A knock on my parent's suite door startled me out of my fog. It had been two weeks. The other men had lost hope and slowly returned to their normal duties. Myself Constable Collins, Constable Johnson and Phryne's staff were the only ones still frantically searching for her. Were this any other case we would have abandoned ship ages ago. The trail ran so cold it was ice. There were no clues. Literally – no clues. Whoever had done this was a mastermind. A criminal genius. And as much as Elroy kept hinting that perhaps kidnapping was an excessive charge and that maybe she had wandered away, I held on to the fact that I knew in my soul she would never leave Dot and Jane like that. So on we pushed. Chasing down leads that didn't exist, making up stories that may have fit the bill and hoping that my imagination was somehow right. (It hadn't been thus far.) I was exhausted and miserable and I thanked God my family was here to get me through this. I couldn't bear to have to go back to my bungalow alone at night. Sure I'd been doing that since Rosie moved out but somehow, after a nightcap and pleasant company it wasn't so lonely being alone, knowing someone was out there. Without her, the thought of returning to my cold, tiny rooms was unbearable.
"Yes Mrs. Robinson. I have a message for your son? A note was dropped off at the front desk for him. Is he present?" The bellboy at the door glanced down at the paper in his hand. "Mr. Jack Robinson?" I stood and walked to the door holding out my hand.
"That's me." the man gave a half bow and handed me the note.
"Is there anything I can do for you, Madam?" he offered. My mother shook her head and bid the boy good day pressing a few coins in his hand as tip. He left and I tore the non-descript wax seal open. The page was mostly white, save a few well scripted words.
Feeling hopeless yet, Inspector?
No? We will have to work on that.
Keep walking in my shoes.
What the hell did that mean? I turned the paper back over to examine the other side for clues as to who this was from and what on earth it was referring to. It wasn't a miss-directed note, what other Inspectors were staying at the Windsor. And indeed it was addressed to Mr. Jack Robinson. I took another look at the seal I had paid no attention to and my heart sunk to the floor. Dear God no. The design I had previously disregarded as nothing special was, in fact, the exact opposite. It wasn't a seal at all. Someone had dripped wax onto the page and pressed in a pin. A pin shaped like a swallow.
Author's Note: What do you think? Is it good? Is it horrible? I want to improve as a writer so all criticism is appreciated! Thanks so much for reading my fic!
XOXO - E