Best Laid Plans

Ed took a deep breath and opened the door as softly as he could. Archie had a large, old desk positioned across from the door beneath two large windows. In front of the desk sat two uncomfortable wooden chairs. Ed's chair was off to one side next to a smaller table to allow him to take notes if needed. Ed tried his best to slip unnoticed into his chair as Archie was talking and both the visitors did not seem to mark his entrance.

"My partner, Edwin Zeit." Archie stood and grinned at his partner. "He's just back from chasing down a lead on another case."

Guy and Alice Masters nodded their heads in greeting and turned their attention back to Archie. Free to observe them, Ed was struck by just how much younger they looked than their photos in all the papers. Guy was probably pushing 50, but he looked closer to 40. Tall and broad shouldered, Guy had the look of someone who played a sport seriously for a long period of their life - football maybe? Alice was a real knockout. Brunette hair coiffed perfectly, fitted dress and jacket, poise and bearing, Alice was a goddess compared to most of the women Ed had dealt with in this office. She was easily the most confident woman he had ever seen.

"Why not go to the police?", Archie asked. "Why bring this to us? Surely such a matter would be best handled by the authorities. If there is an insurance claim, they would need to be involved." Archie's voice, while deep and resonant, was one of his finest weapons. Regardless of what he said, it seemed to suggest a right and a wrong answer. You did not want to let him down with the wrong answer.

"I'm sure you can understand, Mr. Chance. My wife and I have been in the public eye too much this past week. Additional scrutiny would be...unwelcome. I am dealing with the tragic situation at work with only the best detectives, federal agents, and policemen. I would hate to have this trivial-by-comparison situation distract them from their current pursuits. Besides, I'm certain that this misunderstanding can be resolved without pressing charges or making insurance claims."

"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.

Fumbling with the keys outside his black sedan, Archie tried to keep his thoughts on the case at hand. A wealthy couple with a flimsy story, promises of a huge payday, and a comfortable retirement were all elements of the case that fought for attention as the old detective pulled around the front of the building just in time to see Mr. Masters enter a yellow cab in front of the office building.

The retirement thought was the one that gave Archie the most trouble. He pushed it to the back of his mind for careful study later. Surely he did not want to retire so badly that he was willing to take an obvious bribe to track down a young woman for reasons unknown? The fact that he was tailing the Masters and not chasing down the blonde was good enough for his guilty conscience right now.

The taxi was not difficult to follow in the mid-morning traffic downtown. As expected, the Masters exited the cab in front of the main offices of their bank. It was an imposing building in mid-town with at least a dozen floors and hundreds of workers. The top floors must give a decent view of the harbor as they faced the waterfront only a few blocks south. The marble edifice was imposing, but familiar. Every newspaper for the past week and a half had run a picture of it under the banner headlines every day or two. A gaggle of reporters could be seen staking out the building at the end of the block. There had been some commotion when the Masters had pulled up, but no one got over to the entrance in time for questions or pictures. A squad of uniformed policemen protected the entrance and were glorified doormen for the executives coming and going through the glass and brass building front.

The aging detective took a parking spot across the street and settled in for what turned out to be a quick wait. Almost immediately Mrs. Masters exited the building and jumped into a fresh cab. Archie's sedan leaped off the curb in pursuit; cutting off two other drivers in the process. The taxi immediately turned up Charles Street and led Archie on a tour through the city to the quiet neighborhood of Roland Park. Charles Street changed from a bustling boulevard of commerce into a stately oak-lined avenue with mansions and huge houses on either side of the road. Archie knew from the papers that the Masters lived in the neighborhood, but he was unprepared for the opulence on display as the taxi turned down a side street crowded with mansions complete with places to tie up a horse outside the front gates. At the end of the street, behind a high privacy hedge, stood a palatial modern home that dwarfed the homes that led to it. The circular drive in front of the mansion held Mrs. Masters' taxi.

Three stories high, painted dark gray, with floor to ceiling length windows; the Masters' home left no question in Archie's mind that they were as wealthy as the papers said they were. His car, nice as it was, would stick out like a horse cart in this neighborhood. Archie drove back out to Charles Street and parked close enough that it would only be a few minutes walk to get back to the Masters' modern chateau.

Blending in was one of the first lessons learned by a detective, and Archie knew he needed something to help create the impression that he was permitted to be there. Armed with a clip board, notebook, and pen; Archie was prepared to play the part of a water meter inspector if confronted.

The old detective walked by a worn, beige sedan a block from the home in which three men were eating sandwiches. The windows were rolled down and jazz music played low from the radio. Even if Archie did not recognize the reporters on sight, he would have known who they were by the camera sitting on the back seat and the smell of cheap cigar smoke emanating from the vehicle. Reporters loved to smoke the cheapest tobacco they could get their hands on, and Archie would have been more surprised if he hadn't found at least one gaggle staking out the Masters' abode.

What also marked them as reporters was the placement of their car. They could see vehicles entering and exiting the lower part of the street, but they could not see the actual house itself. "Piss poor planning, fellas," Archie thought to himself as he passed by pulling his hat low to keep from being recognized. Reporters were not as stupid as they acted and his water meter inspector guise would not be believed. Luckily, music and food was more on their minds than keeping an eye on one man walking down the street.

Half a block from the Masters' home, the first red flag went up in the back of Archie's mind. Three maids in full uniform carrying their coats in the warm, spring weather exited the hedge gate. The taxi was nowhere in site. As the distance closed between them, Archie could tell the oldest maid was annoyed and the two younger maids were in much better spirits.

"Excuse me, ladies," Archie said as they drew near. "Can you tell me if anyone is available at the Masters' to let me in and check the water meter? The last readings came back much higher than before and the main office sent me out to make sure a mistake wasn't made. Beautiful day to get out of the office, if I do say so myself. If I'd have known where they were sending me, I would have worn my nicest suit."

"Yes, sir," answered the oldest maid, a woman in her mid forties. "Mrs. Masters just arrived home. She should be able to assist you. She usually asks that tradesmen knock on the door around the right side of the residence. The water meter is next to the kitchen in the butler's pantry. Can you do us a kindness in return? Do you know when the bus to downtown will be by next?"

"The Charles line runs every half hour I think," Archie checked his watch. "Should be by in another ten minutes or so. Not used to leaving work this early?"

"No, sir," she answered, "not at all. A sudden free-day," she added without mirth. "Come on girls, we have a ways to go before the bus stop." The maid waived the younger women around Archie and up the sidewalk toward Charles Street.

"Just a second, miss! Can you tell me if there is somewhere nearby I could make a phone call? The office wanted me to let them know as soon as possible so they could recalculate the bill before the mail went out this afternoon."

"If you go north on Charles Street for another three blocks there is a grocer's that will let you make calls," she called back over her shoulder. Archie shouted his thanks and headed down the street toward the mansion. He studied the windows on the way, there did not seem to be any movement. If Mrs. Masters was alone in the house, which Archie hoped was true for at least the moment, she probably would not be for long. Sending away the help suddenly and without warning meant something was going on. Something out of the ordinary.

Archie arrived at the gate and let himself in. Just as instructed, he followed the concrete path off to the right instead of approaching the front door. Looking around the corner and then over his shoulder, Archie confirmed that he was alone and seemingly unobserved. Instead of ringing the kitchen doorbell, he kept walking and didn't stop until he was safely behind a large rose bush in the backyard. The hedge wrapped around the house and the whole yard was as private as could be. If there were houses nearby, they could not be seen or heard through the thick foliage and hedging.

The back of the house was as nice as the front. A large swimming pool just off the house surrounded by a brick patio was flanked by gardens and more shrubbery. As removed as the property felt from the rest of the city, the back yard was blocked off and separated from even its own parts. One could sit in the back corner and not be seen or heard by another person sitting at the pool. The large french doors into the living room were closed but there was a balcony over the pool area with large windows and some spring flowers in pots. Archie knew if he could scale the trellis up to the balcony, he would probably be looking into the Masters' master bedroom. The temptation was too much.

Making his way through the garden the long way, taking advantage of the available cover, Archie stopped by the trellis long enough to look in the window into the house. Inside Mrs. Masters was sitting in a large leather chair at a heavy desk in front of a telephone casually smoking a cigarette. Dressed the same way she had been at the office, Mrs. Masters seemed to be waiting for a call. Archie ducked beneath the window and hoped he would be able to hear what was said. He was just about to give up and go back into the bushes to form a new plan when he heard the ring of the phone loud and clear from behind the house.

"Yes?," Alice's honeyed voice carried through the window. "I was thinking we could meet for lunch today...I know we're scheduled for Mondays, but I've been missing you...I thought The Admiral, they do a nice lunch for after...Okay, you make the reservations...It's ten forty-five now, let's plan on twelve thirty...Okay." She put the receiver down and walked out of the study. Archie decided it was now or never. Bracing one foot on the trellis, he hauled himself up the side of the house to the balcony just high enough to look over the potted plants left out on the balcony. The detective had just braced himself in place when the door to the room opened and Mrs. Masters walked into the bedroom.

From Archie's view low on the balcony, he could just see the end of the bed, a makeup table with a mirror that showed him the other side of the room, a large wardrobe, and a full sized mirror next to the wardrobe angled to reflect the bed. He could see most of the room and the flowers disguised his graying hair and red face as he balanced his weight on the balcony and trellis. If Mrs. Masters came over to the window she could not help but see him.

///

Luckily for Archie, Mrs. Masters had other things on her mind. Walking over to the make up table she took off her pearl necklace, earrings, and bracelet. Moving back to the bed, Alice took off her heels, jacket, blouse, stockings, bra, panties, and hat; in that order. A smile on her red lips, Alice padded over to the full length mirror and took a long look at her nakedness. She liked being naked, liked looking at her large breasts tipped with their dark nipples. She liked running her hands through the dark patch of pubic hair just above her cunt. Staring into her own eyes in the mirror, Alice rolled her nipples in her fingers and groaned.