I don't think I was expecting a non-school prompt today! Although perhaps you're hinting that one of Max's class-mates is a movie star? The Milky-bar kid, perhaps? :)
The movie star The guest list was easy to access; I went to the reception hall and the Master of Ceremonies who was still there with a moue of distaste on his face. I put on my best smile, as I'm fairly sure he doesn't like me, and asked him for a copy of the guest list. "No," he said, without looking at me. Then he inclined his head slightly and slid his eye to the side to look at me out of the corner of it, and a moment later, he said, "well, you would appear to have a right to see it. Might I ask why you don't already have a copy." "I do," I said, maintaining my smile. "But it hasn't been updated with who has actually arrived, who has already left, and who turned up with an unexpected guest. Yours is the only accurate copy." Was there a crack in his stony-faced demeanour? Was that the merest flicker of an eyelid, a twitch of the corner of his mouth, upwards? I couldn't tell; he allowed just enough to happen for me to want to get a camera recording and play it back in slow-motion, and I was sure I still wouldn't be certain even then. "A nice observation," he said, so quietly that I wasn't sure I was supposed to hear him. The man was incorrigible. Louder, "I shall send it to you now." His took a small tablet from out of his inside pocket, smoothing his black jacket down again, and tapped it a few times. It beeped and he tapped at it some more. "Done." I walked away feeling dismissed, and heard him start to greet a new arrival who I recognised as a local movie star. He sounded considerably more friendly than he had been to me, and she sounded like she thought he was borderline rude. I'd heard stories about her that suggested she had a temper and I almost paused, waiting to see if it would trigger. Then my tablet beeped, the MC's data arriving, and I had to stop and pat my pockets until I found it. When I did I paused a moment; did it reflect badly on me that I was less organised that the man greeting the guests? It might do. I went back up to the third floor deep in thought; I had assumed that I was doing well enough at my job, but twice in the last twenty minutes other people had effectively told me that I could be doing a lot better and hinted that I wasn't thinking enough. That was... irritating. I wanted to do better. I needed to do better. Before I knocked on the door to the murder room again I took a moment to think hard. What was the best thing to do, what would do my job most simply and interfere least in what others were doing? I considered just printing the guest list off and leaving it there, but it seemed impersonal. I made a choice, and knocked. "You again?" I couldn't say that the woman sounded any friendlier, but I thought I understood now. I held up my tablet. "I have the guest list from the MC; this contains arrival times, departures, and any changes of guests. It was good from five minutes ago, so I think it should help you narrow down possibilities. At the end of the evening I will get the final list from the MC and send that to you too, that will contain a complete set of departure times and you will be able to see if anyone arrived and never left. Might I have permission to ping it over to you?" A half-smile, half-frown. I almost sighed in frustration, what had I got wrong this time? "Of course, you can sync to tablet 412." I transmitted the data and headed back out, wondering what I could next that would be useful. As the door closed behind me I heard her say, "That was very efficient."
2 comments:
I don't think I was expecting a non-school prompt today! Although perhaps you're hinting that one of Max's class-mates is a movie star? The Milky-bar kid, perhaps? :)
The movie star
The guest list was easy to access; I went to the reception hall and the Master of Ceremonies who was still there with a moue of distaste on his face. I put on my best smile, as I'm fairly sure he doesn't like me, and asked him for a copy of the guest list.
"No," he said, without looking at me. Then he inclined his head slightly and slid his eye to the side to look at me out of the corner of it, and a moment later, he said, "well, you would appear to have a right to see it. Might I ask why you don't already have a copy."
"I do," I said, maintaining my smile. "But it hasn't been updated with who has actually arrived, who has already left, and who turned up with an unexpected guest. Yours is the only accurate copy."
Was there a crack in his stony-faced demeanour? Was that the merest flicker of an eyelid, a twitch of the corner of his mouth, upwards? I couldn't tell; he allowed just enough to happen for me to want to get a camera recording and play it back in slow-motion, and I was sure I still wouldn't be certain even then.
"A nice observation," he said, so quietly that I wasn't sure I was supposed to hear him. The man was incorrigible. Louder, "I shall send it to you now." His took a small tablet from out of his inside pocket, smoothing his black jacket down again, and tapped it a few times. It beeped and he tapped at it some more. "Done."
I walked away feeling dismissed, and heard him start to greet a new arrival who I recognised as a local movie star. He sounded considerably more friendly than he had been to me, and she sounded like she thought he was borderline rude. I'd heard stories about her that suggested she had a temper and I almost paused, waiting to see if it would trigger. Then my tablet beeped, the MC's data arriving, and I had to stop and pat my pockets until I found it. When I did I paused a moment; did it reflect badly on me that I was less organised that the man greeting the guests? It might do.
I went back up to the third floor deep in thought; I had assumed that I was doing well enough at my job, but twice in the last twenty minutes other people had effectively told me that I could be doing a lot better and hinted that I wasn't thinking enough. That was... irritating. I wanted to do better. I needed to do better.
Before I knocked on the door to the murder room again I took a moment to think hard. What was the best thing to do, what would do my job most simply and interfere least in what others were doing? I considered just printing the guest list off and leaving it there, but it seemed impersonal. I made a choice, and knocked.
"You again?" I couldn't say that the woman sounded any friendlier, but I thought I understood now. I held up my tablet.
"I have the guest list from the MC; this contains arrival times, departures, and any changes of guests. It was good from five minutes ago, so I think it should help you narrow down possibilities. At the end of the evening I will get the final list from the MC and send that to you too, that will contain a complete set of departure times and you will be able to see if anyone arrived and never left. Might I have permission to ping it over to you?"
A half-smile, half-frown. I almost sighed in frustration, what had I got wrong this time?
"Of course, you can sync to tablet 412."
I transmitted the data and headed back out, wondering what I could next that would be useful. As the door closed behind me I heard her say, "That was very efficient."
Greg - nothing quite so fancy as that. At least, not that I've heard so far...
Ah, your narrator is definitely invested in doing their best. And it seems to be appreciated, whether they're fully aware of it or not.
A lot of nice details here and I continue to be intrigued by this little mystery.
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