Partying with the guys

They went to Laura's flat, where Jared and Jabu slept in the lounge. A young girl from Jabu's party had been baby-sitting Monique. She went home at this point.

Jared usually slept on the couch when he visited. Tonight he lay on the carpet while Jabu got the couch as a bed.

The friends split company early on Sunday morning, because Jared simply could not stand being with family other than his own on Sundays. He usually stayed home on Sunday mornings. 

Later on in the day, after lunch with his folks, Jared would go out to spend some time on his own in a park, feeding birds.

Towards evening he would suddenly sense a need to socialize again. Only then would he go out in search of a friend.

Another reason for leaving now was that, when Blake returned, Jared did not want to be the proverbial third wheel on the wagon in the Edwards household. So he set off for home and whatever awaited him there.

Jabu stayed on to keep Laura company. They were planning to prepare lunch together.

***

When Jared arrived home he could immediately sense that his parents wanted to talk to him. This was an indication that they were really serious about his future.

Usually they would be planning to go out to visit friends or alternatively, they would be expecting friends over to lounge around the swimming pool and exchange jokes.

In the winter they would gather in front of the fireplace with their friends and chat about old times.

Today Jared's parents seemed to have no plans for socializing after lunch. So Jared set out to enjoy his Mom's cooking and not think too much.

If his parents wanted to talk to him after lunch he already knew what the topic of conversation would be. It could only be his dad's proposition for him to go and do some work on his Uncle Peter's farm.

It felt as if there would be no way for Jared to escape that particular fate. He would simply have to relent and go where they wanted him to, at least for now.

***

Blake sat on the plane with his eyes closed and let his mind dwell on the second part of his first adventure as a private investigator…

After having waited for about forty-five minutes, he was finally rewarded with a change of scene. The red Porsche had not been what he was expecting. There had been no woman in that car. Only a man, who drove in through the gates of one of the other houses in the street.

Now a white BMW drove up to the gates of the house which Lord Eickenberry had entered a while ago.

Blake had to think and act fast. He abruptly started the engine of the rented car and pulled up behind the BMW at a safe distance, just before it entered the huge, wrought-iron gates. Then he waved his handkerchief in the direction of the driver of the BMW. The car stopped immediately.

There was a security guard at the gate and he walked towards Blake's car, as soon as he pulled up behind the BMW sedan, at a safe distance from the gate.

"Can I help you, sir" the guard asked Blake, who by then had already slid out of his car and had his hands held up in the air, as a form of polite surrender.

"I would like to see the lady in the car concerning an important matter," Blake explained.

"I picked up one of her earrings at the function tonight and I have not had the chance to return them in person."

The guard came forward, closer to Blake.

"Let me see the earring," he commanded with a tone which was already becoming bored.

Blake assumed that the guard could not be too serious about holding onto his job. It seemed as if nothing serious ever happened around here.

As Blake removed the earring from his pocket, he reflected that; if he was a dangerous perpetrator he could very easily have pulled out a gun at this point. Apparently however, his evening suit was smart enough to make the guard believe in his sincerity.

Blake's task for this evening was to follow Jack Eickenberry and his suspected mistress until even the early hours of the morning and to remove one of her earrings at the ball, in order to form a closer acquaintance with her.

He had easily removed the beautiful diamond earring with his left hand, while she embraced one of quite a few elderly ladies. He did it while he was helping himself to a drink from a passing waiter, using his free hand. It happened very quickly.

He had not believed at any point that he would be able to pull off the stunt.

By then it was well into the evening and the photographers had already settled down and began to enjoy the party themselves. He removed the earring after she returned from her chat with Jacky, out in the garden.

Jacky and his mistress had been on their guard sufficiently and the time they spent outside could only be termed as a professional consultation session, given the fact that she was his secretary and personal assistant, Meryl Mansfield.

Her father was British and her mother Chinese. She was a part-time law student. She had already graduated with her bachelor's degree from a university in Hong Kong.

Jacky has been a judge for the past fifteen years.

Many people suspected that there was something more between the two professionals, but nobody has been able to catch them off their guard yet. Jacky was married to an aristocratic lady for thirty years at present. He has always had a good reputation, up until now.