DC&H

"Kathy, what's going on? It is obvious that something is bothering you," I said. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Kathy looked at me with sad eyes.

"There is a problem with the National Pharmaceutical deal," she said. "It turns out that National Pharmaceutical's president, Mr. Benson, is making some unrealistic demands and if we don't give him what he wants it could cost us the deal. If we don't get this contract it will ruin everything."

"It won't ruin everything. What ever happens we have each other. Don't worry so much. What's the worst that could happen?" I asked.

"You don't understand," she said. "If this deal falls apart it will be because of me. If that happens I could lose my job."

"How can it be your fault if the deal falls through?" I asked. "You're not in sales."

"I can't tell you anything more. I can't talk to anyone outside of DC&H about this. The only thing I can say is that I didn't do anything wrong."

"I don't understand," I said. "If you did nothing wrong how can it be your fault?"

"I told you I can't talk about this with you," she said. "I could lose my job for telling you as much as I already have. You'll just have to let me work through this myself."

I wanted to say more but I could tell by the look on her face that the discussion was over.

On Sunday I hoped that Kathy would be in a better mood but she seemed to be even more depressed. She wouldn't even look at me and any conversation of more that three or four words was just not going to happen.

Monday morning I got up early and fixed breakfast but Kathy didn't eat any of hers. She drank her coffee and went to take a shower. I busied myself shoveling the snow that had fallen overnight from the driveway. When I came back into the house Kathy was getting ready to leave for work.

"It's only 6:30, why are you leaving so early?" I asked.

" I have to get ready for some important meetings," she said.

Kathy gave me a brief kiss as she passed me on the way out to the garage.

Monday morning is trash day in our neighborhood so I had to empty all of the waste baskets and take the trash out to the curb. I brought the waste baskets from the second floor down to the kitchen to empty them into a trash bag. When I dumped the waste basket from our bathroom into the trash bag something fell out and disappeared from sight. I tried to find the object for a couple of minutes and gave up. I took the trash out and put it into our large plastic trash can and then rolled that down to the street.

When I came back into the house I took another quick look around the kitchen to see if I could find the object that had fallen from the waste basket. I didn't see anything right away so I went off to take my shower and get ready for work.

Kathy's depression didn't seem to have changed so on Monday evening I tried to broach the subject again.

"Have things gotten any better at work?" I asked.

"You know I can't talk to you about this," she said. "I am under a lot of pressure but I will get through it."

On Wednesday Kathy started to come out of her funk. When I came into the house that evening she greeted me with a kiss and told me she loved me, which she hadn't done since Friday night. I could see that she wasn't completely back to normal. There was no smile but she didn't have that far away look anymore and she didn't seem so preoccupied.

"Can you talk about what is going on now or is that conversation still off limits to me?" I said.

"I am not supposed to talk to you about this but it looks like we have found a way to make Mr. Benson happy," she said. "Jack said that it looks like things should turn out all right after all."

I could hear some relief in her voice, or was it resolve? She didn't smile when she told me this so I knew she was still under a lot of stress but hopefully this would all be over soon. I don't know why but it always bothered me when Kathy called Hanson by his first name. She had told me that it was because things were kept kind of informal around their office but she always referred to Greg Bartlett as Mr. Bartlett and Greg was the office manager and Hanson was a VP. I guess I just didn't understand.

That night in bed Kathy wanted me to hold her but she didn't want to make love. I was beginning to feel the strain of the problems that Kathy was dealing with.

I held Kathy until she fell asleep and then I rolled over to my side of the bed and tried to sleep but couldn't. After twenty minutes of tossing around in bed I got up and went down to the kitchen for a drink. I stood at the island counter in our kitchen drinking my water and looking at our mail for the second time that day. When nothing caught my interest I spotted Kathy's briefcase sitting on the chair in front of the counter. I had never invaded Kathy's privacy before but for some reason that night I decided to look inside her briefcase. Kathy hadn't locked the case so I set it on the counter top and opened it. There were a lot of papers inside that didn't hold any answers for me. I took Kathy's day planner out and opened it. I looked through her calendars and notes. On Monday Kathy had two meetings with Mr. Bartlett. The second meeting also included Mr. Hanson. On Tuesday she had another meeting with Hanson and on Wednesday she met with Hanson and Mr. Benson, the president of National Pharmaceutical.

I was beginning to see why Kathy was feeling a lot of pressure but I didn't understand why she would be meeting with the customer. She was in accounting. She had never been part of a negotiating team on any previous deals. I wondered if this meant that Kathy was going to be moving out of accounting and into sales when she got her promotion.

Kathy's planner showed a couple more meetings scheduled with Bartlett and another meeting with Hanson on the morning of December 20. Also on the twentieth Kathy had written in '10:00 PM' followed by a question mark. The only thing I found in her planner that was unusual was on her 'Month at a Glance' calendar for December. There were some notations that didn't make sense to me. On December 6 Kathy had written, "Started." Then each day after that was numbered one through fourteen. The number fourteen was on Friday, December 20. That date was circled and underlined. I wondered if that had something to do with the meeting scheduled with Hanson that day or was it because that was the day of DC&H's Christmas party. Maybe it was circled because that was the day they expected to get Mr. Benson to sign the contract. I was still puzzled as to why she had numbered the days from December 6 to December 20 from one to fourteen. I knew I was going to have to think about that one for a while. I put Kathy's day planner back in the briefcase and closed it. When I headed back up to bed the briefcase was back on the chair where I had found it.

Over the next several days Kathy's mood continued to improve but she remained a little distant around me. In the eight years I had worked as an investigator I had learned a lot about how to get answers to questions without appearing to interrogate the person. By putting together bits and pieces of things I got Kathy to tell me I was able to determine that the twentieth seemed to be the critical date. If Mr. Benson was going to sign a contract with DC&H it would happen that day.

On Friday, December 13 I had managed to close one to the three cases I was working on and I was close to closing another. That night I stopped after work to have a beer with Bill Ripley, to celebrate closing. We had a couple of beers and talked about the case and then I decided to talk to Bill about what I had found in Kathy's day planner without telling him whose planner it was. I told him it was from a case I was working on and explained about the days that were numbered one through fourteen and that the twentieth was circled and underlined.

Bill looked and me and said, "Sorry, buddy but I can't help you. It doesn't ring any bells with me. You said the planner belonged to a woman, right?"

"Yes."

"Then I suggest you talk to Mary Farrell," Bill said. "You might need a female perspective to crack this one."

Bill was right. A woman's perspective was probably what I needed. Mary Farrell was one the best investigators at IIC and she was one of only three females in the company. I dropped the subject so that Bill wouldn't begin to think I was obsessed with this case and start wondering why. We had a couple more beers and just talked. In the course of the conversation I told Bill about my dream to someday to start my own investigative agency.

"If you ever do let me know," Bill said. "I'll come to work for you but you'll have to pay me better than IIC."

Bill was laughing as he said that.

"Pay you more! Hell you're already over paid." I said.

"I am serious," Bill said, "if you ever do decide to go out on your own come talk to me."

"It will probably never happen," I said, "but if I ever do start my own agency you will be the first person I talk to."

We chatted for a while longer and then I went home.

It was another frustrating weekend. Kathy was attentive to me and affectionate but somehow we managed to get through the weekend without having sex. Kathy and I had not made love for more than a week and it was beginning to disturb me. Not just because I had been cut off but also because I didn't understand why.

Monday morning I told Kathy that I was probably going to have to work late every night to try and wrap up the two cases I was working on.

"You can't work late Friday," she said. "You have to be home in time to get ready for the party."

"What time do we have to be there?" I asked.

"The party starts at eight o'clock. I want to be there no later than 8:30," Kathy replied. "So you need to be home by seven o'clock to get ready."

"Okay, I'll be home by seven."

I was frustrated and by midweek I was beginning to get angry with Kathy. I had closed my second case Tuesday and I took Kathy out to dinner to celebrate but afterward she told me she didn't feel well and once again we did not have sex and she put me off again on Wednesday night.

It took all of my patience to not blow up at her. I knew she was going through a lot at work but there was a limit to how long I was willing to wait. I managed to convince myself that everything would be resolved after Friday. Kathy will know about the National Pharmaceutical deal and she should also know if she was going to get her promotion so I was prepared to be patient, at least until Friday.

Thursday I had all but closed my last case. I would have one chance at a quick resolution of the case on Friday morning but if that didn't work it would take the rest of the day. The problem was that if I didn't catch a break in the morning it was going to be very difficult to get everything done and be home by seven o'clock like I promised Kathy. That evening at dinner I told Kathy that I was going to have a hard time getting home by seven and she started to get angry.

"You promised, "she said.

"I know, "I said, "and I am sorry but I am so close I just have to close this tomorrow."

I could see her anger building.

"Kathy, you don't have to wait for me. If I am not here on time, go without me." I said. "I'll get there as soon as I can. I should be able to make it by nine o'clock."

"I don't want to go without you," she said. "I guess nine o'clock will be all right. It's just that... Well, I just can't be any later than that."

"I'll do the best I can to get home by 7:30. If I am not here in time I'll meet you at the party."

Kathy didn't say anymore about it.

Friday morning I got the break I needed in my case. I had been assigned to recover some stolen jewelry from a home break in. The merchandise was insured for over a million dollars. The perpetrator had contacted the insurance company and offered to sell back the stolen jewelry for $250,000, saving the insurance company $750,000. The insurance company agreed to pay the quarter million dollars and asked IIC to handle the transaction. It had taken me a while to gain the confidence of the perpetrator so that I could set up a meet to make the transfer of the money for the jewels. Once I set up a meeting I was going to have to go to the insurance company's office and get the money for the exchange. The paper work involved to get that much money takes a lot of time.

Luckily, I had been able to identify the thief and managed to follow him to a coffee shop Friday morning. Then I called his cell phone to arrange to meet him that afternoon to make the exchange. After the call I followed him to an old garage on the west side of town. I watched him from across the street as he went into the garage and opened the trunk of an old car. He didn't take anything out of the car. He just closed the trunk again and left. Before leaving the garage he looked around to see if anyone was watching but he didn't see me.

As soon as he left I ran across the street to the garage. The door was locked with a small pad lock, which was no match for my tire iron. Within five minutes I had the trunk of the old car opened and found a small canvas bag in the trunk. Inside the bag I found all of the stolen jewelry. I closed up the garage door as I left and taped a note to the broken pad lock which read, "Better luck next time."

When I got back to my office I contacted the insurance company and told them I had the stolen jewels and arranged for someone to come pick them up. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. I had managed to keep a thief from profiting from his crime, I had saved the insurance company a lot of money and I had earned a nice fee for my company. The best part was that the victims got their jewelry back. It was a pretty good day's work I thought.

As I came out of my office I saw Mary Farrell talking to another investigator. I waited until she finished her conversation and then I walked over to her and invited her to have lunch with me. Mary started at IIC four years earlier and I had known her most of that time. At almost 6 feet tall with short blond hair and piercing green eyes Mary is both attractive and intimidating which is one of the reasons she is so good at her job.

"Are you buying, Fred?" She asked.

"I'll pay if you can help me with something I am working on," I said.

"Okay, you're on."

Mary and I walked across the street to a little sandwich shop and I bought us a couple of pastrami sandwiches and two sodas to go with them.

"Must not be that big of a case if this is all you are willing to spend to get information," Mary said as we found a table.

I always liked Mary's sense of humor.

As we ate I told her about the notations on Kathy's 'Month at a Glance' calendar without giving away whom I was investigating.

"I showed this to Bill Ripley and he suggested that because it was a woman's calendar I should ask a woman to explain it." I said. "Does this have any meaning to you?"

Mary was silent for a long time. She has almost finished her sandwich when she began smile.

"What are you smiling about?" I asked.

"The numbers, she said. "It took me a while but I think I know what that's about. You said that on the sixth she wrote 'started,' and that after that the days were numbered from one to fourteen and December twentieth was number fourteen, is that right?"

"That's right," I said, "and the twentieth was circled and underlined."

"I believed that she wrote 'started' on the sixth because that was when her last period started and then she counted the fourteen days until the day she would probably be most fertile, which means today is her most fertile day," Mary said. "This woman is tracking her cycle because she is trying to get pregnant. Does that make sense to your case?"

I was stunned. Not only because Mary figured that out so easily but because it had never occurred to me.

"I'm not sure but it might make sense in the context of this case," I said. "Thanks for the help."

"I guess for the little bit of help I gave you a pastrami sandwich was a fair payment after all," Mary said.

After we finished our lunch Mary and I went back over to the office and I spent the rest of the day catching up on paper work and wondering why Kathy would be tracking her menstrual cycle. I couldn't remember when she had her last period. I never kept track of her cycles. I was always surprised when she would tell me that "The small craft warnings are up," when I tried to initiate sex during her period. Another thing that puzzled me was that Kathy wasn't planning on getting off her birth control pills at least until February so why would she be tracking her cycle. Could she be tracking this for someone else?

I was starting to get a tight feeling in my gut. I was picking up little bits of information that weren't making sense to me yet but I had a sense that I needed to get some answers soon.

One thing I have learned from my training and my experience is to be patient and wait till all the facts are in before you jump to any conclusions. If you act too quickly the consequences could be dire. I have always been a patient person so I was able to easily adopt that principle. I think that is probably why I have been so successful in this business. It would be difficult for me but this was definitely a time for patience.

By five o'clock I had finished up my work and was ready to head home. By the time I got to my car it was already dark and it looked as though it would start to snow at any time. As I drove home through rush hour traffic I was feeling pretty good about myself. I had cleared three big cases off the books, got an answer to one of my questions about Kathy's day planner and I was going to be home in plenty of time to take Kathy to her party, which I hoped would relieve some of her stress.

I arrived home at about 5:30 PM and parked my car in the driveway. I didn't think it made any sense to put it in the garage if we were going back out again in a little while. I walked down to the street to get the mail and then walked up to the front door. I hadn't looked into the garage so I didn't know if Kathy was home yet or not.

I stepped up on the front porch and as I was about to unlock the door when I noticed the front hall light was on. I peeked in the small window next to the door to see if Kathy was in sight but she wasn't, at least not immediately. I started to move back to unlock the door when I saw movement at the top of the stairs. Kathy she was coming down the stairs and I was shocked to see that she was completely naked. She was carrying something in her hands but I couldn't see what it was at first. I leaned back from the window a bit because I didn't want Kathy to see a face in the window and have the crap scared out of her. When she reached the bottom step I could see that she was carrying a towel in one hand and a can of shaving cream in the other. That puzzled me. What was she doing with the shaving cream? When she stepped off the bottom step Kathy turned to the right and walked into the living room and stopped next to a wing chair that was just a few feet inside the room.

Kathy just stood there as if she had forgotten why she went in there in the first place. I couldn't take my eyes off her. She looked so beautiful standing there. Her long dark brown hair hanging in long curls over her shoulders, her strong but slender back tapering to where it joined her heart shaped buttocks and her beautiful legs.

I could feel myself becoming erect as I stared at my sexy wife. I didn't want to move from that spot but I was afraid that she would turn around and see me peering through the window. I knew that if I tried to open the door with her standing so close by that it would scare the hell out of her. I decided to go back and come in through the garage. At least then she would hear the garage door opening and would know I was home.