“A private detective, you say?” The building manager chuckled. “That’s an interestin’ coincidence - the last guy who set up office there was a detective himself. Retired a couple of months ago.”
Miles looked at the man. “Okay... That’s nice.”
“Just a bit of trivia for you son. But you should know something about that office.”
“It’s the only one on this floor with a mortice lock and two deadbolts.”
Miles grinned and chuckled. “Bet he had a couple of people break into the office before.”
“Wouldn’t you know it. Security here’s a bit tighter thanks to that.” The two men reached the end of the hallway and stopped in front of the door with the frosted glass. The building manager stepped up to the door and took out the keys. He stood there for a while, fiddling with the keys, leaving Miles free to take a look around.
Already Miles could see that the office was the only one with frosted glass on its door. The others simply had plaques drilled onto the door. Looking at the frosted glass once more, he could see that changes still have yet to be made to the name - painted in big, black letters was the name “Lester Stout, Private Detective”
“Lester’s a pretty well-known private detective back in the day. Not exactly like Sherlock Holmes, but he had a good number of clients. Played a part in some of the court cases here.”
“Yeah, I heard of ‘em.” Miles walked to the window and looked out of it. He could see the alley from where he was and spotted the steps to the fire exit.
“You did? Those cases didn’t get out of Pinewright.”
“I was a student at the university here when those cases came up.”
“Ah.” The manager found the keys to the office and began unlocking the locks. “So, what brings you back here?”
“Long story.” Miles said. “Thought I should strike out on my own.”
“Startin’ a detectin’ business so soon... Say, what’s your name again, son? I think we should change the name on this door. Can’t have people takin’ you for ol’ Lester, can we?”
“Name’s Miles, Miles Archer.”
The building manager laughed. “You mean like that detective?”
“So you do, son. So you do.” The door was unlocked and the building manager pushed it open. “Well here you are, Mr. Archer. Your new office. It’s a little dusty, but nothing unmanageable.”
Miles walked through the door.
“I’ll be back soon with your own keys to this place. You could put that box down on the desk if you want.”
The building manager turned around and walked down the hallway, leaving Miles alone in the room.
A small office, but not too cramped. Reasonably sized. The book shelves were absolutely empty, and a close inspection of the steel filing cabinet showed that the same was true of it. A thick layer of dust covered everything, and Miles felt his nose itch as he walked to to his desk.
He placed the box down on the desk. It had all the things he would need at the moment: office supplies, his licensure certificate, and the name plate that had his name on it. Not much, but just about enough to get started.
Setting up will follow. First, he has to deal with the crazy amount of dust in the room.
