The Case of the Unseen Lady
When we arrived at Doctor Morand’s office Natalie, now fully covered, was still in a bubbly mood. She rushed ahead of me into his office and grabbed something on his desk.
“Is this it Doctor Morand?” Natalie asked holding what looked like a white jar of cold cream.
“Yes, it was much easier to make the lotion version of the formula.”
“Is this French on the lid?”
I looked at the writing. It said, ’A perte de vue.
The doctor smiled and said, “Yes, it means ‘out of sight’.” Seems he had a sense of humor, too.
He continued, “Depending on the amount applied it should last several hours. But, of course, I’ve had no way to test it.”
“I’d be happy to test it.” Natalie said giddily. “But maybe tomorrow. Johnny here thinks I might reappear tonight.” She then danced around the room like an excited child.
I said to her, “Thirty minutes ago you wanted to stay invisible.”
“Yes,” she said then held up the white jar gripped tightly in her gloved hand. “But now I know I can come back.”
I explained to Doctor Morand about the bubble bath. “She started using it the night before she vanished,” I said, “It was a gift from Bradley Ambridge.”
“The aphanophobe?” Morand asked.
“A fan of what?” I asked.
“Aphanophobe,” He repeated, “constructed from the Latin root, it would mean someone who is afraid of the unseen. You had told me how this man panicked so the term seems appropriate.”
I wondered if he had a word for someone who had the opposite feelings.
“Well,” I said, “perhaps his panic was an act.”
Natalie suddenly joined the conversation, “At least, I assumed it was from Bradley.”
“Okay,” I said holding her arms and sitting her down. “You need to calm down and explain this.”
She took a breath and her veil rippled as she blew it out. Then she said, “Well Bradley had been sending gifts to me nearly every day. Mostly flowers. Occasionally candy. The things would be waiting for me at the agency with a note. I remember thinking the bubble bath was an unusual gift but then I thought maybe he was hinting at something. Getting fresh, you know?”
“Was that gift accompanied by a note too?” I inquired.
Her head tilted slightly and after a moment she said, “I really don’t remember. But at the time I couldn’t think of anyone else who would have sent it.”
“So this little clue really gets us nowhere.” I sighed.
Natalie then stood up and said, “Oh Johnny, let’s not think about it tonight. I’m too excited for detective work tonight.”
“Perhaps, you should just go home and sleep.” I suggested. “In the morning you should be your old self again.” I glanced at Morand, and he nodded agreement.
“Sleep?” Natalie burst out, “Johnny, this is like New Years Eve! I don’t want to miss it.”
“Fine.” I said, “I’ll take you to dinner.”
That stopped her for a moment. She hadn’t eaten in public since her vanishing.
“Someplace secluded?” I proposed.
“Fair enough.” She conceded suddenly turning cheerful again.
Natalie took the time to do a really fine makeup job on her face and we caught a taxi to the Chinese district. I had a friend there.
“I’ve never had Chinese food before.” Natalie said as she stumbled once again. It was night, she wore her dark glasses, and she selected a thick veil to be extra careful. I had to hold her close lest she fall and hurt herself.
“No Chinese restaurants up there where you come from?”
“Only if we went into Seattle. And we just never went to a Chinese restaurant.”
“Well this will be a good experience for you. I know the owner. Lee Huang.”
“Lee Wong?”
“No not Wong, Huang.” I said it slowly so that she could here the breathy “h” at the beginning. “But then say it fast enough so it doesn’t sound like two syllables.”
“So, you speak Chinese, too? You’re a man of many talents.”
“No, I only know a couple words. But I always try to get names right. I find that people appreciate that.”
“I like that.” She said. “It shows that you respect them.”
“Well, enough about me. Here we are.”
Lee was pleased to see us and gave us his best table. But to be fair, all ten tables were pretty much the same. Yes, it was small, but the food was great.
After we had sat down Natalie picked up the chopsticks. I tried to show her how to hold them but it wasn’t easy.
“It might be easier,” I said, “if you took off your glove.”
“Well then,” she said, “If you’ll excuse me a moment I have to go powder my hands.”
I stood as she left the table. Missus Huang guessed her intent and showed her to the washroom. Mister Huang stopped by the table and said, “Big celebrity? Very mysterious.”
“Yes, traveling incognito.” I said with a smile. “Don’t tell anyone you saw her.”
He winked and said, “You got it, Johnny.”
After dinner Natalie and I sat there drinking jasmine tea. At one point, she pushed up her sleeve just enough past her powdered hand to peek at her flesh. But she quickly recovered it. Obviously she had seen a hollow space.
“Look,” I suggested, “Maybe some activity will help. Let’s go dancing.”
“Dancing?”
“Yeah, you like dancing, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do but I’m hardly dressed for it.”
“We have time if you want to stop and get a strapless gown or something.”
She giggled and said, “Right, and some lace gloves and silk stockings.”
“That sounds fine to me.” I said.
“No really,” she said, “You’re willing to be seen with me like this?”
“Are you willing to be seen with me?”
“Well that’s an unfair question, Mister Drake, as I haven’t been willing to be seen with anyone lately.”
“Come on. Let’s do it.” I said, “Chances are you’ll appear on the way over.”
I paid for the meal and we thanked Mister and Missus Huang for everything.
We went to the Swing Palace first but it was much too crowed. People were lined up outside the door, waiting to get in. Many were talking excitedly about the “haunting”. Several expressed their hope that they would see the “ghost” themselves.
“Yeah,” I said to one guy near the end of the line. “I hear it’s a real kicker.”
From there we went to a tiny jazz club where I knew the bass player. His quartet played several nights a week because most of them were related to the owner. Their pay was small but their drinks free. In addition to Slim, my friend, they had a clarinet, piano and drum kit.
We arrived between sets so said hello to Slim and then took a table in the darkest corner in the room. The location seemed to help Natalie relax. I ordered drinks making sure she got nothing alcoholic. Doctor Morand didn’t think it was an issue with this iteration of the formula but I wanted to take no chances.
The sweat on Natalie’s glass was giving her “unsightly runs”, as she put it, so she slipped on her gloves again.
She asked about Slim’s name. “Well,” I confided, “His given name is Eli, but he really hates it.”
Then she decided to make me the object of conversation. “So Johnny, have you always been a detective?”
“No, I actually started life as a little baby in my crib.”
It was an old joke actually but she laughed uproariously. But then again, things always seem funnier when it’s late and a person’s tired.
“No really,” she said after containing herself, “has this always been your career?”
I sobered a bit and said, “You don’t want to hear that. It’s an old story.”
“Now listen here, Johnny Drake, you’re always asking me questions. Now it’s my turn to find out about you.”
“Okay,” I said, “I used to be with the police.”
“Oh, I see. That would have a lot of the same skills wouldn’t it? So why did you give up the police work?”
Unwelcome memories scratched at the back of my mind. Memories of a young cop who discovered that his supervisor was on the take. Memories of how the young cop tried to expose the situation but lacked evidence. And of how difficult things became after that.
But I pushed these memories back and simply said, “My boss and I didn’t see eye to eye.”
She sensed feelings that I was trying so hard to hide and put a hand on my arm. She didn’t ask any more about it.
So, to change the subject, I decide to talk about my father who was a merchant marine and how he taught me how to navigate by the stars when I was a boy.
“Really” Natalie said, “My dad taught me a lot about the stars, too. He’s a machinist but astronomy has always been a love of his. We used to spend long nights studying the constellations. He’d quiz me on the names.”
“You know, you can see the stars well from the roof over our building.” I said. “I’ll take you up there some night.”
“Can we go now? I’m kind of warm in here. I’d love to get this wig off.”
About an hour later we were on the roof over my office. Natalie had stopped in the office and removed all her make-up and headgear. From where we stood no one would see the headless dress that stood next to me.
“Oh look,” she said pointing to the south. “The scorpion is so much higher down here than back home. And Antares looks so red tonight.”
She obviously knew more star names than I did. I looked to where her finger was pointing and then remembered that she had left her gloves downstairs.
“Natalie!” I exclaimed.
She turned to look at me and for the first time I saw Natalie Taylor’s big beautiful eyes.
She saw how my eyes were fixed on hers and she realized that I could see her. She then studied her hands, turning them over and touching them as if testing them.
Neither of us could think of anything to say.
I held her as she cried.
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