Strange Birds of a Feather - Chapter 1

Oswald's phone starts ringing. Which isn't weird considering it's the middle of the day, but since Oswald gained a nocturnal lifestyle against his will, he can't pick it up, so I have to do it for him. When I look at the screen it reads 'Lili, Kwan'. Odd, I have never heard this name, even though the number is saved in Oswald's phone. I wonder who this can be.

'Hello?' I say, then I remember to add. 'This is Oswald Cobblepot's phone. I am his assistant. Who am I talking to?'

'Oh.' a deep female voice answers. 'This is Lili. Can I talk to Oswald?'

'Uhm… sorry, but Mr. Cobblepot is busy now. Do you have a message form him?'

'Yes. Please tell him, that I need to talk to him. It's very important. He knows where to find me at 6 PM.'

Oh, no 6 PM is way too early. 'Uh... I'm sorry but a meeting today at 6 PM doesn't fit into Mr. Cobblepot's schedule.'

'Tsk… that little tadpole really doesn't have time anymore for an old friend.' she says with resentment in her voice. I feel bad for her, I have to come up with something.

'Umh… Mr. Cobblepot is free after 8 PM.'

'8 PM? That late?! Jesus Christ what is he doing that lasts that long? Whatever, I really need to talk to him, so we meet at 8 PM. Good bye.'

'Good bye.'

Then she breaks the call. I wonder who this woman could be. It's obvious that she knows Oswald for a long time. And that she is mad at him. Could it be that she is an old flame? If she is, wouldn't it be awkward to meet her now? Should I be jealous? For some reason I don't feel like it would make sense for me to be jealous. Maybe I'm overthinking things. Anyway I can't really do anything until Oswald is asleep so I better go back to sleep and break the News to Oswald when he is awake.

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Sometimes it creeps me out when I watch Oswald sleeping. It's almost like he is fully dead. Not to mention when he wakes up and he is completely motionless, only his eyelids move. But when he looks at me and gives me a smile everything changes.

'Good night, Oswald.'

'Good night, sweetheart.' then he sits up and pushes me on my back. 'How was your sleep?' he asks as he starts kissing my neck and softly tickling my belly with his fingers. He is always so eager when he wakes up. But then I remember the message I have to give to him.

'Heheh, Oswald, wait a minute. Someone called you during the day. A woman named Lili Kwan.'

Then he stops, looks at me with surprise for a moment, then sits back. 'Hm.' he smiles somberly. 'I didn't hear that name for a long time.'

'Yeah, she said she wants to meet with you at 8 PM today.'

'8 PM?' he looks at the clock. 'You really gave me a tight schedule. Where should we go?'

'She said, you know where.'

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We arrive to a gym, where a woman is waiting for us. She is rather short but her limbs don't have the usual proportions. She probably has dwarfism. Her hair is striking platinum blonde, but she obviously bleaches it. And she is wearing a green and yellow hoodie with matching sweatpants, like she is just about to start her training routine.

'Good evening, Lili.' Oswald starts with a jovial smile. 'I didn't expect you of all people to call me.'

'I didn't expect either.' she says with a stern face. Well, that was harsh. 'Good Evening, Oswald.'

The remark makes Oswald really silent, he seems to be very ashamed of himself. I don't have any idea what could have been happened between the two that made her so mad at him.

'Oh, it would be very rude to not introduce my assistant to you.' he says suddenly with forced cheerfulness. 'Lili, he is Sam Hyde. Sam, this is Lili Kwan, an old friend.'

She looks at me with a serious expression, and then we shake hands, which feels awkward. I have no idea what she is thinking of me. Is she feeling that same resentment for me as for Oswald just because I work for him?

'Let's go inside, we shouldn't talk out here.' she says.

The gym itself is fairly tiny, with some excersise mats on the floor and wall bars.

'For a while I work as a coach and teach children for martial arts. But not long ago one of my kids was disappeared as he went home from here.' she says with concern on her face. 'The situation is really bad. Police couldn't find him, the locals are playing watchdog, but nothing. I am desperate enough to ask for your help. You are the only one I know who has the connections, so there might be a chance we could find him.'

'Well.' Oswald speaks quietly, still humbled. 'The least I could do to you is to help.'

'You are damn right. Tell me the price.'

'Lili, I...'

'Tell me how much I have to pay.' she disrupts him impatiently.

'You have to pay nothing.'

'Good. I really hope I could trust you in this.'

'You won't be disappointed.' Oswald replies, but Lili's expression says she doubts it. 'Uhm. Good bye, Lili.'

'Good bye, Oswald.'

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'Alright, first we need to ask around. There is always someone in this city who saw something, just doesn't want to talk to the police. But trust me, for the right price, these peope always talk.'

'Uhm, Oswald.'

'Yes, my dear?'

'What happened between you and Lili that made her so angry with you?'

'Hm, that's a long story.' he makes that sad face again. 'I believe I made some mistakes, and I'm afraid I can't make things right with her anymore.'

The "I believe" part catches my attention. Yeah, he certainly messed things up with her, he is just too much in denial about it. One of his bad habits.

'But you still want to help her.' I point out.

'How could I say no to an old friend.'

Well, it really seems like he would like to make peace with her. Now I am very curious about the nature of the relationship they had.

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Oswald was right when he said we would find someone who would talk for the right price. An eyewitness told us that the boy was abducted into a black van, but couldn't see anything else. Well, at the very least we found out that he was kidnapped, but how could you search for a generic van without a license plate number? So Oswald needed to pull more threads. Turned out the van was owned by some guy who was only hired as the driver and was payed well for his silence. So Oswald payed him more. We finally had a lead who the child adbuctors were. They were just two lowlife criminals. This whole case turned out to be really tangled, but at least we had an address to a building, where the criminals brought the children. Yes, the kidnappings happened more than once. I wonder where the clues are leading us.

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