There was no one from the stack of messages that I had any desire to call back at the moment, so they could all wait til I was damn good and ready.

  It was still a few minutes before Bruce Garrett’s appointment, so I spent the time I had left reviewing his file.

  According to the case file, Bruce owns fifty one percent of The Tool Palace (the only hardware store in town). He said his business partner had been stealing from the company. He believes that his business partner had been recording some not-so-honest tax write-offs. He also thinks he’s been over-charging some of the customers and pocketing the difference.

  “This will be a fun one to prove”, I sarcastically blurted out.

  “Which one are you looking at? Garrett’s?” asked Keith.

  “Yeah and I’m thinking I need to get a look at the ledger books without his business partner knowing about it. Well, really I guess it should be without anyone knowing about it”, I said.

  “Right, you definitely don’t want to give him a chance to destroy any evidence”, said Keith.

  “That’s assuming that it hasn’t already been destroyed”, said Claudia.

  30 – Turn of the Screw

  A tall, thin man walked through the door. He looked to be in his mid to late fifties. He was dressed in a very expensive suit, tie, and even more expensive shoes.

  “I’m Bruce Garrett. I have a three o’clock appointment”.

  I stood up, shook his hand, and introduced myself, Keith, and Claudia.

  “Uh..is there somewhere we can talk privately, Miss Hartman?” asked Bruce.

  “No need for that, Mr. Garrett. These two run the office and do most of the background research for me. They know the cases inside and out long before I ever get to read any of them”, I said.

  He slightly raised his eyebrows and nodded in agreement.

  “Very well then”, said Bruce. “Let’s talk business”.

  I told him about the conversation that me, Keith, and Claudia just had concerning his case. I made him aware that Claudia would be typing up notes on our conversation and that it was for our use only.

  I asked him what hours he, his business partner, and their employees are usually on the premises, regardless of whether or not it was during regular business hours.

  He told us all the specifics he could think of without physically looking at the store’s work schedule.

  “Works for me”, I said.

  He gave me a copy of the key to the front door and the alarm code. He also gave me the password that the security company would need to hear in case I typed in the code wrong and they called to check on the store. This was a good thing, since it would be really easy to screw it up.

  Mr. Garrett left around four. We spent the next twenty minutes printing out the photos for Cecilia Adams, putting them in chronological order, and shoving them into a large, manila envelope.

  Cecilia’s going to be happy about this one, but her daughter…well, Mila’s upcoming reaction is another story altogether.

  31 – At Your Service

  I opened up Casey Gordon’s case file and gave it a once over. He is a bell hop at Serenity Hollow Luxury Hotel and Spa. Well, he was.

  He was fired for stealing a priceless bracelet from a guest of the hotel. He denies any involvement whatsoever in the crime.

  I had Keith hack into the hotel’s surveillance system. I wanted him to access and download the database files for the days in question.

  While he did that, Claudia and I searched through online police reports and news stories looking for similar crimes in the area. I found reports of missing jewelry, large amounts of cash, laptops, cameras, cell phones, and a portable DVD player. All of these crimes were reported in the last six months.

  “Wait a minute. I think I found something. C’mere”, said Keith.

  I walked over to Keith’s desk and he turned his monitor where I could get a better view.

  “Check it out”, said Keith.

  He pointed to a guy walking through the lobby in one scene of the recorded footage.

  “Now look here”, he said as he pointed to the same guy in another frame wearing a bell hop’s uniform with Casey’s name on it. The guy was definitely not Casey, but he was the same guy from the lobby photo.

  Somewhere between the lobby and the fourth floor, he stole and changed into Casey’s uniform. The footage showed him looking around in a suspicious manner then going into the guest’s room. He came out a few minutes later with a velvet bag in his hand that he was tucking into his uniform jacket.

  Keith followed him in the footage until he had taken still shots of every frame that the guy appeared in from the time he entered the hotel to the time he left. He printed out a set for us, Casey, and an additional set for the sheriff.

  As soon as the facial recognition scan that Keith ran gave us an ID for the thief, I called Sheriff Russell and let him know. I then called Casey and reminded him that the hotel most likely would not take his word for it. The sheriff needed to be the one to inform the hotel’s management on the correct identity of the thief.

  32 – Get Out of My Kitchen

  We left the office at around five-thirty, in separate vehicles. Keith and Claudia had offered to let me stay at their place. They still hadn’t found the hairy-little-eight-legged-bastard, so I didn’t feel very comfortable sleeping at mine.

  We stopped by the grocery store on the way to their house and picked up a few things for supper.

  “What can I do to help?” I asked as I walked into the kitchen.

  “You can take this beer and get the hell out of my kitchen”, said Claudia.

  “Understood”, I said. I took the beer and joined Keith in the living room. He was sitting in the recliner, so I sat down on the couch.

  “She kicked you out too, huh?” asked Keith. “Don’t worry about it. She kicks me out all the time”.

  “I am not the least bit surprised by that statement”, I laughed.

  I leaned back, stared up at the ceiling, and sighed.

  “You need to stop thinking about it, Savannah. There’s nothing you can do about it tonight. Finding your friends will be our only priority tomorrow”.

  “I know”, I said. “Thanks for letting me crash here”.

  Keith smiled and said, “Well we couldn’t let you get bit by some hairy-little-eight-legged-bastard now could we?”

  I laughed and took a swig of my beer.

  “Very true”, I said.

  I glanced down and noticed that some little burrs were stuck in my left boot. I put my foot over my right knee and removed them.

  “You’d think I would’ve gotten all of these off of my boots by now”, I said.

  “No shit”, said Keith. “You have them all over the office. I haven’t a clue how you managed to do that. Hell, just yesterday I found one with my ass”.

  “Ahh shit!” I exclaimed.

  “What?” asked Keith.

  “I forgot I was going to go to Garrett’s office tonight and make copies of the ledgers”.

  “Don’t even think about it. You are not going alone. I’m going with you”, said Keith.

  “We’re all gonna go, but first we eat”, said Claudia. “C’mon, supper’s ready”.

  33 – The Help

  The next morning, we headed for the office. I was there right on-time but for Keith and Claudia, it was a different story. For them, it was a drag-ass-can’t-get-out-of-bed kind of morning. We’d been out til around midnight working Garrett’s case.

  We had gotten into his office without any problems. We took pictures, and made photocopies of all of the ledgers that we could find. We even emptied the contents of the shredder. Reassembling those should be fun. I know what Keith will be doing the rest of the afternoon. Bwwahaha!

  I looked around the room at my grumpy employees. I didn’t want to experience another coffee pot related argument, so I told them I was going to Babe’s to pick us up some coffee and donuts.

  “While I’m gone, will you two get the pictures printed out for Cecilia Adams? She’s supposed to come by sometime today to pick them up”

  “Got it, Boss”, said Keith with an index finger salute. There was a very strong hint of jackass in that saluted statement.

  I shook my head, sighed, and walked out the front door.

  It was just after eleven in the morning. The streets were quiet and Babe’s was pretty empty. Isaac was outside playing his saxophone. I could tell he had a good morning because of all the money he had laying in his saxophone case.

  We weren’t in a neighborhood where a guy in a wheelchair would get mugged, but after recent events, I really didn’t know anymore.

  I bent down and gathered up most of the money for him, leaving a few one dollar bills and all of the coins. I added a twenty dollar bill from my pocket to the stack and put it in his bag that was strung over the back of his wheelchair.

  Isaac grinned from ear to ear but he never stopped playing.

  I went inside and ordered our coffee. I was picking out our donuts when Babe came out of the office with a little help from his nephew, Evan. He looked like he was doing much better, considering.

  “Let an old man walk on his own”, said Babe as he waved off Evan.

  “Sorry, Uncle Frank”, said Evan. “I was just trying to help”.

  “I know. You’re a good boy, Evan”, said Babe as he patted him on the back.

  Had I ever heard his real name said out loud before? I didn’t think so, but if I had, I didn’t remember it. All I remember ever hearing anyone call him was ‘Babe’.

  Babe smiled and chuckled when he saw me.

  “Savannah, my dear! Come sit with me!” said Babe as he slapped his hand down on the table in front of him. He sat down and pointed to the chair across from him.

  “Sit, sit!” said Babe.

  “You look good”, I said and sat down. I still had the box of donuts in my hand. I had only gotten around to picking out a few of them before he had walked out of his office.

  “Evan, take her donut box and fill it up. It’s on the house”, said Babe.

  “Babe, I don’t feel right about you giving me so much stuff for free. Let me go back to paying for it”, I said.

  “I will do no such thing”, said Babe.

  I sighed and said, “Okay then how about a compromise? From now on, you give me a twenty percent discount and I pay the rest”.

  “How about I give you a fifty-percent discount and you make an old man happy”, said Babe.

  “How about a twenty percent discount and I don’t tell Keith about your toupee”, I said.

  “How about a twenty-five percent discount and I don’t tell people your real age”, said Babe.

  “Touché, my friend. Twenty-five percent discount it is”, I said with a laugh.

  “Miss Hartman, your coffees are ready”, said Callie as she put four of the coffees in a drink carrier.

  The fifth coffee was for Isaac, so I took it outside and gave it to him before I picked up the rest of our order.

  Evan had filled up the box with various donuts, including two bear claws.

  Mmmmmmm…bear claws.

  “Evan, help Savannah carry her order back to her office”, said Babe.

  “Babe, that’s not necessary. I got it”, I said and picked up the donut box.

  “No, Savannah, I insist. With everything that’s happened around here lately, it would just make me feel better. Make an old man happy”, said Babe.

  “Okay, my friend. Evan, grab the coffee, please. I’ll see you tomorrow, Babe. Bye, Callie”, I said.

  We left and walked the half a block back to my office. The coffee pot sat on the table at the back of the room. I put the donuts down next to it and Evan put the drink carrier full of coffee next to the donuts.

  “Have a great day, Miss Hartman”, said Evan.

  I gave him a five dollar tip and told him not to tell his uncle. He tried to turn it down, but I wouldn’t allow him to. I told him I would not take no for an answer, so he reluctantly accepted the tip and went back to the coffee shop.

  I looked up and saw Cecilia Adams sitting in a chair in my office while her driver sat on the couch in the front lobby.

  Keith and Claudia were both visibly upset but they weren’t saying a whole hell of a lot.

  “Why is she sitting in there?” I quietly asked. My office door was open, so I was trying not to let her hear the conversation.

  “She INSISTED on waiting for YOU”, said Keith.

  I was amazed that he could talk legibly through such clenched teeth.

  “Did you give her the pictures?”

  “I tried. She wouldn’t let me”, said Keith.

  “What do you mean she wouldn’t let you?” I asked.

  “Ask her”, Claudia snarled.

  I could tell this wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation, day, or work experience.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Adams”, I said as I walked into my office.

  “It’s past noon, Miss Hartman, so good afternoon to you. Would you please shut the door? I don’t want to discuss my case where ‘the help’ can hear us”, said Cecilia, whispering her last sentence.

  I fought to stifle a hearty laugh when she referred to Keith and Claudia as “the help”. That was the funniest thing I had heard in a while! No wonder they were so pissed off.

  When I composed myself, I asked her if she had seen the photographs yet.

  “No, I never deal directly with the servants. I wanted to wait for you”, she said.

  My face was turning red from trying so hard not to laugh. This was just hilarious to me, although I don’t think anyone else here thought it was nearly as amusing as I did.

  “Would you excuse me for just a moment?” I asked.

  “Yes dear. You look flushed. Maybe you should go get some fresh air”, said Cecilia.

  “I’ll do that”, I said as I hurried out of my office. I couldn’t hold in the laughter any longer. I ran out the front door and burst out laughing. When I had completely regained my composure, I went back into the office.

  Keith and Claudia just glared at me, which just made it all the more hilarious to me. I giggled again. I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.

  I went to the bathroom and cleaned up my tears. I stopped at Keith’s desk and got the photos for Mrs. Adams. I couldn’t help but giggle as I walked away.

  “I think you’ll be happy with the results”, I said. I opened the envelope and handed her the pictures.

  When she looked at them, she grinned so big that I could swear that I saw every tooth in her rich little mouth.

  “I knew he wasn’t worthy of my daughter. I told Mila he didn’t love her. I told her that he was only a gold-digger. I believe my family will finally be rid of this pest now that I have photographs of him having sex with another woman. Do you have my final bill ready?” said Cecilia.

  “Yes, ma’am, I do”, I said and handed it to her.

  “Leonard”, she called out. Her driver got up and came to the doorway of my office.

  “Yes, Mrs. Adams?” asked Leonard.

  “Go get the car while I conclude my business with Miss Hartman”.

  “Yes Ma’am”, said Leonard as he tipped his cap and hurriedly left the office.

  I handed her the updated invoice and she promptly wrote me a check. She didn’t even blink an eye when she saw the amount.

  I walked her out to the front lobby. Her driver was standing next to the limousine and came running when he saw us at the front door.

  He escorted her to the car and opened the back door for her. As soon as she was safely inside, he went to the driver’s side, got in the car, and drove away.

  I went back into the office. I couldn’t help myself and started giggling when I saw Keith and Claudia. It only made it worse when they glared at me again. I lost it. I started laughing hysterically, went into my office, and shut the door.

  When I finally got a grip, I walked back out of my office. I put my hands up to my eyes as blinders, trying not to lose it again. I got my coffee and donuts, giggled, mumbled about ‘the help’, giggled again, and went back into my office.

  I had a few more back logged cases to work, but they would have to wait. I needed to be focused on finding my friends and clearing Shawn.

  The rest of the afternoon was fairly quiet. All three of us went through the case files and then through the photos of both crime scenes. We were looking for anything that we may have missed, but we were coming up empty.

  “Keith, where are the police reports on Alena’s murder? I see the ones for Shawn’s arrest, but I don’t see one with details on the murder itself”.

  “Gimme a minute”, said Keith.

  He began typing frantically just like he always does. I assumed he was accessing the online police reports and I was right. He spent nearly twenty minutes searching before he spoke.

  “You don’t see the police report because there isn’t one”, said Keith.

  “Huh? What do you mean there isn’t one?” I asked. “Did someone forget to write it up or what?”

  “Or what”, said Keith. “The numbers for the reports are sequential and one of the case numbers is missing. I’d bet it was the one for Alena’s murder. It looks like it was deleted”.

  “Why would someone delete a police report for an ongoing case?” I asked.

  “I can only think of one reason”, said Keith. “There was something in that report that someone didn’t want anyone else to see”.

  But what was it? That’s the question of the day. Well, it’s one of the questions, that is.

  I picked up the phone and called the sheriff’s office.

  “Hope County Sheriff’s Office”, said Jolynn.

  “Hey it’s Savannah Hartman. Is Nate around?”

  “No not right now. I think he and Tucker went to lunch. You want me to have him call you?”

  “Yes, ma’am, if you don’t mind”, I said.

  “Allrighty. Do you want him to call your office or your mobile phone?” asked Jolynn.

  “Tell him to call my mobile. Thanks”, I said and hung up the phone.

  Ten minutes later, the sheriff returned my call.

 

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