Felony Jones

The Wisdom of Pearl

     Felony walked into City Hall a bit nervous. Walking into any official government building always made her uneasy. Her distrust for civil servants had become her default position from personal experience. The auditory assault from the echo of voices and dozens of shoes clacking around on the marble floors gave her nervous flutters. Background noise generally agitated her, and it didn't help that she had an enormous headache. She jumped on the first available elevator door that opened. Normally she would have taken the stairs, but she didn't want to be out of breath by the time she got to the Mayor's office. When she stepped off the elevator and walked into the reception area, the first thing she noticed was the carpet. It was orange, and it was ugly, but it kept the place pretty well insulated from noise compared to the lobby so she wasn't going to fuss. She walked up to the reception desk and was met by a mousy, extra thin brunette who wore a pair of half glasses with a thin chain attached, and what looked to be a homemade knitted sweater, buttoned only at the top. Felony could tell right away this was the woman Wanda told her about. She was buttoned up and just going by the looks of her, she practically secreted efficiency. There was something about her that told you she kept track of everything going on in the place. It was Pearl.

"Hello, may I help you?" She wasn't as perky as Felony thought she would be, but she was in the ballpark.

"Good morning, I was wondering if I could see Chester or Charles, for a quick chat if possible. I think that's his name. In any case, I was told he's the assistant to the Mayor."

"There's a Charlie, Charlie Fortis, and he's the assistant to the Mayor. Do you have an appointment?"

"I don't—but it would only take a few minutes of his time, I promise." Felony was trying to be nice, even going as far as giving her a generous smile, which would have looked very odd to anybody who actually knew her. She didn't excel at charming people and didn't have the stamina for it most of the time. She was really laying it on thick today.

"Well, Mr. Fortis is a very busy man, usually you would need to have an appointment." Just then a door across the room opened, catching the attention of Pearl. A man came out and started walking toward another door. He noticed Felony and Pearl staring at him, so he immediately changed course and approached them.

"Mr. Fortis, do you have a moment? This citizen would like to speak to you if you do."

Citizen... Felony thought.

"What's this about?" Fortis asked, sizing Felony up.

"It's sort of a personal matter. Maybe we could—"

"It's best if you make an appointment." Fortis said abruptly and turned to walk away.

"It's about Michael Kurlow..."

Fortis stopped and spun around. "Let's move over here." He led Felony to a quiet corner of the reception area. "Who did you say you were?"

"My name is Felony Jones, I'm a private investigator. I'm looking for Michael Kurlow. His mother hired me to find him. You do know him, correct?"

"I—I have heard of him, yes." Fortis' cool exterior changed. He became a bit nervous and shifted in place. "How did you find me? I mean, who told you to come and talk to me?"

"Do you know a Max Charm?"

Fortis gave a quick eye roll. "Yeah, I know Max. I met him years ago when I first came to Los Angeles, but we're not really friends and I haven't been in contact with him for a long time."

"Okay. Well, just for the record he didn't tell me anything specific about you. In fact, he just mentioned you in passing. My job is to find Michael and I'm talking to anyone who knew him, or can give me some insight as to what he was doing around the time he disappeared."