Telling Lies Read Free Page B

that horrible day to think about. No one should get away with something like this.”
     
    “ I understand that, but an investigation based on seeing some guy who looks familiar for two seconds isn’t going to happen.” He shrugged in resignation. “And with all that money involved, it’d be the Fed’s case anyway.” He lifted his hands skyward. “I can tell you, when they were asking all those questions, they were following the money. They must have thought about the possibility that Sargasso was out there somewhere. If the Feds gave up the chase, it means they didn’t have the smallest shred of a clue.” He shook his head with certainty. “If they did, they’d still be chasing Sargasso’s ghost. Believe me, there’s nothing we can do.”
     
    “ You’re wrong.” Laurel was defiant. “There is something I can do.” She pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open. “I can call Helen. This is something she’d love to get her hands on, especially if it means outsmarting the Feds.”
     

Chapter Five
     
    Saks Fifth Avenue
    New York City
     
     
    “ Achoo! Achoo!” Helen couldn’t stop sneezing. It was all the damn perfume wafting around her head, annoying her sinuses. “Sorry,” she apologized to the woman she’d been spritzing with Adoreé Body Mist. “It’s just my allergies, not this lovely fragrance.” The woman gave her a strange look before moving off down the counter, feigning interest in several other fragrances, desperately searching for any non-sneezing salesperson to help her.
     
    Helen couldn’t blame the customer. Her skills as a Fragrance Consultant left much to be desired. She sprayed too much. She rubbed too hard. And she didn’t know a flaçon from a factice. Worst of all, the big-spending, haute couture clad women who plunked down hundreds and hundreds of dollars on the store’s myriad selections of fragrances, scented creams, lotions, and potions seemed to know instinctively that beauty wasn’t her business.
     
    Maybe selling isn’t my strong point . Helen suppressed another sneeze, but sleuthing is. When Helen, a freelance private investigator, had accepted this assignment from Saks Fifth Avenue’s Loss Prevention Director, she thought that it would be interesting as well as challenging, a welcome change of pace from the murder and deceit she’d encountered on her last case. What could be so bad? I’ll spend a few days in an elegant department store surreptitiously searching for signs of internal theft. She’d figured she’d have lunchtime to indulge her passion for shopping and probably spend the fee she was earning on the much too expensive designer clothes the store sold. But she’d figured wrong. First of all, the thief or thieves proved to be much cleverer than she’d counted on. She’d narrowed the field down to a few possibilities but as yet hadn’t been able to positively identify who might be responsible for the recent heavy losses the fragrance department had been experiencing. Second, her feet were killing her. She’d love to meet the guy who invented marble floors. Probably some Ancient Roman or Greek architect who figured it would be a great new way to spend his rich client’s money. Anyway, eight hours a day standing on the hard, unforgiving surface wasn’t doing her Manolo shod feet any favors.
     
    “ Hello. How are you today? May I treat you to a sample of our newest, Adoreé? It’s a light body mist that really captures the mood of this fresh, modern floral.” If she had to say that to one more person, she might actually throw up. As she smiled and spritzed, she tried to keep her eyes on the activity at the various cash registers, but it wasn’t easy. Saks had been renovated and modernized several times over the past eighty years. Yet, it retained the tasteful and elegant touches that had made it an instant success when it opened its doors in the 1920s. Among these details were beautiful wooden and glass counters that curved gracefully