London Harmony: Minuette (5 page)

It was contagious and I caught myself smiling back.  I think I liked this woman.  She seemed to have principals that extended beyond her apparent success.  I recognized her voice now as well.  She was the voice of the audio versions of SmartCanvas.  It was sort of neat that they used the voice of the mastermind behind it.

She started to dart up the stairs and looked back and slowed down as I counted my steps and the spindles.  She cocked her head and just waited patiently until I caught up then she walked at my pace.  I paused at the top and looked down with a creased brow.  Nineteen?  And thirty-eight? There were twenty steps in the first set.  Did I count wrong?

I had an urge to run back down and try again, but I didn't want to look like a freak in front of Fran.  Her brow furrowed in concern.  “Everything ok, Nett?”

I mumbled, “No...”  I turned to her, wringing my hands.  She didn't miss anything as she glanced at them.  I sighed. “I miscounted.”

She brightened up, no pun intended.  “Oh, that.  No there's one less step on this flight.  And the attic stairs only have thirteen.”

I exhaled and relief flooded over me.  I felt my muscles relax, I hadn't known I had tensed up so much.  I smiled sheepishly at her, but she seemed nonplussed over my neurosis.  She put both hands forward and I followed her gaze.  She said, “This is the Pit.  The bulk of the London Harmony workers infest this cubical-ville.  This is where my desk used to be.  But my evil sisters said I needed more space for my SmartCanvas collaboration work with Phearson Prosthetics and Robotics and Robin Hartford.  Sooo they are finishing the attic for me.  I shouldn't complain, the view is great.”

The area was a large open space with low cubical walls so all the workers could see each other.  It was bustling with activity.  There was a frosted glass-walled conference room at the far end with what looked like an office on either end of it.

She put two fingers to her lips and almost split my eardrums with a shrill whistle.  It was funny really, everyone came to a sudden halt and looked up.  You could have heard a pin drop as some people even stopped in mid step to turn to look.

The silly bird called out, “Everyone, our latest subject for catch and release, Annette Corrick.  She's helping track down June's white whale.”

I heard June's voice from the conference room, “Hey!”

Fran grinned wickedly. “Not talking to you Captain Ahab.”  Everyone chuckled and Fran asked, “Sisters, what ya gonna do?”

People murmured a hello and I blushed and gave a little wave from my hip.  One woman seemed to be homing in on us like a guided missile as she hustled over.  She was dressed all in black, and very stylishly so.  She had long, shiny black hair and matching shiny black lipstick, and actual chains on her neck, waist, and wrists.  She was a hot goth who looked to be in her late twenties, but something was off.  Oh!  Her huge smile.  Were goths allowed to smile?

She sort of glommed onto Fran and swung her side to side.  “You didn't say hi this morning Small Fry.”

Fran grinned and blushed as the goth woman released her.  She looked at me.  “Zil this is Annette, Nett this is Zilrita Marx, our general manager and resident goth.”

I put my hand out to shake and Fran said quickly, “Umm... I have to warn you, Zil is a...”

I made a “Gack!” sound as the Goth pulled me into a silly side to side hug.  She somehow had my arms pinned so I was just along for the ride.  Just how many arms did she have?

Fran finished on a sarcastically flat note as Zilrita released me, “...hugger.”

The goth gave me a silly look and crinkled her nose as she wiggled her fingers in front of her... “Mmmmm hugzz.”  Then she sort of bounced on her toes and said in a much more professional tone.  “It is a pleasure to meet you, Annette.  Make sure Fran get's you situated with an electronic key that will be active as long as you are working with us.”

I nodded stupidly and mumbled, “Nice to meet you.”  Then I added, “I think there has been a mistake, though, I can't really help you.”

June's voice came out of the conference room again. “La la la, we can't hear you.”

Fran shrugged in apology as the activity in the Pit resumed, a couple people giving me head nods of welcome.  Fran called out over the murmuring in the room, “You're supposed to be the mature one J-Dub.”

I swear I heard laughter from the direction of the conference room as Fran looped an arm in mine and dragged me along at a sedate rate, giving me time to count.  Was I really that obvious?

My mind caught up with me, wait... sisters?  June and Fran were sisters?  Bloody hell.  We arrived at a little screen wall at the side of the room that hid a bland set of plain oak stairs with a simple metal railing.  There was a construction tarp hanging down at the top.

True to her word, there were thirteen steps up to where she pulled the trap aside for me and I stepped into a large open space that had a high ceiling in the center but it sloped quickly to where you wouldn't be able to stand at the outer walls. So workbenches and shelves were built in at the low points.

The exception was the two dormers.  They were recessed in and kept the high roof profile from the center.  Beautiful walnut desks and shelves were in the process of being installed in one of them, the other one looked finished.  Everything smelled of fresh paint.

There was a worker at the far end of the space installing some beautifully ornate crown molding at the ceiling, another looked to be finishing up some work on the lighting.  In the center of the space, was a sparkling new SmartCanvas unit with some additions to it I haven't seen in the museums or music halls they were installed in.

I mouthed “wow” when I saw it.  Fran seemed to be bubbling over with pride and said, “I know, right?  It is all a little surreal to me too.”

Then she turned and said, “Come on Girl Friday, we should get to work.”

I hustled after her.  Twelve steps later we were in one of the dormer alcoves.  It was set up as a gorgeous office area with walnut cabinets and shelves on either side of it leaving the window wide open above a long walnut work surface between the two, with a great view of the city proper.  Off to the left, I could see the Thames a few blocks away.

She sat at the long desk in front of one of the many computer screens there, she motioned her head to the other chair at the desk, and I sat.  I went to protest again, but she was all business and went straight to it.

She was sliding printouts to me as she pointed at a timeline on the screen, there were locations and links to a city map and names like “Golden Sunburst”, or “Silent Words”.  I recognized them as words from some of Mindy's songs.  They must have given them names.  Mind doesn't name them, she says it is all part of one masterwork though I give temporary names to them when I sing live.

She explained the setup.  “This is the timeline and locations that Minuette songs have cropped up.  It isn't complete because we don't have recordings of a few of the live locations she has sung.  And you can see some gaps in the timeline that have no activity, so something was missed somewhere.  We have all the information that the PMers have, and the tracks that they have been able to separate from the original music.”

Bloody Hell.

I was going to say that I couldn't help, but curiosity got the better of me.  “PMers?”

She nodded. “The group that first found the Phantom Melodies.  PM  Phantom Melody.”

She clicked on one that Mindy wrote a couple years back on her birthday and I smiled as the music seemed to fill the space from all around us. The fidelity of the speakers in the work-space was phenomenal.  This one was one of my favorites.  I had to stop myself from humming along with the song.  It was one of happiness and hope, underscored by a lonely longing in the buried melody.

She surprised me by clicking the second link and I heard my voice singing that lonesome verse with a sad piano backing me. I blinked twice and she continued, “Bear over at Canter Recording was able to isolate and extract the Phantom Melodies in each of the tracks we have located.  But it gives us no clue as to Minuette's identity.  If anything it highlights her genius, listen to that...”  She played it again.  “This was a live performance at a coffeehouse in Greenwich.  And the Phantom Melody still stands alone, perfect tempo and pitch.”

She pulled up a video of the darkened coffeehouse with me up on stage, the video was grainy in the dark and you couldn't make out my face.  I swallowed.

“She never leaves a real name, and only does open mics.  If they split the gate, she always takes cash, so there is no record of her or her real name.”

I shrugged and offered, “It sounds like she doesn't want to be found.”

She grinned at me.  “That, my erstwhile assistant, is where you come in.  You're the only person we can find that has ever talked to her.”

I shrugged. “That's what I have been trying to tell everyone here.  I think you have the wrong person for the job.  I don't know anything and I am just wasting your money here.”

She smiled at me and laid a hand on my shoulder in a reassuring manner.  “That's where you are wrong.  You know more than you think, we just need to probe your brain a bit and fit your puzzle pieces into the big picture.  Knowledge is power, no matter how insignificant it may seem.”

She grinned like a loon.  “Besides, it is a mystery, and who can resist a good mystery?  Just look at all the questions to be asked.  Like why does she misspell minuet?  Is there significance there?  Or does it have nothing to do with music?  Is it her real name or a pet's name?  Is it a tip of the hat to Bach?”  She wiggled her eyebrows and I had to smile at her excitement and enthusiasm.

I took a deep breath.  “I really don't see where I can help.  I don't remember much about the lady that paid me to seed the drives.  She may not be who you are looking for.”

She shrugged and said, “Then we find her with your help and she can give us more information to finish the puzzle.  I can use your help organizing each track and establishing the timeline.  I'm seeing a pattern emerging but I just can't put a finger on it.”

I started clicking on the tracks and looking at the gaps.  They certainly had almost all of Mindy's later stuff.  They were only missing one or two recent ones.  The first three tracks and another earlier one were missing as well.  I pointed at one and said before I thought, “These two should be the other way around.”

She pushed her rolling chair closer and looked at them as I was kicking myself for opening my yap.  She grabbed the printouts, flipped through the pages, and scrutinized them.  “Oops, I input the date it was brought to Bear, not the date it was found.”  She smiled and updated the info on the screen.

Then she turned to me looking smug and crossed her arms over her chest as she cocked an eyebrow. “Not sure how you can help huh?”  Then she paused and side glanced at the screens again.  She shuffled some files and said, “Just a second.”

She slapped on some headphones and hit a few controls and closed her eyes, her head bobbed a bit then she tilted head head like she were trying to figure something out.  Then she shook her head in frustration and took the headphones off.

I asked, “What is it?”

She shrugged. “I don't know, but it has been bugging me since we started putting all of this together.  There's something there that I just can't quite grasp.  It is like there is another puzzle hidden in the music.”  Another puzzle?  She was piquing my curiosity again.

Then she pointed at the gaps in the timeline.  “If we could figure out what we are missing, then maybe it will click with me.”

She shook her head again and checked the time.  “I don't have much time before I have to get to class.  Why don't you tell me everything you can remember about the woman who gave you the drives.”

I paused and asked instead, “May I ask just why June wants to locate Minuette anyway?  She hasn't done anything wrong.  She just wants to share her music.”

Fran chuckled at me and shook her head. “No, she hasn't done anything wrong at all.  Just the opposite, everything she has done is just right.  Especially the emotions that shine through her words.  June wants to help her share her music not just with London, but with the world.  She wants to sign her.”

I swallowed hard, it almost hurt as my throat was so tight.  I could feel my pulse racing.  Mindy wanted to stay in the shadows and that's what we'd do.

A hand was waving in front of my face and I looked up to an amused looking Fran.

She was saying, “Earth to Nett.  You went pale there.  I've been trying to get your attention.”

I blushed and looked down at my hands.  “Terribly sorry.”

She chuckled. “No problem.  Now what can you tell me about the woman you saw?  What did she look like?  How was she dressed?  Did you see her car?”

I took a deep cleansing breath and made the decision to protect the girl who put music in my heart.  I'd have to keep track of Fran and June, they seemed way too intelligent for their own good.

I shrugged and said, “I didn't see any vehicle.  She was just dressed in everyday clothes both times.  You know jumpers and jeans.”

She nodded and asked, “What did she look like?  What color hair?  Eyes?  Was she Caucasian, Asian...”  She left the questions hanging.

I smiled thinking of Mindy and could have kicked myself when I absently started describing her.  “Caucasian.  She has shoulder length sandy brown hair that looks like it has deep streaks of chestnut when the light hits her just right.  Her hazel eyes have so much depth in them that you could get lost for days in them.  She's a little short, which just makes her that much more...”  I paused.  Shite.