**************************************** A PRIVATE INVESTIGATION By Karen Albright PROLOGUE There are many parts of society that remain shrouded in mystery, and the world of private investigators is just such a part of society. Its players remain largely unknown outside their clients, their counterparts, the police, and other restricted groups of people. Clinton Crayle had been an exception to that generalization. While his ability to dealing with kinky sex crimes was a very special area, he was generally known for those exploits. Currently, however, the problem facing the community was that no one knew where he was. He had not been seen or heard from for over a year, and that left a small, but significant, group of "problems" without solution. A young private investigator, Joseph Wilcox, tried to step into Mr. Crayle's shoes, and fill this need. JOE WILCOX, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR My name is Joseph Wilcox, as a private investigator with 5 years experience I felt that I had the skills to prosper in this specialized "Market". To get a start, I had researched as much of Crayle's work as I could find, which was very little because most of Crayle's clients required absolute secrecy. I had located the names of only a few people who had met him, including a woman named Evelyn Traynor. Those who had been willing to talk to me told me of many cases that Crayle had resolved by masquerading very convincingly as a woman, but my only clues as to how Crayle accomplished that feat were that the woman named Traynor had helped, and no-one had seen or heard from her for over a year either. I have some of the traits that made Clinton Crayle successful. I am a slight man, with a boyish face and light facial hair. Lacking a resource like Traynor, I spent a some time "undercover" in the transvestite community to learn some of the secrets that they had used. In the process, I had located a few sources of ideas and a few stores that catered to transvestites. Even though this was little to start with, I let it be known that I was capable of handling the kinds of cases that Crayle specialized in, and I waited for the business to build. AN OPPORTUNITY Initially, my efforts turned into a few cases of proving adultery for divorce cases, and finding run-away girls who had turned to prostitution. These had paid well, but had required no talents beyond those that any good private investigator might possess. Undaunted, I continued to seek strange kinds of cases, and was finally rewarded with a curiously cryptic message on my answering machine one afternoon. The message was simply to please call a Samantha Edgars, the private secretary of the head-mistress of a very small, private girls college in an adjoining county. I knew little about the school, and could not find out anything easily, so I simply returned the call. I was rewarded with a very alluring voice on the other end. "Good morning, Highland Forest Academy", she said. "Hello. I am Joe Wilcox" I replied. "How may I help you" "Oh, Mr. Wilcox!" she responded. "Miss Abernathy is expecting your call. Please hold while I tell her you are on the line." There was a momentary pause, and an equally alluring voice said "Good Morning Mr. Wilcox. I am Edith Abernathy, the headmistress of The Academy, and I desperately need to talk with you. Can you meet with me this afternoon?" I did not want to appear without work, but I knew that I could not pass up this opportunity. "I have a busy afternoon, but I believe that I can make time. When would you like to meet?" "I will be finished with our regular lunch period at 1:00 PM." She replied. "Can we meet then?" "Certainly!" I answered. "I will see you then." Not wanting to appear ignorant, I did not even ask for directions to the school, and I soon found out that it was difficult to locate. I finally found it with the help of an old friend in the tax assessment office. There I learned that the Academy was located on a huge, wooded parcel of land about 25 miles away. The only access was via a small, back country road that led North from town. Lacking more data, I left immediately in the hopes of learning more about the school. The drive was not difficult, even though the roads were poorly maintained once they left the main highway. I soon saw a small sign that indicated that the school was just a short distance away, so I slowed down. In about a mile, I noticed a high, chain link fence, with a barbed wire top. It emerged from the woods, turned, and ran along the right side of the road. I followed it for at least a mile until I saw a large, brick gateway. The top of the gateway said "Highland Forest Academy". I got out of the car, and walked toward the gate to a small box that said "Phone". I opened it, and followed the instructions for dialing. After a short discussion with someone at the other end of the phone, the name Ms. Abernathy got some action. I returned to my car, and had barely started the motor when the gates slowly opened. I drove through, and noted that they immediately closed behind me. I followed the road through the forest for at least a half a mile until it opened onto a beautiful open area, with a number of Gothic granite buildings at the other end. To one side, there were three playing fields with soccer and field hockey goals, and a well developed running track. One of the buildings was next to the fields, and looked like a gymnasium. The one next to it, with its clock tower and tall windows, appeared to be the classrooms and administrative areas, and the others one must have been dormitories for the students. I parked my car in the small parking area, I straightened my tie, grabbed my brief case, and walked toward the front door of the middle building. It and had a crest above the door that said, "Discipline leads to knowledge". Inside the door was a small listing of offices that indicated that Ms. Abernathy's office was on the first floor, to the right, so I immediately went there. Inside the door, I was met by a strikingly beautiful blond. "Hello Mr. Wilcox. Ms. Abernathy is expecting you." "Thank you" I responded as she led me to a large door to one side of the office. She knocked, and I could barely hear some sort of response. The girl opened the door, and I had a view of a very large room, very tastefully decorated in Victorian furniture and fixtures. We walked inside, and the woman gestured to the left. There was an empty desk, some chairs, and a couch. Pointing to the couch, the secretary said "Please have a seat. Miss Abernathy will be right with you." Very quickly, I heard the adjoining door begin to open, and I stood up. As I did, an even more beautiful woman entered the room. She was dressed in a severe business suit, with long, straight blond hair, five inch stiletto heeled shoes, and a body that looked sexy even in the formal suit. "Good afternoon Mr. Wilcox. I am Edith Abernathy. Thank you for making time to talk with me." "It is my pleasure", I replied. "Please sit down and let me explain the situation", she responded. She walked quickly toward the couch and sat down beside him. "Mr. Wilcox, do you know anything about Highland Forest Academy?" she asked. "No, I don't." I replied. "Even though I tried to learn out about it." "Well!", she replied. "Highland Forest Academy is a very special sort of college. We provide schooling and training for the daughters of a select few very wealthy families. We specialize in "evolving" these ladies into very beautiful women, with tremendous poise and character. As you can guess, their parents do not want anyone to know that their daughters have undergo such training, so everything that we do is surrounded with great care and secrecy. That is why there is such high security to enter the campus." "I see", I replied. "But, what kind of training do you provide?" "I will tell you in good time!" she snapped. "Please let me finish! I was startled by her abrupt tone, particularly coming from such a beautiful woman, so I rested back against the couch and listened. "My reason for calling you has to do with a seeming problem in our security", she continued. "You see, three of our students have disappeared." "Oh" I replied cautiously. "Yes." she replied. "Even with our tight security, three ladies could not be located at roll-call last Monday morning. We conducted a search of the campus, but have been unable to find any clues as to their location. As you can guess, we will loose our reputation as an institution of extreme discretion if we can not locate these ladies. Their parents have made a tremendous investment in their future here at Highland Forest, and they will surely sue us into bankruptcy if we can not locate their daughters." "I can understand", I commented. "When were they last seen?" "They were present for the bed-check on Sunday night." she replied. "But they were gone the next morning before breakfast." "I can understand your problem, before we continue, I have a lot to learn about your school," I commented. "Can we start with a quick tour of the grounds." "Certainly", she replied. "Samantha can take you around the campus." She stood up, moved quickly to the intercom on her desk, and said "Samantha, please take Mr. Wilcox for a tour." As she moved, I could only marvel at her tremendous beauty. Her striking figure made even a woman's' business suit look alluring, and her beautiful face, with pouting lips, was almost an open invitation to kiss. I felt an erection straining in my pants as I sat there. Samantha Edgar walked into the room, and talked quietly with Ms. Abernathy. She too, was incredibly beautiful. She and Edith exchanged glances, and she came back to the couch. "Will you please come with me?" She asked. I stood up quickly. Fearing that my now raging erection might be apparent, I held my coat in front of myself as I moved away from the couch. "It would be my pleasure," I answered. "Samantha will give you a quick tour of the campus," Edith commented. "Then we should discuss how you might help us." THE SCHOOL I was having difficulty keeping from staring at Samantha Edgar as I followed her out of the room. She said "Please follow me and we can go through this building quickly." Trying to concentrate on the school was very difficult with Samantha with me, but I tried to remember details as we walked down the hall. The first floor contained mostly offices of various administrative functions. I saw doors with titles like "Dean of Academics", Dean of Students", Security", "Admissions", "Finance", Buildings and Grounds", and "Food services". All of the doors were open, and in those that I could look into, I saw sparse offices, with incredibly beautiful secretaries. In both the Security and the Buildings and Grounds offices, the secretaries were talking with other striking women. From the outside, the building had seemed to have long corridors extending toward the back, but the main hall ended at a large door. "This is the Dining Hall," Samantha commented as she opened the huge doors. Inside, there was a large room, equipped as a dining hall should be. The menu selections posted near the door all contained calorie data beside each selection, but nothing seemed worthy of note. We left the dining room, and walked toward the other end of the main hall. After passing the main entrance, the hall contained more administrative offices, and another large door at the end. This one had a sign "Medical Clinic." Samantha opened the door, and there was a small waiting room, with a nurse sitting at the desk. She, like the rest of the women that I had seen, was strikingly beautiful. Samantha turned, and left the room before I could ask if the clinic took up the whole side of the building. We walked up a set of stairs, and down the long halls. Here, the halls extended in a large U shape, with class rooms, each carefully numbered, arranged on each side. It was in the middle of classes, so most rooms were occupied. The few that were open were very well equipped, I noticed that none of the rooms seemed to have more that about 10 chairs around the tables. Only one room had a teacher at her desk, but she, like all others he had seen, was beautiful. We descended via stairs at the middle of the hall, and left the building through the front door. Once outside, she turned toward the large building that had been on the right as I entered. "Let's go to the gymnasium next," she commented. The gymnasium, was pretty much what I had expected. I also noticed three large exercise rooms, and two rooms with mirrored walls and a bar for dancing practice. What surprised me most was the huge, fully equipped exercise room with Nautilus machines, and weights. The dormitory also was pretty much what I expected. While we did not leave the lobby, Samantha explained that each suite held two girls, and each floor had a teacher living there to keep things "running smoothly". The lobby contained a large TV, several couches, and some vending machines. As we left, Samantha commented, "All 200 of our students live here. Even local students must stay on campus while they are in school." As we entered the main building again, a loud buzzer rang, and the sound level increased dramatically. "The classes change rooms by grade," Samantha commented. "The younger ones move first, then the older classes." As we stood outside the main office, I was impressed with the order of the students as they moved between classes. As subsequent bells rang, I began to notice that, while all of the girls were attractive, each class seemed to be more beautiful than the last. Back in the office of Ms. Abernathy, I pulled up a chair before her desk. "Well, what do you think about the school?" she asked. "I am impressed," I responded. "Your facilities are all well planned, and the students seem very well behaved." "Thank you," she replied. "We believe that we provide a unique environment to help young women mature into beautiful ladies." "Please tell me more about the school's training," I asked. Ms. Abernathy paused for a moment, and then spoke with carefully chosen words. "The parents of our students are all very wealthy. They demand the best of everything, and we try to please them. We provide a very rigorous education for all grades. We are, in fact, regularly at the top of the state for National Merit Finalists, even with a very small student body." "That is admirable," I commented. "They all seem to be exceptionally beautiful ladies." Ms. Abernathy paused again. "One of our other strengths is our training in poise and manners," she replied. "We require strict dietary control, vigorous exercise, and extensive figure training as a part of every students' ongoing life at Highland Forest. We even provide limited cosmetic surgery and advice for families who believe that their child needs special attention." She paused for a third time, then said "Well Mr. Wilcox, can you help us find our missing children?" I thought for a minute, and replied, "Yes, but I will need a day or two to obtain some data." I paused again, trying to think as fast as I could. "Do you have pictures of the missing girls?" I asked. "Yes," she replied, as she pulled a small envelope from her desk. They were three very beautiful girls, just like all that I had seen. I took the envelope, "Thank you, I will return this once I solve the case. One other matter," I said as I thought. "I will need to have one of my employees admitted to your school. I believe that she looks young enough that she can fit right into your student body. Can that be arranged?" Ms. Abernathy looked concerned, but she replied, "Well, I believe that we can allow that if there is no other way. We will have to require that your employee abide by all of our rules and regulations." "Certainly," I responded. "She must appear to be just an ordinary student. One thing that would help would be if she could use the room and all of the clothing of one of the missing girls." Again, she paused. "I believe that that can be arranged. Your employee must be young looking, and about 5' 6" in height." I almost sighed in relief. Now a plan was beginning to form in my mind. "I will call you tomorrow to arrange for the new student," I said. "I believe that I know just the right person for this work." "Fine, just bill us for your fees when you find the girls," she commented as she stood up. "I hope that you realize how important it is to us to find out the breach in our security. We will loose our students, and our reputation, if word of this disappearance gets out. You, and your employees, must maintain absolute secrecy in this matter." "Don't worry, you can count on me to help you," I commented as I left the room.