The Case of the Vanishing Boy — Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Secret Master of Fandom and Private Detective Spade gets a strange request: A tiny woman with pointed ears asks him to help her with a case at FleshCon, a California science fiction convention.

The tiny woman turns out to be the infamous Paladin, whom Spade thought was only a rumor. Paladin needs help finding a teenage boy whom she says vanishes whenever she approaches him.

Spade knows that disappearing teenagers only live in (ahem) science fiction novels, so he vows to do everything he can to find the missing boy -- and to impress the impressive Paladin.

“Kristine Kathryn Rusch's ‘The Case of the Vanishing Boy' [is] a real winner….I hope to read many more stories about Spade and Paladin.”
-- Bill Crider, Mystery Scene Magazine