In Limbo

Chapter 18

As Lee entered the Trentonian office the next morning, he looked at the people around, either on the phones or typing or having conversations to clarify subjects for articles while holding one of the newspapers.

At the reception area, a red headed woman, with heavy makeup in her mid forties, seeing Lee standing there, asked dryly while chewing her gum, "Can I help ya?"

Lee surprised, realized she was speaking to him and clearing his throat, stated, "Morning...I'm Charles Castle. I'm here to see the managing editor? He's expecting me-"

Suddenly, the woman looked back into the row of offices nearby, and yelled, "Burt! Get your tail out here!"

A few moments later, a slightly balding man, a bit on the heavy side, about five foot nine, came out, and putting a hand up, with a nod to Lee, barked to the woman at the desk, "Mitzi! How many times do I gotta tell you to call my extension? And get rid of that gum!"

Mitzi, putting her gum in a tissue and throwing it in the trash, then with her arms out, exclaimed, "Why should I? Your hearing is as good as gold. I'm just savin' time, that's all! "

Slightly aggravated, the man sighed and responded facing Lee, "Sorry about her...Burt Daniels, and you're Castle, right?"

Lee nodded, going to shake the man's hand, "Charles, but you can call me Chuck..."

Then Mitzi commented with a giggle, "Oh, like Chuck Wagon, right? Cute!"

Ignoring her, Burt, shaking Lee's hand, gestured towards the hallway, stating to Lee, "C'mon, my office is this way..."

-SMK-

As they entered Burt's office, Burt said to Lee, gesturing towards the chair and closing the door, "Have a seat."

Lee nodded, and sitting down, answered, "Thank you. Quite an operation you got here."

Burt shrugged replying, "We do alright...Small potatoes compared to your digs...So, you like it there?"

Lee nodded commenting, "It's okay for the most part...I'm still settling in, though-"

Just then, Mitzi came in commenting, "You guys want any coffee? I'm changing the pot filter, so I gotta know."

Lee, clearing his throat, answered with a shake of his head, "Uh, none for me. But thank you, Mitzi."

Burt then queried, "Hey, Mitzi...The door was closed, which means I'm in a meeting ...Knock next time, alright?"

Mitzi sighed and looking at Lee's expression, shrugged, stating, "Don't be scared. His bark is worse than his bite some days, ya know?"

Then looking at Burt, she answered crisply, "Don't get your shorts in a bunch! I'm leaving already!"

Burt remarked quickly, "Good! And shut the door on your way out!"

As Mitzi flounced out, slamming the door, Burt gestured, shaking his head as he asked, "Know where I dug her up? My in-law's mother recommended her from the diner she used to work at! Never trust relatives, you know?"

Lee chuckling, answered, "Right," and thought, Francine would have Mitzi in tears by now...Whew...

Burt then responded, "Okay, so let's get down to it...I called your boss to find out what to do about this lady letter writer who called this paper and told Mitzi to tell me that she wasn't interfering with her daughter, and to retract the answer we gave, even though it didn't come from our paper..."

Lee nodded asking, "Okay, so she got the message?"

Burt shrugged replying, "I called the number the lady left, to clear it all up, but she wasn't there. I wound up talking to the daughter, though, who said she'd give her the message, along with the Tribune phone number...Haven't heard anything since...Did you guys get a call?"

Lee shook his head commenting, "No, at least not up to the time I left Chicago last night...Do you have a name and address I could go by?"

Burt remarked, getting a piece of scratch paper out, and writing on it ,"Her name is Audrey Thompson, and her phone number is 555-7676...Oh, and she lives with her daughter who I talked to the other day. Her name is Beth Blake...Since they're pretty new in town, they're not in the phone book yet. So, how long are you here for?"

Lee sighed answering, "A week...My boss told me the higher ups want me to seek the woman out to smooth things over to avoid a lawsuit. Can you believe that?"

Burt, shaking his head, grumbled, "Some women have too much time on their hands..."

Lee sighed asking, "I know, right? Why can't they take up a hobby?"

Then as Lee looked at Burt, they immediately chimed together, "This is their hobby!"

As they both laughed, Lee, getting up, shook Burt's hand, remarking, "Well, thanks for the help. I appreciate it..."

Burt waving it away, commented, "No problem...Let me know how it goes...We'll have dinner before you shove off, alright?"

Lee nodded stating as he went to the door, "Sure, Burt. Talk to you later..."

As Lee got into his car a few moments later, he said looking at the name and phone number, "Okay, Stetson...You gotta play this smart, and call from your hotel. Don't need everyone fired up about this, or you'll lose your job for sure...

TBC