The Curious Case of the Two Dirk Gentlys

10: Interviewing Athos

Victoria didn't know how exactly to describe the conversation that took place in her front room that day. She didn't know what to call it then and she wouldn't for the rest of her life. It was kind of like an interrogation mixed with a casual over tea chat. This in itself wasn't so bad. After all tea time interrogation pretty much summed up all her conversations with her friends. It was the fact it was taking place with a mildly psychic Sherlock Holmes that made it weird. He insisted that he wasn't psychic of course but Victoria strongly disagreed. Less than ten minutes after he entered the house he'd already predicted that she wanted the previously mentioned tea and made it exactly how she liked it without having to ask. He could almost be considered extremely pleasant if he wasn't giving off the impression that he absolutely did not want to be there.

"I hope you're not thinking of replacing me with him." Robert joked.

"You don't have to worry about that, Mr Wilson. I've got much bigger fish to fry." Said Svald. He retrieved a small notepad and a pen from his pocket. Dirk noticed that he didn't change it between cases. As Svald flipped through he noticed the jotted ink scribbles of adventures past. Dirk wished he could see it up close, compare notes, but all he could catch was brief words like 'Thor' and 'Time machine'.

"You had a time machine incident to?" Asked Dirk curiously.

"It's rude to look over people's shoulders, Mr Gently." Commented Svald.

"Sorry, sorry." Dirk backed away. He'd already accepted that he wouldn't be the main detective on this case. He just had to trust in the stream of creation and listen to Svald. "Double cowinky dink." He whispered to Todd.

"Now, Mrs Wilson, have you ever seen any of the disappearances directly?" Asked Svald.

"No." Victoria shook her head

"Mr Wilson?" Svald prompted.

"No, never." Robert confirmed.

"No pop? No blink and you'll miss it flash?" Asked Todd. Both Victoria and Robert shook their heads. All the disappearances had happened while they were out of the room or while they were distracted by something else. It was almost as if someone was being very sneaky.

"Maybe we knows." Richard mumbled as the Wilson's child toddled and played blissfully around their feet.

"He couldn't tell you if he did." Sighed Robert. "Albert isn't much of a talker."

"Oh he'll get there." Said Svald. He scooped baby Albert up and softly placed him on his knee. Albert laughed and clapped, seemingly thrilled by his sudden flight. His  hands waved and wandered as he began to curiously tug on Svald's clothes. "If only you were a little older. You'd probably be much more helpful than these two."

"Oh well that's charming." Commented Robert.

"We're going to need a list of everyone whose been in this house since the disappearances began. Preferably with dates of all the visits." Said Svald.

"Oh. I-I don't know if-" Victoria stuttered.

"Writing things down always helps me remember." Svald interrupted. He handed over his little tattered notepad and pen. Victoria nodded. Arguments seemed like a terrible idea considering how desperate for help she was.

"I don't like this, Dirk. I haven't seen anything like this since Blackwing. I don't know if I can deal with this again." Said Victoria as she held back tears.

"You won't have to for long. I promise." Assured Dirk.

"You were in Blackwing?" Asked Todd.

"Project Athos." Nodded Victoria.

"What's your thing?" Asked Todd. He'd never met anyone from Blackwing so...normal. If it wasn't for the ongoing case he'd consider her to be perfectly regular.

"Todd." Dirk said loudly.

"Sorry, I'm curious." Todd grumbled.

"No, no it's fine. I see connections. Not like Dirk does. I see connections between people. Family, friends. Who should be together and who shouldn't. I never know exactly which connections mean what though. I just know they're there." Explained Victoria. "Interesting vibes between you two." She chuckled through the tears as she pointed at Todd and Dirk.

"That's urr that's funny." Laughed Dirk.

"Yeah, what would make you think that?" Todd asked awkwardly.

"Something between you and Dirk too. I can't read that at all." Victoria told Svald as she handed back the notepad.

"Perhaps you're misreading things." Said Svald as he took the notepad out of her hands. He skimmed over it. Not many people had visited the Wilson household. Clearly they were quite an isolated family. This was possibly quite helpful for the investigation. Fewer people, fewer possibilities. With hope it wouldn't be too hard to pick the right lead.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give you more." Said Victoria.

"Oh don't be silly. We'll use this and get back to you as soon as possible." Said Svald.

"I don't know. Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Asked Robert.

"Whether I do or I don't, I don't do refunds." Svald smiled reminding Robert that he'd paid in advance. "Good day, Mr Wilson, Mrs Wilson." He said as he handed their son back to Victoria. The group clumsily left with the little information they had, taking one last look at the house as they went.

"So did we get anything good?" Asked Dirk as they headed towards the car.

"Absolutely nothing." Huffed Svald. As he reached for the car door he suddenly realised there was a lack of weight on his head. "Wasn't I wearing a hat when I came in?"