Phil Swift was awakened by the sound of a jackhammer breaking through concrete. His head was pounding, his vision blurry. Hungover again. He’d swore that he would give up bourbon, but who was he kidding. It was better company than the broad that was in bed next to him.

What was her name? Sue? Steff? Sam? He didn’t know. He didn’t want to know. He looked over at the girl, lying on her stomach and probably in the same shape as he was, and slapped her ample ass, hard.

She immediately woke up. She was confused, and couldn’t remember how she got there. She looked at Phil, who told her it was time to hit the road. She felt insulted, angrily grabbing her clothes and dressing as quickly as she could, all the while throwing every insult she could think of, hurling them at Phil with venom in her voice.

He wasn’t paying attention, as he glanced at his clock. 10:15am. He started to brew coffee when he heard his door slam shut. He just laughed and thought that whatever her name was, she was probably good in bed.

Once the coffee was ready, Phil made himself a cup and headed into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, he saw bloodshot eyes and a face in need of a shave. The image he saw was a far cry from the day he graduated college. 

A strapping 6’2” 200lbs, now what stared back at him was a 30 year old about 30lbs heavier, and with a face that looked 20 years older. What the hell happened, he wondered. 

Not sure of what he wanted to do after he graduated, Phil did a bunch of odd jobs, until the idea of becoming a private detective appealed to him. And so he went to school, and got his license. 

At first, he had steady work. It wasn’t enough to buy a mansion, but it paid the bills. But as Phil’s drinking steadily increased, and the clients dried up. He couldn’t afford a secretary, and then he couldn’t afford his office. So he ran his business from his apartment. And he would take whatever work came his way, which meant some messy cases involving adultery. He found himself in quite a few scraps involving angry boyfriends. He had the scars to prove it.

As he was reflecting on his life, there was a loud knock on his door. Phil grabbed his coffee and slowly made his way to see who it was. The last thing he needed was a bill collector to show up and take his bed.

Opening the door, he noticed a middle aged woman with desperation in her eyes. She asked if he was Phil Swift, Private Investigator? Phil said yes. The lady introduced herself as Judy Wilson, and she wanted to discuss something of great importance.

Phil looked at her more closely. She may have been in her 40’s, but she still looked good. If nothing came of the case, maybe he would end up in bed with her. At least that was his thinking.

He asked her in, and told her to excuse the mess, as he was in between offices. He was lying, but it was all he could come up with. He showed her to the sofa, and asked if she wanted something to drink. He could tell that her emotions were running high, and wasn’t surprised when she said yes. He told her all he had was bourbon, which was fine with her. So Phil poured two glasses, and took a seat next to her, asking her to begin with her problem.

Judy began by telling him about her brother, Jack. Jack Wilson owned the Wilson’s Department Store chain. He had been married several times, but all ended in divorce. But about a year and a half ago, he met a girl about half his age, named Veronica Cartwright. They got hot and heavy, and the business suffered. And then one day, her brother disappeared, without leaving a trace. The police investigated, but hadn’t found anything to tell them what happened.

Although they are still working on it, they ignored any possibility that this Cartwright woman was involved. Judy told Phil that she had her suspicions. But no private investigator would touch the case. It seemed that they were very afraid of getting involved, and she didn’t know why. She even offered a large sum of money, but they still wanted nothing to do with the case.She desperately wanted to find her brother, and Phil was her last hope.

Phil asked her when was the last time she saw her brother. Judy told them that he had shown up to a family function with Veronica, and although they had an argument, appeared to have patched things up by the time they left. That was the last time she saw her brother. She then handed Phil a picture of Jack with Veronica.

Phil examined the picture. But he found himself focusing more on the woman than Jack Wilson. There was something about her eyes that intrigued him. She was drop dead gorgeous, with a great body. Phil asked Judy how tall was her brother. She told him he was about 6’1”. Looking at the picture, he guessed Veronica was about 5’10”. She was wearing heels, and they looked to be about 3 inches.

Phil asked her if she knew where Veronica was presently. Judy replied that she thought that she had a house on the big hill near the edge of the city. But she didn’t know where she worked, or really anything else about her. 

Phil was still looking at the picture when Judy pulled an envelope from her purse and handed it to him. Phil looked inside and whistled. Judy told him that she was willing to pay him $50,000 to find her brother. She gave him half upfront, the rest when he found her brother. If he couldn’t find him, she would still pay him $25,000 for his trouble.

Phil was still amazed at the amount of money in his hand, and told her that he would take the case. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a piece of paper and quickly wrote down the terms of service and receipt for the money. Judy thanked him, and Phil said he would get right on it.

He walked her to the door and said that he would update her on his progress. He asked her for a phone number so he could call her, and told her not to worry. He wouldn’t quit until he found out what happened to her brother.