Part 2 of 3
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Tonight, Mulligan Smith, PI, finds himself holding an uncomfortable conversation on a school’s sidewalk.
The Skinner Co. Network
FP330 - Mulligan Smith in Can’t Live with Them, Part 2 of 3
Some days, gloomy, my hours are slumberless Dear is the shadows I live with by nonetheless Little wife-lowers will never awaken you Not where the bright coach is all I'm taking you Angels have no fire ever tuning you Would they be angry if I saw them joining you Ooh, Sunday Welcome to Flashpulp, episode 330 This evening we present Mulligan Smith and Can't Live With Them, part 2 of 3 This week's episodes are brought to you by Netty Bites Hi, I'm Nuke Chas, the host of Netty Bites And hi, I'm Tech, Netty's regular guest Or antagonist Our podcast is like a calling show where geeks get to debate topics about speculative fiction We don't really debate Sure we do, we debate topics such as lame superpowers, the best villains, and our favorite apocalypses We're more like, rant, rave and then have massive nerve ridges People call in from all over the world, sometimes minor celebrities and we've even had some supervillain show up Do you ever notice that you never have any superheroes or good guys? I'm a good guy, compared to what? Errr, antagonist, not really a guest Netty Bites, Nimlas.org Flashpulp is an experiment in broadcasting fresh pulp stories in the modern age Three to ten minutes of fiction, brought to you Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings Tonight, Mulligan Smith, PI, find themselves holding an uncomfortable conversation on a school sidewalk Mulligan Smith in Can't Live With Them, part 2 of 3 Written by J.R.D. Skinner Art and narration by the Pope and Acts An audio produced by Jessica Smith "Mulligan's Morning" had largely consisted of asking neighbors and friends about the disappearance of his client's wife Monica. It had been a short process After he'd run through the houses that flanked the Doherty home and the single set of parents who used her daycare services Smith knew that the woman had seemed kind but distant, loved children, and was very forgiving about being paid late They had little else to offer, but questions and conjecture Mother of Julian, the boy Monica had been walking to school on behalf of his steel worker parents, had suggested that things were perhaps not always great between the missing and her husband, but that she'd felt it was not of her business Later, as he'd stood to leave the Dunkin' Donuts at which they'd met, she'd also asked if the situation was at all connected to the vanishing of Lita Carver Who? Mulligan had replied His afternoon head subsequently been spent online at a small desk beside the non-fiction autobiographical "esses" of the capital city public library There were three references to Lita The first was a quick mention in her father's obituary, and the second, a quote from a schoolyard hot dog sale that she happened to have visited Both items were years old, and likely entirely unrelated to the matter at hand The third, however, intensified Julian's mother's question Lita had been married to a "martial" carver, nearly two decades, producing a single son, Mayfield The boy's birth announcement in the capital city daily, and a bit of math, told Mulligan that the youth was now 17 Mrs. Carver had gone missing on May 18th of the previous year after having walked the teen to school, as reported when "martial" arrived home from work that evening Lita's history of, as her husband put it, "dramatics" had convinced the police to conduct an immediate search Creeping further through the records for follow-ups had provided the PI only frustration The phone call to Marshall forced Smith to be up for the second early morning in a row The man had insisted, much as his client had, though in a more even tone, that Mulligan conduct his interview before business hours "And what is it that you do, Mr. Carver?" Smith had asked ten minutes after snaring a prime parking space on the road, alongside an eastern high school "I sell knives," replied Marshall, "Hi, and custom kitchen blades, everything you'd need to peel an apple or a pig" Upon his arrival, he told Mulligan that he'd taken over his wife's duty of escorting their son in the years since her disappearance, and the investigator had had a brief opportunity to meet the teen Carver's had been dressed, identically, like green polo shirts, well-pressed khaki slacks, chrome-briteling watches, and a pair of carefully-parted haircuts, both swept to the left And following an exchange of hellos with the detective, Mayfield had moved to kiss his father and depart As such, the discovery of Marshall's occupation had simply unsettled the already fatigued Mulligan further "How did Lita spend her time?" he asked, letting his interviewee trail ahead a step as they began walking towards the man's residence Mulligan had little interest in allowing Marshall's cutting experience, and dead smile behind him But it was necessary to share the sidewalk with a sharp elbow crossing guard and her merrily swinging stop sign "Why is a private investigator looking into my lost wife?" Carver responded Smith could detect no difference between this question's tone of delivery and the earlier mention of butchery But the cool employee did cease her unthinking waving During her blue and red hair, Mulligan gave her a nod as he passed, but held his tongue till he was out of her earshot Finally, he said, "Another woman, Monica Doherty has gone missing, she lives three blocks away, and it has the same sort of feel as Lita's case I was wondering if you might have some insight into the situation?" Carver stopped then, turning back towards Smith and locking his eyes on the detectives This was as close to a show of emotion as he came before explaining "I do not know where my wife is, but when I do find her, I will lock whoever is responsible in a very small room In that room, I will place a single hot plate I own a pair of gloves, I bought them on the internet, that are amazingly resistant to heat but provide enough flexibility to use your fingers with precision I've also purchased the entire carbon series of knives, a product I myself sell I invested in them because I know from experience and from the literature that the line is heat resistant up to 800 degrees I will arrange the set from paring knife to butcher's blade on the burners and once the steel is glowing, I will use them to shave away the person in question I'll start with their toes and then their feet don't worry, there's a Japanese debonife in there that will easily handle the bone and I'll just keep working my way up I may not be able to go through their shins, but I bet I can cut and cauterize some solid turkey slices from their calves once the accountable party has clarified their actions, and apologized, I'll allow them to die I knew a pig farm who'd trade almost anything for some of our out-of-stock product Marshall ended the statement with a dry "huh" as if he'd intended the whole thing as a bit of joking bravado Mulligan however, had no further questions FlashPulp is presented by flashpulp.com and is released under the creative commons attribution non-commercial 3.0 unported license text and audio commentaries can be sent to comments@flashpulp.com but be aware that they may appear in a future flashcast we'd also like to thank the free sound project found at freesound.org for a full listing of effects used during the show as well as credits for the users who provided them check this episode's notes at flashpulp.com and thanks to you for listening if you enjoyed the show, please tell your friends [Music] [Music] [Music]