'It was a Saturday morning, Mary opened the door to bring in the newspaper. And as she picked it up, under the folds of the paper….she found hidden a mysterious envelope with her name on it. She pried it open hastily. Inside there was a short note. It read……
Dear Mary,
Meet me Sunday , 10am sharp at The Belladonna.
Sincerely,
The Shadow
Mary was wonder struck, who could this” Shadow” be and how did he know her name? Why did he want to meet her? A million questions spun through her mind. She woke up early the next morning after tossing and turning in bed all night long.
The Belladonna was a swanky hotel a few blocks from her house. A place visited by the rich and famous of the town……….what should she wear? A mysterious meeting…..
she ended up wearing a formal dress . It was nearing 10 am and she was so overcome by curiosity that she almost ran the two blocks to The Belladonna. It being early, the front lounge was as yet almost empty. Just as Mary put her wits together and started to stride with an air of confidence toward the reception she spotted a man in a black formal suit who was sitting at the corner sofa jump up and move towards her. The man looked very serious, was tall and well built. He seemed to be hiding behind a pair of dark glasses which he refused to take off all through the meeting. It made Mary more certain that he had something to hide.
Mary? He enquired hesitantly.
Mary nodded and he led her to where he was sitting earlier. As she sat down Mary couldn’t help but notice that the décor at The Belladonna was dominated appropriately by the colour red…… it almost felt sinister to Mary at this time. Overcome with curiosity she blurted out…..”How do you know my name?” The man answered in an impatient tone, I am a special agent working for the FBI. You may call me The Shadow. And I have no time to answer your childish questions. I have been sent on an important mission……and it concerns you.
The man refused to divulge his real name and kept his dark glasses on. This made Mary feel very uneasy but she didn’t get much time for her thoughts as the man started to throw questions at her.
Mary held on and asked “Before we continue sir, may I ask what is your real name? “
Shadow answered sharply. “I cannot tell you …. We heard that a man named Ron has been threatening you….. Can you tell us why??
Mary was by now quite convinced that Shadow was not there to harm her so she decided to tell him the truth. “Sir, Ron lost his younger sister 2 years back .He was very close to her. After she passed on he missed her so much he went into a depression.”
After a long pause…. Shadow nodded his head and said “ I see ,That may have started the problem.”
Mary who had not worried much about Ron’s threats until now felt a little alarmed. She asked Shadow” Is there a problem with him ,sir??
From behind his glasses Shadow sounded almost sympathetic.“ Actually Mary, he’s now in a Mental hospital…..
Mary was now taken aback. She blurted out. “How did this happen? Is he going to be alright ,sir?”
“I don’t know about that” Shadow said brusquely, “he’s been threatening people including you…. And he said you were an old friend ….. we wanted to talk to you and get more information about him.”
Mary now spoke in a scared voice. Her throat suddenly seemed parched “What about it?” She said. “Were you close to him? Asked Shadow
Yes, we were very good friends…but after his sister’s death he would be angry a lot. Every time I tried to calm him down…….he would for a while and again flare up and start to fight even more. It became too much for me and then I stopped visiting him“.
Shadow was now looking concerned. “He is now threatening to kill you!” the meeting with Shadow who left..... saying that he’d get back to Mary in a few days.
