QED

Chapter 19 - Lucinda

Lucinda leaned back her head and looked up the façade of the building. It was old, to say the least. It also seemed as if it would collapse at the lightest gust of wind. If it hadn't been for Rita, she wouldn't even go close to places like this.

However, this was exactly the address Mohammed Abd-al-Nur had given her. She could be lucky that he knew anymore where this Keira lived. She'd had so high hopes in the meeting with her former dance teacher. But this address and loads of photos of ten-year-old Keira were the only things she'd gotten out of it. She had been a cute child, though.

Without much more hesitation, Lucinda entered the building. Immediately, a wave of stale air hit her. The staircase itself wasn't more inviting, either. Like the whole building, it had the certain too-old-to-be-lived-in flair: Tapestry coming down the walls, undefinable stains on the stairs, a more than unstable railing.

Turning up her nose, Lucinda went up to the third floor. Next to the first door, there wasn't any name to be seen. Same procedure with all the other doors. She groaned. Were the people so poor that they couldn't even afford such a triviality?

Resigned, she knocked at the door that looked the most acceptable. Then she waited. And waited. Until finally, a young man with innocent, sheepish features opened the door. When he saw Lucinda in her stylish wide jeans and a Dior top of the newest collection, he automatically straightened his back.

She smiled as friendly as she could in this house of horror. Probably, there even were cockroaches luring in the corners, ready to attack her. If the situation was different, she would have shivered.

"Hi," she greeted the man. "I'm searching a certain Keira Thompson, but I'm a little bit lost right now. Do you maybe know where I can find her?"

"Um... She lives right next to me. But she isn't home right now. Is it urgent?"

That wasn't optimal at all. She didn't have much time anymore until she had to go back home to dress up for Mark's parent's party.

"Quite. Do you have an idea where she might be?"

He stared at her for a moment. "Well, I suppose so. You could visit Moonsun Pole Dance Studio. That's where she often went in the last months."

"Oh, that helps a lot." Lucinda didn't even have to fake being thankful. "If she isn't there as well, is there any other place I could look for her?"

He shrugged. "Just her new working place. She didn't tell me much about it, though. I just know that it's a large security company in Manhattan."

"Thank you! But if you see her, please don't tell her I came. It's supposed to be a surprise."

"Sure." He grinned. "If you need any more help, you're always welcome to come back. My name's Xavier, by the way."

"Lucinda," she replied. "It was nice to meet you!"

With those words, she turned away. Only when she was out of his sight, she began to hurry. She needed to get out of this ugly house. How people could live here was incomprehensible. She would rather take out a loan than renting a flat in such a rat hole.

But at least, she'd gotten some more information. Arriving back on the street, she looked up the pole dance studio. And she was lucky. It was just two streets away. 

While she went her way, she began googling big security companies with their seat in Manhattan. Many names were nothing new, of some she'd never heard. It would take too much of her precious time, however, to visit all of them. That had to wait either until later or until she got more concrete information.

In contrast to Keira's house, the dance studio was in a more than acceptable state. It had a clean glass front door and a light entrance hall. It wasn't big, but they had used the space well.