Boston (pt 1)

So, Boston. First Stop; the library. Speak to receptionist (short, darkhaired wiry man, namebadge calls him 'Ryan') about a 'friend' of mine who has been uncontactable for some time, whom it would appear had used said library branch at some point in the last month. I explained to Ryan that this 'friend's' family are distressed by his disappearance, and since being made aware that his library card had been used, they had called on an old friend (me) to see if he could be traced. I give Ryan the name Searly and ask if he would be so kind as to check the account for activity. It would really help ease the burden and stress of uncertainty on the ageing members of the Searly family if evidence could be found that he is alive and well, I tell Ryan. Classic story, always works, and Randy duly obliges to access the security tape of the day the account had been used.

With the timestamp on the account activity, it was easy to pinpoint which customer on the footage was Searly - fastforward to 2.38pm of March 26th and there he is strolling through the main door with a slow, long stride. The CCTV is an old system - 32 shades of blurry green with poor frame-rate, offering little to go on. 'Searly' is wearing a fisherman's hat and 3/4 length jacket, walking with a slight stoop and looking floorward the whole time. Possible beard, but hard to tell on this lo-res footage - could just be shadow. Looks a little like Serpico all the same. Library clerk who processed his fines and renewal on the CCTV footage barely pays attention to him, so I doubt she will be able to shed much further light on the encounter. However, Randy gave me her name - Sally Gainsbourg - and she is on shift tomorrow, so I shall call in for a chat with her and see what she can recall.

Forgot to find myself any accomodation in the midst of all this, so am sat drinking scotch in an isolated corner bar in an effort to dull my senses enough to sleep in my car tonight. I feel like the guy wearing the hat in Edward Hopper's Nighthawks.