Page 21 of Pied Sniper

Abigail reached into her purse and pulled out a large envelope, which she placed between us. “Here’s everything I know about Tiffany. Her personal details, her contract with me, and her business dealings over the past two years. Will that suffice for background information?”

“Thank you,” said Solomon. “You came very prepared.”

“Not specifically for this, I just prefer to have such information easily accessible.”

“Are you acting on your behalf or Tiffany’s family?” I asked.

“Tiffany doesn’t have any family so I’m the one hiring you. She might be my client but I care about her wellbeing too. Something terrible has obviously happened to her and I want her found. Since you already have knowledge of the case as well as the smarts to track her down tonight, I think you’re the best person to do it. I hope she will be unharmed but—” Abigail gulped “—I know the odds are stacked against her the longer we wait. I’ve seen enough cop shows on TV to know that isn’t a good sign. You have to find her quickly.”

“We’ll get back to you soon,” I said. “I need to read through everything first.”

“Tonight?” she asked, a glimmer of hope brightening her face for the first time this evening.

“If not tonight, then tomorrow morning,” said Solomon. “My wife has already assisted the police by telling them everything she knows. There is an active investigation so please don’t assume no one is looking for her. If we take the case, we’d be an addition to them, not as a replacement.”

“I want the best and from my research, that’s you. I’m not saying the police aren’t capable of handling a kidnapping of a high-profile, young woman but I know how thinly stretched they are at present. The odds that they would close a case if it lacked enough swift developments are too high to gamble. I have to know someone is working every angle on locating my client. Call me at any time. I’ll rest easier knowing that I’ve done something to help her. If you’ll excuse me, I need to draft a statement to the press now,” she said, rising and leaving her coffee untouched. “You know how to reach me. Use that number any time, day or night.”

“What do you make of that?” I asked as we watched Abigail Swanson leave and wave to a waiting taxi. She opened the door to the back seat, got in, and the cab pulled away.

“I think we should take you home. You can change and decompress a little. This wasn’t the fun evening you and Lily planned although I’m a bit more clear on what a video blogger does.”

“Vlogger,” I said, “and I agree. Let’s talk on the way.”

In between worrying about Lily and checking my phone a hundred and fifty times, I skimmed the paperwork. By the time we arrived home, I had a better grasp of Tiffany’s life, at least, from her manager’s perspective.

“I really thought she earned more money, but she took a big hit in her income this past year,” I said, turning the pages of the document. “I wonder why.”

“How big a hit?”

“She lost half of her sponsorship deals. Abigail doesn’t note why but there had to be a reason.”

“Maybe Tiffany isn’t the flavor of the moment anymore? These online influencers have a shelf life too, right?”

“True. There’s always someone newer, fresher, thinner, curvier, fitter, or more authentic, whatever that means…” I trailed off. “Perhaps Tiffany wasn’t as relevant as she used to be. The marketers might have feared her popularity was waning now she’s been around for a few years.”

“A live, on-air kidnapping and attempted murder of an attractive young woman would certainly attract a lot of attention. TV stations, newspapers, magazines, bloggers.”

I followed Solomon into the kitchen. “Are you suggesting Tiffany staged this strictly for publicity?”

“Crazier things have happened.”

“Name one… oh, don’t bother. We could be here all night,” I sighed as I opened the fridge. “Are you hungry again? What do you feel like eating? It seems like a hundred hours since we had Chinese food.”

“Anything is fine. You?”

“I am delicious,” I agreed. “We should have ordered a pie to go from the diner we just left. It seemed too frivolous with Lily still being interviewed but now I think sweet sustenance could have been practical.”

“If you’d only said that twenty minutes ago...”

“I know.” I sighed again at the thought of the glass domes full of apple pie, a triple layer chocolate cake and a tall mound of glazed donuts. “Current me is so disappointed with past me twenty minutes ago.”

“I’ll find snacks,” said Solomon. “You shower. Put on whatever crazy pajamas make you happy, and turn on the TV. Leave your phone here. Let your brain relax.”

I shut the fridge and spun around, finding him next to me. Rising up on my tiptoes, I kissed him. “You’re perfect,” I said. “I’m so lucky.”

“You have awfully low parameters for perfect if providing snacks is all it takes.”

“This is true,” I said, my mind providing me with a movie montage of assholes I dated. Scratch that, some of my exes were great guys, but a slightly higher proportion were full-fledged jerks and probably still were. Not my problem! I found one of the good guys and he was so wrong: he held the high bar for perfect. Not many men could come close, and the only other one I could think of who did was currently scrutinizing the case at MPD. I wondered what Detectives Crump and Hertford would say about Maddox swooping in and snatching the case out from under them. The thought actually made me smile.

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