Pandora: A Harvey Nolan Thriller, Book 2 (Harvey Nolan Mystery Thriller Series)

by S. C. Abbey

  “Her name?” asked Harvey.

  The bartender shrugged. “I don’t know. I have bad memory.” He then picked a glass from the rack and started polishing it.

  Harvey tapped the bar counter two times with his knuckles. He then gave Katie a knowing look before approaching the woman at the pool table. Katie trailed behind him. The woman was playing the game herself, strangely. She took a shot and a red ball dropped into the pocket she was aiming for.

  “You play well,” Harvey said. “May I?”

  The woman smiled at the sight of the handsome professor. “Why not? You break.”

  Harvey proceeded to set the table. He then picked a cue off the rack by a wall and placed the white ball before the marked line on the table. The break shot rang loud in the bar. A ball fell in a pocket. The woman nodded in admiration. “Not bad.”

  Harvey continued, taking the next shot. “You knew Louis, didn’t you?”

  The woman didn’t seem to be surprised. “A gentleman. Far better than the pigs I meet all day in this place.”

  Harvey missed the shot, it was her turn.

  She took a hasty shot and missed as well. “Nonetheless, a dead man’s no use to anybody now.”

  Harvey studied the table and took aim at a ball. “What’s your name?”

  “You can call me Delphina,” she said, leaning on the side of the pool table. “What is it you want?”

  Harvey landed a shot in a pocket. “To take him home.” He stared into Delphina’s eyes.

  She gazed at him intensely, as if trying to read Harvey. If he was telling the truth. She then turned her attention back to the table. “Then why are you here? He is certainly not.”

  “Because the police—”

  “Did he show it to you?” interrupted Katie. Hush, Harvey.

  “Show what?” asked Delphina.

  “Why, the very same thing that brought him here in the first place, of course. The box,” replied Katie.

  Delphina stiffened at the mention of the object. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Bingo, thought Katie. “Of course you do, he mentioned you, once or twice.”

  Delphina didn’t seem convinced. “What do you know about the box?”

  Katie approached her and stopped short of walking into her. She then glared into her eyes. “That it contained something important enough to get him killed.”

  Delphina flinched and took half a step back. Her hands reached back and she steadied herself by the edge of the pool table. Katie waited patiently but maintained the intensity of the glare. She knew she had cracked her. She just had to wait now.

  “I’ve only seen it once,” Delphina said, breaking the silence. “It was a wooden case about ten by four inches. Plain-looking. Solid timber. Smooth to touch. There was a symbol embedded in it. Silver? Or maybe tin. It looked like a jewelry box, except it was probably too ugly to be one.”

  “Did you see what was inside?” asked Katie.

  Delphina recovered from her moment of fragility and stood up firm. “No, he never showed it to me.” She then turned and took her shot. The black ball entered a pocket. She turned to Harvey and touched his arm. “I win, handsome. What’s the prize?”

  Harvey stood frozen. He didn’t reply to her. Katie placed her hand on Harvey’s other arm and tugged on it, before she said, “Time to go, Casanova.”

  Chapter 24

  “HOW DID YOU know—” Harvey said, as soon as the pub’s door shut.

  “That she’d seen the elusive little box everybody’s looking for?” said Katie.

  Harvey nodded.

  “I didn’t. It was just a wild guess.” Katie laughed. She then turned serious all of a sudden. “What I do know is whatever’s in that box probably holds the key to all this mess, since it was the only thing Sergeant Linard cared to ask you about. He’s either a huge idiot or the box is really important to him. Either way, we need to get our hands on it before anybody else does.”

  Harvey cast an upward glance. A frown marred his otherwise-neat features.

  “How did you manage to break into his cell phone by the way?” asked Katie.

  “Oh, that. I got a little help from Gary.” Harvey gave a sheepish look.

  “Gary?” Katie looked puzzled. “Who’s that?”

  The look turned into a slight smirk. “Gary Park? The one who couldn’t keep his eyes off you in school?”

  Katie’s eyes widened in realization. “That Gary.”

  “Yeah, that Gary. I gave him a call, he got me in within a few minutes.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. I knew he was good with computers, but—”

  Harvey gazed at the shabby signboard of the Motel Athina, which was less than two blocks down from where they were standing. An idea caught his attention. “Do you think the crime scene’s still sealed off?”

  Katie stopped her blabbering and then said, “I doubt it. It’s a suicide, remember?” She glanced back at the rundown motel.

  “Are we just going to barge in the front door?” asked Harvey.

  “I don’t see why not.” Katie gave him a reassuring look before starting to walk toward the direction of the motel, not waiting for him to make the first move. He trailed behind her. It took them less than three minutes to reach the entrance. Harvey hurried ahead of Katie and pushed the front door open, stepping into it. Strangely, the lobby was as empty as the street outside. The only sound that reached their ears was a soft hum from a radio, presumably hidden somewhere behind the reception counter. They approached the reception counter. Katie peeked behind it.

  “Nope, no one’s here,” she said.

  “Shh—listen!” whispered Harvey.

  Katie did exactly as she was told. Harvey strained his ears to pick up the faint sound. It sounded like small pieces of metal clashing against one another.

  “Sounds like coins in a purse,” whispered Harvey, breaking the silence.

  “Or keys.” Katie gazed at Harvey before turning to the stairway on the left. “C’mon!”

  “Kat—” Harvey whispered after her, but she was already reaching the stairs. He sighed and went after her.

  Katie stopped at the edge where the stairway led to the second floor, concealing herself. She waved Harvey over. Harvey cowered beside the female Interpol agent. From this proximity, he could smell the faint scent that was Katie. Katie didn’t look at him. She reached out a finger and pointed ahead of her. He shook himself and turned his attention to what Katie was looking at.

  A man in a gray, polo t-shirt with a faded white print of the words ‘Motel Athina’ stood outside one of the rooms. He was fidgeting a huge bunch of keys he had, trying to unlock the door one key at a time. Looked like he hadn’t been successful yet. He continued his attempts, getting impatient as time passed, even dropping the bunch of keys once—picking them up and continuing again. Katie and Harvey didn’t move from where they were. They lay as still as they could. The only sounds they made were the sounds of their own shallow breaths.

  Click.

  The lock finally sprang free. The man twisted the knob and pushed the door in. He then looked around suspiciously before entering the room and shutting the door.

  Katie extended her neck. “Come, slowly,” she whispered as soft as she could, popping out into the corridor of the second level.

  “Kat—” Harvey followed her lead, uncertainly.

  She mustered her steps as quietly as she could, walking toward a turn at the end of the corridor. They both hid behind the wall, peeping at the same room the man had broken into. Then, they waited.

  After a couple minutes of deafening silence, Harvey couldn’t bear it anymore. “Do you think—” he whispered.

  Katie placed a finger on his lip. He shut up immediately. The door sprang open, and the man was out of it as soon as it did. He slid the right key into the keyhole and twisted, locking the room before slipping the bunch of keys into his pocket. Harvey could see a glimmer of g
old in the man’s left grip, which he slid into the same pocket. The man then turned around toward the stairway and headed down. He whistled a broken tune. It sounded very much like the one Elle Driver whistled all the time in Kill Bill.

  “If that isn’t fishy, I don’t know what is,” whispered Katie as she stepped from their hiding corner. “Let’s follow him!”

  Chapter 25

  HARVEY AND KATIE hid behind the moss-green trash bin. Even though the lid was on, the stench was still overwhelming.

  “We couldn’t have picked a better spot?” said Katie. She crinkled her nose in disapproval.

  “Sorry,” said Harvey with a sheepish grin. He too wasn’t enjoying the ghastly odor. “He turned around so abruptly! I just had to improvise. There was nothing else we could have jumped behind within arm’s reach.”

  “And why are we still standing here when he’s been inside that pawn shop for the past fifteen minutes?” asked Katie. She started to sound a little funny—might have been trying to hold her breath.

  “Because we don’t know if he’ll suddenly pop back out into the street unannounced. He should be out any time soon,” Harvey said. “It shouldn’t be hard to haggle a price for an old watch or bracelet or whatever that is. What’s taking him so long?”

  “This better be worth the odor,” Katie said. Just as the words left the tip of her tongue, the door to the pawn shop flung open. The man in the printed, gray, polo t-shirt stepped out and popped a cigarette between his lips. He lit it and started to head in their direction.

  “Move, Kat,” whispered Harvey as he nudged Katie. “Further in!”

  They held their breath as they waited for the man to pass. Which he did, uneventfully.

  “Get out, Harvey, I can’t take it anymore,” said Katie when the motel staff was finally out of sight. They stumbled out onto the street pavement and began to breathe normally. “That’s the last time I’m sticking my face so close to a trash bin.”

  Harvey chortled while he was catching his own breath. “We shall never speak of that again.”

  “I can’t imagine why I would,” said Katie as she looked at the direction of the pawnshop. “Let’s go, I’m in the mood to blow off some steam.”

  They strolled toward the shop. It was a tiny, poorly lit store in a shoddy part of town. One could have easily walked passed it without noticing it was there, or what it was. Katie pushed the door open. She was hardly delicate about it. The proprietor looked up from behind his counter, peering above his glasses—a man in his mid-fifties.

  “How may I help you…?” he said.

  Harvey could tell Katie wasn’t in the mood for small talk. “That man who just came in, he came to pawn something?” asked Katie in an interrogative tone.

  The owner looked back down at the watch he was fidgeting with. It was taken apart with pieces all over the counter. He was a small man with black and gray shortly cropped hair in a messy style. He didn’t look like he cared much about his appearance. His choice of garments reflected the same attitude. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” He then inspected the watch on his wrist. “I’m afraid it’s closing time. I need you all to leave now.”

  Katie flashed her badge. “Interpol. I suggest you cooperate if you don’t want a swarm of policemen in your puny, sad excuse for a store.”

  The man stopped what he was doing and slowly exited from behind the counter. He walked closer to Katie. “What is that? I don’t recognize it,” he finally said, “This is Greece, not America,” rolling the ‘r’ with his tongue. “Get out, you have no authority here—”

  Katie drew the pistol she had stuck behind the small of her back and pointed it at the man. “That is why I don’t have to be nice to you.”

  The owner’s arms raised immediately. He didn’t look like he was capable of moving that fast. “Whoa—woman, calm down! There’s no need for that!”

  Harvey was surprised at the move as well. “Katie, is there really a need to—”

  Katie glared at Harvey. Harvey didn’t finish his sentence. He turned his attention to the pawnshop owner instead. “All right, tell us what we want to know and we’ll be on our way.”

  “What is it?” the owner spat angrily.

  “The man who just came in, you know who he is?” asked Harvey.

  “Yeah, yeah—he comes by all the time. Pawns stuff.”

  “Stolen goods from the motel he works at, you mean,” said Katie.

  The owner nodded. “I would never openly admit that if not for this.” He pointed at the gun. “I can’t sell it if I know it’s stolen, you know.”

  “What else did he sell you? Besides that gold watch on the counter,” said Harvey.

  “Well, many things—watches are the most common, jewelry mostly. Sometimes small electronic gadgets—all kinds of stuff.”

  “Has he ever tried to sell you a box, something made of wood perhaps, something—”

  “—of course he did,” the short man interrupted Harvey.

  Harvey’s eyes widened. He didn’t expect it would be that easy. He turned to Katie, whose expression was somewhat similar to his. “That’s rather quick of you to remember, no?”

  “I beg to differ. It was one of the most useless things he sold me. He begged me to take it, said he was tight—needed the cash. It was really just an ugly-looking jewelry box, I don’t even think the metal on it was silver—”

  “Useless?” Katie frowned.

  “It’s useless because I can’t sell it, babe. Look, it’s still sitting over there,” said the man. He pointed at a shelf behind them.

  Harvey and Katie turned their heads in synchrony. And there it was, sitting serenely on the middle bracket of a wall-side shelf, as Delphina from the pub had described—a plain, solid timber case.

  Could this really be it? Harvey didn’t dare wish.

  He carefully approached the object, as if the whole situation had suddenly become somewhat fragile, when nothing had really changed, actually. Katie kept her gun on the owner, but her eyes were on Harvey. He reached out and lifted the box from its resting place. He traced the protruding metallic symbol embed on the lid with his fingers, an ouroboros—an ancient Egyptian symbol portraying a serpent devouring its own tail.

  I’ve seen this before.

  He unlocked the clasp in front of it and opened the box. The hinge was rickety but tight, and the lid was as heavy as the rest of the box.

  “It’s empty,” said Harvey. He blinked at the empty box.

  “Of course it’s empty, what did you expect? Gold?” The pawn shop owner snorted.

  Harvey turned around to face him. “The box, it was empty when it came to you?”

  “Yeah, that’s why I said it was useless—Goddamnit, have you all been listening to me at all.” The man raised his voice.

  “Shut up!” Katie rebutted.

  Harvey took a second glance into the box. It remained empty. “Katie, you can shoot the man now,” declared Harvey suddenly.

  “What—?” said both the owner and Katie.

  “I said shoot him.” Harvey pointed at the owner. “He hasn’t been honest with us.”

  “What the hell! I told you everything I know, everything—”

  Katie studied Harvey’s face. He twitched an eyelid.

  “—what else do you want—” the man continued to rant.

  Katie stepped closer and poked the man’s head with her pistol. “Sir, it was nice meeting you.”

  “W-Wait, wait! I swear I said nothing but the truth. It was empty when it came. Please—I’ve got kids, please…” The man looked like he was about to cry.

  Katie cast a side glance at Harvey, and he returned the look. She put the gun down.

  “We’re taking this,” said Harvey of the box.

  “Take it! Take that cursed box—take anything you want!” said the owner with his head bent forward and his right hand over his forehead.

  Katie holstered her pistol. “For your c
hildren’s sake, stop buying stolen goods. You won’t be so lucky the next time.”

  The distressed owner nodded but didn’t look up.

  Harvey and Katie walked out of the shop. The door closed behind them.

  “That wasn’t a very nice thing you did,” said Katie.

  “You were the one with the gun.” Harvey smirked.

  Katie opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the sound of her cell phone ringing. She answered the call.

  “Hey—go ahead. What more do you have for me?” she said. “Hmm…hmm. Yeah. Hmm…”

  Harvey stared at the box in his hands. The elusive little box had finally appeared. What a downer it was empty. And it really looked simple—too simple to cause a man’s death. Alas, people had killed for less. Harvey shook the heavy case. No sound.

  “Thanks, I’ll wait for your email then. All right.” Katie ended the call. “That was my contact. He’s with the Greek police by the way. He said it’s like nothing he’s ever seen before, the report was classified, restricted to only a few eyes. He’s never seen a straightforward suicide so highly classified—reckons something’s wrong. He managed to get a photo of the crime scene, though, he’s sending it to me as we speak.”

  A sound signaled an incoming mail. Katie tapped on her cell phone to open it.

  Her eyes widened. “You’ve got to see this Harv—” She handed her phone to Harvey.

  Harvey took her cell phone and stared at the screen. It was a photograph, and in it was Louis lying on the floor of his motel room, eyes closed, face ghostly, wrists bled dry. On the floor were words written in his own blood: ‘Our game isn’t over, Harvey.”

  Chapter 26

  DIRECTOR DAMALITIS PANAYIOTIS stumbled out the museum entrance. It was hours ahead of the usual time he typically left, but today wasn’t usual. In fact, it was highly unusual. Unusually shitty that is. He came to work in high spirits, as he had been since the day he delivered the package, and all it took was one visit from an American professor—all the artificial exhilaration came crashing down. From cliff-top to rock-bottom, as a friend had once described an unfortunate experience. Now he knew exactly what he had meant.