The Adventures of Will Irving: Automaton Trouble

Chapter 1

"You've gotta be kidding me!" said the man.

"Like I said, Mac, she ain't working," replied a little old man who was mopping the hallway floor. "And when the lift ain't working, there's naught else to do but use our God-given..."

"Whatever, pops," interrupted the man as he turned and made his way toward the stairwell. "I hate the damn stairs."

It was easy to guess why the man was upset. It was a particularly hot summer afternoon, and he was already sweating quite profusely. The man was tall – huge actually – and thick. Not the lazy, fat boy kind of thick though, but rather the kind of thick that often finds itself on the giving end of cracked ribs, broken noses, and dislocated jaws. He wore a dark, pin-striped suit that looked like it wanted to burst and a dark, small-rimmed fedora that might pop off at a moment's notice. The guy looked the part of a brute, and he certainly wore it well.

The man eventually reached the third floor, huffing and puffing, and turned to walk down the narrow hallway until he arrived at a door that had "Irving & Marsden Investigative Services" printed on its frosted glass pane. Without so much as a knock, the man opened the door and entered the office.

"Be right there!" called a voice from an adjacent room after the dark-suited man had slammed the door shut.

The man stood near the door and took in the office. It was a tidy room with a spotless desk – probably the receptionist's – facing the door, two sage-colored upholstered armchairs against the wall to the man's left, a full bookshelf on the right, and a few filing cabinets behind the desk. A ceiling fan was slowly whirring overhead.

"Sorry about that. I'm the only one..." said a young man as he entered the room. "Oh, great...what do you want?"

"How's the detective business, Irving?" replied the man. "Thriving from the looks of it."

"Quit the chit chat, Julius, and just tell me what you want," shot back the young man as he moved to stand behind the desk.

"Take it easy, Will. No need to be rude," Julius chided.

"How may I help you leave then? That better?" Will Irving said with a smirk.

"Always with the attitude. That's your problem, Irving. That's why I can't stand you," Julius said, scowling.

"The feeling's mutual," Will stated.

"Whatever. Just take a look at this," Julius said as he threw a photograph onto the desk.

"What's that?" Will asked, feigning interest.

"Just look at it, will ya?" Julius insisted, clearly becoming aggravated.

Will took the photo and gave it a look. It was a black and white portrait of a beautiful young woman.

"Who's the dame?" asked Will.

"So you've never seen her before?" questioned Julius.

"Nope. Who is she?" replied Will.

"She hasn't been in here recently?" Julius pressed.

"How many times are you going to ask? No...and no to any other version of that question you're thinking of asking," Will responded.

"Well, if you do see her, you be sure to let us know right away," Julius stated.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to do that," Will said sarcastically as he tossed the photo back onto the desk. "And you be sure to let Moe Salley know that I don't work with creeps."

Suddenly, Julius shot toward the desk, reached across, and grabbed Will by the neck with his enormous right hand. He swung Will over the desk and then flung him forcefully into the bookshelf. Several books tumbled out of the bookshelf and onto Will's head. Will sat with his back against the bookshelf, dazed from the blow.

"You're no tough guy, Irving. In fact, you ain't no shamus either. Small time...lousy...just like your old man," Julius derided.

Will shook the stars from his head.

"You can move pretty fast when you want to, big guy," Will said as he touched a place on his head where blood was beginning to drip down. "I'll give you that. But you got one thing wrong."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Julius asked.

"I'm nothing like my father," Will stated firmly. "Are we done here?"

"If you see the girl?" prompted Julius.

"Nuts to that," Will said dismissively.

Julius began to take a step toward Will when the door suddenly burst open, and a young girl ran in.

"Will! Will! Guess what?" the girl shouted excitedly.

"Hey, Emily," Will said weakly.

Emily quickly took in her surroundings, looking first at Will and then quickly toward Julius before finally settling her attention back on Will.

"Will, what happened? You're bleeding!" Emily said, her demeanor quickly changing from excitement to concern.

Emily hurried over and knelt beside Will.

"I'm ok, Em. Just had a little scuffle with the bookshelf is all," Will said as comically as he could.

"I've got my eye on you, Irving," Julius said with an air of disgust. "You got lucky this time."

Julius made his way to the open door, stepped out into the hallway, and left.