There was a man standing in the hallway of her apartment building. He had folded open a small table and had displayed a sphere, a book of cards, incense, and a couple of spiritual statues.
"Ah!" he exclaimed when he saw her approaching. "Just the person I needed to see! Please, fair lady, pick a card."
Catherine had to pass him to get to her apartment, so she paused for a moment. The man looked a bit scabby, dressed in a long, black raincoat. He had messy, dark hair and almost pitch-black eyes.
"Just pick one," he insisted, holding the book of cards under her nose. "Doesn't cost you."
"Oh alright," she conceded.
She pulled a card from the middle of the deck.
"Now what?"
"Show me what you got."
She turned the card around and instantly gasped at the image. It was a tarot card called "The Lovers" and the image was of a young woman in a white dress. Her lover was a devil-like creature. Pointy ears, dark skin, sharp teeth.
Her voice sharpened:
"Who are you?"
The man shrugged.
"My name is David Dexter, miss Chandler. I thought since you had been snooping around in my world, I would return the favor."
"This is harassment," she reprimanded him. "I would like you to leave before I call the police."
"It represents something," he said. "Doesn't it? The card you picked. Is it someone you lost?"
Catherine intended to walk to her door, but his voice stopped her:
"You recently lost a loved one, a parent, but the card represents someone you are connected with. A lover."
Her hand trembled as she unlocked her door.
"He's not a regular lover," David Dexter continued. "He is … he transcends humanity. He …"
Catherine slammed the door in his face, but she could still hear him:
"Leave it be, miss Chandler!"
She locked her door meticulously and waited a few moments before looking through the peephole. David Dexter was gathering his things and seemed to be leaving.
Her sigh was so intense it blew strings of her shiny, brown hair into her eyes. She needed something solid on this guy.
She took off her coat and grabbed the case file. She took the file into the kitchen, poured herself a glass of wine and started to go through every detail. There must have been something she had missed. Someone must have noticed something suspicious. There was nothing.