by Rose Pressey
“There’s the gate.” Derek pointed.
A six foot stone fence surrounded the estate. Thank goodness we’d found the way out through the gate. Derek and I hurried through, not bothering to close the latch behind us. As we rushed into the car, there was no sign of the men.
“I can’t believe we got out of there,” I said as I slammed the car door shut.
Derek turned the ignition. “Stick with me, Cece Cash, and I’ll always get you out.”
“You also always get me in.”
Chapter 4
The next morning, I stopped by Starbucks to pick up a tall iced caramel macchiato with extra caramel and then headed for work. I had a gig tonight, so I needed to be as productive at the office as possible in case I needed to leave a few minutes early.
When I stepped into the office, I smiled. “Hi, George, how are things this morning?”
He pointed toward my office. “There’s someone waiting to see you.”
“Really?” I asked as I glanced that way. “Who is it?”
George motioned for me to come closer, so I headed over to his desk. I leaned down to hear what he had to tell me.
“Says his name is Chuck Cochran,” George whispered.
My eyes widened. It couldn’t be the same man. How had he found me? I’d been at his party, so I supposed he could have gotten that information somehow. Derek had found out the man’s name. I was sure this wasn’t a coincidence. The man probably won’t to confront me about eavesdropping on him at the party. I inched over to my office so that I could take a peek inside. Sure enough, it was the man from the party last night. He was sitting there in front of my desk, waiting for me. Obviously he didn’t know I was here yet. I hurried back over to George’s desk.
“Did he say what he wanted, George?” I asked.
“He just wanted to talk to you about a possible case, but he didn’t say what that that case might involve.”
Where was Derek? Now I had to go in here and talk to this guy alone. It was left up to me. I stood up straight and walked right over to my office door. The man must have heard me walk in. He looked over his shoulder and smiled. Apparently he expected for me to recognize him right away. He wore a gray pinstriped suit with a white shirt and red tie.
“Good morning, Mr. Cochran,” I said as I walked around my desk.
I wanted it to appear that I was calm and had everything under control.
“Good morning, Ms. Cash.”
I sat down at my desk and looked at the man. “What can I do for you?”
“I take it you remember me?” He flashed his pearly whites.
Obviously he remembered me too. I hoped he didn’t invite me up to see his bedroom again. Thank goodness we were in my office this time. If he tried any funny business I would Taser him. We were on my territory this time and I wouldn’t have any of that kind of talk.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
I just hoped he wasn’t too mad about what had happened last night. Was he here to do something to me? Maybe that other guy was outside waiting to come in here and take care of me.
“I just asked a couple people at the party. They told me you were a private investigator. That’s why I wanted to see you.”
“You’re here because I’m a private investigator?” I asked.
He nodded. “That’s right. I need your help.”
“So that little thing at the party last night… is that why you’re here?” I asked.
“What thing at the party?” he asked.
I didn’t know if he really didn’t remember or if he was just being polite. At any rate, we should just forget about it, so I went with the latter.
“Okay, so what do you need my help with?” I asked.
He leaned back in the chair. “I have an associate who recently killed himself.”
“That’s terrible,” I said. I still didn’t know what he was getting at.
“Yes, it’s very unfortunate.” Chuck stared at me.
I started the conversation again. “An awful way to go.”
“That’s the problem. I don’t think he killed himself.”
My eyes widened. “You think he was murdered?”
He tapped his fingers against the arm of the leather chair. “Right.”
I knew what he wanted now.
“And you want me to find out who did it?”
“That’s right. Since the police won’t be looking for a murderer,” Chuck said.
“I guess that would be true,” I said.
This would be a big case to take. I needed the work, so of course I was going to accept. Even if I did think Mr. Cochran was a bit of a creep.
“All right, Mr. Cochran, I can do this for you. Give me some information so that I can get started right away. Where did this happen? Was it in the city?” I grabbed a notepad and pen.
“Actually, he jumped out a window of one of the hotels yesterday.”
My eyes widened again. “I saw that.”
“You saw him jump from a building?” Mr. Cochran said.
“Well, I didn’t actually see him jump from the building, but I saw him lying there. Again, I’m really sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” He looked down at his expensive leather shoes.
“Are you related to him?” I asked.
He coughed, and then said, “No, we were just friends… business associates and friends.”
“His family must be thankful that you’re looking into this for them,” I said.
“He really didn’t have any family to speak of, just me.”
“That’s terrible.” I positioned the pen over the paper. “What was his name?”
“His name was Paul Constantine.”
“Was Paul from around here?” I asked.
“Yes, he lived in the city as well. I can write down his address if you’d like.”
“That would be great. If you could just fill out this form,” I said, pulling the paper from the Suspicious Suicides File in my desk drawer and handing it to him.
I liked being organized and had a file for everything. Mr. Cochran filled out the form and handed it back to me.
“I’ll be in contact soon,” I said.
Chuck stood from the chair. “Thank you very much, Ms. Cash.”
“You’re welcome.”
He headed for the main lobby area of the office. Just as he was getting ready to leave Derek walked in. Their eyes met. The man recognized him as well.
“Obviously you two do work together,” Chuck said.
“Yes, we do. Partners. Halfsies,” I said, motioning to Derek. Halfsies? Did I really say that? Ugh.
“Good to see you again, Derek.” Chuck walked out of the office.
“You do know that guy,” I said.
“I don’t know him.” Derek held his hands up. “Why was he here? How did he find us?”
“I don’t know. He said that he tracked us down through people from the party, so I guess word spreads. People talk, that’s all.” I grabbed a bottle of water from the small refrigerator by George’s desk.
“Why was he here?” Derek asked, following me into my office.
I twisted off the top of the bottle, took a drink, and then said, “He wants us to take on a case.”
Derek shook his head. “No way.”
“Why not?” I asked. “It pays good money and we need that right now. Plus, I think I can solve the case easily.”
“What is the case?” he asked, sitting in the chair in front of my desk.
“A friend of his killed himself yesterday. Chuck doesn’t believe it was a suicide, so I’m going to prove that it was murder. I figured you would know all about it.”
“I don’t know his personal details. It’s not like we were friends. I thought we were undercover. I’m still suspicious of how he found us.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess we have no reason not to believe him. Unless there’s something you’re not telling me…” I stared at Derek.
He didn’
t blink as he returned the stare. “Not hiding anything. So just like that you’re going to take the case without consulting me at all?” Derek folded his arms in front of his chest.
“We agreed that we don’t have to consult each other, remember? I’ll take my case and you take yours,” I said with a wave of my hand.
“I thought we were partners. Remember, with the same company? We have a partnership now. Halfsies?” Derek flashed his sad eyes at me. “You don’t like working with me?”
Way to make me feel guilty. And I knew I shouldn’t have used the word “halfsies.” “Oh, that wasn’t the question and you know it, Derek.”
He leaned back in the chair. “Okay, but I don’t think this a good idea.”
“So let’s just leave it at that.”
“So case closed?” Derek asked.
“Exactly,” I said.
“You don’t know what you’re getting into, Cece.” He flashed a devilish smile at me.
“Then why don’t you tell me, Derek? What am I getting into? You said you didn’t know that man.”
“It could be dangerous,” he said.
“All cases can be dangerous. Besides, if it was so dangerous then why did you take me to a party where that man was at?” I took another drink of water.
“I didn’t know you were going to get involved in business with him. He has dealings with some shady people, if you know what I mean. Like mean people who kill for money. You know what I mean?”
“Like mafia-type activity?”
“Yes, exactly. That’s what I mean.” Derek stared at me with his big blue eyes.
“Mr. Cochran seemed nice enough. After my initial meeting with him at the party,” I said.
“That’s not a really good way to judge whether someone is really nice or not. Just by how he talks at one meeting,” Derek said.
George tossed his hands up. “Will you two quit fighting? You’re giving me a headache.”
I knew George had been standing by the door listening to our conversation.
“Come on, Derek, you know you want to do it.” I quirked an eyebrow.
Derek couldn’t help but smile. “Well, I guess I am a little interested.”
“Okay, then it’s settled. Let’s go get some information. I want to go to the hotel where the murder happened.” I rushed around the desk.
“You’re not wasting any time, are you?” Derek asked.
“Well, I have a job to do. So I might as well get right on it.”
“You have a job to do?” Derek quirked an eyebrow.
I sighed. “Okay, we have a job to do.”
“That’s better.” Derek smiled.
“George, we’ll be back soon, okay? Call if you need us.” I waved as I rushed past his desk.
As we walked out of the office Derek said, “I’ll drive.”
“You don’t like my driving, do you?” I asked.
“It’s not that you’re bad… okay, I suppose you do drive a little dangerously.” Derek held the door open for me.
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the way I drive. Besides, you tailgate too much.”
“I do not tailgate,” Derek said.
***
We finally arrived at the hotel and walked into the lobby.
“I’ll pay for the hotel room,” Derek said as we walked over to the check-in desk.
“We’re not actually getting a room. So help me, Derek, if you don’t behave I will call your mama.” I waved my finger at him.
He held his hands up. “I’m good.”
The auburn-haired woman behind the counter smiled at us. Once she found out why we were there she probably wouldn’t smile. We weren’t going to be paying guests. Unless Derek had any say-so.
“May I help you?” she asked with a smile.
I was just glad that Derek wasn’t trying any of his so-called charm on her. “Yes, I’d like to know who I would speak with about the man who killed himself here yesterday.”
“Very subtle, Cece,” Derek whispered.
What was I supposed to say?
“I’m sorry, I don’t have any information for you,” the woman said, glancing over her shoulder toward the office.
Her smile soon disappeared. I should have known she would clam up like that.
“I can take your information if you’d like,” she said.
“That would be great,” I said. “Is there a manager who would speak with us?”
“Just one moment.” She held up her index finger.
The woman picked up the phone and made a call. She stared at us while it was ringing, then she stepped away so that we couldn’t hear.
Finally, she said, “Someone will be right with you.”
Derek and I moved over to the side of the counter so that she could wait on the next customer while we waited for the manager. A man was working by the elevator. He made eye contact with me. Soon he was walking toward me. I wondered what this was all about.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” he said as he looked around to see who was watching us.
“Yes?” I asked.
“You wanted information about the death?”
“Yes, that’s what I’m here for.”
He lowered his voice. “I can tell you something if you’d like to hear.”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to or not, but I said, “Go ahead. What’s on your mind?”
“I overheard some stuff coming from the room where that man stayed yesterday. It was a lot of arguing and then crashing around. Not too long after that I heard that someone had jumped. I went down after to see. The woman who had been with him was fighting with someone.”
“Did you tell the police?” Derek asked.
He nodded. “Yes, I said something to them, but they didn’t seem to be interested.”
“That’s odd,” I said. “Did you get a look at who she was talking to?”
He shrugged. “Some guy. I didn’t get a good look.”
“Is there anything else you can tell us?” Derek asked.
“That’s it. I just wanted someone to know and I heard you asking about it. Are you some kind of detectives?” the man asked.
The woman from behind the desk called out to us. “I’m sorry, but the manager is going to be a while. You may want to come back another time to speak with him.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I said.
I figured the manager wasn’t going to talk to us at all. I wouldn’t give up that easily though.
“Thanks again,” I said to the man.
He turned and walked back to the elevator.
I motioned to Derek. “Let’s take a look outside.”
“Where the guy jumped out the window?” Derek asked.
“Yeah, that’s the spot.”
Sure, I probably wouldn’t find anything, of course, but I had to take a look at the surroundings just to make sure that I was doing a thorough investigation.
After stepping outside, Derek and I stood out by the pool. The water sparkled under the bright sun. A few people lounged on the chairs around the patio.
“Do you suppose that the body had been moved in any way?” I asked. “Maybe he didn’t fall from the window at all.”
“It’s possible, but the police don’t seem to act as if that was the case,” Derek said. “Didn’t people see him fall?”
As I stood there it hit me where I had seen Chuck Cochran before, other than the party. He was the man I’d seen talking to the police yesterday. He had been there next to the deceased. But he had never mentioned that he’d been there right after it happened.
“Now I remember. Chuck Cochran was here right after it happened. Why didn’t he mention that he was here?” I asked. “I saw him when I walked by. He was talking with the police.”
“He probably just didn’t think it was important,” Derek said.
“I suppose,” I said.
Derek and I looked around for a moment longer. The woman from the front desk looked out the door at us. Her expression was more a glare than
a friendly hello.
“We should get out of here,” I said.
I was getting a strange vibe from this place. Derek and I walked back to the car.
“What other information do you have?” Derek asked as we got in the car.
“Well, Chuck said Paul really didn’t have much family, and that Chuck was investigating because they were friends.”
“No family? That’s odd. I wonder where this guy was originally from. If it was here or somewhere else.”
I needed to look into that. Paul had to have some family somewhere. It was worth a little investigating, that was for sure.
Chapter 5
As we drove down the street, I called out, “Stop the car.”
“I can’t stop here. What is it?” Derek said.
“Pull over to the side of the road. I want to get a newspaper. I think they’ll probably have something about Paul Constantine.”
“They would probably only mention that it was a suicide.”
“Yes, but he was pretty well known. They probably have an obituary or something and maybe that will have names of any family members.”
“I thought you said that he didn’t have any family.”
“Chuck Cochran said so, but I’m not going to take his word for it. I think it’s better to check to make sure, right?” I unbuckled my seatbelt.
Derek pulled over to the side of the road and I hopped out to grab a newspaper from the newsstand. After rushing back in the car, I started leafing through the pages until I got to the death notices. That was when I saw the picture.
“Am I seeing double?” I asked.
Derek leaned over for a closer look. There was a picture of the man who had hired us to look into Paul’s death—Chuck Cochran.
“Chuck said the man who died was his friend. Why does Paul look exactly like Chuck?”
“I have a feeling there’s something he’s not telling us.” Derek pulled away from the curb.
“You think?” I said with a smirk. “I guess I forgot to get a picture from him. He also omitted information from the form.” How could I have been so careless to forget to ask Chuck for a photo?
“What does the rest of the article say?” Derek asked.
I scanned through the words and then stopped when I hit the name of Paul’s wife.
