Author's note: I've written quite a bit lately, though I haven't shared any of it publicly. This story was written based on a single word prompt ("Solve") and it's quite different than most of the other stories I've written. I hope you enjoy it!
I lay on the couch and slept most of the afternoon. By the time I woke up, it was close to eight o’clock and I found myself hungry for dinner. I looked outside and saw the afternoon clouds gave way to torrential rain, so instead of going out, I called in for pizza delivery, then turned on the TV to pass the time.
An hour later, I heard a knock on the door and got up to answer it, my wallet already in hand.
“Mr. Gantry?” a uniformed policeman said when I opened the door. His partner stood next to him, a grim look on her face.
“Yeah, I’m Jack Gantry. Is there something wrong?”
“Sir, we have a report of a missing person, a Ms. Sherri, um … “ he paused, looking down at his notes. “Sherri Gibbons. Did you know her?”
“Yes, she is, I mean, was my girlfriend.”
The cop peered inside my apartment, but couldn’t see past me. Instead of blocking his view, I swung the door open and welcomed the two of them in with a sweeping motion of my hand. They hesitated.
“Look, sir, by inviting us in, you’re giving us the right to investigate. You don’t have to do that, at least until we provide you a search warrant. Also, you may want to consult a lawyer.”
I smiled and waved them in again. “Please, officers, I have nothing to hide. Come on in and investigate as much as you want.”
The male cop looked over at his partner, then led the way in. I waited until both were inside before closing the door.
“I hope you don’t mind, the place isn’t tidied up at all,” I told them. “Sherri did the housekeeping around here. Please have a seat.”
I led them to the sofa and sat down in my easy chair.
“Fire away, Officer, um … ” I said.
The cops sat down, facing me. “I’m sorry, I’m Officer McHenry and this is my partner, Officer Lauder,” the male cop said.
“Go ahead, Officer McHenry. I’m all ears. By the way, I have a pizza coming, so I may have to get up to answer the door.”
McHenry nodded and took out a pen. “I promise this won’t be long, Mr. Gantry.”
“Call me Jack, if you would. Mr. Gantry is my father’s name.”
“I prefer ‘Mr. Gantry,’ sir,” McHenry said. “Now when was the last time you saw Ms. Gibbons.”
“Last night. She packed her bags and moved out.”
McHenry scribbled notes on his pad. “Did she say where she was going?”
“No, but I overheard her on the phone with some guy named Sam.”
The female office cleared her throat. “Excuse me, why did she leave, sir?”
I looked over at her and blinked a couple of times. She wanted me to show some emotion, but I had most of that drained out of me at the bookstore.
“She was tired of living with me, I guess. I’m a disappointment in her eyes and she had enough.”
Officer Lauder nodded and withdrew to let her partner continue.
“Do you know who ‘Sam’ is, Mr. Gantry?” he continued.
“No, I only met him today. A couple of hours ago, he was camped out in front of my apartment door, waiting for me to come home.”
“Where were you before that?”
I smiled. “Looking for Sherri. Sam called me early this morning looking for her, though he never said who he was. She apparently never arrived at his house as scheduled.”
“I see,” McHenry said, then looked back at his partner and mumbled something I couldn’t hear.
“Mr. Gantry, may I take a look around while my partner continues to question you?” Lauder asked, standing up.
“Sure thing, help yourself,” I told her.
Just then, there was a knock on the door and I got up to answer it.
“It’s the pizza. May I?” I asked McHenry.
“Sure, go ahead.”
I paid off the delivery boy and put the pizza box on the counter, then returned to the living room. Lauder hadn’t returned from her inspection of the apartment, so I took my seat and waited for more questions.
“The pizza smells good,” McHenry said, looking up from his pad again.
I laughed. “I’d offer you a slice, but I’m guessing that’s against regulations.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” he said, looking somewhat depressed about that. I felt bad for him for a moment, then I remembered that he suspected I did something to Sherri.
“Any more questions?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said, looking back at his pad. “How long have you been living with Ms. Gibbons?”
“At least five years,” I said. “We’ve known each other since college, even dated then. But it wasn’t until she moved to San Francisco and looked me up that we really got serious. Shortly thereafter, she moved in.”
“When did things start going sour in your relationship, Mr. Gantry?”
I sighed. Everyone’s a couples counselor these days.
“About a year now, I guess. I’m a freelance artist and I hadn’t been getting many commissions, so I started getting depressed, then started drinking a bit too heavily. The more I drank, the less motivated I was to look for new clients or even paint anything on my own.”
McHenry looked around and took note of the bare walls. “Where’s all your work?”
“Sold or given away,” I said. “Or thrown out.”
“You throw out your work? Why is that, Mr. Gantry?”
I shrugged. “I was disgusted by some of the pieces I painted. It was either throw them out or gouge my eyes out.”
McHenry made sure he wrote that in his notes. Obviously, I was a dangerous character if I’m talking about maiming myself. Could harming another person be the next logical step?
Just then, Officer Lauder returned from her tour of my newly created bachelor pad. I waited for her to make some sort of cop-like pronouncement, but she just shook her head. Her partner nodded and stood up.
“Well, Mr. Gantry, that’s all we need right now. We don’t see any signs of violence right now, but until we find Ms. Gibbons, we won’t be able to rule out bringing in detective to do a thorough investigation of this place,” McHenry said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. “Please contact us if you hear from Ms. Gibbons or learn of her whereabouts?”
I took the card from him. “Sure thing, officer, I’ll contact you right away.”
The two cops walked to the door and I let them out.
“Thank you,” I told them and watched them walk down the hall to the stairwell, then closed the door.
Later that night, I tossed and turned in bed again, occupied with concern for Sherri’s welfare. At one point, it struck me as bittersweet that here I was, caring about her when I couldn’t give a damn about her when we lived under the same roof. If God provided wake-up calls, this was mine. I had to get my life back on track, but I didn’t know if I could until I knew where Sherri was. I just had no idea where to continue looking.
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