The Pest, Part 9
(This October, InsectPOD is celebrating with a special “creepy story”, the Hopper Case Files, told in installments. New readers should start with the first case file, The Missing Mayfly.)
“You gotta help me, Hopper,” she sobbed. Seems like I hear this all the time in my line of work. The name’s Hopper, and I’m a private eye.
She sobbed into her handkerchief. It was made of silk. Naturally.
“What seems to be—”
“It’s my husband Argus!” she cried. “He’s missing!”
“I… see,” I said, not really seeing at all. “This complicates things.”
“H-how so?” she said.
“I was actually coming to visit Mister Trifasciata, to ask him about another missing person.”
“Well, Argus is missing too! You must find him! At the very least, can’t you look for them both?”
I sighed. “All right, Mrs. Trifasciata. Tell me where you saw him last.”
“It was at the Theridion wedding. We were guests of honor, got to sit right in the web and everything. Not a good orb web, mind you, but a tangleweb. Normally I wouldn’t set foot in that kind of mess but Doris had made it special for the wedding, and I have to admit her craftsmanship was superb. For a tangleweb, I mean.”
“Okay, so you sat up front at the wedding. Then what?”
“Well, actually it was just me. After a few minutes, Argus made a fuss about the indignity of sitting in a tangleweb. I tried to explain that we do not disdain other cultures, but he wouldn’t hear anything of it, and got up and left. And that’s the last I saw of him.”
I flipped back through my notes. Karen Stalk had been last seen refusing to sit in the web…. perhaps Doris had taken offense at them both? I hadn’t see any bodies besides Trevor’s in the web, however.
Auros had mentioned that the mob might be after the girl, that could mean they were after him, too. “Mrs. Clavipes, forgive me for asking, but… your husband’s family is rather famous for… shall we say… their business practices.”
“You want to know if Argus is in the mob? Not really. He keeps on good terms with the family but is not employed by them.”
“I see. And a lack of employment would probably indicate a lack of grudges?”
“You mean would anyone in the mob want to hurt Argus? Not likely. And nobody outside it, either. Argus may not work for the family, but he’s well-liked. If anybody hurt him, there would be… consequences.”
“Hmm,” I mused. “They’re both last seen at the wedding. They both have the same problem with the web. Nephila Clavipes is mad at Argus….”
I looked up. “Tell me, Mrs. Clavipes, do you and your husband have your own vacation place?”
“What? Yes of course. South End of the Garden. We own a few stalks on the East Bench, just big enough for a cozy little vacation web. Why, what’s that got to do with anything?”
“Just a hunch,” I said. “I’ll keep you informed of my investigation’s progress. Good afternoon.”
Image Credit: Tommy Wise took this gorgeous photo of a female Argiope aurantia in Florida. Thanks, Tommy!
Slowly getting the site back onto an even keel. It's nice to get back into the old posting rhythm.