Facing Worlds - Chapter 1

Nothing was making sense but I had to move quick. As I walked out the office door I thought to myself again and again, "This doesn't make sense".

I took a stroll down to Louie�s to clear my head. As I walked in the door, I was afraid of whether Gary would still be there. To much relief, I was lucky.

"What�s the matter Murph? You look a little on edge?"

"Nothing Louie, I just need a little time to clear my head"

"Well I've got the perfect thing for you Murph, you want to try some of my Award winning roast ham?"

"NO!"

"What's the matter Murph?"

"no, I'm sorry, bad memories"

"Okay, so whets the matter"

I sunk my head into my hands.

"Have you ever had one of those really bad..........."

"Murph"

I could not believe what I could see. Down at the foot of my chair. It was the exact same picture that Gary was examining in my dream.

I went down to pick it up.

"Louie! Was anyone in here earlier sitting at this exact same spot as me?"

"Well as a matter of fact there was." He said in thought.

"Can you explain this man to me?"

"Well he was kinda tall, quiet like, kept to himself, spoke very well, I would guess he was in his 40's, or so."

It was a lead of a lifetime, I had to find out all I could.

"Did he look anything like the man in this picture?"

He studied it.

"No, but where did you find that? That�s was the picture the man was holding in his hands for some time?"

"Did this man say anything to you?"

"No, not that I........"

"Louie, do you know something?"

He looked up at me, his eyes showing deep thought.

"He did ask where he could find a Mr Lee. I did not know who he was talking about so I told him I had no idea. Are you okay Murph, you look like you've seen a ghost?"

I had to get out of there, it was too much.

"I have to go Louie"

I ran out of there onto the street, hardly holding myself up. This was freaking me out and I still had not idea what was going on.

Just as I began to bring myself together, I heard something. It was coming from Rooks. I could hear two people arguing, two men. They sounded like they were at each other�s throats.

I brought myself to his window to take a closer look.

Matt Buckstein

I peered in the window. There were two men alright, Rook and a man I'd never seen before. It was hard to tell what they were arguing about from outside, so went inside. The second I entered they stopped arguing and turned towards me.

"This is not a good time Murphy!" Rook said.

"Sorry, just thought we could come by and play some poker."

"Out, Murphy!"

I didn't argue, I went outside and the second I closed the door the yelling began again. I guess I'll just leave it alone.

Just then I remembered something, Chester had dropped off the coordinates to an Anita Simmons with Chelsee. Maybe she's someone that I could talk to about getting paid. I ran across the street and hopped in my speeder and pulled out the piece of paper with the coordinates. I typed them in on the console and set the speeder on auto-pilot.

It took about ten minutes to get to Miss Simmons apartment. She lived in San Jose, in a luxury apartment, probably one of the nicest I've seen in my life. Since I had no idea what apartment she lived in, I looked her up in the directory. Room 1804. I took the elevator to the 18th floor and found room 1804. I knocked and several seconds later I was greeted by a woman, probably in her mid to late forties. She had straight brown hair, down to her shoulders, with a few signs of grey starting to show. If I wasn't still hoping my relationship with Chelsee could go somewhere, I may have asked her out.

"Are you Anita Simmons?"

"Yes, and who might you be?"

"My name's Tex Murphy, I'm a private investigator. I was hired by a Mr. Chester Smith, yesterday. He left the coordinates to this location and your name."

"How could Chester have hired you? He was found dead yesterday."

"I'm aware of that. Actually I wanted to talk to you about that."

She hesitated for a moment, staring me down in attempt to determine whether I was trustworthy or not. Apparently I passed the visual inspection, "Come on," she motioned with her arm for me to enter.

The apartment was filled with artefacts and classic art. In the centre of the main room there was a couch and love seat, made of the finest leather, all in front of the most amazing glass coffee table I'd seen in my life. Anita motioned for me to sit on the sofa. She sat in the love seat.

"So, Mr. Murphy, what is it exactly that you wanted to ask me?"

"Well, apparently Mr. Smith had found a wooden statuette on one of his recent expeditions. He hired me to track it down."

"I don't know what statuette you're referring to."

"It's a nude warrior made or red mahogany. Here's a photo," I pulled out the photo that Chester left me and handed it to Anita.

"Never seen it before," she handed me back the photo.

"Have you ever heard of Pagunda?"

"No, sorry."

"Have you heard of a man named Jules Franklin?"

"I believed he worked with Chester, but other than that, sorry."

"He disappeared. You have no valuable information for me?"

"No. Now is this interrogation almost over?" she sounded like she was getting angry.

"You don't enjoy my company?"

"I may enjoy your company if you would stop pestering me with these questions."

"Well if I'm such a bother then I'll just leave."

She stood up, causing her shirt sort of 'sag' away from her chest. Normally I'm not in the habit of looking down a women's shirt, but something caught my attention. Anita was wearing a necklace with a perfectly round black stone. My heard began to pound.

"Is something wrong?" she asked. By this time she was standing up straight. I must've had a slight look of horror on my face.

"N... no, nothing's wrong," I shook her hand, "Nice to meet you Miss Simmons."

I left as quickly as possible. As I walked back to my speeder I thought about what I'd seen. If Chester was right, then Anita could be helping this so-called Pagunda do his work, whatever that may be. I still had two questions though. One, was this the same black stone that Jules Franklin had apparently been wearing when the statuette was discovered, and two, if she was under Pagunda's control was Anita aware of it or not. Maybe this was just another black stone, of no consequence, but something tells me this is not just a coincidence.

I got in my speeder and set a course back to Chandler Ave. After a good meal at the Brew and Stew, my next stop would be stop by one of Chester's museums to try to dig up some clues there. As I approached Chandler Ave. I realized something was wrong. From here, still about two kilometres off I could see flashing blue lights. The police. They seemed to be congregating around Rook's Pawnshop. Then I remembered the man Rook was arguing with earlier. I finally arrived at the Ritz and was directed by police to park near the Brew and Stew. I got out of my speeder and ran down to the swarm of police speeders. I noticed Mac Malden standing by one. I went over him to ask what was going on.

"It seems Rook was attacked by someone. Shot several times in the leg. He's alright, as a matter of fact, he's already at the hospital, but suspect is still inside and refusing to come out. He seems to be having some kind of a nervous breakdown. He's sitting in a corner and keeps muttering the phrase, 'Pagunda will wreak vengeance on us all'. Loony-bin. We've got some people in there right now trying to deal with him, but this guy's not going to leave very easily."

"Thanks, Mac."

"No problem."

I couldn't believe what I heard. The man in the Pawnshop was muttering 'Pagunda will wreak vengeance on us all', just like Gary had said in my dream. Gary! That reminded me! Before I head to the museum, I want to have a little chat with Gary Lee.

Chapter 7