FALLING FOR THE SPY

Chapter 2

Geoffrey’s pov

The ride to Mr. Hathaway’s office was a smooth one with almost no traffic. To be honest with myself, I was pretty excited to take on this case. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. For me, this was usually a sign of excitement and not anxiety.

After about twenty or so minutes, we got to the premises. The chauffeur opened my door and spoke quietly, “We are here Sir.” I gave him a nod and walked into the building. I adjusted my tie as I walked briskly towards the receptionist.

I cleared my throat and she looked up.

“Mr. Gomez, I’m here to see Mr. Hathaway.” I said briefly, holding out my card to her.

“Welcome. Mr. Hathaway has been waiting for you.” She said getting up from her seat.

“Right this way.” She said courteously and I tailed her.

Mr. Hathaway’s office was big and exquisite. It had really huge windows that gave a peek to the beautiful view of the city. On the wall, there drooped a beautiful portrait of someone who looked like him, only much younger? His son maybe?

He got up from his seat and stretched his hand towards me.

“Geoffrey Gomez. It’s been a long time.”

I shook his hand, “Yes it’s been a while.”

“Please have a seat.” He said taking off his glasses.

I sat on the comfortable leather seat adjacent to his large mahogany desk.

“Some whiskey?” he offered.

“No thank you. I’ll have a glass of water instead.” I said. It was too early to be drinking.

“I’m really sorry about your son.” I said softly, meaning each word.

“Mark was a good man. He didn't deserve to die like that.” He replied his voice sounding bushed and sad.

“Is that him?” I asked, pointing at the portrait on the wall.

“Yes, that is him” he said getting up from his seat and walked towards the wall where the portrait was.

“So Mr. Hathaway can you tell me more about your son?” I implored taking out my notebook and a pen from my briefcase.

He hesitated for a while before walking back to his seat. He then opened a drawer and handed me an album, full of pictures.

They were pictures of Mark from since he was an infant.

“Mark was always a smart and jovial kid. Growing up, everyone loved him. From the teachers at his school, to the neighbors even his nannies adored him.” He spoke, his face lighting up as he seemed to remember each and every detail of his son.

I looked at the photos and it was fair enough to say that Mark had been an adorable baby.

“Continue please” I urged him after a moment of silence.

“In school he was very sharp. He always came top of his class, and he loved playing sports. Soccer was his favorite.”  He stopped and pointed towards the several trophies on the shelve at the corner of the office.

From the album, I could see several pictures of him in sports jersey. Some in the field, some holding up trophies he sure loved the sport.

“He joined Varsity and studied Taxonomy. Mark was obsessed with plants and discovering more information about them. He traveled all around the globe doing researches and making new discoveries. He was happy.”

I thought I saw him quickly wipe a tear from his cheek as he poured more whiskey into his glass. I decided to give him a minute before continuing with the interrogation as I took a sip of my icy water. This was really hard for him clearly.

 “So when did Mark get married?”  I asked after Mr. Hathaway had seemed to have calmed down.

“Two years ago, Mark came home for Christmas with a girl. Her name is Loise. My wife and I were surprised, Mark had never spoken of having a girlfriend, let alone bringing one home.” He said and I noted that down.

“He later on proceeded to tell us that they had met on one of his expeditions around the globe in Africa. She was an entomologist and was working on particular type of spider found in the Congo forest.”

“From the way he spoke, I could tell that he really liked her you know. A man always knows.”

I shrugged at that statement. I mean I had a couple or more girlfriends but nothing too serious. For me it had always been about work and creating a name for myself. The rest was just mere fun.

He cleared his throat and continued, “four months later they got married, and moved to another state. They lived there till only recently when they moved back to town. A week later after moving, Mark was murdered.”

I could hear the sadness in his voice as he spoke. In that moment, I had a lot of questions that I wanted to ask him but I felt it was wise to leave it at that for the day.

“Mr. Hathaway, I’m so sorry again for your loss. I will do my best to find whoever did that to your son.” I said reassuringly.

“Thank you George. I trust you and most importantly I trust your skills. That is why I specifically needed you for this case.” He said looking at me with a ray of hope in his eyes.

“I will need to go to the police station and look at the reports compiled there. From there we will know the way forward.”  I said getting up from my seat.

“Okay, I will have one of my drivers drive you there.” He said as he led me to the door.

“That is not necessary; I could easily take a cab.” I tried to decline the offer.

“No, I insist. And once again thank you.” He said with finality to his voice and I knew I couldn't object.

We shook hands again and I stepped out of his office and made my way to the driveway where a car was waiting. I felt a heave of pain in my stomach as I walked. “Maybe I should grab lunch first,” I thought to myself. I looked at my watch and it was 2 pm already. Too late.

 I got in and headed to the police station.