Horizon of Darkness

Leaning casually against the wall, Joe listened half-heartedly (because he didn't have whole ears left) to the cool story of the wealthy man, mechanically tossing a coin with his whole hand. It was perfectly clear that his beloved daughter was no longer alive – they don't specifically capture such people for slavery, and if they wanted a ransom, they would have at least sent a letter with demands. There was also a much more mundane version – overly kind sisters, a grumpy father, or a cunning fiancé could have inadvertently led the girl to her death, and for show, they staged a large-scale search with a rescue operation throughout the world.
However, all of this worried Joe very little: if they were only paying him for the "appearance" of doing useless work, then that would be even better.