Mad Green Eyes

Chapter 1 - The Detective, the Dentist and the Thief

1) - The Detective, the Dentist and the Thief

 She sat in a corner of her hotel room, shivering. The central heating had been poor when it was on, but this... she froze.

Who was knock, knock, knocking on her door?

She shuffled over to the door, not bothering to rise from her knees. The knocking grew louder. The girl rolled her eyes in impatience and rapped her knuckles once on the door.

There was silence for a moment.

‘What time is it?’ Someone with a slight Polish accent asked on the other side of the door.

‘Time you got a watch, mister wolf,’ she said in a monotone voice.

‘I came to collect it, miss.’

The girl, still on her knees, slowly pulled the door open. She felt a vague jolt of surprise, but not enough to show on her face. It was him.

‘Koslovski,’ she said emotionlessly, ‘back so soon?’

‘You know, you can call me by my first name, Ada.’

‘I know I can – I just choose not to.’

‘And what the hell do you mean “back so soon”? I haven’t seen you for more than a year.’

‘And?’

Koslovski sighed.

‘Can I come in?’

‘I suppose so,’ Ada shuffled back to let him pass inside, and then she slammed the door shut behind him.

‘It’s bloody freezing in here, Ada,’ he commented, ‘have you ever heard of turning a radiator on?’

‘The radiator doesn’t work in here,’ she answered, seating herself on her favourite chair, ‘now why are you here?’

He was an attractive man in his early thirties, with spiky, light brown hair and eyes like brooding storm clouds.

‘I have a new case, if you’re interested.’

‘How would I know if I was interested if I don’t know what I’m supposed to be interested in?’ She said, pointing at the chair opposite her, ‘sit down. Oh, but while you’re up, get me my cherries from the kitchen.’

   Koslovski inclined his head and wandered over to the kitchen area. It was a mess. There was not one surface that wasn’t littered with fruit or the leftovers of fruit. He eventually found the bowl of cherries behind the kettle and placed them on the table between his and Ada’s chairs.

   She didn’t thank him, but instead began rummaging around in the bowl, apparently looking for something. She picked up a dark cherry and balanced it between her teeth. When she noticed that he was watching her, she looked up and met his gaze with one clear, expressionless eye, keeping the cherry between her lips.

‘The darkest ones are the sweetest,’ she talked around the cherry, and continued rummaging in the bowl with one hand while still keeping his gaze, ‘so, what does this newest case involve?’

‘The media’s dubbed it as the Wonderland Murders, you might have heard?’

Ada took no notice of the question, swallowing the cherry between her teeth whole and then producing an almost black one from the bowl and dropping it into her mouth.

‘Ok, maybe you haven’t,’ Koslovski sighed at her lack of communication, ‘each victim...’

‘How many victims have there been so far?’ Ada interrupted him, her teeth stained dark red from the fruit.