Part 1 of 1
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Tonight, Mulligan Smith, PI, finds himself face-to-face with a surly client, and the man’s nervous dachshund.
The Skinner Co. Network
FP329 - Mulligan Smith in Can't Live with Them
Some days, gloomy, my hours are slumberless. Dear is the shadows I live with by nonetheless. Little white flowers will never awaken you. Not where the bright coach of sorrow is taking you. Angels have no fire ever turning you. Would they be angry if I saw them joining you? Welcome to Flashpulp, Episode 329. This evening we present, Mulligan Smith in Can't Live With Them, Part 1 of 3. This week's episodes are brought to you by Nutty Bites. Hi, I'm Nuke Chas, the host of Nutty Bites. And hi, I'm Tech, Nutty's regular guest. Or an agonist. Our podcast is like a call-in 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, "brant, brave, 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? Erm, antagonist, not really a guest. NuttyBites, 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, Malek and Smith PI finds themselves face to face with a surly client and the man's nurse doxxon. Malek and Smith Inn can't live with them. Part one of three. Written by J.R.D. Skinner. Art and narration by Poponax. And audio produced by Jessica May. [Music] It was earlier than Mulligan liked to exist on any given day, but his client, Maxwell Doherty, had demanded the meeting take place before the man had to depart for his desk. The account manager was straightening his crimson tie as Smith leaned the tricell into his driveway. This was an especially unpleasant situation for the private investigator, as he'd spent the previous evening consoling a woman whose missing son he'd finally turned up. She'd requested he drive her to the grassy lot where the police technicians were retrieving what was left of his long-decade corpse. Then he'd voluntarily stopped at the bar just down the street to talk over how common suicide was amongst teens. Instead, they mainly discussed their mutual love of mystery novels and dogs, though they were both between pets at the moment. Small talk, but the lack of serious subject matter had kept him from remembering that he should leave. He rarely drank, largely because of how it made him feel on that very early, very bright morning, and because it often led, as it had last night, to his guilt covering the tab. His sympathies had guzzled half the value of his invoice, and that, perhaps, pained the detective the most. It meant belt-tightening, and having to watch idiots kick their puppies. "Come on, piss!" said the Windsor-fussing, leg-throwing doherty. It was obvious to Mulligan that the Dachshund was too concerned with flying oxfords to consider taking a moment to water the lawn, so he arranged a distraction. "Hey, Max!" he said with a wave. The client turned on his spotless heel. "Maxwell, I've mentioned the same thing in my email, remember?" "Yes, in fact. Smith remembered quite well." "Yeah," he replied. "Actually, about that. I just had a few follow-up questions." In truth, he hated to take a job, even a well-paying job, without meeting the client. The offer had arrived with a portfolio of information that he guessed wasn't all that different than an account file Maxwell would have put together on an average workday. Mulligan closed the distance with his hand extended, an awkward gesture that forced doherty to keep his eyes on the approaching handshake. Seeing his master's distracted state, the dog turned a leg on a well-watered looking maple. As the shake was exchanged, Smith was unsurprised to discover Maxwell was a squeezer. The detective opted to overstep his advance in hopes of catching something on his client's breath that might match the red flare of broken blood vessels across the peak of his nose. He didn't have to get terribly close to confirm this theory. Then the questions began. "Were you on good terms with your wife?" asked Smith. "Yeah, we were in love," was all doherty replied. "Were the two of you in any fights just before she disappeared?" "No." "Was there anything else out of the ordinary? Was she away a lot, distracted by her cell phone or the internet?" "Was she fucking someone else you mean?" "No. I don't have money to throw away on her, having her own phone, and she could barely find her computer's power button." Smith nodded, more out of a lack of surprise than any interest in affirming his client's notions. "You mentioned that she ran a daycare. Any problems with the parents?" "No. She was down to two kids, and she really just watched them in the morning until she walked them to school. The folks do shift work, and they never discuss much beyond how much do I owe you." "Hmm, did she have any habits that might have gotten her into trouble?" Maxwell's voice grew thicker with his delivery, as if the gin on his breath was only decorative. "She drank too much sometimes." "We didn't fight, but it could make her pretty bitchy." While Smith worked on his next question, the dog barked in on Camille Helloade, who a passing cyclist. "Shut up, Brutus," said its owner. "She bought me the shitty mutt. Swear it's about as smart as she is." "I mean, who the fuck gives in an animal as a present?" "I'd have it put down if the vet didn't charge so much." Mulligan could guess, and projected loneliness would be high on his list of suggestions. He also now had some idea of why his client had taken him on. He himself wasn't entirely convinced the man hadn't murdered his wife, and it was a short jump to what the cops might think. "Anything more?" asked Doherty. "No, that's all I needed," replied Smith. Maxwell turned back, pulling up in the entrance. His toes narrowly missed the dachshund's scrambling rear legs as the pup bolted inside. The pet owner told his employee, "You better not be billing me for this time. You're supposed to be looking for my fucking wife, not standing here bullshitting with me." As he pulled shut the inside door. Smith noted that, in his rush, he'd forgotten to lock it. "I didn't plan to actually start billing till mine," Mulligan replied. "So you've got another five minutes?" With a glance at his watch, the account manager said, "Shit!" Less than two minutes later, Smith was pulling right at the corner's stop sign as Maxwell accelerated away behind him. The lingering PI then took another right, and another, and another. He didn't bother killing the engine as he stepped out onto Doherty's driveway. He found Brutus excited to be unexpectedly free, and it required little coaxing to convince him into the backseat of the tracelle. Mulligan knew a lady who would actually appreciate the company. [Music] 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 FreeSound 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] Sunday is gloomy, and my hours are stumbled. Here is the shadows I live with are stumbled. [Music]