>
> Case 27 - Starting Over Part 1
>
>
> Keiko woke up and wandered her house in her pajamas.  It was dark outside, not because it was early, but because it was raining.  In fact, that's the reason she wandered her house alone - Sean had awoken and gone to work already.  She vaguely remembered him waking her up to tell her he was going but she apparently shrugged it off and went back to sleep.
>
> Memory came trickling back to her of the events at Matt's home.  She felt happy that it was a success - it had to be, since SWAT didn't break down her door early in the morning and Sean was at work as usual.  There was no news, apparently, about Matt just yet, or at least nothing urgent enough for Sean to call her about.
>
> She finally decided to gather some clothing and take a shower, but first she took one last glance outside at the rain.  It was raining hard outside, sheets of it was blowing in the wind.  There was an occasional flash of lightning in the distance and some gentle thunder.  The valley that Garden City was in often caused storms to become trapped and take a while to disperse.
>
> Keiko took a nice long shower hearing the sound of the thunder occasionally over the noise of the water.  Once she was finally dressed and had spent a while drying her hair enough so it wouldn't drip she paused again, realizing that with every crisis in her life neatly tidied up in the last few days there wasn't much to do.  She was grateful to be bored, though - it simply felt strange.
>
> There wasn't much chance of her getting her job back as a cop.  That meant she had to look to other similar ideas - like perhaps going private.  Doing what she did best, only without killing being necessary - snooping without being seen and such.  She didn't need the money but it would be entertaining at least.
>
> She wondered why she hadn't heard from Matt.  Maybe he was preoccupied with what happened at his home.  Or perhaps he checked his safe deposit box and realized his leverage against Keiko was gone, and he was afraid to speak to her now.  With a little bit of amusement Keiko wondered if Matt suspected it was her who took the file and perhaps even feared that after finding a dead man in his home he was going to be next.
>
> Meanwhile though, it was time for her to find her own path.  But to get there she would have to make connections, and that meant finding other private investigators in town.  She would have to subcontract for one or two of them at first until she built up a reputation enough for clients to locate her directly.
>
> The only way she knew to start was to begin looking through the phonebook for private investigators.  She started out with the smallest ads, people with small, private practices who wouldn’t mind working with someone.  And hopefully, someone older and more settled who would take the job seriously rather than looking for an excuse to hit on her.
>
> She looked at the list of names and number she hastily wrote down.  Calling was always the hard part, because she had no idea what to say.  She took a deep breath and dialed the first number - Ron Clancy Investigations.  The voice at the other end was an older man with a New York accent.  He answered, ‘Ron Clancy speaking’.
>
> “Good morning,”  Keiko greeted him.  “I’m a former police detective who wishes to go private.  I was wondering if you were willing to give a future colleague some tips.”
>
> “I’m kinda busy,”  the Ron Clancy started.
>
> “I’ll pay for your time.”  Keiko added quickly.  “I only need...maybe a couple of hours.  As a police detective I know how to handle investigations...but obviously I didn’t need to look for cases.  I don’t know how to find them on my own.  I’m also curious if there is any etiquette I need to follow dealing with clients, the police, and other detectives.”
>
> There was a deep sigh at the other end of the line which made it clear he didn’t expect much from the woman he was talking to.  “Yeah, come on down to my office.  I’ll give you an hour.”
>
> “Thank you very much,”  Keiko said.  “When would you like me to visit?”
>
> She could practically hear a shrug over the phone as he replied, “How about right now?”
>
>
> ---
>
>
> The office of Ron Clancy investigations wasn’t quite as cheesy as the movies.  It was a small storefront in a run-down shopping mall surrounded by a pawn shop, a liquor store, and a checks cashed.  The windows were dusty and covered on the inside with white paper.  The glass door also had white paper, but a sign was shoved between the paper and the window saying ‘Ron Clancy Investigations’.
>
> Keiko walked through the door, and a bell hanging from it rang twice.  She closed the door behind her and it rang again.  She shook off her umbrella and folded it as she entered.  Just inside the door was a waiting room with plain, grimy white walls and two badly frayed vinyl chairs.  There was an interior doorway with a door marked ‘Private’ partially open.  She could hear classical music coming from the back room.
>
> “You the lady who just called?”  she could hear Ron’s voice say from the back.
>
> “Yes.”  Keiko replied as she moved into the doorway cautiously.  “How did you know it was me?”
>
> Ron raised an eyebrow and sat down at his ancient desk in a ratty, squeaking office chair.  “I don’t get many walk-ins,”  he replied cryptically.  A laptop computer was in front of him, so the office wasn’t all from the past.
>
> “Hmm.”  Keiko entered the office but didn’t sit down.  She wasn’t sure the shabby furniture had ever been sat on, and worried about its structural integrity.  “So how would you prefer to do this?  Talk to me or show me what you do?”
>
> “I think we should start with an interview first,”  Ron said.  “Best way to figure out what you can do is where you’ve been and who you are.  Mind if I ask you a few questions?”
>
> Keiko nodded.  “You may ask.”
>
> “What did you used to do before you came to me?”
>
> Without even flinching Keiko dodged the question by telling him, “I worked as a police detective.”
>
> “Before that.”  Ron’s tone noted that he should have been more specific.
>
> She knew he was on to something...somehow.  Quickly, she put together what she thought was a semi-convincing evasion.  “I worked for the government,”  she replied.  “Intelligence Agency.”
>
> Ron chuckled.  “You were an assassin,”  he guessed.  He smiled at Keiko’s surprised expression.  “I’ve talked to your kind before.  You always answer that question the same way, and you always try to be cops when you’re looking for a career change.  Plus I got your mug shot and court records right here.”  He pointed to the laptop computer sitting on his desk.
>
> Keiko frowned.  “I’m sensing this interview is over,”  she replied sadly.
>
> “On the contrary,”  he said, leaning forward in his chair.  “I can use someone with your skills.”
>
> There was a long pause while Keiko considered that.  “What skills are you referring to?”
>
> “I have quite a few clients,”  Ron stated carefully, “who want someone found...or someone lost.”
>
> “I’m not sure if I like the sound of that,”  Keiko replied quietly.
>
> Ron frowned this time.  “Look, I know you think you got out of that racket and put it behind you.  But it’s a skill you got, and a unique one at that.  The detective business is tough, if you don’t have something that stands out...you won’t last long.”
>
> “I’ll...have to think about it,”  Keiko replied non-commitally, moving as if she was about to leave.
>
> He chuckled again and leaned back, folding his arms and seeming amused.  “You’ll be back,”  he said.
>
> “What makes you so sure?”  she asked, curious about why he would say that.
>
> “Because it’s something you know you can do,”  he replied.  “You’ll get that taste of adrenaline.  What I do, it’s boring by comparison.  You won’t last long being this bored.”
>
> “I won’t be someone’s tool of destruction again,”  Keiko replied plainly.
>
> “Oh, you wouldn’t be working for me,”  he noted.  “I don’t want employees.  I’d simply pass along a referral.  I just need someone to pass it along to.  The clients would be yours.”
>
> Keiko thought for a moment to figure out how to put what she meant to say diplomatically.  “I don’t think I want to...specialize like that yet.  I would like to learn as much as I can about the business first.”
>
> Ron smiled.  “Fair enough,”  he said.  “You want to play this honestly.”
>
> “Yes.”  Keiko nodded.
>
> “I should warn you,”  he continued, “Not much money in playing it honestly.”
>
> She shook her head.  “I don’t care about that.”
>
> He chuckled at that and leaned back.  “Then you’re the right woman for the job.”
>
>
>
> TO BE CONTINUED
>
>
>
> -- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2007 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
> --    reprinted without permission.  
> -- World Class and all characters therein are property of 
> --    Strike Two and Jason Froikin.
>