The Orion Project_A Novel by Edward Marin

Author:Edward Marin [Marin, Edward]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-12-03T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

John Robertson kept looking at the previous quarter’s financial statements for Robertson and Holcomb Investigations. No getting around it; Holcomb had made more money than he had during that period.

He walked into his business partner’s office. Mitchell Holcomb was sitting at his desk, and Robertson took pleasure in being able to look down on him since, when they were both standing, he was a full head shorter and maybe a hundred pounds lighter.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about our partnership agreement,” Robertson said. “The way it’s structured, I come out on the short end every quarter.”

“Whoever brings in the most business makes the most money,” Holcomb said in his surprisingly high, nasal voice. “That’s fair.”

“I’m the majority owner. Besides, if it hadn’t been for my initial investment, the firm would never have gotten off the ground.”

“If it weren’t for all my clients, there’d be no firm,” Holcomb said without flinching.

Robertson sighed. He was aware that legally there was little he could do.

“Tell you what,” he said after a few seconds. “Think about it, keeping in mind that we have the same goal--to find the best way to grow the firm. If we do that, we’ll both make more money in the long run.”

“Sure, sure, fine with me,” Holcomb said.

A couple of days later, Robertson was sitting at his desk, still mulling over the contract, when the secretary informed him a potential client was on the phone. Fortunately, Holcomb was out.

“You locate missing persons?” said an abrupt male voice on the other line.

“Sure do. All I’d need is a name and a good description. A photo would help.”

“That should be no problem.”

“Then I can e-mail you a questionnaire that will ask you for details about the person you’re looking for. If you have a picture, send it as an attachment. Our rate is seventy-five dollars an hour plus expenses. We prefer credit cards, but will accept a check as payment. And your name is?”

“Dan Stoval.”

“And the name of the person you’re trying to find?”

“Tonemcadu. Unfortunately, I don’t know his first name.”

After gathering the rest of the information he needed to get started and getting off the phone, Robertson had an idea. He’d offer Holcomb the opportunity to work on this job and split the fee, setting a precedent for how all of the firm’s revenue should be handled.

A few hours later, he received the e-mail from Dan Stoval with the completed questionnaire and walked into Holcomb’s office to make his proposal.

“Found money--sure, I’ll do it,” Holcomb said. “But it won’t be easy to find this guy without knowing his full name.”

“I’ll start out with an Internet search,” Robertson said and went back to his office.

The only Tonemcadu he found on the net turned out to be a man who had lived in ancient Egypt. He tried advanced searches with varied spellings; no luck. On a hunch, he tried the airlines and learned that a Tony Cadu had bought tickets on a flight to Egypt for himself and a Barbara Covell.

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