Part I.

As soon as he closed the door to Sisyphus's office behind him, Harry took a good look around. He needed to find the boy who, a few minutes before, had interrupted their meeting to present himself beaten and dejected in his boss's office. For an instant the boy's figure came to Harry's mind. The youthful appearance, the blood dripping from his forehead, the blackened eyes. If he was around, it would be easy to spot him. Harry went to the front door of the building and questioned the guards if the boy had left that way. They shook their heads.

 
Certain that the young man was still in that building, Harry started walking towards the doors, his ears perked up, looking for any sign of the boy. As he passed through a half-open door, which opened onto a sort of warehouse, Harry heard voices and decided to snoop. He pushed open the door silently and peered inside. Bingo. Here was the young man, sitting on a box while a second man, who looked nothing like a doctor, was standing in front of him, attending to the wound on his forehead. Seeing Harry walk through the door, they both stopped and turned to him instantly. 

"Can I help you?" Said the man who was doing the dressing.

Harry offered him a friendly smile. 

"In fact, you can. I was hoping to speak a few words with our friend over there."

"And you are..?"  The man asked, completely dropping what he was doing and turning to Harry.

"My name's Harry." Harry replied, keeping the smile on his face. "Go ask your boss, before you do anything stupid." 

 The man looked at the young man, and then at Harry again, hesitantly. Finally, he nodded. 

"Alright, alright." He said, on his way out.

Harry held the door for him to pass and closed it behind him. Then he turned, pulled out a box about the same height as the one the boy was sitting in, dragged it over, positioning it in front of him, and sat down too. Now he was face to face with the young man. 

"What's your name, boy?"

"Bernard." The young man replied. He was quite fair-skinned, with light brown hair, and he clearly didn't seem to be frightened by Harry's presence there, which was a good thing. Instead, the boy kept a defiant look on his face.

"Ok, Bernie. Can I call you Bernie? My name is Harry." He brought his face closer to the boy's forehead, looking more closely at his bruise. "Ugh, Bernie. This isn't looking good at all. Who did this to you, kid?"

Bernard kept the same defiant look, which, honestly, was already starting to annoy Harry.

"Who did this to you?" Harry repeated slowly, feigning a look of concern.

"You think I don't know who you are?" Bernard asked condescendingly. Harry couldn't hold back a smile.

"Who am I?" he asked.

"A cop." Bernard said, simply.

Harry now laughed heartily for a few seconds. It was a genuine laugh, he was really enjoying himself. He patted Bernard on the knee while the boy just stared at him. Gradually, Harry began to gather himself.

"Ex-cop, kid. EX-cop. And if you know anything about me, you should know that it's best to describe to me, in detail, who did this to you and answer any questions I ask, right?"

Harry's expression was no longer so friendly and Bernard's gaze was no longer so defiant. In fact, it wasn't defiant at all. Harry's hand rested on Bernard's knee. He leaned forward a little more, bringing his face closer to the young man, while pressing his knee with a heavy hand.

"Think of me as your best friend now, Bernie. You have a problem and I can fix it. That way, we all win, and with a little luck, you may never have to show up like this in front of your boss again. In fact, if you cooperate, I can even teach you how to defend yourself. Now, I want you to search your memory for everything you can remember about who did this to you. Can you do it for me, kid?"

Half an hour later, Harry left Sisyphus headquarters, stepping out onto the sidewalk and lighting a cigarette. The young man, Bernard, had sung like a bird, giving Harry more than enough material to work with.