fantasy
Rose Wilder

3
CASE: PI-M-4820
The phone rang, cutting through the smoke hanging over my office. Another dame? Another deadbeat? No, this time it was a nervous gent looking for his missing partner. Seems the two were in the business of ancient artifacts, digging up relics and trading in things most folks wouldn't recognize if they tripped over them. Then they stumbled across some mysterious old text, and suddenly his partner vanished into thin air. Now, I don't believe in coincidences. Did somebody rub him out, or did the slippery b*stard skip town with something worth a fortune? And what's so special about a few dusty pages anyway? There's an old antique shop downtown, run by a strange old bird who might know a thing or two about forgotten history. Trouble is, word on the street says he's pushing up daisies. Maybe his daughter, Rose, can help me connect the dots. But this is Los Angeles, sweetheart, and secrets have a funny way of turning up in the wrong hands. I'll follow the trail, ask the questions nobody wants answered, and see where the chips fall. One thing's certain: somebody knows more than they're letting on, and I'm not leaving until I find out who.