My Journey in Writing, Ranting, and Woodworking

Henry couldn’t see the endgame.  It ate at him like a parasite.  This case, the only one he had been working for weeks, was gnawing at his soul.  He felt that the end was near, that the final pieces to the puzzle were about to be handed to him.  And then what?

Big Mike was recovering, but still in the hospital.  Luna and Sylvia had their fathers in the wind, and he knew they would stay there until Tommy and the DA were safely behind bars.  He was looking at his cards and he didn’t like the hand he was holding.  But he did have an ace in the hole, and he hoped that would be enough.

He got up from the kitchen table, and started to pace.  Tomorrow he will drive over and pick up Luna and go poke around ‘Stowe It Forever’ gifts.  He felt that every step needed to be clear in his mind.  He picked up the book from 2007, ‘Basic Box Making’ and flipped through the pages for the 10th time.  He wasn’t sure what would be the key would be, but it had to be in the book.  So he tried to understand everything he could about box making.

Henry thought to himself, “When this is over, I think I will make some of these boxes.”  Then he shook his head, he was getting distracted.  He had compiled a list of steps and was not thrilled that it was a list of one.  He was much more comfortable being able to see 3, 4 or 5 moves ahead.  But this wasn’t a game of chess, though he liked the metaphor, it was a deadly game, beging played with the lives of people he had gotten to know and care for.

Henry chastised himself for caring.  The 3rd rule of being a private detective, “Don’t get too close to the client.”   Rule one was to not negotiate on fees, and rule two had something to do with domestic abuse cases.  He couldn’t remember rule two very well, it wasn’t his own, but was passed down to him by his mentor.  He shook himself again, as rule four lept out and smacked him across the face, “Always stay focused.”

Rule four was killing him.  “Ok Henry, stop worrying about finding the rest of the code to decifer the journal.  It will be there, you will figure it out, no matter how difficult or subtle the clue might be.”  It wasn’t a rule, but Henry believed that self confidence was important.  Perhaps he would make it rule 2, since he never remembered it anyway? His internal voice continued, “Assumig we find the rest of the key, or some of it, what is the play?”

Rule four continued to take a beating as Henry started to nibble on one of the cookies Luna had left.  They were so yummy.  He was sure that there must be some sort of clause, for rule four, which allowed for a temporary loss of foucs in the event of an emergency and yummy snack.  The pacing continued.  The cookies continued to disappear along with the milk.  He couldn’t bring the future into focus, no matter how hard he tried.  All the thoughts were spinning like a bunch of lights at a carnival.

Outside the wind was up and starting to bang on the neighborhood.  It would have sounded forboding to Henry, but he couldn’t hear a thing.  His mind was lost in the case.  Three cookies and a glass of milk later and he had the book back in his hand.  What would he need to find, where would the next piece be hidden.  He imagined that there would be something in a box, but he wondered, if that was too simple.  Maybe there would be a bookshelf, perhaps made by Stowe, which would have the clue?  He stopped pacing and laid down on the couch.  He put his arm over his eyes and while he tried to follow rule four, drifted off to sleep.