fandomtownies | Diaz & Ass., Tuesday

When Arthur got to the office and sat down, ready to start for the day, John made a disgusted noise.

Ugh, Arthur - there is a glass...thing...on the desk.

Arthur frowned and pushed quickly and carefully away from the desk. "What is it?"

It's a square, with pictures in it. I can't see through it; it's sitting on the papers. It's brightly colored, red and green and yellow, and there are words.

"What does it say?" Arthur asked, dreading the answer. Was this some artifact of the King in Yellow, sent here somehow?

You'll have to get a little closer. I can't read it from this angle.

Arthur leaned on his cane and carefully stood, so he didn't have to touch the desk.

It says... John's voice turned puzzled. 'Next stop, Ja-mai-ca'? There's a picture of sandals with an odd geometric pattern on them.

"Jamaica?" Arthur asked, equally puzzled, but at least pronouncing it correctly. "That's an island far south of here."

Forgive me for not knowing every bit of Earth geography, John huffed. What's a square announcing a journey there doing on our desk?

"Probably not anything cursed, anyway," Arthur conceded tentatively. "Where is it?" He sat back down and reached out.

Further in and toward your right...there.

Arthur picked it up. "It's heavy."

John's hand joined his to turn it over. It is. More than its size would warrant.

"Wait, it's..." Arthur felt around the sides and... "The bottom is etched, so it doesn't slide." He laughed disbelievingly. "John, I think it's a paperweight."

A paperweight?

"Yes, you know. Something to keep papers down so they don't blow away."

How would they blow away? We're indoors, there's no wind.

"Well, they're also decorative."

This one is hideous, Arthur.

"In which case, I would hazard a guess it's a sort of gag gift from our employer. We never did find where she'd gone. Perhaps it was Jamaica."

And she felt the need to bring back this? John asked skeptically.

"Maybe. Or who knows, maybe a client left it."

We'd have to have a client for that.

"True." Arthur sighed. "Let's get on with more of those transcripts, I guess."

Fun.