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“You’ve worked for misunderstood businessmen before, Margot. I’m feeling a little insulted.”
“You’re right, Harry, there was a time when I couldn’t afford to be so picky, but that’s not really the case right now.”
“I assume you heard about poor Lucas?”
“I did.”
“Poor kid survives getting shot by the cops and then gets stabbed to death in lockup. What a shame.”
“Worked out pretty well for you though, didn’t it?”
“How so?”
“He ran his mouth, a lot. He would have got around to talking about you eventually.”
Harry couldn’t disagree with that entirely, so he said, “I want to know who killed Lucas.”
“That’s what you want to hire me for?”
“Yes.”
“Investigating homicides isn’t really my job.”
“Nonsense, it’s what you're best at. Photographing cheating husbands leaving the scene of their ‘crime’ is beneath you.”
“Spoken like a cheating husband.”
“Someone has to do it.”
“Has to do what? Cheat?”
“No, look into Lucas’s murder. Ask your boyfriend, he’ll tell you they’ve already assumed I ordered it.”
“So, this is as much about protecting you as it is justice for Lucas.”
“I’m not going to pretend to be that altruistic. I’m protecting my own interests here. I wouldn’t be the only one protecting my self-interest. He did finger you for planting evidence and he did point out the bloody dress fit you better than him.”
“Is that when he was talking about my boobs?”
“Yes, and he was right. You have much better boobs than he did.”
Margot decided not to dignify that with a response.
“With the exception of the young man sitting at the bar, I know the police, especially the homicide ones, don’t think highly of you, Margot. They’ll be coming to see you soon enough. Work for me, Margot, and you can serve your own self-interest while getting paid for it.”
Before Margot could answer, two men in cheap suits came through the door. Margot recognized one of them, Anderson, from her days as a cop. Even before her career went awry they never liked each other. They’d come up in the academy together and he never got over the time she shot down a drunken advance. His partner was an old school guy named Cranston who people were saying was two years past when he should have retired when Margot was still on the force. Harry recognized them too. They were part of an organized crime taskforce and Harry was a frequent target of their investigations.
“Fancy running into you two here,” Anderson said as he walked up to the table and sat down. Cranston didn’t move very fast so he was still on his way over.
“Did you invite this man to join us?” Harry asked Margot.
“I certainly did not.”
“Aw come on, Margot, you and I go way back,” Anderson said.
“All the more reason not to invite you to sit down, but since you’re here, I’m thinking I’ll be leaving,” Margot said as she stood up.
“I was thinking the same thing, only we’re going to be leaving together.”
