Chapter 2
I was watching my favorite workout show. Not doing it, mind you—just watching. Some lissome lass from L.A. was telling me “Three more, two more, one more, now switch to the other hand.” I checked my lap. Best exercise program I’d ever seen. Gets my heart rate up to one hundred twenty for twenty minutes just sitting still. I’d run my two miles and done the stadium steps over at Falls Church High just to warm up for this. The phone rang.
“Hello. Leo Haggerty.”
“Mr. Haggerty, are you the Leo Haggerty that’s a private detective?” A woman’s voice.
“I was the last time I checked. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I have a problem. Before I go into it, I’d like to ask you some questions, okay?”
“Sure. Let me just get a cup of coffee. Be right back.” I went over and poured myself a cup. What the hell. I’d been interviewed by prospective clients before, so this was nothing new. Her voice was interesting: polite, restrained, controlled, and controlling. I felt like a big dog being calmed.
“Okay. What would you like to know?”
“As a detective, do you have a specialty, Mr. Haggerty?”
“Mostly I do missing persons work. Kidnappings, child snatching by parents, missing heirs, witness location, what have you. I do some background investigations, but not much. I’m bonded so I do some courier service work and some bodyguarding. That about covers it.”
“Are you any good, Mr. Haggerty?”
“Well, since you put it that way, Ms.—I didn’t get your name.”
“I didn’t give it and unless I decide to retain you, I won’t.”
“Okay. Am I any good? Good question. Yes, I am good. I’m very good. Sometimes that still isn’t enough and I’d like to be better yet. Was I recommended to you, or did you get my name out of the phone book?”
“You were recommended to me, and very highly. Your reference said you would answer that question just about the way you did.”
“It’s nice to be predictable.”
“That, I’ve been told, you are not. Why are you good, Mr. Haggerty?”
“Why am I good? I don’t know. I have a face like a microphone. Everybody wants to talk into it.” I continued to tick off my lustrous virtues. “I’m persistent as hell. Not out of duty, mind you. I’m just that way; loose ends drive me crazy. I check everything out. Twice. Then once again. Also I’ve got a pretty good imagination. Comes from a childhood as a chronic liar. I can explain anything. At one time or another I’ve probably tried to. Nothing’s too bizarre to try out as an explanation. Basically, I turn up things other people miss and imagine possibilities other people don’t. Sometimes that’s all it takes. But then I never found Amelia Earhart either.”
“Do you have any children, Mr. Haggerty?”
This was a line of questioning I’d never heard before.
“No.”
“Are you married?”
“No.”
“Have you ever been?”
“No.”
“Ever been in love?”
“Too often.”
“Please be serious. I assure you I am.”
“Yes. I wasn’t very good at it so I retired from the game. Rather, semiretired.”
“What are your fees, Mr. Haggerty?”
“Three hundred and fifty dollars a day plus all expenses.”
“Do you ever take a case for reasons other than money?”
I hate this kind of phone call. Every try to pay the rent with quince jelly?
“I try not to, especially when my bills are due. But if I can pay my bills I try to be imaginative about my fees. I’ve been known to barter services, for instance. The first thing is, what do you want me to do for you, and how long is it likely to take?”
She took a moment to decide if I was what she needed.
“Do you know the names Herbert and Margaret Saunders? Tina and Molly Saunders?”
Oh shit. “Yes I do. What can I do for you?”
“I’m Margaret Saunders. My husband has disappeared. I want you to find him for me. Please. Can you come out to the house today? Perhaps now?”
“Give me about an hour. It’s Bethesda, isn’t it?”
“Yes, let me give you directions.”
“That won’t be necessary. I grew up not too far from your house. I’ll see you in about an hour, Mrs. Saunders.”