Missing Person
-- by jessicablank

Chapter 1 -- The Discovery

Detective Jake Diamond watched through a pair of binoculars from
his perch in a tree outside the mansion.  Nighttime shrouded the
estate in darkness, but the garden in the distance was brightly
lighted under its glass roof.  MzDominica's servants -- slaves?
-- were all around the garden, serving drinks and hors d'oeuvres
to guests.  Their black rubber uniforms glinted in the lights
from overhead.  Jake could hear music playing -- but it was so
far away, he couldn't tell whether it was jazz, classical, or
what.

As Jake watched, MzDominica entered the garden, leading a slim,
young man.  The guests all applauded as their hostess appeared. 
Dominica was a tall, beautiful blonde, who simply exuded power. 
She looked around, nodding to her guests, acknowledging their
presence.  The young man, by contrast, seemed to be unaware of
them.  In fact, he seemed to be half asleep.  He shuffled along
where he was led, sucking his left thumb, clutching his right arm
to his chest -- as if he were a child carrying a teddy bear to
bed.  He was completely naked, but from the way he moved, Jake
got the impression the young man thought he was wearing a set of
nice, soft jammies.

Dominica led the man up to the huge, shiny cylinder at one end of
the garden.  A door opened in the side.  Aha!  Jake had been sure
there was something about this tank, and now his suspicions were
confirmed.  With gentle pushes, Dominica guided the man through
the door and positioned him in the tank, then closed the door. 
Jake couldn't tell whether some control had been activated, but
the tank began to emit strange lights and a whooshing sound. 
After a few minutes, they stopped, and the door opened again. 
Out stepped a human figure -- but it wasn't the slim, young man
who had gone in.  It was a gorgeous woman!  Long blonde hair. 
Mountainous, mouth-watering breasts.  An hourglass figure that
belonged in wet dreams.  Jake's gaze trailed downward, and he was
surprised to find this babe's pussy was completely naked.  Not
shaved.  More like it had never grown hair in the first place.

Dominica stepped forward, and with one hand cupped this babe's
pussy and began to stroke it, while her other hand began to tweak
the nipples on those immense breasts.  Jake realized the music
had stopped, and he could hear MzDominica saying something in a
sing-song voice.  Almost like that "nyah-nyah, nyah-nyah, nyahhhh
nyahhhh" little kids use to tease each other.  But at this
distance, he couldn't make out the words.  The babe continued
standing, staring blankly into space -- her hips pumping while
Dominica fingered her clit.

Jake realized he had a raging hard-on inside his pants, and
decided he needed to climb down out of the tree.  An especially
tricky descent, with that boner making his movements even more
awkward.  When he finally got down, brushed his pants, and looked
up, Jake found himself staring into the tines of a pitchfork
pointed at his face, held by the grounds keeper.  Next to him
stood MzDominica.  How had she gotten down here so fast?

"Good evening, Mr. Diamond," Dominica said.  "Did you enjoy our
little show, this evening?"  Jake could hear an undertone of
amusement in her voice.  That same tone that had been irritating
him, teasing him all along -- that she knew a secret, and he
didn't.

"Ah, Mistress Dominica," Jake replied.  "Yeah, a great show --
your own little piece of Vegas."  He leaned forward just a little
-- not TOO close to the prongs of the pitchfork.  "I think I'm
beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle together.  What
happened to Dan.  You put him in that tank, right?  Changed him?"

"Hmmm," Dominica purred.  She looked at Jake with that infernal,
wry smile on her face.  She reached into a pocket, somewhere in
her clothing, pulled out a small gold case, and extracted a
cigarette.  Then she reached into another pocket, pulled out a
long, black cigarette holder, and fitted the cigarette to it. 
She held it up, and stared into Jake's eyes.

Jake seemed to have lost track of what he'd been talking about --
but he still had a sense of bravado.  He moved one hand toward
his coat pocket.  The chief gardener thrust the pitchfork just a
little bit closer, as a warning -- but Mistress gestured to him
that it was okay.  Jake reached into his coat pocket and pulled
out a lighter, flicked it open, lit it.

Dominica put the mouthpiece of her holder to her lips and puffed,
while Jake lit her cigarette.  She took a deep drag.  Held it a
moment.  Then exhaled directly into Jake's face.

"Sleep," she commanded.

And Jake went to sleep.


Chapter 2 -- Three Days Earlier

Detective Jake Diamond drove his car up Elephant Hill toward the
big mansion at the top.  He wasn't a police detective -- just a
private eye -- so his car wasn't government issue.  Just a
junker, an old '32 Studebaker, that he was HOPING would make it
all the way uphill.  Officially, the hill was so named because it
had looked like an elephant to some early settlers -- who
probably had never seen a real elephant in their lives.  Jake was
sure its name really came from the fact that it felt like his
under-powered car was trying to drag a dead elephant carcass all
the way up.  He was trying to figure his chances, if he had to
abandon the effort partway up, whether he could park his car,
leave it, and not find it towed away when he came back.

Gasping and wheezing in low gear, the car finally made it to the
big, semi-circular driveway, and gave out just as he turned off
the main street.  Jake took that as a sign to declare the car
parked.  He pulled his key out of the ignition, opened the door,
and got out.  Then he reached in to the back seat and pulled out
a wedge-shaped block of wood.  He walked to the back of the car,
leaned down, and pushed the wedge in hard against one tire.  More
than once, this little trick had saved his car from rolling
downhill when the faulty parking brake gave way.

Jake slammed the door shut, walked down the long driveway to the
front entrance, and pulled the long rope by the door to ring the
bell.  A moment passed, and the door opened.  Framed by the
doorway was a beautiful woman in a French maid's uniform,
carrying an ostrich feather duster.

"Good morning," the maid said.  "Can I help you?"

Jake realized the uniform was awfully short.  And shiny.  And
tight.  Clearly it wasn't made of cloth.  It almost looked
like... rubber?  Setting that aside, he replied, "Yes, my name is
Jake Diamond.  I'm a private detective.  I was wondering if I
could have a word with the master of the house?"

The maid took a moment to respond, as if her attention had been
focused somewhere else.  "My Mistress, you mean," she said. 
"Please, wait here a moment, and I'll check.  Do you have a
card?"

Like Jake could afford business cards.  "Um, no, I don't.  Just
mention my name, Jake Diamond, and that I'm a private detective."
 He thought a moment, how much to reveal up front, then decided.
"Tell your mistress I'm looking for a man named Dan."

The maid showed no sign she recognized the name.  "I'll be back
in a moment."  She left the door open, and disappeared back into
the house.  Jake mentally reviewed the long shiny stockings that
seemed to hug the maid's legs from thigh to toe.  And he realized
the woman was wearing four-inch heels that seemed to melt into
the stockings, like they were all of one piece.  He took the
battered brown hat off his head and held it in front of him, the
better to hide the growing tent his pants were making.  First
impressions were important in the detective business -- and
having a boner when you first met someone was likely to get them
talking about all the wrong subjects.

A minute or two passed, and the maid returned.  "Mistress
Dominica will see you.  I will conduct you to Her office."

Jake followed the rubber French maid, struggling to take his eyes
off her gorgeous legs and wasp waist.  They walked further and
further back into the mansion, down a long hallway with windows
on the right side, and doors into various rooms on the left.  He
looked briefly into a huge dining room, a library, a study next
to the library.  Funny, you'd think this woman's office would be
in the study.  But they continued toward the back of the house,
where the maid led him through a pair of huge, glass-paned doors
into a garden.

It was something between a garden and a hot house, all enclosed
with glass, roof and walls.  But the wall on the right seemed
mostly to be a big row of doors, and at the moment all of them
were wide open.  So it was almost like the wall wasn't there at
all -- the just one side completely open to the outside air.

Seated in a huge wicker chair next to a table, the mistress of
the house was being served by another maid in a rubber-French
uniform.  The maid bent forward from the waist as she lowered a
tray which held an iced drink in a tall glass.  Jake caught a
glimpse of exposed flesh at the top of the maid's long rubber
stockings, and realized she wasn't wearing any panties underneath
that short, rubber skirt.  As he and the maid leading him came to
a stop, Jake stood and carefully positioned his hat, trying to
look as natural as possible.

"MzDominica," the maid said to her mistress, "this is private
detective Jake Diamond."  She turned to him, and continued, "Mr.
Diamond, this is MzDominica."  She looked back to her mistress
again, who nodded, and the maid left, shortly followed by the
other one.

"Mr. Diamond," Dominica acknowledged him.

"Miss Dominica," Jake replied.  "Good morning."

Dominica regarded him a moment, a strange smile on her face, and
took a sip of her drink.  "That's 'Mizz,' not 'Miss.'  You'll do
well to remember.  And it's getting close to noon."  She set the
drink down on the table, next to a typewriter.  "What brings you
to my home, detective?"

Jake looked at the beautiful blonde, seated in her wicker chair
as if it were a throne, and tried to take the measure of that
wicked smile.  He concluded this was a dame who liked to play
games.  Best chance of putting her off balance was to lay it all
out, up front.

"I've been engaged by a Mrs. Carlson to look for her husband,
Dan.  He's been missing for several weeks."  Dominica watched him
talk, with a growing twinkle in her eyes.  "I've been checking
around town, asking questions.  It seems the last time anybody
saw Dan, he was on his way up here."  Definitely games.  Cat and
mouse.  And he was the mouse.  "So I thought I'd come here and
ask.  Have you seen him?"

"Mizz" Dominica shifted a bit, leaned on one elbow, and raised
her hand, so she could rest her cheek against it.  Her two little
fingers curled downward, in front of her chin.  She continued to
gaze at Jake.  While he waited for her answer, trying to look
patient and at ease, a flash of light caught his attention.  Her
other hand was playing with a crystal pendant, that dangled just
in front of her breasts.  She was an amply endowed woman,
provocatively dressed with a low-cut neckline that showed off the
tops of her breasts -- another part of her games, no doubt. 
There was a tattoo on her left breast.  Jake wasn't sure what it
was.  His attention kept going back and forth between the tattoo
and the glints of light from the crystal.  A mermaid?  A flash of
yellow.  A fairy with wings?  A flash of green, then of purple. 
What was it?  A flash of blue.

Jake realized MzDominica had been talking to him.  "Mr. Diamond."

"Yes, MzDominica?" he replied.

She smiled that cat smile again.  "I said the person you're
looking for, Dan Carlson, did come here several weeks ago.  But I
haven't seen the man since that day."  She put a strange emphasis
on the word "man."  Jake wondered what that might mean.

"You're sure?" he pressed.  "It's a big house.  Perhaps he got
lost and couldn't find his way out."  Jake smiled.  He could play
games, too.

"Hmmm," Dominica sighed.  She made a gesture, and one of the
rubber-dressed maids came over.  "Mr. Diamond, it is now a little
past noon, and I have guests coming for lunch.  I'm afraid I'll
have to ask you to leave."  The maid gestured toward the door,
clearly offering to guide the detective out.

"Of course," Jake replied.  The old heave-ho, however politely
done.  "Um, I was wondering -- perhaps Dan might have said
something when he left?  About where he was going next?"

"Good afternoon, detective," MzDominica said.  Another ray of
sunlight glinted off her crystal pendant.  Jake decided this
might be the time for a strategic retreat.

"Good afternoon, MzDominica."  Jake gave a slight incline of his
head, and let the maid lead him out of the garden, back through
the house, to the main entrance.  Well, at least they hadn't made
him leave by the servants' door.

Jake waved goodbye to the rubber-French maid, who simply closed
the door silently, and began to walk down the driveway toward his
car, wondering what to do next.

"Pssst!  Mr. Diamond!" a voice came from the direction of the
house.  Jake turned, and could see a young woman leaning out of
one of the windows on the second floor, frantically waving at
him.

He walked back, toward the window, and looked up.  "You calling
me?" he asked.

"Meet me at the door on the side of the house," she said,
pointing toward the south side of the mansion.  Then she
disappeared back inside the window.

Jake began walking toward the corner of the house.  Maybe there
was more to be found out about Dan Carlson's disappearance, after
all!


Chapter 3 -- Home Movies

Jake walked around the corner to the south side of the mansion. 
Door?  What door?  The entire side of the house was covered with
ivy!  He stood with one hand on his hip, the other scratching his
neck under his hat, wondering what to do.  A few feet away, the
ivy began to rustle.  Then it moved out and to one side, as a
door, hidden in the ivy, opened.  Shadowed, just inside the
doorway, was a human figure -- probably the woman who had called
him from the window.

"Mr. Diamond, this way!"  The shadowy figure beckoned.

Jake strode quickly toward the door, just as the shadow ducked
inside.  He entered to find a huge, dimly lit storage closet.  It
was filled with brooms, mops, tools -- arranged haphazardly
against the wall and on shelves.  To his right was a huge tank
that emitted the telltale smell and sound of burning gas --
clearly a water heater.  The shadowy figure retreated past the
shelves toward another door, and waited there.  Jake caught up
with her -- it was a woman, he could tell by the scent of her
perfume -- and started to ask, "What...?"

"Shhh!" she replied, gesturing at him.  She listened at the door
for a moment, then hearing nothing, she opened it.  "This way,"
she repeated.

Jake followed her through the door, into the hallway, and through
another door.  The study, he realized, looking around,
recognizing the room, though it was dimly lit.  The woman
stopped, turned, walked back to the door, and shut it.  Then she
seemed to relax.

Relaxed or tense, she was something to look at.  Her long, wavy
hair cascaded from the top of her head down to the small of her
back, like a blonde waterfall.  She was dressed entirely in
satin, in a creme-colored dress that seemed strangely out of
date, like high fashion from a day gone by, with a satin scarf
around her neck.  The dress hugged all the curves on her nicely
rounded body, clearly showing her tiny waist and her nipples --
which must have been like hard, little diamonds under the clingy
material.  Between her peaches-and-cream complexion, and her
creme-colored dress, Jake felt like he was looking at a big dish
of vanilla ice cream, with caramel topping -- soft, sweet, and
delicious.  Except that ice cream never gave him such a hard-on
as this dame!

"So, what's this all about, Miss...?" Jake asked, as he casually
took off his hat and held it in front of him.  Always careful
about those first impressions.

The vanilla sundae babe answered, "You can call me Satina."  Her
voice had some kind of accent.  English?  "You are looking for
Dan Carlson?"  The inflection of her voice made it a question.

"Yeah," Jake replied.  "What do you know about him?"

"There's something I think you should see," she said.  She looked
around, as if checking whether somebody could hear her.  Then she
turned, and opened a drawer in the big, oak desk.  She reached
in, pulled out something, and turned back.  It was a reel of
film.  "Wait a moment, while I set this up."  She walked over to
the middle of the room, where there was a movie projector.  Well,
"walked" is one way to describe it.  "Slinked" was probably a
better word.  Jake kept his hat where it was, covering his cock,
which had become rock hard and had started to throb.

While Satina set up the projector, Jake looked around, checking
out the room.  On one wall was a huge mirror.  He looked into it,
the better to check out the room without being noticed.  Satina
was closer to the one lit lamp in the room, so she was easy to
see.  Closer to the mirror, there was little light, and Jake's
own reflection was murky and harder to make out.  He could see a
skinny shape -- well-fed detectives existed only in fiction --
but no clear features.  Something was odd, though.  Jake could
swear he saw a pair of green eyes staring out at him from inside
the mirror.

"Hey," Jake said.  "Is this some kind of trick mirror?"

Satina stopped threading the film for a moment, looked up, and
asked, "What do you mean?"

Jake said, "I just have the feeling like somebody's spying on us,
through the mirror."

She smiled, in a way that reminded him of MzDominica's cat-like
grin earlier.  "Our Mistress' eyes are in all mirrors," she
replied, cryptically.  She made a few finishing adjustments on
the projector.  "There!  All ready.  Have a seat."  She indicated
the couch, across from a small projection screen.

Jake walked back over and sat down.  Satina started the film
running, then slinked over and sat to his left, her warm, soft
thigh pressed against his leg.  As Jake watched the movie, her
hand began to trace up and down, raking her long nails along his
thigh.  He set the hat down on the couch.  This was way past
first impressions.

The movie had clearly been photographed by an amateur.  A
hand-held camera, not even on a tripod.  Sometimes, the image
jerked up and down, or suddenly swept from one side of the room
to the other, blurring everything on the screen.  But Jake could
tell the film had been shot in the garden of the mansion.  He
recognized the glass panes of the walls and roof.  What he didn't
recognize was the large, metallic wall, with a door in the
middle.  That hadn't been in the garden when he was there a short
time ago.

MzDominica was in the movie, in a long, black dress and
arm-length gloves.  She was smoking a cigarette in a long, slim
holder, and talking with the people around her.  There was a
flash of light -- a fleeting impression of something -- then it
was gone.  Jake wasn't sure what.  Satina's left hand trailed
closer and closer to his rigid cock, while her right hand
caressed the back of his neck.

The camera whip-panned to the right, and Jake could see a young,
slim man clearly framed in the center, completely naked.  Jake
recognized his face from the pictures Mrs. Carlson had given him.
 "Dan!" he said, "That's Dan!"  There was another flash of light,
and Satina's fingernails began to stroke up and down Jake's cock.
 He was torn whether to look more closely at the movie or to
respond to the obvious come-on from the vanilla sundae dish.  The
camera swept back to the shiny metallic door, and stayed focused
on it while the door opened, Dan walked inside, and the door
closed.  Another flash of light.  The word "Crave" came to mind.
What...  What was...?  Satina circled her index finger around and
around the tip of Jake's cock.  The movie whipped back to look at
MzDominica.  Another flash of light.  "Worship" entered Jake's
mind.  Where did that come from?  Satina squeezed his cock,
gently.  In the film, MzDominica was smiling, and hugging one of
her guests, who suddenly looked in another direction and pointed.
 The image whipped to the right again, and focused on a
beautiful, naked woman.  Another flash of light.  "Obey." 
MzDominica had walked over, and started running her hands over
the woman's breasts, which were huge.  A sharp dig of Satina's
fingernails along the entire underside of Jake's cock.  A flash
of light again.  "Sinker."  Jake watched as MzDominica's hands
trailed down from the woman's breasts down her belly.  Another
flash of light.  "Sinker."  Satina continued to play with Jake's
cock and circle the back of his neck.  The camera moved to the
right, as Dominica moved to the left, trying to expose the
woman's pussy just as MzDominica began to run her gloved fingers
up and down the cleft.  Another flash.  "Sleep."  Another flash.
"Sleep."  Another flash.  "Sleep."


Chapter 4 -- Secret Garden

Jake Diamond woke up alone on the couch.  Clearly, the movie had
ended.  The projector was off, and the room was dark.  The only
light came from the doorway, where Jake could hear moans from the
next room.

Without moving from the couch, Jake realized he could see into
the next room by the mirror.  It was the library, and Satina was
lying spread-eagled on the table, completely naked.  MzDominica,
also naked, was trailing Satina's satin scarf up and down, along
Satina's arms, her breasts, her belly.  Down to her right foot,
under the arch, then slowly up the inner calf, to the knee, then
around the knee, up the inner thigh, slowing as she got closer
and closer to Satina's blonde pussy.  Then Dominica stopped,
began to trail the scarf under Satina's left foot, and slowly up
the left leg.  Satina moaned again, and trembled.

Jake's cock felt like it had to release or explode!  And yet...
And yet... He had seen Dan in that movie.  Somewhere in the
garden.  What WAS that big, metallic door?  Was it related to
Dan's disappearance?

"Damn," Jake thought.  "Sometimes, being a professional is
overrated."  He rocked himself back and forth a couple of times,
and forced himself off the couch.  While MzDominica was, er,
"occupied" was his best chance at checking out his suspicions in
the garden.

He grabbed his hat, shoved it onto the top of his head, and
quietly walked to the door of the study.  Slowly, silently, he
pushed the door handle down, hoping it hadn't been locked.  Good
luck, for once.  The handle went down all the way, and with a
gentle tug, Jake noiselessly opened the door.  He stepped out
into the hallway.

From the windows, Jake could tell it was nighttime.  How long had
he been out, on the couch?  He looked up and down the hallway,
hoping there wouldn't be any more rubber maids to notice him. 
Nobody.  Jake walked toward the garden, stopping at the pair of
huge doors.  Again, he grabbed a door handle and pushed gently
down, hoping for the best.  It caught a moment, clicked.  Jake
thought it might be locked.  Then the handle went the rest of the
way down, and Jake was able to open the door.

He walked into the garden, and looked around.  Where had that
big, metallic door been?  Clearly, at the other end of the
garden, farthest from the door.  But there were only plants,
there.  Philodendrons.  Jake smiled as he remembered the name of
the plants.  Another case.  Another time.  He quietly stepped
past the planters full of flowers and ferns, till he came to the
end of the room.  The philodendrons, with their big, crenellated
leaves, were in wooden planters.  Jake grabbed the top edge of
one planter, and pulled.  It rolled toward him, easily.  He
pulled further, and the planter swung out and to one side,
revealing a huge, shiny metallic cylinder behind it.

Jake let go of the planter, and walked around the end of it,
toward the cylinder.  It was about ten feet high, with a door on
the side facing him.  Clearly the same door as he'd seen in the
film.  He walked toward it for a closer look.

"Mr. Diamond," he heard from behind him.  Jake turned, to see
MzDominica in a black, silk bathrobe, her arms crossed under
those gorgeous breasts.  He thought she'd be angry.  Instead, she
still sported that amused cat smile.  "I thought I'd asked you to
leave, at lunch time."

Jake figured it would be better not to implicate Satina in his
remaining on the estate.  Partly as misdirection, mostly for
information, he jerked a thumb at the cylinder behind him and
asked, "What IS that?"

Dominica's smile grew broader, and she replied, "What do you
THINK it is?"

"Well," Jake said, "I hope you won't try to convince me it's the
water heater.  For one thing, there aren't any pipes leading to
it.  For another, I've seen the water heater for your estate."

"Hmmm," Dominica purred.  "But as you said earlier, it's a big
house.  Maybe I need a lot of hot water..."  She looked through
one of the doors in the garden.  "And maybe the pipes are
underground."  She looked back at him.

"So what's the door for, then?" Jake asked.

"Mr. Diamond, I'm going to have to ask you to leave now." 
Dominica gestured, and a powerfully-built man came forward from
the shadows.

Again, Jake decided a strategic retreat was his best choice.  "I
can see it's late.  And this young man here needs his beauty
sleep.  I think I'll call it a night."  Jake began to walk
briskly down the hallway, hoping he could make it to the front
door before the big goon decided to "help" him.  He reached the
door, just as a "French" maid opened it for him, and he trotted
right through.  He was scarcely outside when he heard -- and felt
-- the door slam behind him.

Okay, so Dan HAD been here.  Now the question was, whether he had
left, or was still here.  And why?

Jake walked down the driveway in the dark toward his car.  When
he opened the door, the car still felt hot, having sat out in the
sun all day.  So it wasn't too late in the evening.  He got in,
started to put his key in the ignition, glanced in the rearview
mirror -- and saw MzDominica standing behind the car.  Was she
there with her goon?  Jake turned around in his seat, and looked
out the back window.  Nobody.  Must have been a trick of the
light.  Or his nerves.  He turned the key, pumped the gas, and
hoped.  Luckily, the car started.  Jake turned on the headlights.
 Rather than drive closer to the house along the driveway, he
backed up and around a little bit, shifted into forward again,
and drove out the way he had come in.

Jake drove down Elephant Hill, his car protesting a lot less than
it had done on the trip upward.  About a half mile down the road,
at the base of the hill, he came to the intersection with the
highway.

Jake looked at the stop sign.

He found himself thinking about MzDominica and Satina, on the
table in the library.  Dominica drew the scarf up, up, up
Satina's leg, along that beautiful smooth curve of her
cream-colored thigh.  Satina arched her back, thrusting her
breasts forward to be touched.

Jake's cock began to swell again, oozing little droplets of
pre-cum.  He looked again at the stop sign.  His cock felt
harder.  He checked the highway to the left, then to the right. 
Nobody.  Not at this hour of night.  He looked briefly in the
rear view mirror.  Was there a pair of green eyes looking out at
him?  He gazed harder, trying to see, trying to make sure.

He thought about Dominica's tongue, tracing around Satina's pussy
lips.  Up the left side, stopping just at her fuzzy mound.  Then
up the right side, along the labia, up to her mound again, then a
little circle around the clit.  He remembered Satina's
fingernails, gently scraping up the underside of his cock.  Base
to tip.  Base to tip.  Then around and around the tip.  A little
dig of the fingernails in the tip of his cock, through his pants.
 He could feel the lubrication dripping out of the tip of his
cock.  Hard, so hard.  The rear view... were Dominica's eyes
still there?  Satina... no, Dominica, rubbing up and down on his
cock.  Her breasts pressed against his face.  Soft, soft, warm. 
A nipple peeked out from the top of her blouse.  Jake sucked, as
Dominica continued to rub her pussy up and down his cock, never
quite letting him inside.  Closer and closer.  Satina on the
table.  Dominica straddling him.  Up and down, up and down. 
Tighter... tighter... then more gently again.  Another gentle
scrape of Satina's fingernails along the underside of his cock. 
Jake began to cum -- just a tiny, little spasm.  Just a little
spurt.  A single drop.  He needed more.  Satina was on her knees,
now, in front of him, her mouth open.  She raised her head,
scraping her lower teeth along his cock, still through the
material of his pants.  Then she lowered her head, scraping her
upper teeth along his cock.  Up again.  Another spurt.  Just a
tiny droplet.  Dominica's eyes stared at him from the rear view
mirror, watching him, monitoring him.  Her hand traced the side
of his cheek, then trailed an index finger down to his balls and
squeezed, gently.  Another tiny spurt.  Her fingers moved lower,
and began to play with his ass.  Another droplet.  Jake was
trembling, and flushed.  And couldn't stop gazing into the
mirror, into Dominica's eyes.

The sudden flash of red lights, and a siren, shook Jake out of
his waking wet dream, as a police car pulled up beside him.  Two
officers were inside.

The cop on the passenger side leaned out the window, and said,
"Are you okay, buddy?  You've been here at the intersection for
ten minutes."

Jake realized his lights were still on, but his car had stalled.
Ten minutes?  "Uh, hi, officer.  I'm, uh, just waiting for my
engine to cool down.  Old junker.  Things were getting
overheated."  Those last parts, at least, were true.  But it
wasn't the car that was overheated.

"See if it'll start now," the cop replied, glancing down at the
car, then back at Jake.

Jake turned to the dashboard.  He twisted the key in the
ignition, and pumped the gas pedal.  A clunk.  He tried again,
and the engine started.  He turned to the cop and smiled, "Ah,
there it is.  All it needed was to cool down."

"Maybe you should show me your driver's license," the cop said. 
Uh oh.  Jake could smell trouble brewing.

But then the cop's partner, the one driving, peered past him, and
said, "Wait a minute.  I recognize him."  He rolled his eyes and
tilted his head in the direction of the mansion.

"Oh..." the passenger cop said.  What was that about, Jake
wondered?  The cop turned back to Jake and said, "Well, maybe
you'd better be on your way, then."

Any port in a storm, Jake thought.  "Yes, sir, officer.  Thank
you!"  He checked the highway to the left and right again, then
pulled out and made a right turn onto the highway.  Two seconds
later, he realized he'd forgotten to signal.  He kept glancing in
the rearview mirror, to see if they'd decided to follow him. 
Apparently not.  Jake continued down the highway, trying to
figure out his next move.


Chapter 5 -- Hot Water

A battered-looking old desk.  Two chairs -- one for himself, one
for a client.  A couple of old file cabinets the Salvation Army
had thrown out, because they were in too bad shape to sell. 
Jake's office wasn't much to look at.  That was part of the
reason he kept it so dark.  The main reason, though, was that he
hadn't paid the electric bill.  It was mid-morning, and just
enough sunlight came in through the window that the lack of
indoor lighting wasn't too obvious.

You couldn't run a detective agency, though, without a working
phone.

Jake had to call his client.  He didn't have much to say.  But it
was good practice to check in.  People that never heard from you
rarely paid their bills.  Funny thing, that.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the slip of paper with
Mrs. Carlson's phone number on it.  The back of a gum wrapper --
waste not, want not, Jake's mom had always said.  He turned it
over and looked at the bright yellow printing.  Juicy Fruit. 
That reminded him of something...  but he couldn't quite recall
what.  He turned the wrapper over and over again, going over in
his mind what he DID know.  It wasn't much.

Clearly Dan Carlson had been up to the mansion, at one time.  The
film proved that.  So he had either left, or he was still there.

These things always sounded better in the Sherlock Holmes
stories.

Jake reached over to the phone, lifted the receiver, and began
dialing.

"Hello?" a woman's voice answered.

"Mrs. Carlson, this is Jake Diamond," he began.

"Oh, Mr. Diamond!"  The woman sounded distraught.  "What have you
found out?  Have you found my husband?"

"Not yet, Mrs. Carlson.  But I found evidence he'd been up to the
mansion."  What kind of evidence, he really didn't want to say
just yet.

"But what...?" she replied.  "Is he still there?  You make it
sound like he left!"

"I'm not sure, Mrs. Carlson.  I need to check something out."

"Well, I heard there's going to be some kind of big party up
there tomorrow night.  My hairdresser told me -- her boyfriend
works for the caterer."

"A party, you say?"  An idea was beginning to form in Jake's
head.

"Yes.  I don't know whether to be worried about Dan being
missing, or jealous that he's at some big party and I'm not!"

Jake spoke some soothing words, so he could get Mrs. Carlson off
the phone.  He needed to think.

Definitely a town full of busybodies.  Everybody knew everybody
else's business, and was happy to tell you about it -- even if
half of what they had to say wasn't true.  It should have been a
great place to be a detective.  Just keep your ears open. 
Trouble was, there was rarely anything to find out that everybody
didn't already know!

So, back to Dan.  If he was still up at the mansion, why?  Was he
a prisoner?  Was it by choice?

If he had left, it was by some way so secretive, the town
busy-bodies didn't know about it.  They would have said
something.

Either way, the best place to pick up the trail was back in the
mansion.

Jake was starting to push himself back from the desk, when the
phone rang.  Hmm.  Maybe business was picking up!

He lifted the receiver and answered, "Jake Diamond, Detective
Agency."

"Mr. Diamond?"  The voice was female, and sounded breathy.  He
couldn't tell if she was whispering, or just trying to sound
sexy.  "This is Satina."  Hmm.  Could be both.

"What was all that about last night?" Jake asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Satina replied.

"The film.  It was like you were trying to brainwash me."

"I didn't make the film, I was just showing it to you," she said.
 "You just fell asleep on me, so I found something else to do."

Yeah, sure, Jake thought.

"Mr. Diamond, I know you're still looking for Dan.  I think he's
still here -- and I want to show you the proof."

"What do you have in mind?"  Jake was interested, but cautious.

"Come up to the house at three o'clock this afternoon.  I'll meet
you."

Well, he'd been looking for a way back into the mansion.  "The
side door again?"

"No, Mr. Diamond.  Come to the front door."

"Three o'clock, then."  Before Jake could say anything more,
Satina hung up.

The '32 Studebaker seemed to have a little more power that
afternoon.  Probably sitting in the sun all morning had warmed up
something.  It was still running, instead of conking out, when he
turned into the semi-circular driveway.  However, Jake continued
to feel cautious, and parked as far away from the house as he had
yesterday.

He walked to the front door, and pulled the long rope.  The door
opened and the rubber "French" maid appeared again, just like
yesterday.  Jake forced his thoughts away from the remembered
absence of underwear beneath the short, shiny skirt.

He started to say, "I'm here to see--" when Satina showed up
behind the maid.

"I'll take it from here, Jessica," she said.  "That will be all."

The maid looked at Satina, confused for a moment.  Then she
curtseyed, lifted her feather duster, and disappeared down the
hall.

"This way, Mr. Diamond," Satina said.  "Quickly, before someone
notices."

Jake entered.  Satina quietly closed the door behind him, then
led him down a hallway.  A different one, this time, from the one
that led to the garden.  She was dressed in powder blue satin,
today.  Jake's eyes were drawn to the shimmering light on her
beautiful behind as she walked in front of him, just a little too
briskly for real appreciation of her curves.  Past several doors,
a few twists and turns, then up a flight of stairs to another
hallway.  At the landing, Satina stopped a moment, checking
whether they might be seen.  She pushed him back, against the
wall near the doorway, while another maid passed by, waited a
moment, then beckoned him to follow.  She led him to a door,
listened a moment, then opened it inward, motioning him to go
inside, quickly.

It was a bedroom.  Bed, dresser, chair.  A full-length mirror.  A
closet with a sliding door.  The curtains over the window were
closed.  All nice and neat.  On the adjacent wall was another
door, probably to an adjoining bedroom, slightly ajar.

"What?..." Jake started to ask.  But Satina shushed him.

"I'll stand guard at the door, while you look around."

What was this, an Easter egg hunt?  Okay, Jake thought, I'll play
along.  He walked over to the closed, quietly slid open the door
and looked inside.  There were a number of those rubber maid
uniforms, several dresses in different colors.  There was also a
man's shirt, a blue suit, and a belt.  Shoes on the floor of the
closet included several pairs of women's shoes -- all black, but
in different styles, some with very high heels -- and one pair of
men's shoes.

Okay, kind of interesting, Jake thought.

He walked over to the dresser and pulled open the top drawer.  At
this point, he was expecting it to be full of silk stockings, or
frilly lace panties -- though the maids didn't seem to go in for
undies.  Instead, he found a man's wallet, made of brown cowhide.
 Jake lifted it out of the drawer, opened it, and found a
driver's license.  It was Dan!

Jake heard a noise from the partly open doorway.  He looked
around for Satina -- not there, he wasn't surprised to discover.
But he could see through the doorway by the full-length mirror. 
It was the maid Jessica.  She didn't seem to notice him.

As Jake watched, she slowly began to remove the maid's uniform. 
First, she took off the little hat with the white frill, set it
aside, and shook her long, brown hair loose.  Then she pulled on
some laces and slipped out of the shiny rubber blouse.  No bra
underneath.  As she bent over to undo the tiny rubber skirt, Jake
admired the huge, soft breasts that hung free, swaying as she
moved.   Jessica carefully rolled the long, rubber stockings down
her legs, leaving her completely naked, her pussy hair closely
trimmed.  Jake fought to keep his breathing quiet, while he could
feel his cock tenting his pants again.  Then Jessica vanished
from view a moment.  She returned, wrapped in a pink bathrobe,
walked past the door, and vanished again.  Jake could hear the
hall door open and close.

Jake waited a few moments, to see if Jessica had really left, and
to make sure she wasn't coming back.  Then he quietly stepped
toward the door adjoining the two rooms, pushed it open, and
walked through.  A suspicion was forming in his mind -- however
outlandish it might seem.  Jessica's room was much like the other
one, and Jake walked over to the dresser and opened the top
drawer.  Inside was a man's wallet -- black, this one.  He lifted
it out, opened it, and looked at the driver's license.  It was
Jessica.  But the picture was of a man, with short brown hair,
and the name said "Joseph Fowler."

Through the window, Jake heard a giggle and a splash.  Then
several loud moans.  He quietly stepped over to the window,
pulled the curtain aside about an inch, and looked through.  Down
at ground level were a about a dozen naked women in and around a
swimming pool.  It was kind of a small pool -- too small to swim
in -- and he could tell from the heat waves rising above it that
the water was hot.  Must be one of those strange European hot
spas he'd heard about.

As Jake watched, Jessica appeared from the house and walked over
to a chair.  She took off the robe, draped it over the chair, and
joined the rest of the naked women.  It immediately became clear
they weren't interested in swimming.  They were caressing each
other, playing with each other's breasts.  Three of the women
ganged up on Jessica at the edge of the pool -- one sucking on
each breast, and one with her head between Jessica's legs, while
their hands rubbed at their own pussies.  A fourth one joined
them, and lowered her crotch over Jessica's face.  Jake could
tell she didn't need to use her hands to pleasure herself.

Jake looked past the squirming bodies and noticed that he could
see the garden, from outside it's glass enclosure.  What was it
MzDominica had said, about needing a lot of hot water?  She had
looked out from the garden, right toward where this pool would
be.

Jake had to check out that tank again.  The trick was, where was
MzD right now?  He looked back at the naked women, and easily
found MzDominica by the tattoo on her left breast.  She was
wearing some kind of harness around her hips and fucking one of
the girls from behind.

He crept over to the door of Jessica's room, listened a moment,
and quietly opened the door.  Nobody in the hall.  He retraced
his path back to the stairs, down, and into the first-floor
hallway.  Another careful look around.  Nobody.   Geez, were all
the servants at the pool, humping away?  Jake's cock began to
swell again, even though he tried to concentrate on sneaking
quietly through the mansion.  He quickly passed the dining room,
the library, the study, hoping nobody would see him through the
doorways.  The doors to the garden were open.  He peered through,
checking whether he could be seen from the pool.  Nope.  A few
quick strides across the garden, and he was back at the
philodendrons.  Instead of pulling out the planter boxes this
time, Jake just climbed up into the foliage, through, and down
the other side.  Putting him right in front of the tank.

Jake could still hear laughter alternating with moans and grunts,
as he walked the remaining few feet to the huge metal cylinder. 
Gingerly, he positioned one hand close to the tank, the back of
his hand toward it.  No sensation of heat.  In fact, it felt
slightly cool.  He put both hands, palms forward, against the
tank, and pressed on the door.  Room temperature -- or cool,
anyway, as metal tends to feel.  It wasn't a water heater.

Jake looked back out through the garden, and beyond the plants he
could see the hot pool of water, with the naked women.  Some of
them were sitting on the edge of the pool, their legs dangling
into the water.  One by one, they slid off the edge, sinking
slowly into the water.  The hot, bubbling water.  The afternoon
sun shone down through the glass roof, warming him, glinting
between the leaves like the flashes of light from Dominica's
crystal.  Jake could imagine the wet warmth of the water, all
around him, as he looked past the plants.  The foliage seemed to
bend and sway, like it was under water, like he was under water.
Sinking, sinking, sinking.  Warm and deep.  Warm and soft, like
Dominica's breasts.  Deeper and deeper, sinking, down, down,
down.

Jake woke up in a dark room.  All alone.  On a flat metal table.


Chapter 6 -- A Coming Out Party

"Well, Mr. Diamond, you seem to keep coming back."  It was
MzDominica's voice, from somewhere in the darkness.  Jake
couldn't even tell from where.  "You were lucky my chief gardener
found you, passed out behind the planter boxes."

Jake tried to sit up before answering.  But he couldn't move.  He
could tell the table under him was cool metal -- but otherwise,
his body was numb, vaguely tingling, and paralyzed.  Okay,
repartee while lying on his back.  Not working from a position of
strength, here.  But it was all he had.  "You drugged me,
somehow," he accused.

"No, Mr. Diamond."  Her voice came from a different direction
this time.  Above his head?  "I didn't drug you.  I don't need
to."

Maybe a change of subject would put her off balance.  Certainly,
he needed some way to even things up a little.  "I was surprised,
to see the mistress of the house by the pool, fraternizing with
the hired help."

Her tinkling laughter came from just behind his left ear. 
"They're not servants, Mr. Diamond."  Then from behind his right
ear.  "They're slaves."  Then from directly in front of him.  "My
hypnotic slaves.  Like you."  Her voice seemed to echo in his
ears.

"Me?"  Jake wasn't sure this was a question.

"You 'came' for me in your car last night, didn't you?"  Dominica
replied.  He could feel her breath on his face.  "Didn't you? 
Over and over again.  Unable to stop cumming.  Thinking of me. 
Of Satina.  Of both of us, playing with you.  Playing with each
other."

Remembering, Jake's cock began to get hard again.  He could tell,
even though the rest of him still felt numb.

"You couldn't stop cumming."  Jake could feel Dominica's long
fingernails trail up the underside of his cock.  He hadn't
realized he was naked.  Her finger stopped just at the tip, in
that little inverted "V" under the head, with just the tiniest
pressure at the base of that "V."  Her fingernail pressed ever so
slightly harder, as his cock became more rigid.  "You couldn't
stop cumming for Dominica."

Jake could feel the need to cum again rising in his balls, in his
cock.  Aching pressure, needing to spurt.  Games again.  Cat and
mouse.  He was the mouse.  And she had him by the... well not the
tail, exactly...

"But now I take that away," Dominica said, sternly.  Her voice
came from all around the room, now.  "You will not cum again,
until I give you permission.  You will not cum.  You can not
cum."  The ache was so strong, Jake wanted to clench his buttocks
to relieve it -- but he still could not move.  "You need to cum.
You ache to cum.  But you can't.  Not until I give you
permission.  No matter what you do, no matter how hard you try."

Jake's ability to think was fading.  The ache in his cock, in his
balls, seemed to become his entire world.  He wanted, needed
relief.  He wanted to move.

"What I want you to do now is go blank."  Dominica's voice came
from behind his head again.  Just a whisper.  "Blank."  From
behind his left ear.  "Blank."  Behind his right ear.  "Blank." 
From just in front of him.  "Blank."  From beneath him.  "Blank."
 From between his feet.  "Blank."  From inside his head. 
"Blank."  Every time, a different direction.  "Blank."  In the
darkness.  "Blank."  Paralyzed.  "Blank."  Aching to cum. 
"Blank."  Needing to cum.  "Blank."  Unable to think.  "Blank. 
Blank.  Blank."

"Blank.  Blank.  Blank.  Blank.  Blank..."

The light from the early morning sun crept slowly in through the
window of Jake's office.  Moment by moment, awareness returned to
him.  Little by little, he realized he was sitting in his chair,
hands on the arm rests, feet flat on the floor, staring at...
nothing.  So nice.  So comfortable, staring at nothing.  Not
thinking.  Empty.  Quiet.

A ray of sunlight caught the black, shiny surface of the phone on
Jake's desk.  Light.  Pretty.

Slowly, slowly, Jake realized he was looking at a phone.  His
brows knitted, just briefly, as a distant memory intruded, of
what a phone was.  What it was for.  And the desk.

Phone.  Call.  Client.

Detective.  Yes, he was... detective.  Looking...

Suddenly, it all rushed in.

Dan.  He was looking for Dan Carlson, and Mrs. Carlson was his
client, and he was supposed to call...

Jake looked out the window, trying to guess what time it was. 
Someday, when he was flush, he'd buy a watch.  Eating always
seemed more important, somehow.  Time.  Still early, he realized.
 Too early to call Mrs. Carlson.  But, unlike yesterday, he knew
a lot more.  And guessed even more, still!

What he hardly dared question was -- how had he gotten back to
his office last night?

Okay.  So, there was to be a party tonight at the mansion? 
Dollars to doughnuts -- hmm, a doughnut would go down really
nice, right now -- Dan would be at that party.  Clearly, Dan
hadn't left the mansion, if he was still alive.

A party gave him an "in."  He could call in some markers with the
caterer, go in as one of their delivery guys, and...

And what, get caught again?  No, he needed a better way.  Some
way he could see the details, without being caught in one of
MzDominica's snares again.

Jake got up and turned to one of the battered file cabinets.  He
started to pull on the handle of the top drawer.  Whatever locks
it once had had were less secure than the sheer rustiness of the
drawers themselves.  He yanked, and pulled.  Hit it a few times
with the palm of one hand.  Finally, the drawer squeaked open a
few inches, and Jake was able to wiggle a hand inside.  He pulled
out a pair of old binoculars, for which the Salvation Army had
actually charged him a buck.

Jake shoved the binoculars into his right coat pocket, then left
the office.  He wasn't even sure he'd be able to find his car
outside -- but it wouldn't matter.   Sneaking up to the mansion
was something he would have to do by foot.  And he needed to get
started, if he was going to make it by nightfall.

And that's how Detective Jake Diamond had found himself in a tree
that night on the MzDominica's estate, looking through his
binoculars at the garden, while a dazed, young man entered the
tank, and emerged transformed into a gorgeous woman.  Jake had
climbed down, his hard cock straining against his pants, only to
find MzDominica and her chief gardener waiting for him.  She
inhaled smoke from the cigarette at the end of her long, black
holder, held it a moment, breathed into Jake's face, and
commanded, "Sleep."

And Jake went to sleep.


Chapter 7 -- The Game

Jake awoke, sitting in a chair.  He recognized the room.  It was
the study in MzDominica's mansion.  How long he'd been there, he
couldn't tell.  He was seated facing a large, walnut desk.  There
was a pad and some paper, a small lamp, a desk blotter.  And a
typewriter.  There always seemed to be a typewriter nearby,
though there never seemed to be any paper in any of them.  The
chair behind the desk was empty.

"I see you've returned to us," MzDominica declared, from
somewhere behind him.  She walked around the desk and seated
herself in the chair opposite him, her green eyes gazing into
his.  Again, Jake realized he was paralyzed.  Dominica watched
him, with her cat-smile spreading across her face, as Jake's
expression revealed his utter helplessness.  "In fact, you keep
coming back again, and again, and again," she said.  "I think
it's time to end this little dance."

Jake tried to answer, and was surprised that he could speak. 
"What are you going to do, transform me into one of your mindless
bimbos?  Is that what you did to Dan Carlson?"

"Hmmmm... Dan," Dominica purred.

"This little game you're playing--" Jake began.

"You're right, Mr. Diamond.  I do like to play games."  She
reached down to one side, pulled open a drawer, and brought up a
deck of cards.  "And so do you."

"Me?"  Again, it seemed not quite like a question.

"Yes," Dominica replied.  She shuffled the cards briefly, then
began to deal out little piles.  Solitaire?  She was playing
solitaire while taunting him?  "You see, I like controlling
people's minds.  And some people like being controlled."  One
pile held a king of hearts.  She pulled three cards, set down a
queen of clubs.  She looked up briefly at him, and smiled again.

"Not me," Jake replied.

"Hmmm... maybe.  Maybe not."  Dominica continued to draw cards
off the deck, dropping them into place or into the discard pile.
Suddenly, she stopped, with one card in her hand, looked at Jake,
and grinned broadly.  She turned the card over, and set it down
on the black queen.  It was a jack of diamonds.

Jake's head began to spin.

"That means something to you, doesn't it, my pet?" Dominica
cooed.  "What a name, Jake Diamond.  Jake...  Jack...  Jack of
Diamonds."

Jake felt like a door had opened in the back of his mind.  "Jack
of Diamonds..."

"Yes.  There is no Jake Diamond, is there?"  Dominica stood up.

"No," Jake replied.

"You're not a detective, are you?"  She walked around the desk.

"No..."  Jake was beginning to remember.

Dominica whispered into his ear.  "And Dan.  There is no Dan. 
There's just you... Daniella."

Jake remembered.  And was no longer Jake.  She was Daniella.  She
had been Daniella the whole time.  It wasn't 1938.  It was the
21st century.  It wasn't a typewriter on the desk, it was a
laptop computer.  She wasn't a man, she was a woman.  She was
Dominica's slave.

Dominica whispered into her other ear.  "Remember, Daniella."

She could feel her breasts, so large under the baggy, brown suit.
 Her pussy, which she had felt so sure was a cock -- still so
swollen, drippy, and aching to cum.

"It was all a game," Dominica whispered.  "All a fiction.  There
is no Mrs. Carlson.  All the phone calls to your 'client' came
here.  The whole time, you were looking for yourself."

Daniella was so disoriented, she couldn't speak.

"And you loved it, didn't you?"

Eyes half closed, Daniella nodded her head.

"You may move, now, Daniella.  You may move.  And you may thank
your Mistress."

Dominica stood as Daniella pushed the chair back, and knelt on
the floor at her Mistress' booted feet.  Daniella kissed
Dominica's boots and repeated over and over again, "Thank You,
Mistress.  Thank You!"

Dominica watched, pleased, as Her slave expressed her gratitude
and adoration.  The girl had provided her Mistress with much
entertainment, and had kept the game going for several days. 
"Hmmm, you have done very well."  She raised one foot, and drew
it gently across Daniella's breasts, making her nipples even
harder.  The kneeling slave shivered with need, and licked her
Mistress' knee.

It was time, MzDominica decided.  "Cum, slave!" she ordered, "You
have My permission.  Cum now!"

Daniella contracted into a tiny ball at her Mistress' feet as the
orgasm overwhelmed her, and her pussy gushed in response to
Dominica's command.  Over and over, the waves of pleasure rolled
through Daniella, her mind again blank, but this time in a state
of bliss only a deeply conditioned hypnotic slave can know.

When the spasms subsided, Dominica leaned down, and ran a finger
alongside Daniella's cheek, which was wet with tears of relief
and pleasure.  Daniella, well trained, kept her eyes lowered,
focused on her Mistress' feet.  "Good girl," she said.  "Now, go
get your maid's uniform on, and go wait on my guests.  The party
isn't over yet!"


Chapter 8 -- Forgotten But Not Gone

It was late morning.  Dressed in her tight, black, rubber
uniform, as a French maid, Daniella ran her ostrich feather
duster over the shelves in the hallway.  The front doorbell rang,
and she went to answer.  When she opened the door, a wave of
recognition rolled through her.  It was Jessica, dressed in a
baggy, brown man's suit, and wearing a hat that had gone out of
style over 50 years ago.  Though Jessica was slim and beautiful
as a woman, Daniella thought she simply looked skinny and
under-fed, dressed as a man.

"Good morning," Daniella said.  "Can I help you?"

Jessica looked at Daniella with a scarcely concealed leer, but no
sense of recognition.  "Yes," she said.  Her voice was pitched
unusually low.  "My name is Jake Diamond.  I'm a private
detective.  I was wondering if I could have a word with the
master of the house?"

Daniella's response came back so instantly, so automatically. 
"My Mistress, you mean.  Please, wait here a moment, and I'll
check.  Do you have a card?"

"Um, no, I don't," Jessica replied, after a moment's pause. 
"Just mention my name, Jake Diamond, and that I'm a private
detective."  Another, longer pause, while she apparently thought
something through.  "Tell your mistress I'm looking for a man
named Joe."

"I'll be back in a moment," Daniella said.  She disappeared back
into the house.  How many times had they exchanged places, played
out this game?  Daniella did not know.  She could not remember. 
She walked briskly down the hallway, in little mincing steps,
eager to tell her Mistress that the fun was about to begin again!

The End






