Jamie Brodie 02 - Hoarded to Death

his hips. "Well, so much for that lead."
    "Are you gonna pick up Paulo?"
    “ Not yet. If all he did was suggest the idea to the girls, he hasn't done anything worth arresting him for. We'll see what Shorty has to tell us. I'm thinking the only one that'll end up with charges is the mastermind there.”
    I laughed. "Some mastermind."
    "Yeah. Her friend's right, she is a moron." Jon grinned at me. "Thanks for your assistance in this police matter, sir. We appreciate the efforts of our citizens to help us stop crime."
    I laughed. "Yeah, yeah, give me a commendation. Todd, good to meet you."
    Todd said, "Good to meet you, too." He got in his car; the girls were still bitching at each other in the back seat. Todd shook his head. Jon laughed. “Try not to shoot them before you get them back to the station.”
    Todd waved and drove off in the direction of Pacific Division. Jon drove me back to campus and my car. "I'll call you soon, let you know how this unfolds."
    "Okay, sounds good." I got in my car, waved and drove home.

    The next evening, Pete picked Gillian and me up after work and we drove up into Brentwood to the office of Anderson & Hayes. Hayes was Melanie Hayes, one of my childhood friends. Anderson was Neil Anderson, my dad's buddy from the Marines. Neil and my dad had met at Camp Pendleton as 18-year-old recruits and had been fast friends since basic training. After their two tours in Vietnam, Neil took his discharge from the Marines and went to law school. After graduation, he set up a practice specializing in GLBT issues. When Mel graduated from law school with the same idea, Neil took her on as a partner. The two of them had a hugely successful practice, with two paralegals and a couple of legal secretaries. One of the paralegals was Neil’s partner, Mark. Their office was not far from Neil and Mark’s home, in an old Craftsman house that they'd converted into office space.
    When we got to the office, I stuck my head in the door of Mel's office and waved to her, then guided Gillian down the hall to the conference room. Pete stayed behind to talk to Mel. Jennifer was already in the conference room, and she’d brought her boyfriend, the guy whom she’d started seeing back in the fall. He was a pretty good-looking guy, with brown hair and eyes, and rail-thin. He looked young. I knew Jennifer was Kevin’s age, 33, and I was betting this guy was in his mid-20s. Jennifer was getting started on cougaring at a young age.
    Jennifer introduced us to the guy. His name was Kurt Luby. We all shook hands. I sat at the far end of the table; I was really just here to observe. Neil, Gillian, and Jennifer grouped together at the head of the table. Kurt hung back a little, sitting near me. I guessed he was just here to observe, too.
    Jennifer seemed nervous, continuously wringing her hands in her lap. I wondered what was going on with her.
    Neil started the proceedings, speaking to Gillian. “I’ve read the contract that Trinity College has proposed in regard to the handling of the manuscript page, and I’ve gone over the terms with Jennifer. I feel that the contract is very fair, and Jennifer agrees. We understand that Trinity won’t be able to offer a dollar amount for the contract until authentication is complete. We would like to know what kind of timeline you’re anticipating for the authentication process.”
    Gillian nodded. “It will take about a month, maybe a bit less. There are several experts that have to evaluate it – one for the vellum, one for the pigment, one for the script, and so on. Once they’ve done that, and submitted their reports to the curator, he will make the final determination. But if all the experts agree that the manuscript is genuine, the curator won’t disagree, I’m sure.” She smiled at Jennifer. “As you can imagine, they’re all quite keen to have a look at it.”
    Jennifer smiled tightly. “Yeah, I guess so.”
    Neil said, “I also had a conversation with Detective Belardo of LAPD, just to make sure that there is no conflict with sending this page of manuscript to Ireland. He assured me that their investigation didn’t require the use of this intact page as evidence, and we were free to proceed.” He opened a file folder. “I have three copies of the contract to be signed – one for Trinity, one for Jennifer, and one for my files. Jamie, Kurt, if you’d be willing to serve as witnesses?”
    The three copies of the contract got passed around, and we all signed.