Internal Affairs Ch. 13

"This wouldn't look good on your resume. I mean being fired from a non paying job is pretty damning." Peter said.

"If you cause me to get fired, I bet I could come live with you," Trish said. "Of course you would have to buy a larger bed," she demanded.

He had to kiss her to shut her up. They found their way into the tiny bed. Eventually Peter even found his way to sleep. Peter couldn't give Trish much of an alibi if she needed one. He woke up in the middle of the night and saw her sitting naked in his large plastic rocking chair. T he only light in the room was the glow of the light from her smart phone. The image was just a blur so he drifted off again.

Since it was a work day she was gone when he awoke. He skipped the cereal so that he could stop along the way to work for breakfast and warmup coffee.

The only restaurant open on the way to work was across from an auto dealer. Lots of people seemed to walk over from the dealer's building. He parked the trike on the sidewalk and went inside.

There was seating inside for about twenty people. He could tell the building was from the fast food mold. Those kinds of buildings were all over town. High volume fast food had given way to the lower volume neighborhood cafe. He could imagine how much the rent had shrunk as well.

After breakfast he completed his ride to the office. Iva was in so he went directly to her cubby.

"Would you call your friend as the DOJ and request a copy of the Gold Digger investigation. The victim was named Miles Adair?" Peter suggested.

"What's this all about?" Iva the ugly asked.

I know it sounds like I'm being sexist but she just looked so washed out and with her slightly crooked nose and really really bad hair it made her look like a witch. She also had a proclivity toward dark clothing.

"Are you caught up with our files?" she asked.

"For the moment Helen is doing all the checks necessary," Peter said.

"Alright, I will forward your request. I am sure our contact at the DOJ wasn't expecting the requests from you to start so soon," she suggested.

"What better time to start testing the limits," Peter said turning to walk into the cubby with the coffee pot.

"How was your date with Trish," Helen asked as she entered the cubby we jokingly called he break room. It was larger than he others by a long shot. It also had a refrigerator with lots of bottled water. It was across from the old janitor's closet with the deep soapstone sink.

"We are interested in the same things now and then. The GoldDigger show is one of those things," Peter said.

"Be careful Trish is weird," Helen said.

"Oh," Peter said pretending he had no idea what she was talking about. "What makes you say that?" he asked.

"She called me after midnight to tell me either I had low standards or you were better with me than her," Helen said with a laugh. "I think she was probably bored."

"Bored?" Peter said. "Well maybe I fell asleep. Unlike you, she is not demanding."

"I will explain it to her when I get her alone," Helen agreed.

The two of them and the never ending files kept Peter busy as the Gold Digger marathon ended and time began to drag.

Helen managed to track down the QE2 production company. Their office was in New York.

The unauthorized investigation now and then threw the three of us together outside of work. Since Helen's job would be in jeopardy if word got out, she was helping but keeping it quiet. Like someone had said, Peter's apartment became Catch a killer central.

While they waited for the files to arrive from DOJ, Peter finished recording all the Gold Digger series and Trish attended the IAD interview with Officer Waters.

Trish explained that it might have ended in a draw had the facts uncovered by Peter and his crew not been introduced. After a day of questioning, everyone in the room knew that he had murdered Vickie's husband. He didn't want to give her up so he was going to take all the blame. He was still in love with her. Such were the complicated interactions of people in love. Trish never understood them.

The JustAct gang closed the file on Officer Waters and Vickie without being satisfied that justice was really done.

The files on the Gold Digger murder file showed up a few days later. Just before there was about to be a mass suicide from boredom.

Peter should have been thrilled since either Helen or Trish watched the shows with him and spent the night afterward. Truth was he was fealing cramped by the two of them.

There seemed to be a consensuses that after the file from DOJ arrived, they all would be looking into the murders.

The file arrived and it was filled with cold sterile facts. The story in that file was less than half what the Sheriff in the mountains knew. It was a start.

Miles Adair had been shot with a .40 caliber hand gun. He was shot at close range. There was no evidence that he made any attempt to defend himself. He likely knew the killer and allowed him to drive up.

The cops surmised that it was a member of the production crew, so the camera man was suspect number one until they found he had an alibi and no motive at all. The farm road hadn't been scraped in years. Worse yet at the time it had been frozen off and on for months. There result was that there were no usable tire patterns in the packed dirt and frozen gravel surface.

In the crime scene photos it appeared that Miles had been loading a drag sled to carry his supplies for the next part of the dig into the site. There were a set of pictures of the Gold Camp included in the file.

Peter made notes as he researched the file. He made a note to ask Louise Adair about the machinery on the work site. If she didn't know surely the cameraman did.

He learned from the series that the gold mining operation broke even, but not a whole lot more. Louise was the only one who needed the money. Miles and Ada did it more to prove a point than anything else.

Peter had been in Detroit for almost two months when he said to Helen and Trish, "It's time I talked to the usual suspects in the Gold Digger case."

"Not without me you don't," Trish answered.

"I would feel better if you went along," Helen said before Peter could object. "She can't protect you but she can call the cops. I would hate to think of you rotting in the mountains."

"Trish it will be diner food and cheap motels but since you aren't being paid I assume you can be gone for a couple of weeks," Peter suggested.

"Yes I can," she said with that rod up her ass voice.

"Well Helen we will miss you," Peter said.

Trish said, "Yes we will."

Helen asked, "So when you leaving."

"I need to rent a car. I have a fear of flying," Peter explained. His fear was of being seen in an airport.

"You don' t need to rent a car. We can use my car. You pay all the other expenses and we will be even," Trish said in that professor's voice she used often.

"Fair enough, how long will you need to be ready?" Peter asked.

"I can go home and pack my toothbrush and be at your place in and hour," Trish said.

"I was thinking more like tomorrow morning," Peter suggested.

"Oh," Trish said. "I can do that easily."

Peter's packing would consist of his toothbrush, some underwear, and his a wad of cash. He generally packed light, but this time it was going to be even lighter since he tended to have more dirty laundry than clean clothes.

"Why don't you come to my place tonight. If you do, we can do your laundry," Helen insisted.

"Sure, I will need to say goodbye," Peter said.