Unexpected Outcome

There were a few messages for her, all business related except for a friend suggesting they get tickets to a new off-Broadway show. None was from anyone in urgent need of an investigator.

That, however, was just as well.

She’d never been desperate for clients, not even in the beginning. But she was rarely awash with them. So she didn’t like having to turn any away. And if today was a good indicator, this job could take a while.

After making the one return call she couldn’t leave for later, she stuck the freshly printed notes, along with the ones she’d put together at lunchtime, into a file folder—thinking she’d better try to get Robert more interested in hearing about her morning than her afternoon. It was basically a blur.

As promised, Noah had introduced her to some of the head office employees. But she’d done a poor job of concentrating on what they’d said to her. Her attention had been constantly wandering.

Every few seconds she’d caught herself watching Noah out of the corner of her eye, as if she’d actually believed she might see something that would tell her whether or not he was the arsonist.

What had she figured? That he’d set a desk on fire?

Hardly a realistic scenario.

Shaking her head, she silently admitted her behavior this afternoon had not been rational. Especially not considering that by the time…

Well, the arson note had really gotten her mind spinning, and at first she’d been seriously wondering if Noah was the one.

But by the time he’d taken her around, she’d had long enough to have given the situation a lot more thought. And she’d reached the conclusion that, despite the things that seemingly pointed in the direction of his guilt, he really wasn’t a very likely suspect.

She absently tapped her finger against the folder, still convinced she’d ultimately arrived at the right conclusion.

After all, nobody with half a brain would give much credence to an anonymous note accompanied by a pair of latex gloves. So she’d be awfully naive to believe Noah was the arsonist just because the writer said so.

In addition, Noah was far from the only person in New York who could be working a stock manipulation scheme. For that matter, there might not even be one. Until someone proved it true, a theory was nothing more than a theory.

Then there was the fact that Noah was Robert’s nephew. Plus, he had a terrific job here and…

But what if he wanted more than that? What if he wanted to make a truckload of easy money? Retire to some tropical island by the time he hit forty.

No. She sincerely didn’t think that was the case. She was a good judge of character and she simply couldn’t see…Of course, she barely knew him. And her judgment wasn’t infallible.

She mentally shook her head, aware she’d feel far better if she was certain he couldn’t have started that fire.

Conceivably, though, he could have. “Home alone” wasn’t much of an alibi.

Of course, maybe he hadn’t been alone. There might have been someone with him.

A woman.

As those words whispered in her mind she felt a twinge of… She wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but if anyone had been with him that would be good. Then she could be certain he was innocent. So it was too bad that just coming straight out and asking him wasn’t an option.

But he’d know that real OD consultants didn’t try to identify arsonists on the side, and she didn’t want to blow her cover—the way she’d almost done this morning.

After she’d said she’d been in burned-out buildings he’d clearly been curious about the circumstances. And if she hadn’t caught herself before saying it was back when she’d been on the job…

Well, actually, avoiding telling people she was an ex-cop was more a habit than a question of catching herself.

Oh, she routinely told prospective clients. She figured it gave her more credibility. But when it came to other people she tended to keep quiet.

Too often, if she didn’t, it led to questions about why she’d left the force. And in this case, it would really have led to questions.

Noah would have thought that cop to OD consultant was a very strange career path.

Telling herself to stop thinking about Noah Haine, she rose and picked up the file folder. Then she double-checked that the desk drawers were locked.

Until she decided what, if anything, to do about the arson note, she didn’t want anyone seeing it. And nobody would with it hidden at the bottom of her briefcase and locked up tight.

WHEN DANA PAUSED in Robert’s office doorway, he rose from his desk and motioned her toward the conversation area in the corner, saying, “How did your day go?”

She manufactured a smile. “If you mean have I figured out who your saboteur is, the answer’s no.”

He laughed. “But you have narrowed it down to just a couple of suspects, right? So by this time tomorrow…”

“Don’t I wish. I haven’t even met half your staff yet. I basically spent the morning at the warehouse. And this afternoon Noah introduced me to some of the people here, but I reached the limit of what I could absorb pretty fast.”

“Let’s hear about the morning, then.”

Good. They were where she wanted to be, topic-wise.

“Well,” she began, “I talked with all three men for a bit, and made a point of mentioning that I’ll be chatting with every employee in the company. So they know they’re not being singled out. Then I sat down with Stu Refkin and suggested he tell me about a typical day.

“Rather than do that, though, he cut straight to the chase and said he assumed I knew about the arson and the lost containers. Then we went from there.”

“I’m not surprised,” Robert told her. “Stu’s always direct.”

She smiled again—more genuinely this time. Robert had a knack for putting people at ease.

“He couldn’t have been more direct,” she said. “He began by saying that neither he nor his men have a clue who set the fire. As for the containers, he admitted there’s no excuse for what happened. Said Tony should have checked the number unloaded against the delivery form. Period.

“I don’t mean Stu was trying to distance himself from the blame,” she continued. “Actually, it was quite the opposite.

“He said there’d have been no problem if he’d waited around until the ship arrived. And that he would have if he hadn’t had plans.”

“Right. He’s been saying that from the beginning. In fact, none of them has changed his story in the slightest. Whether they’ve been talking to me, the police, the insurance adjuster…”

“I should ask about something,” Dana said when he paused.

He waited.

“You said ‘whether they’ve been talking to you.’”

“Uh-huh?”

“Did they talk to Larry and Noah, too?”

“Not that I’m aware of. I was the one who went over what happened with them.”