“Sorry for interrupting,” he said.“I probably shouldn’t have said anything.I just saw a way to fix things and I spoke without thinking.”
“It was good.”I focused in on his desk.His cell phone was propped up on a stand.“That phone stand.”
Keaton grabbed his phone off it as if it was on fire.“It was in the drawer,” he said.Curious how his cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red.Over a phone stand?“W-was I not supposed to use it?”
I narrowed my eyes thoughtfully.“I think it belonged to my last secretary.”
“Oh.”Keaton looked at it for a long moment.“Should I not use it?Is it, like… is there a bad memory with it, or something?”
I almost smirked at the thought.Almost.I had barely any memories of Helen.Good or bad.She was just the latest in a long string of forgettable secretaries.Almost all of them were useless.
And yet Keaton had proven useful on his first full day.
“I think she brought it from home,” I said.I had a good mental inventory of the items the company had purchased for that desk.“We should be courteous and send it back to her.”
Keaton brightened slightly.“Sure, I can do that,” he said.“How should I send it?Express?By courier?Is it super important?”
“It’s a phone stand,” I said.My tone conveyed exactly how important it was not.“Just see that she gets her personal property back.”
Keaton nodded and began clicking on the screen.I looked back at the paperwork.“How would you find this person?”I asked absently.Keaton had helped with the diplomatic side.Perhaps he could help with ferreting out the miscreant.
“Which person?Your old secretary?I have her details here,” he said.He stared at me blankly.The glow of the screen shone on his face.I realized it was late.Already getting dark out.Perhaps the evening hour added to his confusion.Other people got tired.I had to remember that.
“The one who sent the fake contracts.”
Keaton thought for a second.“I would start with motive,” he said.“And if there wasn’t anyone obvious, I would try and find out who took Ace’s call about the contract last night.Whoever it was must have been in on it, if not the actual perpetrator.Oh, and I’d look at the package the contract came in.Maybe the envelope has postmarks or something that can tell us where it was sent from.”
I glanced at my wastepaper bin.I had worked late last night.I had stopped the cleaners when they tried to come into the office.I couldn’t have the distraction.
“It’s in there,” I said.
Keaton shot to his feet and squatted by the basket.He started rummaging around immediately.I wanted to protest that he didn’t need to stick his bare hands into my trash.He came up with the envelope before I could.
“Here it is!”he exclaimed.“Oh, wait.It’s not postmarked at all.I don’t think this was sent through the postal system.”
I frowned.“What do you mean?”I asked.I held out a hand to examine it for myself.
Keaton walked to my side and handed it over.“Look, the address is handwritten.There are no franking marks, no printed label like a courier might use.There’s no indication at all that it was brought by a third party.I think whoever delivered this brought it to the building themselves.”
I gave him an appraising look.“Two good ideas in as many minutes, Keaton Dunbar.”
Just as I had hoped: that pink flush spread across his cheeks.He was warm and shy under praise.I wasn’t known to be liberal with my approval.Perhaps I would find myself making an exception.
“Just an outsider’s perspective,” he said modestly.“Sometimes it’s easier to see things when you aren’t as close to the problem.”
Ace opened the door without knocking and stepped back inside.“Ridley made the call,” he said.“It sounds like the guy is sad, but he understands.That was a good save, Keaton.”
Keaton beamed as he sat back behind his desk.
“Good,” I acknowledged.“We have a lead.”
Ace’s eyes flashed eagerly.“First, can Ridley go?He wants to meet up with a couple of the other players.Apparently, they’re all going to O’Finlays tonight.That’s why he was already in the area.”
I considered it.“I think we’re done with him.”
Ace made to duck out of the room again but I held up a hand to stop him.“Yeah?”he asked.
“Get down to security next.We need entrance tapes from two days ago.See if you can find the person who dropped off the contract.”I held up the envelope for him to take.He would be able to compare it to what he saw on the screen.
