The Midnight Detective

Chapter 1It was Friday evening and Wyn Meyrick stood, tapping a finger on the sign affixed to an office door two stories above the photo studio where he worked. It read: Andreu Detection Agency—Hours: 7 P.M. to 5 A.M. “Cutting it close when it’s summer,” he murmured. He was still debating whether he should try to hire a detective to find his missing daughter. By rights, it was his job and he shouldn’t palm it off on someone else. The problem was, he had no idea where to start looking for her. Could the detective find a child Wyn had been told by the police didn’t exist? In for a penny, in for a pound, or a dollar, I suppose. He opened the door and stepped into a well-appointed waiting room. A sofa and two chairs were aligned against one wall, with a desk across from them. The strikingly beautiful woman at the desk looked up from what she was doing to smile at him. “May I help you?” “I hope so. Is Mr. Andreu available?” “I can find out.” She stood, walking to one of two doors along the back wall. After rapping lightly, she opened it and went into what Wyn could only presume was Mr. Andreu’s office. He heard the low murmur of voices but wasn’t able to discern what was being said. A moment later she came back into the waiting room. “He has a few minutes and said to send you in.” Wyn thanked her and entered the detective’s office. A dark-haired man came around the large desk set in front of a window that took up most of the wall opposite the door. He wasn’t conventionally handsome, with his long nose, full lips, and steel-blue eyes, but he radiated a sense of power and raw sexuality which made up for it. “I’m Christoph Andreu, Mr.…?” he said, holding out his hand. Wyn shook it, tamping down on a sudden flash of desire. He prayed Mr. Andreu hadn’t noticed as he replied, “Meyrick. Wyn Meyrick.” “Please have a seat.” Mr. Andreu waved toward the chairs which faced the desk before retaking his. When Wyn sat, Andreu pressed his fingertips together, studying him. “Before we go any further, I have a question. Do you know what I am?” “Other than a private detective?” Wyn nodded. “Even if I hadn’t before I came here, the sign on your front door is a dead giveaway.” “As it’s meant to be, for those who know there are more than humans living in the city, although they are few and far between. To the best of my knowledge, most of those who work in this building believe I’m either eccentric or a dilettante with nothing better to do with my evenings than play at being a detective.” “Play?” Wyn frowned. “Trust me, I am not doing that. I’m a damned good detective under the right circumstances. I was only explaining how most people see me.” Wyn chuckled. “Pardon the pun, but seeing you would be a rarity, I suspect, unless they work overtime.” “Exactly, Mr.…May I call you Wyn?” “It is my name.” “I would hope.” He smiled. “You may call me Christoph if you wish. Now, how may I help you?” “My daughter Celyn is missing.” “Have you spoken to her friends, or her mother? It’s possible they might know where she’s gone. Also, have you been in contact with the police to report her missing.” Wyn nodded. “I went by where I used to live with her mother, but the lock was changed and no one answered when I rang the bell or went around to knock on the back door. The curtains were drawn so I couldn’t see inside. After that, yeah, I went to the police. They had me fill out some forms and said they’d get back to me if they came up with any information.” He hesitated, uncertain how to proceed. Then he blurted out, “This morning someone from Missing Persons got in touch with me. He…he said they couldn’t find any record of a girl named Celyn Meyrick. That she didn’t exist.” * * * * Christoph was surprised to say the least. “Why would they think that?” “I don’t know. It’s insane. I told them the name of the hospital where she was born, her mother’s name and address which, as I said, was where I used to live as well and had checked out before contacting the police.” “I take it you no longer live with her mother.” “No. I did, for five years. We were going to get married.” Wyn smiled wryly. “Somehow it never happened, and then we broke up last year, when Celyn was four. Marianne met someone new and wanted out of our relationship. I told that to the police. The man I spoke with this morning told me that there was no one by the name of Marianne Logan or Meyrick at the address I gave them and there never had been. Also, the phone number belonged to someone else.” “Did the police check with the hospital where Celyn was born?” “I have no idea. My guess is, after not being able to locate Marianne, they decided I was a nutcase and figured why bother to do anything more.” Christoph nodded. “It sounds like some members of our esteemed police force.” “Not a fan?” Wyn asked. “Let’s just say I’ve had my run-ins with a few of them and was not impressed with their smarts or their abilities when it came to certain things they were supposed to handle. I’m sure there are other officers who know what they’re doing, in fact I know there’s at least one, but…” Christoph shrugged. “Do you think I’m crazy?” Wyn asked. Christoph studied him for a long moment before saying, “Look at me.” “Going to read my mind?” Wyn asked sardonically even as he locked his gaze with Christoph’s. Christoph didn’t reply immediately. Using his Mind gift to probe Wyn’s thoughts he found nothing which said that Wyn was either lying or delusional. Instead, he found memories of a girl at various ages from babyhood to approximately five, as well as ones of a woman who might have been this Marianne. “Do you have photos of your daughter and ex-girlfriend,” he asked after withdrawing from Wyn’s mind. “Yes, one with me, the rest are at home.” Wyn took it from his wallet, handing it to Christoph. It was a selfie with the three of them at what Christoph recognized as a lake on the west side of the city. The woman and child matched what he’d seen in Wyn’s memories. Wyn appeared to be a couple of years younger than he was now, although his full head of brown hair, blue eyes, and lean body were still the same as in the photo. “To answer your earlier question, yes, I did probe your thoughts. You aren’t crazy, they do exist. Now all I need to do, if you decide to hire me, is find them.” “That’s the reason I’m here,” Wyn replied. “I don’t particularly care about Marianne, but I want my daughter back.” “Before we go any farther, why did you decide she was missing to begin with? Are or were you in contact with her mother?” “Of course I was, up until a week ago. I had, well, if we’d been married and divorced, I suppose you’d call them visitation rights. I was to take Celyn every weekend and for a week when I was on vacation, which happened twice in the last year.” “You picked her up at wherever Marianne is living, which from what you said was where the two of you lived before the breakup, and she remained living afterward?” Wyn shook his head. “Not there. We would meet at a playground a couple of blocks from her place. She said she didn’t want me causing problems between her and Paul, her new man, because he was the jealous sort. Having met him once, I could understand where she was coming from.” “You never picked your daughter up at Marianne’s place?” “No. A week after the breakup I ran into Marianne and Paul at a restaurant not too far from where I’m living now. Before you ask, when we decided to move in together, we chose her place because it was much nicer than my small apartment. Obviously, after the breakup I was the one who moved out and I got the impression Paul moved in as soon as I was gone. Anyway, he made it very clear he didn’t like me or want me around her. I pointed out quite clearly that I was Celyn’s father and I would see Marianne when I came by to pick up Celyn. Later that night, Marianne called and told me, begged me, to set up somewhere else to meet, so we came up with the playground option. I’d pick her up Sunday morning and then we’d meet there Monday evening after Marianne got off work so I could hand her back.” “Then you have no idea if she was living at the address you have for any length of time after the breakup.” Wyn shook his head. “Not really. But she…we had lived there despite what the police officer said to the contrary. It really was her place, and the lease was in her name.” “You saw the lease?” “Well, no. We split the rent, though, half-and-half, as well as the other expenses.” “All right, next question, did you know any of the neighbors in the building?” “It’s a townhouse, not an apartment building, one of six in a row. I rarely saw the neighbors because it has an attached garage so we didn’t go out by the front door all that much if we were going somewhere. At least I didn’t. I suppose she might have to take Celyn for walks or to the playground, although she never said as much.” “Wyn,” Christoph said in exasperation, “how well did you actually know her?” “After five years, very well I thought.” Wyn sighed. “Sure doesn’t sound like it from what I’ve been saying, but I did.” “You both worked, I presume.” “Yes. I have a job at the photo studio downstairs. She was a buyer for a small chain of women’s clothing stores in the tristate area.” “Did she travel as part of the job, and if so, what did you do with Celyn when that happened?” “She didn’t have to travel. She did her job by computer at work, and then from home when COVID hit which was right after Celyn was born.” Christoph found that interesting, and not in a good way. How could someone know the quality of what they were purchasing without seeing it first? He refrained from saying as much at the moment, merely asking for her work address, which Wyn gave him. “I take it you found me because you work downstairs.” “Yes. I saw you listed on the board by the elevators. A couple of months ago when my boss, Mr. Gaines, and I were comparing TV crime shows we watched I said something like if I ever needed to hire a detective I could go up two flights to find one. He sort of chuckled and told me I might want to think twice about that.” “Let me guess, you dragged it out of the old reprobate that I was more than I seem.” Wyn laughed. “I’m not sure dragged is the right word. I’ve worked for him ever since I saw his ad looking for help, which was several years ago. I knew nothing about photography but I decided it wouldn’t hurt to apply; hoping all he wanted was someone to watch the shop while he was taking people’s photos. He hired me and a year later he decided to train me as a photographer since business was suddenly booming. Long story short, I became his assistant, and we ended up being good friends who like and trust each other. Anyway, back to what I was saying, I asked what he meant by my thinking twice about hiring you if I ever needed a detective. He made me promise not to say anything to anyone else and then told me you were a vampire. A decent one who only wanted to live life on your own terms and not bother anyone else in the process, or be bothered by anyone else. To say I was surprised is an understatement, but I got over it fairly quickly.” Christoph smiled. “I’m sure you were. He was right about me.” He opened a drawer to get a file folder. Setting it on the desk, he took out several papers that were clipped together, handing them to Wyn. “If you do want to hire me to find Celyn I need you to fill these out. The top one is a contract with the costs for my various services listed on the back.” Wyn flipped the contract over to see the list, as most of Christoph’s clients did to find out if they could afford him. He ran his finger down it, not appearing the least worried by the prices. Then, he looked up, frowning as something apparently occurred to him, and asked, “How can you investigate anything when you can’t be out during the day?” Christoph chuckled. “I wondered when you were going to realize that and ask. We, most of us unless we’re Fledglings, won’t die if we’re exposed to sunlight. It can be uncomfortable, and it will give us what would appear to be a very bad sunburn if we don’t take proper precautions in terms of how we move around and what we wear, but that’s it. I sleep from nine or thereabouts until mid-afternoon, but it still leaves me free to pursue lines of inquiry if necessary when businesses open for the day, and in the late afternoon before they close. You might be surprised to know that in many cases it’s easier to talk with people in the evenings when they’re at home or otherwise occupied at say a club or what have you. Easier at least than trying to contact them at work when they either aren’t available or would rather not have to explain why a detective wants to talk to them.” “All right, that makes sense.” Wyn flipped the paper over and began filling out the contract. When he finished, he handed it to Christoph before setting to work on the pages requiring information about himself and the other parties involved. “Marianne didn’t have many friends,” he said at one point, obviously having gotten to that part of the form. “I can give you names but I have no idea of their addresses. We pretty much kept to ourselves, especially after Celyn was born. When we did go out we’d meet people for dinner at a restaurant or to go to a movie or rarely a club.” “Does the same hold true for your friends?” Christoph asked. “Well, I do know more about them, of course, but as far as our spending any time with them, yeah, it was under the same sort of circumstances.” “No parties at someone’s home, or celebrating a holiday at your place or theirs?” “Nope. We were into each other enough we didn’t really want to be social. Especially after Celyn was born.” Wyn shrugged and got back to work. When he completed the forms, he slid them across the desk to Christoph. “It’s not much to go on, I know.” After scanning them, Christoph agreed. “I’ll do what I can to locate her friends, and talk to yours.” “To make certain I’m not lying and they did know her,” Wyn said dryly. “A necessity. I’ll also visit her place of work. They may know if and where she’s moved to, especially if she’s still working for them.” “I should have thought of that,” Wyn said. Christoph grinned. “That’s why you’re hiring me.” “True. Do you want me to pay the retainer by check or card?” “Whichever you wish.” When Wyn handed him his card, Christoph took it out to give to Sophia, his receptionist. She ran it and gave him a copy of the receipt which he gave to Wyn. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have another appointment.” “In other words, I’d better leave. No problem. I hope to hear from you soon.” “You will one way or the other.” Christoph escorted Wyn to the suite’s front door, thanked him for his business, and watched as he walked down to the elevator before closing the door. “Do you think you’ll be able to find the child?” Sophia asked. “Hopefully, if I can figure out why she and her mother have disappeared.” “Hopefully?” She arched on well-defined dark eyebrow. He smiled. “All right, I will. I don’t care why the woman is gone, but the child? Yes, I will find her one way or the other.” “And get to know Mr. Meyrick better in the process?” “Sophia…” He shook his head. “He is obviously straight.” Unfortunately. A thought he kept to himself. “And?” “I will not tamper with his mind to change that, as interesting as he might be on a physical level.” “Then I can try my hand at seducing him?” “No, please don’t. He’s also human and that never works for us.” She sighed dramatically before promising she would leave Wyn alone.