Idles was losing hope. She'd been on the case now for what seemed like days and seemed to be getting nowhere apart from dragged down in memories and dead ends. The mysterious note had only increased her curiosity. What did it mean and why was the V-Bird only appearing brandishing riddles? Her hideous hallucination of being kidnapped by the Chu gang hadn't helped any either. She shuddered as she remembered Chu's vow for revenge after she had cracked the Bulls Blood case. A faint whistle of a tune from long ago made her slam her hand against the wall as she thought once again of Murdoch and that night with the tattoos. That boy always had a way of worming his way into her head. He was so innocent then, untainted by the scent of Legal Men on his tail. He had always been a no-good scallywag, but that night he was her no good scallywag. She remembered the way he held her whilst they danced to the beat of that old Go-Betweens song that she had always loved, the look in his eyes, hi! ! s stripy T-shirt against her. A tear formed in her eye. This wasn't doing her any good. The only thing for it was to go back to Honey's bar and see what she could drag up there again. Last time, it seemed that the lurkers had been unwilling to talk. Perhaps this time, a few Ribenas here and there may loosen their tongues. She sauntered into the bar that seemed much denser than before. She noticed a figure clad in a blue duffel coat sat at her usual table. She hadn't noticed this person before in Honey's Bar and wondered what she wanted from her. "Ahh Idles, just the person I've been wanting to talk to," said a husky female voice. It was the voice of a woman jaded by time and Ribena. A woman who had once walked with God, but strayed away. Idles looked up to see the face of a girl with a floppy black fringe, with the biggest and most soulful blue eyes she had seen in a while. The girl fiddled with the many badges on her dress, cleared her throat and began to speak. "Idles, I need your help, and in return, perhaps I could provide some much needed help with the Indie case?" Idles gasped. She had not really seen this stranger in Honey's bar before. How could she trust her, and how could she know about the Indie case? The girl continued, "I know I may look like a lurker, but I assure you. I've been around and I know what I'm doing. My name is Miss Jenni. Perhaps you've seen me before. I am of course, a mistress of disguise, what with my glasses and all. I received a mysterious note the other day from a "Miss Crush" concerning a certain person who is interested in perhaps,getting to know me better." Idles cut her off. "Miss Jenni, this is all very well and good. But how can you possibly help me? This is nothing to do with matters of love." "That is what you may think. But perhaps you're looking in the wrong places. After all, it is a well known fact that Indie kids dress in a certain way to attract a mate. Perhaps this Miss Crush could provide you with some much needed clues as well as help me. Ribena?" "It's a bit early in the day for me" Miss Jenni fluttered her blue eyes at Idles. "Go on, you look like you're in need of refreshment." Idles sniffed the drink carefully. She never could be too sure, especially with her dream of the Chu gang kidnapping still fresh in her mind. She took a careful sip and deemed it to have a full sugar content and therefore worthy of savouring. But Idles was a whiley Private eye. "How can I trust you Miss Jenni? Don't you hang around with that Post-Rock lot? Stuart "Uncle Fester" Braithwaite and the Mogwai gang?" Miss Jenni folded her arms defensively. "Braithwaite has nothing to do with this. Besides, he's a useful ally in the war against the Chu gang." She shuddered at the very thought of them. "I'm offering my services free of charge here. If you don't want my help then fine. I just want to tell you you'd be making a mistake." At that moment, the door opened. A flash of a tattoo, a whistle of a bar of "Slow Graffiti." Both Idles and Miss Jenni froze at the sound. "Oh God, I've got to go" Miss Jenni gathered her things hurriedly. "Well, where can I find you?" "I'm staying at the Cordy Smokes motel. Room 27. You can reach me there." With that and one last look at Idles over her shoulder, Miss Jenni fled from Honey's bar. "Murdoch" said Idles with more conviction then she felt. "You again" "Who was that?" growled Murdoch "A friend. That's all." "That's strange,I'm sure I've seen that cleavage somewhere before..." To be continued... "Girlfriends? Boyfriends? They come and go. But Pickled Onion Monster Munch? Now they're eternal..." http://photojenni.diaryland.com +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+