James leaned closer. “Look, this bio has a lot of the stuff that’s in Reverend Dick’s bio. It could almost have been copied.” Daniel took down notes from the page. “So his background might be sketchy.” James turned to where his dad still leaned against the door frame and then he met Daniel’s gaze with a “holy shit” look. “What else do we know?”
“Not much,” Margot said. “There isn’t a lot of information here. But isn’t that suspicious in itself? Most people leave huge footprints on the web. Reverend Creepy has very little.” She seemed pleased with herself.
“True, but that’s intuition, not facts. As an investigator, you deal in facts. Intuition might lead you in one direction, but it has to be backed up with facts or it’s meaningless.”
Margot snickered. “Like the time you snuck out of the house, got drunk, and tried to climb in my window instead of yours?” Daniel definitely wanted to hear more about this story. Dang, Margot could be wicked.
James gaped at her for a split second. “See. That’s what I mean. Facts. Yes, I did sneak out. You assumed that I was drunk, but my window was locked and yours wasn’t. I had actually gone to a concert in town that Mom would have had a fit about. I know you understand that.”
Margot sighed dramatically.
“And there was no drinking involved.”
Daniel wasn’t so sure he believed that was true, and he bumped James’s arm slightly just to let him know he wasn’t buying it.
“What’s all this about sneaking out?” Phillip asked from the doorway.
“Nothing,” James sang, and all three of them collapsed into a fit of giggles.
“What about the pictures you took in his office?” Daniel asked, changing the subject.
“You took pictures?” Margot smacked James on the shoulder. “Good job. That was really smart of you. What made you think of it?”
“Very funny. What is it, pick on James day?” He tried to look hurt and failed.
“I don’t want to know about any of this...unless you find something,” Phillip said, returning to the living room.
“Where’s Holly?” James asked his dad.
“Howard picked her up for a little alone time,” Phillip answered, turning on the television.
“Let’s see those pictures.” Margot rubbed her hands together impatiently while James emailed her the pictures. Daniel was curious too, and intrigued by seeing James in action...so to speak.
Margot shifted her chair closer so they could all see the images as she brought them up. “Get your laptop as well,” Daniel suggested to James, who retrieved it from the bedroom.
“He didn’t think there was anything to be found, did he?” Margot asked quietly. “Everyone treats me like I’m a kid and don’t know anything. ‘Go to your room!’” She did a pretty good imitation of her mother.
Daniel hedged. “I think your brother is more cautious than you think he is. But he’s also a man of action when it’s warranted.” He leaned closer to view the images, copying down places and dates from the various framed diplomas and certificates. “I also think that if you want to be taken seriously, then you need to act serious.” He smiled. “Emotional outbursts won’t get you accepted. But acting grown up will get you treated like a grown-up.” Daniel leaned closer. “Though my real advice would be to enjoy being young while you can. Life has a way of ripping it away soon enough.” By the time James returned, Daniel and Margot had a list of points of research.
“How do we check these out?” Margot asked. “I doubt we can just go online and get lists of graduates and degrees. I could try to hack into their systems.”
James looked like he was going to swallow his teeth. “There’s no need for that.”
“Why not?”
“We don’t have to.” James picked up his phone and made a call. “I have a friend who can. Ronny and I went through the academy together.” As James made the call, Daniel stood to stretch his legs. He stepped out back, taking in the mountains and fresh air while giving himself a chance to think. Emotionally he was a mess, with his head spinning, and to add to it, this little mystery seemed to have grown into something more than just a diversion.
“He’s got something,” Margot said, poking her head out the patio door. Daniel returned inside.
“Thanks, Ronny. I sent you copies of the diplomas as well as a list of what they represent. I just need to know if Richard Peterson ever attended any of these schools?... I hate to ask, but the sooner the better. I’m heading home in a few days.” He listened some more. “You’re the best. I’ll talk to you soon.” James hung up and sighed. “Ronny is going to check into this for me and call us back.”
“How can he have information like this?” Margot asked.
“As I said, Ronny and I went to the academy together. Afterwards, Ronny went into cybercrime analysis. The man is a wizard at tracking people. You might have met him at my graduation, remember?” James bumped his sister’s shoulder. “He’s the guy you told Mom you wanted to have his babies.” Daniel snickered and wondered just what this guy looked like. Not that he could hold a candle to James—Daniel was pretty sure of that.
Margot snickered. “I did that to get Mom going, which was fun. But yeah, he was something.”
Daniel laughed. He could see Grace having a fit at that declaration. “What do we do now?”
James smiled at both of them. “What other leads do we have? Is there anything else in the pictures that raises questions?” Daniel looked closer at each one, and Margot did the same.
“There isn’t much visible,” Margot observed. “The desk and the shelves are all perfect.” She turned to James. “It’s like everything is there to be looked at. The room is for show and not for work.”
James nodded slowly.
“I don’t see anything more,” Margot said.
“Okay. Now we have to wait. It’s one of the hardest things an investigator has to do sometimes,” James declared, to Margot’s chagrin. Daniel remembered being her age when everything was “now, why not now?”
“Let’s have lunch?” Daniel offered. When things got tough, you ate. “We can go out.”
“Yes.” Margot grabbed her computer and was out of the room like a shot.
“You don’t mind, do you?” James asked. “I think she’s been kind of forgotten in all these preparations.” He shut down his computer and gathered their notes.
“That’s why I suggested it. Let me check my face and grab my bag, and we can go.” Daniel got his things and met the others in the living room, where Phillip and James were talking.