Gone Fishing

Sarah:

Leon was smiling his usual damn smile as he studied the map. It was the smile he gave when he was keeping a secret. It was the same smile that I had become accustomed to in our sessions. I knew that it meant he had locked himself away and swallowed the key. And despite a barrage of pointed questions, Leon was well-fortified. I knew that it was useless to try and get any answers from him when he was like this.

"Lets go here." Leon pointed to a spot on the map.

"What for?" Jason asked.

"Let's go fishing." Leon now had a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Jason gave Leon an incredulous look. "This is no time for fishing!"

"We're not fishing for fish. We're fishing for clues."

And Jason gave up on asking. He too realized that the only way to get an answer was to let Leon lead. "Fine. One officer with me. The rest of you go back to the station and get to work." Leon was just as enigmatic during the drive. He stared out the window and hummed a quiet tune. And I knew that he had slipped into another world for a brief visit.

We were soon standing on the banks of a river after the drive. Insects began to buzz around us angrily and I started to wonder what we were doing here. Jason shared my look and frustration. We then shared a look that said 'do you know whats going on?' as Leon broke off a long branch from a dead log. He grinned, enjoying the moment of confusion he had created.

"Vood you like to see some magique?", Leon asked in a fake accent.

Jason was about to protest again but Leon held up a hand. "Don't vorry. I prrrr-omis zis vill be goot." We both crossed our arms in resignation and waited for the punch-line. Leon then waved his hands in large and unnecissary motions. "Ladies and Gentlemen, can I get a drum roll?"

Jason and I kept our arms crossed. Jason had now begun to scowl, but Leon remained unfazed. "All-right then. Onto the main event. Some magic words and magic dust. Alaka-Zam!" Leon jammed the thick end of the stick into the earth and threw a cloud of dirt in the air.

At first we saw nothing as we coughed and sneezed in surprise. Then, as the dust settled and we had rubbed it out of our eyes we saw a small red object appear on the horizon. It floated gently toward us. Leon then gracefully speared it from the water and tossed it toward Jason. "I present to you... the blood red purse."

And sure enough, when we opened it up and spilled the contents, a driver's license fell out. A smiling photo whispered back to us, telling the secret that we so desired. Our victim is named Laura Stone.

And all I could think about at the moment was: 'How did he do that?'