The Girl and the Pendulum (An Original Story – Part 13)

Part Thirteen

Cattrell slowly made his way back to Boone’s house, driving his sedan along narrow side streets.

His mind moved sluggishly as well, clogged by the strange conversation with Cassandra. He felt inadequate. She was a force, like a river. Kind and helpful, Cassandra bore no marks of the common thief. Yet she knew something. Cattrell’s strength was the chase, not the battle of the wits.

“All I know are lost wives,” he whispered, turning into Boone’s gravel rock driveway. “I don’t know thieves. At least, good ones.” The hills of Twin Peaks stood in the distance, with the iconic Space Claw standing on the hilltop like some 1940’s movie monolith, enshrouded in deep fog. Below, lights flickered through misty windows. In some areas of San Francisco, you could barely detect the effects of the collapse.

Turning off the car, he sat for a few minutes, staring through the fog. His eyes were unfocused. Like Neniva, the case lost him.

Boone greeted him inside, like a greedy banker. “So what have you discovered so far?”

“I tracked a recent battery shipment to an address in the Sunset. A woman lives there, with her cats.” Cattrell pet the lounging Himalayan.

“Did she steal the droid?” Boone’s eyes gleamed. “Did you confront her about it?”

Cattrell turned to face Boone. “Her name is Cassandra. Is the name familiar to you?”

Boone leaned back in his chair and touched his chin, thinking. “Cassandra … no I’ve never met a Cassandra before in my life.”

Boone was either forgetful or lying.

“Cassandra’s game is Chess. You and I have been playing Chutes and Ladders. I’m going to need more time.” Cattrell’s mind wandered. He thought of that strange contraption, the sand and pendulum. The wide arcs it made in the sand.

“I see. And you need…?” Boone said. He stopped. “Oh, yes, of course. Stay here, I will give you another payment.”

Cattrell jerked. That was not his request, but he would not turn away the gift horse. Boone left the room, and silence replaced his shuffling footsteps.

His children could be heard, playing in the backyard, another game of some sort.

Cattrell’s blood coursed. His face flushed. What was he missing? Thu-thump. Thu-thump. Like the sound the pendulum made as it dug into the sand, forming the wheat. Drawing the eye.

He stopped. Everything was still. Not an eye. A squarish eye. A frame, but not a frame.

A portrait.

Cattrell’s head spun towards the wall. His breathing quickened. He stood, approaching the wall, where a portrait hung, reading “family at a winter Tahoe retreat.” The shiny, smooth face of an android. The smiling children. And the woman. Holding Boone’s hand. The wife. Cassandra. The wife.

Cattrell’s vision sharpened. The pendulum had pointed the way. Cassandra was not a thief after all, but a wife. And Cattrell knew wives.

He left by way of the door before Boone returned.

Read from the beginning:
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven | Part Eight | Part Nine | Part Ten | Part Eleven | Part Twelve

Read the next chapter:
Part Fourteen

---

"The Girl and the Pendulum" is an 18-part future-noir science fiction story about a a private investigator's search for a missing android. How can a man who searches for missing women find lost artificial intelligence? I welcome feedback on this story about a man and his difficult case in a post-war, post collapse world. Stay tuned, as I also will begin publishing my 300,000 word epic novel "The Messiah" on Steemit in 2017.

Facebook page: (https://facebook.com/michaeladamparis/)
My Blog: (http://www.michaeladamparis.com)
Thank you all for your support and encouragement.

All images used with their respective creative commons licensing.
Image Credits: 422694 | taz123 | Misha Sokolnikov (CC BY-ND 2.0) | Mark Kent (CC BY-SA 2.0 w/mods) | Joost Assink (CC BY 2.0)

Follow me @michaeladamparis