Chapter-1
年 1920. Mir Jack. Mir is a detective. But, he doesn’t investigate cheating wives 或者 crooked business partners. He investigates things that go bump in the night . When a beautiful blonde strolls into his office and says someone is trying to kill her, he smells danger. Too bad he needs the money.


How he got started with paranormal investigations is a long story. Something took his wife from him. Jane was his whole world. Now she's gone. He has been running down leads ever since.

It's an arduous task, prying into the dark and creeping things. Plenty of people won't even acknowledge the belief in ghosts and goblins, let alone consult a detective about it. And the cops? Solving the stranger side is not their interests. Mir knows it well because he used to be one of them. Now he works for himself, which implies most months the bills go unpaid. This 月 is not exceptional either.


His office on the 秒 floor named with a 标题 " Private dick 下一个 door" . It's exactly the sort of place 你 would not expect a private dick to hang his hat.

Packed with hidden trap doors and secret stash barrels, the Detective Office is just an inconvenient cog in a high-end 糖果 smuggling operation. As our private eye is puzzling over his clues, the pigeons are peeking in through his skylight to make sure he's occupied.

Despite being low on budget , sometimes Mir buys candies for the magnificent mischievous little 糖果 smugglers living in the neighbourhood. They are a bunch of restless agile kids who sell informations in exchange of candies.

There is a big long cloud, and it's stretched out, like a rope. At the end of it, the sun is
like a yellow hole .
The sunlit clouds drifted across the clear blue sky. Trees swayed gently in the breeze in the warm tropical sunshine.

He is at the office, feet up on the desk, a paperback in hand when a leggy blonde in a 细条纹 mini-skirt and a black fedora with a lipstick the colour of temptation saunters in.

The sweet smell of aroma lingers in the air so that when Mir crosses the threshold it's like a shot of adrenaline right to his heart. Silence crashes down around him. She smiles. "I must be surrounded. She could have me killed right now but she won't. Where's the sport in that? So much 更多 fun to have me loose my mind. But I won't. I won't." Mir thinks to himself. She steps nearer, the aroma is now so heady it's almost poison. He wants to hold his breath but this is not going to be quick.

Mir settles deeper into his swivel chair, laces his fingers behind his head and says "Captivating dame like 你 walks into my office -- usually leads to trouble. "

She takes a 座位 in one of the tatty office chairs across the 台, 办公桌 from Mir and crosses her legs.

"Sign on the door says 你 are a detective."

"So it does. What can I do for you? "

"Someone’s trying to kill me." she says.

"Why the hell anyone would one to kill such a gorgeous looking woman? "

"That's what I want 你 to find out."

Mir chuckles. "Fair enough. However, the introduction between us hasn’t been properly sketched yet. "

"Bubble tease. "

Mir coughs and clears his throat. It's suddenly hot in here. The urge to put a finger in his 领, 衣领 and tug is being strongly resisted 由 him. "And why do 你 think there is an attempt to kill you? "

She doesn’t answer right away. She shudders almost imperceptibly, but Mir pretends not to notice. He waits her out. A silent pause for a right amount of time is being celebrated.
Finally, she says " I'm part of a performance crew at a club, Mr. Mir Jack. In fact, I am the singer of the team and have become the most 流行的 member ."

He's curious as the way her face pinches as she admits this, but he merely says " Call me Mir. " and leans back in his chair knowing she is about to explain herself.

She nods and takes a breath.

" As I mentioned, Mir, I am the most 流行的 crew member from the performance team. I am now the 最佳, 返回页首 singer -- the reason they sell tickets. I think that's why someone is probably trying to kill me. Only, not in any normal sense. 你 see the other 前一个 no. 1 spot holders all died. "

"How's that?"

Bubble shrugs. " Varieties of ways. Foxxy got run over 由 a bus and Rita fell out of a 7th floor window. "

" Sounds like a pair of unfortunate accidents ." Mir tells her.

"That's what the boys down at the station house concluded." She gets up and paces the floor. "But, 你 don't know all the facts. "

"Excuse my ignorance. Apparently, I happen to be not an omniscient deity" Mir 回复 sarcastically.

Bubble laughs and says " I will spit the facts and clues, alright. Just hold your fire."

"I am listening. "

"Foxxy was paranoid of crossing traffic. It was practically a phobia with her. Her father got run over and killed when she was 11 years old, 你 see. It stuck with her. "

" That sort of things always does. "

" She was always cautious. There’s no way in hell Foxxy walked out into traffic without checking first. "

"Either of them take drugs? 或者 any drinking issue?"

She gives him an exasperated look. "Just because we are dancers and singers doesn’t mean we're booze hounds as well, Mr. Jack."

"You didn’t answer my question."

"It's true that Foxxy likes to hit the bottle sometimes, but she wasn't drinking that night. I am certain of it because I was with her all 日 till she left. And Rita... She was strait-laced. A good lad. She fell out of a hotel window that doesn’t open. Just fell right out. Even the police couldn’t explain it. "

Mir leans back and makes a steeple out of his fingers.
"That is suspicious indeed. The bobbies look into it?"

She snorts. "In a city like Deadslump? No one cares if a couple of singers and dancers turn up dead. The cops lists it as accidents. "

"Big blue meanies aren’t really open-minded about this sort of things." Mir agrees". "Howbeit, I don't entirely blame them because their ignorance stems from the lack of expertise on this subject. They cannot see beyond the realms of this realities logic. So, anyway, what do their deaths got to do with you? What entice the belief that 你 are next? "

Bubble inched over her own thoughts like a measuring worm. With a brooding look, she responded " Both were headliners. Both were 流行的 and had my part. Someone 或者 something killed them, Mir. I just know it! Won't 你 help me, Mir? "

Mir weighs his options. This is the first paying 演出, gig he has seen in a while and he could really use the money. Despite the urge for asking expensive payment, Mir felt sympathy for this girl.
At the moment, he felt like he would have 给 anything for the power to soothe her frail soul, tormenting itself in its invincible ignorance like a small bird beating about the cruel wires of a cage. However, without money, it’s not possible for him to properly investigate since he has no money at all at the moment. So, he decided to ask for a mid-range payment that should be not 更多 than sufficient for the investigation.

"Of course I will help, but I don't work for free. "

"I understand. How much? "

"50 dollars a day, plus 80 upfront." He tells her.

Bubble gives another long look, like she could see right into his very soul... figuring out what type of man he is. Mir suppresses a smile as she renders her verdict 由 opening her fashionably small pocketbook with a deft click, rapidly counting out the money. After the clarification of the money part, he turns on to real business.

"So, did they have any enemies? Financial problems? Debt that she is not repaying? Any jealous ex-boyfriend? "

Bubble only shakes her head.

"So what about you, then? Any enemies? "

For a heartbeat 或者 two

she breathed in, held the air, and let it out. With a quivering lip, blinking eyes, color rising in cheeks, she 说 " No..Not exactly enemy, but my ex-boyfriend do appears at the club regularly. But, he does nothing troubling. It's true that he is a creep and his presence discomforts me. He knows it very well and may be that's why is regular at the club. He comes in every Friday night. "

"Tell me more. " Mir inquires.

"He has a flushed rosy skin with dark coaled eyes. And a ring on his pinky."

"Can 你 give me his adress?" Mir asked.

"Absolutely." she replies. With vice-like grip, she grabbed the pen and started 写作 the adress in a paper like a thousand candles lighting the way.

"Here. " She says.

"Alright. These were essential clues. I will start my investigation grounded on these intels."

"Thanks for taking my case, Mir. I will see 你 on Friday night? Really hope 你 will be there to see my performance . "

"Count on it, doll."