FORGET ME NOT (Mark Kane Mysteries Book One) Read Online Free PDF Page A

work out something that I hope will be mutually
agreeable.”
    Greg nodded his understanding. “Actually your
fees sound very reasonable. Less than I expected.”
    I was relieved that Lucy wasn’t there to hear
that remark.
    “If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of
cases – is that the right word − or should I say assignments – do
you generally undertake? I’m just being nosey really. I don’t
suppose it’s much like the movies.”
    “Well, it has its moments, but there’s a lot
of the run of the mill stuff which would send a movie audience to
sleep I’m afraid. I do quite a bit of tracing – trying to locate
people who are running away from something: debts, crime,
unsympathetic parents. But over the years I’ve investigated pretty
much every kind of case that you could think of. A degree of
personal risk inevitably comes with the territory sometimes, but I
prefer to use my wits, and that’s usually good enough. Much of my
work involves thinking rather than doing. But I guess the main way
that it differs from TV or the movies is that a lot of my
investigations don’t end in a satisfactory resolution, I’m afraid,
and some clients expect more than I can deliver; but I do my best.
After all, for every murder, robbery and burglary the police manage
to crack there are thousands that remain unsolved.”
    My honesty had got the better of me. I’m sure
he would have preferred to have me recount tales of personal
derring-do, triumphing in the face of impossible odds; perhaps
spiced up with anecdotes about sexual encounters along the way. But
it was apparently good enough for Greg.
    “It all makes my working life seem a bit
dull, I’m afraid,” he said. “I worked for a trading company which
Gloria’s grandfather set up many years ago. Not trading in stocks
and shares, but in everything from foodstuffs to electronics. I’m
retired now and the company mainly trades on the internet so there
wouldn’t have been much for me to do anyway.”
    “The internet and other technical innovations
have changed the way people like me operate too,” I said. “Saves a
lot of time, but it does rather cut you off from your fellow
man.”
    I was on the verge of boring myself into a
coma.
    “Well I don’t expect the earth, Kane. My
concerns may not even be well-founded, but I owe it to my family to
investigate certain matters. Incidentally, I hope you don’t think
my curiosity about your job was an attempt to check your
credentials. Brad recommends you highly and that’s good enough for
me.”
    Happily Greg didn’t mention the ‘secret
weapon’ epithet, which was a relief.
    “Your fees are acceptable, so perhaps we
should get down to business,” he said. “Now then, where do you want
me to start?”
    “I think I’d better leave that up to you.
Perhaps you can tell me the name of your wife’s daughter and
whether you’ve ever met her.”
    “Her name is Susan, Susan Granger. I don’t
know whether Susan is the name Gloria gave her at birth or whether
it was chosen by her adoptive parents; it doesn’t really matter.
Susan Granger. And yes, I have met her several times since she got
in touch with Gloria about a year or so ago. Maybe a bit less than
a year, I can’t be certain. Anyway, I didn’t speak with her much
really. After all, she came to see Gloria and I let them alone.
Partly because I felt it was none of my business and partly because
I could tell that Gloria felt rather uncomfortable about the whole
thing.”
    “Why was that, do you think?”
    “Oh there are many reasons that I can think
of. It was part of her life that I wasn’t a party to, and I’m sure
she felt awkward, especially since Susan was her only natural
child.”
    “But you have children of your own,” I
said.
    “Our children were adopted. It’s ironic isn’t
it? I must have been responsible − obviously Gloria was able to
conceive, but it didn’t happen for us. I was never medically
examined, or anything like that, it was