Foreword

The Picasso Anthology is Poch Peralta’s first eBook. It is a compilation of short stories comprising of most sub-genres of crime fiction i.e., cozy (humorous), police procedural, hard-boiled, etc. The style of the book is comparable to Jeffrey Archer’s ‘A Twist in the Tale’ which is also a collection of short stories.

Joe Picasso Retrieves Olivia

I'm Joe Picasso, a retired private eye and I've just moved from Spain to Bisset, a small town in France. I chose this town because my research said that it's virtually crimeless and peaceful. When you retire from crime detecting, you would want to stay away from crime, wouldn't you. But after ten days of peace and quiet, a Mr. Montroux knocked on my door and changed all that. After introducing himself, I asked, 'But how did you know I was a private detective sir?'
'Your friend Col. Bravo referenced you. I know his father Mr. Picasso. And I was told about your excellent reputation.
'Ahh...Torv. I see. So how can I help you Mr. Montroux?'
'Just call me Jean please.'
'I'll agree if you will just call me Joe.'
'Then it is agreed Joe. You see, I believe that my daughter Olivia was kidnapped. She's a six year-old girl.'
'Let's sit first Jean. You want a snack, or a drink? I'll have my orange juice now.'
'Oh that's fine. Thank you.'
When Joe rejoined Jean, he said, 'Would you please give me details of the incident?'
'I was just coming into that. Almost two weeks ago, me and my family went to the Glorietta Mall. While my four children with their babysitter Anne were playing at the Fun Arcade, my wife Marie and I went to the food mart beside the arcade.
We were just leaving a kiosk when Anne and the kids arrived. Anne was nervous and told us that she can't find Olivia. We spent about an hour searching then gave up and reported to the police.' Jean sighed. 'Until now Olivia is still missing.'
'So no ransom demand', said Joe. 'That eliminates kidnapping for now if that consoles you. Do you have any recent photo of the child?'
Jean opened his clutch bag and took a picture out. He handed it to Joe who scanned it.
'What a pretty redhead!' Joe exclaimed.
'A good reason to adore her, thank you.'
'It seems I can't refuse to get Olivia back since you're a friend of Torv's father and your girl has already charmed me. I promise to get her back.'
After they talked about Joe's fees, Jean allowed Joe to interview Anne and visit Olivia's bedroom later for any clues. He didn't get any significant clues even after talking with Anne who seemed innocent.
The next day, Joe went into action. He first visited the spot where Olivia disappeared and
showed the picture of Olivia to nearby shop owners. Joe got lucky on the fifth –a coffee shop inside the food mart.
'I think I saw her', said Mr. Croix. 'I had this woman customer which forgot her purse so I got out and scanned for her. When I saw her, she was then towing that girl.'
'Did they seem frightened or nervous?'
'Maybe the woman but not the girl.' Joe remembered Jean said that Olivia is friendly.'
'Can you still describe the woman please?'
'Hmm...I still remember. She was a little fat and short and she has curly red hair.' Croix smiled, proud that his memory is still sharp.'
'Excellent Mr. Croix! Now please give me ten euros worth of your cakes.'
After describing the woman to the local police, Joe next visited the nearest adoption agency of the town. He asked for the manager, introduced himself, then described the woman that was seen with Olivia.
'I think that's the woman who has been waiting for almost two years for a pretty red haired girl.' Mrs. Alfons said. 'She is one of those choosy applicants.'
'Do you have her name by any chance?'
'Let me see.' She took out a notebook, scanned it, then said, 'I think that would be Madame Dina Nelle.' Joe grabbed the hand of the manager and kissed it.
'A million thanks ma'am!' Mrs. Alfons smiled for the first time.
At home, Joe logged on the Internet and made a search for 'Dina Nelle'. Bingo.
He copied
a photo of a fat woman with curly red hair. Her address was even there.
But Joe and the police were disappointed to learn that Mrs. Nelle's apartment was abandoned the same day that Olivia disappeared. But it only took the Interpol two days to track Mrs. Nelle and Olivia. The irony: the Interpol nabbed Mrs. Nelle in Spain. Joe returned Olivia to her parents as he had promised.

The Great Plane Robbery

In 1971, a man named Jim Wallis boarded a plane bound for New York from Texas. When the plane was about 20 minutes away from the farm lands, he stood up and went towards the stewards area and waited. Five minutes later, a stewardess arrived. Jim pretended to tie his shoelaces but took a knife from his socks instead. While the stewardess started to speak, he sprang behind the stewardess, hugged her with his left arm and pointed the knife at her neck with his right. 'Just be calm, obey me, and you wouldn't be hurt.', he told her. 'Now lead me back to my seat.'
Upon arriving at Jim's seat, he ordered her to get his empty sack and take out a grenade inside it. He took the grenade from her then addressed the passengers. 'You will all put your wallets and handbags inside the sack she's holding. If someone attacks me, I could quickly unpin this grenade and blow it. The explosion will probably crash this plane down so better not try anything foolish.' The stewardess started collecting wallets and handbags while Jim was poking the knife at her neck. When the sack was almost full, he ordered her to tie the sack tightly. He then ordered her to lead him to the pilots. Upon facing the chief pilot, he ordered him to fly a thousand feet from the ground. When the pilot had done that, Jim ordered the stewardess to take a parachute out from his luggage. 'Now lead me to the exit door.' he asked her. At the exit door, Jim released the stewardess and told her to tell the Captain to open the door. 'If the door doesn't open in two minutes, I'll head back to cockpit and throw this grenade on it.'
While the stewardess went her way, Jim strapped the parachute on himself. When the door started to open, the plane started shaking. And when the door was open enough, Jim jumped out.

While Jim was gliding down, he could see the plane slowly stabilize then gained altitude and he felt relief. He didn't want the plane to crash and kill passengers. Although he was aware that the pilot would alert the police which might act fast enough to catch him.

Jim landed successfully on a farm as he had calculated. The farm even looked isolated but he couldn't be sure about that of course. He would be safe anyway as long as no one saw what is in the sack he's lugging.


'One passenger lost diamonds worth about $2 million.', FBI agent Dan Steels said. 'No wonder he's offering a $50,000 reward for the retrieval of his ice. Do you think the perp actually targeted the diamonds?'
'That's worth checking out.', agent Victor Bravo replied... 'Our suspect might have a contact inside the bank of the man with diamonds. Our best lead for now is his description by the people on the plane. His luggage he left on the plane virtually contains nothing promising.'
'Caucasian. About 5'10. Ruddy face.', Steels mumbled.


Upon landing on a farm, Wallis changed clothes and walked about 2 miles, avoiding barns and houses, before he found a road. Buses passed by but he decided to wait a while for a taxi where it would be safer for the moment. He finally found one after some 15 minutes and directed the driver to a hotel in Montana.
Wallis didn't know about the diamonds so it was a shock to him finding those in his sack of loot. Those ice are worthless for now though. He could be traced if he sells them at once. Selling all the jewelries he collected is risky enough. And it would be safer to sell all in the black market. His main task for now is to find a place where he could stock his loot. He wasn't safe until his loot is in his possession. He decided to deposit his loot in a post office box. The $24,000 he amassed was easy enough to carry and conceal.


The FBI had now a sketch of Wallis' description. They concentrated on distributing it first from Texas going to New York since it was the direction

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Texte: Pocholo Peralta
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 13.10.2012
ISBN: 978-3-95500-306-7

Alle Rechte vorbehalten