MInTheGap Fiction Fiction Writing from MInTheGap

Tracy and Tricia: Some Detective Work of Their Own – Page 1

Little did I know of what was going on “behind the scenes” at my house.  A couple of my friends decided that if I wasn’t going to solve the case, they were going to try.  You see, before Tricia had taken off for Vegas, she told Karin that she had gotten a lead and was going to help me out.  So, one day at my house, while I was out job hunting, Tracy and Karin got to talking about Tricia.  “You know,” Tracy started, “It’s not like Tricia to just take off all of a sudden, spontaneously.”

“She’s a big girl now, and I’m sure she can take care of herself.”

“True.  But it’s not like her.  Did she tell you anything?”

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Sure!”

“She’s got a lead on the Glowing Gem.”

“She’s what?!!”

“Well, Tricia found a map of Las Vegas in the thieves’ house.  She thought that they were going to go there to try and sell the gem.”

“Oh, I see.  Why didn’t she tell anyone?”

“Well, with Adam not being on the case and all, she decided that it would be better if she just went after then and got the gem herself.”

“Did she leave you some way to contact her?”

“As a matter of fact, yes…  But, she said that she didn’t want anyone to know.  She’s got a pager on her.  She told me that if I really needed her, to go to her apartment and call her pager.  She’d call back as soon as she could.”

“I’ve got to get a hold of her, and since Adam’s job hunting, I’ve got a little time.”

“But what if he finds something fast?”

“Well then, tell him that I went down street and will be back in a little while.”

“Okay.  If you say so.”  So Tracy went down to Tricia’s apartment, went inside using the key Karin gave her, and went to her phone.  Calling the pager number, she hung up the phone and waited for Tricia to call back.

Ten minutes came and went before the phone rang.  Tracy answered it, “Hello, Tricia?!”

“This is Better Apartments and Condominiums.  Is a Miss Drowning there?” asked the male voice on the other end of the line, mispronouncing Downing.

“I’m sorry, she’s not.”

“Oh.  This is Jon Wagner, Sales Rep for BAC.  We were just wondering if she could answer a few questions for us.  Could you help?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you own an apartment?”

“Not exactly.”

“What do you mean, ‘not exactly’?”

“Well, I’m… Well… I guess you’d say that I’m employed and I live in the house where I work.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t think I’d be much help.  Sorry!”

“That’s okay.  Good-bye.”  Tracy hung up the phone, and waited some more.  The phone rang again, and this time it was Tricia.”