Seawater Suitcase

MOTE Week 45

This week on MOTE, I was sent a seed by Parrish Baker: The last time anyone saw her, she was carrying a suitcase full of seawater.

After a little thought, I went down the route of Moggie Noir.

—

I made it to the restaurant in plenty of time, this time. There I waited patiently in the street.

She did not disappoint. Her Ladyship Amethyst Felis, daughter of the local ruler of the cat shifters and the lady I was courting, extricated herself from a taxi dead on time. She was this evening wearing a red dress with a deep V neckline. The only visible jewellery was a gold necklace from which hung a pendant shaped in the form of a cat.

"Mr Panther," she said in greeting, offering her hand.

"Miss Felis," I replied, as I took her hand, brought it my lips and kissed it. "Shall we go inside?"

She acquiesced with a short nod, and so I led her in. The Maitre d' met us at the door.

"I have a private room booked for two, in the name of Panther."

He checked the book for a few seconds, more for form's sake than anything else. I'd taken Amethyst to dinner here once a week for a few weeks, so he must recognise me by now.

"Of course. If you would follow me Sir, Madam."

He led the way through the restaurant to one of the few private chambers. Within was a small round table with two chairs and two places all set out. He seated Amethyst while leaving me to seat myself, before handing us the menus and leaving us alone to decide on our orders.

Compared to an ordinary table for two, even in this restaurant, this was expensive. I'd booked one the first time I'd taken Amethyst out, primarily to pretend that I had the income to throw money away on such frivolities, but I'd discovered it had significant advantages.

The privacy meant that we could talk about things that normally couldn't be discussed in public. She could talk about the politics of the cat shifter court, and I could regale her with stories of such cases as passed through my office. Hence I continued to spend the extra money on the chamber, even though it swallowed up much of my weekly income.

The waiter soon came in to take our wine order. When he returned with the wine, we ordered our starters and main course.

We discussed the weather and other matters of little import until after the waiter had delivered our starters. Once he left the room and the door closed, Amethyst started to regale me with the latest twists and turns in the cat shifter court. It was a matter that had never interested me as I had grown up, and I had surprised myself by how fascinating I had found it. The resulting conversation was very enjoyable.

It wasn't until after the waiter had returned to clear away our empty starter plates and then bring our main course that Amethyst turned the tables.

"So, Leo, I noticed that you weren't running late today."

I smiled ruefully. I wondered privately how much longer she'd remember that one of my cases a fortnight back had run on much longer than I'd wanted, and I'd only just made it to the restaurant in time.

"I finished today's case mid-afternoon, so had plenty of time to prepare for tonight."

"What was your most interesting case this week?"

***

I was sitting in my office when there was a knock on the front door.

"Come in!" I yelled.

The door opened, and in walked a tall man. He was wearing a grey suit of middling quality, with a white shirt and a light blue tie.

"Welcome. What can I help you with?"

"My assistant has gone missing. I'm hoping you can find her."

"Why are you coming to me, and not her family?"

"She is my assistant, and she went missing while assisting me, so she is my responsibility."

"Could you give me more details?"

"We were at the docks. My research project is an analysis of sea water, to see if it is possible to tell by the trace chemicals where the water comes from. I had taken samples of sea water from all across the docks, and had stored all the samples in a suitcase for transportation.

"My assistant was tasked with heading out the docks and taking the samples back to the lab. If she couldn't find a taxi she was to wait for me.

"She wasn't waiting when I departed the docks, but nor had she made it to the lab before me."

'What did the police say?" I asked, intrigued.

"Not much. They suggested that she had run off somewhere, and there wasn't much point in them looking. She'd return when she felt like it. When I mentioned the samples, they said that if they were valuable then she must have sold them to one of my rivals, and if they weren't valuable it wasn't worth their time looking for them."

"Might she have sold the samples?"

"No. We've been working together for six months, and she's proved very reliable. In any case, the data is unlikely to be of any use to anyone but me."

Perhaps. Perhaps not. I took names, and asked a few more pertinent questions. Then I charged half my usual fee up front, before politely inviting my visitor to depart.

I proceeded to call a taxi to transport me to the docks. From long experience I knew that there was only one firm that would pick up in this neighbourhood, and they charged extra for the inconvenience, but if anything had happened to the assistant, she might not have the time it would take me to hike to the docks on four paws.

While I waited for the taxi, I prepared. I checked that my revolver was safely in its holster. After a little thought I decided to leave the Thompson submachine gun in the safe – I thought that it was unlikely that I'd need it, and in my experience taxi drivers didn't like passengers armed with such weaponry. I compromised by putting a pack of spare cartridges in my pocket.

When I heard the knock on the door, I got into the back of the taxi and gave the directions. It was only half an hour to the docks through the afternoon rush. I paid the fare and exited the vehicle.

When the taxi had passed out of sight, I found a suitable alley. I checked that I was out of sight of any bystanders, then I transformed.

Once I was a cat, I was struck once more by the strong smells that pervaded the dock area. I padded swiftly to the entrance that the assistant was supposed to have been heading for.

This was one of the circumstances when I wished for the sense of smell of a bloodhound. If I could smell out a specific human amongst the stench of the docks, this hunt would be so much easier.

As it was, I had to hunt my way through the various warehouses of the docks, slipping through the open doors and making my way around the goods to try to see who was in the various rooms.

I wasn't having much luck. There was no sign of any young lady in any of the first few warehouses I explored. I was not getting much good fortune in my interactions with the dockers either. I had to dodge more than a few kicks as they tried to chase me away.

I was seriously considering calling it a night, and coming back the next morning to finish the search. I decided to explore one last warehouse.

No sooner had I crept through the door than I heard shouting. Intrigued, I followed the sound around the goods and through the building.

Deep inside the building, in an office, I found her.

She was being held up against the back wall by two thugs, with a tall gentleman in a really well-made navy suit between her and the door. She was wearing a modest dress in a blue hue and sensible shoes. There was an open suitcase that seemed to have been tossed into a corner. The floor was covered in shattered glass and a clear liquid, probably the remnants of the salt water samples.

"I will ask you one last time," said the suited man. "Who betrayed me? Who leaked our secrets to you?"

She was crying, and her voice shook. "No-one. We were just taking samples."

"Fine! If you insist on lying to my face, you will face the consequences. Make an example of her." He swept out of the room, not appearing to take any notice of me looking in through the open door.

Once he was out, the thugs started to punch her in the chest.

At this I decided I'd seen enough. I transformed back. As swiftly as I could, I pulled out my revolver. As soon as I saw the right-hand thug over the front sight, I pulled the trigger. I then shifted aim to the other thug, and before he could react, I'd shot him too.

Neither of them were dead, but that might not be a bad thing. The police would have to take notice of dead bodies, whereas they would probably ignore a couple of shot men turning up at the hospital.

The assistant was released by the men as they fell to the floor, but stayed where she was.

"Over here!" I yelled at her. "We need to run!"

She moved slowly, gingerly, trying not to step in any of the glass. Her voice was still very shaky as she asked "Who are you?"

"Leo Panther, PI. Your boss hired me to find you."

She nodded, but didn't speed up. When she'd made it to my side she asked, "What now?"

"Now we get out of here. As quickly as possible. We want to be out of the docks before these men are found or else they'll be hunting for us. Understood?"

She nodded, so I turned and retraced my steps through the warehouse. At most junctions I turned my head to see where she was, only to discover that she had fallen behind. I didn't shake my head, but if I'd been transformed I'd have growled repeatedly at the delays.

The warehouse seemed to be empty of other life. That suited me, as the last thing I wanted was for us to be spotted as we made our escape. I decided not to investigate, unless it proved necessary later.

Significantly later than I'd have liked we passed through the door of the warehouse and back into the open air of the docks. As this point we needed to slow down. Two people rushing would draw more attention than a young lady being escorted.

"We need to walk side-by-side from here. Walk at a natural pace – running or otherwise rushing will attract the eye."

She nodded, and placed herself next to my left shoulder. She offered her arm. It wasn't necessary for this deception to work, but I accepted it.

We walked arm-in-arm through the docks. I guided us back to the main entrance. As we passed through I heard a ruckus behind us. Assuming that the scene in the back office had been discovered, I urgently hunted for a taxi.

To my great relief, the driver of the first taxi we came across was willing to take us back to my office.

Once we were on the way, I turned to my fellow passenger. It looked like she was about to start thanking me with gushing praise, or whatever reasonably well-bred young ladies of her class said in these circumstances. "Say nothing yet. I'll phone your boss from my office, and you can explain all when he arrives."

On arrival, I paid the fare, and ushered the assistant into my office. There I offered her a mug of tea. She accepted, but it would take time to prepare, so I picked up the receiver of my desk telephone and told the operator the number for the lab. When my client picked up, I told him that I'd found his assistant, and suggested he come over. He agreed.

At this point, I left the assistant in the office, and headed to the kitchen to make the tea. There I heated up a milk pan of water. When it was boiling, or close to, I poured it into the teapot to heat it up. Then I refilled the milk pan and put it back on the heat to boil. Once the water was bubbling again, I emptied the now hot teapot, prepared the tea leaves, and poured the boiling water over them. I carried the teapot back into the office, and went back for a trio of mugs. Only then did I pour the tea – I know many tea afficionados would argue that it needs to brew for longer, but I don't like their strong blends. A dash of milk, not too much, in each mug and they were ready for drinking.

A knock on the door signalled the arrival of my client. It was very good timing on his part, for his tea was still hot from pouring.

My client it seemed had no interest in his tea, nor did his assistant. Despite all the trouble I had taken preparing their mugs to perfection, they only had eyes for each other. They hugged for at least a minute – I had time to sit back in my seat and take five sips of my tea before they released each other.

"You found her! How did you find her?"

"I think her story's more interesting right now, but I asked her to wait until you could hear it."

"Ah, yes Mr Panther. That sounds a good idea. Mabel?"

"Mmm. Yes. We had finished collecting our samples from the docks. Mr Johnson was very pleased with the collection, and had put all of them neatly into the sample suitcase. I was sent ahead to take the samples to the lab, while Mr Johnson tidied the rest of the equipment up.

"I was making my way back when I was accosted by a pair of thugs. They dragged me into a warehouse, and forced me into a back office.

"Waiting for us was a very unpleasant man. All he was interested in was who had sold him out. He was convinced that someone had told us that he was doing something he shouldn't and that we were in the docks to find the evidence."

"But we weren't! We were collecting data for my dataset."

"I tried to tell him. He refused to listen. He was convinced I was lying. He ordered the samples destroyed. Finally, I was to be 'made an example of'. At this point Mr Panther showed up and rescued me."

"I can't thank you enough, Mr Panther. If Mabel had been lost on my watch..."

"But Mr Johnson, the samples are gone. The data has been lost."

"The data can be replaced. You, my dear, cannot."

I thought that this might be the point to tell my side of the story, before the pair completely forgot that I was in the room and said things too soppy to be regaled in public.

"I searched a number of warehouses before I found the right one. Fortunately I was in time. Once I had dealt with the thugs, I got your assistant out of the docks and back here."

"Thank you, Mr Panther. Now, Mabel, we need to replace those samples."

I butted in. "I cannot advise that course of action. The pair of you are known, and whoever it is that wants your research carried out nowhere near his warehouse will be looking for you. If you try to retake your samples, I don't believe you'll make it out of the docks alive, either of you."

"Then we go to the police. Mabel tells them what happened to her, and they arrest him. Then we can return without fear."

"That, Mr Johnson, is not sensible. The case will get nowhere. Some bigwig in the force will hear of it, and because he's being bribed by half the warehouse owners of the docks, he'll make sure that it's either dismissed or investigated by a nincompoop who couldn't put together a watertight case to save his life."

"But we must do something. Without those samples, my dataset will have a hole in them. It will be useless."

"There may be a solution," I mused. "If the problem that the owner doesn't want you to pick up on is some form of illegal chemical discharge, then the evidence might be found in samples downstream. We're near the state border, and if my memory is correct – it often isn't when it comes to the oceans – the currents here flow south. If you were to take samples in the ocean just the other side of the state border, and you were to find something, that would make it a federal matter, would it not?"

"But would the feds investigate?"

"Possibly not. And it may not go anywhere. I'm sure the owner concerned is getting away with whatever he's doing because he's bribing the city and state inspectors. The fed inspectors might be pure as the driven snow, but I doubt it. I suspect if you get the feds involved, he'll have to bribe them too, and feds have a much better sense of their own importance, so it'll be expensive. Even if he doesn't get arrested, it will cost him a great deal."

"But we still won't get our samples."

"No. I'd advise you not to try to sample any docks from now on. You might not be as lucky the next time an interested party takes issue with your process."

"You make an extremely irritating but nonetheless good point. I assume you want the rest of your fee."

"I wasn't able to return with the samples, so I'll give you a small discount."

"No. I hired you to find Mabel, so I'll pay the full amount."

I acquiesced. He paid. They left, leaving me with three mugs of tea to drink. Neither had touched a drop.

***

Amethyst laughed. "How very irritating for you. All that hard work and no-one else enjoyed it."

"I get to pull their tails over it."

"And you do like pulling tails."

I smiled, because yes, I did like pulling tails, when I could get away with it.

We set to finishing our mains. Before long the waiter had removed the plates, and was taking our orders for dessert.

Over the final course we compared our childhoods – hers as a princess of the local court and mine as an unimportant member of an unimportant family. They were very different, and she was as interested in my experiences as I was in hers, and I was interested in hers for if this courtship went well our future children would have a similar childhood.

Too soon, the meal came to an end, and it was time to ask for the bill. I expected a large figure, and was unfortunately not disappointed. After handing over a number of large denomination notes – with a suitable tip to reward the excellent service – I guided Amethyst out of the restaurant and back onto the street.

Taxis in that neighbourhood were easy to find of an evening, so before long we were in the back of one. I told the driver to take us to her father's house.

It wasn't a long journey, and the driver soon pulled up in front of a four-storey townhouse. I paid the fare, before escorting Amethyst up the steps to the front door.

The door opened, and we were ushered in. We waited in the hall while the servant fetched Amethyst's father.

"Did you have a pleasant evening?"

"Yes, father."

"I trust you treated my daughter appropriately."

"I did my best, sir."

"Very good."

I turned to Amethyst. "May I have the pleasure of your company for dinner next week?"

"I will look forwards to it with delight, Leo."

With that settled, I said my goodbyes.

With the formalities settled, I transformed and headed out the cat flap.

Outside, I jumped on to the wall by the side of the steps and ran down it. I headed home. I had travelled the route enough times by now that I just ran all the way without hesitation.

—

My offering this week went to Cedar Sanderson. As ever, I’m looking forwards to seeing what everyone comes up with.