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WEDNESDAY- On her first morning Sady realized with a yawn she should have mapped the nearest coffee shop when she had been out driving the previous day. A new apartment and a new job hadn't been conducive to a good night's rest. She hoped the office had a coffee pot.
Arriving ten minutes early, she parked behind the building which housed Knight Investigations and entered through the front door. She smelled coffee and almost dropped to her knees in thanks. CJ came out of an office, saw her look, and pointed to a small break room at the end of a short hallway. Sady gave her a smile of thanks but didn't speak until after she inhaled a couple sips.
Then CJ showed her around the office. Harry's door was closed and CJ indicated he was meeting with a client. It surprised Sady when CJ showed her to a desk in an office. She expected a table shoved off into the corner of the broom closet. She set down her bag and the files, then followed CJ for the rest of the tour.
The most interesting room housed the tools of the trade. There were cameras and recording devices of every type imaginable. Night vision goggles? CJ ignored the look of interest on Sady's face and continued showing her the equipment, but she didn't open the locked gun safe. They labeled each piece of equipment and supplied a logbook to keep track of the item and job.
CJ handed her a digital camera and binoculars. "You'll need these for starters," she said as Sady signed out the equipment. As they walked back to their respective offices CJ added, "If you need anything you know where to find me."
Sady didn't take that as an invitation to sit down and chat so she thanked her and headed to her office.
Someone stuck a note with her user name and password to the laptop so Sady logged on and got busy. She started with research on the cheating husband case. Michael and Veronica Powell were influential movers and shakers in the city. Both sat on the boards of corporations and charitable foundations. Married for about eight years, no children. They lived in a high end subdivision.
Sady decided since CJ hadn't handed her a list of employee rules she was free to do her work as she saw fit, so she headed out to the Powell neighborhood. Expensive mansions sat on perfectly manicured lawns. The only activity was coming from the people hired to maintain the homes. Sady heard the whir of lawnmowers and hedge trimmers. She parked on the street for a short time, then moved on not wanting to draw undue attention to herself.
She left the subdivision and went back to the office. It wasn't the most efficient use of her time but she was new to the investigation business. It would take time to adjust. Back at the office she pulled up the news articles on the suspected arson fires in Hell. Copies of the police reports were in her file folder. It was odd. Other than a house all the fires were small and quickly contained- a trash barrel, a park bench, a wood planter, a picnic table. The house had been a total loss.
Sady downloaded a couple county maps to her phone and checked the route to Hell. She might as well take the drive and look over the town. It would take 45 minutes and the weather was gorgeous. Sunny with blue skies and a light breeze. Sady opted for open windows and found a radio station. Well, the drivers in the Detroit area might leave something to be desired, but she had no complaints about the music. There was an endless variety of stations.
She smiled as she drove down the main street of Hell. They tied just about everything into the name of the town. She hopped out at a small park and read a history plaque. It didn't take long to find where the burned park bench had been. A quick walk through town and she saw the spots where the other small things had burned. One of the few places that didn't put a joking spin on the name was a nursing/ retirement home. It was newer and instead of advertising the name of the town the sign read "Livingston County Shady Acres." Sady guessed Mom and Pop wouldn't go quietly if they knew they were being sent to Hell.
She parked and took a seat on a bench near the nursing home. She'd made the rounds as a beauty pageant winner at nursing homes and schools. One thing she learned is that many older people were lonely and liked to visit when someone listened. After a while a group of older women passed on what appeared to be a brisk walk for health reasons. They chattered and gossiped as they made their way past Sady. She smiled, and they smiled back but kept moving. Sady grinned when they passed by later with ice cream. Most of them continued back to the home, but one lady came over and sat by Sady.
She introduced herself as Carol and they struck up a conversation. Carol had lived her whole life in the area. She looked sad when she told Sady her husband had died ten years ago. Sady felt bad and patted her hand in sympathy.
Carol wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. "I don't know what I'd do without my friends," she admitted. Then with a laugh she said, "Well, I probably wouldn't be eating ice cream and pretending to work it off with a short walk." She confessed with a giggle that the walk ended in the park and they played poker before heading back to the home.
"Don't tell, but I have a secret weapon." She pulled out a small magnifying glass and showed it to Sady. "We take turns supplying the cards and sometimes the deck is marked and I can see which cards are good. Of course I use it even if the deck isn't marked, so the other girls won't know," she said with a sly look.
Sady nodded appreciatively, encouraging Carol to talk. Eventually the conversation turned to the fires. Carol snorted and said, "There's no arson here. If someone wanted attention, they would have burned down the town, not just a few little things. Well, except the house- that might have been deliberate but I wouldn't know about that."
Before Sady could ask questions Carol used her magnifier to look at her watch, then she jumped to her feet. "Time for bingo," she yelled. "I have to hurry if I want to get a seat next to the hot widower that recently moved in."
"Good luck," Sady called after her as Carol made her way back to the home. Sady bought an ice cream cone before she left Hell and returned to Ann Arbor. As she drove, she thought about Carol and her friends, realizing she had no real friends in her own life. On the pageant circuit any girl nice enough to be a potential friend didn't last long. And anyone else who appeared friendly only disguised their intentions of looking for an angle, a favor, or a way to sabotage the other contestants.
Sady took that background with her when she became a librarian. Out of habit she didn't make friends with the people who came to the library. Now she realized that not having close friends wasn't normal. Well, she'd have to figure that out, eventually. For now, she'd better concentrate on impressing CJ or she wouldn't have a job.
She drove back to the office and entered her notes into her laptop. Then she poked her head into CJ's office before she left and asked about some of the programs she'd seen on the computer. CJ smiled and told her they were available for research. Sady's eyes lit up with pleasure. CJ just opened a whole new world for exploration. The next day she would make good use of the research tools.
When Sady got home she kicked off her shoes and grabbed a beer, then she went out to the patio to make notes. Carol was probably right. The little fires didn't stand out as the work of a person looking to make a statement. She needed to look into the background of the house that burned. Checking into other properties owned by the Powell's was on her list as well.
Soon the smell of a barbecue grill had her looking through the foliage to her neighbor's patio. To her embarrassment a pair of brown eyes looked up and caught her staring through the bushes. A grin followed along with the wave of a hand. Sady followed her nose like the rats followed the Pied Piper.
There was no use in pretending she hadn't been taking nose hits off the heavenly smells wafting from the grill. She offered a sheepish smile and held out her hand in greeting to the friendly woman who invited her over. The brown eyes belonged to a pretty young black woman with the most beautiful skin Sady had ever seen in her life.
Amanda Keller introduced herself to Sady. "I thought I heard activity coming from that direction," she said with a nod toward Sady's patio. "I'm glad to have you here."
Sady must have looked bewildered because Amanda laughed and said, "My last neighbor was a college kid who liked to play death metal at night for the whole building. The one previous to that was a paranoid old lady with cats who accused me of trying to steal them any time one got loose. You don't have a penchant for death metal and cats do you?"
Sady shook her head and offered to bring over the beer to contribute to the meal.
"It's a deal," Amanda said. "Hurry or these ribs will get cold." By the time Sady returned with the beer Amanda had plates loaded with ribs, corn, and potato salad. Amanda frowned and said, "Please don't spoil it by telling me you only eat salads. I don't do salads, vegan, vegetarian, fruitarian, or nutarian. Maybe I should have asked first."
Sady eyes bulged as she grabbed a plate and dug in while Amanda smiled. "I knew it," Amanda said. "Skinny doesn't always mean no appetite." Then she sighed and said, "Just like big doesn't mean huge appetite." Amanda was a shapely plus size woman.
Sady shrugged and said, "I don't share society's view of beauty. I've seen runway models who'd knife you in the back so they wouldn't have to step around you." She waved her fork at the plate and continued, "A woman who cooks like this and shares- that's beautiful in my opinion. But I might consider knifing you in the back to get the secret to your amazing skin."
Amanda looked pleased and Sady thought, I think I just made a friend.
They exchanged brief life stories over the food. Amanda appeared taken aback at Sady's past until Sady went into detail about life in the spotlight. One look at Sady licking the sauce off her fingers and Amanda believed her when she said she didn't miss it. Sady wasn't even embarrassed when Amanda pointed at her nose- she wiped the sauce with a grin and Amanda relaxed.
Amanda worked in administration at the college and asked Sady if she liked sports. "I don't know much about them," Sady admitted.
"Well, you're getting a crash course if you stay here long enough. This is Wolverine country and if you're not a fan, you'd better keep that to yourself," she warned. "Once football season starts, we'll fix the holes in your education."
The talk continued while Sady helped Amanda clean up and put away the leftovers. It was still early but with a yawn Sady headed back to her place and went to bed early, happy that she made a real friend for the first time in her life.