14:58 PM
Relena had a slight suspicion that Heero wanted to say something about Charles, and sure enough, as soon as they were on the freeway he said, "I think he's up to something."
"Who?"
"Your best friend in the whole world."
Relena smiled a little. "Who, you? Yeah, you're always up to something."
"I meant Mr. Maclemury."
She rolled her eyes. "Him."
"I mean it. He's – he's planning something."
"And that's why tomorrow night is going to be absolutely terrible. How can you tell that he's hiding something?"
"A lot of things – body language, tone of voice, eye contact. He doesn't like you, but not personally. You know what I mean? It's like he's grown up not liking you – as if he parents or guardians or whoever – "
"Parents. The guy's mom and dad are brilliant, too. Very boring family."
"His parents, then – it's like they kind of built it inside him: 'Relena Peacecraft is bad.' He doesn't know you at all – anybody who did would know you're a huge stickler for the Miss/Mrs. thing. He just thinks you're bad, and he believes he's right about everything, so obviously you have to be bad because that's his opinion and everything he believes is right."
"You're very confusing."
"Wait till I get going. So he doesn't know you at all but he hates your guts – sound familiar? Now he probably wants to take over your title. Did you see his face when I told him that you, not him, were the one in control over the World Nation? He was absolutely livid. Yeah, angry, but that wasn't what caught me – he started shifting his weight from foot to foot, he dropped his eyes, and he lost that note of confidence in his voice. He's hiding something, Re. Either a plot or a secret or whatever, he's up to something."
"What do you propose we do about it?"
Heero sighed. "Feed him dinner and have a polite if aggravating conversation tomorrow. Besides that, I don't know. That' s what I hate about politics – there are so many secrets and you can never do anything to uncover them. People argue and debate over things that don't matter at all to them, then go home and gossip about those other people, plot, and overthrow the ones they hate just so they can argue and debate some more – and nobody, except a select few, realize the value in those arguments and debates and overthrows."
Relena said quietly, looking out the window, "In one sentence, you just described what I do for a living."
15:12 PM
"Well, to tell the truth, I did a little bit of a crime scene investigation myself," Quatre admitted sheepishly as he flipped open his laptop. "The police were off the scene, of course, and there were only a few Preventers around, so I pretty much had free reign."
Relena glanced at Heero and said quietly, "I think you're rubbing off on him."
Heero grinned a little and Quatre couldn't help but laugh. "If he's rubbing off on me, everybody better back off. He's a much better shot with a pistol and if I get my hands on one of those I'm – well, destructive. In a bad way. Anyway, I didn't find much, except a single fingerprint on the windowsill. It didn't look like Heero's or yours, Relena, so I got a copy and did a scan here at home. Now, I don't know if you know this guy or not – I've never heard of him before – but obviously he's a very important person. You recognize this guy?"
Quatre hit a button on his keyboard, and up flashed a picture of none else than Charles Maclemury the Third.
"Now, I haven't been able to get a name on him – "
"Maclemury," Heero said instantly, glancing at Relena. "Charles Maclemury."
"The third," Relena added furiously. "He kidnapped my daughter? That lying, cheating son of a –"
"I never said that," Quatre interrupted quickly while Heero moved to clapped a hand over his wife's mouth. "All this means is that sometime in the past week and a half he was in your house, particularly in Amy's room."
"Where exactly did you find the print?" Heero asked.
"On the windowsill, outside bottom left corner, pointing downwards."
"So he wasn't coming in, he was going out."
"Presumably, if he was exiting at all."
"True – he could have just been observing. Looking at something."
"Or investigating ways to escape with my daughter and then –" Heero clapped a hand over Relena's mouth again.
"Well, he's not going anywhere," Heero said grimly. "We'll see him tomorrow evening and make sure of that."
"Thanks for reminding me," Relena said unhappily. "I'm not cooking."
Heero raised an eyebrow. "If he kidnapped Amy, you are cooking, because I'll be too busy researching to do anything tomorrow."
"I hate you sometimes, I really do," Relena made a face.
"Yeah, I know, but you have to put up with me."
"Heero, I don't know if I can spend the entire evening tomorrow with a man who might've kidnapped my daughter."
"I really don't think he did, Re."
"I agree with Heero," Quatre said quietly, interrupting for the first time.
"Why? You found fingerprints –"
"I never said he wasn't involved, Re. I just said he wasn't the one personally who kidnapped Amy. He could've planned it, perhaps, but he didn't do it. He's got too much at stake to kidnap our daughter."
"Especially Heero's daughter," Quatre added. "In any case, he's definitely a suspect." He paused, then said uneasily, "Um…Dorothy and I were going to take Samuel to a movie or something tonight. If you don't mind?"
Relena couldn't help but smile. She knew how polite Quatre always tried to be and he hated having to ask people to leave. "Of course, Quatre. We're going right now." She paused as both she and Heero rose to leave. "Just out of curiosity, where do you think he'll go?"
"Well, now that I know who it is," Quatre said thoughtfully. "I remember a little bit about him. He was born on a Colony and has a business and friends there."
"Where?" Heero asked.
"L1, I believe."
Relena gave a low groan as she and Heero exited. "I have really come to hate that Colony. Everything bad happens on L1."
"Thanks a bunch," Quatre heard Heero retort as they left his house. "I was born there."
29 OCTOBER 293 - WEDNESDAY18:30 PM
At six o'clock, the table was set, the food was ready, and Relena was in the shower. Heero was dressed and ready, down in the kitchen swallowing two Tylenol and hoping to high heaven that his headache would go away. Nearly twelve hours at a laptop researching a certain Charles Maclemury had done a number on his brain.
At exactly six twenty-five, the doorbell rang. Heero went to answer it while Relena finished up upstairs, knowing how hassled and stressed she felt.
Charles Maclemury stood on his doorstep, with a very attractive woman hanging on his arm. Heero raised an eyebrow, but held out a hand in greeting and said, "Pleasure to see you again, Mr. Maclemury."
This time, Charles shook his hand and said, "Thank you for inviting me, Mr. Yuy. This is my good friend, Katja Schbeiker."
Heero did a double take after glancing over the woman. Schbeiker? What in the world…
"Pleased to meet you, too, miss," Heero said politely, giving her a nod. She gave him a simpering smile. Grimacing inwardly, Heero backed away from the door and said, "Please come in. My wife should be down any minute."
He led them to the dining room, and as soon as they sat down Relena appeared, dressed in clothes that were formal enough to make an impression and casual enough to be comfortable. Perfect taste, as usual. Heero gave her a glance of approval before anything was said and she acknowledged it with a small smile.
"And here is the lovely Mrs. Yuy," Charles said, with an obvious hint of sarcasm in his voice. He rose, however, and shook her hand.
"Good to see you again, Mr. Maclemury."
"Call me Charles, please."
"And who is your guest?" Relena asked politely, sitting down next to Heero. He saw her give a lingering glance to the chair where Amy usually sat, then focus back on the woman next to Charles.
"This is my friend, Katja Schbeiker. She's visiting for a while and I invited her to come along. I certainly hope you don't mind," he explained, raising an eyebrow.
Relena shot a glance to Heero, but he didn't move. "Of course not," she said, and Heero could tell she was slightly uneasy. The woman even looked like Hilde – dark hair, dark eyes, slim form, dazzling smile. But neither of them could remember Hilde ever mentioning a sister. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Schbeiker."
"Katja, please," the woman said in a melodious voice, giving Relena her perfect smile again. Heero groaned inwardly. He hated women like that. "It's such an honor to finally meet you, Mrs. Yuy. You've been such a role model for all of us."
Neither Heero nor Relena missed the fact that, unlike Charles, Katja had called Relena by her married last name, or the very slight note of scorn in her voice. With a simple nod, Relena served herself and then passed around the first few platters of food.
Dinner proceeded and went well at first, with very polite conversation. Heero didn't say much, Relena noticed; mostly he just listened. Occasionally he asked a question about supposedly random things, but Relena knew he was finding out all he could.
"Has there been anything found in relation to your daughter?" Katja asked at one point.
Relena had swallowed and glanced at Heero. They never shared anything that was strictly 'Gundam pilot' business, but she wasn't sure if what Quatre had found qualified. Heero gave her a very brief warning glance, and she replied promptly, "Nothing except a few unidentifiable fingerprints and footprints."
Katja clicked her tongue. "I'm so sorry, Relena. I feel so bad for you. Hopefully your daughter will be found quickly."
She seemed sincere, but Charles, seated next to her, rolled his eyes. Heero caught it and said quickly, "What do you think, Mr. Maclemury?"
"I think the police force and the Preventers are doing terrible jobs," Charles said immediately. He sounded sincere but Relena doubted that he meant what he was saying. Charles paused, then said quickly, "Not you, of course, Mr. Yuy. I meant the investigative force in general; they might've overlooked important things that are too small and difficult for them to find. Something that might be found by a more skilled team."
Heero didn't even glance at Relena; both Charles and Katja were watching them closely. Heero had an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach; Charles knew something he didn't.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, keeping his voice casual.
"Nothing much," Charles said indifferently, taking the last slice of pie from the platter. "I just had some of my buddies and me look into it."
Relena stiffened, and Heero felt his stomach drop again. "And did you find anything?"
"Nothing much," he repeated, twirling his fork in the air. "Just a few…clues."
Feigning indifference, Heero took another bite of pie and nodded. Relena, following his lead, relaxed and stood to clear the table.
"You're not interested?" Katja asked with her slight trace of a German accent. "I, for one, would like to know what you found, Charlie."
From behind their backs, Relena raised an eyebrow at Heero and mouthed, Charlie? Heero gave her a small smile and listened to Charles – Charlie's – reply. "Like I said, Katja, nothing really big. A few fingerprints and whatnot." He paused and glanced up to see Heero's reaction. He had stood up to help Relena clear the table and simply nodded in Charles's direction. "Don't tell me you or any of your…comrades, shall I say, didn't investigate yourself?"
"I have full trust in the police force and especially the Preventers. Of course I didn't investigate," Heero lied easily. Relena smiled to herself as she took their guests' plates. "They do their jobs well and efficiently. I'm sure they found everything that was there."
Charles gave an audible snort and Katja said hurriedly, "Well, they must have overlooked something. No one's perfect."
"I don't know," Relena said mildly. "When it comes to military things like this, some people are so good they're known as perfect. The perfect soldier, even."
Heero caught her glance and grinned behind their guests' back.
"Well," Charles said suddenly, standing up so quickly his chair almost fell over. "I should be going." He shook Relena's hand very quickly, turned abruptly from Heero's, then whirled and almost dragged Katja to the door. They left before Relena could say anything, leaving both her and Heero nearly stunned.
"That was interesting," Heero remarked, staring at the slammed door.
"I've never seen people leave that fast," Relena said, carrying the plates to the sink. "Now, I hope that the conversation tonight fulfilled your hopes of finding out the secrets of the Maclemury family, because that man is never stepping foot inside my house again."
"I didn't exactly find out the secrets of the Maclemury family, no, but I know for sure that he knows something I don't."
Relena shot him a glance. "That's dangerous, knowing something a Gundam pilot doesn't."
"Dangerous for him or for me?"
"Both."
"Agreed. In any case, I think I'll go to L1 anyhow. The evidence Quatre found will certainly - "
"I'm going with you."
Heero took one look at the expression in her eyes and knew that he didn't have a choice. "Sure, Re. Do you think you can take a couple days off?"
Relena gave him a long look and then said slowly, "It'll take more than a couple days, won't it?"
Heero grinned humorlessly. There wasn't much he could keep from her. "Probably."
"They'll let me go," Relena said, lifting her chin and struggling to be strong. "I'll tell them I'm going insane."
Heero gave her a hug, then went to the vidcam room, muttering under his breath, "Too late."
"I heard that!"