Childless: A Novel Read Free Page B

pursue such a mysterious, potentially important case. It’s not every day a federal judge calls the chief of police requesting a private detective recommendation.
    “Jennifer McKay,” a voice answered.
    Her abruptness told Tyler he had reached a very busy person who skipped pleasantries to squeeze additional seconds into an overloaded schedule.
    “Yes, Ms. McKay, my name is Tyler Cain. I’m following up on a request that came from the chief of police. I was told you were looking for a reliable private investigator.”
    “If such a thing exists.” A sardonic laugh told Tyler she ranked his profession only slightly above that of used car salesman. “Do you have a recommendation for me?”
    He allowed a momentary silence while considering the most advantageous posture in reply. “Actually, Assistant Chief Smith asked me to offer my services. I made no promises, but said I would give you a call. I’m very busy, but I owe him a favor.”
    “I’m so sorry,” came the suddenly embarrassed answer. “I didn’t mean to…” She paused to redirect. “I appreciate your call, Mr.…?”
    “Cain. Tyler Cain,” he said, glancing toward the house of ill repute to check for motion. Nothing.
    “Listen, Ms. McKay, I stepped out of an important meeting to make this call. I can only give you a few minutes. Can you give me the gist of your situation quickly, or should I try you again in a day or two?”
    A sense of apologetic urgency overtook the woman’s voice. “Of course. I’m sorry. I’ll make this brief.”
    He smiled at the results of his favorite tactic. He who cares least controls the conversation.
    “Judge Santiago has received three letters that I consider threatening. We need someone to help us turn sparse details into meaningful clues so that we can decide next steps.”
    “Next steps?”
    “Specifically, I need to decide whether to share the content of the letters with the judge.”
    “He hasn’t seen them?”
    “He won’t let anything compromise his objectivity. I read all of his mail and screen out anything directly or indirectly touching a case on his docket. He trusts me to handle them as I see fit until after he issues an opinion.”
    “And these letters touch an open case?”
    “They do,” she explained. “A pretty high-profile case.”
    The comment piqued Tyler’s curiosity, but he continued feigning indifference. “Why not ask the police to look into it?”
    “I’d like to avoid that if possible.”
    “Because?”
    “It might force the judge to recuse himself from the case. If either lawyer learned of the threats they could claim his self-interest trumped their oral arguments.”
    “So you’re certain the threats are credible?”
    She hesitated. “Not certain. Quasi-worried. I’ve read a lot of messages sent to the judge over the years. Nothing like this before. It feels, I don’t know, both quirky and diabolical. It’s probably nothing. But it might be for real. I don’t trust my gut on this one, so I’d like another set of eyes.”
    He appraised the voice. She seemed unaccustomed to qualms.
    Tyler jumped when he noticed the front door of the house starting to open.
    “Let me check my schedule and call you back,” he said, scurrying toward the car. “I might be able to move an appointment to squeeze you in late this afternoon.”
    “That’d be perfect,” Jennifer said gratefully.
    Tyler ended the call while retrieving his camera. He pointed the lens in the general direction of the house to capture whatever images he could before the pair moved out of range. Luckily a few proved useful. The first revealed a smeared trace of lipstick on the man’s earlobe that matched the color the woman had applied before entering the house. The other showed smeared streams of dark mascara on the woman’s face, as if the fantasy she had anticipated had turned into a shameful nightmare.
    The tearstains prompted a sudden burst of anger that caught Tyler by surprise. He reached for the