Chapter 4: The Suite
Eve didn't waste any time. She regretted leaving so suddenly, but her main concern right now was her hunt for clues. She rushed past the door of her uncle's apartment, preparing herself for the pain and sadness that accompanied it. Eve saw herself walking up to the door, knocking and waiting for the welcoming voice of her uncle. Even though it'd been a month since she'd seen him, she could still picture his plump face, with balding hair, his crooked smile, and the glint in his eyes. He was always happy to see her. Eve was shaken from her dream by one thought. What if I never see that face again? What if I never see those happy eyes again in my life? She could hardly bear the thought and pushed it from her mind instantly.
The doors gave way to Eve's outstretched arms as she pushed through the first and second set of doors. She took the stairs to the street two at a time. She took one glance over her shoulder, taking in the many floors of the apartment complex. She looked to her left and there sat the landlord's "suite" as Hazel had called it. She held her notebook firmly and strode over to the landlord's building. She knocked a few times on the door and waited for an answer. A groggy, unshaven man opened the door in confusion.
"Hello?" he looked at her bleary eyed. Eve could smell the faint odor of him and a tint of alcohol on his breath. She tried to hide her disgust.
"Hi, my name is Evelyn Corvin. My uncle lived in your apartment complex, room 1108."
"Yeah, I'm the landlord. Nam's John," he extended a sweaty hand. Eve declined the offer. "So, yeah, that's'a guy that went missing not to long ago, right? Yeah, sorry to hear'bout that. You need a key to get some'a'is stuff out of his room or something? S'all still in there, honest to God. Haven't touched'a thing. Guy paid his rent clear'n till the end of this year, soain't like I'm losing money on it. Plus, the cops wanted me to leave it alone for evidence and that kind of crap..." The landlord continued to ramble on, slurring every few words. Eve was unimpressed and quite frankly, not in the mood for such behavior.
"Look, I'm just here to ask you about two former renters you had. They moved out recently. They were only here for a short time, about two and a half months. I'd like to track them down and ask them a few questions. Any information you have would be extremely helpful." Eve stood tall and firm in front of him, her coat occasionally catching the wind behind her.
"Well, now ya'know I can't just go'n give any infomurmation to just anybody, even an anybody as pretty as you." He flashed her a gummy grin. Eve was getting angry now, but she knew she had to play her cards right if she planned on getting any information from him.
"Well, I'm not asking much, actually. In fact it's the type of information that doesn't require police warrants or anything to that matter. I just wanted to know where they moved to and if you had any pictures of them. Honestly, I just checked with the police yesterday. They told me to just stop on by... no need for a warrant. Surely you don't want to talk to them either. No need to get the police involved again, don't you agree?" Most of it was bullshit of course, but Eve didn't care. She was getting desperate now and knew getting warrants took more time than she had. The man looked her up and down, not sure if she was telling the truth. Eve hoped the liquor would help him make up his mind quickly, and in Eve's favor.
"Yeah, yur right. Those sons'a'bitches were here after all that shit went down and noth'n but a bunch of pains'en'asses. Why don't you come on in and I'll show you what I got," he motioned for her to follow him inside. Eve took one last look over her shoulder and stepped over the threshold. She followed him to a room that he called his office. The file cabinets, desks, and counters were littered with papers, envelopes, old bags of chips, and empty bottles. His entire house smelled like rotten garbage. What a dump. Some suite all right, Eve thought to herself
"I got those bastard's papers over here somewhere. Told me they'd found some cheaper rent over there in those new places."
"What places?" Eve asked, getting annoyed.
"You know... those places. What'ar they called. Those apartments over on the Southside. "River Commons" or whatever the hell. Piece of trash place over near the river," he shuffled through his papers angrily. Eve hadn't heard of these apartments but wrote down the name so she could search for them later.
"Ah, here we go," he grabbed a paper from one of the filing cabinets triumphantly. "Yeah, these'ar the guys," he handed her the paper. Eve looked it over. It was a printout of their scanned driver's licenses. Bingo!
"Would you be able to make a copy of these?" Eve held up the paper.
"Yeah, no problem. I got'a make copies of crap all the time. Got this new machine over here for it. Cost me a fortune but luckily got it on sale..." John began rambling on again. Eve tuned him out, looking at the faces of the two men. They had the same last names so she assumed they were brothers. There was something strange hidden in their faces, but Eve couldn't put her finger on it. Their eyes grabbed her attention the most. There was something very strange about them. They looked completely normal, but yet at the same time, alien. She dismissed the thought. John motioned for the paper, having finally gotten the copier working. He placed the paper under the copier lid and ran the machine. He placed the warm printout in Eve's waiting hands.
"Thank you so much," she tucked the printout into her notebook and turned to leave. John followed her and opened the front door for her.
"So'u think they'll ever find yur uncle?" John asked.
"I don't know, I really don't know anymore," why Eve was being so honest with him, she wasn't sure. She told herself it was because he was drunk and probably wouldn't remember a word she said.
"Don't you think that after a whole month they would'a found'em by now?" the landlord leaned against the frame of the door, scratching his belly through a stained t-shirt.
"I don't know. Maybe. Either way, I'm not ready to give up. I think there's still a chance, you know." Eve didn't want to look the man in the eye but she did. He gave her a knowing nod despite his drunken state.
"Well, best of luck to you," and with that he slunk back inside. Eve stood there for a few minutes more, staring at the closed door. Eve pulled out a tissue from her pocket. She wiped away the tears before they had a chance to escape, turned away, and headed down the sidewalk.