by Geonn Cannon
“What do you want?”
“Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep. I’m not even sure why I called you.”
“I’m more curious about how you had my personal number.”
“I’m a private investigator. I can get information when I want it.”
“That’s illegal.”
He sighed. “Sure, sure.” She heard the sound as he took a drink from a bottle. “Look, Willow, I’m drunk, but this isn’t a booty call. I know you’re hooking up with that hot little piece from your office.” Ari’s eye twitched. “It’s funny, right? ‘Cause if I hooked up with my secretary, you’d call it sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. But since you’re a lady, I guess you get a pass perving on your employee.”
“I’m hanging up now, Wilcox.”
“No, no, wait. Hold on.” He coughed. “Look, I didn’t call just to be an asshole. Look, I’ve made some mistakes. I’ve gotten myself into a, a situation, I guess. I don’t know.” He took another drink. “I’ve been trying to fix things and I keep asking myself what you would do if you were in my place. So I guess I finally drank enough to make it seem like a good idea to call you and tell you this. I think you’re a good private eye. Probably doesn’t mean much coming from someone like me, but there you go.”
Ari let go of her irritation enough to feel concerned. “Wilcox, is everything okay?”
“Everything’s hunky-dory, Willow. I’m probably not going to remember making this call in the morning, and you’re probably never going to admit I ever complimented you. Hell, I’ll probably deny it even if I do remember. So hey. Just take it at face value, all right? You’re a good private dick.” He chuckled. “Get it? Cause you keep your dick in the nightstand.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sober up, Wilcox. And then never call me at this number again.”
“Hey, Willow.”
She bit back a sigh. “Yeah?”
“What are you wearing?”
She hung up without saying goodbye. When she went back into the bedroom, Dale had rolled over onto her side of the bed. Ari slipped under the blankets and took the opportunity to cuddle. Dale murmured and adjusted her head on Ari’s chest. Ari smiled and kissed the part in Dale’s hair, putting thoughts of Clark Wilcox out of her mind.
#
The next morning, Ari was working from the couch in her office. Dale was behind her desk, and the door between them was open so they could see each other. There were no active cases to deal with, and Dale was busy transcribing some of Ari’s notes so they would be legible (“Seriously, did you write this as the wolf? Hold the pen between your paws or in your mouth?”) Ari had tried to institute a game of catch, but since Dale was busy typing, it ended up just being Ari throwing a ball at Dale’s head. She apologized and Dale instituted a moratorium on throwing balls in the office. She was about to bring up lunch when there was a knock on the door.
Ari prepared herself for a client until Dale smiled and said, “Hey, Diana.”
Diana Macallan was a detective with the Seattle PD and one of the few people who knew Ari was canidae. She was also an ex-girlfriend, but the relationship hadn’t lasted long enough to make things awkward. Ari came out of the office and waved.
“Hey, Diana. I was just about to take Dale out for an early lunch. Want to come?”
“Thanks, but I’m here on business.”
Ari said, “Everything okay?”
Diana said, “I don’t know. Let’s talk in your office.” She looked at Dale. “No offense, Miss Frye.”
“None taken.”
Dale looked at Ari, who nodded to her that everything was okay as she escorted Diana into her office and shut the door.
“So are you looking to hire me or arrest me?”
“Hopefully neither,” Diana said. “When was the last time you spoke to Clark Wilcox?”
Since Diana was ignoring the chair in front of the desk, Ari decided to remain standing as well. She crossed her arms and leaned against the front edge of the desk.
“Last night. Well, technically this morning. He called me in the middle of the night.”
“Did you answer?”
Ari nodded. “I probably wouldn’t have if I’d checked the Caller ID. But like I said, it was the middle of the night.”
“What did he want to talk about?”
“He was drunk. I think he just needed a human person to listen.”
“Is that a regular occurrence?”
“No. I didn’t even know he had my number. Look, I know he’s a shady asshole, but if he’s involved with something you’re investigating, I can assure you I’m not involved. I wish he’d told me something that could help you out.”
Diana said, “We’re not currently investigating him for anything. He killed himself.”
Ari flinched and stood up, dropping her arms. “When?”
“This morning. His secretary showed up for work at nine o’clock and found him. Medical examiner put the time of death at around six hours earlier. I took a peek at his phone and saw that was around the time he called you. I think he pulled the trigger not long after hanging up with you.”
“That’s… unbelievable. You’re sure he killed himself?”
Diana shrugged. “The medical examiner will confirm, but it looked like a pretty clear case of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. The scene looked right to me. Did he say anything that might have led you to believe he was suicidal?”
Ari shook her head, trying to remember the conversation. “He was just talking. I guess now that I’m thinking about it, he seemed more introspective than I would have expected from him. He said I was a good private investigator. Considering the fact he was loud and proud about the fact he thought women didn’t belong in the job, I found that odd. But I thought it was just the beer talking. Who else did he call?”
Diana said, “We’re running the last few numbers now. I just happened to recognize your number when I saw it and hoped I could eliminate you before anything official happened.”
“I appreciate that.” She tried to recall how she had ended the conversation, but she could only remember she’d been rude. Of course she had been rude. She’d never be anything but rude to Wilcox, especially with him drunk-dialing her in the middle of the night. “I can’t believe I’m the last person he wanted to talk to.”
“You’re sure there was nothing in the conversation that might have indicated what he was planning to do?”
“As positive as I can be,” Ari said. “Oh, God. The last thing he said before I hung up on him was asking me what I was wearing.”
Diana made a face. “That doesn’t sound like a man on the cusp of killing himself.”
Ari said, “At least you’re working the case. That means I can help you out.”
“That’s not what it means at all. Right now you’re technically a suspect.”
Ari rolled her eyes.
“A suspect I can pretty much rule out,” Diana admitted, “but nonetheless. I can’t exactly invite you to the crime scene to look around.”
“Come on…”
Diana said, “No, Ariadne.” She lowered her voice. “And I don’t want to see any paw prints in the mud outside his office window, got me?”
Ari said, “Dale knows what I am.”
“I know. I just feel ridiculous saying ‘werewolf’ out loud.”
“Let me dig around. Do you really think the sort of people Wilcox dealt with are going to talk to a detective? As soon as they see that badge, they’re going to shut you out. I can at least pretend I’m as shady as he was. Maybe I can get somewhere you wouldn’t.”
Diana sighed and tapped her hand against her thigh. “This is why we didn’t work out as a couple, Ariadne.”
“Because I’m super persuasive and I can talk you into doing anything I want?”
“Because you’re stubborn. But you do have a point, as irritating as that might be. Do you know Wilcox’s secretary?”
Ari shook
her head. “We never really met. I might have seen her once or twice.”
“You’ve been to Wilcox’s office?”
“Like I said, once or twice. We’ve crossed paths before. We were rivals, but we never actually went after each other.”
Diana thought for a moment. “I didn’t tell anyone I was coming here to question you. So officially, you don’t know about Wilcox’s suicide yet. Maybe you can get in touch with the secretary, maybe she’ll be willing to talk to using his call as a pretense. If you’re just trying to figure out what he was up to, she might talk to you. But I’m leaving it up to her.” She aimed a finger at Ari. “But that will be it. And his office is a crime scene. I don’t want you getting spotted there and becoming an official person of interest.”
Ari said, “I’ll be good. I promise.”
“Where have I heard that before?” She moved to the door and then looked back. “You’ve been out of town for a while. Everything okay there?”
“Did you just Columbo me? ‘Just one more question, ma’am’?”
“Sometimes it works.”
Ari laughed. “I was out of town with my mother. Wolf things.”
“Well, whatever it was, you look good. I like the shorter hair.” She opened the door. “I really don’t think you had anything to do with his death. It looks like a suicide. And in my experience, no one in real life ever bothers to stage that sort of thing. If someone wants to kill another person, they just pull the trigger and walk away.”
Ari said, “Right.”
“I’m telling you to be careful. If there is something to find, it drove one man to suicide. I don’t want you to get in too deep. This is my case. You can come to me for help if you need it.”
“I understand.”
Diana said goodbye to Dale on her way out. Dale got up and went to Ari, touching her arm. “Hey. What was that about? Who committed suicide?”
“Wilcox,” Ari said. “Last night, after he called me.”
Dale’s eyes widened. “I can’t believe it.”
“Neither can I,” Ari said. “So I’m going to see if I can figure out why.”
Chapter Four
Wilcox had an office between the train tracks and the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Ariadne hated going anywhere near that part of town due to the tunneling project that seemed to have been going on since the turn of the century. Traffic wasn’t as bad as she expected and, in less than half an hour, she found herself parking in front of a strip mall across the street from Wilcox’s office that housed an army/navy surplus store and a Greek restaurant.
The front window announced the business as “PROFESSIONAL AND SECURITIES CONSULTANT.” She watched in her side mirror as a forensic technician ducked under the crime-scene tape on the doorway. There was no way she would get into the actual office, but she could see the private parking area behind the building. Wilcox’s car was parked there, along with a lime-green VW bug that she recognized from past visits. There was a chance someone had driven Wilcox’s secretary home, but Ari took the chance she was still nearby.
She didn’t spot the girl in Starbucks or the Greek restaurant. There was a Latin restaurant on the corner and there, seated at a table by the window, was the secretary she recognized from her handful of brief visits to Wilcox’s office. Ari unfortunately only knew the girl by her last name, Knight, due the placard on her desk. She was a college-age sorority type, with long black hair that reminded Ari of Morticia Addams. A book bag on the table was the same lime-green as the car parked behind Wilcox’s office.
The restaurant was otherwise empty, despite the fact it was lunchtime. Knight looked up when Ari came in and tilted her head to the side with vague recognition. Ari approached her table with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
“Miss Knight? I’m Ariadne Willow.”
“Oh, right. From Bitches.” She smiled weakly. Her eyes were red, but she wasn’t currently crying. “You always seemed really cool. You can call me Tiffany.”
“Thanks. May I?” She gestured at the seat across from Knight, who nodded. “I was just coming by because Wilcox called me last night, but all those cop cars… what’s going on?”
Tiffany looked like she was on the verge of breaking down again. “Clark killed himself.”
Ari feigned shock. “What? That’s terrible. He didn’t seem like the type. Are the police sure?”
“They seemed pretty sure. I kept telling them, you know, Clark had enemies.”
“He had enemies?”
Tiffany shot her a disbelieving look. “You dealt with him, so you must know he had enemies. Heck, you were one of them. He deals with criminals who could turn on him at any moment, and good people just don’t like him because he’s a jerk. Yes, he has enemies. And one of them could have made this look like a suicide.”
Ari used Diana’s logic. “That really doesn’t happen a lot in real life.”
“I guess not.”
“Wilcox didn’t show any signs of this? He wasn’t depressed or stressed?”
Tiffany rolled her eyes. “Clark was never stressed. Go with the flow.” She opened her book bag and took out a small packet of Kleenex. She dabbed her eyes with it as a plane buzzed the neighborhood. It was landing at Boeing Field, judging by the angles, and Ari waited until the sound had diminished before she spoke again.
“So there was nothing specific that might have led him to… to this?”
“Nothing that I know of.” She sniffled and focused on Ari. “You said he called you last night? That’s so weird. He hated you. No offense.”
Ari smiled and shook her head. “None taken. Our relationship was mutually antagonistic. That’s the main reason I came down here today. It was just so out of character for him that I figured something must be up.”
“He called me last night, too. I didn’t answer. If you’re a young woman and you work for a guy like Clark Wilcox, you learn not to answer your phone after a certain hour.”
“Were there problems in that area?”
Tiffany shrugged. “Not problems-problems. He would flirt a little bit. I told him there wasn’t a chance in hell, he would mention my ass looked great in a certain pair of slacks, stuff like that. Sexual harassment. You know.”
“Sounds like a problem-problem to me.”
“I just did the math in my head. How much he was paying me versus how much I disliked working there, divided by how much I’d get paid elsewhere and have to go through the same shit. I’m pretty. You have to factor in a little bit of harassment no matter what job you have.”
Ari said, “That’s grim.”
“That’s life. You know what it’s like, though.”
“Actually I don’t. My only real boss was a woman, and now I’m my own boss.”
“Sounds nice.” She looked out the window again, so Ari did the same. The police had moved on, but the CSU truck was still parked in front of the building. Tiffany suddenly laughed. “I can’t believe I’m crying. He was a jerk. He was an asshole.”
Ari said, “But you knew him, and he’s dead. So that deserves a few tears.”
“He’s not the sort of guy you waste tears on, you know?” She dabbed with the Kleenex again.
“Right.” She folded her arms on the table and leaned forward. “I want to find out what happened to Clark. Neither of us think he would’ve done this. No one kills their favorite person.”
Tiffany laughed and looked down at her hands. “Right.”
“The police aren’t going to let me anywhere near his office or files, but they’ll let you in. Let me dig around a little and find out the whole story. In exchange, I can hire you on a temporary basis. Long enough for you to find another job.”
“That would be a huge help,” Tiffany said. “Maybe that was part of why I was crying. I know I’m not going to find another job that easy that paid that well.”
Ari said, “Easy?”
Tiffany nodded. “I basically just answered the phone and passed along messages to Clark. He didn’t want me actually d
ealing with the clients or anything like that. A lot of it was just sitting at a desk looking pretty.” She cringed. “That’s terrible, isn’t it? God, I sound like such a whore.”
Ari gestured at the bag. “What are you studying?”
“Pharmacology.”
“I’m sure working for Clark helped with the expenses.”
Tiffany laughed. “Oh, yeah.”
“Wilcox wanted someone to sit around and look pretty, and you got money for school and time to study. I wouldn’t beat myself up about it.”
“Thanks, Ariadne. You know, I really did like whenever you butted heads with Clark. I’m sure it was hell for you, but it was nice seeing him go up against someone smarter than him.”
Ari smiled.
Tiffany unzipped her bag and pulled out her laptop. “It’s going to be a while before the police are done in there, but I can link up to his files from here. We can at least see what he was working on during the past few weeks.”
“That won’t get us in trouble?” Ari asked, twisting to look out the window. She didn’t want the cops to be looking at Clark’s computer when it was suddenly accessed remotely.
“No, it shouldn’t. I’ll be in the cloud. As for the client’s privacy… huh. Well, I guess that could be potentially criminal.” She chewed her lip and tapped her fingers against the tabletop. “Private eyes do consultations with each other, right?”
Ari shrugged. “Sure, sometimes.”
“Well, there we go. Clark is… isn’t going to be finishing these cases. I’m technically the only member of the firm left, so I’m authorizing you to look at these files to see if you can close them. I’m sure the clients would understand that.”
“I’m not sure that would hold up in court, but it works for me.”
Tiffany said, “Me too.” The computer booted up and Tiffany’s fingers flew across the keyboard. Now that she had a task to occupy her mind, she could forget about her tears. After a few minutes she said, “Okay, I can send you the files. Email?” Ari gave her the address. “You don’t actually have to work the cases. I’ll contact the clients and let them know what happened, issue refunds, that sort of thing. And I’ll refer them to you. Just to make it all official.”