Grant.

It felt almost like retracing the steps of some important historical figure. Clift shook his head: he needed to focus on the case rather than Barry himself. Somehow he needed to keep the facts separate from the myth.

He needed information from Shanghai, badly, but he could not travel just yet. Not before he exhausted all of his New York leads. 'Perhaps I could get some emergency aid from Obelisk's Shanghai field office.' Clift thought merrily.

Mr. Garrett sent two telegrams that day. The first was sent to his colleague and mentor at Obelisk Inc., Mr. Jesse Hunter:

DEAR MR HUNTER STOP
NEED HELP FROM SHANGHAI STOP
ON BARRY GRANT CASE STOP
ANY INFORMATION STOP
WOULD BE HELPFUL STOP
CLIFT GARRETT

The second was sent to his newest friend, Ms. Makensie Brewer:

DEAR MAKENSIE STOP
THANKS FOR TIPS STOP
SPOKE TO CHIEF INSPECTOR STOP
MULLIGAN STOP
NEED TO FIND STOP
REBECCA FRANKS STOP
CLIFT GARRETT

Oct-30-2008 20:41

**Shanghai, Obelisk Field Office, 2320 hrs (local)**

-tap tap-

Barely audible above the rain outside, it could hardly be called a real knock. Still, Jesse Hunter recognized it for what it was. He had heard it many times before.

“In!” he barked, not looking up from his mountain of paperwork.

The office door cracked open just wide enough to admit a slender Chinese man. Jesse was already regretting having been so gruff, since he very much liked the fellow. He was the personal assistant and agency clerk whenever Obelisk had business in this part of the world. In the last few months he had proven himself to be efficient and very thorough in his work. More importantly, Jesse could actually pronounce his name.

“What is it, Wu?”

“This just come in for you. From New York.” He handed a telegram to Jesse and then stepped back against the doorjamb, hands clasp in front of him.

“Thank you, Wu.” Jesse skimmed over the message. “Does the name Barry Grant mean anything to you?”

“Oh yes - some. Mr. Grant worked a few very… public cases here. You can maybe still read of them in the archives. Mr. Grant even had his own agency. He worked with many other agencies besides, even in other cities.”

Jesse leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. “He should leave a wide trail then. Arrange for car here tomorrow morning, as soon as the city archives are open.” He glanced at the stacks of old case files and financial documents that had chewed away the last fourteen hours of his life. “I suppose I’ve got another full day of dangerous, thrilling paperwork ahead of me.”

“As you say so, Mr. Hunter. The car will be here.” Wu backed out of the office and silently pulled the door closed.

Not wanting to brave the rain even for the short walk to his apartment, Jesse Hunter abandoned the overloaded rolltop desk and crossed the tiny office. There he settled onto a battered leather sofa for a short night’s sleep before a long day’s work.

Oct-30-2008 20:57

**Shanghai, City Archives, the following morning**

Jesse glanced at the clock on the reading room wall. Clift Garrett usually worked late at Obelisk, but Jesse realized that he would have to hurry if he wanted to get a telegram to Clift while there was still a chance of catching the rookie still in the office.

"Well, it's not much to go on, but it's a start" Jesse thought. There was simply too much information here to process quickly. Better to give him SOMETHING to chew on right now. There would be time later to come back and dig for more detail.

"Why is it," Jesse mused as he left the archives for the telegram office, "that there's ALWAYS more time later for work? And so rarely more time NOW for anything but?"

Oct-31-2008 02:57


Osberta Rudisill, the Agency Clerk at Obelisk Inc., entered Clift’s Office in the basement of the Converted Bank at the Agency’s Headquarters. Osberta was not a very pleasant woman but she was a very hardworking one at that �"she stayed at her office until all detectives left the building.

Clift Garrett smiled as Osberta approached him. His smile was not returned as Mrs. Rudisill was often wary of rookies and new Agency members. She spoke dryly but professionally: “These telegrams came in for you Mr. Garrett.”

“Thank you for that Osberta," Clift kept smiling, then winked. "Is that a new haircut? It takes years off you.”

Mrs. Rudisill put the telegrams down on Clift's desk and left the room without entertaining his direct, and perhaps taunting, compliment.

Clift was too excited with his telegrams to think of other ways to win over the determined Osberta Rudisill. He immediately started reading the first one. It was from his good friend, Makensie Brewer:

DEAR MR GARRETT STOP
I WAS GLAD I COULD HELP STOP
ALSO GLAD THAT YOU'VE MADE PROGRESS STOP
ANYTHING MORE I CAN DO FOR YOU STOP
PLEASE DONT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME STOP
GOOD LUCK STOP
MAKENSIE BREWER STOP

Clift smiled and took the second telegram in hand. He was suddenly alert. It was from Mr. Jesse Hunter, Officer (Shanghai Response Unit), Obelisk Inc.

MR GARRETT STOP
BARRY GRANT AFFILIATED WITH STOP
THE CLOSERS AGENCY IN SHANGHAI STOP
IN SOME COMPLICATED BUSINESS STOP
AFFAIR TOOK PLACE IN THOROUGH BRED STOP
LOUNGE SHANGHAI RACE TRACK STOP
CONTACT R ANSTETT OR YOYOFOSHOW STOP
OR ANDREA X IF YOU CAN LOCATE THEM STOP
ALSO CONTACT OMEGA AGENCY IN NY STOP
J HUNSTER SHANGHAI RESPONSE UNIT STOP
OBELISK INC STOP

Nov-1-2008 04:17

**1017 hrs , New York**

Clift set out investigating the members of The Closers Agency further the next day. He went all around New York and no one was able to give him the information he needed. Apparently the Agency was not very active around New York and its members were very rarely seen by the locals.

Clift finally ended up at the Cacophony Conservatory. He wanted to speak with his contact, Angela Caban, the Music Teacher. Angela was an important contact of his and was always helpful in his investigations.

Through sound of ill-tuned instruments, which filled the air, Angela advised Clift not to approach R Anstett as this moment in time: He was a very busy man and she hasn’t seen him around town for a very long time. Clift inquired about the next person on his list, Mr. Yoyofoshow.

“Now, Yoyo I have seen not too long ago,” Angela recalled, “I’ve seen him once or twice in the last month. Maybe you should contact him. He always was a gentle and charming fellow -very smart as well.”

***

Mr. Garrett finished writing his letter to Yoyo. He read over it once more before put it in its envelope and sealed it:

“Dear Mr. Yoyofoshow,

I am currently investigating the past and disappearance of Mr. Barry Grant. Who, from my knowledge, is your past colleague at The Closers.

I have some leads on the case and your name has been given by a good friend as someone who could help.

I was hoping to travel to Shanghai and meet up with you in The Closers in order to gather any information you can provide as an X-colleague of Barry's.

Please advise me if you would be willing to help me with the case.

Yours,

Clift Garrett

Rookie - (New York Headquarters), Obelisk Inc.”

Nov-2-2008 03:42


Clift sat quietly reflecting in a dusty corner of the Cacophony Conservatory.

This was not the ideal place to think over a case, but its safety and security was a certainty. Even private detectives did not visit Angela Caban very often �"for some reason the woman was not liked widely. However, she liked Clift and allowed him his moments of silence and reflection when she had no lessons to teach or practice to catch up with.

Clift took out his pad and hesitated a moment before starting to write: ‘Women in Barry Grant’s Life’. Clift was not really comfortable with delving into people’s personal lives and analysing their private business. However, most cases required a degree of such crude behaviour. The Barry Grant case was definitely not going to be solved if he played it clean.

Clift wrote five names on the piece of paper he had before him:
“In order of intimacy/importance:

Mrs. Rebecca Franks
Miss Andrea X
Mrs. Breit Katherine Pfeiffer Adams
Miss Violet Parr
Miss Makensie Brewer
Miss Sahira Quadir ”

‘Five women,’ he thought, ‘five very complicated lives. All intricately woven in Barry Grant’s life and times.’ His list included a divorcee, four single women and only one happily married woman.

Barry Grant was always very popular with the ladies: for various reasons. Clift would have to investigate each of the women in his life separately in order to shed further light on his personal life and seemingly private disappearance.

Nov-2-2008 06:29

Ping moves silently into yoyo’s office at the Closers during the dead of night. The agency seemed like a battleship going to its decommissioning ceremony- a skeletal crew and a bleak future.
Ping dropped the letter in front of yoyo on his oak desk, yoyo’s desk lamp shines brightly across his face, the only source of light in the room. ‘What’s this?’ he said as he poured himself a shot of whisky.
Ping moved out of his office with out saying a word, this wasn’t the same senior officer he had met over 2 years ago.
Yoyo made himself another one before reading the message. He had become bored, too many people he knew had left he had seen everything there was to see the world just seemed to turn empty. Hell he was no hero either; he couldn’t remember the last time he had actually done a case. ‘Barry Grant’ he mused to himself ‘That son of a �"‘. Yoyo hadn’t hard that name in over a year; ‘fell right off the face of the planet’ he thought to himself as he has another; shot this time straight from the bottle. ‘There’s no way this kid’s gonna find Barry, if Barry wants to he’ll disappear the only thing he’ll ever find are the remnants of his past’. But yoyo needed something; he needed something to keep him alive and to keep coming to work instead of falling into disappearance like half of the gumshoes in town.

Yoyo picked up a pen and found some paper.

Mr. Garrett

You come here; I’ll see what I can do to help. Come prepared Shanghai is a tough city.

-yoyo

‘Ping send this out right away!’ he yelled. My sanity might depend on it he mumbled to himself as he took one more shot from the bottle.

Nov-3-2008 00:17


Clift was standing beside a huge ship in the New York Docks: He took in the view surrounding him. Great ocean liners from around the world slowly loaded and unloaded their human cargos. The bustling docks were the gateway to far off cities. One city in particular was of great interest to him: Shanghai.

Mr. Garrett could not wait until he reached this dazzling city of colour and culture. He also could not wait to further investigate the matter at hand: the character of Barry Grant and his not too distant past. As he was getting ready to board his ship, he turned to see a little boy running towards him shouting out: “Mr. Garrett! Mr. Garrett!” The boy reached him gasping for breath and handed him a telegram given to the boy by Mrs. Rudisill.

Clift tipped the boy and a smile flashed across his face as he read the telegram. It was from Yoyo: Yoyofoshow has agreed to help him with his investigations and it just so happens that he was on his way to him!

Clift was about to rejoice when he noticed yet another telegram in the envelope sealed by Mrs. Rudisill. He read attentively:

“DEAR MR GARRETT STOP
HOW ARE THINGS GOING IN YOUR INVESTIGATIONS? STOP
I THOUGHT OF SOMETHING STOP
THAT MIGHT BE OF GREAT STOP
HELP TO YOU STOP
THEN AGAIN, MAYBE NOT STOP
HOWEVER, NEVER HURTS TO STOP
CHECK THINGS OUT STOP
YOU MAY WANT TO STOP
TALK TO JASRAJ STOP
AT THE BAR IN DELHI STOP
WE ALL HUNG THERE ALOT STOP
MAYBE HE'S HEARD OR SEEN SOMETHING STOP
ABOUT HIM STOP
HOPE THIS TURNS UP SOMETHING STOP
FOR YOU STOP
TAKE CARE STOP
YOUR NEW FRIEND STOP
MAKENSIE BREWER”

Nov-3-2008 00:19


Clift was deep in thought.

Did he have enough funds to make yet another trip to Delhi? He suddenly felt very lonely. He wished that Makensie was with him in this journey that he had to make all alone.

He shook such thoughts out of his head. After all he was a private detective and he could not think of a lonelier profession. He knew what he signed himself up for: the Barry Grant case would stir a lot of emotion in many minds and hearts.

The sound of the last call suddenly caught his attention. As he boarded the ship he comforted himself with an old song he’d perform at one of his Broadway musical shows.

Clift Garrett was prepared for it all.