When Larry walked in to meet his friend Patricia for lunch, he was shocked to find her sitting at the table with Detective Recluse. Recluse would eat lunch with Larry, solve a case in his head and completely ignore Larry. Recluse was a lousy friend.
“What’s he doing here?” Larry asked Patricia when the friends greeted him at the table.
“It’s so funny. I ran into the detective walking down the street. I told him I was having lunch with you and asked him to join us,” Patricia said. “I hope that’s okay.”
“You didn’t just happen to run into him,” Larry said, eyeing Recluse. “This was a whole scheme.”
“Come on, Larry,” Recluse said, laughing. “You think I’ve been spying on you, staking out your lunch plans and following Patricia so I could eat lunch with you?”
“Yes,” Larry said.
“Ridiculous, Larry,” Patricia said. “Please sit down.”
Larry cautiously sat down and asked Recluse, “Are you working on a case?”
“I’m not here to discuss work,” Recluse said. “How’s everything in Larry’s world?”
Larry began to talk about fighting with a neighbor who wouldn’t follow the homeowner association’s rules. His friends were both understanding, and it felt good to have a real conversation with Detective Recluse. He seemed relaxed and ordered appetizers for the table.
Patricia talked about her job at the library, and Recluse spoke about a book he had finished. Larry began to talk about girlfriend trouble when he noticed Recluse looking over at a table.
“Recluse, are you okay?” Larry asked. Recluse motioned for Larry to be quiet for a moment. Larry glanced at the table. Two men sat there. Larry thought he knew one of them, a police officer. The other man passed an envelope across the table.
Recluse jumped out of his chair and leaped for the envelope. “Officer Krul, I knew you were being bribed.”
FBI agents rushed in and nabbed the police officer and the other man at the table, a low-level gangster. Pandemonium erupted in the restaurant. Even Patricia was caught up in the excitement.
When Recluse returned, Larry yelled at him, “So what did you do? Plant it in everyone’s head to come to lunch here? Did you ensure it was the same day as my lunch with Patricia so you could be here? How did you make this lunch about you?”
Recluse smiled and began, “While everything you’re saying might be true, it actually started with a fencing lesson…”