|
|
"You able to help me out? Urgently?" I asked, more seriously. "Sure, partner," Gumshoe responded, "What's going on?" "Don't have time to explain all now. But there's somebody I'd like you to track down. I think he's in the States, possibly even in New York, but I'm not sure." "Who's the guy?" "Name is Glen Morrison. A human." I added a short description. Gumshoe grunted in response. He had already committed it to memeory. "See what you can find out about this Glen Morrison," I went on, "It may help in tracking him down." "Sure thing," Gumshoe acknowledged, "And what do you want to do when I track him down?" "I need you to get a message to him. In person." "And the message is...?" "Tell him to urgently contact, um, Mayfield." I said the last word in the Goblin tongue, of course. There was a pause at the other end of the line. Gumshoe would have recognised it as a name, and therefore realised what kind of a being was to be contacted. "That's the message?" he said slowly, "Just, contact Mayfield?" He got the pronunciation of the name spot-on at the first attempt. His grasp of the language of the Lower Realms is coming on in leaps and bounds. "Yes, that's it," I confirmed, "Mention my name, too, if you find it helps. I've met him. I think he trusts me. It'll establish your bona fides, maybe." "You got it." "Let me know if you've got anything to report," I emphasised, adding, "Leave a message with my answering service." "Yeah, okay." I didn't really need to tell him that. It's how we always communicate on assignments like this. "Thanks, partner." I hung up and handed the phone back to Mayfield, who immediately tried Glen's number again, without success. It was the same after several more attempts. She dropped the phone in her lap and looked desperately distraught. I could understand her feelings. The only relative she had who she actually liked was murdered. The wise old servant who probably had a soft sport for her was dead, too. And now her boyfriend of many years was incommunicado. "Gumshoe's good," I said reassuringly, "He'll find out where Glen is, get him back in contact." She looked up at me with tears filming her eyes. "Are you sure?" she wailed.
|
Part 46