Read Invasion of Privacy - Jeremiah Healy for Free Online

polite. "I'm here about a
condominium that's seeking new management."
    The smile seemed to waver. "Certainly. Please
have a seat, and I'll see if he's available."
    I thought, "Like you hadn't just left him alone
in there," but kept it to myself.
    She disappeared through the same door, coming back
twenty seconds later. "Mr. Hendrix will see you now."
    I moved past her and through the doorway.
    The inner office was bigger than the reception area,
but that was the most you could say about it, the only window giving
a panoramic view of the strip mall's Dempster Durnpster. There was
another door to the left, and a desk with relatively little on it
tucked into the right corner. A credenza matched the desk, sort of,
holding an IBM clone, fax machine, and multi-buttoned phone.
    A man of about forty with sandy hair and
tortoiseshell, round-lensed glasses rose from a swivel desk chair to
greet me. "Boyce Hendrix, Mr. Cuddy." A mellow voice.
    Apparently Hendrix believed in "Dress-down
Everyday." From the soles up, he wore old Adidas tennis shoes
with no socks, stone-washed blue jeans, and a buff-colored safari
shirt with Hap pockets. His handshake was firm and decisive, though.
    He gestured toward another black leatherette sling
chair that seemed to be pining for its twins outside. I took it.
    Easing himself back down, Hendrix said, "Mrs.
Jelks tells me you're interested in our help?"
    Only slightly confused. "Perhaps, I'm
representing a condominium complex that's considering a change in its
management company."
    "Representing?" A judicious look. "You're
an attorney, then?"
    "No." I handed him a business card.
    After reading it, Hendrix snapped it down on his
desk-top as though he were dealing blackjack. "Private
investigator." He looked at the card a while longer, then to me,
more judiciously. A careful one, Mr. Hendrix. "Go on."
    "The board of trustees has asked me to inquire
for them, since they obviously wouldn't want their current company to
be . . . offended."
    "Obviously. Which complex is it?"
    I just smiled.
    His smile was judicious, too. "And naturally the
complex involved therefore wishes to remain anonymous."
    "Naturally."
    "I'm not sure where that leaves us, Mr. Cuddy."
    "Maybe if I could have some brochures for my
clients to review?"
    A measured nod, then a very methodical search through
a desk drawer, more as though Hendrix were buying time than hunting
for something. Which made me realize something else: I hadn't seen
any brochures in the reception area, not even a holder for business
cards. If you were a management company, and potential clients were
waiting to see you, wouldn't you at least want them to have—
    "Here we go," passing a glossy piece of
paper over to me. A grainy, black-and-white photo showed a couple ,
standing in front of a six-paneled door, beaming at the lens. Their
hair styles and clothes looked out-of-date, and given the cropping at
the borders, the picture could have been taken anywhere. Just
skimming the brochure's widely spaced paragraphs of text, I found two
obvious typos.
    "How long have you been in business'?" I
said.
    "At this location, only five years."
    The photo looked older. "And how long have you
been in the profession, yourself?"
    "Around ten."
    "That should be about right for my clients."
    Hendrix frowned. "Can you tell me how big their
complex is?"
    "Let's just say over fifty units."
    "And how far from Marshfield?"
    "Oh, within fifteen miles."
    I was intentionally dangling the bait, and Hendrix
seemed intentionally not to take it, making no effort to sell me on
his company.
    "Wel1," he said finally, the tone still
mellow, "that certainly sounds like it's in our ballpark.
Unfortunately, though, we're pretty heavily booked at the moment."
    "You are."
    "Yes. A lot of our clients prefer a more
hands-on but low-key approach to property management, especially in
this economy. We're not expensive, and that matters, so we tend to
hold the complexes we attract."
    I wanted to keep this going,