"Wait, now I'm really confused" Mac sighed, as she sipped from her coffee and scanned my face. We'd been in the hospital two hours, waiting for news on John Harris-Claude. It had been a shock to actually find anything in the warehouse, let alone a dehydrated, starved, on-the-verge-of-death man. The fact that he was the billionaire fiancée of my client was more than enough to convince me that something was off.
"Right, lets go through it again," I said, just as confused as Mac. "Heidi Holliday comes to me, asking for help with her missing shoes. She tells us that her husband is away working. We investigate, find all the house staff have alibi's, then discover Donald Wascoe broke in to their home a year ago. We discover a young man who knows something, though he commits suicide before further questioning. Then, we go to Mr Wascoe's warehouse and find John Harris-Claude tied up and almost dead." I rattled through the events quicker than I thought, exhausted. "Where does that leave us?" asks Mac, still perplexed. I sighed.
"Well, either Heidi Holliday is really dumb, or she lied to us when we asked about her fiancée's whereabouts, that's what it tell's us."
"So, what now?" Mac inquired. I was starting to get tired of all the questions.
"Now, we talk to Mr Harris-Claude, if we can." I responded.
The doctor emerged from Mr Harris-Claude's room in the antiseptic white section of the hospital. Private facilities were pretty snazzy. "Can we speak with him now, Dr Billing?" I asked, using my signature head tilt; guaranteed to get your own way.
"I've contacted Miss Holliday, but she doesn't appear to be picking up?" Dr Billing said, annoyed. I decided to smooth things over, knowing full well that Heidi Holliday would be boarding a plane to Switzerland right about now. Unfortunately, with the Harris-Claude situation going on, we hadn't been able to stop her, and I didn't have those sort of contacts in Interpol; though I made a mental note to start doing so. "Dr Billing, my name is Veronica Mars, and I'm a private investigator working for Miss Holliday. I can assure, he is in safe hands with us." Dr Billing shrugged, unsure, checking Mr Harris-Claude's chart again. He slowly nodded. Almost giddy, we walked quickly to the door, but just before we entered, Dr Billing spoke "Be careful with him, okay? He's been through a lot the past seven days."
The room was painted a soft cream colour, with a periwinkle tiled floor and clean, mascarpone coloured blinds. With the tall china vases filled with bright, gleaming sunflowers and the flat screen TV, the place reeked of wealth. I sat down on the comfortable, leather blue chair nearest to the bed and watched John Harris-Claude being pumped with fluids.
He was an attractive man, mid forties, with sandy blonde hair only slightly greying at the temples. Despite being locked up in the dark for so long, I could see the light tanning of his skin, no doubt gained from the many years lounging at his poolside. He was muscular, lean, I'd guess about six foot. He didn't look so healthy now, though I knew it was only a matter of time before he got it all back on track.
He turned his head and opened his deep, forest green, eyes at me. I blinked back in alarm. His mouth opened as he tried to speak, though nothing came out. "Here," I said, pouring him a glass of ice cool water from the jug on his bedside. He accepted the drink gratefully, drinking slowly with both hands grasping the glass. "Thank...you" he stumbled out, before coughing and handing the water back. I placed it on the table.
"Mr Harris-Claude, I'm Veronica Mars, a private investigator. I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but, I need your help. Do you know what happened to you?" I asked. Mac took out a recorder and started rolling, then a notepad and a pencil, just in case. She sat expectantly, eyes on Mr Harris-Claude. He looked at her, then at me, then at the ceiling, as he started to speak. "I suppose I should start from the beginning, huh? Before the abduction, before the fight, before the engagement?" I nodded, though unsure. What else was he going to tell me?
"Let me tell you about the night I met Heidi"