Lurking On The High Wire – Van Argan

“What did you notice on the canyon floor?” “James’s lights were out and he was asleep. Salvador was awake in his room and minding his own business.” “You saw Salvador?” “Yeah, his candles were lit.” “What was he doing?” “I think he was sketching. He was partially undressed for bed.” “Did Salvador see you?”

“I don’t think he did. I wasn’t paying much attention.” “What about the other rooms?” “Pari, your lights were out,” Orion said. “You were still on the mountain with Bruno. Manami’s lights were on. I couldn’t see her though because of her curtain.” “You left out Bruno. What about his dome?” “Bruno’s room was fully lit. Every candle must have been on. I thought it was strange.” “Wait, when was this?” Pari asked. “Just as I returned to my room.” “How long were you roaming?” “Not that long.

When I decided against risking another confrontation with Danica, I think I went home, fairly right away.” “Orion, are you saying that Bruno’s room was bright with candlelight before he descended from the mountain?” “His room was empty. I don’t know if he had come down from the slope or not. How long were the two of you alone up there?” “The timing is important, Orion. Think back, please. You climbed the steps toward Danica’s room, changed your mind, retreated, and did what?”

“I went to my room.” “Directly?” “More or less.” “You are being vague again. Where did you go?” “I went directly to my room. I fell asleep. I never saw Bruno. I did not kill Bruno.” “Did you observe any others on or off the trails?” Pari asked. “No.” “Did you observe any objects, suspicious in any way, on or off the trails?” “No. Sorry, but I can’t help you more.”

When Pari paused to review her notes, Orion stood up and hung his towel over the back of the lounge chair.

The architectural scale model, as lush and vividly green as the land it emulated, was topographically precise. Three-dimensional layers displayed the steep elevations of a mountain canyon. Two mountain ridges, parallel in height, were separated by a narrow, gently-sloping valley. The canyon was pristine, with the exception of eight glass spheres—four glass pods affixed atop the canyon’s ridges and four glass domes embedded below in the forest floor.

“This is like something from a science fiction or fantasy movie,” Pari Malik said, bending down and moving to an angle where she could see the alignment of all of the spheres on the scale model. “That’s exactly what it is,” Nathan Patrick confirmed. “They finished filming earlier this year. This is all that remains of the movie set, at least for now.” Nathan, the executive director of an expansive nature preserve in the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, explained to Pari that this was the first time a movie production crew had been allowed so deep into the historic land.

Previously, television and film taping had only been permitted on the publicly-accessible portions of the preserve, which were closest to the ocean, providing authentic tropical settings for filmmakers while simultaneously generating valuable revenue for the charity to maintain and safeguard the precious land. An exception to allow filming on the remote land had been made for a film director of greatest renown who wanted a futuristic setting for a benevolent village. He had won over Nathan and the charity’s board of directors with an exceptionally generous private donation.

The preserve—named Moe’uhane, which translates as “Dream”—was one of the most inaccessible of the mountain valleys that graced Oahu, encompassing the land around unblemished rivers and streams descending to the Pacific Ocean. A major source of fresh water vital for life, Moe’uhane was rich with history and artifacts, as it had once been an ancient realm and home to monarchs.

Nathan and Pari finished examining the model. Nathan carried it to his desk, took his seat, and Pari sat across from him, in one of the visitor chairs aside a sliding glass door overlooking a lily pond and a field full of native plants and grasses. Nathan, a tall and curly-haired man, forsaking a suit, as always, and instead attired in the preserve’s blue polo cut shirt with am emblem patch on the left chest, grinned in anticipation of giving Pari her first assignment.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 6549872218e861ab
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,720,166 bytes (1.64 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781386552765
• Pages: 236
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 239.93 minutes
• Total Words: 47,986
• Total Characters: 276,456
• Average Words per Page: 203.33
• Average Characters per Page: 1171.42

Most Frequent Words

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