“Ham Trade”.
The gaunt character wore his brown fedora at a jaunty angle. It was as though he walked off the pages of a pulp novel. He stuck his hand out and repeated the cryptic phrase.
“Trade. Ham Trade.”
The sultry blonde regarded him quizzically.
“You mean Spade, don't you? Ham Spade Or Sam Trade. Ham Trade. Who came up with that ? Kind of misses the mark, doesn't it?”
“Look,” the vintage-clad figure spat out. “You got the point, didn't you? Never heard of copyright? That other thing. That's taken. So I come up with my own. Works fine.”
“OK, Mr. Ham Trade. What brings you here?”
“Seen this ad in the paper, “First Class Sleuthing needed. Only experienced PI need apply. That's me. Ham Trade, PI. Done a lot a work. Check references, here.”
Trade handed over a grimy sheet with handwriting.
“See here. Dogs recovered. Lost wallets. Vandals apprehended. Long list. Call 'em up. 100% success rate.”
The blonde struggled to keep a serious expression. She was having fun now.
“OK, Mr. Trade. Looks like this case might be right up your alley. I was eating lunch yesterday at my favorite outdoor cafe. Somebody walks by, grabs my sandwich, and takes off. Third time this month. Why me? Why my sandwich? I want you to find out.”
The PI's square jaw stiffened.
“Snatch and run, huh? Tough case. Not likely to have any evidence left. Evidence being a sandwich, if you know what I mean.”
The blonde could not contain herself. Tears started to flow as she threw her head back and laughed.
“I can see I've got the right person to solve this crime, Mr. Ham Trade.”
The words didn't come easily because she was choking back the laughter.
“Tell you what. You find the sandwich snatcher before I eat at that cafe next Thursday, and I'll double the advertised fee. Agreed?”
The PI's face relaxed.
“More than fair. I'll get on it. Just have to take a few details.”
Ham Trade took out a pencil stub and tattered pad.
The blonde burst out laughing again.
“My dear Mr. Trade,” she sputtered. “You are going to be worth every penny”.
It's been a while since I wrote one of these. Every now and then an idea pops in my head and have to go with it. That's what happened with today's prompt.
Hilarious :))
😂😂 Even I could not help laughing as I read. That's some serious sleuthing!
It's been a while... Glad to have you back. You should write more. 🙂
I am so sorry about the delayed response. I haven't been checking my post. Thank you very much for the encouragement. I will write more :)
Already HOOKED... this is HILARIOUS
Thank you! I'm so sorry I'm late in answering. I haven't been paying attention to my blog. Wonderful to find your comment here. I laughed as I wrote this so I'm glad it made you chuckle