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“Morning,” I say, going into her office.
She hangs up her coat on the stand behind the door, then turns and smiles. “Morning, Dr. Hart.” She always calls me Dr. Hart, no matter how many times I’ve told her to call me Mack. I kind of like that, although I’d never admit it.
I lean on the door jamb with my hands in my pockets. “Did you have a nice evening?” She told me she was going to the theater last night.
“Yes, thank you. The play was great, Alan loved it. And Jill brought her new boyfriend to meet us.”
“Oh, what’s he like?”
She walks over to the table with the coffee machine and begins making us both a cup. “A lovely young man, actually. Works in finance, so I think he has plenty of money. I know it’s not the most important thing in life, but I’m pleased for Kim. It’s no fun being poor.”
“No,” I say with feeling, “it’s not.”
Nadine has been my PA since I founded Koru Tech six years ago. I interviewed a couple of dozen applicants, because it was important to me to find the right person. PAs fulfill a strange role, often knowing intimate details about their boss as they organize both their business and private calendars. I suspect sometimes they understand a boss better than a wife. Nadine was thirty-five at the time, with superb secretarial qualifications and excellent references. She was smart, funny, and very happily married, and we got on immediately.
Over the years, we’ve often spent time together alone in the car or on flights and got chatting. She knows I don’t come from money and has admitted to me too that she and her husband struggled a lot financially when they were first married, so I understand her wanting the best for her daughter.
She bends to get some milk out of the fridge and laughs. “Been at the leftovers, have we?”
“Might have.”
“I’ll never understand how you manage to eat so much and stay so trim.” She pours milk into the jug and begins steaming it. “I have one chocolate bar and it goes straight to my hips.”
I chuckle. Then I clear my throat. “I have a bit of a strange question. Do you know if anyone’s been in my office?”
She looks over her shoulder at me, eyebrows raised. “Not that I know of. Why?”
“I found something… a note someone dropped by mistake, I think. It… interests me. I’d like to track down the owner.”
Pondering on it as she pours the milk over the espresso, she eventually says, “It wouldn’t have been Steven?”
“I sincerely hope not,” I say with feeling, accepting the cup as she brings it over.
She gives me an amused look. “Then… what about the cleaner? Someone from Shine will have done the offices last night.”
“Oh, of course.” I think about when I was on my way out. I saw Dodie, and with her was… hmm… oh yes. The girl with the hair.
“Can you do me a favor and get Dodie Banks from Shine on the phone for me?” I ask.
“Sure. You want to take it in your office?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
I carry my cup through and sit back at my desk. Was it Dodie who dropped the note? If it was, that’ll be the end of the puzzle. She’s friendly, and she works hard, but my interest ends there.
If it was the blonde, though…
My phone buzzes, and I pick up the receiver. “Dodie Banks for you,” Nadine says.
“Thanks.” I wait for her to put her through. “Hello?”
“Good morning, Dr. Hart,” Dodie says.
“Hey, Dodie. Sorry to bother you.”
“That’s okay. What can I do for you?”
“I was just wondering about last night. Did you clean my office?”
