[PNPGFF] - Chapter 1

Homicide Detective Jared Clemmings stared at the stack of papers on his desk. Nothing was making sense and he was getting no where. It was almost five and most were heading home, but he was stuck in his office trying to figure out why a guy’s wife was suddenly missing.

There was a knock on his door and one of his coworkers, Robert, poked his head in. “You still staring at Smith’s case?”

“Yeah,” Jared replied, “something isn’t right and it’s bothering me but I can’t figure out what it is exactly.”

“She might just show up you know, it’s not like her husband was a mean guy or something.”

“I don’t think she left because of him, but why would she just disappear like that?”

Robert sighed, came into the office, and seated himself, “Talk to me.”

“Look at these pictures.” Jared layed out some pictures of the house, “The place was crystal-clean and she took nothing, absolutely nothing. And like I said, her husband isn’t a mean guy, he rarely got drunk and the neighbors say they never heard the two fight.”

“So, maybe she was bored and moved on.”

“Why though?”

“I don’t know, some women are like that. Why are you even working on this case? It’s not really your line of work, no one is dead.”

“Johnny was stumped and asked me to help.”

“Well, I’ve got nothing and neither do you.”

Jared sighed, “Something’s off.”

Robert rolled his eyes, “Detectives…”

“I could ask Zipporah for her opinion.”

“Who?”

“Zipporah Crusoe, that consultant friend of mine who has a knack for finding ‘invisible’ leads.”

“So, you’ve been sitting here for hours, wasting my time and yours, when you could’ve asked someone who would probably either find something or knock some sense into you?”

Jared chuckled, “Rude much?”

“Rude much? At least I’m not wasting someone else’s time!”

“Yeah… I see your point.”

Robert rolled his eyes, “Took you long enough.”

Jared ignored him and got up, “You wanna come or would it be another waste of your time?”

“Waste of my time?,” Robert smiled, “I don’t have anything better to be doing.”

Jared laughed and locked his door, “You’re horrible.”

The two rode in Jared’s car, most of the twenty-minute ride was done in silence. The consultant lived in the outskirts of Boise surrounded by acres of land. She liked privacy, dogs, and horses and her land was reflected that. Groves of trees lined the land closest to her house and horses could be seen grazing nearby. It was a peaceful place, like most of Idaho.

“Oh, almost forgot.” Jared spoke, “She’s aphonic, but don’t underestimate that.”

“She’s what?” Robert asked.

“Aphonic, voiceless, unable to speak.”

“You couldn’t just say she’s a mute?”

“That term isn’t very nice so I found a different one.”

Robert rolled his eyes, “You’re something else. I don’t know much sign language.”

“Hang around here and you’ll pick up a lot. Many of the neighbors know it and some of them use it to communicate with each other on hunts and stuff.”

“Huh, cool, I guess.”

“Yeah, she trains the hunting dogs too. She’s got three dogs, don’t remember their breeds but they’re the large kinds and she trained them to be guard dogs.”

“Ugh, not a big fan of dogs.”

“Why not? They’re man’s best friends.”

“Not every man’s and definately not mine.”

“You scared of ‘em?”

“No, just don’t really care for ‘em.”

“Right…” Jared smiled, “how long have you been afraid of dogs?”

“I’m not afraid of dogs!”

“That’s what they all say.”

Robert scowled, “Fine, I was afraid of dogs when I was younger but I get over it.”

“Really? How?”

“My aunt sent me to work at a shelter for two weeks, they had a ton of dogs there.”

Jared burst out laughing, “No way!”

“Yup, I hated it for the first week, enjoyed it the second.”

“I guess that’s one way of getting rid of your fears.”

“What about you? Have any fears?”

“Well… I still hate spiders and I can deal with roaches from a distance. I also don’t like pigs, they’re horrible.”

“Pigs?”

“Yup, sticky, muddy, big pigs.”

“How did you get afraid of pigs, they’re pigs.”

“You get stuck in a pen with three and let me know how that goes.”

“What? How in the world?”

“A story for another time, we’re almost there.”

“You just don’t want to relive the experience.”

“Not everyone has an aunt who helps them get over their fears.”

“They’re lucky, she was brutal.”

“Brutal? How?”

“Like you said, a story for another time, we’re almost there.”