That sense of rightness didn’t leave as Spence handed over the folder. If anything, it increased, filling him with absolute certainty that he wasn’t just doing the right thing by Eleanor. No miniature Red Room floated above Eleanor’s head like he was Mr. Jackpots again, yet the feeling was eerily similar. This case, it was important. There was something larger at work here, and whatever it was, he was glad it had brought Eleanor to his door. He did good work as a PI, but it often felt ephemeral and without purpose. Nothing quite on the level of the kinds of cases Coop tackled with the FBI, which even on bad days Spence thought was a good thing, but still… something had been missing. And now he felt like he’d found it.
It was too early to tell whether it was Eleanor herself or the mystery-within-a-mystery of her family’s unfortunate circumstances that flipped this switch inside him – but then, he thought, you couldn’t have one without the other. He’d read about the Taft murder/disappearance when it happened but hardly gave it a second thought. Giving it one now wasn’t technically what Eleanor was hiring him for, but it would at least be partially necessary to retrace her brother’s steps. Spence couldn’t deny that the prospect was a bit like catnip to his and Coop’s investigator brain. Solving the case that no one else could. What was more invigorating than that?
A damsel in distress, maybe? Pretty one, too. Coop’s voice was wry but, as always, sympathetic. Spence and his reincarnate were well-matched in many ways, right up to their shared Achilles’ Heel.
Still. Admitting the problem was the first step, they said, and Spence’s almost uncanny self-awareness had never let him down before. Seeing Eleanor’s worry recede enough for a real smile to shine through was enough for him to accept that, yes, she was very attractive, and he was most certainly attracted to her. He doubted that would change over the course of his investigation. At the end of it, though, he would go his way, and she would go hers. That was how it had to be in this business, if you wanted to stay in it. Strictly professional.
Spence wasn’t the type to wallow in self-pity, so of course he returned her smile as she thanked him. What did he have to wallow in anyway? He had a case, an exciting case, and he had someone who needed him to solve it. That was more than enough. He could only hope that what he found would bring more smiles out of her along the way.
“Well.” Spence sat back in his chair, aware that he’d been looking at her smile for half a moment too long. For once he was grateful that his gaze was a little more intense than most people’s, thanks to Dale. Occasionally – just occasionally – reincarnates made for good scapegoats. “I’m sorry you went through so much, but I’m not sorry it brought you here, in the end. We’ll get this sorted out. One way or another.”
Meeting her gaze again, he asked the question he suddenly realized he was dreading, if only because it meant the meeting was coming to a close. Better to send her home with high spirits, though, then to drag this out unnecessarily. “Do you have any other questions for me?”