The Case of the Unseen Lady
When I got back to the city it was late in the afternoon. I stopped to see Morand and gave him the journal. He was eager to study it.
Then I went to my office. When I got there Natalie was not at her desk. Seeing the inner door open I assumed she was still working on filing.
When I stepped into the office I was stunned by what I saw.
There at my desk was a pair of mid-length white kid gloves leafing through some papers. Directly behind the gloves, my chair looked completely vacant.
I stood in the doorway trying not to look foolish but feeling like a kid who just walked into a forbidden room.
“Well, Hello Natalie!” I said.
She didn’t speak but only acknowledged my greeting with an “Mm?” sound. She was obviously intent on what she was reading.
I sat in the chair in front of the desk and watched in fascination as the gloves turned pages and a finger occasionally followed some line on a page. It was mesmerizing to see.
“Miss Taylor,” I suddenly asked, “Have your garments … become … invisible?”
“Mm-Mm” She intoned to say “no”. I can only assume that she shook her head as well.
“Then,” I began slowly, “You’re sitting in my chair … um … nude?”
She indicated affirmation with “Mm-hm”. I was too fascinated by what I was seeing, and imagining, to be annoyed by her lack of attention to the conversation.
I closed my eyes a moment and tried to think clearly. Then I spoke again.
“Miss Taylor, I know I suggested you loosen up a little and I suppose there’s nothing really wrong with nudity if you can’t be seen, right? But this is quite a stride!”
Then a thought occurred to me. “What if someone walked in the office right now? What would you do?”
She was silent but to answer my question she stripped off the gloves promptly and let them drop lifeless to the desktop. Oddly enough the sight of the second glove stripping was the more extraordinary since nothing could be seen pulling it.
All was silent now except for the sound of my breathing, which was notably heavier.
“Natalie?” I thought that the chair had moved when the gloves stripped themselves but I wasn’t thinking clearly at the moment. I looked around the room hoping to see a clue to her whereabouts.
I waited and thought I detected light footfalls about the room as she passed me. Then I heard the front door open.
“Hello?” I called out leaping out of the chair. I felt like a cat caught in a fish market.
I called out again and stepped though the door to the outer office. There was no one there. “Natalie?” Had she just walked out? Had I offended her?
I walked around both offices. “Natalie? Are you here? This is not funny.”
I went to the chair behind my desk and waved my hand over it to confirm that it was as empty as it looked. Then I picked up the now truly empty gloves.
Then I noticed what she had been reading on my desk.
Damn! What an idiot I was! I was so distracted by this invisibility peep show that I had missed the obvious.
I closed the file; it contained my private notes and thoughts on the cat burglar case. With vehemence I shoved it into a draw of my filing cabinet and slammed it shut.
How could I be so stupid?
Then I heard the sound of a woman’s high heel shoes in the hall. The door opened and a familiar veiled figure walked in. She was, of course, fully dressed.
“Mister Drake,” I recognized Natalie’s voice, “You’re back. I went to the library and got some … What’s wrong?” She froze at the sight of my angry countenance as I stepped out of my office.
I went straight to the outer door and locked it. I then took Natalie by the arms and stood her in the corner. “Don’t move,” I told her. Then I looked around the seemingly empty room.
I took off my belt.
“Mister Drake? What are you doing?” There was a touch of alarm in her voice.
Saying nothing I began to sweep the air by whipping my belt around. I moved swiftly through the office covering every spot where a person could stand, sit, or crouch. I even went over the desk. Natalie said nothing but she did drop the book she was carrying when my impromptu whip came rather close to her.
When I was satisfied with the front office I went back to my office and repeated the procedure. Being larger, it took longer. I then checked the closet, the washroom, and the window. I reached out of the window but didn’t need to go far. I knew the ledge was inaccessible since I tried to venture forth on it myself once. It was possible to hang under the window but impossible to traverse to anywhere but three stories down.
I returned to the front office where Natalie was still standing timidly in the corner. She said, “No invisible people?”
“Correction,” I said, “there’s one invisible person.”
As I moved towards her she clasped her gloved hands in front of her blouse. I didn’t like scaring her but I had to be sure it was she. Even though I knew her voice I wanted to leave nothing to chance now.
I stood close, surrounded her by putting a hand against each wall, and spoke softly enough that I could not be heard outside the room. “The night we met, you removed your veil to show me what happened to you.”
“No,” she whispered trembling, “I only took off a glove.”
“And you compared it to a vaudeville act.”
“I,” she paused, thinking under the pressure, “I think I said it was like a ‘magic act’.” That was close enough.
I then leaned close to her so that my mouth was an inch from her ear under her wig.
“Natalie Taylor, listen carefully.”
“Yes?” She responded hesitantly.
“Silver bullet placed in the fifth race.”
“What?”
“Say it.”
She paused and then said, “Um, the silver bullet was placed in the fifth race.”
“No.” I then repeated the phrase and had her say it again. After she had said it correctly three times, I whispered, “Say that to no one but me and only when I ask you to.”
Next I went to the door to the hallway.
“Lock this door behind me and wait for me.” I then opened it just enough to squeeze through and stepped into the hallway.
After some more belt waving I was convinced that I was alone in the hallway. I went to the door and said, “Now open it please.”
Natalie let me in and I asked her to sit down. I closed the door immediately behind me. She sat in the guest chair as it was closest to where she had been standing and I pulled the desk chair around so that I could sit and face her. I took her hands in mine to stop her trembling and looked into her opaquely shaded eyes.
“Miss Taylor,” I began, then, “Natalie.” She squeezed my hand slightly when I said her name. “Please forgive me for scaring you like that. I had to be sure we were alone and I had to be sure of your identity. There’s another invisible woman and she was here just before you arrived.
She let out the breath she had been holding and said. “You scared me Johnny. I mean, Mister Drake.”
“No, call me Johnny. We work together now.”
I then asked, “Why did you leave the door unlocked when you went out?”
“I’m sorry Johnny, I forgot.”
I smiled to put her at ease and recounted my encounter with the gloved intruder. I also told her about the encounter in the hall a few days earlier.
“So now we have a password. A code.” She said.
“Yes, and we’ll have to change some of our habits around the office to avoid this sort of thing.
“I’ll be sure to always lock the door when I step out, Johnny, from now on. I promise.”
I didn’t doubt her. This event had made an impression on her.
I let go of her hands and suggested she go home for the night and try to rest. I, of course, could not rest since I had much to think about. Somewhere out there was an invisible cat burglar and she was watching us.
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