Privet Eie

Misguided: part 2

A few hours later, Privet was dressed all fancy and almost to the restaurant/fancy announcement place. Once he got there, he made sure to sign in under his alias name, then went to find the woman for instructions on what to do next. He found her sitting at a large, round table accompanied by the brother taking over the company and some other old people. He sat down between the two of them and vibed for a bit. Eventually, bright spotlights were turned on and pointed to the stage, and the brother was summoned to the stage to give a speech. Once everyone's attention was on him, the woman turned to Privat.

"Okay, so here's what you should do. Float around, listen for anyone talking badly about my brother or father, anyone who looks unhappy that my brother took over the company. Obviously, someone killed my dad with hopes of either taking over the company or getting rid of the competition. Just stay vigilant." Privet nods and moves off.

    As Privet floats about, listening in on conversations and eating appetizers, he hears nothing of interest, other than a couple of people talking about stocks. Then someone walks in, looking around as if hoping no one noticed their late arrival. Privet notices her at once. She's an average-sized woman, probably 22, about 10 years younger than Privet, with dark brown hair and a tan complexion. The newcomer quickly finds a place by a wall near the back of the venue. Privet wanders over to learn more.

"Interesting party, eh?" Privet offers as he approaches.

"Mhm," the woman mutters absently, "Who might you be?"

"Elivo, a cousin, and you?"

"I'm Saundra, a private eye working for the man who just took over the company, he asked me to find who killed his father"

Privet almost choked on his food, "Why would you tell me that?"

"Because clearly you are a detective yourself, I saw you eavesdropping on those people's conversations. At least one of us knows how to be covert, and who might you be working for?"

"Ok, two things. One, I am not at liberty to reveal the identity of my client, something you should know as a detective, and two, you weren't so inconspicuous yourself, I noticed you right away as you entered the door"

Saundra huffs and turns back to the crowd of people. "So, who do you think did it?"

"Who says I'm trying to find the killer?"

"Are you?"

"Am I?"

Privet enjoys the look of frustration on the young detective's face but realizes he must get back to his mission.

"Well, I'll be off, Be careful Miss Saundra, you never know who might be watching," and he sidles off with a slight smirk, leaving a dumbfounded Saundra in his wake.

The evening continued on pretty normally, except that Saundra seemed to be purposefully trying to annoy Privet by tailing after the same people he did. Anyone he tried to talk to, she butted in and talked to them first, he was also very confused at how no one noticed her obvious suspicious behavior, which had nothing to do with skill. Finally, the evening ends without a hitch and a frustrated Privet goes home without any leads. As he walks back to his car he sees a dejected Saundra doing the same. With guilty pleasure, Privet gets in his car and drives home.

The next day, he gets another call from his client.

"What did you observe yesterday at the event?"

"Not really much. Nobody acted suspicious or caught my attention for being a suspect. Was there anyone that was supposed to go that didn't???"

"Yes, a few people. I will send you a copy of the attendance sheet via mail. Any name with a black X next to it didn't show up."

"Much appreciated."

The call ended.