The Jar of Nephren-Ka

The Hunt is On

New Orleans, Louisiana: 4:14 PM, Tuesday, June 5th, 1984

Back at 920 Julia, Coventry's Rolls was still illegally parked at the curb, but Rufus's rig was nowhere to be seen. I locked the cruiser and went inside, where I sat up shop back in the conference room.

The first thing I did was check his file for next of kin. Finding none, I checked his insurance paperwork to see who his beneficiary was. It was a non-profit, the Society for Esoteric Knowledge. The file included a contact name and number, which I wrote in my notebook.

I picked up the phone and dialed. After a few rings, a familiar voice that I had not heard in far too long answered.

"Guidry," came the gruff, tinny, disembodied voice.

"So I see they are still suffering a white man as captain in 4th district," I said, a smile trying to form on my lips.

"Rev! Goddamn son, but it's been a long time." I could visualize Freddy's face cracking into that broken granite smile of his; all uneven and somehow full of lines.

"Sorry Freddy, I... I've had a lot on my mind. How's Janet, little Fred?"

"Shit, Janet's threatening divorce again if I don't agree to RV across the whole damn country when I retire. She might even mean it this time. Fred's a teenager now, or close enough it makes no difference."

I thought about that. Last time I saw him, little Fred was 8, spitting image of his dad, just at one-third size. Now he would be nearly 12.

"Christ, time flies," I said.

"Yep." There was a pause. "So, what's up?" Freddy asked, concern clear in his voice.

I could feel a bit of warmth invade my heart at that. It was just like Freddy to take the first phone call from me in four years and want to know how he could help me.

"I hate to do this after so long, but I wanted to see if I could get a record search."

There was a pause, then Freddy answered, his voice soft, understanding.

"Sure Rev, of course. I can get you city, county and state pretty quickly, but federal will take some time."

"Shouldn't need federal, though if you could check Georgia, I'd appreciate it. His last residence was there."

"Violent?" he asked.

"I don't think so. Larceny."

"Wanna file a report?"

"Nah," I said. "Client wants to handle it privately." I gave him Kinsey's details.

"I'll put someone on it. Call back later today and I'll update you."

"Sounds good," I said.

There was another uncomfortable pause. "Rev?"

"Yea?"

"If you're in town, Janet and Fred would love to see you for dinner some night."

"Yea," I said, exhaling slowly. "Yea. I'll make the time. Talk to you soon," I said, and placed the phone back on the cradle.

I took a second to compose myself. I hadn't seen Janet or Fred since the accident, and just thinking about them made me want to fold in on myself. I could almost feel the judgment in their eyes, reflecting my shame.

I shook my head as if to clear it, focused back on the case.

I pulled out the credit card statement I had picked up in Kinsey's apartment, looking it over for anything unusual. There were a couple of mail-order charges from Sears, but other than that, the card seemed unused. Kinsey paid the balance in full monthly, it looked like, and only used the card for things he could not buy with cash.