other smiled, no teeth this time, but an expression that said things had been merely postponed, not canceled. He whispered, "One word from me and you know who shows up. One word from me and poof ...everything's gone. You'll keep that in mind, won't you?"
"You rot in hell," Gordon said.
"Ah, but not without you, my dear. That's the real beauty of your position."
MEREDITH POWELL FOUND the office she was looking for without much trouble. It was in Christchurch Road near the fire station, and she walked there from Gerber & Hudson Graphic Design on her morning break.
She didn't know what to expect from a private investigator. She'd seen depictions of private eyes on the telly, and the emphasis always seemed to be on their quirkiness. She didn't want quirky, however. She wanted efficient. She had little enough money to spend on this venture although she knew it had to be spent.
That phone call to Gina's mobile had convinced her, as had the fact that the mobile wasn't in Gina's possession in the first place. While Meredith knew that Gina could merely have forgotten to take it with her prior to setting off on that particular day, it looked as if she was, more or less, a permanent fixture on Gordon's holding and, that being the case, why would she not have returned for her mobile phone once she realised it was missing from her belongings? It seemed to Meredith that there was only one possible answer to that question: She hadn't returned for it because she hadn't wanted it with her, ringing, vibrating, messaging, texting, or anything elseing while Gordon Jossie was about. All of this made Gina a suspicious character once again.
All of this made Meredith turn to Daugherty Enquiries, Inc.
The Daugherty in question turned out to be an elderly woman, much to Meredith's surprise. No rumpled trench coat was involved in her attire and no dusty office plant or pockmarked steel desk sat in her office. Rather she wore a green summer suit and sensible shoes, and her office furniture was polished to a glow. There was no plant at all, dusty or otherwise.
Just prints on the walls, these of the New Forest wildlife.
She had pictures on her desk, comforting shots of children and grandchildren. She had a laptop computer opened on her desk as well and a neat stack of papers next to it, but she closed the lid of the laptop and gave her full attention to Meredith in the few minutes that they spoke.
Meredith called her Mrs. Daugherty. She said it was Ms. but that Michele would do. She pronounced it Me-shell, with the accent on me. She said, "Unusual name for someone my age, but my parents were forward thinkers."
Meredith was unsure what this meant. She stumbled once with the placement of emphasis on the woman's name, but she got the hang of it after a single correction, which seemed to please Michele Daugherty because she beamed and winked.
Meredith wasted no time in telling the investigator what she wanted: any information to be uncovered about one Gina Dickens. Anything at all, she said. She didn't know what the investigator would be able to find but she was looking for as much as possible.
"The competition?" The investigator's tone suggested this wasn't the first time a woman had come seeking information about another woman.
"You might say that," Meredith said. "But this is for a friend."
"It always is."
They spent a few moments on the fee and Meredith brought out her chequebook because on the telly there was always a retainer given. But Michele Daugherty waved this away: Meredith would pay once services were rendered.
That was that. It hadn't taken long. Meredith walked back to Gerber & Hudson, feeling as if she'd taken an appropriate step.
She began to doubt this almost at once, however. Gina Dickens was waiting for her. She was perched on a chair in the square of space that went for reception, feet flat on the floor and shoulder bag in her lap. When Meredith entered, she rose and approached.
"I didn't know where else to turn." She spoke in an anxious whisper. "You're the only person I actually know in the New Forest. They said you were gone for a bit but that I could wait."
Meredith wondered if somehow Gina had made a few unwelcome discoveries: that she'd been in her digs above the Mad Hatter Tea Rooms, that she'd answered the ringing of the mobile phone there, that she'd removed what had been hidden