Petrovich came from a small town in Russia raised in a poor family with a shadowy past. He made his money quickly, and flashed like a comet onto the social scene. The guy had never been married and had guests at his home constantly. Vodka and champagne flowed freely at his endless parties, especially around Christmas. That was good. Mattheus checked further and suddenly let out a low whistle. There was a big party planned for the next day at Petrovich’s Villa. Couldn’t be more perfect, the timing was great.
He got up and walked to the edge of the patio, peering out at the ocean below. It shouldn’t be hard to get himself invited to this guy’s villa, meet him in person, talk to the guests, snoop around. Mattheus took out his cell phone and called the Senator’s private number immediately.
“Yes?” a clipped voice answered, eager. It seemed as though he’d been waiting for the call.
“Mattheus here.”
“Yes?” the voice had more urgency.
“There’s a party tomorrow at Petrovich’s villa,” said Mattheus. “Can you get me invited to it?”
The pause on the other end only lasted a minute. “Consider it done,” the Senator said.
“Great.”
“Anything else?”
“Not yet,” Mattheus felt pressured.
“Okay then,” the Senator continued. “Good work finding that out.”
Mattheus grinned. He liked to be praised when he deserved it. This was a nice first step.
“And something else,” the Senator went on, “the wife really liked your partner. She wants to see her again soon.”
“That’s good,” said Mattheus.
“Yeah, but don’t take her to Petrovich’s party.”
“Why not?” Mattheus suddenly felt on edge.
“He’s got a treasure trove of women who will flock around you. You want to find out what they have to say. The last thing you need is another woman hanging on.”
Mattheus took exception. “My partner doesn’t hang onto me.”
“Okay, okay,” said the Senator, “but don’t bring her anyway. It’ll keep the women away.” Then he laughed. “Actually, it probably wouldn’t, they’re an aggressive bunch, barracudas if you ask me, they just take who they like, no matter who he’s with. But, just in case, go alone.”
Mattheus didn’t like being told how to proceed with his investigation. That was his domain.
“You’re a good looking guy,” the Senator continued, adamant. “You’ll create a stir. It will work to your benefit. Listen to me, I know what I’m talking about.”
Mattheus wondered for a second how the Senator knew so much about the women around Petrovich.
“I’ll call him right now,” the Senator said, “and I’m getting an invitation for one.”
Mattheus had no choice but to relent. He was working for the Senator. Petrovich was his contact.
“This time I’ll go by myself,” Mattheus said. “Next time, I’m taking my partner along. I value her impressions and feedback.”
The Senator paused. “You’re a lucky guy,” he said finally, “it’s rare to value someone like that.”
“Yes, it is,” said Mattheus, hung up and then threw a glance over towards Cindy’s patio, a few feet away. He tried not to let himself dwell on how valuable Cindy really was to him. Then he wondered how she was doing with her research. He was getting hungry, almost ready for the dinner, pretty soon they’d order up. He’d give her a few minutes before going over to see what she wanted for dinner and also what she’d found.
*
Cindy sat on her patio, her laptop open, deep into the Facebook pages of Tiffany, Tad, Rori, Shane. There was hours of work before her. She had emails to check, texts, tweets. Tiffany and Rori’s pages were very different. Tiffany’s page was mostly dominated by photos of her and Tad. She had tons of friends she spoke with regularly, mostly about the party coming up. Her profile was bursting with things she loved to do, including cooking, painting, dancing, boating, having a wonderful time. Her engagement had been announced and friends from all over had commented on it, wishing her well.
Tad’s page had mostly photos of Tiffany and his sister on it. There were one or two male friends from college as well. Other than that, there wasn’t too much activity. Clearly, he didn’t spend much time this way. His profile stated that he enjoyed reading, writing, museums, and walks along rocky shores. There was nothing irregular, except perhaps how different the two of them seemed. It lead Cindy to take a moment to wonder again about what it was that attracted couples to one another and how happy these two would have ultimately been.
Rori’s Facebook page had a different flavor. She had all kinds of friends splashed across it, including bikers, dancers, rich girls, snobs, and a few good looking Japanese guys. Her profile page was not filled in. There was only one picture of Tiffany on her page and very little mention of the engagement. Rori mentioned that she was indefinitely single. Cindy wasn’t sure what she meant by that.
Cindy was just getting to Tiffany’s ex-boyfriend, Shane’s page, when Mattheus appeared on her patio.
“You’ve got hours ahead of you to work,” he said quietly, as he came up and sat down beside her. “What did you find so far?”