by Kate Benitez
“I may have taken on a case of my own.”
She held her breath as Leo stiffened, his already muscular arms becoming even tenser.
“Would you mind explaining?” he asked.
Blowing out a deep sigh she said, “Do you remember the hair extension guy, Andrew?”
“You mean the man I decided not to take on? The one you suggested a list of other private detectives to?”
“Yes. Well, he did find another detective,” Anneliese said hopefully.
Leo’s blue eyes could have crystallized ice. “Did he find you?”
She sighed again, “Yes, but I think he was on to something. I was at that party because the hair extensions were being stolen at the Young Professionals parties from this spring and summer. There wasn’t one party that hadn’t been hit.”
Leo’s posture softened slightly. “Go on.”
“I went in via the public entrance and after an hour that man, Dan was his name, by the way, approached me and invited me up to the VIP party.”
Leo’s arms uncrossed as he started to ponder the case. “Yes, but couldn’t he just have been some asshole who likes to drug girls? You opened yourself up to rape for this for God’s sake!”
She could tell he was getting angry. She needed to continue with her facts and fast.
“No, he was only interested in me after he found out what type of extensions I had. Of all the guys who hit on me at the party, he was the only one obsessed with my hair. I think he’s our thief.”
Leo started pacing. “In that case, he’s not alone in the scam either. There was a blonde woman with the same color extensions as you, in deep conversation with our Dan. She was the one slipping him the drugs.”
Anneliese nodded. She remembered the woman, too, but didn’t get a good look at her. Anneliese leaned back on her desk and as she did, her butt knocked over a stack of her favorite fashion magazines.
“Oops!” Both she and Leo bent down to pick them up and when their hands found the same edition of Vogue, their fingers brushing gently together, Leo snapped back to standing as if he’d been burnt. Anneliese chose to stay bent over to hide the emotions running across her face. She gathered the fashion magazines together into a semblance of a stack then paused over the cover of Boston Proper.
“What’s up?” Leo asked as the stack again fell to the floor, and Anneliese slowly stood with only the latest Proper in her hand.
Her eyes flicked over the cover. The extensions in the model’s blonde hair were a purple color in the picture, but she was sure it was the same woman. Anneliese flipped the magazine around so Leo could see.
She thrust a finger at the cover and asked, “Is this the woman who was talking to Dan?”
Leo didn’t even need to lean in closer to inspect the selfie shot that was the cover art. “Yes.”
“She was at the salon, too—when I was getting my extensions done. She seemed familiar, but until I saw the picture, I wasn’t sure from where. She’s Clara Dupris. Very famous in the fashion world,” Anneliese said, with an air of reluctance.
“I knew she was a model when I saw her last night at the party, but I wasn’t exactly sure who she was. I just thought she was one of them from your magazines,” Leo agreed.
“She’s all over them, but what is a famous model doing with some random guy stealing hair extensions?”
“The money?” Leo guessed. “Didn’t Andrew go on and on about how expensive they are?”
“Yes, but she’s landed numerous national ad campaigns, and according to the fashion blogs, she has a very lucrative contract with her agency. Plus, her parents are from money. She shouldn’t need for anything.”
Leo nodded his head, but his brain was already flying off in other directions.
“What are you thinking?” Anneliese wondered when he stayed silent.
“I think I need you to research Clara further. Net worth, connections, her parents’ connections, etc.”
She watched as Leo stopped in his tracks. He walked toward the door then turned about face and headed toward the stairs instead. Never before had she seen him anything other than calmly, militarily, efficient. Well, other than that time in the limo…
“What’s up, Leo?” she prompted, to get him to stop for a moment.
“I need to research, too, and then I’m heading out,” he said, decisively heading toward the stairs. “I need to be sure,” he shouted over his shoulder.
“Sure about what?” Anneliese called after him as he ascended out of view.
“Who done it. Keep up, Anneliese!”
Chapter 9
They started the day by finishing the interviews with the remainder of the staff who worked at the Tate residence, and for the most part, they were pretty uninteresting. Just a lot of people trying their best to stay out of trouble. However, over the course of the process, one name kept coming up—Scarlett Andrews.
Scarlett was in charge of the guest rooms. She managed the bookings as well as the rotation of the artwork and changing the bedding. Mrs. Tate’s case ended up being the simplest of the bunch. If the woman had any idea of who was doing what in her own household, she wouldn’t have had any reason to concoct her conspiracy theories.
When Scarlett had arrived for the second round of interviews—this time at the L M Agency offices—Anneliese was surprised at how calm and collected she was. At forty, Scarlett was still an attractive woman with dark hair, perfect skin, and very little debt. What they’d found just showed Anneliese that she had a lot to learn about the inner workings of some people’s minds.
“We’re going to head to the second floor, Scarlett. Would you care for a refreshment of some kind?”
“Coffee please, black,” the woman said, with lips that matched her name.
Anneliese smiled and took a detour to the kitchen as she watched Scarlett enter Leo’s office. Damn, she either had guts or blind faith that Leo believed the culprit was someone other than her.
Anneliese entered the office while Leo was conducting the initial part of the interview. Once again, he was going over Scarlett’s duties and her normal schedule. Anneliese handed her the warm mug and took a seat to the side of Leo’s large desk. She was just in time for the interesting part. Her eyes flicked to the small red light that indicated the interview was also being recorded.
“So, Scarlett, can you explain how you failed to notice that the items were missing? If you were in charge of the rooms, their decoration, and the rotation of the artwork, how could you miss them being taken?”
Anneliese saw that Scarlett was holding a printout of the missing items. Her coffee mug remained untouched on the edge of Leo’s desk.
Scarlett tossed her head, throwing the dark fringe of hair that framed her face away from her eyes. Batting those chocolate brown beauties at Leo, the woman smiled and replied, “I’m sure by now you know that I’m not the only person who works in those rooms. I give orders as to what needs to be moved and what doesn’t. Most of the items in question are those that aren’t generally rotated, but they must have been mistakenly moved and gotten lost in the shuffle. Have you checked with the under-maids?”
Leo nodded brusquely. “Yes, we did actually. Both individually and as a group. They were the ones who informed us they had noticed a few items missing. Not everything from the list, I’ll give you that, but enough of them and they claim to have told you about it at the time.”
“Those girls lie. Obviously, they’re covering as a group. It’s probably a ring of some kind.” Scarlett tried to brush off the accusation with a laugh and a little hand flap. Both actions felt a little brittle to Anneliese.
Leo’s eyes narrowed. There was no pretense any longer. He was going in for the kill. “That’s the thing, though, Scarlett. The girls didn’t mention the individual items as a group and not all of them seemed aware of them being missing. Those who did, however, had no problem mentioning them openly and they believed they’d informed the correct person of the loss.” He paused a moment before continui
ng, “That’s not what guilty people do, Scarlett. Guilty people either deny all knowledge or try to place the blame elsewhere.”
Scarlett’s red lips now formed a hard, thin line.
“However, even you must have noticed a missing mirror. According to the dimensions, it was a hefty piece to move.”
Scarlett sat up straighter and countered, “That got broken. I’ll admit that I didn’t want it taken out of my pay, so I covered it up.”
Anneliese cocked her head in the background, her gut told her this was the first truth the woman had spoken since coming into the office.
Leo nodded too. “That makes sense. It was the one item that didn’t fit your pattern. I believe you when it comes to that. But the rest? The rest you stole, Scarlett.”
Scarlett’s face went red at the blunt accusation.
“How dare you—” she started, but Leo broke in again.
“What I don’t understand is why? Such petty crime and not even the most extravagant I’ve seen.”
Scarlett stood quickly, sending the chair scooting back a good foot in her anger. “How dare you? That crime wasn’t petty. It was well-executed over a number of years and if Mrs. Tate hadn’t been distracted by trying to take Robert Blackstone down, she never would have noticed.”
Leo only raised an eyebrow.
Scarlett, seeming to understand what she’d just done, began to straighten her skirt and collect her purse. “Besides, what are you going to do about it? You’re just a private detective. Go ahead, tell her. There’ll be no evidence.”
“Oh, didn’t I mention? I’ve recorded this so she doesn’t have to go on my word alone,” Leo said smoothly, pointing toward the camera.
As Scarlett turned and headed toward the exit, Leo put the final nail in her coffin. “You’ll just be running into the arms of two of Boston’s finest. I’ve called them in specially for this occasion. No need to bother Mrs. Tate with cleaning up her own mess now. The police will do just fine.”
The door opened and true to his word, Scarlett was escorted out to a waiting police car by two officers and when the office was clear again, Leo and Anneliese gathered themselves. Anneliese stood to go back to her post and wait for their next appointment.
“It’s been quite an eventful day,” Leo said, taking a long sip from his glass of water.
Anneliese shifted the iPad in her hands and agreed, “Yeah, it’s starting to look like what you see in the movies or something. I had no idea you had such a good relationship with the police.”
Leo nodded. “I have a fair amount of friends on the force. The trick is to not lean too heavily on them, and they’ll be there when you need them.” He checked his watch, “You should probably go downstairs. We’re running a little later than I expected, and I don’t want you to miss him.”
Anneliese checked her own phone and hurried out of the office, back to her desk. Through the window, she noticed that the police cruiser had left with the criminal in tow. She couldn’t wait until Mrs. Tate got a look at who the person was behind the crime. That woman was frosty, to say the least, and Anneliese for one would love to see her knocked down a peg or two, if only for the way she’d treated her own daughter.
Speaking of which, Anneliese had a coffee date with Jennifer the following day. She’d said she wanted to catch up and that she actually missed Anneliese—the only thing she had missed from her days as a bride-to-be. Anneliese admitted that she’d missed her too, and she was excited to catch up with her—especially after everything was wrapped up today.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the discrete buzz of the call button from the front door. She checked the CCTV and saw Robert Blackstone stood alone in the alcove, though he was trailed by a large black man whose frame was cut off by the camera angle. Bodyguards would definitely be an unpleasant addition to this meeting.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Blackstone, but bodyguards are asked to wait outside the building. They are free to do a sweep of the area, but I’m afraid they can’t come in. It’s L.M. Agency policy.” She waited as Robert and the man exchanged a few words then Robert stepped back to the door.
“I’ll come in on my own, thank you. No need to check the area, I’m sure,” he said with a winning smile at the front door. Given that he hadn’t spotted the camera in the upper corner of the archway, Anneliese would have suggested that he always have that bodyguard do a sweep. However, where Robert was going, such men probably wouldn’t be necessary.
“Great, please come in then,” Anneliese hit the entry button and stood, waiting for Robert to round the corner to the waiting room. He was here on the pretense that Mrs. Tate believed he’d stolen from her. Not a lie, as the woman really was convinced of that, but a ridiculous accusation nonetheless. Perfectly disarming to a man as cocky as Robert Blackstone.
He walked through the old archway as he put his phone away and flashed Anneliese a wide smile. Only the thought of what was about to happen at the upcoming meeting had her smiling back in turn.
He straightened his tan summer suit, extended a hand and introduced himself to Anneliese, “Hello, Robert Blackstone, it’s nice to meet you.”
Anneliese declined to offer her own name for fear that he’d realize who she was and smell something fishy. Their names had been far too linked in the papers a few months ago, and she didn’t want him turning tail at this point in the game.
“Would you like anything to drink? We have fresh coffee, water, soda?”
“A diet Coke would be great, thanks,” he said, as he flicked back his French cuff sleeves to check his watch. “Will this take long?”
“No, once Leo asks his questions it should go pretty quickly. All of today’s interviews have,” Anneliese said with a smile as she moved back to the kitchen to get his drink. It was the truth. Once everyone had been accused of their crime, they’d folded like a cheap suit and she didn’t think Robert would be any different.
When she came back out to the waiting room, she asked Robert to follow her up the stairs. This time, she wanted to be there from the beginning. She wanted to see every last second of this interview. Anneliese opened the door and let Robert enter ahead of her. Always the politician, his arm was already extended to greet Leo.
“Robert Blackstone. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. MacKenzie. I had no idea that you were that Leo Mackenzie until this morning. I have to admit, the private detective industry is an interesting hobby.”
Anneliese’s eyes flicked to Leo, sharp and inquisitive. What did he mean?
Leo just smiled and took Robert’s hand in a firm grasp. “As were the years I spent in the Marines. I like to think I’ve made more than a hobby out of both, though.”
Robert’s head gave a slight nod of understanding as he realized he’d read the situation incorrectly. “Of course, of course. We all must forge our own path. As I well know,” he said, with a small gesture at his ever-present campaign button.
Leo didn’t acknowledge the action. Instead, he invited Robert to sit, and after they were all in their places, Leo began.
“Thank you for coming in, Mr. Blackstone. You’re here because Mrs. Tate believed you were a potential suspect for thefts from the guest rooms of her home. We followed up on that lead after taking a look at a recent increase in your campaign revenue that seems to be unaccounted for.”
Robert’s hand flexed infinitesimally around the diet Coke. Anneliese wasn’t sure that Leo noticed it, but she saw it as the first chink in his armor.
“Obviously, all of my campaign finances are accounted for. Legally they have to be. I can direct you to my accountant if that’s an issue. However, I didn’t steal anything from the Tate’s, so I’m not sure why it is you need to account for my accounts.” Robert smiled at his own pun.
Leo gave a tight smile and nodded. “Yes, you would be correct. I no longer consider you a suspect in the Tate case. However, you did flag up for another—the Bernard case.”
Robert blinked, his hand relaxing on the Coke. “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I kno
w a Bernard. Is that a family? A company perhaps?”
Leo smiled and pulled a brochure from a pile and handed it to him. Robert’s eyes scanned the front quickly before dropping it down on the desk.
“A hair salon?” He tried to sound insulted, but he didn’t quite pull it off.
Leo quirked an eyebrow. “Yes. Granted it’s just a tip of the beauty iceberg and I’m not overly surprised you weren’t aware that this was one of the channels through which your money was coming in.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Mackenzie, but I know where all of my money is coming from. It’s accounted for legally. Every penny.” Now Robert was angry and Anneliese saw him getting ever more defensive as Leo became calmer.
“Yes, that was actually very helpful. It turns out the influx of cash came in through a shell company of the Dupris family. An old Boston family who’ve been a contributor to your campaign from the very beginning. You went to boarding school with their daughter, Clara. Correct?”
Robert wasn’t sure where he should pivot. His welcoming smile was long gone, and Anneliese watched his eyes shifting quickly, trying to decide his best move. In the end, he stuck with the truth.
“Yes, the Dupris family has contributed to my fund in a number of ways over the past two years. I’ve always been publicly thankful for their support.”
Leo smiled. “Yes, and Mr. and Mrs. Dupris were happy to acknowledge all they’d done. However, they were not aware of the latest contribution. Now, their daughter, Clara, she was the Dupris that was able to shed some light on the situation.”
“Well, I don’t know how much I would believe from a fashion model. Clara has never been the sharpest tool in the shed,” Robert said, attempting to undermine Leo’s logic.
Leo’s eyes went wide in false shock. “Really? Well, I found her to be a very well-spoken and intelligent girl. She did graduate from Harvard with a degree in finance, you know. I would think that makes her as sharp as say, a hoe, a garden trowel at least.”
Anneliese restrained a snort, but Robert’s face turned cherry red at the flagrant display of facts.