Lovejoy, Private Eye

The One With The Angel - Part 1

If you ever think being a private eye is the right path for you, let me give you a tip: New York is a great place to start.

I've got customers whenever I could possibly need them. This city's full of crime, wether that crime is happening down in the sewers or in a crowded bar or in the street. Great for business; but is it a good thing?

No. Definitely not.

Here's another tip: It ain't really pretty stuff I'm dealing with. If you think being a detective is all epic chases and cool shootouts, well... You wouldn't be all wrong. But there's other stuff too, namely: the crimes, which are never nice to know about.

I mean, who's happy to hear that some poor lady's husband got murdered and that she wants to know by who? (Her, maybe, but that was only that one specific case. Turned out, her husband wasn't a great guy.)

And, oh, another tip for you: stop taking tips, kid, and get out there to make your own place in this world. Doing what people tell you to only gets you so far. You want to create your own thing, not your version of someone else's.

When I moved to the city six years ago, I was all full of determination and excitement; I was here on a mission, to make the world a better place one case at a time.

Now, I'm a little older and a little wiser and I know it's not me that'll be saving the world. That's for damn sure.

The excitement faded over the next year or so, but I discovered I had a talent for mysteries and a not-so-bad bluff game, which helped me make a name around here pretty quick.

Now, I've got my own office and my own desk with a nice brass nameplate on it.

'Jack Lovejoy, Private Eye'

I'm pretty proud of that little nameplate.

I've also got my own pile of paperwork sitting on my desk, mostly shuffled around and taking most of the desk's available space.

I should hire a secretary one of these days...

I wish someone would just barge into my office right now and say, "Oh, Mr. Lovejoy! I've got a case for you. It urgently requires your help and you'll need to put all of this paperwork aside to concentrate on this new mystery!"

I glance up at the door.

Huh. Guess I'm in luck.

Right on cue, I can hear footsteps running up the last stairs leading to my office and my door is thrown open.

"Mr. Lovejoy!"

The gentleman who entered in such a hurry is... certainly something to look at.

The first thing I always look at when faced with a new client: appearance. Though it's certainly true that you can't judge a book based on its cover, you can still learn a lot on said book by observing the way they dress, their posture, their nervous habits.

Blonde hair. That's the first thing I notice. He has wavy, golden hair that seems too soft and shiny to naturally fall in such a way; he probably spends a lot of time taking care of it, or someone does for him. So his appearance is certainly important, be it to him or to who it is he works for.

Blue eyes. They're surrounded, subtly, by dark brown eyeliner; he also seems to be wearing some pale eyeshadow, also brown, most likely designed to make his eyes stand out without being too noticeable.

He must be in the show-business, then. A musician, a singer, perhaps an actor. I've seen this type of subtle makeup on many performers, and some less subtle versions of it too.