[SFX: Car stopping and engine Idling.]
I arrived at Marcus Trent’s home twenty minutes after I left the cafe. The trent mansion was the sterling image of the American millionaire’s home. It had been featured in numerous television shows for its decadence; and if it wasn’t for the ten foot steel fence surrounding the property, it was more likely to be mistaken for an enormous hotel.
I guess Trent wanted to keep people out. Of course, the fence would also keep people in.
Cab Driver: "That’s two dollars pal."
Dodgely: "Two dollars! Did you charge me for the stimulating conversation too?"
Cab Driver: "It’s a long way, and I charge extra for trips to the suburbs. Don’t forget, I gotta drive all the way back."
Dodgely: "Here’s three if you’ll wait for me."
He took the three dollars and eyed me in the rearview mirror.
Cab Driver: "I can only wait for a half hour, after that I’m outta here, with or without you."
Dodgely: "You got it, Bub."
[SFX: Car door opening then closing, footsteps on pavement]
The cabbie had parked directly across from the gate, and as I walked up I spotted the guard. He was already watching me, and before I stepped onto the drive he was standing in the door of the security hut.
Guard: "What do you want?"
I flipped my wallet open just long enough for him to see the reflection on my Private Eye badge. It was a trick that worked well for me, most people never even looked.
Dodgely: "Police, I’m here to talk to your boss."
The guy’s name tag said Denny and he was a muscle-bound bus of a man if I’d ever seen one. His arms were as big as my thighs and his neck was wider than his own head. He looked like he’d swallowed two other men.
Guard: "You guys already got his statement."
Dodgely: "We need another one."
The guard looked at my face closely.
Guard: "What the hell happened to you?"
Dodgely: "Boating accident. Phone up your boss."
[SFX: Phone being picked up, Rotary phone dialing.]
Guard: "Sir, another police officer is here."
[SFX: Muffled, staticy speaking]
Guard: "Yes, sir."
[SFX: Muffled, staticy speaking]
Guard: "Yes, sir."
[SFX: Muffled, staticy speaking]
Guard: "What’s your name, buddy?"
Dodgely: "Dodgely."
Guard: "His name’s Dodgey."
Dodgely: "It’s Dodgely."
[SFX: Muffled, staticy speaking]
Guard: "Yes, sir."
[SFX: Phone hanging up]
Denny made me wait a few minutes before he opened the gate and let me walk through, but evidently I had passed the initial smell test.
[SFX: Gate opening, and footsteps]
Guard: "Just follow the driveway. There are three other guards watching you, so don’t go wandering."
[SFX: Footsteps continue through]
It was an abnormally long, cobblestone driveway (Another reminder of the enormous amounts of money invested in the property) and I learned two things on my walk. One, Trent’s extravagant taste bordered on eccentricity and might be considered a bit depraved. And two, Denny had lied, there was only one other guard watching me.
[SFX: Muffled organ doorbell, after a moment a door opening]
The old guy at the door must have been Trent’s butler. He was wearing a bow tie and looking down his long narrow nose at me.
Butler: "Can I help you?"
I flashed the badge again, he tried to get a closer look but it was back in my pocket and I was talking before he could ask.
Dodgely: "I’m here to see Marcus Trent."
Butler: "He’s already given his statement."
Dodgely: "I know. A few more developments have come to light, and I have more questions for him."
Butler: "What kind of developments?"
Dodgely: "Are you going to let me see Trent, or do I have to come back here with a warrant?
Butler: "A warrant?"
Dodgely: "I’m sure the press would love to see us knocking down your door."
That got his attention. He stepped aside and waved me into the house.
[SFX: Door closing.]
Butler: "This way please."
[SFX: footsteps throughout]
From the inside the place seemed even bigger. I could easily imagine playing a game of tennis in the entry hall. Large paintings, animal rugs and expensive furniture lined every open surface; and the wide, slowly spiraling staircase was crowned by the biggest crystal chandelier I’d ever laid my eyes on. I stopped on the stairs and pointed up at it.
Dodgely: "What does something like that cost?"
The old butler looked up at the chandelier then back at me.
Butler: (Laughing).
[SFX: Footsteps continue]
Five minutes later we were standing outside of Trent’s study in a green-carpeted hallway.
Butler: "Please wait here while I announce you."
[SFX: Door opens then closes.]
I sat down across the hallway in what looked like a royal throne and waited. I’d never met Trent before but I knew the class. He was at a slightly higher level than I was used to dealing with, but this was exactly the type who hired private detectives. It was the person who had everything and decided that they wanted their own army too. Most of them couldn’t buy the police so the next best thing was a private eye. Their own personal police department. And, it made them feel powerful. It made them feel stronger.
Of course, Kathina had said that Marcus owned the force, it might put him up a step on the evolutionary ladder, but it was the same mindset.
[SFX: Door opening.]
Butler: "You may enter, sir."
[SFX: footsteps on carpet.]
Marcus was seated behind his desk facing away from the door. He had a ledger book and a pen in his hands and looked like he was in the middle of something important.
[SFX: Door closes.]
I entered the room and sat in one of the high backed leather chairs across from his desk. As I sunk into the fine, brown leather Trent spun in his rotating chair to face me. I’d seen his face in print before but he was bigger and more impressive in person. Lantern jaw, high cheekbones, and a cleft chin; He had the face of a warrior.
Marcus: "What can I do for you, detective."
Dodgely: "Your wife is missing."
Marcus: "Yes, I know."
Dodgely: "I’m here to go over the details of her disappearance with you. I want to make sure that we have all the finer points."
Marcus: "For the investigation."
Dodgely: "Yes. I want you to repeat what you told the other officer."
Marcus: "Very well. I was meeting my wife for lunch yesterday. It was a late lunch because I had several meetings in town. We planned to meet at Dooley’s on 23rd at two thirty. I got there and waited a half hour before I got impatient and drove home. I called her friend Clarice and I called her mom. Neither one of them had seen her. Finally I called the police."
Dodgely: "That was awfully quick. Do you always jump to conclusions that quickly?"
Marcus: "Kathina never goes out. She hates Silver City. There are only three places she ever goes by herself: Here, her friend Clarice’s apartment, and her mother’s house. When she wasn’t at any of them, I assumed she was missing. If you knew Kathina, you’d understand."
Dodgely: "Her friend, Clarice. Do you have her phone number?"
Marcus: "Klondike-five 2232."
Dodgely: "And her mother?"
Marcus: "Fives 1821."
[SFX: Knocking on door.]
Marcus: "Enter."
It was the butler. He was looking as smug as ever and carrying a folder.
[SFX: Footsteps on carpet.]
Butler: "Here you are, sir."
Marcus: "Thank you."
[SFX: Footsteps on carpet]
The butler left, just as smugly, and Trent opened the envelope and thumbed through its contents.
Dodgely: "Why were you meeting for lunch?"
Marcus: "Excuse me?"
Dodgely: "Was there a special reason for your lunch date?"
He was still thumbing through the folder but paused to look up at me, amused.
Marcus: "Does a guy need a reason to have lunch with his wife?"
Dodgely: "You meet her for lunch everyday?"
Marcus: "No."
Dodgely: "Okay, I was just asking if yesterday was special."
He shook his head slowly and looked at me more carefully. He seemed to notice my mashed up face for the first time. He looked back down at the folder before closing it up and setting it aside.
Suddenly, I knew. The folder was a dossier on me. From the minute I talked to the guard at the front gate, they were collecting information on who I was. The butler threw it into a folder and carried it in here right under my nose. Marcus knew I wasn’t a cop now.
Marcus: "What precinct did you say you were with, Dodgely?"
Dodgely: "I didn’t."
Marcus: "Let me see your badge."
Dodgely: "I’ve gotta go."
I headed for the door.
[SFX: footsteps on carpet]
Marcus: "Not so fast, Dodgely."
I stopped with my hand on the doorknob.
Marcus: "I know who you are. You’re a failed punk with a fake badge, and I’m going to see to it that you spend the night in a jail cell."
I popped off without thinking. It’s one of my weaknesses and the cause of most of my misery in life. It’s why I’m not married and why I don’t have a cush prestigious job on the Silver City P.D.
Dodgely: "And I’ll see to it that you don’t get away with murdering your wife, Trent."
I pulled open the heavy oak door, and came face to face with the second guard. He was built exactly like Denny, like a lion with a person suit, three sizes too small, stretched around him.
Marcus: "Stop him, Tommy."
The guy was slow but there was no stopping his momentum. His over-sized fist flew over my head, missing me by less than an inch and I popped in two low ones, just above his belt. It was like punching pavement, and the rest of his body followed his punch, right over the top of me.
I was sandwiched between Tommy and the plush green carpet, and this guy was heavy. He looked down at me grinning, his nose just inches from mine. I could smell his breath, and I remember wondering where he’d gotten the pastrami on rye sandwich that he’d had for lunch just before his head rocked forward and bashed into mine.
After that, everything was dark.
Continue Scene 4
