Michele Bravo and the Sole Remedy Chapter 6

Michele looked at Seaforth, who sat hunched in the comfy leather chair, his hands over his face.

“No need to despair, Mr. Seaforth,” she told him, deliberately speaking cheerfully. “We’re actually in a pretty good situation.”

He lowered his hands and looked at her. She was heartened to see a faint smile on his face. “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t killed anyone, you didn’t hurt anyone. Those are the two deal killers. So we should be able to talk our way out of this with no problem.”

Seaforth leaned back in his chair. “I’m glad to hear you say so…I could really use a drink.”

“I didn’t have time to retrieve my cane, otherwise I could be pouring you a nice slug of bourbon about now.”

“What is this room?”

“If those books lining the walls do not deceive me, I’d say this was a library.” She snapped her fingers. “You’re right. There’s bound to be some liquor around.”

She stood up, gazing around the room with rather more attention than she’d given it when she’d first dragged Seaforth into it. It was indeed a library, with floor to ceiling book cases lining the walls, and several comfortable black leather chairs in the center of the room, complete with footrests. And there, on a sideboard, were various decanters.

Michele transferred a bit of the whiskey to a glass and handed it to Seaforth. There was a bowl filled with premium-wrapped chocolates right next to the liquor. Feeling the need for a little fortification herself, she took a couple.

After swallowing the whisky at one gulp, Seaforth stared at her.

“You say you’re from my daughter?”

“That is correct. They were worried when you disappeared, and thought you might come here to have it out with Mr. Pretorius. My job was to stop you, which of course I have. I apologize for not having the ability to whisk you quietly and secretly away….had I had a bit more time, I could have infiltrated some of my people here to help with that, but as it is, we’re just going to have to face the music and dance.”

Seaforth nodded. “You’re right of course. Well, I’m ready.”

Michele held up a hand. “Not quite, Mr. Seaforth. We need to go over our story.”

Seaforth laughed harshly. “What story? I came here to kill that….that….”

“No,” Michele said sharply. “That is exactly what you did not do. How could you possibly have been trying to kill him, when all you had was a starter's pistol?”

“A…a starter's pistol?”

“Exactly. I retrieved it for you. Here it is.”

Michele reached into a specially tailored inner pocket of her tuxedo, and removed from it a realistic-looking pistol that was, indeed, a starter’s pistol, incapable of shooting real bullets.

“But…but…”

“Mr. Seaforth, here’s the thing. I know that the media in England really gave you a raw deal, but you’re in the United States of America now, and our media hates rich people. So here’s what happened. Alan Pretorius pulled a dirty trick on you, and then he bragged about it to the press. This caused you considerable emotional distress, and you decided that you were going to give him a scare at his party. It’s as simple as that.”

Seaforth looked at her uncomprehendingly.

“Pretorius isn’t going to want the bad publicity, do you see?” explained Michele. “Do you hear any police sirens? No, you don’t. That’s because he hasn’t sent for the cops. He’s going to want to brush this under the rug.”

“It has been my experience,” said Seaforth, “that the wealthy don’t give a damn about publicity, good, bad or indifferent.”

“Well, let’s say you’re right. That doesn’t matter. You are totally a sympathetic character. So if Pretorius does press charges, you just need to tell the jury what hell you’ve been in for the last three months because of all this bad publicity. You insist that you were just trying to scare him, not hurt him. The judge will let you off with a warning. Then you can go back to your wife and daughter, and start writing a book about your experiences. You’ll probably make a fortune off it.”

Seaforth laughed shakily. “You paint a very rosy picture.”

“I am a student of human nature, Mr. Seaforth. I know things.”

“Very well,” said Seaforth. “I am completely in your hands. So, what do we do now?”

Michele checked her watch. “We wait, Mr. Seaforth. I’d prefer to not have to meet Pretorius until after the rest of his guests leave. It all depends on how efficient his security crew is.”

At that exact moment, the door opened and Vic Durant entered the room.

“Ah,” said Michele. “Very efficient.”