Case #10: The Widow
Date: June 20, 2002
Location: Los Angeles, CA and Miami, FL


Getting back in the private detective business is like riding a bicycle. You never forget how to do it. I had stolen enough bikes as a kid, so I knew how to ride.

One thing that took me a while to learn was to place an ad for a secretary in the local paper. Employment agencies would send anybody left on their shelf whether they could type, speak English, or understand they were supposed to show up on time. Using my own judgment seemed to garner better results.

Mornings were the busiest time at the office. Most clients came early, before they got cold feet. It was the chatty Leslie who came into my office that morning around nine to tell me we had a visitor. Leslie was on the plump side, pathologically into horoscopes and numerology, and was pleasantly punctual.

"Your wife is in the outer office, Mr. Casino," she announced, her eyes dancing with excitement.

"I don't have a wife," I said. "I think I would have remembered."

"What do I do with her?" whispered Leslie, a confused look on her face.

"I hope you'll see me, Johnny," said a meek voice behind her.

I looked up and saw a plain woman in her mid-forties staring at me from behind a pair of large glasses. She looked like a spinster secretary or accountant in her gray dress. Her straight brown hair touched her shoulders, but didn't have any style to it.

"What can I do for you?" I asked, standing up.

"Johnny," she said, her eyes wide.

"Yes?"

She studied me for a few seconds. "You're taller than I remember."

"I'm sorry, lady, but I'm not the guy you're looking for."

"Yes you are. I'd know you anywhere, even after all these years."

"I'm still not your husband."

"I have our wedding certificate."

She gently pulled a document out of her large purse and showed it to me. It was a wedding certificate from the Miami Beach District Court dated June 14, 1981, signed by a Deputy Clerk.

"We could only afford a civil ceremony, but we are married, Johnny. It says so right here. Where did you go that night?" she said with a catch in her voice. She stared at me through those glasses and waited for an answer.


......Continued.


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