Hercule Poirot.

“Sir!” She called ahead, a bag in hand. Paige could have sworn that it was his, but he seemed to have left it behind. That said, running in a dress, no matter the practice, was never her strong suit.

   “Ain’t got coin for any retaining, sir.”

And he hoped the bloke was only teasing ‘bout a fee. If he insisted on something, then Dodger couldfind a bit of coin, but he didn’t think the detective would much like that either. Working at his lip for a moment, he tried to figure on where to start. Wasn’t so much a story as a couple times noticing a thing or two, and the twinging of concern in his gut.

   “Well, I think–I ain’t sure, sir, is the thing–but I think something’s     been happening to the children.”

Sure the little ones sometimes found themselves squirreled away, needing to deal with home or school or work or sickness, but this marked more’n the usual.

   “They’re disappearing, far’s I can figure. The ones what have families     say they’re going to work, and others just vanish from the streets,     and…I dunno. It just ain’t sitting right.”

The little man’s eyes flashed when the boy had mentioned children. Poirot had always had a soft spot for them. He never had any of his own, but he had various nieces and nephews that he spoiled and doted on. This was serious, and it should be taken seriously.

“-now is not the time to be discussing coin,” was the reply before, with surprising agility for a man his age, he moved to his feet, swiped the cloth that he had been sitting on, and gestured for Dodger to lead the way.

“Your granny lied!”

“Now, I’ll eat you.”

“I just love free food!”

“Mmm, fish dinners!”

“You will die, die, die!”

“You look like seafood.”

“Fish are dumb, dumb, dumb!”

“Be who you are on the inside.”

“You’ll never be quite as shiny.”

“Now it’s time to kick your… hiney!”

“I’ll never hide. I can’t. I’m too shiny!”

“Ouch! What a terrible performance!”

“Now, I know I can be happy as a clam.”

“Scrub the deck and make it look shiny!”

“So, prepare your final plea. Just for me.”

“You don’t swing it like you used to, man.”

“Did your granny say ‘listen to your heart’?”

“I will sparkle like a wealthy woman’s neck.”

“Well, ______  hasn’t always been this glam.”

“Soak it in, ‘cause it’s the last you’ll ever see.”

“They chase anything that glitters. Beginners.”

“For, just like you, I made myself a work of art.”

“Watch me dazzle like a diamond in the rough.”

“Send your armies, but they’ll never be enough.”

“I need three words to tear her argument apart…”

“Now it’s time for me to take apart your aching heart.”