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“The receptionist mentioned that the owner was a woman.”
“Huh, interesting. You think it’s worth looking into?”
“I don’t think it was just a slip of the tongue.”
“Ok, I don’t know anything about Huang. He phoned me up, told me he used to know Dad and said he wanted to hire us.”
Gracie nodded, opening the car door. There was definitely something fishy there, but if Huang was the one paying the bills then it didn’t really matter.
“Wait! Gracie, just wait a second. Is it...do you like him? Do you like Chesney? Because, I’ll be honest, I’m struggling to think of another reason why you would give him back his wallet. That’s a rookie move.”
Klarov’s wide eyes were beseeching and Gracie had the strangest urge to comfort him. His hair was a mess of loose dark curls and she reached out and patted his cheek.
"Thanks for the milkshake, Peter. Message me tomorrow, ok?”
Gracie walked away, knowing that she hadn’t given Klarov a good answer.
Chapter Six
On Wednesday morning,Gracie stomped down the stairs of her apartment building, thinking furiously. Klarov’s last words to her were still stuck in her head, his accusation that she’d made a mistake in the case because she liked Chesney was preposterous. Klarov was wrong. Of course he was wrong!
She hadn’t given Chesney’s wallet back because she liked him. Or because she was attracted to him. It had simply been the right thing to do. That was just an alien concept for Klarov.
And maybe Chesney had a cute smile, and eyes that seemed to see straight through her...and a way of speaking that made everything seem like an inside joke that just the two of them were in on.
Nothing was going to happen between her and Chesney. He was a suspect and she wasn't about to jeopardize the case because of some guy and his cute smile.
Just as she got into the car, her phone rang. Gracie didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?”
“Hi! Is this, uh, I’m sorry, Peter...Peter Klarov didn’t tell me your name.” The speaker was a woman, her voice sounded young and full of confidence.
“Who is this?”
“It’s Claire Huang!”
Gracie relaxed, recognizing the last name of the client. “How can I help you, Claire?”
“Oh, you’re already helping! I just wanted to speak to you in person. I’m so grateful for the work you’re doing at Attitude I wanted to personally thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Gracie said softly, although she wasn’t sure that Claire heard her as she was already speaking again.
“Peter came over last night and it was just the first I’d heard of all of this. Isn’t it exciting? A genuine PI. It’s like something out of a movie. And then he told me that the person working undercover was a woman and I thought that was so cool!”
“Yeah, it’s really cool,” Gracie said dryly. “Actually, I’m happy you called. I was wondering if you could clear something up for me. Who is the actual owner of Attitude Magazine?”
“Well,” Claire’s voice quieted a little as she demurred. “It’s a family business. Uncle cares a lot about it. Which was why I was so pleased when I found out that he was taking this seriously.”
Ugh, rich people, Gracie thought, grimacing in the privacy of her car. They can never answer a straight-forward question about where their money comes from.
“You see,” Claire continued, “Uncle is always busy, but I know he has a special place in his heart for Attitude because it was one of his and Dad’s first joint ventures. Actually one of the only.”
Gracie swallowed her sigh and wondered if Klarov had got a better answer out of her. Who was the real owner of the magazine?
“Anyway, I’ll let you get back to your super-secret undercover work,” Claire said, her voice cracking with laughter as she spoke. Gracie’s grimace remained fixed in place. “Keep up the good work!!”
She hung up before Gracie could get another word in.
