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“Have you heard of Harvey’s?”
“The department store?”
I’m a little surprised because that’s not far. In fact, it’s a short walk away from where I’m sitting now and he nods, leaning back in his chair as he fixes me with a grim expression.
“What do you know of the owner?”
“Nothing.”
I’m blunt because why on earth would I know anything about the person who owns a shop I never set foot in?
He nods and pushes a sheet of paper towards me, and I see the photograph of a man who I’ve never seen before in my life.
“Robert Harvey. Grandson of Jefferson Harvey, the chairman of Harvey’s department store.”
“What about him?”
I study the photograph with interest because this man doesn’t look like a super villain. In fact, he is rather easy on the eye and I’m guessing it’s just another occasion when the suspect turns out to be a big disappointment to the rest of mankind.
“Robert Harvey is the current CEO of the store and has reported several threats made against him.”
“What threats?”
“He’s been receiving Christmas cards that he’s not at all happy about.”
“Why? Doesn’t he approve of stripping nature’s resources to make disposable forms of greeting that relegates nature to tomorrow’s trash?”
Inspector Ranauld arches his brow and peers over his glasses, causing me to squirm in my seat.
“Do we have a problem, detective?”
His glare reminds me of his golden rule not to bring personal beliefs into the workplace.
“No sir.”
I grace him with a hard stare of my own and he nods, apparently satisfied.
“Good. I need you to be on board with this.”
Basking in my own self-importance, I face him with a steely resolve.
“How can I help?”
“You will need to go undercover at the store and try to find out any gossip about him. Who hates him, past relationships, any scandal, that kind of thing?”
“And then?”
“Report back and between us, we’ll discover who hates him enough to send those cards.”
I’m a little confused because surely this isn’t worthy of an actual file in Detective Inspector Ranauld’s already bulging filing cabinet. Then, as if he reads minds as well as be the best detective I have ever had the pleasure of working under, he leans forward and lowers his voice.
“We are treating this seriously because Robert Harvey is a powerful man.”
“In what way?” I’m confused because as far as I can see, he’s just a shop owner.
My superior shakes his head. “We think it may be the start of blackmail, possibly a kidnapping. When you target as man as rich as Robert Harvey, you can be sure money is involved somewhere down the line.”
“But sir, there are many rich men in London. I fail to see why a man with one store is considered such a target worthy of the taxpayer’s money.”
