The back office of Ragnarok was a disappointment to
say the least. Plain white walls were stricken with age old advertisements for
past performers to the club and brown stains that were about as attractive. The
overhead fan was broken, the light flickered every now-and-then, and no one had
changed out the coffee in the pot for a couple of days, which had generated an
odd smell. An old metal desk and four filing cabinets were against the wall,
surrounded by old booze boxes, now filled with paperwork, advertisements, and
promotional materials for the club. On the back wall there was a large wooden
sign that had the word ‘PURSUIT’ on it with dark blue, pink, and purple
letters. Richtor thought about how much he hated this office as he adjusted his
tie and waited for the first person to be sent in.
No
one could read Dwight Richtor’s notes except for him. The short hand wasn’t the
problem, it was the fact that he seemed to ignore lines on the page and write
over other notes that he thought needed to be grouped together. Sometimes there
were doodles that made no sense but somehow triggered responses in his mind
that were important for solving them. Back in ’99 when he had just transferred
there was a cute and kind young secretary named Sara Hoffstead who had
volunteered to transcribe Dwight’s notes for him. The detective knew this
wasn’t a good idea, but she was so eager to please that he gave her the chance.
Later that day when he was getting ready to leave, he heard Lilly crying at her
desk, upset that she couldn’t make up or down of the fourteen pages he had
handed her that morning. Since then Dwight did his own notes and barely bothered
to type them up until the case was over.
He
was tapping his pen against the yellow pad when the door finally opened. Dwight
sat with his back to the desk and another folding, much more uncomfortable
chair, in front so that the person could face him.
Hunter
Stuart, the first bartender, entered slowly. The old wooden door was shut
softly behind him. Richtor raised an eyebrow.
“So
you’re first?”
“Callie
didn’t want to go first,” Hunter responded with an uncomfortable look himself.
“I think she is a little shaken up by all of this.”
Dwight
nodded, “and you’re protective over her?”
“Well,”
the bartender paused. “I guess. She’s a friend.”
“Just
friends?”
Hunter
was unsure what to say at first but he quickly nodded.
“You
get along with everyone here Hunter, are you guys like a family?”
“Sure.”
“No
problems with anyone?”
“No,”
he paused again. “I mean, bosses are bosses I guess, but they are alright. The
security guys kind of hang out on their own you know, even outside of the club
but I don’t have any real problems with anyone.”
Dwight
nodded and wrote down two letters at the top left of the page and then
underlined them individually.
“So
tell me about Aura Johnson.”
“She’s,”
Hunter stretched the word out as he questioned himself, “a friend.”
Detective
Richtor raised an eyebrow at him. He didn’t even have to say the words.
“We
were involved off and on…sexually, but she was my friend.”
“I
see.” He paused to make a small symbol that could have been the letter S. “Is
that why you reported her missing after going over to her apartment?”
“Yeah,”
Hunter said, exhaling.
“Why
were you heading over there, or was that routine?”
“No,
she had asked me to come over. I hadn’t seen her in a few days but she made it
sound like she wanted to hang out.” He shook his head. “With Aura though, that
could have meant anything from having sex to her asking me philosophical
questions while I hung picture frames for her.”
“When
you two did have sex, was it over at her place most of the time?”
Hunter
nodded and looked off at the wall to one of the old posters.
“Yeah,
I have an annoying roommate.”
Dwight
made a few more notes up near the corner, underlining everything he had written
so far. He eyed Hunter, keeping him under his watch for a bit before his next
question.
“Who
all here at the club knew Aura, more than in passing I mean.”
Hunter
thought.
“Katie
knew her. I think they went out a couple of times, shopping or something.
Callie and I knew her of course, we all hung out a few times and we probably
saw her the most while she was in the club. She and I would give Aura free
drinks sometimes.” Hunter sighed. “I don’t know how much she knew Chris and
Josh, the security guys, but I know she and Rick dated. Don’t know how serious
it got.”
“Did
that bother you?”
“What?”
“That
she was Rick?”
“No,”
Hunter’s lip curled. “No I mean, I don’t think they-“
“You
know for sure?”
“No,
I don’t-“
“So
they could have?”
“Yea,
yeah I guess.”
Dwight
nodded and made another note, placing Hunter and Rick closer.
“So
when was the last time you saw her Saturday night?”
Hunter
took a deep breath before he began.
“Like
I told the police officer, she was dancing in the back room here.” He jerked
his thumb towards that door that led to the secondary dance floor. “She told me
she gets bothered less back here once the place gets going. I came back to ask
her if she wanted to get food afterwards, since I knew she wanted to see me,
but she just wanted me to come over and told me that if I got hungry she had
food at her place.”
“What
was this conversation?”
“2:30,
maybe 2:20, I didn’t look at the time. The club was getting ready to close at
3:00 and I was trying to hurry.”
“And
then you went to her apartment at what time?” Dwight asked as he wrote down
2:30 a.m. on the pad.
“Well
no. I looked for her here first. She usually waits for me, but when she wasn’t
there I thought maybe she had go home to make food or she was just really upset
about something. She danced to get away from everything so I didn’t,” he
trailed off.
“What
time did you make it to her apartment?”
“Almost
four in the morning, I buzzed, I called. I finally got a guy to let me in the
building but nothing.”
“Then
you came back the next day.”
“Yeah,”
Hunter sighed. “I thought maybe she had just gone home with someone else, I
don’t know.” He began to stay something but shook his head. “The building
manager knows me. I got him to open the door but she wasn’t there, her phone
was gone, it looked like she hadn’t even made it home.”
Dwight
nodded and wrote a few more notes, the top of his page looking more like an
artist’s canvas now. Eyes rising, he searched for Hunter’s attention. The young
man was obviously uncomfortable, concerned, and perhaps a little worried for
his own safety, with reason.
“We
are going to want to speak to you again, Mr. Stuart.”
“Alright,”
he said weakly.
“Just
stay where we can reach you if you don’t mind.”
Hunter
stood up from the chair and looked towards the door. His eyes showed he wanted
to ask something though. Dwight cocked his head to the side waiting.
“You
think she’s fine…I mean…you think you’ll find her?”
After
a pause, “I’m sure we will.”
Hunter
gave a slight nod before exiting. He wasn’t sure what to say, what to think. The
door shut behind him though, giving a small bounce against the frame. Dwight
looked back over his notes, drawing a short line from one set of letters to
another scribbling. He waited for whomever Carter sent back next, his hand
absently going to the Rubick’s cube in his pocket. He stopped himself though as
he heard heels clicking across the floor.
The
other bartender Callie Wright entered. Hunter wasn’t wrong, she did look shaken
up. She was shivering it seemed at first, thought it was summer and muggy. She
sat down and crossed her legs before trying to force a semblance of a smile.
“You
can relax.”
“Easy
for you to say,” There was the soft smile finally.
Dwight
returned it. “Just tell me everything you know.”
“Just
about Aura, right?”
Dwight
nodded. “If I want anything more than that, I’ll ask.”
“She
was cool.”
There
was a pause as Callie’s hands clenched together in her lap and she looked down,
trying to find her words.
“Well,
something a little more concrete than that.”
“No,
I know I just… you know we didn’t know each other that well but we had started
hanging out more, talking. I met her last week to go shopping at the boutique a
couple of blocks from here. She seemed so nice and laid back I just… “
Dwight
nodded.
“She
danced in the back room a lot. I was bartending back here until almost one. I
saw her dancing for a while. When it isn’t super packed though we pack up the
back bar early, I had gone back up front. I waved at her but I thought I’d see
her when the club closed, I didn’t think to go talk to her.”
“So
you didn’t see her leave?”
“No.”
“Did
you see her with anyone?”
“No,
I mean I’m sure she had some guys hitting on her, she usually does. I didn’t
notice her dancing with anyone though, or talking with anyone at any real
length, nothing out of the ordinary at all.”
“You
think she left out of the double doors by the office door back here?” He
motioned to them with his pen.
“That
would make the most since. There isn’t an alarm on them or anything so she
could have gotten out of here if she wanted to. She has never done that before
though. She usually hangs around and grabs food with me or one of the guys.”
“Which
of the guys does she like to spend time with?”
“Hunter
mostly,” she thought. “Sometimes she will talk to Rick or Christ, but I don’t
know. The only guy she’s really talked to me about is Hunter.”
Dwight
put a few notes down, more interested in the doors now as he looked to the
wall, imagining them, imagining her walking through them. Callie watched him
for a moment, his silence making her more uncomfortable.
“Sir?”
“Do
you like working here, any problems?”
Callie
shook her head. “It’s not bad, they work around my school schedule.”
Dwight
nodded, his pen tapping the pad as he looked back down at it.
“Have
you been inside her apartment?”
“No.”
“What
about the dance studio she works at?”
“She
showed me the outside one day when we were passing it.”
“She
talk about her job a lot?”
“No,
not really.”
Dwight
scratched the back of his head absently as he pondered her answers.
“Hunter
say anything to you about Aura on Saturday?”
She
thought for a long moment, frustration building. She didn’t want to get
anything wrong. Her nervous gestures showed it. Dwight figured she didn’t know
anything or she was a damn good actress. Callie was forming beads of sweat
across her brow, just a bit. The office was a bit muggy though.
“I
asked him if he had plans, he mentioned possibly seeing her. He didn’t go into
any details though, he often didn’t with her.”
“Why
is that?”
“I
think because she had a tendency to flake out on him some. I know at least once
she was supposed to be with him but ended up hanging out with me instead.”
Detective
Richtor pursed his lip just a fraction as he wrote the new note and put a line
through it.
“We
may want to talk to you again if we have further questions.”
“Of
course, sure, yeah,” she said standing. “Anything I can do to help.”
Dwight
nodded, allowing her dismissal. She couldn’t have made it out of the room any
faster if she were trying to.
