Avon)
In glancing over my notes of several hundred cases in which I have studied the methods (such as they are) of my associate Roj Blake, I find many tragic, some comic, a LARGE number merely strange, but none (unfortunately) dull or commonplace; for, working as the lunatic did for the love of his principles than for the acquirement of wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic, no matter how well paying. Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which presented more singular features than the Case of the Body in the Wine Glass.
The events in question occurred in the early days of my association with Blake, when I had still not added various locks, motion detectors, and an automatic portcullis to my door, assuming as I did that the "Do Not Disturb - Occupant Armed" sign I had hung out on the doorknob would be sufficient. Thus it was that I woke one morning to find Roj Blake standing, in full combat gear and with that bright glow in his eyes which usually precedes our landing on an unheated planet and my being shot at, by my side. As the clock on the mantlepiece showed me it was only a quarter past three, I blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little resentment, for I myself was regular and sane in my habits.
"Very sorry to wake you up, Avon," said he, "but it's the common lot this morning. Mrs. Stanis, the housekeeper, has been woken up, she retorted on me, and I on you."
During this speech, I had searched vainly for the gun I kept by my bedside before noticing it was already hanging from Blake's belt with assorted others. Therefore, I gave him the benefit of the doubt for why he was bothering me with this and replied, "What is it then - an attack by half the Federation fleet?"
"No: a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a considerable state of excitement, who insists on seeing me. She is waiting now in the sitting room. Now, when young ladies wander about the galaxy at this hour of the morning, and knock sleepy people out of their beds, I presume that it is something very pressing which they have to communicate." In this, the observant reader will note that Blake, for all his claims to intellectual acuity, knew very little about the habits of young ladies, particularly those who make up the bulk of the 'Roj Blake - What a Cutie Fan Club' and who had already hounded us across half a galaxy. Oblivious, he continued, "Should it prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should call you and give you the chance."
I will not bother to give the bulk of my reply here in these chronicles except to state Blake recorded it quite inaccurately in his own notes, where it is given as, "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything."
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