"Now have a seat, little lady," said detective Lloyd jumping up from his desk and steering the woman by the arm to a comfortable chair in the corner. She looked like she might swoon and he didn't want no dame hittin' her head on the floor of his office.

"Organized crime?" Anne repeated detective Lloyd's words, her voice quivering.

"I'm just being frank with ya, Anne" said Lloyd, then he paused. "Or do you prefer to go by Jessica?"

"Anne is fine," said Anne.

Lloyd straightened his hat and tie. "These are troubling times, ma'am, disturbing times in this business. Cases are up 170% this year."

Anne heaved her voluptuous bosom and began to weep in earnest. Lloyd felt like rolling his eyes but offered her his handkerchief instead. He didn't wonder why a middle aged woman wore a revealing red evening gown in his office at 10:00am on a Tuesday. In his line of business, conformity was a rarity.

"What kind of vile criminal would kidnap my baby?" asked Anne, blowing her nose violently.

The detective returned to his desk and shuffled through some papers he had collected on the case. "Did Roger have any competitors who weren't exactly 'friendly'?" he asked, adding air quotation marks with his fingers to emphasize the point.

Anne pondered for a minute. "I mean he is mostly retired these days, though he is still well known in the circles he used to run in. And he does love running in circles," she added.

"Look," said Lloyd folding his hands and looking Anne in the eye, "this might be the case of a lonely but overzealous fan going one step too far. If that's the case, he or she will mostly likely realize they are over their head and return Roger soon. But I can't rule out suspects with much more ulterior motives. Did you say he had a life insurance policy?"

"Of course he does, my baby is priceless."

"1.6 million pounds is a heavy life insurance policy." Detective Lloyd raised an eyebrow as he held up the document.

Anne gasped holding her palm delicately over her ample cleavage. "Detective, what are you implying!" Her face turned nearly as red as her dress and she frowned at Lloyd.

Lloyd knew from experience that threatened like this, clients could become loose cannons. He quickly pivoted the conversation to more neutral ground.

"Tell me more about Roger," he said.

Calm returned to Anne's features. She smiled and stared into the distance. "Well," she said, "he is in top health and eats a vegetarian diet. We don't tour anymore of course like we used to, but he's very friendly. He's a homebody and enjoys lazing around on the furniture."

"When did you last see him?"

"Last Saturday. He was in the garden, his favorite place where he spends most of his time when the weather is nice."

"Do you know his measurements?"

"Of course," said Anne sitting up straight. "He is four feet three inches long and about fifty pounds."

Lloyd dropped his pen, took off his glasses and leaned forward. "Wow," he said, "that's a huge rabbit."

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To read the news story that inspired the story, check out the link below.