Chapter 2: Change Of Venue

The first thing that struck me when I walked in the door was that the place was filled from wall-to-wall with sports trophies.

The second that grabbed my attention was the 65" plasma TV to the left as soon as you walked in the front door.

No sooner had I sat first batch of our bags down than Rachael hurried past me. From the way she seemed to be moving about the room, I could tell she was searching for something.

Jokingly, I said, "Didn't you go before we left?"

"I'm looking for a phone book, smart-ass. Do you want Italian or Chinese?"

I responded with, "Hookers or food?"

"Food," She replied. "I wouldn't know how to expense the hookers."

I countered, "How about 'Expert Witness?"

"And what am I to tell the auditors when they ask what area of expertise they had?" She asked playfully.

I answered, "Forensic Knot Expert."

"You're kidding right?"

I told her truthfully, "You could always try it. I read about this guy in Great Britain last year. He's a member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers & Forensic Science Society."

"Okay, I'll bite, how does that make a hooker an expert witness?"

While taking off my jacket, I said, "Well, a couple years ago, before you joined the firm, I was on this case involving a man whose wife found out he had been seeing a prostitute. When I interviewed him, he told me the hooker he saw specialized in Bondage and Domination and that she knew more knots than a sailor did. I figured he knew what he was talking about because he was a retired rear-admiral in the navy."

"Hookers as expert witnesses, huh? For both our sakes, I hope it doesn't come to that; but if it does, you'll be the first one I let know."

I decided to change the subject, "I'll finish unloading the car; and then, I think I'll take a look around. It might be a good idea to know where everything is ... particularly the bathroom!"

When Rachael didn't respond, I looked at her to see why. She had found the phone book and was busy searching through it.

There was a phone in the living room. After she'd located what she'd been looking for, Rachael picked up the phone and started dialing.

I could hear it ringing on the other end. A second later, she was talking to someone. While she was busy on the phone, I went out to the car and retrieved the rest of our bags.

After I brought them inside, I started setting up our laptops on the coffee table. About five minutes later, Rachael hung up the phone.

During that time, she'd made two calls.

"Samantha's said to tell you that things went about how we expected they would in court. Luckily, there were no more surprises. She's about half way home. She said she'd call about midnight for an update; that is, if we don't call her first.

Also, the food should be here in an hour. I hope you like Philly steak and cheese sandwiches, French fries and coleslaw."

I smiled. Steak and cheese sandwiches are one of my favorites. "Great!"

Seemingly satisfied, she stood there deep in thought for a minute. Then said to me...

"I was just thinking. She said we could have free run of the place. Why don't we figure out how to use that overpriced entertainment system of Vince's and watch the videos on it? That way we won't have to spend any more time staring at these tiny laptop screens than I have to."

I'd gotten so caught up in what I was doing that I had completely forgotten about touring the place.

It was just about the time I deciphered the workings of the entertainment center that our dinner showed up. As you can imagine, all we talked about was the case.

We finished eating, cleaned up the trash; and then, began analyzing the videos.

I had intended to start with the video neither of us had seen. Within seconds, I knew that I must have put in the wrong one by mistake because the image on the screen showed a clear, unobstructed, wide angle view of the bed.

The video we were supposed to be watching had been taken from the television stand at the end of the bed.

"Sorry," I said to Rachael embarrassingly when I discovered my mistake.

I was in the process of getting up so I could swap it out with the other one when I heard her say, "Let it play. Maybe we'll see something we missed the first time."