Chapter 4

Marie Carbonet, she had pronounced it the French way over the phone, opened the door as he walked onto the porch of the mansion. Don rarely met with his clients at their homes, because there was a danger that the person being investigated would show up, but Marie had insisted. Her demanding tone of voice and her sneering manner when she told him that she wanted her husband investigated almost caused him to tell her that the agency had all of the investigations that they could handle and that she should call someone else.

"You're late," she snapped.

Don looked at his watch; he was ten minutes late, "Traffic."

She turned and walked into the house, leaving him to close the door. She walked out onto the patio, expecting him to follow her, and motioned for him to sit at the table under the awning. This was another no-no. Don knew how easy it was to record conversations in the open.

As soon as they sat down she rang a small bell that was on the table. A maid scurried out onto the patio and Marie Carbonet told the woman to get two iced teas for them. It was definitely an order not a request. The maid hurried out of sight and returned a couple of minutes later with two large glasses of iced tea.

Don had met this type of client before. Marie Carbonet had that attitude that was typical of so many Nuevo Riche. Just because her husband had made a ton of money before she had married him she thought that her shit didn't stink.

She crossed her legs and Don got a glimpse of her stocking tops. After a few minutes she uncrossed her legs and sat with her legs slightly open, Don saw that she wasn't wearing any panties. Marie knew the effect she was having on him. Marie Carbonet was a very beautiful woman that obviously worked to keep herself in shape. He had done some investigation on her and had learned that she had once been a flight attendant. Her husband had been married once before and Marie had only been married to him for a little over three years. She was in her mid to late thirties and Don had picked up rumors that her battles with her fifteen year old step-daughter were frequent and violent.

"Mr. Clark, Pam Parsons told me about you and the great job that you did for her. I need you to find out who my husband is diddling. I need pictures, dates, times, anything that you can get me."

"What makes you think that your husband is cheating on you?" Don asked.

It was a standard question that any investigator would ask a prospective client but Don saw the fire flash in Marie Carbonet's eyes for a second. He knew that this investigation would be a bit more complicated than some of his investigations. There was something that was more than a philandering husband investigation here.

"I really don't know if he is cheating on me. I just want you to find out if he is."

Don stared at her for a minute before continuing, "I don't understand. Is there money missing, has he been coming home late at night, is he gone on unexplained absences?"

Marie had been shaking her head while he was talking, "No, it's that bitch daughter of his. She keeps sneaking around trying to get something on me. Sooner or later she's going to stumble on something."

"Is there anything that she could find?" he asked.

Marie got a sly smile on her face, "My husband is ten years older than me. He's gone 50% of the time. I have my outside interests that are nobody's business."

Don looked out into the yard. Normally he wouldn't touch a case like this but he wanted to hear what this case was really about. There was a lot that Marie wasn't telling him. His police training taught him to not leave an investigation until you had all of the information that you could get.

"What if my investigation does turn up something? Will you expect me to testify or do you just want pictures and an investigation report?"

"All that I want is for you to get the goods on my husband. There will be no lawyers involved."

Don hesitated, "I don't understand."

She leaned forward, "When I married my husband I was a bit naïve. He insisted on a pre-nup but I was too dumb to read it. I thought that I was just signing papers to get put on his bank accounts and such. If I have to leave this marriage, I get one hundred thousand for each year we're married. I just can't take a chance. If I can get some dope on my husband I'll be able to dictate the terms of a new pre-nup to him."

"You aren't investigating him to get the information that you'd need for a divorce then?"

She snorted, "Are you crazy? If you think that I'd give all of this up you are crazy. My husband is a senior vice-president of a Fortune one hundred company. They have a morals clause in his contract. If I sue him, for running around on me, that's the end of all of this. He'll lose his job, stock options, bonuses, everything. No way, I just need something to hold over him in case he starts to wonder about things."

"Mrs. Carbonet, I don't think that this is the type of case that our agency should be involved in. I can give you the number of several private detectives that would take your case."

She sat her glass down hard, "What are your normal fees, I'll triple them. I don't want any other detective agency. I've heard that you're the best and I want you. Like I said, I'll pay triple your normal fee."

"If I decide to take the case, what are your plans concerning your step-daughter?"

Marie grinned, "Oh, you've heard about the arguments? That little bitch isn't that much of a problem anymore. My husband sends her to her grand-parents whenever he has to travel. As I said he's away 50% of the time. When she's here she usually keeps to her room or she's out with friends."