Ordinary Day

Just a day,
Just an ordinary day.
Just trying to get by.

 

“Are you sure we have everything?” Trixie slid a well-organized folder into her designer briefcase. It included twelve color handouts of the briefing they were scheduled to present to Wheeler International later that morning.

“Yes, I’m sure. You’ve never been this nervous before. What’s up?” Sean managed to keep his face serious, but his twinkling brown eyes gave him away.

“You know what’s up,” Trixie retorted, as she pushed a hand through her curls. Thanks to her haircut on Saturday, she no longer had to worry about them falling into her face. “Matthew Wheeler expects the best. I just want to make sure he feels like he’s gotten our best, despite everything that came down over the weekend.”

“This is the most thorough security review you’ve done on this project. You’ve never done background checks on all the managers in a company before.”

“I had to,” she muttered. “If we were going to run a background check on anyone we had to run one on everyone.” She glanced up at him. “Besides you and Freeman were the ones that made that decision.”

Sean waved a careless hand in her direction. “Saad has to process specific cultural beliefs that have been ingrained his entire life. It’s not your fault Saad still has problems dealing with women in authority.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it!” Trixie glared at him. “Do you really believe that’s Saad’s only problem with our security review?”

“No.” A rueful shake of his head affirmed his agreement with Trixie’s assessment. “Freeman’s still digging, though.”

Trixie glanced towards the outer office. Amy Freeman and Ellie Byrd were working with Kevin Kavanaugh, a recent college graduate. They were patiently describing the phone system to him. Charlie had hired the temporary through contacts of his own, and assured Trixie he would take all the responsibility for salary in return for a reduced rent.

“He’s an unassuming young man,” Sean interrupted Trixie’s study.

“Yeah,” Trixie admitted. “It sure didn’t take Freeman long to have those procedures typed up and ready for him.”

Sean snorted. “She’s going do anything she can that gets her off the front desk and the phones. She’s even written up the procedure for standard background checks so he can run those while he’s not on the phone.”

“She’s going to start an in-depth background check on him while we’re at Wheeler International, right?”

“The very deepest,” Sean affirmed. “He’s already signed the waiver. Poor kid, he still has to worry about acne and here we are running a background check on him.”

“Don’t let looks deceive you,” Trixie warned. “Did Allison look at all like the type to hack into her husband’s computer systems?”

“Not at all.” Sean shot a cheeky grin her way. “She did look like the type to have a torrid affair with his best friend or a close business associate.”

Trixie stopped her inspection of the materials needed for the morning’s briefing. “Do you think that’s why she was being blackmailed?”

“Good grief, Belden. Who knows what she could have done. That’s what we’re going to find out. But yeah, that would make sense to me. She certainly enjoyed being at her particular rank on the social register, don’t you think?”

Trixie resumed the checking of the contents of her briefcase. “Yeah, she came across that way to me.” She completed the inspection and closed her briefcase. “Do you have everything? I think we’d better head on out.” She shook her head. “I wish we didn’t have this presentation scheduled this morning. I want to contact Kitty Buchanan in the worst sort of way.”

“You’re looking at it all wrong. It’s good we’ve got this meeting scheduled this morning. We can clear Wheeler and give the investigation some time to jell,” Sean advised. “You told us yourself that Charlie’s going to ask Kitty to give you her full cooperation. There’s no way he’s had time to do that. Even if he has, she’ll need some time to get used to things. She’s lost a good friend.”

“I know, I know,” Trixie groaned. “But patience is one trait I’ve yet to learn!”

 

 

“Other than some minor tweaking on the security protocols for your intranet, an upgrade on your virus detection and a fully enabled spyware detection software standard, your security is top-notch.” Trixie attempted to smile at Matthew Wheeler as she stood at the head of the conference table and caught his eye.

It was taking everything she had to stay focused and professional during the exit briefing for Wheeler International. Despite Sean’s earlier advice, she was eager to be working on the ideas and leads the team had generated the day before that might explain why Allison Rockefeller Beckhart had hacked into her husband’s systems.

Despite her preoccupation with the case, the current presentation, jointly led by Trixie and Sean, was going exceedingly well. It was obvious that Matthew and his key management team were happy with the recommendations and findings. Actually, it’s the lack of findings across the business systems that they’re happy with, she thought as she scanned the sea of faces seated around the conference room table. The men and women representing finance, program management, sales, marketing, operations, and of course, information technology, were all engaged and seemingly pleased. No one had fidgeted with a PDA, cell phone or other computer equipment.

“Do you have any questions?”

Several of Matthew’s key executives asked in-depth questions about the level of the network probing they had conducted and even the wisdom of allowing their employees to open their systems to a new level of file sharing. As well as answering questions herself, Trixie deferred several questions to Sean. Saad’s question about security seemed to open the floor up for debate.

“Do you believe our password protocol is too stringent?” he asked, his dark eyes intense.

Trixie nodded towards Sean. As they had agreed, Sean would take the lead on answering questions posed by Saad, while Trixie would take the lead on questions from Matthew.

“Even the most sophisticated system can be compromised,” Sean replied. “You have a written security policy that every new employee signs and it appears that is reiterated to the employees annually. Passwords are required to be complicated, to include symbols and numbers: the usual requirements for a strong password. You’re on an acceptable thirty-day cycle that is considered stringent. We didn’t uncover any instances of employees compromising their passwords. Do you have a specific concern?”

Saad nodded his head. “There have been times when it seems we’ve made it too complicated for employees to remember their passwords. So they write them down.”

Sean shared a look with Trixie. Neither had discovered any passwords written down during their audit. Trixie reminded herself they had checked every single employee desk during the audit.

“Your security will only be as good as the staff you’ve hired,” Sean offered by way of explanation. “There are ways people can make up passwords that only make sense to them, but still appear random to others. We can provide some guidance in that area and leave you a sheet of tips that you can share with your employees.”

Trixie cleared her throat. “If I might make a suggestion?” she asked.

Matthew and Saad both nodded.

“Biometric password protection is relatively inexpensive. If you wish to avoid the entire password issue, you can begin implementing fingerprinting as a login mechanism to replace passwords or even key cards. The cost of the device per computing unit is very affordable and standard now on all laptop devices. You’d have to invest in the technology to implement, of course, but many IT departments report they receive a return on investment equal to the cost of implementation.”

“You can implement this for us?” Matthew asked, leaning forward in interest.

Trixie shook her head. “That’s not in our core area. We can recommend several consultants or firms that will work with you. However, it’s likely your own IT staff can implement the change with minimal guidance.”

“Saad, have we ever investigated this before?” he asked, turning to his chief information officer.

“Yes, about two years ago. We decided to wait for the technology to stabilize and for the government to implement a security standard. Ms. Belden is correct. The timing would be right for us to reexamine this.”

“What about increased IT costs in managing something like this?” The chief financial officer for Wheeler International had been concerned about costs since the start of the audit.

Saad fielded the question himself. “None. It would save us time in the end because of password resets. Matthew,” he paused for a moment, “you may have some employee privacy concerns about being fingerprinted.”

“Nonsense!” Matthew declared. “Our employees will embrace this technology, they always do.”

“Unfortunately, Matthew, Saad makes a valid point. Fingerprints in particular have been associated with criminals for decades. We’ll need a well-thought out policy to accompany this change.” This explanation came from the pleasantly plump head of human resources.

“Why would someone object to this?” Matthew asked his question to Trixie as he leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers together.

“When we were with the government, there were three areas identified as having an impact in implementing biometrics: Informational privacy, physical privacy, and religious objections.” Trixie was reassured to see Ms. Petrino nodding her dark-haired head in agreement.

“Okay, I’ve heard about some of the religious objections. What are the information and physical privacy issues you’ve encountered?” Matthew displayed more interest in this discussion that he had in the entire security review.

“You’re going to implement fingerprint scanning to improve your security and move to a single login recognized by fingerprint. Will you be tempted to track your employees next? For example, an employee steals an expensive piece of equipment from your office and they leave fingerprint evidence. Will you turn your database over to the police for comparison?” Sean fielded the question, knowing it would make Trixie uncomfortable to mention unethical tactics to Matthew Wheeler. He looked back at as if to tell her to take it from there.

Matthew’s face remained unchanged as Trixie picked up the explanation where Sean had paused.

“The physical concerns run the gamut of employees worried about having their fingers or hands dismembered to simple hygiene related to multiple employees using touch pads.” Trixie spoke confidently, and her hands moved as if to demonstrate.

“I see,” he spoke slowly. “And knowing those concerns, you would still recommend implementing such a system?”

“Yes,” Trixie replied. “Employers that mandate biometrics for security purposes aren’t violating any privacy laws. You can confirm with your legal counsel, but you can address many concerns with a well-written company policy.”

“Very well. Will you provide the consultant names to Saad? We’ll investigate that aspect further and make a decision.”

“I tell you, Matthew, I like this idea.” It was the marketing director, who spoke up. “I have to admit, simply from a marketing aspect, this looks like something to explore. It will give prospective clients the impression we’re staying on the cutting edge of technology.”

Trixie smiled in appreciation for his enthusiasm. “We’ll get you the names by the end of the day. Are there other questions?”

The Wheeler International executives remained silent or gave slight shakes of their heads. Trixie handed the final report to Matthew. “That’s all for us. It was a pleasure to do your review. Saad was a tremendous help to us.”

“Thanks.” He took the report and without looking at it dismissed the rest of his team. “Trix, could I have a private word with you?” Rising to his feet, Matthew Wheeler shifted his weight and stuffed his hands in his pockets as if he were uncomfortable with the request.

“Certainly.” She closed the portfolio that had been open for her reference during the presentation. “Sean, will you mind shutting things down here?”

He nodded in response. “I’ll be here when you’re ready. I have plenty to keep me busy.”

Trixie followed Matthew to his office, where, to her surprise, he shut the door for the first time since she had met with him.

“Trixie, there are two things I wanted to ask you privately. One is related to work, the other, well, not so much.”

“Sure, Matthew. What is it?”

“First, you mentioned that Saad had been a help to you. But he was not in favor of this review and vehemently opposed it to me on several occasions. I truly expected him to block you all the way.”

Trixie shook her head. “He was slow at times in responding, but he always did. He seemed to resent the way we would operate, especially when we’d ask for hardcopy information. But we decided …” Her voice trailed off. She was suddenly unsure how to explain to Matthew that part of her assessment was Saad had issues dealing with women in authority. Realizing there was nothing to be gained by omitting this assessment to Matthew, she continued. “We noticed Saad’s reluctance to cooperate. Sean figured out that Saad, well, he doesn’t always deal well with females in positions of authority. Once Sean took the lead in interfacing with him, the hurdles seemed to disappear.”

“Do you believe it’s a problem?” he asked bluntly.

“No, I don’t,” Trixie answered immediately. “I watched him with other female members of your team. He affords them nothing but respect and his full cooperation.” She paused, wondering if she should tell him that Amy and Sean had initiated an in-depth background check on Saad. “You have a new project in Qatar.”

“Yes. It was a big win for us. It should position us to have a real engineering presence in the Middle East if we manage it successfully. You aren’t going to tell me that he’s selling my approach to the competition.”

“Nothing like that. I had a gut feeling that there was an outside influence on his behavior. However, as Sean pointed out, his cultural heritage is varied and mixed. I’m sure he’s conflicted at times on how to deal with cultural differences. Perhaps a standard multi-cultural awareness class for your executive team would resolve the problem.

Matthew seemed to ponder the information. “It would be easy, with our global business, to justify such training for the executive team,” he mused. “Wheeler International prides itself on our core values and beliefs.”

“Your reputation is world-class,” she asserted. “Most companies have mission, vision and values statements. I noticed that yours were published on your intranet and publicly on your home page.” Trixie gave a tentative smile; her suggestion was outside her area of expertise. “Maybe you should consider a culture statement.”

“A culture statement?” Matthew frowned. “That’s new to me. What’s a culture statement?”

Trixie smiled. “I’m tempted to be flip and say it’s the latest corporate buzz. But it’s a way for a company to embrace diversity. Some have called them diversity statements, but you could couch your training for your executives in a way that you’d like the company to arrive at a culture statement.” Trixie nodded her head toward the conference room they had come from. “Your team is clearly diverse. I’m surprised you haven’t done something like that already.”

“You’re absolutely right!” Matthew smacked the top of his desk with his fist. “Wheeler International is a premier engineering and project management company. Everyone knows that.”

Trixie smiled. Matthew Wheeler was certainly a force to be reckoned with, but she had little doubt the full resources of Wheeler International would be employed to develop a culture statement. “You mentioned there were two issues?”

“Aaaah, yes, I did.” The confidence Matthew had displayed faded, and was replaced with a distinct timidity. Trixie would have sworn there was a slight flush on his face.

“Jim came home yesterday and filled us in a bit on Allison Beckhart’s murder. He mentioned you’d been hired to do some private investigating.”

Trixie nodded. “Yes. Jim knows it was okay for him to discuss that much with you.”

“He also asked me about my business relationship with Harold Langham,” Matthew continued. “Jim seemed a bit concerned that I would do business with Harold and wanted to know the extent of our teaming arrangement with Langham Industries in Singapore. He seems to think that Harold, in particular, can’t be trusted.”

Trixie’s face remained passive. She couldn’t blame Jim for being concerned about his father’s business, but she wondered exactly how much he had discussed with his dad. She crossed her legs and leaned forward, speaking earnestly.

“Matthew, I really can’t discuss Harold Langham with you. He’s also my client and is entitled to a certain professional respect. But, I will assure you of this much. So far, I haven’t uncovered anything that would represent a conflict of interest between Wheeler International and Langham Industries. If so, I would immediately self-report to both yourself and Harold.”

Matthew nodded in understanding. “I see.” His fingers drummed his desk, the first sign of apprehension that Trixie had witnessed in the man since she began her project at Wheeler International. “Let me just sum it up for you this way. My wife is very good friends with Tammy Langham. I fully support their friendship. However,” he paused for a moment before continuing. “In all the years they’ve been friends, I’ve made certain that Grace was never in a situation where she would be alone with Harold Langham.”

The silence between the two of them grew, as Trixie remained silent. Matthew did not hurry to break the silence but when he did, it was clear to Trixie that Jim had told his father about the situation.

“You’ll understand if I shared that advice with Jim?”

“Yes. I understand completely. And off the record, Mr. Langham’s principal point of contact at the Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency is Sean Barnes.”

Matthew gave a wry smile. “Trixie Belden, I would say that you and I understand each other very well.”

 

 

“This is hard for you,” Trixie spoke softly.

She and Kitty Buchanan were sitting in the back of a cozy tearoom in Greenwich Village. It had taken all the resources she could muster to secure the semi-private table, a steaming pot of Earl Grey, and a plate of comforting cakes for their meeting. Kitty’s red-rimmed eyes testified to her loss.

Kitty nodded and reached for handkerchief again, blotting her eyes. “I just can’t believe that Alley-Cat is gone.” She sniffed in a vain attempt to maintain her composure. “She’s the one that nicknamed me Kitty Cat and I gave her the name Alley-Cat, we …” Kitty was unable to continue as she broke down again.

Trixie waited. Her sympathy for Kitty was keen as she handed her a napkin. She couldn’t begin to imagine what it would feel like if something had happened to Honey.

Several long minutes ticked by before Kitty took a deep breath and then a fortifying sip of hot tea. “Reid told me … he said it was important for me to talk to you.”

“It could help.” Trixie perceived the overwhelming grief that Kitty was struggling with and attempted to temper her actions accordingly. Tentatively, she reached out and grasped Kitty’s hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. “Allison was involved in something that resulted in her death. We’re not sure what, but we suspect she was being blackmailed. Did she confide in you at all?”

Kitty shook her head vigorously. “Allison was more distant the last few months that she’s ever been. She dropped out of most of the Junior League activities and she hadn’t attended any of the events for her pet charities since …” Kitty frowned, trying to remember the last time Allison attended an event. “I think it was the Junior League ball back in January. I know she was there because Buffy was there with her fiancée. We, all of us, went out afterwards for waffles.”

“Did she ever say why she wasn’t going to events? You and Buffy were both at the Heart Association’s Valentine’s Day Gala, why didn’t Allison attend?”

“Hmmmm.” Kitty frowned as if trying to recall the reason Allison had cited for missing the event. “I think Reid had planned a romantic getaway weekend for the two of them. It was something like that.”

“Did Allison normally attend the Winter Ball?”

“Yes, but she didn’t go this year.”

“Kitty, I hate to ask this, but that night when you and Allison discovered Reid and Charlie, what were they doing?”

Kitty shook her head. “I promised Allison I’d never tell anyone about that.”

“You told Mitsy,” Trixie reminded her.

“Not really, not the details!” Kitty gave an emphatic shake of her head. “The only thing I ever told Mitsy was that I knew for a fact Charlie had been with another man. I never … Oh!” Her hand flew to her mouth as she realized what she had let slip.

Trixie leaned back in her chair. She wasn’t surprised by the revelation from Kitty. Her gut had already told her that Charlie and Reid were hiding much more than it seemed from both the women.

“Kitty, I need you to tell me exactly what happened that night. I promise you, it has something to do with this. Somehow, it’s related to what happened to Allison. Could she have been blackmailed over what happened that night?”

Kitty’s head dropped and she took another sip of tea before she began. “I don’t see how anyone could blackmail Allison. She didn’t do anything.”

“Please, Kitty?” Trixie implored.

Kitty’s bottom lip quivered and she bit it hard as she stared thoughtfully at Trixie. She carefully picked up the teapot and added more tea to her cup, leaned back and took a sip as if to fortify herself before she began to speak.

“Allison called me. She’d already tried to reach another friend, but she couldn’t get either one of them. She told me that she had received an anonymous message that her husband was fooling around on her and if she wanted to catch him in the act, she should show up at this office around nine o’clock. She wanted someone to go with her. Reid was working late that night because of a teleconference with his Asian office or something like that.”

“So you went with her,” Trixie prodded.

“Yes. It was dead quiet. Of course, Allison didn’t have any problem getting into the building. Security recognized her right off. She has her own badge and everything, the same as Reid. You know how everything at that place is glass? Office walls, everything. There’s very little privacy.”

Trixie nodded.

“It wasn’t always like that. Back then, you couldn’t see straight into Reid’s office like you can today. It was much more private. That’s one of the reasons Reid had the office redone. Reid didn’t have an apartment or executive washroom either.” She closed her eyes and tilted her head back slightly as if imagining the events of that night in her mind. Giving a slight nod, she opened her eyes, took a deep breath, and continued. “The door to Reid’s office was shut, but we could hear voices, Reid’s voice anyway so we knew he wasn’t alone. Allison just pushed right on in, and there they were. Reid and Charlie sitting on the couch in Reid’s office in their underwear.”

“Were they embracing each other?”

“No, actually they were on different ends of the sofa, but their clothes were scattered like, well, like lovers.” Kitty blushed. “Allison demanded an explanation.”

“What did Reid say?”

“Nothing at first. In the beginning it was all Charlie talking. He was quite belligerent, asking her what exactly did she want explained. He was very defensive; he was almost accusing her of being up to something.”

“What did Allison do?”

“She was furious. She accused them both of having a homosexual relationship. Both men laughed themselves silly. That’s when Reid started pulling on his clothes and began talking. He told her they’d been working on a tricky legal issue with a contract in Shanghai and decided to have a few beers before the teleconference. Things got silly as they started betting on different things, and then they got into some manliest man challenge. Stuff like who had the most chest hair, that kind of thing. They were just goofing around. Actually, I’m pretty sure they were drunk, or very close to it. There were empty beer cans everywhere.”

“Did Charlie back him up?”

“Totally. He was very offended. He told Allison point blank that if he was going to go gay,” Kitty’s hands flew up and made imaginary quote marks in the air when she uttered the “go gay” phrase, “that her husband was not his type. He’d prefer someone a bit more athletic.” Kitty gave a tiny smile. “It’s funny now, although it was rather surreal at the time. Charlie was almost offensive to Allison, if you know what I mean.”

“Did you believe them?”

Kitty was quiet for a long moment. She stirred in the tiniest bit of honey to her teacup, as she seemed to mull over Trixie’s question. “To be honest, I didn’t want to believe them. You know I had that thing for Charlie and I knew he was just biding his time waiting on Mitsy.” Kitty paused. “It was terrible of me, but all I could think of at the time, was how this got out, it could ruin any chance he ever might have had with Mitsy. But now …” she paused and sipped the tea. “Yeah. I think it was true. For one thing, Reid has always been crazy about Allison. I mean totally gone on her. Also, their clothes reeked of beer. The whole room did. You could tell they had been drinking the stuff. There were numerous empty cans around the office.”

“What happened? How were things left between Allison and Reid?”

“She asked him to cancel his teleconference and leave with her. He did as she asked and left Charlie to make his excuses to his Shanghai office.”

“Did you leave with them?”

“Oh, yes. Allison insisted I take their limo and she and Reid caught a cab. Shortly after that incident, Reid totally redesigned his offices. His assistant left about that same time. He hired Janiece and that’s when he added the executive apartment. It’s really just a glorified executive washroom, but it gave him a place to clean up and shower and stuff. Sometimes, he’ll go with Allison to an event right after work, and he could shower and change at the office. Oh!” Kitty’s eyes welled up with tears. “I mean, he used to go with Allison,” she explained, choking back a sob.

Trixie waited a minute before continuing. The last thing she wanted was to push her fragile lead over the edge. “You don’t think anyone could use that incident to blackmail Allison?”

“No. I don’t see how. She knows, I mean she knew, what happened … and to be fair, it’s believable. Reid and Charlie, they could really cut-up and stuff like that back then.”

“What happened? Why can’t they cut-up like that now?” Trixie asked.

Kitty shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess they both grew up a little. At least, Reid did. He and Allison decided to have another child and then Charlie started dating a different woman every week.”

Trixie was silent as she digested the information Kitty had revealed. She picked at one of the teacakes and finished her cup of tea before she quizzed Kitty again.

“Are you positive there was nothing going on with Allison that she could have been blackmailed about?”

Kitty shook her head sadly. “If there was, she never let on to me.”

“Is there anyone she would have told?”

Kitty frowned. “I’m not sure, to tell you the truth. To be fair, if she didn’t let on to me, I can’t imagine she’d let on to anyone else. She has a sister that lives in Connecticut, but I think they talked about once a week.”

“Was she close to Mitsy Thornhill?”

“No, not really. Remember, Mitsy is younger than both of us.”

“Let me ask you the same thing a little differently. Did Alison have any enemies?”

Kitty shook her head. “No, of course not. Everyone loved her. She was genuine and sweet to everyone.”

“Was there anyone she wasn’t particularly fond of?”

Kitty snorted. “Most of the old-cats in society, she couldn’t stand them. That’s why we called each other Kitty-Cat and Alley-Cat. It was our joke on that group. They never really did anything to help the charities Allison worked hard to support. They just showed up for the events, wanting to get their picture on Page Six or in the society news. Allison -- well me either -- we didn’t have much use for them.”

“No one else?” Trixie pushed.

Kitty frowned. “She never really hit it off with Chris. I mean she liked Chris, but one time Allison made the comment to me that she thought Chris hated her. We speculated that perhaps Chris had a crush of sorts on Reid.” She shrugged and shook her head. “But Allison didn’t have a problem with Chris. They just weren’t close.”

Trixie processed the piece of information. “If you think of anything, will you let me know?” She slid a business card across the table. “Seriously, Kitty. Call me, any time, day, or night.”

Kitty nodded and picked up the card. She automatically slid it into her purse and sniffed. “You know; I’m going to be lost without her. She was always a good friend to me.”

“I get the impression from Charlie, that you’re not the only one who’s lost. He said Reid can barely function.”

Kitty’s face crumbled. She was unable to stop the tears. Groping for the handkerchief she had only recently returned to her purse, she managed to choke out a reply.

“She was his world.”