THREE WISHES

THREE WISHES Part 2

"Nash, I presume?" The man seated across from me in a prison jumpsuit asked after I picked up the receiver.

"Yes."

"Thank you for meeting with me."

"The check cleared." I responded coldly. To say I didn't have a soft spot for wealthy people who take additional life insurance policies out on their spouse before they murder them would be an understatement.

"Then let me get right to the point, sir. I'm innocent and need your help." When I didn't answer the convicted murderer, he continued. "I didn't kill my wife, but I know what did."

What did?

"Who's that?" I asked, checking the time on my watch again.

"It doesn't matter. I know what happened, but it's irrelevant." Mister Blackshire responded, his statement taking me by surprise. "What does matter is a key piece of evidence I need to clear my name. A piece of evidence only you can retrieve. Something I'll pay you handsomely for. Something I need you to find and bring to me and only to me."

Nope. Not going to happen.

"What evidence is that, Mister Blackshire?" I rechecked the time. Nine minutes left.

"A ring."

"So you're paying me thousands of dollars to listen to you tell me you're innocent, even though a jury found you guilty, and that someone else killed your wife. That you won't tell me who this other person is, and all you want me to do is to find you a ring?"

"Exactly. I know it's still in the house, my house, but I don't trust my lawyers to find it. The ring wasn't checked into evidence, so it still has to be there. In my house. It has to be."

"Eight minutes left." I commented as I checked my watch, thinking about the money I'd earned simply listening to this man babble.

"Forget about the ten minutes!" The businessman shouted, obviously worried about spending the rest of his days behind bars. "This is serious, deadly serious!"

"No, sir. I will not forget about the ten minutes." I replied. "And I think all the death stuff has stopped, seeing you're locked up and all."

Jon Blackshire began whispering into the phone as he put his palm against the glass separating us. "Nash, I need that ring. If anyone else, I mean, anyone else, finds it, their loved ones might die. I can't have that on my conscious. A man like you must understand that."

"Plus you think this ring will be the evidence to get you out of jail, even though your trial is over?"

"Yes. Yes. But that is secondary to ensuring no one else gets hurt. Please believe me. That's my primary concern, making sure no one else gets killed."

Sure it is.

"Go on." I checked my watch again. "How does this ring, your ring, prove your innocence?"

"Let me worry about that. I want to hire you to recover the ring for me and bring it here, to prison. Once I have it, I'll pay you handsomely."

"How handsomely?" I prompted, not believing a word Mister Blackshire said.

"A million dollars."

I laughed out loud. "Mister Blackshire, I happen to know that when you were convicted of murder, your assets were frozen and the insurance companies refused to pay..."

The businessman interrupted me. "The life insurance. Yes. But if I could prove my innocence, all that money, the money owed me for the death of my dear wife, millions upon millions of dollars, would be released as would all my other holdings. I'd be rich. Richer than I already am. And you'd be rich too. Think about it! One million dollars for a day's work. Get the ring and bring it to me."

I did think about it.

For a millisecond.

"No thank you." I rechecked my watch, the ten minutes were almost up. "Your offer sounds generous, a little too generous, but even if you could pay me, and I doubt you could, this whole thing just doesn't sound right."

"Nash. Listen to me. Find and bring me my ring. It's a simple black ring with a gold inscription on the inside written in an ancient language which vaguely resembles Arabic. Bring me the ring and the million dollars is yours."

Yeah. Sounds legit.

"Mister Blackshire. Allow me to be blunt?"

The disgraced businessman shifted in his chair. "Of course."

"I'm sure you and your lawyers knew when you paid me to listen to you that this sort of thing really isn't my specialty. Finding lost objects, I mean." I checked the time again. "Even if I believed you that finding a ring in your house and bringing it to you would clear your name and prevent further tragedy. Even if you could pay me a million dollars for the simple task, you have the wrong man. I'm not a detective and I'm not a lawyer. I'm also not convinced in the least you didn't murder your wife and to be honest, I don't want to help you."

"I think this is up your lane. After all, Nash, aren't you the man they refer to as the 'Corsair'? Your reputation proceeds you. A reputation in handling these types of situations. I know you can find my ring. I trust you to find it. I know you can help me."

"Why would I want to help you?"

"For the money."

Wrong again.

"Some things are more important than money, Mister Blackshire. I know this might sound crazy to a man like you, but believe me. There are things in life more important than money." I paused. "Like justice."

"Sir. Nash. Corsair. You see, what really occurred, what killed my lovely wife, it wasn't murder. It was a double-cross. Something I know you would want to prevent from ever happening again. I know you're a man of honor and integrity. I've been told that. You would want to prevent someone else from being double-crossed and losing their wife or other loved ones too. Wouldn't you? To save lives? For justice? For honor?"

With only a few seconds of our ten-minute meeting remaining, I took the bait. "Fine. Who double-crossed you, Mister Blackshire?"

"An evil, supernatural creature. A thing of immeasurable power. It tricked me and killed my wife."

Liar.

"What creature?" I asked skeptically, preparing to hang up the phone as our meeting drew to a close.

"A Jinn."