in shock," Ben whispered in my ear. I jerked in surprise. He'd promised he'd stay out of my line of vision and keep his trap shut. Now I was twitching like a rabid squirrel, and that was not the impression I wanted to give my new client. Look at me, all professional and everything. But Ben was right, Phillip had that dazed look about him.
"I'm sorry. I know that's a lot to take on board." I nodded sympathetically. "My time is limited and I'm sure you're a very busy man, but I was hoping we could go over the details of the case Ben was working on for you."
Phillip cleared his throat and straightened his tie, visibly pulling himself together. "He'd actually finished."
"Oh? His records don't indicate that. And your final invoice has not been issued or paid," I replied. "I know Ben was conducting a background check on your daughter Sophie's boyfriend?" I prompted.
"Ssh," Ben murmured from behind me. "Let him tell you, remember?"
"Oh right," I muttered.
"What?" Phillip frowned.
"What?" I frowned back.
"I thought you said something?" he said.
I shook my head. "Nope. Go ahead." I nodded, had my phone ready to type in notes...if only I could see my screen clearly through the cracks. I wondered where Ben's phone was. I could use that. I supposed the police had it in evidence. I wondered if I asked Detective Galloway about it I could get it back. Once they'd downloaded all the data from it, surely they didn't need the actual phone?
"Audrey, pay attention!" Ben snapped. I jumped again and realized Phillip was talking. I tuned in mid-sentence. "...it's been Soph and I for so long, and she's always been such a good girl, but I think she's fallen in with the wrong crowd, you know?" He continued on without waiting for an answer. "She's been sneaking out, telling lies, stealing money. All since she's been seeing this new boy, Logan Crane. But you know teenagers, always so dramatic. Every time I asked her about him she'd storm off, refusing to speak to me. So I hired Ben to check him out. Ben told me last week that Logan has a criminal record—theft. And he's a drug user. Not the type of person I want my daughter associating with."
"And Ben provided evidence of this?"
"Ummm." Phillip hesitated and I glanced up from the phone where I'd been jotting down what he'd told me. So far it had been identical to what had been in his file.
"No?" Curious. I didn't dare look at Ben for confirmation, especially since he was hovering somewhere behind me and I'd look like a tool for suddenly spinning around to eyeball the wall.
"He may have? I just can't recall..."
My eyebrows shot into my hairline. Phillip Drake struck me as a very organized, very meticulous man. Possibly OCD by the way he kept his desk. If Ben had provided the evidence that Logan was a criminal and a druggie, Phillip would be able to lay his hands on it immediately. Which led me to believe Ben hadn't provided that evidence. Was it because he didn't have it? But why report to Phillip that he did?
"Was this a verbal report?" I asked.
Phillip snapped his fingers and pointed at me. "Yes! That's it! I knew he'd told me, but I couldn't remember if it was in an email or phone call. Now I remember. A phone call."
I nodded my head, made a note to check Ben's phone records. "Do you remember what day that was?" I asked.
"Errrr. Tuesday? Maybe. I can't really remember."
"Would it be on your phone? The last call you took from Ben?"
Phillip's head whipped around to the mobile phone positioned neatly at the edge of his desk calendar. "Why, yes, I guess it would be." He made a move to pick up the mobile, then stopped, hand hovering inches above it. "Actually, I think he called me on my landline." He pointed to the handset to his right. The one his hand had been resting on when he'd threatened to call security. "Is it important? Knowing what day he called?"
"No, no," I smiled politely. "It helps me with the timeline of where Ben was up to with things, that's all."
"Are you a relative of Ben's?" he asked.
I shook my head. "No."
"Oh. I thought you must be related, although you don't look anything alike, now that I think about it."
I frowned, puzzled. "Why would you think I was related to Ben?"
"Well, because you're here, taking over his case.