It was 5pm, and we were sitting in a diner. Mac was stuffing herself with a falafel burger, her second that day, whilst chugging back a Coke. I had a grilled vegetable and cheese burrito, though so far I'd only managed a nibble on the side salad. I sipped absent-mindedly from my glass of orange juice. I'd left the room with more questions than answers, more leads than solutions, and a whole lot more to worry about.
"So what about the shoes?" Mac asked between bites of burger, drawing my attention to her.
"Mac, those aren't just shoes any more. Those are evidence."
"Well, I don't how much more we can get on those shoes, but whilst we were waiting at the hospital I set up an interview with Karen Henridge, a.k.a Madame Sophie of Elysium Escorts."
"Where Ralph Maccio got his mystery money from. This should be interesting."
Mac finished chomping on her burger, and sipped quietly at her coke, eyeing me up and down. "You gonna eat that?" she asked, staring at me. I chewed a limp lettuce leaf, then pushed the plate over, as Mac pounced happily onto the grilled vegetables. "Mmmm. Sometimes, I really miss cheese" she babbled, scraping a heaping gloop of pepper jack off an onion.
"Sad story," Mac started, looking down at her plate. "Really makes you think about things, huh" Mac continued, eyeing me suspiciously.
"Yeah" I replied, though I wasn't really listening. I was picturing the copious amounts of waffle fries I was planning to consume once I'd given birth. A plate, piled high with fries, warm and glorious, with dips at either side. This was making me hungry, and I suddenly wished I hadn't given up on my burrito. "HELLO? Earth to Mars?" Mac yelled, waving her fork in front of my eyes. I turned to face her. "Did you not get the hints I was dropping? You need to tell Logan!"
"What?"
"Veronica, in this line of work, you never know what's gonna happen. You investigate a pair of missing shoes and next thing you know you're finding kidnapped billionaires! You need to tell Logan about the baby, or I will." She finished. I looked at the clock on the wall, saw ten minutes had pasted. Had I really been day dreaming that long? Whatever, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Mac was right. I'd known for a couple days now, it was only right to tell him. The question was, how to tell him. This isn't the kind of news you can just text someone.
We left the diner, thoughts of waffle fries and baby bonnets still in my mind. Mac offered to drive, I let her. We had one stop left on our way back home, and then I would prepare. I'd write a speech, just a quick one, then I'd tell him. I had to.
Elysium Escorts was fancier than I expected. The word that came to mind was luxurious. Tall building with glowing lights, coloured shiny black with gold framed doors. The lobby was spacious, with plush red velvet love seats scattered around, vases of pure white orchids, a red carpet scattered with rose petals, and crystal glass jar filled with Moroccan candies. As we stood at the front desk, waiting to be served -no, not like that- I noticed the smell of chocolate and vanilla drifting down from a hallway. Mac quirked an eyebrow at me, laughing. Suddenly, a tall Japanese woman, with a perfectly straight ebony hair, appeared at the desk. "Ladies?" she said in a French accent. "Uh, we're here for a meeting with Madame Sophie." Mac told her, hands fidgeting.
"She's expecting us" I added. The woman, whose name tag read Lena, looked down at the desk computer, her lacquered nails tapping on the keyboard a few times, then looked back at us and smiled. "Let me escort you" she said, leading us down a long hallway, where the smell of chocolate got stronger. We stopped at a silver door with 'Madame' labelled in the centre in beautiful red calligraphy, then were lead into the office of Madame Sophie.
She was a thin woman, with delicate wrists covered in diamond bracelets, which she gently placed on the centre of her mahogany desk. Her pale skin set off her alarmingly bright blue eyes, her lips puckered into an unpleasant smile, and her hair, which was a deep auburn, was pinned to the top of her head daringly. She looked startling, and not at all comfortable, in her blue Chanel suit. Madame Sophie looked old, and sad, like a disgraced escort I assumed she was. Her eyes, however, were alive and young, a hint at a once beautiful woman.
"Hi, Madame Sophie, I'm Veronica Mars, private investigator and this is my assistant, Mac, I believe you spoke on the phone." I said, holding my hand out for her to shake. She ignored my hand and gestured to the chairs in front of her desk. "Please, sit down." She replied. She dismissed Lena, waiting till the door was shut, then turned to face me. "What exactly is that you want, for I'm very busy and don't have much time dealing with the likes of...you" Madame Sophie spat out that last word, giving me a disgruntled look. I tried my best not to get annoyed.
"Madame Sophie, we have some questions to ask you about certain colleagues of yours, whether their off the books or not" I said, trying to engage her. At the mention of illegality, her head turned and focused on me. She leaned forward, clouding me with the smell of her perfume; and snarled. "This isn't a brothel, Ms Mars. This is an escort agency, where our girls choose to work in this industry. Only the best goes on in my establishment, I don't pick up every woman wandering the streets. A woman's got to have a certain class to her, and all of mine do. Maybe next time, do your research."
"I'll keep that in mind, through truth be told I'd rather not step foot in this place again, Madame Sophie."
"Elysium is legally okay, Ms Mars."
"It may be legally okay but isn't it, I don't know, morally wrong?"
"Nothing wrong with having sex, sweetheart, just that my girls get a little extra out of it too"
"And guys, huh? You do employ guys don't you, I mean, that's how Ralph Maccio got all that money" I prompted.
"Ahh Ralph. Sweet boy, I heard about his untimely demise. He had a lot of potential." She leaned back in her chair, hackles no longer raised.
"Yes, well, that potential got him killed."
"I thought it was suicide" Madame Sophie said, disgruntled. This annoyed me. I was sick and tired of everyone assuming that it had nothing to do with the case. They didn't understand, they hadn't seen him. I'd promised myself I wouldn't get angry with this foul woman, but it was too late. "Are you kidding me? That kid was so scared he would have done anything. He knew something, something that would have gotten him killed, and decided he wanted to end it himself, without the torture that he was likely to endure. Now, this has something to do with your establishment, so you can help me, or you can let that boy die for nothing!" I could tell from her startled look that she wasn't expecting such ferocity, and I smiled. Mac gave me a quick glance.
"Yes, well, uhm, Ralph worked as a cleaner here, but he offered to fill in one day when we had an important customer and their usual was off sick. The customer was so pleased that they asked for Ralph again. He was more than willing. He still worked mainly as a cleaner, but he allowed his details to be placed on the website and he's been hired occasionally since. And he is-was-eighteen, may I add, so it's completely legal."
I ignored that end remark and continued. "Can you tell us who hired him?" I asked, though I knew it was a long shot.
"I'm sorry, but I can't, client confidentiality and all that." Madame Sophie smirked.
"Well, can you at least give me a hint if the names John Harris-Claude, Heidi Holliday or Donald Wascoe ring a bell?" I asked again. At Heidi's name her head perked up a little, though she quickly pretended that it had no effect. I wasn't going to let her escape that easily. "So Heidi Holliday, that name seems familiar, huh? Because, you see, I'm working for Miss Holliday in locating a missing item, and I need to check everyone who may have been at the house that day." Mac hid a smile, knowing my plan. Quick thinking.
Madame Sophie turned to her computer, and typed on the keyboard. She faced me, giving me a measured look, before clearing her throat. "Miss Holliday rented him for an hour at her home just a month ago." She said, then rattled off a date. It matched the date I'd gotten from John Harris-Claude, as did the time. 5.30-6.30pm. Now it was my turn to smirk. "Thank you, Madame Sophie. If you have any extra information, please, don't hesitate to contact me" I said, handing her my business card. Mac tried to hide her giggle.
Lena returned, escorted to the front door, and said goodbye as a sweaty man in a suit waited at the front desk. Mac and I walked around the corner to the car, ready to drive home.