Trudi Baldwin - Sammy Dick, PI 02 - Acid Test for Yellow Flower

by Trudi Baldwin

  “We barely have a thousand bucks between us, Sammy.”

  On this point, as on so many points, Geo was correct. Our payout from the Swann Diamonds case had, indeed, been quite large. The downside was that Geo’s and my debts had also, indeed, been quite large. Our big windfall in the last major case had been eaten up long ago.

  Geo drawled, “Okay, you win in the silliest game ever invented category, Sammy.”

  I knew my cousin well, so I was undaunted. “I can see by the way you are trying to avert your eyes from mine that you’re intrigued, and you’re just itching to participate in my silly game, as you call it.” I had to admit to myself, and I seldom admit anything to myself (since that results in self-awareness, which is not one of my signature strengths) that I was secretly thrilled Geo was getting back to his old, playful, sarcastic self, rather than the starry-eyed, absentee partner he’d become under the spell of Little Miss Kathy Keach.

  “I’m intrigued, Sammy, with moving this investigation along and if we have to play silly games like Motive Monopoly to do that, then let’s play. One game change, though, I’m going to play on my laptop and you can play on your old-fashioned, outdated legal pad, so that we vote independently of each other and no groupthink occurs. Besides, you might cheat and steal my choices, since mine will be based upon facts and research rather than wild ass guesses, which is your approach to solving cases.”

  I ignored that jab completely because I was excited to play the game. “You’re on, dude,” I smiled happily. “On your marks, get set, go!”

  Even though I loved to play games, this proved to be a challenging game. We just didn’t have enough information to play it with any insight. I stared at the list I’d written as Geo had called out the criminal offenders. Then I added two names to the list. Finally, I drew two hotels beside Tattooed Tanya, one beside Carlita the Cool One, one beside Marissa, the Schizoid Admin, and then I drew my last hotel beside Fake Freddy.

  “Done!” I yelled, throwing my hands in the air as if I’d just crossed the finish line for the Tour de France.

  Geo didn’t flinch or make a sound. He just sat staring at his laptop monitor and fiddling with his mouse.

  “Tick, tick, tick, tick,” I chanted loudly, drumming my fingers on the table in the classic gesture of boredom. Geo still didn’t respond.

  “Tick, tick, tick, tick …” I drummed my fingers some more.

  Finally, very slowly, just to irritate me, he turned his laptop to face me. On it, he’d assembled a photo of each of our suspects, gleaned from who knows where on the internet, and sitting beside some of the photos was a tiny Monopoly hotel.

  “Oh, Geo, I love it!” I squealed and then immediately shut up as I was starting to sound too much like Little Miss Kathy Keach.

  We then compared our lists. As usual, Geo and I had come at it from different angles. Geo had placed two hotels next to a photo of Handsome Hayden, one next to Carlita, one next to Annie, and his final one on Tattooed Tanya. That meant we only had two suspects in common: Carlita and Tanya, so we decided to start with a discussion as to what motive either one could possibly have.

  “I’ll go first,” I said.

  “You always go first, Sammy.”

  “I do not, not if it’s something I don’t want to do. Then I let you go first.”

  Geo almost smiled or winced at that remark, I wasn’t sure which. “Okay, Sammy, give it your best shot. What motive could Tattooed Tanya possibly have for lacing Yellow Flower with acid?”

  “Well, she’s hot headed and immature.”

  “Sounds like someone else I know. That’s not a motive.”

  “I’m ignoring that remark, Geo, and continuing with my reasoning. Tanya is the type that just gets mad at everybody, including herself. Maybe she just said ‘fuck it’ one day and poured hydrofluoric acid into the mix.”

  “And implicated herself since she’s on the production line, has access and also exposed herself to potential harm when coming into contact with the acid?”

  “Actually, when I look at the way the production line works, I think the acid had to be injected just after the lotion comes out of the Mother Vat and enters what they call the Baby Vat. Each product line has its own Baby Vat where the scents and essences are added that make the line unique. The Baby Vat is covered, while the Mother Vat is not. In fact, everything is covered or contained after the Mother Vat. No one actually touches or is exposed to product after it leaves there, and we know it couldn’t have been added there as it would have shown up in the other product lines. So if Tanya, or anyone else on the line did it, they weren’t really at risk. Just the business, and of course, the customers could have been at risk if they’d inserted enough acid.”

  “On this first round, the amount was so small that the risk of damage to anyone was negligible. Gloria was lucky, but who knows what Plan B is,” Geo conjectured. “Let’s look at this a different way. Who stands to profit if Gloria goes out of business or is hit by huge law suits?”

  “No one, Geo. I guess unless they’re harboring some huge grudge against Gloria, or they’re trying to get back at someone else, or they’re just a crazy ass like Tanya, our resident stalker.”

  “I know. No one stands to profit. Who could be holding a grudge against Gloria?”

  “Ancient Annie for being laid off,” I suggested. “But my spidey senses just say it ain’t so. Annie’s pride in her job and in the team’s output is too genuine.”

  “You’ve been fooled before, Sammy.”

  “Rarely,” I lied. “I’m getting tired of this game. We don’t know enough to play it properly.”

  “It’s your game, Sammy. You made it up.”

  “It’s a perfectly good game. But let’s play it again after I go to the Hump Party.”

  “The Hump Party? What and when is the Hump party?”

  “Handsome Hayden is hosting a Hump Party on Wednesday night to celebrate Hump Day. It’s a BYOE party.”

  “What’s BYOE?”

  “I like it when you’re the one asking all the questions and not me. It equalizes the power in our relationship, Geo.”

  “That is one of the most off-the-wall things you’ve ever said to me, Sammy. Besides, most of the power resides with you, since your name is on the business, not mine. I’m just the hired help.”

  The truth was that Geo didn’t want to be part owner of the Dick Investigation Agency because he never thought it would actually succeed. He just helped because the unpredictable searches, the gray market electronic gadgetry, and advanced hacking involved were nearly irresistible to him. Plus the part-time, flexible hours suited his college schedule, even though our expensive office downtown was often unmanned. Geo had long been a proponent for letting go of the office lease and using only our web-site, but now that Kathy Keach worked nearby he was motivated to go into the office whenever possible to be near her when she got off work.

  I responded to his question, “BYOE, for your information, means bring your own everything.”

  “This guy kind of sounds like you, Sammy.”

  “He is kind of like me. That’s why I didn’t put a hotel beside his name.”

  “Well, watch out. Good looks and immaturity can be deceiving. You need to be especially careful at this party. Someone may be on to you and see you as a threat. Things could get dangerous fast.”

  “I can handle myself, Geo. Haven’t I always done so in the past.”

  “I plead the fifth, Sammy.”

  “I’m choosing to ignore that remark, Geo. Let’s give the investigation a rest until we each learn more. I’m going outside to throw balls for Snack.” I began gathering balls in my hands to take outside while Snack began bouncing like a smiling kangaroo. Then he shot out the doggy door to await his nightly ball retrieval game in the backyard.

  I sighed as I followed him. Overall, the investigation was moving at a snail’s pace.

  Chapter Eleven – Day Two on the Job

  On Tuesday, the snail picked up a little spee
d. Upon arriving at the plant, I purposefully left my badge in the car and tried to enter the manufacturing area without swiping a badge just to find out what would happen. An alarm sounded and like quicksilver, Carlita the Cool One, slid in front of me to obstruct my entering without a badge.

  “Whoa,” I said, “sorry, Carlita, I seem to have misplaced my badge.”

  “On your second day of work? And you’ve already misplaced your badge? Parker, that does not bode well for your future here.”

  Yikes, a tough girl. “It won’t happen again, Carlita, but what do I do now to replace it and get back out on the line?”

  “You’ll need to go in and see Mr. Gadston immediately. He runs both Security as well as HR.”

  “Got it. I’ll be out on the line shortly.”

  “I’ll make sure Trinity or Larry starts covering your spot in your absence,” Carlita the Cool One said rather coldly I thought.

  I headed back toward the small hall that led to Fake Freddy’s office and rapped on his door. No answer.

  I could hear some shuffling about and a chair being shoved around or something. The door swung open and out sashayed Marissa smoothing down her tight black sheath. The sheath looked like it had just been shoved way up around her hips and she was trying to adjust it back into place. Her beady eyes avoided mine as she attempted to gather herself, and her lipstick looked bruised and smeared. She’d shut the door behind her.

  Aha, the Schizoid Admin might be doing it with Freddy! Interesting. I rapped again. This time a calm male voice encouraged me to enter, so I did.

  If Fake Freddy had been making whoopee with his Admin, I saw no sign of it. He looked as prim and proper as ever, a diminutive Ken doll sitting on the other side of the desk. His hands clasped together on his spotless, white blotter. No paperwork in sight. “May I help you?”

  “I seem to have misplaced my badge.” Unlike Carlita, Freddy didn’t admonish me. Instead, he pulled a set of keys from his desk, unlocked a side drawer and handed me a new badge that said Temporary.

  I decided to dive in and try to learn more. “So do you hold a lot of patents here requiring high cyber security?”

  “That’s an unusual question for a new-hire on the frontline to be asking,” he eyed me suspiciously, “but, no, we don’t hold a single patent. Our success is all about marketing, not patents. At least in our line of business. Why are you asking?” It might have been my imagination, but I thought he clasped his hands so tightly upon hearing my question that his knuckles went white.

  Time to think fast. One of my many strengths. “Oh, I love your products, and I have some ideas about some new scents and directions you might take with your product lines. I want to get promoted quickly and that’s caused me to think about possible career directions here.”

  “Well, your first career direction needs to be to refrain from losing your badge, so you can be out on the line and productive at the start of your shift.” He’d unclasped his hands and now all ten of his fingers were drumming impatiently on the pristine, white blotter.

  Another hard ass with high expectations. “Yes, sir!” I barked, wheeled on my heel out the door and marched back up the narrow hallway, into the gown room and out onto the factory floor. Day Two had begun.

  When I reached my station at the end of the line, a male figure was hunched over in my chair clearly engrossed in something and that something was not the production line. I tried to sneak up silently behind him to discover what he was doing. I peeked over his shoulder to see him playing a video game on his phone.

  “Hi there! Thanks for covering for me. I lost my badge.”

  Lazy Larry threw his head up, jerked up his white gown, and quickly stuffed his phone in his jeans pocket. Lots of jerking up and down of clothing this morning in the lotion factory. First Marissa, now Larry.

  “I thought it was illegal to have a phone on the floor?” I asked innocently.

  Larry stiffened. “It is. I admit it. It’s just that sometimes I get so bored on the job, that I supplement it with some gaming.”

  “I completely understand! I’m bored out of my mind, and it’s only day two of my job. I think I’m going to start sneaking my phone in from this day forward. Great idea!” I could see him visibly relax.

  “I need to head back to my own station,” he said. “Hayden’s been covering two stations while I came over to cover for you. By the way, are you going to his party on Wednesday night?”

  “Sure am. Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Are you going, Larry?”

  “Sure am. Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he quipped.

  Well, at least I was bonding with somebody I thought as I watched Lazy Larry amble back to his station. This job would be a lot more fun if people sat close enough together to talk. My cart was almost full. When it filled up, I pulled it out, replaced it with an empty one, so that the next set of lotion bottles would have a place to land, and began rolling my heavy load toward Distribution. My favorite part of my job was busting through the two metal double doors with my cart to enter into the Distribution Room. I got a good run at it this time and busted on through. Once inside, a blue-coated individual, like a parking lot attendant at a big sporting event, directed me toward an open spot for Yellow Flower. I applied some muscle to get the heavy cart redirected as indicated. The cart fit nicely into the space and as I turned to grab an empty cart for my return, a short, young person stepped in front of me.

  She was clothed in blue like others in Distribution and didn’t wear a hair net. Since everything was already sealed in Distribution, enclosing the hair wasn’t necessary. This youngster had bouncy, blonde, curly hair. A round, happy face. Freckles all over the round, happy face. Her cheery blue eyes held mine.

  Since I towered over her, I had to glance down to read her badge. Her badge read Sally Snort. Holy shit, I was now face to face with the infamous Sally Snort.

  “I see your name is Sally. Sally Snort.” I tried not to snort with laughter as I said this. By applying some unusual self-restraint I succeeded and extended my gloved hand. We shook gloved hands. Plastic to plastic. This is how friendship starts in the factory. At least, I hoped it was going to be a friendship because Sally Snort had been at the epicenter of the acid discovery according to Gloria’s files and was still central to the internal investigation. She seemed awfully cheery to be a good investigator. Or maybe those are the best kind. Maybe she ingratiates herself with her cheeriness and then, bam, she catches you in the act.

  “I understand you lost your badge this morning, Parker? That can be stressful on your second day on the job.”

  Someone with empathy. That was a new one. Plus she knew my name, even though my badge said Temporary. Neither Carlita nor Freddy had any empathy for my situation.

  Actually, I found the empathy a little suspicious, but I decided to play along. “You are so right, Sally. I couldn’t go out and start my job on time, someone had to cover for me, and I was forced to go into HR and Security to get a replacement.”

  “That’s worrisome your second day on the job, Parker. I understand how that could be a stressful start to your day. Any idea how or where you lost your badge?”

  Now that their product security had been breached, a lost badge floating around might pose serious problems. Hopefully, their system nullified the badge’s access immediately. I could understand, though, how a lotion factory would not anticipate these kinds of problems and not be set up for heightened security in the first place. After all, they were just making lotion; it wasn’t like they were making biological warfare weapons or protecting drug patents.

  “Not a clue,” I smiled unhelpfully, “but I’ll keep my eye out for it and turn it in if it shows up. I’d better get going, or I’ll be late again.” I nodded my head in closure and wheeled the empty cart back out through the Exit side of the double doors bamming through with satisfaction as I went.

  For the rest of the day, the snail’s pace of the investigation continued though. I learned nothing of value during the
breaks, nor at McDonald’s where we went for lunch. I rode backseat to Tanya and Hayden just as before on the way to McDonalds. I noticed the gun magazines had been removed leaving behind a well-vacuumed carpet in Hayden’s backseat. Interesting. The only good thing happening was that everyone was starting to accept me as just one on the crowd.

  When I arrived home after work, Geo had decided to spend the night at Kathy’s place and so we didn’t even discuss the investigation. He did call to say he hadn’t found anything more of much value and he still hadn’t been able to break through their firewall. I decided to go out for a heavy-duty run. I switched into my running clothes, snapped a leash on my bouncing dog and took off out the front door for a swift two-mile run. I felt a lot better when I returned. Delilah and I shared a meal together of Lean Cuisines and salad.

  The investigation was proceeding so poorly that I was edgy and restless after dinner. I decided to work out some more. I pulled on black tights followed by a zebra striped leotard for some gym gear and headed to Pure Fitness in hopes of seeing my on-again, off-again boyfriend, Montaigne Devereux, also known as Mountain Man, a first-grade detective with my father in the Phoenix Police Department. I’d been avoiding telling him about our investigation, since it might incriminate him later on, but I was getting so frustrated with the slow pace, I was willing to try anything.

  I drove the Mazda and parked it in the parking lot. The gym brimmed with serious weightlifters and people who needed to stay in shape for their profession, like firefighters and police officers. My dad, one of my brothers and Mountain Man frequented the place and were all in outstanding physical condition. I strutted through the front door, scanned my badge and then conducted a visual scan of the gym on the lookout for Mountain. I spotted him running full out on one of the treadmills.