The Finder

Flash Fiction

The Finder

“How was that book?” Ted asked passing his brother Jimmy, watching TV.

“It stunk!”

“What? I thought you said it was really good…”

“It was, till they got to the end and said the items were never found!”

“What items?”

“The book was about a theft, here, in the nineteen hundreds. The police had suspicions but could never connect someone to the robberies. Then this robbery came along, where things were stolen from town residents.”

“Huh?”

“They had a special show put together at the library. Residents of the whole town brought precious items for the show. The night before the show, they all disappeared!”

“Wow!

“The day of the showing, the librarian unlocked the library, and every piece was gone!”

“That sounds exciting…”

“They never found the stuff!”

“Wow, even better!”

“No, worse! I wanted to know what happened!”

“How long ago did this happen?”

“Eighty-two years... and they never found out who took everything!”

“So, you didn’t like the book?”

“I just wanted to know what happened!”

“Well, why don’t you find out where the stuff went?

“Me? I’m just a kid!”

“A kid with a brain…”

Jimmy was intrigued. Over the next year he became the main locator of missing things at his school. He’d talk to everyone and then find it, fortunately, not stolen! And all the while collecting articles about thefts, the library at the top of his list. He continued his passion in college and eventually became a famous professional finder! Life was good.

Of course, Jim never found the library items that sent him on his career. The crime was never solved. Though, Jim had his suspicions… Especially, after he found out the librarian had moved to France at the very end of that year… and was never heard from again…