Conversation · Washerwoman

"What is she like, Ruby?"

"She's good company. Knows how to talk to an old woman." She rubs her cold hands together. "At my age, you don't get a lot of quality conversation, so I really appreciate that about her."

This Ruby is an old-lady whisperer. She knows how to work the village elder -- unlike you.

"Did she talk to you much during her last stay?"

"No, she was mostly silent this time. Kept to herself..."

"What do you mean?"

"She tried not to let it show, but I could tell she hadn't come to fish -- usually she likes to cast a few lines, but this time she mostly stayed in her room."

She wanted to talk to her, as they usually do. But she was brooding.

"Did she talk to you much this time?"

"Where did she go?" (Move on.)

"I don't know... further up the coast. She tried to leave quietly but the hinges on that door screech like a cat in heat -- woke me up. I heard her rushing in those heavy boots, heading up north."

It's a peninsula. She might be trapped.

"You'll never find her, you know." Her tone is without malice. "She knows the coast like the back of her hand. You only just arrived."

"I wouldn't worry about that, ma'am. We're persistent."

This is a cool moment. It needs a cool thing to be said.

"Are you sure she didn't go somewhere more pleasant... and less wet?"

"Yes, it's going to be too much work for you to find her." She drops the rag into the bucket -- it's clean now. "Better for you to stay here, get a nice, cosy fire going in the heater..."

The 'Feld Electric' mural... you feel like you should go look at it again. Step closer this time.

No. You can do it. You still have plenty of juice in you before you drop.

Behind the cinderblock houses, old pre-war ruins rise to the sky like dark palaces. The wind calls.

(Say the cool thing.) "Let's rock with our cock."

"What?"

"What?"

"What did you say." The lieutenant gives you a puzzled look.

"Nothing. What did you say?"

"Nevermind," he says, shaking his head. "Let's just continue."

"I meant: let's rock with our cock out."

"You're still not saying it right."

"Okay -- let's rock with our cocks out!"

"It's too late now."

The old woman shakes her head slowly.

"You're right, this place is huge. She's a needle in a haystack."

"Further up the coast we go then."

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather stay here, get a nice, cozy fire going in the heater?" She drops the rag into the bucket -- it's clean now. "Seems like a better idea to me..."

(Wipe your brow.) "Man, I was really hoping she'd be hiding in this village."

"Is the room exactly as she left it?"

"I cleaned it, like I always do."

"Was there anything else there?"

"No."

The truth, sire.

"Goodbye, I'm off." [Leave.]

"One thing. Officer, if you do find her, please go easy on her..." She looks around. The air is getting colder.

She really means it. It's an honest plea.

"She's a good girl, whatever she's gotten herself mixed up in."

"Have you seen a woman named Ruby around here?"

"Nay, I haven't seen anyone lately."

Because she's blind, which you seem to have forgotten.

"Oh, because you're blind, right."

"He's a sharp one," she says to herself and runs her hand across the washboard.

She's being evasive. She knows something.

"There was a murder in Martinaise." He points east. "She might be a suspect. We would appreciate your help."

"Would you now?" She turns to him. "I know how this world works, and it doesn't work when people tell on each other."

"This is like when that man locked himself in the woodshed. We just need to help her come out."

"No, it's not like that man. With him, we called you. Right now, you just arrived by yourself. Like a raven, plucking at the window glass."

Enough of this! She better start talking RIGHT NOW!

"Okay, but I'll be back later if I find anything suspicious."

"I'm not going anywhere." Her features soften. "Perhaps there's something else the village can do for you, huh? Though we don't have much here -- just garbage. And a skiff or two..."

"'I see. You know something, but you've decided not to tell us."

"There's not much to tell. People come and go. Now, was there something else?"

"I see, ma'am." The lieutenant turns to you. "I hope you don't mind if we look around anyway."