At last - the package was finished and on its way to Ottawa. And for once, she didn't have anything urgent that she had to take home to finish - not like the past couple of weeks, when it seemed like every night she wound up having pizza delivered to the consulate because she was there half the night. No, tonight she could go home, relax with a good CD and the new Tony Hillerman novel and forget about all this. As she was gathering her things together, she heard Fraser and Ray Vecchio come in the front door; they were discussing the past night's Blackhawks/Canadiens game.
"Fraser, that last Hawks goal was good - they should'a won that game!"
"Ray, the shooter was in the crease."
"Three inches! That's it!"
"That is sufficient for the goal to be disallowed, Ray."
Just then, Meg's phone rang. Please don't let that be Ottawa. "Canadian Consulate, Inspector Thatcher speaking. May I help you?"
There was a slight pause, followed by this morning's slightly snickering voice - "It's me again, Margaret." Just who was this guy, anyway? And how had he gotten her private number? She must have made a sound of some sort, because suddenly Fraser and Vecchio were in the doorway; Fraser wearing a look of concern. "I told you before, this is the Canadian Consulate. You obviously have the wrong number and if you call here again I will have you arrested." With that, she slammed the receiver back into its cradle.
"Inspector, can we be of assistance?"
"Yeah, is there anything we can do, either officially or, like, ah, under the table?"
Meg sighed, not really, that surprised that Fraser had filled in his unofficial "partner" on this morning's doings. It did surprise her a little that he offered to help, though. *Maybe he isn't as bad as he wants me to think he is. *
"I don't . . . I just . . . Detective, what's the best way to trace a phone call these days? I'm afraid I haven't kept up."
"Well, those Caller ID boxes work pretty good, unless the other end has their number blocked. Was that a threatening call just now?"
"No, more irritating than anything else. And I don't think those Caller IDs will work on multi-line phones. Still, I can't help but think there is something familiar about his voice."
"Inspector, what exactly does he say?" asked Fraser.
"First he sort of snickers, then he says 'it's me again, Margaret' like he's talked to me before. Then he asks me what I'm doing. I haven't let it go any further than that."
"Maybe he got the message this time, but if he calls again call me and we'll get a tap on your line," Ray said, fishing a card out of his pocket and handing it to Meg. "Call me if you need to." Or want to.
"Thank you, Detective; I appreciate your concern."