“We’re willing to pay you $150 per day plus expenses. It’s important that we have this cleared up…quietly. I’m sure my husband will pay a few days advance as a gesture of good will.” Mrs. Masters reached out and pushed her coffee cup back from the edge of the table. The smile on her lips matched the velvety smooth delivery of the generous offer.
Alice Masters remembered that Ed was new to the conversation and turned her head to meet Ed’s eyes directly, a smile on her wine-red lips. “My social secretary is missing as is one of my diamond necklaces,” her voice was like honey. “I was reluctant to bring this matter to anyone’s attention while the robbery is unresolved. We don’t know when the young woman would have had access to the jewelry, or even that she is connected to the necklace’s disappearance. Clara always seemed such a reliable young woman.” Ed desperately wanted to keep eye contact, but there was a small mole just below her pearl necklace and just above the point on Mrs. Masters’ chest where her breasts parted. If she had paused to give Ed a chance to join the conversation, he missed his opportunity.
“We are just asking that your agency locate Miss Cl-Weiss. Once she is put in contact with us, Mrs. Masters and I will handle the questions about the necklace.” Mr. Masters drained the coffee from his cup and set it back on the saucer carefully.
Ed looked at his boss for an indication of what their play should be. Archie smiled at him and subtly shook his head, Ed was to play along.
“Do you have any information on this Miss Weiss?”, Ed asked. “You say she’s disappeared? Has anyone else noticed her missing?”
Mrs. Masters took a file folder out of her purse and handed it to Ed. The folder contained a piece of paper with a handwritten address and a photo of a gorgeous smiling blonde woman with short hair. On the back in fine cursive was the name “Clara Weiss”. It was a photo taken front on. The list of questions just got longer. Ed handed the folder to Archie who also examined the contents.
“When was the necklace noticed to be missing?,” Archie asked putting the folder on his desk.
“Yesterday. My wife was getting ready for a dinner engagement and could not find it. We searched and had the maids search. Ms. Weiss had been at our house Tuesday evening, so we tried to get a hold of her to ask if she had seen anything suspicious. We were unable to contact her and her agency was also unable to get a hold of her.” Guy looked genuinely worried in a way both Ed and Archie recognized immediately.
Mrs. Masters suddenly stood indicating that the interview was at an end.
“If you have any further questions, please call my husband’s assistant and leave them with him. We will answer them as soon as we can.” Mrs. Masters turned and made eye contact with Ed again. “I’m sure you’ll understand, young man, that we don’t want both of you coming to the house while the reporters circle like scavengers.” The honeyed voice again. Ed was having a hard time concentrating on anything besides the brown eyes fixed on his. “Please find Clara. I would hate to discover that anything has happened to her.”
—
“Where were you?,” Archie asked in a hushed tone after the Masters left the office to arrange a taxi with Lenore. “It would have been better if you had been here on time.”
Ed told Archie about working security for the fight but not the girl he’d followed home. Archie was Catholic and did not approve of Ed catting around town. Not that Ed ever told Archie any stories, still the old gumshoe seemed to know.
“You didn’t miss much anyway,” Archie began. “A missing necklace. A missing social secretary – whatever the hell that is. What did you make of it?”
“Mrs. Masters didn’t seem too interested in being here or in the missing necklace, but the missing secretary seemed important. Their story about just wanting to find Ms. Weiss is off somehow. Usually offering five times our daily rate immediately after dismissing police involvement is an indication that something illegal is going on. The story doesn’t add up. Mr. Masters seemed awfully anxious to find out what happened to Ms. Weiss, not that I blame him.” Almost as an after-thought, Ed added “And I don’t like the proximity to the robbery.”
“I agree. If I rush, I can follow them now. I want you to follow up on this missing secretary. That,” Archie pointed to the picture of the blond on his desk, “is a mugshot if I have ever seen one. The only thing missing is the height scale in the background and the case numbers in front.”
“She’s smiling, Archie. No one smiles in a mugshot.”
“If it isn’t a mugshot, it has to be an actresses’ head shot. Follow up on that address, too. I’m not familiar with where that is. Probably a dead end if Mr. and Mrs. Moneybags couldn’t get anyone to talk. Follow the leads. Check in with Lenore after each step. We can meet back here tonight and swap notes.”
Ed started to say something, but Archie cut him off. “I know you know the routine, but this has jackpot written all over it. If we play our cards right, you’ll be the lead detective and Lenore and I can finally spend some time somewhere warm.”
“You’ll have all the “warm” you can stand in a few weeks, boss. Summer’s almost here. Besides, I’m not ready to work alone.”
“You know what I meant. You’re ready to take lead and have been for over a year now. If you do find the young woman,” here he paused and made eye contact for emphasis, “do not approach, just watch her. And under no circumstances are you to tell her to contact Mr. or Mrs. Masters.” Ed nodded understanding. “And for the record, you reek of cheap perfume.”
For a man over fifty-five and just starting to show a paunch, Archie Chance could move like a cat. In a few economical movements, Archie’s coat and hat were on and he was out the door. Ed stood alone in the office sniffing at his jacket.
Pulling out a city map, Ed started planning his day. The address the Masters had provided was closer than central booking, so Ed was headed there first. He hadn’t had breakfast beyond the oranges, so he’d probably grab a bite downtown before going to chase down the mugshot theory.
“Poor Archie,” Ed thought. “You never know if you’re going to get a bite to eat when you’re on a tail.”
Chapter 2: (In My) Solitude
Archie Chase ran down the back staircase taking three steps at a time. His wife always called the taxi service farthest from their office on Fayette Street to give him time to get to his car and pull around to tail the Masters. It was a tried and true trick of the trade, but getting to his car before it was too late was becoming more taxing than he’d like to admit. On his good days, he was as fast as he’d been when he first started working the streets of Baltimore as a private detective. On his bad days, even the slow and stupid made their getaways too easily.
Baltimore was not Archie’s home city, that title resided with San Francisco. Naturally the reason he landed in “Charm City” involved a woman and tragedy, the reason most people wound up in a port city in his professional experience. Recently Archie had been tempted to tell the story to Edwin, a story not even Lenore knew the true details to. Ed had been fully trained two years before and it was high time for him to start taking lead on cases like this. Maybe knowing that Archie was a fallible human would help push Ed to start acting the detective Archie knew him to be. In another couple of years Archie would be able to retire on a clean conscience knowing that he’d done all he could to set the young man up with the skills to thrive in this cesspool of a town.