The Mysterious Disappearance of Alistair Avery: A Finnigan Flynn Investigation

I

Inspector Finnigan Flynn was a large man, rippling with muscle, which was why he always felt cramped in his miniature sized flat. Most of the floor space was dedicated to his various inventions, very few of which actually did what they had been intended for. Instead, most of them just spewed clouds of steam and made unexplainable sounds. Today he was tinkering with his latest machine, something he knew would make him rich -- if he could only get it to work.

"Aha!" He stood up and hoisted his invention over his shoulders. There were two metal cords which he held in his hands and tried not to salivate as he prepared himself. "This one will work, it's got to."

He pressed the buttons on the ends of each metal cord and waited. The machine on his back grew warm and he heard it struggle to perform. He hopped into the air a couple of times and started mumbling under his breath. He was so disappointed by his failure, in fact, that he was almost relieved when he heard a knock at the door.

"Yes?" Flynn said as he swung his front door open. The man on the other side was dressed in a finely pressed suit with a bowler hat perched atop his balding head.

"Inspector Finnigan Flynn?" The man asked. Flynn watched the man crane his neck to peer with an unhappy gaze at his home.

"Yeah?" Flynn said.

"I am Bernard MacAully." The man extended a stiff hand for Flynn to shake.

"Yeah?" Flynn said again, ignoring the hand and crossing his arms over his chest impatiently.

"I'm sorry...is this a bad time?" The man said, looking at the glowing, noisy machine on Flynn's back. "I mean, I've got work for you is all."

Flynn flushed with embarrassment. "Of course, of course, come in!" He stepped aside for the man to enter and shoved some small, ticking trinkets off his desk before taking a seat on the edge of the scarred wooden surface. He gestured for Bernard MacAully to take the only chair in the room and said, "please, tell me about the job."

"Well..." MacAully ventured slowly into the office, looking critical of the mess as he tiptoed over discarded machines. "I've been sent by Mr. Gordon."

"Mr. Gordon..." Flynn scratched his head for a moment before his eyes lit up. "You mean Henry Gordon? The Prime Minister?"

"Precisely." MacAully grinned. "He would like to meet with you in The Fortress. He's got quite a big job for you."

"A big job?" Flynn pondered the possibilities. "What kind of big job?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss such things. If you are interested I'm to take you straight to The Fortress to meet with the Prime Minister himself."

"You want me to accept a job without any kind of details?" Flynn asked. His latest invention, still straped to his back, was beginning to grow louder and hotter.

"Well, what I can say is that it will pay quite handsomely. This particular job is quite dear to Mr. Gordon's heart and one that he'd like to see solved as soon as possible." MacAully's grin twisted even wider as he spoke. "That's why I've come to you, Inspector Flynn. Rumour has it you're the best of the best. But if you're not interested I hear Patrick O'Neil isn't so busy at the moment."

Flynn returned MacAully's grin and nodded. "Well, I am the best..." His voice trailed off as he thought for a moment then leapt to his feet and extended his hand for MacAully. "I'm in then, if only because the Prime Minister deserves better than ruddy O'Neil. That man couldn't find his nose on a good day."

MacAully raised to his feet and shook Flynn's hand. "Very well, off to The Fortress with us then. There is much to be done...er..." MacAully stared at the machine on Flynn's back. It was smoking and hissing. "If you don't mind my asking, sir, just what is that machine supposed to do?"

"Oh this?" Flynn's smile widened as he got an opportunity to discuss his invention. "This is a PFD. I hear the government is working on developing their own airships, so I figured I'd make a pretty penny off a thing like this, if any ship goes down over Warracksford I hope that it'll be 'Flynn's Own PFD's' that save the lives of the passengers."

"So...you intend on saving lives with a machine that...makes a lot of noise?" MacAully seemed confused.

Flynn laughed. "Oh no no, it doesn't work just yet. PFD stands for Personal Flying Device, of course. When it's finished, this puppy'll--" Flynn was cut off as flames exploded from the bottom of the PFD. He shot through the air and slammed into the far wall, then into the ceiling a couple of times before the thing sputtered and the flames disappeared. Flynn hit the floor hard, the back of his trousers burned completely off.

"Oh my..." MacAully did not seem impressed by the machine's lack lustre performance.

Flynn just laughed and grabbed hold of his pounding head. He felt a small bump already beginning to form and stood up, struggling to keep his tattered pants on. "Clearly, there are still a few bugs to work out."