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Chapter 2
I went back to the office, let Carla know where I'd be, and went to my truck. Even though sport utilities are somewhat of a combination, I still consider them more of a truck than a car. I drove down to the waterfront with a few minutes to spare. A good private dick tries to get to get to locations early to scope things out a little. I know the area around Murphy's like the back of my hand, but I still wanted to be there when Mrs. Armacost arrived. Not to greet her, but to see if she brought along company, invited or otherwise.
I found a good vantage point that afforded me a good view of anyone approaching Murphy's. I saw Mrs. Armacost pull up to an empty parking space in her silver Benz convertible. I was quite impressed that she parked it in one try. I watched to see if anybody was following her. It didn't appear so. She got out of the car and walked around to the sidewalk. She is a good looker. Class! Real class! It just oozes off of her. From the walk, I'll bet she has plenty of attitude too. Funny though, it didn't look like a fake walk. Too many women these days try to fake a classy walk. It's kind of like putting a Rolls Royce emblem on a Yugo; everyone can see the difference.
"She's got to be in her mid to late 40's," considering she's been married to Benjamin for 25 years. But from my viewpoint she didn't look a day over 30. She was wearing a knee length brown plaid skirt, white silk blouse open about 4 buttons down, and white high heels. Her shoulder length light brown hair was frosted. I didn't know if it was to hide the gray or just being fashionable. Either way, it looked good on her. As she got a little closer I surmised she would be about 5 foot 5 out of the heels and probably weighed in at about 130 to 140. She wasn't fat, but built. She could have done one of those "full figure" girl ads in the 60's. Not being a professional boob measurer, my guess would be she is about a 36D. With the cleavage she was showing, maybe a double D. She was wearing sunglasses to shade her eyes from the noontime sun⦠or was it a weak attempt to keep from being recognized.
When I was relatively sure she hadn't been followed, I made my way to the front door of Murphy's. Coincidentally, that was about the same time as Mrs. Armacost. She stood outside for a minute and checked the gold and diamond watch on her left wrist as she scanned the area. Maybe that's why she had on the shades, the glare from the watch, the gold chain around her neck, and the gold ankle bracelet was enough. But even considering all of that, she still didn't look showy. Just classy.
"Mrs. Armacost?" I asked as I walked up behind her. "I'm Pheury, Mick Pheury."
"Yes Mr. Pheury, I'm glad to meet you."
"Shall we go inside?" I opened the door.
"Thank you very much." Mrs. Armacost walked in.
Sylvia greeted her as she entered. "Welcome to Murphy's. How many? Mick!"
"Hello Sylvia, darling. How are you?," I said as Sylvia gave me a little kiss on the cheek.
"I'm doing fine, Mr. Pheury. Your table is ready. This way please."
Sylvia led us to a table in the far back corner of the restaurant. I watched Mrs. Armacost's walk as she strutted her high-class ass through the restaurant. "Nice swing. Very natural.," I thought to myself. Sylvia handed each of us a menu as we took our seats. "Can I get you something from the bar, ma'am?," Sylvia asked Mrs. Armacost.
"Ah, well, I'll take a glass of White Zinfandel.," Mrs. Armacost replied.
"Very well. I'll be right back." Sylvia walked away.
"I see you have a flair for the melodramatic, Mr. Pheury.," Mrs. Armacost said with a slight smirk.
"Yes I do. Well, Mrs. Armacost," I began, "how can I help you?"
"Aren't you having anything to drink? I do so hate drinking alone."
"I like keeping a clear head when I'm on a case. Speaking of the caseβ¦"
Mrs. Armacost looked at me and then around the pub. "I think my husband is having an affair."
I looked at her very seriously, "You think? And you want me to find out with whom."
"Well, yes. Naturally."
"Okay. Can I ask why you came to me?"
"Pardon me for saying so, but you weren't the first private detective I called.," Mrs. Armacost said rather bluntly.
"Oh? The second, huh?"
"Well, actually, the eighth.," she said with a smile.