Julia

Chapter 5

When Stu got back to the office he went in the side door and sat at his desk to smoke another cigarette. As he went to pull the case out of his pocket, he changed his mind and filled his pipe instead. He buzzed Suzanne on the intercom as he lit it.

"Stuart, you are here. Did you come in the side door?"

"Oui, Suzanne. Is Jeff back yet?"

"Not yet. Roscoe went to the airport to pick him up. They should be back any minute."

"Ask him to come in when he gets here, would you?"

"Oui."

It was almost twenty minutes later when there was a knock on the door, followed by his partner opening it. "Jefferson. Come in, won't you?"

"Suzanne told me you were . . . "

"Waiting for you?" Stu finished. "What took so long?"

Jeff grinned. As usual, he was in a good mood. Stu wished he was more like his partner . . . Jeff took everything in stride and let very little bother him. Bailey wondered just how Spencer would have reacted to Cathy Flint. That was neither here nor there now; Stu was not pleased with the dialog he'd had with her. There was every reason to believe Harvey Davis had done the same things to his second wife that he did to his first.

"Stu? Stu? Where are you, Stuart?" Jeff probed.

"Sorry, Jeff, I had a disturbing interview with a client's former wife. How was your trip? How did everything turn out?"

"Everything turned out fine. The case is closed, the client's happy. Now, what has you so worked up?"

Stu set his pipe down in the ashtray. "I'm not worked up, Jeff, I'm disturbed. I'm on the verge of firing a client that I just got while you were gone. Have you got some time to talk? I could really use your level head right now."

"I always have time for you, partner. How about we go grab a drink and some dinner? I'm starving."

"That's fine with me . . . I need a drink. Someplace other than Dino's, please? I'd like some quiet."

Jeff would have agreed to almost anything, Stu looked so troubled. "Sure, that's fine with me. How about Musso and Frank's?"

Stuart nodded slightly. "That works. You drive?"

"I will. Let me tell Suzanne."

Stu heard Jeff tell their receptionist, "Suzy, we're going to Musso and Frank's for dinner."

And heard Suzanne's startled reaction. "Suzy? What do you think I am, a poodle?"

He could just imagine the look on Jeff's face as he said, "Sorry." No matter the mood Stu was in, it still made him chuckle.

"Are you coming back, Mr. Spencer?"

Oooh, Jeff was in the doghouse now. "I don't know, Miss Fabry. We might."

Spencer scurried back into Stu's office. "Whatever possessed you to call her Suzy?"

Jeff shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Madness?"

"That's an appropriate answer."

The two men walked out the side door and Kookie brought Jeff's car around for them. "No Dino's tonight, dads?"

"No, Kookie. We're headed for someplace quieter," Jeff explained.

"Let's see, Musso and Frank's?"

"Bright lad," Stu replied.

They were at the restaurant in less than ten minutes. "What, no carhop?" Stu remarked sarcastically as Jeff parked the car.

"Hey, they've got no place to put one."

Once inside the Maître D greeted them. "Good evening Mr. Bailey, Mr. Spencer. Nice to see you again. A table in the back?"

"Yes, Jacques. Thank you."

Jacques took them all the way in the back, handed them menus and asked, "Vodka Gimlets or Scotch?"

"A Gimlet," Jeff answered.

"Scotch," Stu practically grunted.

Jeff was tiptoeing around his partner, now. He hadn't seen Stu like this since . . . well, in a long, long time. Much as Bailey liked to think Jeff was the even-keeled of the two, Stu usually didn't let things get to him like this. Unless they were women . . .

Drinks arrived in the nick of time. They sat in silence while Jeff searched the menu and Stu drank. When the waiter came to take their order, Jeff went first. "New York steak, medium-rare. Chef's choice pasta, dinner roll."

"Another gimlet, sir?"

"No, I'll have coffee with dinner."

"And you, sir?" He turned to Stuart.

"Another scotch, nothing to eat."

That was time for Jeff to step in. "Bring him the small cut prime rib, medium-rare, broccoli instead of pasta. And the scotch, of course." If Stu was going to drink, Jeff wanted him doing it on a full stomach.

Stu glared at his partner but nodded to the waiter. "Thank you, mother."

"Remember who gets stuck putting you to bed when you do that." Jeff gave Stu a minute to get over him stepping in before asking the next question. "Want to tell me about this client and what's got you so disturbed?"

Stu started with Harvey Davis' appearance at the office and finished with his interview of Cathy Flint. By that time Stu had finished his second scotch and they were almost done with dinner. "See the dilemma? I'm not sure I can do this, Jeff. What do you think?"

Spencer took two or three more bites before he answered his partner. "Have you considered what could happen to Julia Davis if you fire her husband as a client?" Stu shook his head. "So you fire Davis and he gets somebody else to look for Julia. Someone who doesn't care about what she's trying to avoid, someone who just finds her for the money involved. What would Harvey do to her? What could he do to her?" Jeff stopped and took a breath. "Do you want to be responsible for that?"

Stu signaled their waiter and for a moment Jeff thought his partner was going to order another scotch. Stu asked, instead, for coffee, then waited until it had been delivered before he answered. "No, I don't. There's something about her, Jeff. Something that makes me want to . . . well, protect her. But that's taking money under false pretenses, isn't it? I've accepted Harvey Davis as a client."

"Did you say you would find Julia for him?"

"Say it? No, we shook hands on it," Stu explained.

Jeff had a question. In fact he had several, but he was only asking two of them. "Did you sign a contract with him?" Stu shook his head. "Did you accept any money from him?" Another shake of the head. "Then what is there to prove you accepted him as a client?"

"Jeff, I . . . "

"I know, Stu, your handshake is as good as your word. And your word is as good a contract."

"That's right."

"Look, you asked for my opinion. You may feel you're under a moral obligation to Harvey Davis, but you're not under a legal obligation to the man. And I think you're under a moral obligation to Julia Davis. She's the one that probably needs protection. Finish investigating Harvey. Then make your decision."

Their waiter appeared and removed their plates. Jeff's was clean; so was Stu's, the man that wanted no food. "Anything else for you tonight, gentlemen?"

"Yes," Stu answered. "A gold star for my friend."