The Referral Game

I help you?”
    I found myself tongue-tied for a second so I said stupidly: “Are you Paula Wray?” I was off to another great start.
    Yes I am,” she said and smiled.
    I almost melted. What was getting into me tonight? I wanted to scoop her up in my arms and take as far away from this dump as possible. Instead I found myself straightening my tie, checking my cuffs and wishing that I had worn my new pair of black shoes with the gold buckles.
    She was looking at me and waiting patiently. She was still flashing that million-dollar smile.
    “I’ll get right to the point Miss Wray,” I began, trying to sound officious and not like a love struck schoolboy. “My name is Frank Randall. I’m a private detective.”
    “Oh dear,” she said. I wanted to crush her in my arms. Steady boy.
    “I was hired to locate you by your ex-husband, Edgar Pomeroy.” May as well get right to it I thought.
    “Edgar? Why?”
    “You see Miss Wray, Edgar’s mother has passed on and Edgar has come into his inheritance and he wishes for you to share in a portion of it.”
    She was sitting back, trying to absorb it so I went on: “Edgar feels that your divorce settlement was unfair to you and he wishes to make amends.”
    She had her hands on her lap and she was staring at them. “Mrs. Pomeroy dead,” she said under her breath. “Edgar must be devastated. Is he alright?”
    “Well,” I began not wanting to spill the news about his health. “He would appear to be bearing up as well as could be expected.” It was the truth.
    “But you’ve seen him, he’s well?”
    “I really couldn’t say Miss Wray.” I didn’t want to lie to her, but I couldn’t betray Pomeroy either. I decided to try and steer a middle course.
    “He wants to meet with you immediately if possible,” I continued. “However, I should tell you that I took this job with the understanding that if you did not want to meet Mr. Pomeroy that that would be the end of it. You are under no obligation and I will not reveal your location if that is what you wish.”
    “What?” She said absentmindedly. “Oh, of course, of course thank you. But why would I not want to meet him?”
    “It’s none of my business, but you wouldn’t be the first woman to be frightened of her ex. Some divorces are very bitter.”
    She thought that and replied: “Not this one, it was more sad than anything. Poor Edgar, I backed him into a corner and he just withdrew from me. I thought he might fight back, but instead it made him more timid, more dependent on his family.” She paused. “I take it that you are aware of some of our history together.”
    “Just the bare bones that Edgar thought necessary to impart. I take it that Mrs. Pomeroy didn’t approve of your marriage.”
    “No she certainly didn’t, but I could have taken that. Mrs. Pomeroy was a very old woman, very set her ways. She didn’t think I was good enough for the family, nobody would have been, it didn’t have anything to do with me in particular. She was cold, but she didn’t show the naked hatred I saw from Silas. He was the real heat; Mrs. Pomeroy was merely cold. She only became enraged at Edgar and me when I suggested that we get our own place. She didn’t want to be abandoned by Edgar.”
    “I understand she was a cold domineering mother to Edgar.”
    “Who told you that?” She asked surprised.
    “Edgar.”
    She thought that over for a minute. “That may be the way he remembers it, but believe me she loved and indulged him. It made her happy. He was her favorite.”
    “But I understood that she kept Edgar on a short leash financially speaking.”
    “Only because Edgar had no sense around money. If it were not for their mother I’m sure that both of the boys would have been in bankruptcy years ago. Besides it was her money, not theirs.”
    “So you decided to leave and ask for nothing?”
    “I’ll tell a tale out of school Mr. Randall. I didn’t leave with nothing. When I announced that I was filing for divorce Silas approached me with an offer; Leave without a fuss and he would give me twenty thousand dollars. He said that if I fought I would come out with nothing and he would drag my name through the mud as well. He hinted that he had some dirt on me that would cause me a lot of embarrassment. I had reasons of my own for wanting to speed the divorce through so I accepted the money and ran. You see I was pregnant.”
    “What? Edgar said nothing about a child.” I said stunned.
    “Edgar