Part Sixteen
“Boone speaking.”
“It’s Cattrell.”
“You found it.”
“Not it. Her.”
Pause. “Her?”
“Yes.”
“A woman stole 101?”
“Yes. I confronted her, and she escaped.”
A moment passes. “What can you tell me about her?”
“It was your wife.”
A garbled knocking sound. A muffled voice. And then: “How can this be? She died in a warehouse fire.”
“Was the body identified?”
“It was burned beyond recognition. But -- but I saw it. I saw her.”
“No DNA confirmation? Dental records?”
“No. Just my visual confirmation.”
“Sorry, Boone. This was a missing wife case in the end. The first one to escape me. She covered her trail well. And left everything behind--”
“Except the droid.”
“--except the droid, yes.”
“I can’t believe it. This changes everything.” A chilling silence. A whisper. “Whose body was it, then?”
Cattrell wondered. Another woman? Another wife? Another mother? “I don’t know. Is it really your problem?”
A pregnant pause. “Agreed. Let’s drop it.”
“Do you want me to continue trying to retrieve the droid?”
“No. She’s taken everything from me now. It’s better that I move on.”
“I see.”
“Some things are best left lost.”
“Understood.” But he wondered if he really did.
“Cattrell?”
“Yes?”
“My hat tips to you for solving the case.” Click.
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 | Part Thirteen | Part Fourteen | Part Fifteen
Read the next chapter:
Part Seventeen
"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.
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