Identity Crisis (Sam McRae Mystery 1)

She sounded busy, so I got to the point. “Have you seen Melanie lately?”

I thought I heard her gasp at the other end. Maybe it was just the phone line.

“Sam,” she said, “I’m ... I’m in the middle of something. Can we meet at your office later?”

“Sure.”

Around four thirty, Donna came by. Somewhere in her sixties, she was a petite, silver-haired wonder with skin tanned to a carcinogenic brown from frequent sailing trips on the Chesapeake with her husband. Donna was the kind of person who, rather than soften with age, grew more angular. Instead of slowing down, she seemed to be picking up speed, as if her life were a game of Beat the Clock.

She wore a short-sleeved yellow suit and, normally, would have looked terrific. However, when she came into the office, I could tell something was wrong. I’d never seen her so subdued and drawn. I wondered if she was sick.

“Thank heavens it’s Friday,” she said, collapsing into a chair with a muted grunt. “Sam, I’m so worried about Melanie. She hasn’t been at work all week. She hasn’t called. It’s not like her. I even thought about filing a missing person’s report. Then the police came.”

“I guess you don’t have any idea where she might be.”

She shook her head.

“When was the last time you saw her?” I asked.

“Last Friday, at work.”

“Did you talk to her over the weekend?”

“No.”

“It’s frustrating, but there’s not much we can do at this point. I hope she shows up.”

Donna hunched forward, her expression suggesting there was more on her mind. “That FBI agent. He said something about the Mob being involved. The whole thing is so bizarre—and scary. I’ve been trying to figure how to tell her parents.”

“Her parents?”

“I’ve known them for years. They moved to Arizona a while ago, but I keep in touch with them. I remember when Melanie was born.”

“Could Melanie have gone there due to a family emergency?”

“I suppose it’s possible,” she said, “but Melanie hasn’t spoken to her parents in years. Besides, I think I would have heard about it.”

“What about brothers and sisters?”

“Melanie’s an only child.”

I shrugged. “Maybe she decided to take a vacation or something.”

“She wouldn’t do that without telling us.”

“Well, you know her better than I do. I didn’t realize you were so close.”

“I helped her get this job.” Donna looked sheepish. “To be honest, it’s a little embarrassing for me at work, what with her disappearing like this.”

“I take it Melanie never mentioned any of the stuff the police asked about?”

“Heavens, no.”

“Did she ever talk about Tom?”

“Not much, though I could tell they were having problems. You know, how it is. Sometimes, you can just tell. Now and then, she’d mention his drinking and his building debt. Tell you the truth,” she said, arching a knowing eyebrow, “I wasn’t all that surprised. The better I got to know him, the more I realized he was all surface, all charm.”

I let her vent for a bit about Tom. She hadn’t approved of his moving in with Melanie, and the fact that it hadn’t worked out didn’t help matters. I still wasn’t sure why she’d wanted to meet me, but Donna was a good client—a friend—so I let her take her time getting to the real reason for her visit.