Текст книги "Trigger Snappy"

Автор книги: Camilla Chafer

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

Chapter Eleven

Penelope's words were still ringing in my ears as I presented myself at the front desk for Lancaster Friedland. Solomon had returned to the agency and I wasn't sure whom to feel sorry for most: Juliet because her world was falling apart, or the people she supposedly abused. With her personal life in tatters, and an alibi that the antenatal clinic did confirm, I felt compelled to find out exactly what happened in Juliet's professional life. Unfortunately, given the receptionist's stony look when I introduced myself, I already had a sinking feeling that I wouldn’t get very far. That was reinforced when Mark Lancaster, Juliet's boss, appeared. As he buttoned the navy wool jacket of his expensive-looking suit, I caught a peek of a Rolex on his wrist, and felt sure his shoes cost no less than a thousand dollars. Business was clearly good.

"Ms. Graves, I don't think I can help you," Mark Lancaster said promptly, taking me to one side of the busy lobby without inviting me into a meeting room, or shaking my hand. "You said Juliet engaged your services?"

"She did shortly before her arrest. Are you her boss? The Lancaster of Lancaster Friedland?"

"Yes, to her boss; and no, to the Lancaster. That was my grandfather. I'm sorry to hurry you, but I have an appointment in ten minutes. What did Juliet send you here for?"

"I'm looking into all aspects of her case and hoped you might be able to suggest who could be doing this to her."

"Let me stop you right there," Mark cut in. "I've heard this stalking story already and it's absolutely absurd. There is no way someone from the outside could infiltrate our firm's systems. We have the best firewalls money can buy, an excellent IT team, and all of our employees undergo mandatory safety training so they know not to share passwords with anyone."

"People make errors all the time. They use passwords that are too simple, and leave laptops unlocked, and hackers can infiltrate any kind of system."

"Not ours," Mark replied with an absolute certainty that dared me to prove otherwise. I dared... in my head, since he seemed so unwilling to believe any other possibility.

"Did you ever let Juliet work from home?" I asked, changing the topic slightly.

"Sure, all our employees do from time-to-time."

"So she was able to access the systems remotely?"

"Well, yes, but only from a secure laptop that she was issued. And before you tell me someone guessed that she used her first dog's name as a password, I can assure you that's not the case. Everyone on our staff is trained to use random strings of letters and numbers that are arcane and unguessable. Not only that, but we insist employees change their passwords every month."

"So theoretically, only Juliet could access her own desktop, email, et cetera?"

"Yes, although her assistant would have access too."

"The assistant who alleged Juliet fired her?"

"Yes, and you probably know Juliet claimed her assistant quit abruptly. Since neither of them could produce any proof, we had to settle with her assistant outside of court. Before you ask, yes! Juliet blamed that on the mythical stalker too!"

"Did you investigate whether the stalker could be real?"

"Sure, we did! Our IT team looked into it and they couldn't find any deviations to suggest that anyone other than Juliet sent her own emails and made her own trades. Let me be frank with you, Ms. Graves, I liked Juliet. She was a really good worker and she had great potential here, but I've seen it happen before. The trading floor is a stressful environment; and I've seen people burn out, screw up, and suddenly ditch their jobs before chasing their childhood dreams of running a lemonade stand and surfing all day long."

"Do you think Juliet just burned out?"

He fixed me with an angry look. "Maybe."

"When did you first start having problems with her?"

"When she kicked up a fuss over not getting interviewed for a promotion she didn't even apply for."

"What happened?"

"When I promoted another employee, a male, Juliet came to me, quietly and professionally. She asked me why she hadn't been interviewed for the job when she was more senior and better qualified. Truth was, if she had applied, she would have gotten the job. She was by far the better candidate, but she didn't apply. I couldn't give the job to her after I already made the offer. I thought she would sue."

"But she didn't?" I guessed.

"No, she just said there must have been some kind of error, assuring me she had applied, and hoped I'd consider her again in the future. She was really professional about it, but I think it left a bad taste in her mouth; I know it did in mine. I don't want my employees thinking I'm a sexist ass, and I sure don't want a lawsuit. We're an equal opportunity firm and draw the most excellent applicants because of that."

"Did you consider giving her a pay raise instead? One that would reward her skills and abilities?"

"It was mentioned in a management meeting that we could provide a raise linked to her performance, but then her trades went downhill. At first, I figured she was upset about the job and made a couple of mistakes. Things seemed to stabilize; then we got an alert about a rogue trade. Not just one either. We kept an eye on her, and things just kept getting worse."

"How so?"

"I think I've already said too much. I wish none of this happened. I really liked Juliet. She was a great team player, and a dream employee. I'm sorry it has to go down like this, but when you rip off a firm, costing us money, and attracting negative attention like this from illegal trades, everyone suffers."

"Everyone?"

"Rogue trades impact everyone! Her team, me, the people whose money she lost, and the money she gambled. Not only that, but we'll be fined crazy money for the insider trades that made profits. You know whose head is on the line now? Mine!" Mark snapped.

"I'd like to speak to her colleagues and her former assistant," I told him.

"No-can-do. We already brought in our own investigative team; and I don't want some myth-chasing PI interrupting their work."

"But..."

"I'm sorry to have wasted your time, Ms. Graves. I'm pretty sure I've just confirmed everything you already know, and I don't have anything more to tell you." Mark turned on his heel and strode away before I could tell him he didn't waste my time at all. What he told me was very useful, but I needed access to other people within the firm to corroborate my theories. Without that, and lacking the means to get past the receptionist discreetly watching me, there was no point in my staying; so instead, I simply turned and pushed my way through the glass doors. I went out onto the street, uncertain of what to do next.

A dot in the cloudless, blue sky caught my eye and for a moment, I stood there, watching the tiny plane climb higher before disappearing from view beyond the taller buildings of Montgomery's skyline. I wished I were on it. I bet Juliet wished she was on a plane too. An idea sparked in my head. After calling Lily, I asked her, "Want to go on a field trip?"

"I thought we weren't meeting until eight. Does this field trip involve snacks?" she inquired.

"Absolutely."

"Pick me up!"

~

"I really thought when you said 'field trip,' you meant shopping," moaned Lily.

"Shopping? For what?"

"Is that, like, the most ridiculous question ever?"

"Um..."

"Don't think too long. It's ridiculous! I have to buy things for the baby, and for me! I'm busting out of all my pants. I'm in a state of pants-mergency."

"We can go shopping soon. Maybe in there." I pointed to the airport as a plane swooped in low above us. We watched it through the windshield as it curved towards the runway somewhere beyond.

"You can't fool me," said Lily, "I know there's no shopping unless we check in. Are we checking in?"

"No, sorry."

"You owe me a day of shopping and carrying my bags and rubbing my tired feet."

"I don't remember marrying you."

"Fine, I'll let you off. I don't know how I can help you verify Juliet was here at the airport."

"You're here just for company."

"I feel so used."

Lily stopped moaning somewhere between the short stay parking lot and the airport terminal. That could have had a lot to do with my promise to go with her and shop for maternity clothes and accessories that would always fit, and very little to do with handing over the photos of Juliet allegedly trying to buy a ticket out of the country.

"I have a plan," said Lily, pointing to the blurred face of the check-in attendant. Solomon had the photo enlarged and the nametag read Kimberley. "Let's hunt her down and make her talk."

"Good idea, but let's not actually hunt her. Instead, we’ll ask politely if she's around and if so, can she remember actually talking to Juliet."

"And when she says no, we'll show her the evidence and catch her red-handed?" replied Lily, her voice full of enthusiasm for tackling the hapless attendant.

"Kinda, but we’ll show her the photo as a reminder in case that jogs her memory."

"Do you want to do good cop, bad cop?"

I pulled a face. "Maybe not today."

"Okay, fine. I can see I really got duped on this trip. I'll be the dumb, blonde friend instead, okay?" Lily tossed her mass of blonde curls and pretended to pop bubble gum. "What were you planning to tell the check-in attendant?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, the reason why you're trying to verify if it is Juliet in the photo."

"I... um... I don't know. I didn't think it through yet."

"We could say she was my lesbian lover and the baby I'm carrying came from her egg, and now she's abandoned me, and I need to find her because she's the only tissue match, and one of us needs surgery." Lily grinned at her story.

"Bit far-fetched."

"Do you think? Should we just stick with the runaway lesbian lover?"

"Let's stick with the suspected stolen passport."

"That's much less engaging."

"But much more accurate," I said as we passed through sliding doors into a cavernous space. It was like a warehouse, but countless people were intersecting each other, all toting luggage. Several lines stood dozens deep, and echoing over all the chatter was a baby's wail. I turned around, searching for the desk where the photos were taken, finally spotting it on my second spin.

"Over there," I said, grabbing Lily's wrist and tugging her behind me.

The passenger being served stepped away as we approached. I plastered on a smile as I stepped into his vacated space. "Hi, we're looking for Kimberley," I told the young, uniformed desk clerk.

"She's taking a break right now. Can I help?"

"No, thanks. What time is she returning?"

He checked his watch. "Fifteen minutes."

"Thanks." I turned to Lily. "We can get a coffee while we wait."

"Oh, yay. Decaf. So glad I came," huffed Lily.

"There's a smoothie bar."

"Party central!"

I bought Lily a mango smoothie and got a mixed berry for me. We were sitting on plastic chairs where we could watch over the desk. We observed the male clerk serving several people, all apparently buying last minute tickets.

"Solomon asked me to move in with him."

"Shut! Up!" screamed Lily causing several neighboring tables to turn and look.

"He did. He thinks it's time for the next step and says I should move into his house."

"Good call. You already have the keys; and his house is huge. Will he give you a guest bedroom for a closet? Do you need to go shopping to buy new stuff to fill your huge, new closet?"

"I haven't said yes yet."

"Why not? I thought that was what you wanted?"

"Yes, but I guess... with all the things happening at work, I guess I thought I'd be more settled before taking a step like that."

"Settled? How so?"

"Like, we'd still be working together."

"You are working together," Lily pointed out. "He just isn't signing your pay checks."

"True, but I thought I'd feel more stable in my job. I thought I'd still be at his agency, solving interesting cases, and moving in together would be a natural development from that. Instead, I'm struggling to find paying gigs, and trying not to beg for my old job back."

"I thought not working together improved your relationship?" Lily pursed her lips around the straw, making happy noises as she slurped her smoothie. "You said you don't talk about work as much."

"We don't. Until now anyway."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't feel equal."

"Why? Because he has his own agency with employees, a fat bank account, and a big house in a great neighborhood?"

Talk about hitting the nail on the head. "Yes."

"Does it really matter? He's had a longer career, and he's been a lot more focused. He's ahead in those respects because of everything he's done to work towards them. That doesn't make him better than you."

"Doesn't it?"

"Did you look down on me because my parents have a ton of money, and gave us low rent on their building for years? Or when they helped Jord and me buy our house? Or offered me a loan for my business to make my life easier?"

"No. Anyway, you worked really hard for your bar so you would not have to rely on your parents."

"Yes, and Solomon worked really hard for his lifestyle; and you've worked really hard for yours. Who really cares whose house is bigger if you get to be together every day?"

"Is that all it comes down to?"

Lily pulled a face. "Yes!"

"Then why does it seem like such a huge deal?"

"Because it is a huge deal. Have you ever lived with anyone before?"

"For about five minutes when I was briefly engaged; and look how that turned out. The engagement ended and I ran away to join the Army."

"That'll never happen again. The Army would never take you back."

Lily was right. The Army and I had a mutual breakup that was actually a lot nicer than the abrupt ending of my engagement. That option was out. Now, I was older and wiser and less likely to make stupid decisions. Not completely unlikely though; the circus would probably still hire me if I got desperate.

"You shouldn't let one bad decision guide your life."

"When did you get so wise?" I asked.

"When I stopped drinking alcohol. I miss my cocktails."

"So I should say yes?"

"You should say whatever makes you happy. If it's no, say that; or say, not right now. If yes makes you happy, say yes."

"What if it's a mistake and I start to resent Solomon's wet towels on the bed and his stray socks?"

"Does he do that?"

"No." I paused to drink some more. The smoothie was delicious, just the right blend of sweet and tangy. "What if he gets sick of my shoe habit and lip gloss collection?"

"Get naked and make him forget about it."

"Is co-habitation really that easy?"

"Works for me." Lily patted her bump.

"What about my house?"

"Maybe you should have joint custody of your houses. Spend Monday to Wednesday morning at yours. Wednesday night to Friday at his, and then alternate the weekends."

"I don't think anyone can keep up with that schedule."

"You'll have to make a decision somewhere. Don't keep the man hanging. He loves you and wants to live with you. You love him and want to... fill in the blanks, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, glancing over to the desk just in time to see a uniformed woman moving behind it. She smiled and said something to her colleague before they both laughed. "I think that's Kimberley."

"You be good cop," said Lily. She finished her smoothie with a satisfied slurp before pushing it into the middle of the table, her expression turning steely. "I'll be the silent, menacing one."

I didn't want to upset her, but there was nothing menacing about her floral swing top and skinny jeans, especially since she appeared to have swallowed a melon. But I figured it was safer to give her a decisive nod of agreement; and hope she stuck to the silent part as we approached the desk.

"Kimberley?" I said, smiling as she looked up. I produced my PI license and held it up for her to see. "I need to ask you a couple of questions."

"Sure. How can I help?"

"Do you remember this woman?" I asked her, producing the photo that showed Kimberley's nametag clearly, and the back of Juliet's head.

"No, I'm sorry, but I serve a lot of customers. When was this taken?"

"Ten days ago."

"Oh, yes... There was a car crash on the way to work. I thought I'd be late, but I don't remember any of the customers; sorry. Did I do something wrong?" she asked, looking worried. I glanced over my shoulder. Lily was glaring at her like she'd taken the last donut out of spite and failed to enjoy it. At least she was silent.

"No, nothing wrong at all, I said, trying to divert Kimberley's attention back to me. "We're collecting some information about this woman, and we hoped you could remember her."

"I can't give out any customer details. It's against company policy."

"Can you look closely at this photo? Do you recall anything about her at all?" I pushed another photo over, the one with the side of profile of either the real or fake Juliet. Reluctantly, Kimberley picked it up, and began squinting at it.

"No, I'm sorry. We get so many customers."

"She bought a ticket to Russia."

"I barely register where people are flying."

"Perhaps you could explain the process of purchasing a ticket. What does a person do when they get to the desk?"

"Oh, that's easy. They just tell me where they want to go and when; and I enter the information into the computer. It returns a list of the next flights and seating availability; then I ask the customer which they would prefer. Some people will pay anything to get on a flight. Other times, they want the cheapest deal, and we work out which is best."

"We think this woman bought a ticket ahead of time. Is that possible?"

"Yes, we can do that too."

"So she just hands over her credit card and that's it?"

"No, I need to see a passport too and the credit card needs to go through the usual security checks. Or the customer could pay by cash if they prefer."

"Ours paid by credit card. Do you keep a record of the receipts?"

"Yes, but they are sent to head office at the end of the day."

"Do you check the passport of the person purchasing the ticket?"

"Sure. I need to make sure the name on the passport matches the name I'm adding to the flight manifest; and also that the passport is valid for travel."

"And the photo?"

"I check that too."

"So it's highly likely that you checked hers?"

"Yes, I absolutely would. I always make sure the passport photo matches the person using it. We get people trying to pass themselves off as other people from time-to-time."

"Thanks. You've been very useful."

"Did you hear her 'fess up the moment she knew she was caught?" whispered Lily as we walked away.

"She didn't 'fess up to anything."

"It was my bad cop glare," continued Lily.

"Kimberley pretty much nailed Juliet. I bet she'll be pulled into the court case to testify too."

"We could cross examine her."

"We can't. We're not lawyers."

"We could slip Juliet's lawyer a note at a crucial moment. They do that all the time on TV."

"Saying what? That she made all the checks she was supposed to, and was sure it was Juliet? Juliet with her own passport, her own credit card, and her own information." I stopped. It seemed useless. All I was doing was proving Solomon's case, and Detective Donahue's, but not mine.

Lily grabbed my arm, stopping us in our tracks. "It's like you've been saying all along. It's too neat. Too easy. I think Kimberley could have been fooled."

"How?"

"Did you see her squinting and pinching her nose? There were little red marks on either side. I think she took her glasses off. I don't think she can see!"

I turned back to Kimberley, my mouth falling open. "Someone who looked similar enough to Juliet could have duped her?"

"The right hair, the right makeup, the right information..." Lily trailed off as we looked at each other in excitement. "I bet I could fool Kimberley. I bet I could fool you, too. I'll show you!"

"What are you planning?"

"In ten minutes, someone is going to walk through this hall and go to that ticket desk." Lily pointed from the door across to the desk where Kimberley was currently occupied and serving a new customer. "You can watch from... over there. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but it'll be Juliet, so watch carefully." She nodded towards the smoothie bar where we were sitting only a few minutes ago.

"She isn't here."

"Is too!"

"What are you up to?" I had to ask, puzzled at Lily's sudden enthusiasm. Given her desire to play bad cop not so long ago, I couldn't help feeling a little worried at what might be going through her head. Plus, Juliet was under house arrest so I had to assume she wasn't dumb enough to attempt to drive out to the airport.

"Just keep watching and use your cell phone to videotape everything!" Lily called, hurrying away with a wave. I watched as she disappeared from the terminal exit, heading towards the parking lot. Still puzzled, I ordered another smoothie and sat at a tall table, my feet dangling from the nearly-as-tall stool while I waited, tapping my screen every few seconds to keep the video function primed. I was halfway through my smoothie and wondering if Lily ditched me when Juliet walked past. At least... it looked like her.

I raised my cell phone and hit the record button as I recognized her thigh-length trenchcoat and glossy hair as she turned her face away. Even the purse she carried seemed familiar. I watched, frowning as she approached the desk where Lily and I stood only minutes before when we spoke to Kimberley. In between staring at the screen, ensuring Juliet's back was center, I glanced at Kimberley's face. Impassive and not at all worried, she said something, and Juliet nodded, then turned away, stepping a little to the right of the desk. Her back was still turned away so I couldn’t get a good look at her face. Looking around, Lily was nowhere to be seen.

Glancing down as my phone sounded a text, I read the screen. "Approach Juliet," texted Lily. "And keep the video running."

I frowned again, feeling more confused than ever as I slid down from the tall stool and grabbed my smoothie, making my way over to Juliet, with my cell phone pointed at her. She didn't turn around as I approached, so I called her name, but got no response. Stepping closer, I called her name again. When I was just steps away, I reached a hand to her shoulder and she spun around.

"How..." I started.

"Surprise!"