Noir Cat 6: The Deal at Dawn (4/25/15)

Welcome to Noir Week on My Slow Mo Cat! This week, we have one story told in six parts with accompanying Slow Mo Videos, of course. This is the sixth part of Emily's account of a recent investigation she took part in.

Part 1: Trouble in the Night
Part 2: The Screams of the City
Part 3: Shadows in the Dark
Part 4: Gleam in the Gutter
Part 5: The Dark Night, and the Cold Ground

Part 6: The Deal at Dawn

As the two men made their way slowly down the street, I watched. They looked this way and that and then turning towards #10 and looking at the ground they approached. I ducked below the window frame. They couldn't be following my footsteps could they? Surely the street was still wet enough to disguise my prints. As their sounds of their shuffling feet drew nearer, I realized I didn't know what to do about Nancy and James if the two men tried to enter the house.

As i crouched worrying, the light from the street was suddenly obscured. I could see the outline of two tall, dark hat-wearing shadows. The wavered there in the yellow light before finally turning away. I waited a full minute before daring to peek over the window sill. Nothing. I breathed the tiniest sigh of relief. With most of the night gone I tried to get as much sleep as possible.

Barely three hours later I was up. Nancy and James are early risers. I could hear them upstairs, their voices filtering down. I figured Nancy was telling James I was here. Sure enough when they came down they were together. I hopped down from my spot under the window and joined them in the kitchen. After a few pleasantries, I dove right in. I told them all about my night and how I'd ended up on their doorstep.

James looked at me when I'd finished recounting the story of the night. "Let me see that cufflink." was all he said. I nudged it to him with my paw. He looked at it for a long time, turning it over in his hands. He looked from the cufflink to me and then back to the cufflink as if asking me "are you serious?"

Finally, he spoke. "I think I know where we can find this little guy's owner." As nonplussed as Nancy had been the night before when I turned up, her expression was nothing to mine when I heard him say that. He continued, "This GG, it's the mark of a new gang in town. Their leader is a man named George Gracious. He matches the description of the scarred man you were talking about. Their headquarters isn't far from here. If you're up to it, we could go over there and see what we can find?"

"Absolutely!" I leapt from my seat and, with James in tow, headed straight out the door.

It became clear after we had been driving for awhile, that by "their headquarters is near here" what James had meant is, "their headquarters is in the same state." We drove for almost half an hour in James' old, half-broken car. I stood with my hind paws on the passenger seat and my front paws propped on the door so I could easily look out the window.

James stopped the car outside of a small warehouse with several broken windows, tarnished brickwork and a sign that warned "No Trespassing." James and I got out of the car and as we did, I heard a voice call out...

To be continued...

Emily never stops working on the case: