Chapter 5; 540pm The office of G&M Investigation.

Gwen opened the door to her little office, in a previous life the office space was a toy store, but you would have never guessed that now. The front had a glass brick wall that Marci, William, and she had built to create a waiting area. The wall of frosted cubed glass ran from the floor to the drop ceiling. They even managed to fit a thin wooden door to give Gwen's office on the other side of the wall a more official feel.  Marci's desk sat in front of the wall, it was nothing special, but Marci kept it well decorated. Little figures of fairies and cutouts of cartoons lined not only her desk, but also the attached wall. Marci liked to surround herself with fairy tales and comic strips. She was a dreamer, she was also Gwen's foster-sister, and the only family she had, best to her knowledge.  A simple throw rug covered the floor just to hide the ugly tile; years of heavy traffic and no real care left the floor badly damaged. Along the wall to Gwen's left was a simple cloth couch, gray in color.  Marci found it hidden away in another part of the mall within an abandoned office. She steamed cleaned it, and scrubbed it back to life for use in their waiting area. Marci and Gwen had just started this business less than 8 months ago. They had next to nothing when they started, but over the last few months, they managed to make it work. On that couch was her client, she did not have much information on him except he clearly had money. He dressed as if he had money but was trying to hide his wealth. Best description Gwen could come up with; he dressed how he would imagine a middle class man would, not how they actually dressed. He was tall, so tall the couch seemed small under him. He had his Salt and pepper hair in a clean short men's cut. It was an old fashion cut; from another decade but it worked on him. Soft crow's-feet had formed around his eyes, probably in his 40s. He was good-looking man for his age.

Marci stood has Gwen closed the door; she was in her usual blue jeans and polo shirt. Marci is a bit of a Tom Boy, and she owned it, her dirty blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail

"Mr. Ginn, this is Ms. Greene our Investigator." Marci smiled and gestured towards Gwen.

Gwen stopped in her tracks; a paused noticed by everyone in the room

{Ginn? As in Samara Ginn? She is either his daughter or wife.}

Mr. Ginn stood politely and extended his hand. He towered over Gwen, and did so in a way that clearly showed he knew how tall he was.

"Mr. Ginn, you are here about Samara, correct?" risky gambit on Gwen's part.

Mr. Ginn's face softened when she mentioned Samara. He looked concern and burdened by sadness.

{Father. Definitely}

Gwen step forward and firmly shook his still extended hand.

"How long has your daughter been missing?"

No sooner, did she finish the sentence; he dropped to the couch with tears in his eyes.

"At least 3 days." the sadness was so heavy it made him seem small.

"How did you know she was missing?" the sadness was clinging to each of his words.

{He is looking for a miracle, cannot say because the police invited me to the station to talk about it}

"I'm a Private Investigator, and I am good at what I do" Gwen was trying to sound confident, but other than a couple of cheating spouses, and one lost dog, she never had a case like this.

Gwen motioned to her office door by Marci's desk; Mr. Ginn stood and followed her through. Beyond the glass wall was her desk, brainstorming board, and laptop. She had another couch for the clients in her office as well; it was another Marci find. Her foster mom said you get more honesty out of people when you treat them like family. Was that a true statement? Who really knows.

"Marci, can you get Mr. Ginn some coffee please?" Gwen gesture in the general direction of Mr. Cornwall's shop.

Marci nodded and left.

"Have a seat please Mr. Ginn."

"It's Thomas."

Gwen choked on her coffee.

"The Thomas Ginn? Has in the man responsible for one the largest green energy advancement in the last 5 years?" she had not place his last name until now.

Thomas Ginn have reinvented green energy. He had developed a solar panel that was 5 times more powerful while being ¹/³ the size, this made solar farms smaller, more efficient, and cause less of an impact on wildlife. Not to mention he made them more affordable. Average cost for installation on a home less than $5k.

"One in the same" his reply felt humble. As if, he did not want the recognition.

{He could afford better than me. He could afford an army to find her}

"Well Thomas, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but why come to me? I'm small potatoes compared to what you can afford."

"Samara loved coming here, to this mall. She would wonder the halls practicing her lines for her plays. She was in College Theater. You are a relatively new P.I., if someone took her it is less likely they would know who you are.  And if I am being watch they will hopefully think I am here just retracing her steps. With the low amount of foot traffic in here it would be easy for me to spot a tail. I know the police are doing their best, but we all know they are stretched thin and when they start asking questions everyone notices."

{He makes a good argument.}

"Why do you think she was kidnapped? Have you received any contact from potential kidnappers?" Gwen asked taking a sip from her mug.

"No, however Samara has not been seen at work or home for the past three days. Until this morning I just figured she took a vacation with some friends." Thomas sighed heavily.

"What chanced this morning?"

"The last time I spoke to her she was going out with three friends for drinks and dinner. The police informed me that her friends bodies were found in alley this morning." Tears rolled down his face again.

*Knock* knock*

Marci opened the door,

"Here you go," she handed him a black cup on a saucer with some cream and sugar. William always seemed to know what people enjoyed with their coffee.

"Gwen there is a Detective Stone waiting outside to speak to you" Marci seemed concerned.

"In the waiting room?" {I did not hear the door open}

"No in the hallway of the mall."

{Interesting timing Detective}

"Excuse me Thomas". Gwen placed her cup on her desk and left the room.

"Detective Stone, what can I do for you?" Gwen asked with a smile has she stepped into the hallway.

Detective Stone was still in the same clothes from this morning,

"I am not here for you; I know Mr. Ginn is in there, we located his daughter. I asked for you to come out here so Mr. Cornwall and Mr. Jing could see us chatting." he replied while making a nudging motion towards The Perthshire Gazette.

Gwen could see both the men standing in the doorway watching them.

"The three of us go way back. Almost feels like a lifetime ago. "

He said with a deep sigh, it was the first real emotion she had seen him display. He did so in a way that made her feel like they had been playing a game of cat and mouse that he no longer wanted to play.

"Are my fellow Mall Neighbors criminals?" Gwen whispered with a smile.

"We have... History. A very long History. And they know what they need to do to stay out of trouble. So I like to take the opportunity when I can to remind them I am still around."

  {The way he talks about them makes me wonder do my new friends have a criminal past?}

Gwen's intuition said they were good men. Loyal and honest. Unlike the void of nothing she got from Detective Stone.

"Can I come in to speak with Mr. Ginn?" the way he looked at Gwen made her skin crawl. It was as if his eyes had no life to them. Being a cop took a much harder toll on someone then she ever realized.

Before Gwen could reply, Detective Stone's eyes shifted to the doorway; Mr. Ginn had made his way out to the Hallway.

"Mr. Ginn."

"Detective, did I hear you say you found her?" Thomas' voice seemed to fill with hope.

"If you would come with me please Sir, I'll take you to her." Detective Stone's words were so empty that Gwen could not tell if this would be a happy reunion, or a heart breaking identification.

{Since I am not family, and Mr. Ginn did not put me on retainer yet, I guess I am out of this equation, unless}

"Mr. Ginn, here is my card. Please if you should ever need my services." Gwen pulled out a worn business card from her pocket.

"Ms. Greene, I will be in touch." Detective Stone said with a tip of his hat.

"Thank you." Thomas took the card and politely smiled and walked away with Detective Stone. In the entry way of the Book Store both Mr. Cornwall and Mr. Jing watched Detective Stone walking away. There was a tension in the air so thick that Gwen felt it from where she stood.

"I am going to join the guys for dinner. You coming?" Gwen answered while gesturing across the hall to the two old men who seemed to brighten up once Stone was out of their view.

"I can't, I have a date." Marci let out an awkward laugh. Like most Tom Boys, she did not realize how attractive she was.

"You do? Anyone I know?" Gwen was happy to see her sister going out for once.

"Just the UPS guy. Josh." Marci giggled like she was a teenager again. Josh made regular deliveries in the mall. He was polite and cute.

Gwen smiled and mouthed have fun has she walked over to the Gazette.

End Chapter 5