The Master Plan (2009) (2 page)

Globe Investigations had received several letters of complaint about the garage, stating that when a car was brought
in for maintenance or minor repairs, the garage called the
owners and reported that the vehicles needed major work
done, and then charged the owners exorbitant prices to fix
the cars. They had just agreed that Casey would bring a car
to the garage for an oil change and see what transpired.

"Does that mean you're going to stick me with the garage
gig?" Bob asked Casey with a grin.

Marianne was already on her feet, enthusiastically hugging Casey. "When did this happen? I didn't even know you
were seeing someone."
"

"I'm just kidding, Casey," Bob said as he lifted himself
carefully from the chair he had managed to squeeze his
plump body into when the meeting began. "Congratulations"

"You're not supposed to say congratulations to the bride,"
Marianne told him. "That's what you say to the groom."

"Okay. Where is he? Is he someone we know?"

"No," Casey replied. "His name is Tony Hunter. I met him
on the golf course at the Crescent Hills Country Club."

"How did you get in there?" Bob asked. "That's where the
rich folks play."

I had a bit of a windfall and I used it to join the Country
Club a few months ago." Casey looked at her coworkers and
smiled weakly.

"It must have been some windfall to get you accepted into
that snob haven," Bob persisted. "Well, I'm happy for you,
kid. Whoever he is, Tony Hunter is a lucky man."

"He sure is," Marianne agreed. "And you are going to be
a beautiful bride."

"You will keep helping me?" Casey asked Marianne.
"Tony probably wouldn't have looked at me twice if you
hadn't taken me under your wing"

"Oh, wow," Marianne said, her lovely green eyes sparkling
with excitement. "Can I help you with your hair and makeup
for the wedding?"

Casey nodded.

Marianne was the resident beauty expert, mostly because she was a gorgeous young woman with wavy auburn hair and
a face and figure that stopped traffic. Fortunately for the staff
at Globe Investigations, Marianne was as smart and efficient
as she was beautiful, and they all admitted she made the office run like a well-oiled machine.

Before Marianne and her hairdresser had worked their
magic on Casey, the investigator had never bothered to try
and enhance her attractive features with makeup or clothes
that actually complimented her tall, slim frame. Casey had
worn her dull brown hair long, letting it hang straight or
pulling it back into a ponytail. Her normal attire consisted of
jeans and T-shirts in the summer, and jeans and sweatshirts
in the winter.

Now Casey's hair was highlighted with blond streaks and
cut short so that it framed her face and made it look fuller.
Her eyeglasses had been replaced by contact lenses and the
expert use of mascara and eye shadow had made them her
most outstanding feature. She still refused to use standard lipstick, but Marianne had showed her how to use a light blush
on her cheeks and a lip gloss that had only the slightest hint
of color.

The jeans and baggy shirts had disappeared. Casey wore
skirts and slacks with matching jackets and blouses that
gave her a chic, professional appearance.

"You already had the looks," Marianne said proudly. "We
just helped you make the most of them"

"Uh-oh," Bob complained. "If you gals are going to start
discussing makeup and hairdos, I'm leaving"

Dana, who had been strangely silent, finally rose from her
chair and walked over to Casey. "I'm very happy for you,
Casey," she said as she embraced her.

"Thanks, Dana. I think I've got it all worked out now."

"I hope so," Dana said softly.

"What does that mean?" Bob asked.

"Nothing you have to worry about, Bob," Dana said.
"Well, I've got to meet with Sam in a few minutes, so I guess
I'd better adjourn this meeting. Both of you have assignments
for the next few days, so we'll just meet again on Thursday
afternoon for reports and any new cases that come in"

Dana headed for the door and everyone else prepared to
follow her out. Marianne and Casey were chattering away
about weddings in general, and Bob was using the phone
to call his wife. Dana opened the door to the hallway and
walked to the elevator.

Dana Sloan had been working for The Globe newspaper in
Crescent Hills, Illinois, since graduating from college with a
degree in journalism. Her talent for digging below the surface
of a story and uncovering facts often overlooked by other reporters had soon come to the attention of the Globe's managing editor, Sam McGowan.

Within a few years, Dana was moved from a tiny cubicle
in the newsroom to her own office. From there she moved
into her current position as the lead investigator and supervisor of Globe Investigations.

Crescent Hills was a growing, prosperous community
about fifty miles from Chicago. Sam McGowan believed
that a town's primary newspaper should do more than report
the news and social events; it should service its community
by listening to problems and trying to find solutions. Sam had
expanded his desire to help Crescent Hills residents into a
separate investigative office supported by the newspaper.
Over the years, Dana and her staff had answered the thou sands of calls for help that came in daily by way of telephone, regular mail, and e-mail.

When readers reported businesses like the garage that was
suddenly discovering costly repairs, Dana or one of her staff
investigated the allegations and either proved them right or
dismissed them.

While Globe Investigations tried not to interfere in police
matters, sometimes Dana and her staff's efforts to help their
clients led them into the midst of a serious crime. As Crescent Hills grew in population, so did the reports of murder,
kidnapping, and armed robbery. There had been several occasions when Dana's efforts had uncovered crucial evidence
or leads in criminal cases.

A recent investigation had pitted Dana against a corrupt
politician and pushed her into the path of a deranged serial
killer. That same case had also caused a serious rift in Dana's
relationship with Homicide Detective Al Bruno.

Bruno thought that lovely young women like Dana should
not be sleuths. He wanted the thoughts under Dana's light
brown curls to be about marriage and babies. He wanted
Dana to use her intelligence and quick wit to plan menus
and parent-teacher events. Although Dana admitted that she
loved Al Bruno and would probably marry him someday, she
was not ready to give up her career for him. She liked working
for Globe Investigations and relished the excitement of working on the cases brought to her attention by the reading public.

Dana and Bruno had formed a recent truce and were supposed to be working on building a stronger relationship. Both
of them knew that it was just a matter of time before another
case came along that would cause more problems in their romance, but in the meantime they were trying to concentrate on the things that had brought them together rather than the
things that pulled them apart.

As the elevator deposited Dana on the second floor of the
building where the newsroom and the managing editor's office were located, Dana's thoughts had already settled on the
next conflict between herself and Bruno. When she told him
that Casey was getting married, Dana was sure Bruno would
be upset. After all, Casey had only known Tony Hunter for a
few months, while Dana and Bruno had been together for
more than two years.

It was after four and the newsroom was quieter than usual.
The evening edition was already rolling off the press, so the
newsroom staff had wound down. Some of the reporters
were out on the streets looking for headline events to include
in the early-morning edition. Others were working on the
columns and less newsworthy items that would also appear
in the morning paper.

Dana made her way across the room toward Sam's office.
A number of people called out greetings and waved to her,
but Dana was already late for her meeting and didn't stop to
chat.

"Sorry I'm late," Dana apologized as soon as she entered
the office. "Casey announced her engagement in the middle of our staff meeting."

"Really?" Sam's bushy gray eyebrows rose slightly. "I
thought she was going to dump that guy?"

"I thought so too, but she told me they worked things out.
And she's got a lovely diamond on her finger to prove it."

"You don't sound happy for her."

Dana sat down in one of the leather chairs facing Sam's
desk. "I'll be happy when I'm sure she's going to be happy."

Sam nodded. "Are you going to tell Bruno?"

"Actually, I'm going to ask him to check this guy out.
Casey asked me to help her do that right after they started
dating, but neither of us could find information on him dating back more than two years. On the surface he looks like a
great catch, but I'm afraid he may be too good to be true."

"When's the wedding?"

"I don't think they've set a date yet"

Sam's phone rang, interrupting their conversation. He
spoke to a reporter in the field for a few minutes and then
hung up and turned back to Dana. "The reason I called you
in here was to give you a new case to work on. It concerns a
friend of yours, and I thought you'd want to handle it personally."

"What friend?" Dana instantly came to attention, pushing
her concerns about Casey and Tony Hunter out of her mind.

"Del Pitman."

"What's wrong with Del?" Dana's voice conveyed her
concern.

"He's fine, but the new artist he's been promoting is too
upset to finish the paintings he needs for the showing. It
seems her husband disappeared."

"Has she called the police?"

"I don't know, but Del is beside himself. He's spent a ton
of money promoting this gala event and only has three small
paintings to show. She's supposed to have several more in
various stages of completion, but has gone into a depression
and refuses to lift a brush"

"That's strange," Dana told him. "Most artists only work
on one painting at a time."

"My wife said the same thing when she told me about Del's problem." Sam's wife, Emily, worked at the Pitman
Gallery on occasion. She and Dana shared an appreciation
for art and both of them were artists themselves. Emily did
watercolors and when Dana had moments to spare she
worked on oil paintings.

"Emily is the one who actually requested my help?"

"Yes, but Del asked her to call."

"Why didn't Del call me directly?"

"He's away on business. Emily has been minding the
gallery for him. When he called this morning and found out
Porter hadn't delivered any of the paintings she promised
him, he asked Emily to contact Globe Investigations. He
wants us to find out what happened to the husband so his
artist will get back to work. I went over there to have lunch
with Emily and that's when she asked me if we would take
the case. I wouldn't ordinarily ask you to look for a wayward
husband, but since Emily asked me. . " Sam shrugged.

Dana nodded. Sam ruled the newsroom and the Globe in
general with as much strength and authority as the captain
of an ocean liner, but at home, Emily steered the boat.

"Do you have the artist's name and address?"

"Right here." Sam handed Dana a sheet of paper with the
Pitman Gallery's logo on it.

"Judy Porter," Dana said thoughtfully. "I met her a few
months ago at one of Del's parties"

"Good. Then you don't need a special introduction to talk
to the woman. Oh, and Emily said that Porter is scheduled to
do some interviews next week on some of those local television talk shows and Del is afraid he'll have to cancel."

"Okay," Dana said. "I'll call her tonight and see if I can
arrange a meeting for tomorrow morning."

"Since Emily is going to be at the gallery until after six,
we're letting the boys fend for themselves and going out to
dinner. Would you like to join us?"

"Thanks, but Bruno is off duty tonight and I promised to
cook for him."

Sam grinned. "Great. You can soften him up with a good
home-cooked meal and then you can ask him to check out
Casey's boyfriend and get you some information on Judy
Porter's missing husband"

"That's what I'm thinking," Dana replied, rising from the
chair. "I was going to serve vanilla ice cream for dessert, but
now I think I'll stop at the bakery on the way home and pick
up an apple pie. It's Bruno's favorite"

Sam laughed. "That cop doesn't stand a chance"

With some of the ideas she and Marianne had discussed
about weddings floating around in her head, Casey left the
office and drove straight to the Crescent Hills Mall where
she was meeting two of her girlfriends for dinner.

She wondered if she would have time to look in the bridal
shop before she went to the restaurant. Her friends would be
so excited when she showed them her ring. They would both
be her bridesmaids for the wedding, with two of Tony's single friends as groomsmen. It was all part of the plan.