Chapter 10:
Friday arrived with everything returning to normal at the office. Pedro was leaving, Mildred was using her last opportunities to play bossy with him, and Miss Holt and Mr. Steele were in their respective offices, trying to catch up after a week out of the office. It was then when Lehman arrived unexpectedly at the agency.
"Good morning sir. What can I do for you?" Mildred asked diligently.
"Good morning. I need to see Mr. Steele, please," answered Lehman.
"Do you have an appointment, Mr. …." asked the secretary.
"Lehman. I work for Mr. Stanhope. I have some information about the case that I want to share with Mr. Steele."
"Have a seat, please," told him the secretary. She buzzed Mr. Steele with the news. There is a man named Lehman here to see you, Boss."
"Give me five minutes and send him in, Mildred" answered Mr. Steele.
The detective went to Laura's office, and after a brief knock, he opened the connecting door. She was, as always, immersed in paperwork. And she seemed to be enjoying it, as always. "Are you busy, Laura? Lehman is here, and he says that he has some information about the case he wants to share with us."
"It must be important if he came here." She closed the file. "Ok, paperwork can wait," said Miss Holt and stood up from her chair.
"Paperwork can wait… I've dreamed with those words coming out from your mouth so many times, Miss Holt… But the following part in my dream didn't include a client as a third wheel," said a disappointed Mr. Steele. He grabbed her by her waist, not allowing her to get out of his reach too soon.
"As I remember, the paperwork did wait today. If I recall well, we did arrive here late this morning because you wanted the two of us fulfilling one of your dreams before breakfast, Mr. Steele…"
"But I still have a lot of unfulfilled dreams yet, Miss Holt…"
"Let's meet Lehman and see what does he needs for now, and we can talk about your unfulfilled dreams later, out of company time, Mr. Steele."
"But we are still in the morning, Laura. How do you plan to entertain me until tonight?"
"Paperwork?" suggested Laura.
"Paperwork…I can't find the seductive meaning of the word yet…" he answered.
"I wasn't talking about a seductive meaning, Mr. Steele." She opened the door to his office then, not giving him the chance to refuse her.
When they returned to his office, Lehman was waiting for them, "Good morning Miss Holt, Mr. Steele."
"Good morning Mr. Lehman," answered Mr. Steele, "Our secretary told us you have something important to share with us about the case?"
"Yes. I wanted to talk to you privately, out of the mansion."
Miss Holt and Mr. Steele took their respective usual places, and after Mr. Lehman sat down, he began to speak. "I presume Mr. Stanhope told you he had a relationship with a woman some years ago…"
"Yes, he told us something about that," answered Laura.
"Well, he looked for the woman for some time after she disappeared. But the real thing is that he got depressed after she left him. He hired some detectives to follow her tracks, but they didn't find anything. For some time…"
"For some time?" asked Mr. Steele.
"They found the woman at last, but she refused to see Mr. Stanhope again. She told the detectives that she wasn't in love with him and that he'd been interested in her only in that way. She didn't want to hurt him, so, as he was fighting against depression at the time, we decided not to tell him the whole thing. We skipped a part on purpose," ended Mr. Lehman.
"Do you think that fact can be related with the stolen manuscripts?" asked Laura.
"I don't know."
"Mr. Stanhope told us that the manuscripts disappeared on July 13th. Why did he wait that long time to hire someone to look for them? He said that he writes almost every day." asked Miss Holt.
"Because he supposed that the thief would ask for a ransom, and that was going to be the end of the issue. But as time passed, and we didn't receive any note or call, he decided to hire you."
"Does Mr. Stanhope have an agenda? It would be useful to peer up about some of his activities around the date you are mentioning," asked Mr. Steele.
"Yes, he does. I'm in charge of it. I'll show it to you at the mansion. Are you coming today?"
"We'll call you later if we have the chance, Mr. Lehman. If not, we'll be there on Monday," answered Mr. Steele, standing up to shake hands, finishing the meeting.
The man left the detectives reflecting on the previous conversation.
"What do you think about Lehman's information?" asked Mr. Steele.
"I can believe him. After sharing only two short encounters with Mr. Stanhope, I can't adventure myself in deep conclusions about his persona. But what Lehman told us seems reasonable. If the man was fighting against depression, knowing that the woman he was in love with didn't love him back wasn't going to be of any help," answered Laura.
"But, don't you think that the information could have been manipulated by anyone with second interests?" asked Mr. Steele.
"What do you mean with second interests; second interests as what?"
"Laura, I'm surprised! Mr. Stanhope is a solitaire millionaire. He has a will, for sure. And maybe in that will there's someone interested in not sharing the fortune with a wife," he accentuated the last word.
"Hmm, maybe you are right. But that person should be very close to Mr. Stanhope, to have access to the manuscripts, as same as to the will's contain," added Miss Holt.
"What do you think about putting aside paperwork for the rest of the day, and visiting Lehman?" asked a hopeful Mr. Steele.
"I don't see why we should have to put aside paperwork, Mr. Steele. As a matter of fact, I am thinking more in the line of you trying to find the sensual side of paperwork here at the office, while I make a visit to Lehman. I think this case can have a romantic twirl, and we, women, have a special talent to manage this kind of situations. Don't you think?" answered Laura, returning to her office to grab her purse and her fedora on her way out.
"Laura! You are not going to leave me alone in the office, with all this… paperwork while you are in the middle of the action. We are a team, remember?" answered a desperate Mr. Steele, following her just a step behind.
She stopped behind her desk and looking at him said, "Ok, right as you are putting it, it doesn't sound fair. What do you suggest? Include paperwork in your plan…"
"Let me see…What if we follow with our current tasks and after a refreshing lunch, we go straight to Stanhope's to meet Lehman together?" he said triumphantly.
"Follow our current tasks…" said Laura."I know I was working in my office until Lehman's visit interrupted me. Exactly, what were you doing when Lehman arrived, Mr. Steele?"
"Oh, well, I was getting ready to start my workday…"
"I knew we would agree, after all, Mr. Steele. Seeing you are certainly ready, just start your hard work day. Follow your current task doing paperwork. I'll be back as soon as possible. Ask Mildred about anything you need," she said giving him a last look from the door. "You know she is always eager to help you with the hard duty you get involved in…" with that she closed the door behind her, leaving there a disappointed Mr. Steele regretting himself for allowing her to turn upside down the whole conversation.