by Zac Funstein
Cauã who never shrank from the monotonous positioned the Sekonda on the special stand to bring it into sharp relief.
“This hardly seems special-the turning point in design which made the predecessors obsolescent. Does this give any indication what gender the user might be I wonder.”
Although there were ‘mens’ or ‘ladies’ watches this demarcation wasn’t always clear.
“Too true-what was annoying was that there was no prints either-usually they are loaded. Well not strictly speaking that is no prints from the immediate Schreiber family or those that knew the deceased. That is if you want to be strictly pedantic about it.”
There was a similar case Carvalho was sure even down to the same timepiece being thrown some distance from the actual scene although if it was the same stretch of road was not sure.
Cauã was certain that unless this was purged that misery would be his so when next positioned before his monitor safely surrounded by all that was familiar to him tried to find just where or what it was. His sciatica being bad as on the advice of his orthopaedic specialist Carvalho took to the smooth polished floor before him-setting the computer thereof. The problem must be kneaded until it was more malleable.
After some surfing the incident appeared on the screen. As was related to Renee.
“I was introspective by the bucketful but knew that this on its own wasn’t enough so tried to find just what I was searching for.”
Jarmon who was still something of a probationer in using technology believing that we should use our own talents more rather than rely on what machines told us enquired:
“Really what did your heroic efforts inform you Carvalho?”
Not everybody was from a tiny hamlet like Caron big city girl Renee got fed up with the inconsequential like reading bylaws just for the fun of it.
“A snippet from the annals of human misery that came under the name of Luan Cunha Pereira.”
This didn’t seem to be anything communicable from the blank it drew. Carvalho didn’t believe this set Renee recreating anything.”
“Perhaps if you would fill us in Carvalho.”
“No problem whatsoever Renee. Pereira was a travelling salesman in Southern California who stopped off in what was believed to be a remote stretch of desert in his Renault Latitude in order to rest before making the next stretch of his journey. The heat had been more inglorious than anticipated.”
“This is starting to resonate but continue Carvalho,” demanded Renee who had removed the top off a tube of some germicidal ointment-was rubbing it in, it the truth was know it was the transatlantic jet highjacking with Pereira.
“Another car pulled up a Citroen Saxo just as Luan was beginning to settle. The sententious amongst us could hardly have any doubt as to its malignity as it made its gravelly halt. Had Luan accidentally disturbed someone elses manorial patch must surely have taken residence within him.”
“I seem to have some dim picture Carvalho. I don’t usually miss a case-if it has some salient feature. Pereira had this plastic model gnome in a jumpsuit that had been given away as a gimmick that had been neglected because of his lack of diligence-his misfortune was as a result of this-at least so Luan believed. It should have been some frilly whimsy meant to infatuate not a devil-doll-as someone put it.”
“That’s it-a fight ensued. They traced the culprit Alonzo L. Marin from some gunpowder that had got trapped into some watch-casing. A watch that had been thrown just like with the Prince Rupert timepiece. Alonzo worked at the same town hall as Pereira. There was some deep grudge that Pereira didn’t even know about. Some stupid gaseous off-the-cuff comment that offended Marin to the very core that had built up not got any better.”
“Luan was unlucky I guess most of us go from family planning to nursing home without coming across one of those willing to launch a pre-emptive strike at the slightest provocation. There must be a parable in there somewhere.”
“It was terrible how Luan had been left there to die his Renault subject to cremation-if it hadn’t been for the shed nearby with the corrugated roof to protect him from the heat then we would probably not have heard of this.”
The next midday very much moved by this encounter Carvalho decided to remove the cover to see if anything contained within the Sekonda was of any interest. It seemed ostensibly like the inside of any chronomatic device however closer examination revealed the letters ‘TC’ which were minutely etched. Knowing that there was a grave danger of this being stamped ‘case unsolved’ it was decided by Cauã to infatuate himself with this a little in the absence of anything else upon which to go. The most unlikeliest sounding board could be a find sometimes. All the jewellers with the initials TC were hunted through in the directory of artisans of this nature that were in the vicinity.
A Mr.Travis D. Cahill when asked agreed that this was congruous sometimes with his working-practice although if this was one of his would not be discernible unless the actual timepiece had been examined. Carvalho duly drove to where Cahill’s tiny Burnaby jewellers store premises was situated next to a towpath. There was various creations with a sprinkling of diamonds for perpetuity in the window. ‘If Romance Is Your Destiny Then Congratulations Then Go No Further’ said a sign.
Inside Mr. Cahill an elderly gentleman who was a little like Mister Geppetto from Pinocchio who seemed to be exhibiting signs of whooping-cough was mending a clock radio with what seemed like a pipe-cleaner. Travis seemed to recognise him immediately.
“Mr. Carvalho I got your e-mail do you have the Prince Rupert timepiece with you?”
“Naturally it is here Mr. Cahill.”
Soon the mechanism of the watch is opened with a fibre optic camera lingering lovingly on the letters ‘TC’.
“Fairly impressive I believe you’ll agree Mr. Carvalho.”
“But is this one of yours Travis?”
“Yes as it happens-I recognised the Sekonda as soon as you brought it in. If you examine a little bit closer then you can see the date etched that it was brought in plus the repair that was effected. If you hold on I’ll check my records Cauã it was earlier this year I’m sure. The design was supposed to derail postmodernism now Sekonda will have to consider seriously changing the entire scheme.”
A gunnysack, half full of galley coal which was nearby was opened then a lump put on a nearby grate where it smoldered contentedly.
Travis soon found what was being hunted for.
“Ah here we are-Mr. Matti Hahli is the one who brought it in. Sometimes they send them by post but Hahli brought this in himself.”
“What did Mr.Hahli appear like?”
“Fairly nondescript ‘n dumpy Cauã. Norwegian sort of person you’d pass in the street. I was going through an evangelical phase-we had this trade name gadget-I’m not exaggerating that it could get an electric razor to tell the time. This was infectious we had loads of customers. We were nebulous-we had people from all over Ontario.”
If ever there was a statesman of Dr. Aaron Cunningham’s unusual contribution to science then Veagan Morrison of Dedham Massachusetts was probably it. If your line of defence was in ruins then Veagan seemed to be the one that had enough bravado to make you pick yourself up again.
Former genetic engineering buff Veagan was not known for being doughty
(determined/ not easily frightened) for nothing. Veagan might be the one that was the salvation merchant despite dressing in what seemed like his older brothers cast-offs.
As Veagan put it in his seductively self satisfied manner that seemed to decorate all done like everyones problems could be solved in flash.
“If I momentarily doubted Cunningham then this is just what it was fleeting then momentary.”
Veagan had this peculiar fashion sense that made him dress like a member of the clergy who had become a tragedian or vice versa. Still yet to succomb to the various ailments that blight us as we get older Morrison none-the-less seemed filled with an energy of someone much younger.
His vernacular
seemed to suggest that Veagan had moved often during his adult life-cycle. There was something of the gypsy in Morrison. Someone once said his family were attacked by extreme factions during the war for being socialist. Veagan was a champion of the oppressed unquestionably.
“Some of these new apps that get thwacked on my desk have the resonance of extremists in my view. They are nothing in comparison with Dr.Cunningham.”
“They get brought out for your approval/disapproval?”
“They’re like children I’m supposed to approve or make you disapprove of.”
“I hadn’t seen it like that but you could put it thus-well said that man.”
Marlin S. Fasano who was an accomplished squash/rackets player was deemed the one better equipped to deal with Veagan since his involvement in the slaughter of Mae K. Davis was deemed a great success. This had used the hypodermic needle that was central to Cunningham’s methodology although was only considered a flirtation with the doctor full blown. Mae the wife of a respectable circuit judge was deemed the undisputed angst merchant when it dawned on her that her husband Vinicius Melo Davis was using his respectable position in the legal community to slowly poison her. No one would believe her indeed accused Mae of lying until Cunningham’s methodology was taken into consideration. Mrs. Davis only just escaped with her life.
This means of finding the exact position of each hypodermic pinpoint showed that the course of injections that Mae took had been exceeded. Inhalation from a domestic inhaler had not been the cause as the jury were lead to believe. Had it been left to this sociological phenomena then Vinicius would have got off the hook. As it was the judge fried as then deemed fit for such activity-though some said even that was getting off lightly.
Veagans genre of self-made gym was not unknown to him. A punch bag was pushed cursorily to one side. Being invited into others personal realm told a lot about them.
“Now you want to apply Cunningham’s trick to Schreiber I understand.”
“It gives us great satisfaction to exonerate the doctor each time I use his talent-after accusations of being ludicrous or smarmy dodged him so much when alive.”
“What you’re implying is that the cause of demise of G might not of been the assault itself but something administered quite calculatedly.”
Marlin examined cursorily the boxing gloves that hung nearby another of Veagan’s hobbies which seemed oddly incongruent with his needle obsession although it wasn’t unknown for boxers to take a jab of adrenaline once in a while. Various trophies testified to some acumen in this sport-although what terrible damage must have been done to the recipient did not warrant much enquiry.
“This is hardly ground breaking I am surprised that it hasn’t been tried already.”
“Same old story nobody wants to do very much without getting more reward. There are tons of dead teenagers on that piece of road if they’re stupid enough to go down there-then who cares.”
Craggy tubby (despite the sport-love and/or knowledge of how many needy were on this planet) Marlin found a fascination growing within him for this unusual Dr. Aaron Cunningham’s love of hypodermic’s. There had been no record of any recent injections either prescribed or self-induced by G it would be interesting to see just what was found.
“This isn’t commensurate with any angle it just tells immediately if a needle has been used plus how deep it went. There isn’t any indication what was in the hypodermic either only what was used.”
“If it was tawdry or the good stuff some sort of immunization programme is not taken into consideration-I understand.”
Marlin was distant for a moment like something really terrible had gone through him-someone with a proclivity for exaggeration like that probably made something out of nothing regularly. No one would interpolate him in this that was for sure unless they wanted to come up against something nebulous yet with a impenetrable core.
“It’s like the hemline on H.G Wells Time Machine skirt these new fads come ‘n go with militaristic precision,” Veagan added as a comfort.
“Anything to do with hypodermics always makes us come over nostalgic for my Uncle Mateus Rocha Correia who was wheelchair bound after a terrible accident at a lanolin factory. Sometimes Mateus took so many jabs that a narcosis was induced. Eventually they had to change his medication to curtail the damage, but not before some terrible damage was done from the narcotic that had suffused through him.”
“We used to call that the ‘big bang theory’ in my national service sojourn. There is a small incendiary that explodes going outwards.”
In the near distance they could pick up on some gunshot from the surrounding buildings which induced a further ominous silence. The authorities had already cordoned off the streets with their unique demarcation some Germanic entrepreneur had devised. The escutcheon on the waiting vans always seemed to terrify even though if they had done no wrong then there was no danger of them being falsely arrested.
“How does this puncture recognition puzzle out how many marks there are?”
“There’s a monitor as per most displays these days that’s taken for granted. The subject is rendered diaphanous apart from the tiny points of darkness. It is as if the person is a smelting tub with these as tiny outlets from which the hot metal can escape.”
“I’m still not sure about some of these new miracle cures they are becoming a scourge in my opinion. We throw dollops of them at some unsolved wrong-but are we just trying to dress everything up with a load of fancy electronics.”
“Sounds like you have given this much consideration Marlin.”
“It is my burden to drag this trade screaming into the future like a lummox. We must shake off all vestigial pretensions if we are to be taken seriously.”
“Rest assured I am not wasting your time we have used puncture-testing with great success in a continental setting-I am sure we have reduced related ill-doing considerably thereof. There was a baroness in Northern Brindisi who was told that her son was a drug-addict that his tragic demise was due entirely to self administered injections-a regimen in which the dose had gradually increased.”
“The Italian royal was not impervious to your puncture hunt.”
“When we met her in the drafty castle that had served as her home cum hermitage where everywhere was seemingly inlaid with guilty finery it was as if jumper cables were attached between us. Every word about our wiles that might exonerate her son were absorbed as if they were connected by a main line.”
“Was your input able to assuage the Baronesses grief?”
“Admittedly the personal-computer got a little hot at first. The microprocessor would have to be packed with liquid nitrogen to get it to full speed. There was a contemporaneous youngish alumnus who died of a heroin overdose that proved reimbursement. I’m not usually patriotic I mistrust the Canadian partisan usually but we wouldn’t have been able to aggrandize anything without Marcus M. Stauffer.”
“That’s who it was that ended this mischief for you-I see.”
“It was Stauffer who got us out of our lethargy. We used this on Bruno Pagnotto-I’m not quite sure of his honorific title Baron Pagnotto or something like that-this was who was used anyway to make sense of this mosaic of crazy paving that constituted the facts we had before us.”
“You adored being wicked scavengers.”
For a moment there was an anticipation that being accused of truculence was going to follow but this didn’t seem to occur.
“It was the angle again that Brunos needle went in that was the key-the lifejacket that saved us. Marcus had severe fractures resulting from an accident in his Toyota Will whilst in the Middle East-it was not possible for him to inject himself in some of the areas found.”
“Do you know who was responsible Morrison?”
“Some breezy assemblyman who seemed totally harmless. Thanks to the Cunningham’s we got the one responsible.”
Nobility was not usually a major concern or point of interest for those who attempted to unravel the mo
re base activity of human kind, the knavish were invariably from the lower echelons which didn’t mean this was correct nonetheless. They had no choice but to bend rules in order to survive.
Julian Pereira Cardoso had the distinction of being the great grandson of a lieutenant colonel in the US Air Corp who flew over Kyoto where they were shot down then were imprisoned. The Japanese treated him with the especial contempt that POW had reserved for them. Renan Alves Cardoso (this is who it was) resolved to turn this into a positive experience so upon his return tried to find about his captors as could be, then (what is more important) use this to his own advantage.
Hyuuga Yamakawa who had been the commandant at the camp where Renan Cardoso was interred had deep royal connections to the Japanese royalty. Hyuuga saw himself as an amateur wrong solver. Indeed-although not officially connected- those who have the wherewithal to search court records will find Yamakawa mentioned in the famous case of Iwai vs Oike in which Mr. Iwai hid in the famous cabinet. One of his early efforts was devising a standard by which the physiognomy of those that were potentially wrong-doers could be determined. It would make anyone short-circuit with temper nowadays loaded as it was with racism but this terrible calipers presaged the callipers of the terrible camps of Austwitchz/ Buchenwald. With some relief we find this quickly was denounced by the humanists of the day.
Another of Yamakawa’s great interests was an adhesive latex that could be used to pick up foreign material that was left on clothing especially useful when there had been contact with the perpetrator of some terrible wrong. Renan decided to make this his own eventually devising what was to become known as the Cardoso-strip based on Yamakawa’s research. This went some way towards assuaging the inhumanity that was suffered whilst imprisoned-starvation rations being buried alive etc- Julian when made party to what happened to take up where his great grandad left off.
Fegget Flamand had been brought into the Schreiber on account of his success with Matthieu Martin who was the victim on a similar deserted piece of highway The Trans-Canada Highway in British Columbia’s Trans-Canada Highway, stretching from Sicamous to Rogers Pass. As always an ‘is anybody out there’ call to see who could be contributors was given by upstart Flamand. The usual stubborn response came so that Flamand almost gave up then Cardoso seemed to pop out of the ether like ethers were going out of fashion.
