"This is Laura Connelly's maid. She would like to bring a friend to the Gladstone Charity Ball. Could you send another invitation?"
The woman on the other end sounded skeptical. "Laura Connelly intends to come?"
"Well, yes, you sent the Connellys an invitation."
"Did we? Yes, yes, I see both Mr. and Mrs. Connelly listed now. That's odd." The woman was silent for a moment before she spoke again. "I'll have another invitation sent right away. What is the name?"
"Teresa Gregory."
"The address?"
"Just send it to Mrs. Connelly; it is to be a surprise."
"I see, and will Mrs. Gregory be bringing an escort?"
"No."
"Very well, I'll put her on the list and send the invitation out right away. Tell Laura I look forward to seeing her. It has been ages."
"Thank you, I'll tell her." Teresa grinned and hung up the phone. "Thank you indeed," she muttered. She put the laptop lid down, placed the invitation back in the drawer and closed it. With a grin on her face, she grabbed her feather duster and happily started her work for the day.
*
With only two weeks to find the missing granddaughter, and even after staying up until midnight, the team of detectives got an early start the next morning. Three pictures of Georgia were taped to the wall - one when she was little, the aged progressed picture Austin's PI made, and the one Michael composed the night before. The last two looked similar, but in Michael's picture, her face was not so thin. Printouts and used coffee cups were just beginning to clutter the table.
Seated across from Michael, Carl chewed his lower lip. "For rich people, there isn't much online about the Connellys. I haven't found anything recent with the two of them together. There's an old article about a trip they took to Europe. They went to Paris, London, Frankfort, Geneva, Madrid, Lisbon, Rome, Amsterdam Copenhagen, and Jerusalem - the grand tour."
"What year was that?" Jackie asked.
"Four years after Georgia was born. Mathew is more socially active," Carl continued. "There are six or seven recent pictures of him. The latest picture of Laura is at a country club luncheon last year. She doesn't look very well."
"Too much booze," said Michael.
Seated at the end of the table, Jackie asked, "Why was Mathew in the papers?"
Carl kept his eyes on the monitor as he scrolled down a list of entries. "He plays handball at the country club when he's home, and he's good at it."
"That's interesting," said Michael. "He looks too thin to do much of anything, let alone be good at handball."