4: A Bug in the Ear
I hobbled back to my office feeling useless and stung from
the bug attack. I didn't have any idea how to find this nameless art director for Thalia.
I wondered if the phone call and the package with the
ear had anything to do with the case. I pulled the envelope
from my pocket and studied it.
The return address was a half-hour's drive across town.
The name on the door was J. SZEU and an old man answered
my knock. He sagged when I told him Thalia had been
kidnapped. "It is that grease-cock Graisseux," he said.
I showed him the envelope and the picture of eyes.
"Yes,' said Mr. Szeu, "I mailed you the silk purse
the art director made for Thalia before he left for Playboy,
and sent her with the picture to ask your help in finding
him. Graisseux's plan is monstrous, but I am too old to
fight . . . he was here, and I called to warn you."
"Do you know this graphic designer's name?" I asked.
The old man stared at me. "Didn't Thalia tell you? This
can only lead to more tension. Of all my daughters, Thalia
is the most beautiful--but also the most forgetful" He
shook his head. "Especially since she changed her name
to Mews to pose for Graisseux's sex-kitten poster. We must
stop him...how could she forget the name of--"
Something bit me on the ear and drowned the old man's
voice. I sensed footsteps behind me and whirled in time to
see Noneck's grinning face before a padded jackhammer
exploded against the back of my head and I went spinning
into a sparkling darkness.
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