Hunting Sweetie Rose

CHAPTER 34.

“Interesting message you left yesterday, Mr. Koros.” I said, when I called him the next morning. It was a new day for everyone, and I wanted to begin mine by setting his on edge.

“I heard about Andrew on the midnight news, and realized I’d sent you into a murder investigation.” He paused for a deep breath. “Recovering what’s left of Sweetie’s money-money she’ll need to get her head fixed, money she’ll need for her defense-that was my priority. Now, with Andrew dead, we’ll never find the money…”

“You’re still thinking Ms. Fairbairn is sick?”

“Why else would she behave as she has? I don’t know what happened to Andrew; the radio said there was a fire of some sort. Sweetie’s guard sure didn’t shoot himself, and she sure as hell wouldn’t have given away all her money if she were thinking right. She’s sick.”

“You’re thinking she did all that?”

“I need to get her into a treatment facility. The right doctors will make sure she stays there, instead of standing trial.”

“Only if we find her.”

“She’ll surface when she’s ready. She’s tough; she’s safe.”

“Some would say you could have taken that half million, George.”

His voice quivered, maybe from anger, maybe from fear. “Me?”

“Sure. You said yourself you managed the Symposium’s checking account. You were in a position to withdraw money.”

For a moment he was silent. “You’re right,” he said finally. “I had that responsibility.”

“I’m going to keep looking for her, George.”

“It’ll be a waste of time.”

“I’ll stay in touch.”

He took another moment, then said, “All right. I’m going to messenger over a corporate Visa card for you. Be prudent with it, Mr. Elstrom, but use it to find her.”

I hung up without saying that using his credit card would pinpoint exactly where I was, and from that, he would know what I was doing.

I figured he already knew that.

I called Jenny. “Let me tell you about my second trip to Indiana,” I said, and did.

“You’re lucky that little man on the bicycle didn’t put the finger on you,” she said when I was done.

“He saw me as an innocent man.”

“He saw you as the guy who gave him fifty bucks to keep his mouth shut. That’s a lot of recycled cans.”

I asked her to check out Sweetie’s life before she came to Chicago.

“How far back do you want me to go?”

“The day she was born. She might have gone back to one of the places she’s been.”

“You still think George Koros has a secret?”

“I still think he has a thousand of them.”

I called the Bohemian next. “Can you put me in touch with Silas Fairbairn’s closest friend?”

“Have you consulted your lawyer, the esteemed John Peet, about whether it’s wise for you to continue nosing around Sweetie Fairbairn’s life?”

“She’s still my client. She’s still missing.”

“You’re still the object of police interest, not to mention press scrutiny.”

“I can’t sit back, waiting for her to reappear on her own.”

“Big doubt, now?”

“I no longer think she’s free to come back.”