Sam Spade 18: Case of the Girl with the Golden Eyes

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The story may contain sexual activities and situations that are to be read only by readers above the legal age of consent. All characters are above the age of consent. The story is not to be read in locations where such stories are illegal. If you are not of legal age, or live in the wrong place, please do not read.

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Sam Spade 18: Case of the Girl with The Golden Eyes

by

Kaereni

Prelude:

Amy was lost in thought when she heard a woman sitting next to her say loudly, "And then I saw the rat right in front of me. However, it was okay; I saw which way it was facing and knew I would be able to dodge it when it took flight."

Still clutching the flag from her brother's casket she turned her head towards the woman and said, "Rats don't have wings." The woman gave her a look that enraged her and moved to sit next to the other woman across her.

"The nerve of some people," the second lady said loudly.

It was bad enough having to bury her brother and then take the train home alone. But these two caused Amy to snap. The next thing she knew, she was sitting in coach and still clutching the flag. The only difference from when she got on the train was that the flag now had blood on it. Looking down at the fresh blood, she moaned softly, "Oh no not again...not now."

"They deserved it with their wagging tongues and lying eyes," her voice, harsh in its rage, answered softly. "Just like that bitch does."

Amy sobbed as the memory of the letter flooded back.

Amy,

You should have heard about Jim by now and words fail me to say how sorry I am. I felt you should know how he fell in battle. We had just cleared a section of a town and were taking a little breather when he opened a letter from Barbra. I watched as his excitement at getting real paper mail change to shock and profound sadness.

Wordlessly he handed me the letter and would you believe she dear Johned him He had talked to her the night before and said he was getting a special letter from her. When I looked up at him with surprise he said, "Take care of Amy for me. She will need you more than ever now."

He charged out into the street before I could stop him and was shot. Even though we managed to get him back and then medevac'd to base, he passed away.

All my love,

John

John was her big brothers best friend and her fiancé. They had planned a double wedding and while she didn't care for Barbra she would do anything to make John and her brother Jim happy. "Please come home to me love," she whispered a silent prayer.

As she was getting off the train she heard screams from the first class section. Going to her car, she got in and drove home. There she placed his flag on the mantle and went to her computer. She texted John and then opened the holo chat program. A few seconds later he showed up and in way of greeting said, "I got your letter."

"I thought you should know little bit," John said tenderly. He wanted more than anything to take her in his arms and hold her tight but holographic technology was only so good. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine but she came back," Amy said looking down. On their first real date she had told him about her psychotic other personality. She didn't want any secrets between them and was worried he would run. Instead he embraced the violent and gentle personalities.

"I knew she would," John said simply. "I loved him too." He looked down at his hands, "Will she need help?"

"No, she can handle it I think. Are you still rotating home in two weeks?"

"If you want me to... I can request another tour if you want me to stay away."

Her eyes got large, "NO!" Hugging herself and shivering she added, "I need you... Please don't leave me alone."

John looked at her with surprise. He had expected Amy to blame him. Instead, Jim's words floated through his mind, "Take care of Amy for me. She will need you more than ever now." His best friend was right. Amy needed him. "Okay love, I will come home. Can you pick me up at the airport?"

"Only if we get married on the way home," Amy said feeling calm.

They talked for a few more minutes before ending it, "Oh if you see our mutual friend, have her give Barbra a special hello from me too." There he said it. John knew the letter would set the evil personality that lived inside Amy on the warpath. "Love you."

"Love you too," Amy replied.

After signing off, she said "Two weeks' twin." Her voice took on a raspy quality, "Two weeks."

The next morning, she was up early. Going to a flower shop, she bought a big bouquet of flowers and stopped off at the local Wally World. She giggled as she went though picking up everything she needed. The last item was an extra large suitcase.

Pulling into the parking lot before Barbra's apartment complex she turned off her car and waited. Knowing Barbra was not an early riser she went up promptly at nine. It was early enough for Barbra to be groggy, but late enough for everyone to be at work. In one hand, she held the taser Jim had bought her before he deployed; in the other were the flowers. Knocking she held up the flowers so they blocked the peep hole in the door.

"Who is it?" Barbra said going to the door and looking though the peep hole.

"FTD flowers... I have a delivery for a Miss Barbra Stevenson." Amy said loudly.

"Just a minute," Barbra said. With a big grin she slipped the chain and opened the door. Seeing Amy, she started to close it but felt a shock that knocked her down.

Story: Case of the Girl with the Golden Eyes

I was sitting in my office relaxing when Angela came in and sat down across from me. After a few minutes without her speaking I finally asked, "What do you have in mind Angela?" I know she had to have something important but didn't want to speak.

"God..." She started but stopped by the look the goddess gave her. Angela sighed and started again. "Samantha, you can't stay here and hide." There she said it. Only Lilith and her were able to talk to the goddess about their concerns. While her elder sister offered, Angela took it on herself to deal with her wife/mistress/goddess.

Instead of answering her directly I said, "Do you have any idea how many millions the goddess killed in destroying the hive?"

"Had you not acted the human race would have lost and all would become part of the hive collective." Angela replied.

"That's not the point," I said getting up and looking out the window. "Remember when you first walked through my door?"

"Of course Samantha." Angela replied not getting up.

"Life was much simpler back then."

"Yes but you were living a life without love or compassion."

"Angela, I can't go back and sit on a throne where I am apart from everyone. It is as bad as living without love or compassion." I paused and then turned to look at her, "Outside of you, Heather and Jasmine, I can't think of one there who loves the woman behind the goddess."

"What about Marie?" Angela asked softly. "What about every woman there." Her tone became angry, "Damn it Sam we have gone over this time and time again. Why do you keep falling into these black moods?" Standing she walked over to Samantha, "Love, you married us because you wanted to be Samantha. Still that is not enough. You come here and hide everyday pretending to work. Hell the front office is dark and the door locked. How can you call that working?"

I really hate it when Angela goes off on me because she is always right. "I would have heard if someone knocked," I replied. It was a weak excuse and we both knew it.

"Since you didn't see fit to hear when someone knocks, I answered the door. Are you interested in a case or just want to mope around?" Angela asked returning to her seat.

"You kept them waiting the whole time?" I asked surprised. I would keep someone waiting just for the heck of it. Angela was different from me, she had class.

"Yes," Angela replied. "I said that you were busy but I would try to get a few minutes of your time." She smiled at Samantha, "Of course I could always say you are too busy for them."

"You know damn well I have never walked away from a case no matter how useless it is. Would you please send them in?" I replied.

Not getting up Angela said, "On one condition." She looked her goddess and lover in the eye and said, "No cheating. I know you can put on the goddess hat and solve anything in a minute. But do it as Samantha Spade this time."

To tell the truth I had planned on doing it the old fashioned way already. However instead of giving in I shot back, "Okay however I want one of my wives, each of you can rotate out watching my back." I knew she would go for it so I crossed my arms and said, "Do you agree?"

"Let me check," Angela said while trying to keep from smiling. The only two who wanted to stay home were Heather and Jasmine. Once she pointed out they can rotate while their wife was home. "Agreed." As she got up to leave she giggled.

"I know that giggle," I said to her back, "What are you planning Angela?"

"Yea, what are you planning?" a woman's voice said from behind me.

I saw Fa leaning up against a wall. She shook her head, "Samantha, I thought your field craft was better than that. I have been here all day and you never noticed me." She looked off to one side and then back to her mate. "It is bad enough that you didn't see me, but to miss Molly sitting on your couch is pitiful."

I looked at the couch and Molly waved at me. "Don't tell me you have been here the whole time love."

"Okay I won't," Molly replied. Angela was right, Samantha was deeply troubled and needed extra backup. "However I thought I would laugh when you started singing that old cat food commercial on the stairs."

Son of a bitch she had been behind me the whole time. I had been singing that inane song this morning after Kitten reminded me that she and Tigress were still waiting for their cat food aka a sugar cube placed on my nether lips. I looked around carefully and didn't see anyone else. I was going to ask if anyone else was in the room with us when Angela ushered a middle aged couple.

"Sam, this is Mr. and Mrs. Samson. They are here about their daughter." Angela said as she ushered the pair in.

I looked at them a long moment. The man was dressed in a suit and looked as if he would have rather been anywhere else. The woman on the other hand was wringing her hands in worry. Even though I didn't want to get sucked into searching for a runaway I thought about Cindy and sighed. "Please, have a seat." Once they were seated I asked, "Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Water?" When they didn't reply I looked at Angela, "Could you grab me a coffee?"

"Of course Sam," Angela said.

It only took Angela a second to disappear and reappear with Samantha's coffee. "Here you go Sam." She stepped back away and stood by the door. Like her other wives she became still and faded from view as she watched her Samantha interview the man and his wife.

I looked the man in the eye and asked, "Now then, Angela said there was a problem with your daughter?" I really hated retrieving runaways. While Cindy worked out in the end, I spent many years carrying around a load of heartache.

"Yes, it's our daughter Barbra. She was supposed to come to dinner this last Sunday and failed to show." The man said, "I tried calling but there was no answer." He looked at his wife and added, "On Monday we called her work and found she had been fired for not showing up all the week before."

The woman spoke up, "I went to her apartment and used the key she gave us. Everything is there including her purse. I just know something happened to her."

"Have you tried the police?"

"Yes, they just put a missing person out but that was all they would do. One of the officers gave us your name and added you were good at finding things out." The woman replied. "Please Miss Spade you're our last hope."

"Do you have her address and apartment key?" I asked. The woman dug the key out as she recited the address. Taking the key from her I said, "I want you two to go with Angela and tell her everything you can think of about her life, friends and former workplace." I looked at Angela's semi hidden form and said, "Anything and everything you can think about her will help."

Once they had left I looked at Molly and then Fa, "You both may know how to hide but let me teach you about my world." Getting up I took a step and found myself outside Barbra's apartment. Instead of going in, I walked towards the parking lot and looked around. After a minute I crouched down and caressed the rough concrete sidewalk. "What do you see?" I asked mentally.

"An empty parking lot in a lower middle class human housing complex," Molly replied.

"Fa?" I asked.

"I'm sorry Samantha. I don't see anything special here," Fa said. She came up, crouched next to me and asked, "What do you see that we don't?"

I smiled as I stood back up, "Nothing yet." As I turned back to walk to the apartments I scanned the windows and saw what I was looking for on the third floor and smiled to myself. Returning to the apartment, I said mentally just before opening the door, "Touch nothing and let your eyes tell you the story." I entered and stood off to one side. Once the other two entered behind me, I slowly walked around. Only after I had a good feel for the different rooms did I start opening closet and dresser drawers. I still didn't touch anything other than to open and close the drawers.

Satisfied I waited in the living room until the pair joined me. "What did you find out?"

"The human's purse is still here and no signs of struggle," Fa said. "Her parents were right, she was taken."

"I agree with my co wife," Molly said simply.

"So how was she taken?" I asked "How did her attacker get in and how did he get out with the girl?"

"She knew her attacker and let him in," Molly replied with a smile. "He convinced her to go with him somewhere and they left together."

"Close but not quiet there," I said. Turning to Fa I tilted my head. She shook hers so I said, "Look down." On the floor in front of me was a single browned petal from a flower. Picking it up I smiled and handed it to Fa, "Come with me," I walked to the bathroom and pointed to a hook on the back of the door, "What's missing?"

"A robe," Fa replied. Her eyes were wide when she turned to me and said, "A delivery man gained entrance and took her first thing in the morning. It wasn't a friend who conned her."

"We have how he got in and what time it was. The next question is how he subdued her and got her out. Think about the walkway to the parking lot. How long was it?"

"About one hundred feet Samantha," Molly replied. "That's too long to just carry or drag her out unless it was the dead of the night."

"That wouldn't work sister, who delivers flowers in the middle of the night?" Fa replied. She looked at Samantha and realized her wife already knew the answers and who had taken her. She prided herself on her abilities to scout and track but here she felt like a babe in the woods compared to their wife.

"She wasn't dragged, the roughness of the sidewalk would scrap her raw and leave a blood trail," I said. "Come with me," I said. As we went outside, I went up to the third floor and knocked on a door. It was the apartment where I saw movement at the window. Mentally I said, "Every apartment building has a busybody." The door opened and I saw a middle-aged woman, "Good morning Miss. My name is Sam Spade with the twenty third. May we come in?"

"Of course Miss Spade," the woman replied. I entered her apartment with Fa and Molly following behind.

Gesturing towards them I said, "These are my ride alongs; Fa and Molly. Please don't mind them Miss?" I left an opening for her.

"Miss Greenstein...Betty Greenstein," She replied as I flipped open a little notebook and pretended to write her name down. "Please sit down Miss Spade."

"Thank you," I said as I sat down. "We are investigating the disappearance of a Barbra Samson who lives down on the second floor. Have you met her?"

"Such a sweet girl," Betty replied. "She was to be married but broke it off." She leaned forward and added in a softer tone, "It had something to do with his being in the military or so I was told."

"Have you noticed anything different in the last week?" I asked letting the engagement comment go by.

"No, not really." Betty replied.

"What about flower deliveries in the last week? Anyone talk about getting some flowers?"

"No... A girl delivered some last Saturday but she was a little bitty thing."

"Hmmm," I said thinking aloud. "Back to the engagement. Did you catch the man's name by chance?"

"Oh yes, Jim..." Betty tried to think of his last name but drew a blank. "I'm sorry. I can't remember it. He is such a nice boy and a Sergeant like my Albert was."

"Albert?" I prompted.

"My husband Albert. He was a sergeant and Army ranger like Jim is. That's how I got to know him; he came over to visit Barbra in his uniform." Betty smiled in memory of him and her Albert.

"Back to the flower delivery girl, can you remember anything else about her?" I prompted taking her back to the girl.

"Only one thing I caught sight of her loading a big suitcase into the back of her car. I guess that's where she kept the flowers to keep them from bouncing around." Betty replied with a smile.

"What color car was it?"

"Baby blue," she replied. "I remembered that because that was Albert's favorite color." Betty smiled.

"Well thank you Miss Betty," I said standing and closing the notebook. I took out my wallet and gave her a fake police card with my number on it. "If you think of anything else please feel free to give me a call," I said smiling.

Once we were outside, I smiled at them and said, "Meet you at the office." I headed to the library instead of the office. I smiled as I walked in and headed to the micro readers and stood still and faded from view. I saw Fa any Molly enter and look around. Once they headed off into the stacks I turned my attention to the reader.

"That was not very nice Sam," Angela said sitting down across from her wife. "You know they are here to help and not play cat and mouse with you," she added mentally.

"Did you find out anything worthwhile from the parents?" I asked.

"Above the board?" Angela paused, "No, nothing other than a description of what she looks like and such."

I looked at her, "You know more that you're holding back." I thought for a moment, "No that would be too easy Angela. Old fashioned way or not at all." I passed on what Betty had said and what I wanted her to look up for me. Standing I added, "I am going back to the house." I paused and then said softly, "My guess is she is already dead." The look on Angela's face showed she agreed with me.

Sitting behind my desk in my office with a glass of bourbon and a cigar I sighed and looked at Heather. She stood with lowered head unspeaking and not for the first time I wished I could hear my wives speaking to each other. "With you standing like that it makes me think you have bad news. What is it Heather?"

"Goddess, all have bathed in your essence. All save the three you are waiting for." Heather looked up, "I'm sorry Samantha."

"It is not to be Heather, I see that now," I replied. "While I can stand not having mother ascending, I miss having her and Jason coming to visit."