Pumpking

Issue 5

71 days without an incident

My initial impressions of Whisper fell apart with those words. I stared at him, agog.

"I can't help you solve a murder case... especially if I might be a suspect!"

He sipped his coffee and made another face, "This is terrible. We need something proper to eat while I bring you up to speed."

"Don't ignore me- I don't... I mean," I had no idea what to say. Was he joking? What on earth was he playing at?

"Oh, don't fuss, Dion. I'll pay you for your time."

"It's not about money- isn't there procedure, chain of evidence? Methods that have to be-"

"Don't confuse me for the police, Miss Moriarty. Besides, as a prime suspect; won't you have the best motivation for solving his murder?" He smiled and his eyes actually danced with mirth.

"Don't joke about that sort of thing. Tony was a good man- you can't just let a novice like me contaminate the investigation because teasing me amuses you!" I realised people were staring at me, I was almost yelling. I lowered my voice to a hush, "Besides, shouldn't the police be investigating this sort of thing? The Pantheon fights aliens and villains, not murders? Even if this is connected to you guys; I'm a civilian. I don't have any training or insurance." His bemused smile widened, so I tried a different tact, "Very funny joke. I hope you catch the man who did it."

He chuckled a little, "I assure you, Dion, I am quite serious. I like you; there's no filter between your mouth and your head. It's refreshing to see a woman who isn't quietly plotting everything she says. Honest people are best. Shall we discuss payment?"

"No. You don't get to just—just- Who do you think you are?"

"I'm the man on a hunt for a violent killer. It's going to be dangerous, Miss Moriarty. There's a chance you'll be hurt, maybe even killed. But we will find justice for your friend. I need you; I need outside eyes on this."

I stared at him, "Do you think that I'd fall for something like that? I'm... I'm due for a shift at work in an hour. Good night."

I left him to pay the bill, fleeing before I did something stupid and said yes. I didn't even know Tony that well; it would be stupid of me if I said 'sure, I'll investigate his death.' And why would I do that to start with? Other than curiosity. The truth was, there was a very primal part of me that wanted to say yes; that jumped at the idea of investigating his murder. It was more than curiosity; I wanted to personally punish someone.

Whisper probably wasn't a real member of the Pantheon. The Phantom division? Never heard of it. And I didn't have the s free time to play around investigating. What would I be looking for anyway?

Still, something he said nagged at me the whole time I spent starting up my rusty old car. It was the sort that still ran on gas, because I didn't have the money for one of the hydro-cars all the rich folk owned. And it was cheap to repair. I started it up, checking the clock. I had to get into the heart of the city before nine-fifty PM; still plenty of time.

I guess showing up early and just getting on with it wouldn't be a bad idea. Maybe I could leave ten minutes early? My boss was flexible sometimes. My shift was a short one tonight. Ten-pm to five-am and then on to the gardens. I'd get home around three in the afternoon and sleep for about five hours, then get up and get ready again. I'd been following this schedule for the last seven years of my life, since I was sixteen. I had to work hard to pay off all my debts and afford to put food on the table. It was tough, but still beat going hungry or living in the gutter. And if I could keep it up until I was forty-three, I would finish paying off all my family's debts and be able to cut down jobs to one. Assuming I didn't get any major medical bills in the meantime or have any emergencies. Because I had powers I wasn't eligible for any government support.

Capita city was a beautiful place, full of high-rise apartments and wide, trendy streets. It was full of cafes and designer fashion boutiques. The sort of place where a business could be crippled on its reputation if the right magazine gave it a bad review. I drove into the city along the highway and under the giant stone herculean knot sculpture that had been mounted to overlook the main thoroughfare into the heart of the city. The eight or so blocks that made up the city centre were uniform and had trees and grass along the embankments. It was the sort of place that you mostly only saw in concept designs of what people wanted a city to look like.

Capita was always busy, even after the rush-hour traffic of the nine-to-five office crowds having gone home.

I got to the Helios hotel with time to spare and changed with the other night staff. Apparently the owner's son was flying in from America in the morning and that had whipped the managers into a frenzy. We had two VIPs in already, so the ship was running tight. I changed sheets and delivered room service most nights, but one of the cleaning maids had called in sick so I was given the honour of cleaning the master-suite.

Whisper's words stuck with me, he'd said 'outside eyes' like there was something wrong with his eyes. What did that mean? Had he been really telling the truth; was he a Pantheon member?

Chou tapped me on the shoulder while I was dusting, "You not here in your head?" She was still struggling with English particles, but I understood her pretty well. I'd learned a bit of Chinese and tagalong since I started working and could normally chat and gossip with the girls most nights.

I bit my lip, "What does it mean when Pantheon officers have three blue bars?" I sketched out with my hands in case my Mandarin was garbled. I had a bad accent.