Chapter 3:
The night was dark, and the moon was the most wonderful one they had seen in a long time. The sky in the suburbs was more transparent than in the city. They didn't have the chance to appreciate this kind of dark sky with a white moon and full of stars in the city too often. They'd left the Rabbit a couple of blocks behind. Laura didn't want to give Frances the chance of milling about the place. They kneeled down behind a bush, hiding from Austin's front porch, and from Piper's house, too.
Everything was quiet. All the families were at home, and the lights were turning off little by little down the street. There was a car parked outside Suzanne's house. It seemed to be Arthur's car. It was a red hatchback, a vehicle not usual for a woman with a family. The garage door was closed. The lights inside the house had been turning off from downstairs to upstairs. After half an hour, almost all the house was dark. But then, a light that seemed to be from the stairs was turned on. There wasn't another visible movement. The basement was also dark at the moment.
"Look!" said Mr. Steele, "Somebody is in the basement with a lantern."
"How do you know?" She asked.
"Pay attention to the frame of the basement window. It looks like somebody put a dark curtain there, but you can see a fine line of light getting out from the edge, a very tiny light. Can you see it?"
"Yes, I can see it now that you've told me. What do you suppose is it? Maybe we could get near that window just a little," said Laura starting to move near the house.
"Wait! Somebody is coming out! Stay in place!" Mr. Steele shouted in a whisper.
Then they stood almost frozen in the dark, as the garage door opened. Both detectives were able to see Suzanne's car inside there. Arthur got out of the house carrying a heavy and big garbage bag. He didn't put it into the street's trash can. He put it into his car's trunk. Starting to fear the worst, the detectives ran to the car just at the second after he got into the house again.
"Come on, Mr. Steele! Open the trunk!"
"Icy calm, Laura, I'm trying!" After a brief battle with the lock, he finally opened it. They stared at the black garbage bag, just hoping to see it moving. But it was static. Then Mr. Steele started to work on the top when a voice sounded behind them.
"What are you doing to my car? Who are you? Miss Holt!"
"Good evening, Mr. Austin. I think you have some explanations to give," said Laura. "What do you have in that black bag?"
"There are papers in there. Not your business, by the way. Why do I owe you an explanation? Who is he?"
"I'm Remington Steele, Miss Holt's associate. We are Private Investigators. Why are you carrying papers into your car at this hour of the night?" The question sounded at least weak, but he wasn't going to let Austin interrogate them.
"I don't have to answer anything, but since you are here trying to find my wife, I'll let you see."
He opened the bag, and it was full of papers. There was nothing suspicious. After a brief exchange, Austin invited them into the house. They asked for permission to take a look at the place, and he agreed. They didn't find anything. Austin explained that he went to the basement with a flashlight because the bulb was burned out. He wanted to carry those papers to the office the next day, and that was all. There was no reason not to believe him. He explained that his wife was out, the same explanation he'd given to Miss Holt earlier and that he was taking care of his son. He hadn't noticed she wasn't at home until Laura told him, because he'd been out of town on business, and he'd returned in the morning and went directly from the airport to the office. He'd spoken with his wife the day she disappeared and didn't know anything about her since then.
"Why didn't you tell Frances about that?" asked Laura.
"I suppose you know your sister, Miss Holt. I know her too. She is a little scandalous. If she knew anything, she would be distributing the information to the whole neighborhood in a minute. And we couldn´t allow that. It was risky."
Laura nodded, knowing that the man was right. Frances would have scattered the issue along to the whole neighborhood.
"So, when did you find that Suzanne was in trouble?" asked Steele.
"I received a phone call this afternoon. A man's voice told me to carry to the office all the papers I put in the car. Someone would pick them up there. There are a lot of files, contracts, and some documents there. I don't know who made the call. But it was related to the company and with our future contract for sure. Look, the only thing I want now is to have Suzanne back. The contract is not important. But if I make a wrong move, it will make things worse. I'm trying to do what they ask, and after that, I hope this will end. I never thought we would be in this position just for trying to sign a contract. But it seems our line of work has thin edges."
"Why didn't you call the police?" asked Laura.
"It's a requirement settled in the contract. As we signed a confidentiality agreement to apply to the new business, top secret, you know, we were not able to be in touch with any security force about it, until the agreement is done. To break that means the end of the deal or an end in jail. I can't afford that now. One of us must be free trying to get a solution to this mess. I think I'll need your agency services, Mr. Steele. Would you help me?"
"I think we are in the middle of this case already. No chance to get rid of us Austin," said Steele.
"What does each of the three partners in your company do, Mr. Austin?" asked Laura.
"Suzanne is in charge of the Public Relationships, Paul is an engineer, and makes layouts and security studies, every part of the operative work, and I am in charge of paperwork."
"Paperwork?" asked Steele. "Do you find paperwork interesting enough?" he asked, getting a disapproving look from Laura.
"I don't find paperwork as a real challenge, but someone has to do it."
"I count on the great help of Miss Holt to save me from paperwork. She loves it," he said.
They followed trying to find a gap in the whole situation that would allow them to find Suzanne, without success. Even when they asked permission to go downstairs to the basement and found nothing in there.
Later, in the car, Laura asked him," Do you really think that about paperwork? That it's a boring thing and not challenging enough? Do you really think I love paperwork? I do paperwork because there are rules to follow in our business and someone has to be responsible enough to maintain the order in our files, and have the reports ready for the authorities. I don't love that part of the job, but since you don't show the minimum interest in doing it, the responsibility as the real owner of the agency, leans all on me, "she ended with a hint of displeasure on her face, looking to any place but to him.
He drove for the rest of the way thinking in silence, trying to understand that woman. She really loves her work, the adventure, resolving riddles, and she seems to enjoy paperwork too. Why does she need him doing it also? Would it be a kind of legal punishment after his mistakes? Would it be a chance that she was tired of it? Or was it merely a way to feel they shared everything equally? Maybe if he put a bit more interest in the subject, she would trust in him a little more, and open a new door to let him get into the part of her life that was still closed. He should think about paperwork. Maybe that tedious task would result in an ace up his sleeve after all.
The next morning, they decided to attend the new armored car system introduction at the Huntington. It was an interesting coincidence that this convention would be at the same week the Austin's was. Both conferences were about personal security, and the attendants would be almost the same.
They told Mildred to call and ask for accreditation for Mr. Steele. Since he was the one with more knowledge about security systems in the agency, he would follow the explanations with ease during the introduction, and maybe he could talk with other members of the attendants and find something useful.
In the meantime, Laura was going to have a talk with Paul Murtagh. He was the only one left on the Company Board they hadn't had a conversation with yet. She went to Austin Security & Co, but Mr. Murtagh wasn't there. He was supposed to be at the same place as Mr. Steele, working. Their company was the one in charge of the security of the event. His secretary informed Laura that he was reviewing the last details before the opening, later that same day. They were hired to provide the security at the whole conference.
Laura decided to go to the Huntington then. But she wasn't going to meet Mr. Steele. She decided to go backstage. Murtagh didn't know her yet, but she knew how he looked. There was a picture at his office of him and the Major shaking hands.
She entered the building through the back door. The event was on the 11th floor. She took the back elevator, and just when the doors were closing, a hand stopped them. It was Murtagh. He was talking to another man dressed in a security uniform.
"The cameras are in place. We have metal sensors on the entrances. Nobody can take pictures or record anything during the conference. Every device must be left at the security stand. Remember to have your walkie-talkies but with the earphones on. Hirsch will be mixing with the public after his speech. Do the right thing," he told the guard.
They arrived on the 11th floor, got out of the elevator, and Laura went to the dressing room looking for a disguise to get her mixed with the workers. But when she arrived at the dressing room, the only uniforms available hanging on the clothes rack were the ones for the saleswomen. Well, that would be, if the women in those disguises would be selling any product. The outfits were dangerously scarce. But as there wasn't any other choice, she took one from the hanger.
In the meantime, Mr. Steele was speaking with some members of the attendance. The conference was ready to start, everybody at their place. Like every businessmen presentation, the first thing that appeared in the scene was the saleswomen, and they took their place in different parts of the salon. Mr. Steele was delighted with the show. Who would suspect that a boring security conference would end up being so…instructive? One girl was more beautiful than the other one. And they were spreading smiles all over the place. He changed his angle to review all the beauties scattered around the salon, and stopped almost in shock over one particular face: Laura! She was supposed to be at Muztagh's office, not here. He tried to think of a subtle way to get out of his place. At the same time, he set his sight on her, trying to make eye contact. But her eyes were looking in a different direction.
The host started his speech, and the lights dimmed. The focus was set on the display. After a brief introduction, the speaker began his presentation. His face looked familiar to Steele. He had been one of the attendants at the previous conference. On the stage, he introduced himself as Colonel James Hirsch. He had been trained in the army, and after a military career, he started his own security company. He was presenting a new armored car system, allowed for civilian use. The lecture went on, and Miss Holt and Mr. Steele couldn't catch anything out of order in their separate investigations. The speech ended, and everybody stood up to get a closer look at the display. Since Mr. Steele had done that previously, he walked directly to Miss Holt, who was trying to escape from a weird situation with one of the executives there, who was showing more interest in her body than in the new product itself.
"Good afternoon Miss…" said Mr. Steele, looking disapprovingly at Laura's attire."That's, uh, quite a dress you almost have on...What holds it up?" Then he pulled her by her arm, taking her to a safer place. "What are you doing here, Laura? It seems you've forgotten to dress…" he whispered, jealously upset.
"I came here following Murtagh. He is working at the convention. And this was the only attire I found to have the chance to get inside. Remember you're the only one accredited to be here. Did you find anything?" she asked.
Since he wasn't happy with Laura's lack of clothes, and the lusty looks she was getting from the men there, he started to act like a typical man at the convention, trying to convey her attention. He positioned her against the wall and stood in front of her just as if they were talking lightly business. "I think I know the speaker from somewhere. His face is so familiar." Laura looked at the man, and then she recognized him. "He was in some pictures at Murtagh's office. I think they were with the Major in one of them."
"So, they know each other. Maybe this is the first step, Laura. Let's get out of here. You are going to get a cough, undressed like that." He took her by her arm, and almost carried her out of the salon. On their way, they were interrupted by a man. "Hello, Mr. Steele! Remember me? I'm Robert Wood. The St. George Congregation's case. How are you? Is Miss Holt here with you?" the man asked.
"Hello, Robert! How are you?" He said, trying to hide Laura behind him. The man was a member of the St. George's church, a very conservative one, and they'd worked for him on a case the previous year. He started to take steps backward pushing Laura behind him, trying to hide her from Wood. She was trying to remain as thin as a paper.
"Miss Holt is not here, she's back at the office attending some urgent issues. Please, excuse me my good man, but I really have to go."
Wood took a step back, "Give her my regards, Mr. Steele. She's such a serious worker. There are not more employees as serious as her anymore. Just take a look in here."
"You are a wise man, Wood. Keep going like that," answered Mr. Steele still maneuvering in front of Laura to keep her safe.
Just when they were out of Wood's sight, she told him, "At least one client recognizes my abilities…Ouch, Mr. Steele, don't drag me like that! Wait! I have to change. My clothes are in there." They went to the dressing room, and finally, she came out fully dressed.
"Let's go to Austin's office. We need to talk with him," Steele said, sounding a lot calmer than earlier.
"How well do you know your partner, Mr. Austin?" asked Laura.
"We've known each other for about fifteen years. We worked for the same company while were students at Stanford. Once we got our degrees, we started our own company. We started small, but after a few years we earned some, and here we are, trying to grow as big as the business would allow us," said Austin
"Does he know Colonel James Hirsch?"
"I don't know. Maybe he does. He is in touch with a lot of people because of his kind of work. He is always out of the office, supervising operations and in touch with more different company's staff than I am. He does the fieldwork while Suzanne and I work more at the office with executive staffs."
"How does he work with your wife? Do they get along well?" asked Steele.
"Well, as Suzanne is the one in charge to sells our services, and he is the one that executes them, they use to have their differences, but they get them solved on the way. Do you think he has something to do with Suzanne's disappearance?"
"Do they have any differences in the secret operation your company is trying to participate right now?" Laura asked.
"In fact, they do. Major ones." Then he paused, trying to figure out how to explain it without breaking the secret. "While Suzanne was having doubts about taking the chance of this contract, because of the risk of being a company in a new field, he was convinced that we were perfectly qualified to do it. Now that you mention it, he was willing to sign the contract with too much enthusiasm. And he is not the kind of man who gets enthusiastic about anything. You know how engineers are. I didn't realize that before."
"I think we should have a talk with him, Mr. Austin. Do you know when he'll be back to his office?" Laura asked.
"He must be on his way back. Let's wait for him here. I'll tell his secretary to ask him to come to my office just when he arrives. It will be better that way."
They waited for about half an hour until then the door finally opened. Murtagh came inside and looked intrigued to his partner about his visitors... He wasn't used to having visitors at the office.
"Paul, this is Remington Steele, and his associate, Laura Holt. I hired them. They are private detectives, and they're helping me to find Suzanne. She disappeared three days ago."
"Suzanne disappeared? Why didn't you tell me?"
"When I returned from Texas, she hadn't been at home since a day ago. I waited thinking that she was spending some time on her own as she used to do, but then I received an anonymous call, asking for some documents from our current project. I was going to receive a new call to let me know the place to where I should take them. I didn't receive that call yet."
"What papers are we talking about?" asked Murtagh.
"All the new project preliminary studies. I picked them up from my study at home last night."
Mr. Steele and Miss Holt were following the exchange in silence... Suddenly, Murtagh started to look anxious. After a few moments, he went to his office to look for some information Austin asked him about. Mr. Steele made a gesture to Austin to remain in silence, and then he and Laura followed Murtagh to his office, a few steps behind. Once there, they attempted to get rid of the secretary. Using his charm, he had her in his hands in a wink and subtly guided her to the hall, asking her way to Mr.'s Austin office. In the meantime, Laura was listening, her ear glued to Murtagh's office's door. He was making a phone call.
"Hello, Grant. We have problems. There are some detectives here, Remington Steele and his secretary. They are asking questions about Suzanne and the contract. When are you going to bring the signed papers?
"A secretary, thought Laura with resignation. Years and years and never getting a promotion…"
"I´ll bring them tomorrow. We are going to have a talk with Mrs. Security. Then, all you'll have to do is to convince your partner to sign them, too. Once your part of the deal is done, we'll let her free," said the man on the other side of the line.
When he put the phone down, Laura ran away from the door, and from the office. She was in the corridor when she met Mr. Steele. "Did you find anything?" he asked.
"Actually, yes. He phoned someone called Grant and asked him when he was going to bring the signed papers. I think he was speaking about the contract. And he spoke about us. But I don't think we should say anything to Mr. Austin yet. Let's try to find something else," said Laura.
They went to Arthur´s office to say their goodbyes and left the building. When they arrived back at the agency, they asked Mildred to run a search. There was something about the deal that was bothering Laura. Why was Murtagh eager to sign that contract, if Suzanne was against it? There might be something hidden that made the agreement juicy for him, even if it wasn't for the rest of his partners. Maybe a new contract following the first one but including just a part of the board.
Mildred looked through the files she was getting from the printer. There was always important information that only trained eyes like hers were able to discover. Gotcha! There it was. Within her enthusiasm, she went in a hurry to Miss Holt's office, eager to share her find, but once there, she remembered her bosses weren't at the agency. Time had passed without her knowledge, and it was pretty late. She gathered her things, closed the door and started her way to Rossmore.
The bell rang once, twice, and by the third time, she realized that they were not there, but perhaps at Miss Holt's loft. She was leaving a message to Mr. Steele with the doorman when she noticed Miss Holt's car parked in front of the building. She went then to the garage, and the Auburn was there too. She returned to ask the doorman for a phone and called Fred. They weren't using the limo either.
They were tied to a chair, with their mouths taped. Laura was in one room, and Mr. Steele was in a different one. They were caught when they were going to the elevator at Rossmore, and after being hit on their heads, they were taken somewhere else. When they woke from their unconsciousness, they didn't know what had happened to them, and most important, what had happened to each other. A man was watching Mr. Steele, playing with a knife in his hands. A gun rested over the table beside him.
Mildred went to the loft and didn't find anyone there either. At this point, she was distraught. The only time she remembered something like that happening, was when they were supposed to be murdered. She thought about calling Jarvis, but after that nasty experience, she feared he might put his finger on her. And her bosses would be in trouble again, without her being free to help them. She might be the one to find the way out of this trouble, and all alone.
Mr. Steele started to recover, waking up in a place looking like a basement. The man stood up, closed the door, turned on the music loud, and took the tape from Steele's mouth. "What do you know about the contract?" he asked.
"What contract? I don't know anything about a contract. What are you talking about?" answered Mr. Steele.
"I think you're not telling me the truth, detective. You know that it's not convenient."
"Well, it depends. Not convenient for me or not convenient for you?"
"Maybe not convenient for both of us," answered the man.
"Where is Laura?" he asked.
"Mmmm… Laura. This doesn't sound as how you should be addressed to a business associate. Is she more than an associate, then? She looks fine to be more than a partner to me."
"What have you done to her?" asked Steele, showing a little more anger in his voice.
"Don't worry. We didn't do anything to her, yet. You're making me feel like we are asking the questions to the wrong person. Should we start with her? It would be more pleasant to have a nice chat with someone as pretty as she. Don't you think? And I'm sure I'd find ways to convince her to be more cooperative…"
"Don't you dare to do something to her…" but the man knocked him on his jaw, putting him out of himself for an instant, and then left the room.
Laura was trying to find her bearings when the man came into the room. She was with her mouth still taped, and tied to the chair. The man walked to her, and in a husky voice, he whispered in her ear, "Laura, if you want to save him, you have to sing. I am sure you can sing like a Mockingbird." He stroked her jaw line, while she closed her eyes, trying to escape from this awful reality she was walking in.
"What do you know about the contract? Are you ready to tell me?"
Just when she was telling the man she wasn't going to say anything, just moving her head, she heard another voice that froze her. It was a known voice, but she wasn't able to place the owner.
Mildred was now on her way to look for help. It wasn't going to be easy, but she was the only one able to help her without causing more trouble. Well, that was her general idea. She parked her car in front of Frances's house. She was sure that Miss Holt would kill her if something happened to her sister, but Mildred was confident in Mrs. Piper's abilities. She was Laura's sister after all. She got out of the car and walked to the door. It was late, and the lights were already off. She rang the bell, and in a flash, Frances opened the door. "Mildred! What are you doing here? Did something happen to Laura? Oh my God! Donald! Mildred is here! Come down! It's Laura!"
Then Mildred, who was expecting just this kind of welcome from Frances, put her hand on the woman's mouth. "Shh, Mrs. Piper, Frances! You are going to wake everybody in the neighborhood, and that is the last thing we need." And then she pushed Frances back, entered the house, and closed the door behind her. Once Donald was down there with them, Mildred told them the latest news of the case, and that when she was going to address Miss Holt and Mr. Steele about her most recent discovery, she couldn't find them, although both their cars were parked at Rossmore.
Laura's wrists were hurting a lot. They were tied very tight on her back. The position wasn't helping. She tried to move to get the blood to reach her fingers. There was a quiet silence in the room, and it was cold. She thought about Mr. Steele, and about what had happened to him after they were trapped. She was immersed in those thoughts when she heard a noise. It was like a rhythmic sound. She concentrated hard, and after a few minutes, she knew what it was. Somebody was using Morse code. That was going to be hard. She knew how to use that Code, but the last time she'd rehearsed it was before getting her license, a long time ago.
"Ok, Laura. Focus", she told herself. After what seemed an eternity, she could figure out two words. One of them was an "SOS," and the other was "SA." "SA…" she couldn't remember what that meant, until, of course, she knew it: Suzanne Austin. She seemed to be kidnapped there too. But her mouth was probably taped as Laura's was. She was feeling powerless because she wasn't able to say anything to the woman either. "Mr. Steele, where are you?" she thought. But then, an idea came to her mind. At least those hated high heels could be useful for once. She started to knock her heel to the floor, trying to make Morse sounds, and praying to be heard only by the woman. "Steele here," she tapped. It worked. The woman stopped her sounds until Laura ended hers. Then she answered something but Miss Holt couldn't figure out what it was. There was a silence after that. Another round of the same sounds. This time she understood. "PM." This was getting worse every second. They would have to get out of there, she thought. It was getting dangerous, very dangerous.