Guilt invaded Natalie’s body. She was certain that her coworkers could smell it on her. Reflexively, she looked away anytime she caught the strained look in their eyes.
They know, she told herself. They know what I’ve done. But only one person knew, and that was Tina.
Chances were many of her colleagues had watched the news just as she’d done that morning, or they’d read the email from Steven Zacharius, the company CEO:
Dear Dynamic Media Employees,
It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that while conducting a welfare check, the Medford police discovered the body of our colleague and dear friend, Audrey Adler. Details of Audrey’s death are not readily available, but I can share that she appears to have been the victim of a homicide. The Medford police are actively investigating this crime, and they’ve asked anyone with information pertaining to Audrey’s murder to contact them immediately.
The note from Steven went on to provide contact information for the Medford police along with details about accessing grief counselors, whom he said would be on-site for the next several days. He concluded his brief message with more words of sorrow and sympathy.
Natalie reread Steven’s email half a dozen times. She kept having flashes of Audrey’s lifeless body swimming in a sea of red on her kitchen floor. Despite her perpetual brain fog, she could recall many of the horrific details: the unnatural angle of Audrey’s head, a pungent smell of blood, the pattern of the splatter, a burned-out overhead bulb, even the color of the broken plate littering the floor near her inert form. All these memories were seared into Natalie’s consciousness.
Most of her meetings were canceled that day, and Natalie found herself with too much time on her hands to sit and think. She’d come to work specifically for one meeting, one that wasn’t officially on the company calendar, one that wasn’t going to be canceled.
At the appointed hour, Natalie made her way to Tina’s office. Seated at the small conference table inside was a woman Natalie had never met before. She rose when Natalie entered, greeting her with a generous smile. Tina stood as well.
“Natalie, this is Sarah Fielding.”
Standing nearly six feet tall, Sarah Fielding struck quite an imposing figure. Her dark blond hair was stylishly trimmed, adding to her professional air. Her skin radiated with the healthy glow of someone who paid particularly close attention to what went into her body. She had on form-fitting attire—a black shirt tucked into pleated black pants, an outfit best worn by those with a strong devotion to physical fitness. When her smile dimmed, there was no real warmth to Sarah Fielding, no aura of congeniality. She gave off the hardened exterior of a police officer. For a moment, that’s who Natalie feared she was, until she remembered what Sarah did for the company and why Tina had set up this meeting in the first place.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Natalie said, managing something of a smile. “But honestly, I’m glad we haven’t met before.”
Sarah returned a pleasant laugh. She got it. As the company’s chief internal corporate investigator, it was Sarah’s job to look into any employee wrongdoing. Natalie hoped her issues with Audrey Adler stayed with HR and had not yet made its way to Sarah’s department.
“Usually I’m tracking down petty theft from expense reports, or too much porn on company time,” said Sarah. “When Tina asked if I could recommend a private investigator, I had some names in mind, but I wondered if it had something to do with the company.
“Then she told me it was a case of infidelity involving one of our employees and your husband, and that got my attention. Last time we had an outsider looking into one of our own, we had a PR nightmare on our hands when the investigator uncovered some intellectual property theft. We would have preferred to have handled the situation internally, but instead it made the six o’clock news and cost us one of our largest accounts. Rather than risk letting that happen again, I agreed to take a look into this matter myself.”
Natalie’s strained smile conveyed her gratitude.
“Thank you. I really appreciate your help. I mean, what I’m dealing with is such a small thing in light of what happened to Audrey.”
Natalie watched Sarah’s jaw tighten.
“It’s just awful,” Sarah said. “I didn’t know Audrey personally, but from what I read she was quiet and lived alone. The police don’t even have any suspects.”
Natalie noticed that Tina’s eyes were red and there were crumpled tissues on the table where she’d been sitting.
“I’m so sorry, Tina,” said Natalie, who then gave Tina a long embrace.
“I just can’t believe it,” Tina said, swallowing a sob. “She hadn’t worked here long, but I knew right away she’d be one of the stars in my department.”
Natalie squeezed Tina’s hand gently.
Turning to Sarah, Natalie said, “It’s often a husband or a boyfriend, someone close to the victim. Do you think that’s the case with Audrey?”
“It’s hard to say,” said Sarah. “Could be.”
Natalie caught a look in Sarah’s eyes as if to suggest she already suspected Michael.
“I don’t know if she was seeing someone,” continued Sarah. “If so, it’s not mentioned in any of the news reports that I’ve read.”
Natalie couldn’t resist exchanging a knowing glance with Tina.
“But I guess we’re here to talk about your husband. What makes you so sure he’s having an affair with someone who works for the company?” asked Sarah.
“We know it’s someone who uses the corporate gym,” Tina answered for Natalie. “And that’s really all we know. There’s a chance it’s an outsider, but maybe not.”
“I can run some database queries an outside party wouldn’t be able to do. If there are no hits internally, I guess I’d pass you off to a licensed PI, since it wouldn’t be a company matter after all. Seems harmless enough, and not hard for me to do. I at least can get the ball started.”
Natalie returned a bright smile.
“That’s great. Thank you so much. Let me know what I can do to help.”
“Absolutely,” Sarah said. “I’ll be in touch. I’ll start with some basic keyword searches and go from there. You’d be amazed what people write to each other on our corporate email, which, by the way, is not considered private.”
“Sounds good,” said Natalie. Her good feelings didn’t last, as she was now faced with the inherent dangers of technology when it came to keeping secrets. “What about cell phones?” she asked Sarah, because she’d had her phone with her inside Audrey’s apartment.
“What about them?”
“Can you track a person using a cell phone?”
“Not easily,” Sarah said. “To get those records police need to get a subpoena, and phone companies will fight hard on that.”
“So pings aren’t helpful, no easy workaround.”
Sarah shrugged off that concern.