“Annette, please. But you did solve that case, and many others like it. So please, can’t you keep an eye on my little girl? Make sure nothing bad happens to her?”
“Sounds to me she’s not so little anymore,” said Dooley.
“No, but to our parents we’ll always be their little girls and boys,” I said, “no matter how old we are.”
“Gran could go,” said Dooley. “She could go undercover and find out what’s going on with this strange and dangerous man.”
“She could, if she hadn’t just told us this morning she’d rather jump off a roof than move into a retirement home.”
Dooley shivered.“She really shouldn’t say things like that. She might jinx things.”
“Too true,” I agreed.
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do,” said Odelia finally, when Annette repeated her urgent plea. “I do have one person who might be able to go undercover, since she’s about the right age. It’s the same person who worked that Advantage Publishing case so successfully.”
Dooley grinned at me.“Looks like Gran is going to Happy Home after all.”
I nodded.“Kicking and screaming, I imagine.”
3
“The problem is that these places aren’t all that easy to get into,” said Odelia once Annette had left and she was pondering the ramifications of the promise she just made. “So even if I can convince Gran to go undercover, they won’t take her.”
“Because she’s a high-maintenance person?” asked Dooley, causing both Odelia and me to burst out laughing.
“No, because they’re full!” said Odelia. “There’s probably a waiting list as long as my arm, and even then, Gran is probably too young. She’s only seventy-five, after all.”
“How old do you have to be before you can go to a retirement home?” I asked.
“It’s not so much age-related but more depending on your personal situation,” said Odelia musingly. “And Gran is healthy. Both mentally and physically. Too healthy.”
“Maybe Dan can pull some strings?” I suggested, referring to her editor Dan Goory.
“Yeah, maybe,” she said, but I could tell it wasn’t going to be easy to get Gran into this place. And even then, if this man was indeed as dangerous as Annette seemed to think, the mission was fraught with a certain measure of danger, and sending Gran in there might not be such a good idea. She wasn’t exactly Jane Bond.
But before Odelia could consult Dan, another person walked into her office, this one a woman of about the same age as Annette Williams, only looking more sophisticated. Her chestnut-colored hair was as glossy as the hair you see in those shampoo commercials, and she was dressed in fine threads that must have cost a pretty penny. She placed a Louis Vuitton handbag on Odelia’s desk and took a seat.
But even though she was probably more well-off than Odelia’s previous client, once she started talking it turned out she was just as anxious and troubled as Annette.
“It’s my husband,” she said after introducing herself as Sara Brooks. “I think he’s cheating on me with his personal assistant.”
“What does your husband do, Mrs. Brooks?” asked Odelia.
“He runs a retirement home,” said Mrs. Brooks, much to our surprise. “I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. Happy Home for the Elderly. He’s the general manager and has been for the past fifteen years. And for just as long I’ve had reason to suspect that he’s been having an affair with a woman named Dee Phillips, his PA.”
“Okay,” said Odelia, taken aback a little by this startling coincidence.
“The thing is, I want a divorce, but I want full custody of the kids. And my lawyer told me that I need evidence of my husband’s infidelity. Pictures, or video, anything to prove in court that he’s being unfaithful to our wedding vows.”
“And you want me to…”
Mrs. Brooks nodded emphatically.“Yes, I want you to get me this evidence, so I can finally get out of this marriage and move on with my life. I don’t want to have anything more to do with that man, you see, and this evidence will get me that.”
“You do realize I’m only a reporter, don’t you?” said Odelia, wavering.
“I know, but you get results. Everybody says so. And since we don’t have a decent PI in this town, and I don’t want to go to one of the big New York agencies, who won’t know the area or the local sensitivities, I decided to come to you.”
“Well, I’m honored, of course,” said Odelia. “But I’m not sure if I’m the right person for the job.”
“Oh, please say yes,” said Mrs. Brooks, scooting forward in her chair and placing her hands on the desk in a beseeching manner. “I don’t know what else to do. The lawyer says if I can’t prove Brian’s infidelity I don’t have a case. We’ll get joint custody and I’ll probably have todeal with that man for the rest of my life. I just want to be free and clear of him. Never have to see or hear from him again for as long as I live.”
“You have strong feelings about your husband,” said Odelia.
“I loathe him. I detest him,” she said in a low voice. “He’s a lying, cheating louse.”
“I didn’t know humans could be married to a louse,” said Dooley, surprised.
“I don’t think she’s actually married to a louse,” I said. “It’s a figure of speech.”