Blue Rose Investigations would never be what you'd categorize as a successful business. For one, the fees were low – just enough to get by – and for another, its market was too niche to make a dent against the competition. But that was fine by the office’s owner and sole investigator. Wouldn’t have it any other way, in fact.
By keeping things small and his clientele selective, Spencer Lazarus ended up helping people who really needed it. Scoping out cheating spouses and tracking down deadbeat dads had its place in the PI business, but once Spence became a reincarnate himself, it didn’t take him long to figure out that, as a community, he and his fellows were greatly underserved by law enforcement. “Protect and serve” didn’t seem to extend to a group of people who were at best pretty weird and at worst explosively violent.
That's where Spence and Special Agent Dale Cooper came in.
If reincarnates managed to find him, anyway. He’d set up a website around the time Victoria came to work for him but couldn’t afford much more than anything basic (though he did throw in a little extra cash for a theme that was appropriately Peaksian). For now, word of mouth was keeping the lights on. Victoria didn’t have much to do, but he paid her for the hours she worked anyway, on the off-chance they might have a busy day, frequently handing off some background research to her when they didn’t.
For today’s appointment, though, Spence had done the work himself. The client hadn’t provided anything more than a name, a number, and a problem, but all he needed was the name, and a variety of problems came spilling forth from a cursory Google search. Eleanor Taft, former Olympic hopeful in ice-skating and daughter of the most famous murdered and missing parents in America – for now. The next ones would come along soon enough. Always did.
He wasn’t surprised that she was looking for help outside the police – their version of the murder of Carson Taft and his wife Amelia’s simultaneous disappearance was too obviously simplified to be true – but it was interesting to find out that at least one member of the Taft family was a reincarnate. None of the tabloid articles mentioned that fact, but someone had to be, if the case was landing in his lap. Most likely Eleanor, but he’d helped mundy family members locate missing reincarnates before. Could be it was the mom.
Or the brother. According to Victoria’s report of Ms. Taft’s call, he was missing, too. Tough luck.
Leaning back in his office chair and holding a mug of freshly brewed coffee, Spence was in the middle of some last-minute background when the office phone rang. He picked it up, not looking away from the print-outs in front of him, on the verge of taking another sip. “Yep?”
"Hey boss, your one o'clock is here."
Spence coughed into his mug and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was situated between a poster of Laura and another of Sunset Boulevard, two of his favorite old movies that also happened to be Twin Peaks references. Subtle reminders that he loved and, admittedly, made him a bit of a dork. “That time already, Victoria? Be out in a sec.”
Carefully placing the mug on a coaster, he tucked the papers he was reading into a blank folder, which he then set in the middle of his desk. He donned his jacket as he crossed the small office, then opened the door with a professional but welcoming smile.
Eleanor Taft’s presence drew his eyes immediately. Pretty in a delicate sort of way, she looked incongruously lost and on edge – both literally and figuratively, from the way she was sitting on the chair. A lot of clients came to him a bit frazzled, and he was prepared for that. In the early stages, being a PI also meant operating a lot like a therapist. What he wasn’t prepared for, though, was a tangible vivacity to her that was apparent within seconds of seeing her. The pictures he’d found on the internet didn’t quite do her justice. Just by being in the room, she made everything in it look that much more real.
His smile softened as he crossed the room and held out his hand. “Ms. Taft? Pleasure to meet you.” He nodded back to his office. “We can get started as soon as you’re ready. Need anything before we get into it? Water, maybe, or coffee?”