Chapter 3

“Standing here?” she asked.

Court order in hand, I said, “Blood sample. There’s nothing about where.”

“Common courtesy...” she started.

I interrupted, “Common courtesy would have called first.”

She was quick, I’ll give her that, “Would you have...”

“No,” I said.

She turned to the man, he laughed, “You were right ... he is a curmudgeon.”

“The kids,” she said.

“You asked the brats?” I was suddenly incensed.

“The parents were worse,” she was grinning ... I could hear it in her voice.

I stepped aside.

With a grand gesture I said, “Please to come inside. I have the feeling the eyes of the neighborhood are upon us.”

I looked ... they were. Every house with a clear view of MY house was rife with wives, daughters and grandparents all holding something to their faces ... the sunlight glinted off lenses and cellphones.

“Why on earth would they be interested?”

The HASMAT man said, “Don’t you know? You are a Utube regular. If we had taken your blood on the stoop, it would have gone viral.”

Entering, the girl said, “It’s clean.” She sounded amazed.

“I may be old ... I may have taken biology in the last century but I know enough to keep clean ... and no livestock in the house.”

“What about your cats?” she was asking.

“Not my cats ... I may feed ‘em ... but they don’t get in.”

“The neighbors say you have 14 cats...”

“Strays ... every one of ‘em. Cast away by the valley,” I pointed to the subdivisions. “Those kind people who gave you the information. Now, what’s Utube?”

“You have a computer?” she asked.

“Yes.” I pointed to my workbench. My Queen Anne desk, I should say.

“Wow! A Mac Pro Tower.”

Then she looked around ... my furniture are all antiques ... all in great condition ... some of it is damned uncomfortable. My sole capitulation to my comfort is my office chair. Otherwise ... the place is as I found it.

“What do you do?” she asked.

“I write,” I replied. Before she could ask, I said, “Adult situations, Fantasy and Science Fiction. A site called StoriesOnLine.net.

She blushed ... nearly turned her HASMAT headgear red.

“Read me?” I said.

“Umh, maybe. What Byline?”

“Old Man With A Pen.”

“Why did you kill Tyche off?”

“To make room for Selene.” I said.

“She’s nowhere as interesting...”

“You write ... yet you’ve never heard of Utube.”

“My computer is for research.”