A few moments later, a tall, heavyset man in a navy blue suit came around the corner, puffing and red-faced from exertion. “Claire Barnes?”
“Hi, Burt.” I extended my hand, and he took it. “We met a few years ago. I’m Greg’s wife. I also work at Advent, but I’m based in Raritan.”
A look of alarm crossed his face. “Hi, Claire. Of course I remember you.” He motioned me down the hall and badged us into his office. He moved to sit behind his desk, and I chose one of the two chairs across from him.
He fiddled with a pen. “I heard something happened to Greg. The police were here, and I spoke to them, but I haven’t heard any updates. What’s going on?”
“Well, Greg is missing. No one from work has heard from him. I haven’t heard from him, and the police can’t find him.” I took a deep breath. From what I remembered, Burt was a family man. “Burt, I have to be honest. I’m here because I’m driven to be. The police don’t know I’m here. But honestly, if your wife went missing, wouldn’t you feel compelled to go to the last place she’d been? I’ve already uncovered at least one detail the police didn’t, based on the fact that I knew my husband. So, please, could you tell me what you told the police?”
He nodded. “I’d be happy to tell you the same thing I told Detective… Reynolds, was it?” I nodded. “Greg wasn’t here for any official business. There was no training scheduled for that week. I have no idea why he was in town.” He fidgeted, twirling his wedding ring around his finger.
I felt thrown down the rabbit hole. Again. I sat breathless, in stunned silence. Of all the responses I thought I would get, that was not one of them. I didn’t scream or cry. With each blow, I became further removed from Greg, the husband I thought I knew so well. Each new heartbreaking fact hardened my armor.
“Are you okay?” he finally asked.
“Yes, I’m okay.” Shockingly, it was true. I had a thought. “What about Toronto?” Advent had a small satellite site in Toronto, mostly just offices, no labs or manufacturing, but it had a regulatory section, which infrequently required Greg for training.
Burt looked thoughtful. “I haven’t heard of anything, but I didn’t think about that.” He held up a finger and picked up his phone. He dialed and then waited a few seconds. “Hi, Jeannie. This is Burt. Can you check the training schedule for me about something?” He nodded. “Yep, the week of the twenty-sixth through the first of October. Did you guys have anything scheduled? How about the week before or after? Okay, thanks a bunch. Yep, I’ll talk to you soon.”
He hung up and shook his head. “No, there was nothing that week or the week before or after. That’s not unusual. They only need annual training sessions, and I think they have qualified personnel onsite, even if they required an extra one.” He looked thoughtful. “I’m really scratching my head here, trying to think of a reason why he would be in Rochester. We didn’t even have any training scheduled for that week taught by anyone else.”
“What about a meeting with someone?”
Burt shrugged. “When the police were here, I did a search of everyone’s calendar for Greg’s name. In addition, we pulled everyone who would have had reason to meet with him into the office, and the police interviewed them. Detective Reynolds said he was going to go back and interview Greg’s manager and colleagues, but I haven’t heard anything else.”
I put my hand to my head, trying to steady my spinning thoughts.
“I’m sorry, Claire. I wish I had more. I know you said you uncovered a detail by coming here, so I’m glad it wasn’t a wasted trip, but I do think you should go home and communicate with the detectives. I hope you figure all this out.” He stood up then, a dismissal, a polite one, but still a dismissal. Oh, your husband’s missing? Well, that stinks. Listen, I have a ten o’clock, so can we reschedule this? The corporate world turns.
I stood and shook his hand. “Thanks for meeting with me. I’ll keep you updated. Please give me a call if something turns up.” I pulled out a business card, jotted my cell phone number on the back, and handed it to him.
He took the card, flipped it over twice, studying the front and back, and slipped it into his shirt pocket. He coughed nervously and walked me to the door, promising to call if he learned anything.
In the lobby, I filled Drew in on the development. He finally looked shocked, the seeds of doubt about Greg’s fidelity creeping into his eyes.
Husband lies about business trip, goes on fake business trip, checks into hotel for fake business trip, eats Thai with mystery woman, disappears. I was starting to see the writing on the wall, and it read, Lying Cheating Bastard.