Chapter 11:
Miss Holt was waiting for Mr. Lehman at the library when suddenly, something caught her attention. Although Mr. Stanhope was a very private man, there was a table in the room, with a lot of pictures showing him in different places with different people. In almost every photo he was dressed in formal attire, but there were a few with him wearing sport-clothes. He wasn't alone in those pictures. He had a recurrent companion there. She was giving a closer look at the photos when Mr. Lehman arrived.
"Miss Holt, I've brought the agenda. If you want to take a look…"
"Thank you. It won't take long,"
She turned the pages until she found July 13th. She checked two weeks previous to that date, and then she took a look about the following days until the end. There wasn't anything different, anything calling her attention. The agenda reflected a man clearly attached to routines, special events added given his social status, but full of ordinary activities, like the low profile man he was. A lot of charity events, reunions, and medical appointments. That was all. She wrote some notes about the names in there, some particular dates, and returned the agenda back to Lehman.
"I think I have everything I need." She said to the assistant.
"Anything else, you can ask Miss Holt. I'll be eager to help you," said Lehman.
They shook hands and Laura left. She had in mind another place to check. But after abandoning Mr. Steele, supposedly fighting against paperwork, she decided to free him from his torture and pick him up to make the next visit together, after taking him to lunch. He did endure enough punishment for one day.
She arrived at the agency and found Mildred at her desk. "I'm back, Mildred. Any news?"
"Hello, Miss Holt. Nothing happened since you left this morning."
"How did Mr. Steele resolve his fight against paperwork?" she asked showing a wicked smile.
"I didn't know he was doing paperwork, Miss Holt. He left the office about ten minutes ago," said the secretary.
"He left?" She was… at least disappointed… "I can't ask him to help me with paperwork even one time that he runs away from the office at the first chance…"
"But he gave me all the files already signed Miss Holt. I thought you've finished the paperwork and he had just to sign them," said Mildred, trying to save him from Laura.
"He did all the paperwork and then left?" she asked suddenly astonished.
"It seems he did," answered the secretary. "I think he is using the limo. Maybe you can call him there."
"That man…" she went straight to her office and picked up the phone, "Mr. Steele, why are you out of the office? I left you here for two hours, and you took the first chance to run away?"
"Ahh, Miss Holt. I see you've finished your morning task. I've finished mine, too. In fact, I had an interesting conversation while filling all those boring reports."
"What are you talking about?" she asked turning down a bit her anger and giving place to her curiosity to take control.
"Ah, Miss Holt, what would you say if we share our discoveries after a very hard-working morning over a deserved lunch?" he knew he had aroused her curiosity, and it was his chance to spend the rest of the day with her.
"Ok. You win. Where do we meet?"
"I'll pick you up, Miss Holt. We are not so far from the office yet. Be ready in ten minutes."
The waiter was standing beside them, ready to take their orders.
"Allow me, Laura." Mr. Steele took the menu from Laura's hands and spoke to the man. "We`ll take the Chicken Caesar's Salad, and sparkling water for the two of us."
"Having a light supper, are we?" asked a suspicious Miss Holt.
"Believe me, Laura, after the news we are going to share, you'll be thankful for my choice of light food."
They were starting to eat their salads, when Mr. Steele looked seriously at Laura and told her, "Anesthesia."
"What do you mean with anesthesia?" asked Laura rolling her eyes.
"Anesthesia. That would be our keyword to close the case, Miss Holt," he answered.
"How could it be our keyword?"
"By all means, Laura… Where is your detective instinct?"
"What are you talking about?" asked Laura entirely confused.
"Laughing Gas, Charlie Chaplin, 1914," quoted Steele.
"Laughing Gas? Are you saying that our case would be solved following the plot of a Charlie Chaplin movie? Mr. Steele, I think you've had an overdose of paperwork…Is this your revenge against me for leaving you behind at the office this morning? Whatever possessed me to do that?" Laura ended her statement rolling her eyes.
"I'm talking seriously, Miss Holt. I was at the office, trying to concentrate on my job, a truly boring task I might add, when a picture from the wall of fame caught my attention; the one with the Chaplin hat. Then I remembered that movie, the one when Charlie pretends to be a dentist though he is only his assistant. When a patient can't stop laughing waking up from the anesthesia, Charlie knocks him out with a club…"
"So, what? As I remember, I was the one with a dentist appointment and an anesthesia dose this week. And I assure you I didn't get out of the anesthesia with a laugh attack, neither with the doctor knocking me out with a club…"
"I wasn't talking about you, Laura. I was…"
Then Laura interrupted him, "Are you thinking that Stanhope could have been drugged with an anesthesia overdose and then the thief took the key, stole the manuscripts, and returned the key without him knowing anything about it? Hmm, It could be a possibility…Wait, how do you know he was under a dentist treatment?" asked a curious Laura, trying to find the gap in his idea.
"Remember Mr. Stanhope told us the writings theft was discovered when they returned from an appointment? I called Lehman right after you left the mansion and he told me it was a dentist appointment."
"I suppose you have the necessary information about the dentist," she told him.
"Fred is waiting for us in the limo, ready to take us there…" he answered
"You were right choosing a light food, Mr. Steele."
"Sometimes paperwork gets me inspired, Miss Holt," he smiled proudly.
"Remind me to put that in practice more frequently, Mr. Steele," she answered him smiling back.
They arrived at Mr. Stanhope dentist around 3pm.
"Excuse me, we need to talk to Dr. Williams," asked Laura to the receptionist.
"Do you have an appointment?" she answered.
"No, it's not a medical appointment. It's a private matter," answered Laura. "My name is Laura Holt."
"I'm afraid you are not going to be able to talk to him. He is in surgery at the hospital, and he is not going to return here until Monday," said the woman.
Noticing that Laura wasn't going to have luck, Mr. Steele decided to take control over the conversation, "In that case Lillian, would you set us an appointment for Monday? He asked her sending a spark of his charm, while Laura rolled her eyes.
"Monday 10 am would be fine?" Asked the woman, suddenly enchanted by a pair of blue eyes.
"It will be perfect, thank you," he answered her.
"I hate to say it, but have you noticed that the combination of your eyes and your charm always comes handy to enchant any secretary crossing our path? Don't you dare use them while I'm not beside you. Is that clear, Mr. Steele?"
"Crystal clear, Miss Holt," He pulled her by his side, kissing her on the cheek.
Fred drove them back to the office, where Laura picked up the Rabbit to go home. Their week wasn't finished yet. They had a cocktail that night, one of the commitments Mr. Steele was always eager to attend, enhanced with the pleasure of Laura's company beside him. She wasn't a big fan of this sort of event, but the chance to be wearing him in a place with all the feminine eyes on him, but his eyes only for her… It was the best reward she could ask for such a tedious effort.
The event was filled with personalities. They met politicians, old clients, and a lot of people eager to be introduced to the famous detective Remington Steele.
They were talking with a group of businessmen when something caught Laura's eyes. "Have you seen that?" she whispered to Mr. Steele.
"Yes, I've seen them. I've never guessed the two of them would be here tonight," answered Mr. Steele.
"I'm not totally surprised. This morning, when I was waiting for Lehman at the library, I found some pictures of the two of them on a yacht. It seems that Lehman is beside Mr. Stanhope 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," told him Laura with sarcasm.
"I guess the pay must be tempting…" answered Mr. Steele with another dose of sarcasm himself.
The rest of the evening ran without surprises. On their way back from the cocktail, they were both exhausted. They shared only a few words along the whole trip.
Once at Rossmore, Mr. Steele suggested a movie, and the night ended with the two of them almost asleep in front of the TV.