"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!"
Chapter Twelve
It was Juliet and it wasn't Juliet. "Lily?" I asked, taking in her new look. The wig was good; I could barely see where it joined her own scalp. The trenchcoat was just like Juliet's, but up close, I could see the piping was a different color. The purse was almost the same, and from a distance, I confused the two. The bump, however, was definitely bigger.
"Totally fooled ya, didn't I?" Lily smiled widely as she twirled the belt of her coat.
"But how..." I faltered. Where did she get all this stuff? A few minutes ago, she was blonde and wearing a totally different outfit. Now she was smart and sleekly dressed, albeit with a bump considerably bigger than Juliet's.
"Honey, you know I love a good disguise. Have you seen my trunk? I have at least four different wigs to cover all occasions, along with several jackets and hats, and a whole box of useful props.
"
"Where did you get the purse?"
"I bought it yesterday."
I peered at it. It was no cheap knockoff. "It's just the same as Juliet's. It's exactly the same!"
"I didn't steal it. I have the receipt." Lily gasped as if I said something offensive. "I am not the stalker! I was there when you first met her, and I never saw her before then!"
"I know you're not the stalker, but you had me convinced you were Juliet."
"Just like the stalker convinced everyone that it was Juliet buying a ticket. And now you have a video to prove it!"
"I'm not sure it proves it."
"It proves reasonable doubt. If I can fool you into thinking I'm Juliet, someone else could fool Kimberley and the cameras."
"I like the way you're thinking," I said, knowing I could present it to Solomon and Donahue in exactly the same way until Lily turned around, and they got the punchline to the ruse. I just hoped the two men were in a listening mood.
"Spy 101 training. It's all in here, even if there's no more surveillance duty." Lily tapped her head.
"It supports my theory that a woman is behind this," I told Lily as we made our way from the terminal towards the parking lot. "No man could fool the check-in clerk, even if she were myopic."
"And short-sighted," agreed Lily. "It's pretty brazen of a woman to break in to Juliet's house at night. What if Rob had woken up? Juliet isn't very tall or broad, so she couldn't fight him off, and I guess this woman couldn't either."
"There's no telling what a person might do if they're crazy enough to break into someone's house while the owners are sleeping."
"True. I'd go totally ninja if someone broke into my house."
"Remind me to always call ahead." We climbed into the car and I dialed Delgado for an update. He didn't answer so I hoped he was busily wiring something. "I hope the security installation is progressing smoothly. And I really hope Juliet and Rob don't tell anyone and blow the plan."
"What if they do?"
"Our chances of catching the stalker go from slim to zero; and without the stalker I have no way of proving that Juliet is being set up. Unless..." I dialed a new number.
08 Trigger Snappy Page 13