Elizabeth Moore stepped off her train, baggage in hand, into the humid Maycomb air. Setting off a a brisk pace, she hailed a taxi. She had a vague idea of where she was going, but being unable to tell the cabbie the specific directions, he, thoroughly annoyed, dropped her off at, according to a sign, the town courthouse.
Elizabeth bit her lower lip, something she did when she was nervous, and headed up the staircase. Entering the building, she was greeted by shouts and jostling, as folks shoved past, eager to return home.
Pushing towards the front desk, Elizabeth found that she had to shout rather loudly to get the receptionist to notice her.
"Excuse me, but could you tell me where I can find 15 Pem..."
"What? Oh, sorry Hun...just wait one moment, I need to get this paperwork done, or its my ass" the receptionist interrupted.
Slightly taken aback, Elizabeth nodded, then moved to one side of the desk to get out of the flow of traffic.
Glancing at the grand clock on the wall, Elizabeth realized that almost 30 minutes had past. She looked over at the receptionist, who was frantically writing on some random piece of paper, cleared her throat, turned to exit and smashed into a rather hard, tall object.
"Oh, God...I'm so sorry", she exclaimed, drawing back from the person, who was easily at least a foot taller.
"No, no..It was my fault, I'm afraid I wasn't very observant of where I was going" he laughed, and stooped down to collect a few papers that had dropped during the impact.
Elizabeth bent down to help.
He stood, files in hand,
"There's no harm done, it's quite alright"
They stood in a rather awkward silence.
"Well.."
He cleared his throat,
"I...I may see you... around town"
She nodded, and he turned to leave.
He was almost out the door when Elizabeth called after him.
"Sir!"
He turned, looking rather surprised.
"I'm sorry, sir, to bother you any further, but do you know where I can find 15 Pemberly Lane?"
Now he looked amused,
"I sure can, miss, I live on the other side of the street."
He smiled quietly at her startled expression,
"It isn't a far walk, miss, I was just on my way home now. I can show you the way"
Elizabeth couldn't believe her good fortune,
"Well then, I accept your invitation."
If he turned out to be a psychopathic killer, she could probably take him out.
He held the door for her, and they walked out.
"Sooo, sir, do you work in the courthouse?"
Elizabeth tried sounding natural.
He chuckled,
"Yes, I'm an attorney there. Atticus Finch."
He held out his hand.
She smiled,
"Elizabeth Moore."