His Conundrums

Chapter 6

Mrs. Porter's Disappearance

Mr. Lauve needs to stay for three more days. They decided to take turns so that they can go home and wash up. It was when Joe was walking on his way home when he saw a lot of people blocked almost the whole road with a bunch of policemen and some guy wearing lab coats.

He saw a guy who stumbled on his feet, almost kissed the road on his way to the crime scene. He was fixing his white gloves while his mask hung around his left ear and his white lab coat on his shoulder.

"What happened?" Joe asked the guy when he went closer to him.

"Mrs. Porter, the shop's owner, was found dead. Some said it was suicide... but I don't think it is," he said while fixing his black thick glasses, leaving Joe thinking what might happen to her before she died.

"Poor Mrs. Porter, she had a child but never came to see her, now who's going to send her off?" He heard some man said.

He knew who Mrs. Porter is. He remembered stealing a mug made of a special kind of ceramics. He wanted to give it a gift for Mr. Lauve when he turns 65 in a couple of days. Now he felt bad since Mrs. Porter had died. He went inside his apartment just in front of Mrs. Porter's shop. As soon as he locked the door, he saw the mug right at the top of his table.

"Oh! Come on! Do you really want me to feel bad? I'm your owner, man. And besides... if I return you to her, who will care for you?" he monologued while staring at the mug.

"Tsk!" he blurted out of annoyance.

He went straight directly to his bedroom to grab a change of clothes when he saw a women-figure beside his window standing in the dark. He's searching for the switch to turn on the lights, but he's too focused on the figure making his heartbeat went faster.

"Oh, God! Promise I'm going to return the mug to her rightful owner," he said as fast as his heartbeat.

"You're busy. You don't have to haunt me," he mumbled to himself while sweat came rushing through his forehead.

"WHERE'S THE GOD**MN SWITCH!" he shouted when he couldn't search the switch.

*click*

He was about to jump and run for his life when he turned on the lights. It was Jazel, his mannequin. He didn't steal this one. He found it at a garbage bin, the only thing that he didn't stole.

"Oh, Jazel! You almost gave me a heart attack! But isn't it good if I'll give that mug a new owner? Mrs. Porter must be happy. She owes me this one," he said to Jacey while giving her a wink.

-0-0-0-

Complete silence. That's how you described the moment when Mr. Lauve and Sirius were alone in a hospital room. His thoughts drowned Sirius while Mr. Lauve's looking at him. When the old man can't stand the silence, he decided to start a conversation with his strange customer.

"Never thought a day would come when I can see both of my customers hanging around in my hospital room," he said while laughing. Sirius looked at him like he's trying to read his mind.

"Did you... lose your voice?" Mr. Lauve asked him.

"No." He answered.

"Tell me something about you if you don't mind. It's too quiet." The old man requested.

"I'm Sirius," He said.

"Yeah! You looked like it." The old man approved.

"No, I mean... that's my name," He clarified.

"Seriously?" The old man asked and burst into laughter.

"It's Sirius." He emphasized how it was pronounced.

"Oh! Do you mean like the star? Sirius?" he asked. Sirius nodded his head.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to laugh." The old man apologized.

"Well, I'm Redmund Lauve. I was in the army before," he said, trying to start sharing his own story.

"I know. You were thirteen when you joined the army. You were in service for almost 47 years. You are a member of 'The Notchers,' formed for the last 10 survivor in your platoon, but the seven have died due to age and diseases. You, Rick Moran, and Mario Jagneer are still alive. You decided to have a simple life. That's why you chose to open up a coffee shop without any background in brewing coffee, and that's the reason why you only have espresso on your menu. Rick Moran chose to stay in the military to train younger men and Mario Jagneer..." He was about to mention Jagneer's life when Mr. Lauve cut him off.

"Mario Jagneer," He sighed, trying to remember something about this man.

"What do you know about him?" he asked Sirius.

"Well... he's a leader of a gang called Xi," he answered.

"He was once a man with dignity. When we were discharged from the army, a huge group came by and offered us big money. We both declined the offer to stick with the Notcher's principle, but after a few days, he came to visit my shop and said he accepted the offer. I was so furious and told him never to appear in front of me again. But one day, he showed up, looking for the Notcher's files. It was a top-secret file for us, so I hid it somewhere safe..." Sirius didn't let him continue his story.

"Do you like a coffee paired up with your story?" Sirius asked him while he slowly took the notebook and a pen from his bag.

"Of course I do!" said the old man.

Sirius put his index finger in his lips to tell the old man to stay quiet. He wrote down something in his notebook, which says 'someone's listening to us.' The old man looked a bit shocked for a moment but just nodded his head.

"I like my coffee black and strong," he said, looking at Sirius while getting a cup and start preparing his coffee while Sirius slowly made his way in front of the old man's footboard where the TV was. He slowly searched for any weird-looking devices behind the TV and saw an audio bugging device. He scanned it for a second when he heard a cup fell to the floor.

"No! Don't pick it up. Just sweep it off with a broom. Don't worry, and I'm sleepy, by the way. I don't think I could drink coffee. I'll finish my story tomorrow. I'm going to sleep." The old man was talking to himself, trying to help Sirius. Thanks to that, he bought some time and found out how to deactivate it and throw it in a trash bin. Mr. Lauve came closer to Sirius.

"Find my files. He's going after it. Please keep it hidden. I hid it in a mug and placed it in a home depot store around Joe's apartment," he whispered.