A Quin Gallup Mystery

Chapter 1 - What a Beautiful Neigh.

The city of Neigham was a diverse place. Nestled between the northern United States and southern Canada, the small independent nation sprouted from an industrial boom in the region and grew into a bustling metropolis. Mechanically, the city worked like Vatican City in Italy; It was independent and prosperous, yet relied heavily on imports from it's neighbors. Bordering the west-most point of Lake Superior, the city used it's access to waterways to ship out wartime technology, funding the massive brick and steel buildings that stand within it's aptly named Industrial District. The profits of a world war grew the town into a city and the city into a nation, and the nation knew it's worth.

And there, nestled in between Saint Chopper's Hair Salon and Little Yorksey's Horn Emporium was my office: Quin Gallup, Private Investigator.

And it was on a cold winter morning in that office that I came to know one Maxine Hellen. She was the daughter of a plant worker, one who'd retired after the war before the plant shut down. She'd contacted me a week prior to set up our rendezvous, and I'd looked forward to it since. As much crime as there'd been, business was slow. Not much need for a PI when you have a security camera recording every move of every shmuck throughout the town.

She entered my office, dressed in a large tan trench coat. I could see a brown tie underneath and she wore a fedora over her blonde hair.

"Ms. Hellen. Nice to finally meet your acquaintance."
"You as well, Mr. Gallup." She spoke with a soft yet firm tone. "I understand PI work has been sparse lately?"
"Cases are few and far in between, Ms. Hellen. Few and far in between, especially for a guy like me."
"I understand. Well hopefully I have one that would give you somethin' to graze on."

I sat forward in my chair, placing my front hooves on a manila folder on the desk. Of course I'd run a background check already. I was no amateur.

"It's my father." She said. "He's gone missing."
"Fredrick Hellen? 187 Juxtapose Street?"
"Y- Yes." She seemed surprised that I knew so much.
"I've done some digging on your family, Maxine. I hope you don't mind. Didn't want to be getting tangled up with anyone... dangerous."

She nodded and sat down in the swivel chair in front of my desk. Outside, snow began to fall again on the windowsill. The rooftops were white, and the trees were bare.

My office stood out in the snow. It was red on the outside and orange on the inside. The natural light was all I needed, providing a dark sort of atmosphere that complimented the stacks of newspapers and paperwork around the place.

"I don't know what happened to him. I called the police and they told me he'd turn up eventually. A missing person's report doesn't do much when no one's looking, though."

Of course I knew what she meant by this. Neigham's police force, unlike us local detectives, had been largely overworked within the past year, with crime rates rising to record levels. The war ended and factories closed and many citizens found themselves stranded in a small new nation with few jobs.

"Where was the last place you saw him?"
"In his living room. Watching Jeopardy. I'd visited to discuss the new meds his doctor had put him on."

"Ah, is that what this is?" I asked, pulling a prescription for a drug called Testrup out of the folder. I'd snagged it off a public database. It's really amazing what kind of information you could find online.

"Yes. He said he'd start taking that to give him energy, but without it he'd be fine, just a bit unmotivated."
"I see. It sounds like your father's house is a good place to start, then. Do you have a key or any way I could get in?"
"Not on me, but there should be one in a small box in the garden, under the birdhouse."
"Great. I'll pay it a visit then, if you don't mind?"
"Thank you, Gallup. I am terribly worried about him. He hasn't answered his phone in three days, which is so out of character."
"Don't you worry. I'll get to the bottom of it in no time."

Maxine thanked me again and left. I watched her climb into a gray town car and drive away into the frigid air. The sun began to show it's face up above the skyline of Neigham, illuminating the snow in the street. What a beautiful day.