Notes Concerning Kyle Hyde Part 2: Kyle's Traits

Notes Concerning Kyle Hyde Part 2: Kyle's Traits

While investigating Kyle Hyde's daily life, I heard a variety of amusing anecdotes. The first comes from Sidney Reagan, who owned the cafe in Kyle's apartment building.

According to Sidney, Kyle often had his dinner at said cafe whenever he was not away on a business trip. Kyle's favorite was Sidney's California burger. I looked for it on the menu, but Sidney laughed and said I wouldn't find it - he always prepared it especially for Kyle after he'd had a long day on the job.

"I specialize in serving what isn't on the menu," Sidney said, "although my daughter likes giving them strange names. The California burger is the 'Tired Hyde', for example."

Sidney also told me that Kyle would always tip generously, then put the rest of the change in his pocket and leave.

"I once asked him what he did with all the change he collected. He said that he put it all in an empty bottle as savings. He said that when he filled up the bottle, he'd buy a 20 year vintage bourbon and share it with me."

Sidney kept chattering away, continuing his story. "But he never did get that bourbon. The idiot had forgotten his rent one month so he had to raid the bottle fund to pay up!"

Sidney said that he had consoled Kyle with a glass of his own secret vintage whiskey. "That's what it's like as a single man. You set rules for yourself, but damned if you ever follow them."

I also asked his neighbor Betty Meyer about him. She told me about a side to Kyle that might not have been obvious at first glance.

"Kyle is a really strange person. Actually, strange doesn't even begin to cover it. It wasn't uncommon to find letters and stuff on the floor by the mailboxes. Now, Kyle never, ever checked his own mailbox, but whenever he found something on the floor, he would pick it up and bring it straight to that person!"

She related the tale of him bringing her a mail-order catalogue that had been left on the ground.

"it was the same when people dropped stuff in the corridor. Nobody else would ever notice it, but his eagle eyes would hone in on them. Same if it was in a corner or just plain hard to see. I remember him finding something for Marie once too. I do wonder if that had something to do with his old job."

Betty said that she had heard from someone in the building that he used to be a detective. She noted that his general manner made a lot more sense once she had learned that.

I got the same impression as her. If I may add something, Kyle didn't just notice thing on the ground; he would remember every tiny detail about them. But his firm moral compass would always guide him in the right direction and he would never reveal that information to others.

So don't worry, Betty. You, I and Kyle Hyde will continue to be the only ones who know that the catalogue was for a "slimming belt" with a slim blonde woman on the cover and the slogan "Get yourself a top-class man with these seductive hips!"