Mr. Private Eye

Little Kobe had quickly made himself comfortable in Shawn's room, sleeping on a small cushion his host had set up in a corner.

What was his office during the day became his bedroom at night. Shawn slept on a folding bed that came out of a large closet in the office where he had placed a sign that said "documents" to make his potential clients believe that it was a filing cabinet.

The Rodney case was his only income that Christmas, and he was determined to try get to the bottom of the matter. That same night, he began to investigate the guy's movements on social media. He discovered that he used to be an active user and as Brigitte had told him, he had stopped posting since his disappearance.

As Brigitte had told him, his journalist works were merely about animals, In some articles, he made a lot of emphasis on denouncing illegal animal trafficking. He collaborated in a shelter that was dedicated to taking in those exotic animals that were seized upon arriving in America illegally.

There was nothing on what he found online about this guy that could indicate that something could have happened to him. He started to consider that maybe some accident happened to him. Soon sleep began to overcome him, but before that, Kobe ran to the foot of his bed where he settled down to sleep.

“What are you doing, folk? I don´t like to share my bed with anyone, that´s because I choose to be single. Go back to your place.”

The dog looked at him and after grumbling he settled down, even more willing to sleep. Shawn could only resign himself and go to sleep with the hope of discovering the whereabouts of this Rodney fella as soon as possible.

Early in the morning, Shawn left the house with the intention of searching for clues in Rodney's apartment that was on the other side of the city.

He tried to start his old Ford Focus sedan, but that morning the car refused to move. After cursing that damn thing, Shawn had no choice but to take the subway. He deeply hated the infamous New York tube; it was full of the most colorful people.

He sat down in the wagon that would take him to his destination, feeling nauseous at being part of that survival jungle. The city had been infected with that false Christmas spirit for a few weeks, and even the beggars who were wandering around in the tube asking for a dime were wearing Santa Claus hats.

Shawn was antisocial by nature and had little faith in the human condition. He avoided large crowds whenever possible.

While he was looking at his phone to distract himself from what he considered a hellish ride, he received a text from Brigitte:

“Hi, Shawn, did Kobe sleep well?” -She texted.

“He found room on my bed and slept like a log.” -He replied.

“He used to sleep in Rodney´s bed. He´s been so sad these days, I guess he miss him.”

 “By the way, I´m on my way to Rodney´s apartment, I want to search if there´s some evidences there.”

“But he didn´t left a key, how are you going to enter?”

“Don´t worry, I have my methods.”

“Keep me posted, will you?”

“Sure.”

After finishing the chat, Shawn looked at Brigitte's photos on her social media. She was as beautiful as a movie star, and he sighed knowing that he could never afford to fall in love with her.

He was distracted from all that beauty when he glanced a thug discreetly stealing the wallet of an old lady in front of him.

The young thief was not very skillful at his technique. Shawn knew pickpockets very well; he had been catching them for a while and he was able to recognize them even before they committed their felony.

The young criminal did not realize that he was being spotted by Shawn, and proud of his reprehensible feat, the criminal positioned himself next to the door of the wagon waiting for the train to arrive at the station to escape undetected with his loot. Shawn, unable to allow that injustice to take place in front of his eyes, got up from his seat, and positioning himself stealthily behind the criminal, snatched the stolen wallet without him noticing.

 The train arrived at the station and the criminal rushed to leave the platform convinced that he had completed his crime, but Shawn called his attention with a whistle, making him turn his head, showing him how masterfully and genuinely, he had snatched the wallet that he thought he had previously stolen from the innocent lady. Surprised, the young thief put his hands in his pockets, realizing that he had just received his own medicine. Hurt in his pride and feeling humiliated, he launched a few foul-sounding threats at the detective before leaving the place.

Afterwards, Shawn approached the old lady giving her back the purse.

“Lady, I think you dropped this.”

Shocked, the lady grabbed the purse searching that all her money was still there, feeling grateful and relieved by Shawn´s good deed.

“Oh, my god! Thank you! I didn´t even realize!”

“You must be careful, there´s so many pickpockets around here.”

“Thank you, young man. Is good to know that there´s still goodness on this world.”

“Is okay. We need to help each other.”

“Allow me to reward you for finding my purse.” -she insisted searching on her wallet with the intention of handing him some cash.

“No, no, there´s no need for that.” -He gently refused her offer. “Just be careful next time.”

After the incident, Shawn finally arrived at his destination. Following the directions given by Brigitte, he arrived at the apartment building where Rodney´s apartment was located. It was an old building in one of the poorest areas of Queens. Shawn found his way to enter the building and walked up the stairs until reaching the apartment on the fourth floor. He didn´t came across anyone on his path and had no chance to ask about the missing man. He had no other choice but to force the lock of the flat. The apartment was in darkness, Shawn turned on the light and came across a creepy scene, someone had entered and turned everything upside down, clothes were scattered without any kind of order on the floor, drawers were opened, and furniture was knocked over on the floor.

Shawn searched the entire room for possible evidence that could help him find out what had happened to Rodney. It was possible that someone broke into his house and kidnapped him, although there were no traces of blood or anything that could lead to that conclusion, it seemed more logical that someone had broken in after the man's disappearance looking for something valuable that he probably had in his possession. Shawn was racking his brains looking for some evidence when suddenly he felt a sharp blow to the top of his head with a metal object. His head began to bleed profusely, blinding his vision and making him feel dizzy. He hated fighting, he was not very skilled in hand-to-hand combat and his only survival instinct in those borders was dirty brawling. He closed his fist ready to throw down when he found out that his attacker was no other than an angry old lady, that had mistaken him for a burglar, the landlord of the apartment.

“Freeze, burglar! Police is on their way!” -She aggressively shouted holding an iron baseball bat in her hands.

“Calm down, lady! I´m not a burglar!”

“Who are you, then?! I saw you forcing the door.”

“I´m here because of Rodney´s disappearance!”

“Rodney has disappeared?”

“Yeah, he´s been missing for some days, his girlfriend hired me to find him.”

Shawn's words seemed to confuse the woman, who feared she had been hasty in hitting Shawn, who would not stop bleeding, staining his face and clothes a viscous red.

“Show me your ID!” -She demanded.

Somewhat weakened by the blow, Shawn searched his jacket for the business card of his detective company to give it to the woman. She, distrustfully, grabbed the card that she read out loud:

“Mr. Private-Eye! What the hell is this?!”

“Is my business card, I´m a private detective.”

“You?!” - Exclaimed, looking him up and down in disbelief.

“Can I ask you some questions about Rodney?!

Feeling that there was no danger in him, the woman put down the bat and agreed to be questioned.

“Do you have any idea who could have break into the apartment?”

“Yes!” -She convincingly exclaimed.

“Who?”

“You did!”

“I mean, before I did.”

“I have no idea, didn´t hear anyone breaking into before you.”

“When was the last time you saw Rodney?”

“I don´t remember.”

“Could you try.”

“Maybe three weeks ago.”

“Did you find something weird on his behavior recently?”

“On Rodney?! He is well-educated and polite.

young man who loves animals, is impossible that he could be a bad person.”

Concerned by the amount of blood that was coming from the top of Shawn's head, the woman rushed back to her apartment to get a first aid kit and try to stop the bleeding.

Not long afterward, police and paramedics arrived on the scene. The paramedics set about treating Shawn's wound by putting stitches on the top of his head, while one of the people Shawn detested most in the world, and responsible for his downfall as policeman, Police Inspector Clinton Bronson, arrived to the scene, taking a seat in front of him to interrogate him in his usual condescending tone.

What trouble are you in now, Shawn? -Clint asked, finishing off a cigar while the paramedics were putting the stitches on the top of Shawn´s head.

“What makes you think I´m in trouble?”

“Have you chosen burglary as your new profession.”

“I´m on the middle of an investigation.”

“An investigation? You´re not a cop anymore. So, stop with that investigation bullshit.” -Clinton reproached him.

“You don´t need to interrogate me, it was all a misunderstood.”

“Don´t you understand? Stop playing to be a cop? Have you forgot that you were expelled by your incompetence?”

“You have no right to tell me what I should do.”

“Stick to find missing pets, okay? Police work doesn´t suit you.”

“I´m doing the job you guys refused to do.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I´m looking for a missing guy.”

“A missing guy?”

“A guy called Rodney; his girlfriend came to my office desperately looking for help.”

“Wait a minute, that French girl?”

“Exactly.”

“Get out of here, Shawn! You got no business in that matter.”

“Do I tell you how you must do your job?! So, stop telling me how I must do mine!”

“There´s no case here, you are stupid. That Rodney fella ditched the girl once he got into her pants. Simple.”

“You were always a simple cop!”

“Be careful kid, or you´ll force me to lock you in.”

“How do you explain all this mess on the apartment? They were looking for something.”

“As far as I concern, you did all this.”

“Me?! I was attacked before I could do any of this, besides, why I would do that?”

“Simple, because you are a loser, and you found a chance to get into that cutie´s pants with the promise of finding her missing lover.”

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

“Don´t you think she’s too young for you?!”

The paramedics finished stitching up his wound and advised him to go see a doctor, but Shawn was so upset with Clinton that he ignored their advice and stood up to leave the place.

“I didn´t tell you could leave!”

“Fuck you, Clint!

Shawn hated Clinton with all his body and soul.

He was the big responsible of his downfall as policeman. They worked together in the force, and Clinton never respected his methods and abilities law enforcer. He was the one put the most pressure on his superiors to expel Shawn from the force, making Shawn´s existence to be a continuous descent into mediocrity since then.