Part 2 of 3
Read the full text, as well as the show notes, at http:/flashpulp.com
Tonight, Mulligan Smith conducts a hurried interrogation in the depths of a well appointed office.
The Skinner Co. Network
FP282 - Mulligan Smith and The Reformed Man, Part 2 of 3
[music] Sunday's gloomy, my hours are so lumbarless Dear is the shadows I live with by nonetheless Little white flowers will never awaken you Not where the bright culture saw a lens taking you [music] Angels have no fire of ever tuning you Or they'll be angry if I sort of join in you Ooooh Sunday Welcome to Flashpulp, episode 282 This evening we present Mulligan Smith and the Reformed Man, Part 2 of 3 This week's episodes are brought to you by The Dark Wife The Tale of Ancient Gods and Forbidden Love Written by Sarah Deemer Find the free audiobook and so much more at bit.ly/thedarkwife I know that I'm glad to go. Death is no dream for, death I'm caressing you With the strength of my soul, they'll be blessing you [music] 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 conducts a hurried interrogation in the depths of a well-appointed office Mulligan Smith and the Reformed Man, Part 2 of 3 Written by J.R.D. Skinner, Art and Narration by Opoponax, an audio produced by Jessica May [music] As he pushed through the glass and steel store Smith finished saying, "You want to deal with secretaries and psychopaths the same way Give them your name, try to sneak some personal details into conversation And generally make yourself a human being in their eyes. It's often your only chance for survival" The receptionist stationed at the front desk was so sharply dressed that Mulligan nearly felt a need Check his own palm for cuts after shaking the man's hand From above the lenses of his ironically rimmed glasses, the gatekeeper looked over the hoodied P.I. and his towering companion, his mouth tightened Before he could decide between sarcasm and security, however, a brunette woman in a chocolate brown skirt She entered the welcome area, a wisp had escaped her bun and now floated above the left shoulder of her Tiffany blue blouse She moved with ease, but her rolled up sleeves and the fact that the suit jacket, which no doubt matched the skirt, was obviously long forgotten Left the detective concerned she might attempt to blow off their interview Instead she said, "Down Todd, these are friends" Cassie Withers did not wait for a reply She simply returned to the short hallway from which she had appeared Smith was quick to follow After a brisk walk along art-filled walls, Miss Wither's door clicked shut behind Winnipeg She wasted no time Cassie, she said, extending a hand to both men I apologize for the setting Meeting about this at work isn't exactly my preference, but we're in a bit of an accounting knife fight with our Malaysian branch at the moment It's especially annoying as I am booked on a flight there in the morning Anyhow, not to be rude, but what I'm saying is, talk fast and be blunt You've basically got from now till I finish drinking my coffee and eating my crackers Then I'm afraid I'll have to start swinging spreadsheets around the place Mulligan almost regretted having to step on the intricately woven rug Cassie had laid atop the room's beige carpet But it was the only way to the leather-covered chairs which sat across from her desk "Well," said Mulligan Mr. Perez has asked me, er, us, to look into any connections between the deaths of Donnie Benton and Morgan Watson Wither's nodded and asked, "Have you found any?" "Honestly," replied Smith, "not as of yet." Mr. Perez wasn't terribly forthcoming on background I know you all used to hang out in college, and that they both lived in the city when they died The end If the person who stabbed Watson three years ago is the same as the one who club Benton to death a week ago They certainly didn't leave me any notes saying so Brushing aside the rogue lock of hair, Cassie sighed Felix didn't tell you? No Well, it's not something I brag about either, I suppose Still, they are fond memories I suppose it started when I met Felix We were in the same church group together, and we got close at the closing weeks of high school When we realized we were both going to capital school of business We met Donnie and Morgan and Matthew Donnegan Felix was the brains Donnie was the schmoozer Morgan was as close as CSB's Ivy League reputation would allow it to come to admitting a bad boy And Donnegan was the mysterious quiet guy Listen, I grew up very Catholic I mean, my parents are wonderful people The nicest, most generous souls you'll ever meet Their faith gave them the strength to survive the death of my older brother But it also meant I was raised in a straight jacket They had the best of intentions, and they generally did a fantastic job of instilling me with all the greatest parts of what they believed But, well, in some areas The ones I'd been most restricted in I kind of exploded As the narrator paused to sip at her coffee and chew a trisket, the PI nodded And Winnipeg leaned forward in his chair, resting the meat of his arms on his broad legs Finally, Withers cleared her throat I slept with them all freshman year "Huh," replied Mulligan, as he punched the notes into his phone "Any old jealous he's from that?" "Who was the first, and who was the last?" Following his friend's line of thinking, Billy steepled his fingers sagely Gondewood said, "An eye for an eye ends up making the whole world blind" "No," responded the cracker eater "I mean it once" We were all drunk at Felix's tiny apartment He had this huge, sexy velvet couch that took up the entire living room They all seemed like nice guys, they were definitely all handsome It didn't hurt that they were some of the first boys I'd ever been left alone with I dared them An involuntary, "Whoa," escaped Winnipeg's lips But with a defensive look, he added, "Mahatma also said, "For myself, I found we are all such sinners" "We should leave punishment to God" Smith simply puckered his lips and tapped at the blank screen of his cell For a long moment, there was only the sound of a phone ringing from beyond the shut door And the crunching of cooked wheat It allowed the full weight of her words to sink in At which point the sleuth realized he was presented with an unpleasant question "Did you say Matthew Donnegan?" "The E Matthew Donnegan?" "Yeah," came the reply, as withers emptied her mug "You know him? Or at least of him, I guess?" "Yeah," said Mulligan, "We know him" In fact, the reverend was yelling at us just last night Maybe Winnipeg here should have tried to be a little nicer Despite his flip tone, Smith did not relish his idea of calling on the flame-haired head of the Church of the Burning Christ He thanked the honest woman for her time, then stood Flashpulp is presented by flashpulp.com and is released under the Canadian Creative Commons attribution non-commercial 2.5 license Text and audio commentaries can be sent to scare@skinner.fm or the voicemail line at 206-338-2792 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 Please check this episode's notes at flashpulp.com And thanks to you for listening. If you enjoyed the show, please tell your friends If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe to our channel. Thank you for watching! [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]