Enigma in a Dress --

I never quite understood how I got into my profession. I'm a skiptracer. I track down people who owe my employer money. Sometimes it is a lot. Sometimes it is a little. My preferred approach to those who defend the debtor is to remind them that once they pay their debts, everyone's interest rate goes down. That doesn't mean they turn in their ex-husband, girlfriend, brother, sister, or any other person close to them. So, my chief weapon is to let them get think they can get away with it. Before I knock on their door, my partner, Charles, and I set up a laser eavesdropper on their living room window. I approach the door, tell them whom I am looking for and why. I might even sound aggressive about repossessing their car or some other thing they cherish, and then walk away feeling confident I have given them a reason to get in touch with the person who owes the debt.

Within the next few minutes, that person calls the offender to let them know I'm on their trail. After a few visits to their friends, my partner and I have gotten more than enough information to locate the individual. It isn't exactly legal. So, we destroy the recording as soon as we have made it. Now some may think that with email and cell phones it has gotten harder. It hasn't. I can use a special box that causes their cell phone to relay a cell phone call through it to the cell tower. I am able to retrieve phone numbers and often see their texts real time. As to email, well that one is even easier. Not everyone realize that their computer screen broadcasts an RF signal that allows me to see their screen too. I can see their current email address. Non of this high-tech equipment is strictly legal. It does make my job easier. Well, that is the job of Charles. He an electronics guru if ever there was one. I am glad I got him instead of the CIA or FBI.

None of this hi-tech snooping prepared me for my toughest skiptrace ever. It just happened on my last case in fact.

Henry Donelly was currently a twenty-four year, five foot nine, brown hair, blue eyed man of unknown weight who had skipped out on paying nearly $90,000 in monies now owe to my employer, or rather, his former credit card company. My employer bought out his credit card debt, went to court, secured the proper judgments against him, and sent me on his trail. Obviously, I started with his mother and father.

His parents lived in a nice section of town. Not upper middle class, but darn close. Their yard was well kept which showed me they had pride in ownership. I looked for little signs. The eaves of the home had little hooks which I could tell were used for Christmas lights. There was a fake wheelbarrow in a flower bed with perennials in it that where likely moved in and out of the greenhouse I could see on Google maps. The lawn was neatly trimmed. Like many mid-western homes, it had a porch as did the neighbors. As I approached, I could see an Amazon package. On the garage pad was was a 2017 blue Pacifica. The car was immaculate. These people were attentive. I rang the doorbell and introduced myself. Then, I began my speech, "Mrs. Donelly, your son owes a lot of money. Please help me find him." I said calmly. I went on to hand her the court papers and explain that he spent an obscene amount of money using them and the bank wants it back. I knew the response before I even asked. Or, at least I thought I did.

"I would love to help you collect your debt, but I haven't seen him for nearly four years. I haven't heard one word from him." Her tears were genuine. Her husband came up behind her and rubbed her shoulders. He said, "Same here. If you find him, please have him contact us. We will most certainly help him with the debt. Tell him that."

"Do you know anyone who might know where he lives?"

"There is his older sister Anne. She lives a couple of miles from here." He handed me her address. "If she has seen him at all, I think she might tell you. She really doesn't want to talk to us about him, even though we know she was the last to see him. There is our other daughter, Madison. She lives in Seattle and works for a bank. She wouldn't know anything. There is his girfriend Stephanie, whom he grew up with."

By this time she was quivering. Mr. Donelly added, "To tell you the truth, Mr. Carson, we think our son is dead. It's not like him to run out on his debts. And, to tell you the truth, we honestly don't know how a twenty-one year old boy could go into debt for $90,000 without us cosigning for something. Do you?" I shook my head no. She had a point. This case was shaping up to being a bit odd already.

I was tempted to call my boss afterwards and alert him to the possibility that this was a bad debt and the debtor was deceased. But, I needed a little more proof than just a speculation on my part. They also raised a good question. How could their son run up this kind of debt at his age. For the first time in my career of being a skiptracer, I faced an enigma. And, it only got worse.

The daughter's house was a small condo. There were no clues since the home owner's association took care of the property. "Hello. are you Anne Donelly?"

"You must be Mr. Carson. My mom and dad said to expect you and help in any way I can. But, I wish I could help you too. I haven't seen my brother in years. He dropped off the grid after getting his degree from Kansas State. The last I saw him, he was getting on a plane after joining the Peace Corp." She invited me in. She went to her frig. "Here is the last post card I got from him." She handed me a post card from Thailand. All it said was, "Heading into the jungle of Burma. Love, Henry."

"Is this the last you ever heard from him."

"Stephanie got a picture of him in the jungle standing next to some statue covered in ivy or whatever they grow over in that God forsaken country." The irritation in her voice was obvious. "I don't care about the money. We will help him pay it. But, we want him back!" At the end, she handed me the address of Stephanie.

By this time, I was baffled beyond belief. This family was in distress. And I had no answers except that he disappeared into the jungles of Burma. I sent my partner over to get in touch with his contacts in the Peace Corps while I went unassisted to see Stephanie.

Her place wasn't what I expected. It was around the corner from Anne's place. I suspected from the photos on Anne's frig, the two were fast friends too. "Hello, are you Henry Donelly's girlfriend, Stephanie?" I could tell she had been crying.

"Oh yes, please come in. Anne just called. I heard from the Donelly's earlier. I hear you are looking for my ..." she sobbed out "... my Henry. Please, come in, let me now can I help you?" I had never run into so many helpful people. I asked to see the photo she got from him. She pulled it from her frig. I could see a photo or two of her and the Donellys, But, there was only one of Henry. That struck me as very odd.

On the back of the photo was written, "Meet me in Thailand next year. Love you forever, Henry."

I gently asked, "Did you go to Thailand to meet him the next year?"

She leaned up against the wall. She was quite emotional. "I flew to the exact hotel we agreed to meet up at. And at the exact same time we had arranged for. I was unconcerned for the first few days. I made inquiries at the embassy. No one knew anything. I changed my airplane reservation. I stayed there for six weeks with the help of his parents. No word. Not one sign of him. He was gone."

Leaving her place, she became my enigma in a dress. The last stop on my journey with Henry's friends and family left me no where. I went to the local library where my partner and I got together.

Charles gave me all he could find out. "Their last report was that Henry and a group of three Peace Corps workers disappeared on a trip into the jungle about three years ago. They are believed to be dead. Most of the families are waiting out the seven years til they are declared dead."

"Does that include the Donelly family?"

"Yes."

With that information, I searched for the High School yearbooks on the shelf. "I think he graduated in what, 2012. Lets look through the 2011 yearbooks until we find him."

After a few minutes, my partner found him in the 2011 yearbook of one of the High Schools. "Find out what clubs he was in."

Charles flipped through the yearbook's index checking each instance of where Henry was to be found in the yearbook. "Debate and Drama." Charles announced. I took the information down and the teachers who sponsored each club. We sat down at the library computer and brought up the school's website. I wrote down the contact information. I then headed over to Eisenhower High School. I was buzzed in. I approached the secretary and asked if I could talk to Mr. Abernathy. Fortuitously, I didn't have to wait long. His zero period was in ten minutes. I waited in the office for him.

"Hello. Mr. Abernathy, I am Charles Carson. I am helping the Donelly family try to track down their son Henry. I just wanted to talk to you about him, if you don't mind."

"Oh sure. Sad that. I ran into her about a year ago and she said he was missing. She didn't want to go into the details."

"What can you tell me about his time in the Drama club?"

"Nothing special. He was a hard worker. He did grunt work. Building sets, pulling curtains, running sound boards. His friend Steven was the one who got him to join the club. They were good friends. Steven played many roles in the plays we put on."

"How about Stephanie, his girlfriend?"

"Didn't know any Stephanie."

"But, his parents said they were friends from his early youth. Are you sure?"

"No, the only one who was his friend from his younger days was Steven."

Things were becoming a little clearer. "What was Steven's last name?"

"Clark."

I raced back to the library. I found the senior pages for the next year. There was Steven Clark. There was Henry Donelly. On closer inspection, I could see a faint resemblance to the Stephanie I had met just a little while ago. The woman I met was very feminine. If it were the case, the surgery would be rather expensive.

I returned to Stephanie's place. She wasn't there. I then went to Anne's. Stephanie answered the door. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." She stepped out front. I wasn't invited in like last time.

I figured giving it straight was the best route to the truth. "You know Henry is dead?" She was quiet.

"You didn't go to Thailand to see Henry. You went to get a sex change. Didn't you?" Again, she was quiet.

"Was Henry going to marry you after you changed?" Tears filled her eyes. I was striking at the truth.

"How did you pay for your operation?" She was silent.

Here, I was guessing. "Did the family know he was in love with you?"

It was the only thing she would say. "They all knew and approved. In fact, he wrote a very nice letter to them from Thailand telling them about what could be done for me before he headed into the jungle with the Peace Corps. That was the last we all heard from him."

I shook my head. "I guess he is dead then."

"I guess he is." she said sadly.

I guessed again. "And I bet his family wanted his last wish to be fulfilled, but the family couldn't afford it?" Her silence said it all.

I had met my match. And she was in a dress. And she was gorgeous.

"I won't be bothering you all again." She watched me walk away. I heard the door open and briefly caught two women holding each other and crying.

I drove away from her place shaking my head wondering how they did it. I don't think I will ever learn. Truth was, I admired what they did. I would never tell my boss that. I honestly never want to know how they did it. I informed my boss that Henry was likely dead. He was pissed that he lost the money he invested. It's the luck of the draw with credit card debt. It didn't kill him though. He bought the debt for two cents on the dollar. So, he was only out $2,000 plus my fees.

I'm leaving the business. Charles can do a good job. I just know it. Next week I start working for a lawyer as a private investigator. And this time doing things legally.

And, I have her name and number now. I want to tell her I am no longer on the case.

I hope she likes red roses and Italian restaurants. I pray she likes me.

Stephanie, like all women, will always be my enigma in a dress.

Copyright © 2020 by AuP reviner

[ Author's note: This was a one day challenge I gave myself this morning. I took a letter I was missing from the right hand side, which was E, found a word that started with it, Enigma, made a title out of it, and wrote a story over about four hours about that title on the fly. Had a little fun on the way. Hope you enjoy it. -- AuP ]