The second case for TT, and again, just for fun.
TT Spalding- PI – The Partridge Case
Maggie reminded me that I had a 3 pm appointment with a Mr. Henry Partridge today so I pulled out my trusty log book to review the client
. What I had written there was in my own style and brought a picture of him to mind.
When Henry Partridge came into my office, I knew something was up. He was a tall, heavy set man with a balding head and a swarthy complexion. His hands were big: big and gnarled, showing a lifetime of hard work. The same could be said of his face. The face of money well earned. There was also the look of a man who had seen his share of hard times and bad breaks. It was the face of success over adversity. That showed in the beer belly that flowed over the edge of my desk when he leaned across it to snarl at me.
Damn! I loved this shit. I read it again and just loved the way the words rang out. This was one of the things I loved about my job. I kept a record of every visit and every client in this little tome. I was transported back in time to Sam Spade again. He was my hero, and the inspiration for my becoming a PI. Licensed right here in Richmond, Va. Maybe I would write a novel one day. Yeah, sure!
Henry was a client: the one that I told Maggie about last week. He thought his wife of 24 years was cheating on him and he wanted me to prove it for him. It was strange though. It seemed to me that he loved his wife very much, and he talked about her as though she was a saint and he was the sinner. I got the impression he thought she was forced into cheating by his own actions. I wanted to get to the bottom of that little scenario and asked for another meeting with him. He was due in today at 3 sharp and I hoped to get what I needed. Since I had already agreed to help him, this was more of a fact finding mission than curiosity. Sure it was.
Maggie buzzed me right at 3 sharp to tell me Henry was waiting. I told her to send him in and, as a thought, asked her to join us. She knocked a few seconds later and opened the door, ushering in Mr. Partridge. He looked exactly the same as I motioned for him to sit in the torture chair. You know the one. Maggie moved around to one side and took the more comfortable chair there. She crossed her legs with a smirk while I watched her. Damn she had nice legs!
"Thanks for coming in again Mr. Partridge. There were some things I wanted to go over with you. Oh, by the way, this is my wife, Maggie. She doubles as a secretary and keeps me honest. I get a lot of female clients, you know."
I was trying to keep it light and loosen up our Mr. Partridge but it wasn't working. He just sat there like a slightly balding mafia hit man and stared at me. Well, what the hell. I'd just try again.
"You brought the information I asked for last time?" I asked. I had asked him for all of the credit card info, the bank account numbers and her cell phone number. I also needed the home phone number, her SS number and any schedules she kept as to meetings, work, and the like. All stuff I could use to track her comings and goings.
"It's all here" he said as he handed Maggie a very large manila envelope. Seems he took me seriously and brought everything that could possibly be used.
She took it with a smile.
"Thank you Mr. Partridge. We'll give you a receipt today before you leave and a copy of our license and bond to assure you. We will keep all information strictly confidential."
It seemed that Maggie's smile and voice were more suitable to Mr. Partridge since he gave her a huge smile. He actually blushed a little when she smiled at him in return. Well, what have we here?
"Tell me Henry, may I call you Henry? Why do you think your wife is cheating on you? What has she done to give you this idea?"
Maggie had gone right to work. She was quick on the uptake and saw the response she got from him so she decided to ask the initial questions. I was content and sat back to watch a pro work. And pro she was. She always made me feel like the employee and her the boss. She was my pride and joy!
"Connie, my wife, has always been very shy. She never did go out much and she was a great mother to our children. We have four, you know. I have one son who is a dentist and another son who is doing his residency in the hospital here in town. The other two, both girls, are still in college. They want to teach, both of them. They're great kids and it's all because of Connie. She did a great job. It was really special for us since neither of us ever finished High School. So you see?"
Henry seemed to be lost in a memory for a while as Maggie tossed me a look. It said, get some coffee or something before this guy goes to sleep. Maggie was not very sentimental when it came to kids. She never wanted any. So, neither did I.
"Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah, Well, I own my own company. We do preparation work. You know, we clear and grade the land for new homes or buildings. We get it ready for the construction crews to start. A lot of those big yellow bulldozers and front loaders and the like you see are mine. I make a good living but it takes a lot of money to put the kids through college. Not that I minded you know, but it takes a lot. Having two in college at one time means a $50,000 a year bill for me. That meant I had to work a lot of hours to get the money. I was working fifty to sixty hours a week and still am. That makes for a lot of alone time for Connie now that the kids are all out of the house."
He paused to take a drink of the diet Pepsi I brought in from the cooler behind Maggie's desk. He took a deep breath and continued.
"Connie and I always had a good sex life."
Here, he glanced at me and then back to Maggie. I could see the flush spread over his face and down his neck. It was almost funny to see a grown Mafia type sitting here in my office, embarrassed to death to be talking about sex with his wife. It was a riot but sort of sad too, since it was now very clear that this man loved his wife.
"I'm sorry to be talking about this but it's important. We made love you know. Not that kinky stuff these kids do nowadays. We made real love. Twice a week, sometimes more. I thought Connie liked what we did but maybe I was wrong."
He stopped to take another drink of the Pepsi and I saw him casually wipe away a tear when he thought we didn't notice. I saw Maggie and damn if there wasn't a tear there too! My Maggie, the hopeless romantic! I thought this was worth a ribbing or two before my better judgment kicked in. More likely, this could lead to some hot sex later if I played my cards right.
"Has your love life changed recently Mr. Partridge? Is there something different that you noticed? Anything at all?"
"Yes, it's very different. She has wanted to have more sex lately and when we do have sex, it's really hot. I mean, you know, ah, very, sort of more, intense. She wants to try different things now and she wants me to be more, ah, 'aggressive' is the word she uses. I mean, I don't know where this is coming from but it is certainly different."
This really did him in. He had spilled his guts and it had cost him a great deal. It was clear that this bull of a man was embarrassed by all of this and he was just barely managing to hold it together to tell us this. He must have thought it was important so he did it. I think that's what he always did. He did what was necessary.
I glanced at Maggie to see that she was still watering at the eyes. She had been devastated by the hurt in this man's soul. I decided that I should take it from here.
