Culmination

The first time he gave me a riddle I interpreted it as a cryptic nonsense coming from a clown and never gave it serious thought that I came to regret later. I would not make the same mistake again. His admonition had to be treated with all seriousness and I intended to do just that.

“Excuse me, are you the man in-charge here?” I asked the man on the counter jutting down something on a clipboard.

He stopped from what he was doing and looked at me. “And who are you?” he asked. I was talking to a short man with a stout and brawny built. He was wearing a worn out denim shorts. A dirty white undershirt covered his upper body exposing his curved muscles obviously acquired from physical strenuous manual work. He was as Dordo had described him to me.

“I’m meeting detective Gardoza here,” I said. I preferred not to give him my name. Going anonymous was another layer of safety.