October 2025

Her black dress hugged her figure like a warm blanket in the depths of winter, yet her eyes told a story of bleak tragedy. Heartbreak? Maybe. With a woman like that, a sleuth like me might have lucked out. One thing’s for certain, I knew she was trouble the moment she walked through my door. 

‘I hope you don’t mind,’she said – her sultry voice like the sound of soft silk as it falls to the floor – ‘your receptionist wasn’t at her desk.’ 

‘Oh?’ I said. ‘I’ll have a word. Do you need help, Mrs…’ 

‘Miss…’she said, pulling on her cigarette. ‘Miss Rubelle Uvanté.’ She exhaled wisps of grey. ‘Call me Rubelle.’ 

‘A pleasure… Rubelle.’ 

‘I need you to find a thief.’ Rubelle’s eyes met mine – hers were deep blue, the kind you could fall into and drown without complaint. ‘Others have let me down, Mr Ketch.’ 

A family heirloom had been stolen; a sapphire. My gut told me to stay away, but the money was good. A job’s a job. And who knew, maybe I’d finally afford that receptionist. 

After taking Rubelle’s address, I thought I’d visit my old friend, Tink. He had connections, and the mad bastard always had information... for a price. 

The back office at Tink’s Antique Bookstore looked more like a makeshift science lab. 

To my surprise, a bird, maybe two-feet high, pushed its way through a dog flap. 

‘Holy shit! Is that a duck?’ 

‘Sula Nebouxii,’ Tink said. ‘Commonly known as a Blue-Footed Booby… from the Galápagos.’ 

My brow furrowed. 

‘It’s a rescue animal, Ketch, hand-reared. Won’t survive in the wild. I’m studying him.’ 

‘Everyone needs a hobby,’ I chuckled. 

Turning to the bird, Tink said, ‘Not now Bob. Outside.’ 

Bob the Booby squawked and shuffled back through the flap. 

Tink told me that the sapphire had been taken by the infamous sneak-thief, Kip Itlocht, and gave me an address where I might find him. 

On arrival at the place, it looked to me like no one was home. I slipped in through an open window and found nothing of interest, apart from the dead body lying in the middle of the living room floor. 

‘Kip, I presume.’ 

I rolled the body onto his back and noticed a loose floorboard beneath. I pried up the board and found the precious stone. What luck! 

‘Thanks Kip!’ 

Forty-minutes later, I arrived at the address Rubelle had given me. A large warehouse, not what I expected. 

‘Miss Uvanté,” I called. ‘Rubelle?’ 

‘Place the sapphire on the workbench, take your money and go!’ 

It was Rubelle, but she wasn’t the seductress I’d previously encountered. Now she wore dirt covered overalls, with grease smeared across her face. It seemed to me that she was an interrogator of the sciences… and a good actress, too! Was this even her sapphire? 

Did I care? 

No. Not my problem… a job’s a job, and Rubelle’s money spends as good as anyone else’s. 

The rest, well… that’s her business.