Shadows from the House of Scent Ch. 01

She sat on the floor. She put her head down in her hands. Then, she began to weep uncontrollably.

~~~~~~ : ~~~~~~

6: Dean at his store

The vintage book, record, graphic novel, early IT tech stuff, and memorabilia store -- "AL Bums Beats IT" -- opened a bit later than usual. Chuck was coming off a tremendous high from the grass he had smoked while Dean woke up earlier to finish preparing Amber's room.

The store has a huge eclectic mix of graphic novels and comics, many collector items. It has new and back-issue Comics, old and modern video games and systems, vintage and new toys, D&D, magic board Games, used and newly pressed vinyl records, sports card packs and singles, autographs, Japanese Imports, and Posters.

And, they had Kurst graphic novels. Of everything in the store. They had Kurst. That was the most important to Dean.

"Something got into Lizzy", the night before, according to Dean, because "she started acting weird and shit." His view of it was that it was bad enough, but then she got all emotional.

~~~~~~

"Lizzy, are you ok in there?" he asked from outside the bathroom.

"I'll be out in a minute."

When she came out her eyes were puffy and Dean knew she had been crying.

"Sorry about all this," he said. "About Amber and shit."

"It's not that."

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

"But you were crying."

"Today it has been five years since we started to live together," she said.

Dean looked confused. He wasn't sure if she was going to say something more. He wasn't doing it to be bad, but what Lizzy was trying to say escaped him.

"And?"

"Never mind."

After that, she stayed a bit longer in the bathroom.

"Strange shit," Dean thought.

Dean felt that he had done something wrong or offended her, but didn't know what it was. He went back to setting up the computer in the living room and cleaning out the closet.

~~~~~~

That morning, he opened the store and got it up and running. Even in the first hour of the morning, customers began to enter, which was unusual. The first customer approached the counter with three books by Kurst. Following suit, the next customer bought a couple of books, also by the same author. Soon, all the customers were coming to the counter with various volumes of the graphic novel series by Kurst.

This was not only unusual, but Kurst's books were never this popular. Dean was so busy, he didn't have time to even comment to Chuck.

At one point, Chuck emerged from the backroom to unpack some boxes of merchandise that had arrived that morning.

"Like, hey Dude! You see the news on Kurst's website this morning?" Chuck asked while carrying the boxes of new vinyls. His long hair covered his eyes.

"No. What do you mean?" Dean responded slightly annoyed. Here he was connected continually, and the biggest Kurst fan, and he was not the first one to know. "My niece is coming, so I was up late last night and early this morning moving my office."

"Shit Dude!! That's a drag," Chuck said, with a nerdy giggle, aloof to the real concern of Dean and for his annoyance. "Kids are always a drag. My brother has got a kid. A real bummer, man!"

"Well, she is not really a kid," he said, remembering Lizzy's comment from the night before. "So what is the news?"

"What news?"

Chuck's attention may have been diminished from so many years of smoking pot. Or, it could have been from the joint he smoked just before coming out of the storeroom. In any case, his retention was at the level of a fish.

"About Kurst," Dean said. "What's going on?"

"Oh, that," he giggled.

Dean waited. Talking with Chuck was worse than going to the dentist's office.

"Nah, man, just that he said he will publish a scene today and at 6:30 pm he will be giving a live stream," Chuck said as he pulled the vinyls from the box. "I figured you knew."

"Shit," was all Dean said.

This was the icing on the cake for Dean. Here he was, the number one fan, and the day and time that a live stream goes to announce a new graphic novel series, he will be at JFK to pick up his chubby niece.

On top of everything, the store sold more Kurst novels in one day than they had in the entire time they were open. This turned out to be the most significant day in the history of Kurst's works, yet he would be sitting in JFK, waiting for the arrival of a 'blimp'.

"Christ's sake," he whispered to himself, just thinking of it.

~~~~~~ : ~~~~~~

7: (House of Scent A1.S3) Chick Smart and crime scene

ACT 1: Scene 3:

The scene is at the office of Chick Smart, the detective on the East Side, 3rd Avenue. It is modern, contrasting with the gritty environment of Guy's office. Kath and Guy arrive there. The camera angle first shows them entering the office. Chick is behind his desk. When they enter, he rises and walks towards them to greet them formally.

CHICK: "Good morning."

He looks at Guy. Then he turns slightly towards Kath.

GUY: "This here is Kath."

Chick extends his hand and shakes hers.

CHICK: "It's a pleasure, my dear. Guy has told me about you. Please sit."

Kath offers a quick, courteous smile and thanks him. They both take seats in the chairs in front of his desk. He then returns to his chair, sits down, pulls out a cigarette, and offers one to his visitors. Guy accepts, while Kath declines.

GUY: "So what do you got?"

Chick sits up straight, shifting from his happy demeanor to a more professional one. He pulls out a folder from the side of the desk, opens it, and spreads out the photos contained within.

CHICK: "Nasty stuff. Young girl. Found dead. Strangled. Sex crime or at least it seems that way. In a Chinese restaurant. Downtown. The Green Dragon. We believe it could be linked to two other murders. Same way. BDSM style. Cuffed and beaten. The whole ball of wax."

He selects one of the photos and puts it in front of Guy and Kath. The camera now focuses on the photo in Guy's hand. In the photo is the body of a dead naked young woman, with signs of serious physical abuse. Her face is black and blue, and on her body are whip marks, her wrists cuffed, hanging from her wrists on a hook in a bathroom next to a urinal. Around her neck is a black ribbon that was used to strangle her. Emerging from her mouth is a black cloth that upon close examination are women's panties.

GUY: "Who is she?"

After Guy put it back on the desk, Kath picked it up and looked at the photo. She couldn't hide the horror in her face at the poor young girl's fate.

CHICK: "Don't know. Initial police reports say she was a prostitute. But, we're still working on it."

GUY: "What do you mean?"

CHICK: "Well, we got a call. Anonymous. A young woman. Distressed. Claims that the dead girl was not a prostitute but was forced against her wishes. Implied it was a kidnapping. The caller was in a hurry. Seemed like she was calling from an unsafe place."

KATH: "Did the caller know this girl?"

CHICK: "That I still don't know. Working on it. But the caller was under the impression that the investigation was being hushed-up like. Didn't say why. I tried to ask her, but before she could tell me, it seemed someone had entered the room where she was and she said she had to go. Scared like. Ya know?"

The camera angle shifts suddenly. It now focuses on Guy and Kath. They look at the photo again.

GUY: "Got anything else? That's not much to go on."

CHICK: "There is something else. The ribbon and the panties had a strong smell of perfume. Maybe it isn't significant. But, my intuition is that it has something to do with the death. Some kind of warning."

GUY: "Why would you think that? If she's a prostitute, I mean. Kinda natural, don't you think? If the girl was forced to be a prostitute, then she may have been perfumed for her clients."

CHICK: "Well, I would have thought so too, but before she hung up, our anonymous caller had become startled, making it obvious someone was coming. Just before hanging up, she whispered something. It sounded like she said 'The House of Scent'."

The camera focuses on the image of the girl again, moving towards the black ribbon and the panties in her mouth.

Then the camera angle is behind Chick, looking at Guy.

GUY: "Do you have the ribbon and panties?"

The camera shifts to a frontal view of Chick, taken behind Guy. Chick looks at him hesitantly.

CHICK: "I shouldn't have these. I have to return them to the coroner's office in an hour."

The camera shot widens to include the three people in the scene. Chick opens his bottom drawer. He pulls out a manila envelope. He hands it to Guy. Guy opens it. The camera focuses on its contents. He puts his hand in and pulls out the contents. They are the black ribbon used to strangle the girl and the black panties that were in the girl's mouth.

The camera now shows a frontal scene of Guy and Kath. He puts the fabric of both the ribbon and panties to his nose. Then hands it to Kath.

KATH: "I don't recognize it."

Guy: "Can we take one of these?"

The camera moves and focuses on Chick. He nods his head.

CHICK: "No chance. I have to return them. As it is, they could accuse me of tampering with evidence!"

The camera shifts to Guy and Kath. Guy looks at Kath. His gaze moves down her body, then down her body to her dress, and her crotch. She watches his gaze and understands.

Now the camera focuses on Kath. She stands up. Lifts her skirt in front of the men. Puts her hand underneath her dress and removes her panties. They are black and a nearly exact match to the panties of the victim, except for the perfume scent.

She puts them on Chick's desk. Guy, still holding the victim's panties, puts them in his jacket pocket.

The camera shifts to focus on Chick. Apart from his surprise and arousal at seeing Kath's pussy, his expression is of resignation, giving the impression that he is accustomed to Guy's cavalier manner of handling cases.

The camera shifts to the couple again. Guy pats his jacket pocket with the panties tucked neatly inside.

GUY: "We'll use these to see what we can dig up."

The camera angle gets narrow, focusing on Chick. He is blown away by the erotic scene of a beautiful woman like Kath lifting her dress and for a brief moment exposing herself like that.

Kath feels humiliated, but sits up straight and regains her composure to continue the meeting with Chick.

~~~~~~ : ~~~~~~

8: Dean's outbound to JFK

After work, Dean headed to the train station. From there, he planned to take the AirTran to the airport and wait for Amber. It had been so long since they last met that he wasn't sure he would recognize her.

"I'll just look for a chubby blimp," he thought, spitefully.

In reality, he was still sore at his sister for leaving her daughter with him. He held nothing against Amber, but found himself inadvertently taking it out on her. He reminded himself that he needed to be nice to her.

To make his life easier, he created a large index card with Amber's name written on it.

He took the AirTran to JFK, Terminal 4, where her flight was scheduled to arrive at 6:30 pm. During his trip, he planned to write on his blog. There was speculation that Kurst would soon complete the remaining scenes of the new novel, and he wanted to stay ahead of the news.

He retrieved his laptop from his backpack and powered it on. Navigating to Kurst's webpage, he was greeted by a massive banner dominating the screen, announcing the impending release of new scenes for the latest and unfinished series by Kurst.

"Christ," Dean cursed an audible whisper, frustrated that here he was the biggest fan, and he seemed to be the last person on the planet to know.

He pulled up the fan forum and noticed many new threads started by a bunch of "unknown blog users." As the most avid fan, he was discouraged to find so many discussions, none of which he had time to lead or participate in. This made him feel like an outsider. Suddenly, he felt as if all his past efforts had been futile, as though he was in the dark about the topic in which he was the world expert.

"It isn't fair," he whispered, defeated.

As the banners and threads on the forum proclaimed, there was to be an announcement by Kurst that would be live-streamed on the site, allowing users to send in their comments. This would be followed by a live interview with Kurst, where fan participation was encouraged.

Dean glanced at his watch. Amber was due to arrive at 6:30 pm. It would take them at least half an hour to exit JFK, and another half hour or more to reach the apartment. By then, the event would be over.

There was nothing that could be done.

~~~~~~ : ~~~~~~

9: (House of Scent A1.S4) Crooked Copper

ACT 1: Scene 4:

This is another flashback scene into Guy's past. The scene takes place just before he is charged with taking bribes. He is in an Italian restaurant, called Luigi's. The place is crowded. Guy is slightly younger in this scene. He is full of energy and a rising star. His brilliance at discovering cases is well known in the police force in the city.

(Exterior restaurant -- day) The shot opens on a bustling 1940s New York City corner, characteristic of the era and this part of the city. The camera captures the restaurant's exterior, showcasing outdoor tables adjacent to the building.

(Interior restaurant -- continuous) The scene shifts inside Luigi's restaurant. The camera pans across the interior, revealing numerous tables draped in white tablecloths, all occupied by well-dressed patrons.

The camera is focused on Guy, Frank, and Johnny, at a table. They are all plainclothes policemen in the same department. Homicide and organized crime detectives.

FRANK: "So, let me get this straight. You're saying that the "old man" is connected to the beat down on Mott St? Not only that, you have some evidence to prove it?"

Frank refers to the "old man" as one of the high-ranking politicians in the mayor's office. His right-hand man.

The camera pans to Guy and includes Johnny, to get his reaction.

GUY (YOUNGER): "I don't have the evidence yet."

The camera transitions to Frank, showing a look of incredulity and doubting the hubris of Guy.

FRANK: "Don't be the hot shot. Folks down at the DA won't look too kindly with such claims. You'll get your ass kicked."

The camera returns quickly to Guy.

GUY (YOUNGER): "What, I'm saying is that there seems to be a connection between (Dean leans in..) "old man Walker" guys and Quinn Sharp. I saw one of his guys with Sharp. They were arguing. Sharp got up and left all haughty. The next day, Sharp's longtime whore girlfriend is found strangled in her bed, when he had been seen with her that night."

FRANK: "So, what are you saying? That the old man is blackmailing? That is a bit of a stretch, Guy. Maybe he was working for the mob. You don't have any evidence. It is all speculation on your part. I'm telling ya, friend, you better be careful."

GUY (YOUNGER): "I don't know, but my contact said that now they got the ok for the construction on the buildings to continue. It's for some big public project. A school for orphans or young teen mothers. Or some shit like that. But it is a lot of cash for what it is. I mean, what the fuck are they building? A five-star hotel for a bunch of orphaned kids? I say it's a front."

FRANK: "Alright. I'll talk to the boss and see if we can do a stake-out."

GUY (YOUNGER): It's got to be soon. This is moving fast. The trail will get cold.

FRANK: "Alright, alright. Calm down. We'll get the paperwork done after lunch for this weekend."

~~~~~~

The next scene shows Guy being arraigned on Friday of the same week. He is standing before a judge.

JUDGE: "The court suspends the duties of Lt. Guy Clinch until a proper trial can be arranged, on the charges of bribery and racketeering."

~~~~~~ : ~~~~~~

10: Amber arrives

Dean arrived at Terminal 4's Arrivals section precisely at 6:30. He checked his watch and then his phone, which was connected to Kurst's page. He figured that by the time Amber disembarked from the plane and collected her luggage, he could catch the beginning of the announcement.

He waited. As a few minutes passed, a scrolling text message appeared on the webpage, indicating that Kurst's announcement would be delayed by 15 to 20 minutes.

"Christ!" Dean cursed.

It seemed as though all the forces of nature were conspiring to prevent him from attending. Disgusted, he turned off his phone and tucked it into his coat pocket.

~~~~~~

Passengers started to stream out of the arrival gate, and Dean's eyes scanned each one, searching for a young, overweight woman who could be his niece, Amber.

Initially, well-dressed business travelers, likely from first and business classes, streamed through the gate. As the crowd became more diverse, a variety of young women around Amber's age began to appear.

Several girls emerged who could match the image he had conjured in his mind. Suddenly, one caught his attention. With her red hair and significant build, she seemed about 19 -- a perfect match for the Amber he envisioned. Dean started waving and held up his makeshift "Amber" sign.

The girl glanced his way, but her attention quickly shifted and she joyfully reunited with a family member up ahead.

Dean continued to wait, eyeing each new face with anticipation. Several more young women who resembled his imagined Amber passed by, none giving his sign more than a fleeting glance.

As the flow of passengers began to dwindle, Dean lowered his sign.

He looked at his watch. "Shit," he thought. "She is not coming. Maybe she missed her plane." He started to silently curse his sister up and down.

~~~~~~

He stood there, checking his phone. While agitated, he noticed that Kurst's announcement had begun. Suddenly, he lost all sense of his surroundings, his concentration entirely focused on Kurst taking the podium.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," Kurst began. "I want to thank you for attending..."

It was only the second time he had seen Kurst "in person", so he was thoroughly engrossed.

"I want to announce..."

Dean's concentration was abruptly interrupted as he sensed someone standing in front of him.

"Uncle Dean?"

He looked up and saw the prettiest young woman he had ever seen. It was Amber, whom he had dismissively referred to in his mind just moments before as "the blimp."

~~~~~~

Amber was dressed in a short denim skirt that accentuated her skinny and athletic legs, paired with a white fitted blouse. Her hair, a rich brown auburn, was styled in a ponytail, and her eyes were a striking blue-gray.

"Amber."

She put her arms around him and hugged him. Dean was so surprised he was awkward. He regained his senses and hugged her back. Holding her sexy body was divine.

"I'm so happy to see you, Uncle Dean," she said. "I missed you so much."

"My God, Amber! You have grown into a beautiful young woman," he said. Later, after saying it he chastised himself for sounding like a typical old person.

She hugged him tightly, kissed him many times on the cheek, and didn't let go. Finally, after a few moments, she let up.

Clearly, Amber's affectionate nature was far more pronounced than that of most people. Being with her was so transformative that Dean wondered how he could have ever reacted negatively to the idea of her coming to stay with them.

At that moment, Dean forgot all about Kurst and everything else, for that matter.

~~~~~~ : ~~~~~~

11: The guest and catalyst of change

They arrived home where Lizzy was already busy preparing dinner for the three of them. At the sound of the door, she was cutting vegetables for the salad. Setting the knife down, she cleaned her hands and went to the door to greet their new guest.

Dean's vivid and erroneous descriptions had shaped Lizzy's expectations of Amber. But as Amber entered, Lizzy's eyes widened in surprise. Amber was far prettier than she could have ever imagined.