About noon the next day he called Marie Carbonet and left a message for her to call him. It was two days before she returned his call. He told her that his investigation was complete and that he needed to speak to her in his office. She tried to make him bring the results of the investigation to her house but Don insisted on meeting her at his office. He felt that he might need some "home court advantage" on this one.
Marie walked into his office about two that afternoon. She was dressed to the hilt and she was tanned and fit. She looked like a million dollars and she knew it. She was every man's nightmare.
"Well, who's he fucking?" were the first words out of her mouth after she sat down.
"Mrs. Carbonet, please brace yourself. What I found out isn't pretty and I don't think that you even suspect what is going on. If you don't wish to see what I have found, I'll destroy everything and no one will know such a report ever existed."
"It sounds juicy. Let's see it," she laughed.
Don pushed the pictures he had made from the video and a copy of his report in front of her. She looked at the pictures first and then read the report. Don put the transcript of the audio in front of her and she read it. Ever since she had entered the office her face was emotionless.
When she put the last of the paperwork down she got a sly grin on her face and said matter-of-factly, "That dumb bastard. If he had fucked me that well we wouldn't be here now. Are these my copies?"
Her reaction was nothing like don had expected. She seemed like she couldn't care one way or another that her husband was carrying on with his daughter. Marie started rereading the report again, this time with an amused look on her face.
"There's more to this, Mrs. Carbonet. Since this is sexual abuse with a minor, I'm obliged to report it to the authorities. I could lose my license if I didn't report it. I'm sure that you'll want to report it also."
Her face changed and Don could feel the heat coming from the fire behind her eyes, "I'll be damned if you'll report this to anyone. I'm sure that you know that we're worth over three hundred million dollars. If you even hint that this report exists I'll sue you until I bankrupt you. I'll take you to court every year for the rest of your life. I might lose every case but I'll bankrupt you with legal fees. I don't really give a shit that my husband is screwing that little bitch. This report is just what I need to keep him under my thumb. This is how we're going to work this. You write me another report that there is nothing to report and I'll sign it, agreeing to the facts of that report, and pay your fee as agreed. You give me every copy of everything you have on my husband and his daughter and I'll walk out of here with no one the wiser."
Don went to his safe and got out all of the paperwork and the disks that held the video and audio. He put them on the desk in front of her. She smiled and pulled out her checkbook.
"There's just one more thing Mrs. Carbonet. I want to copy those reports on plain paper. I'll shred those copies that you have now in front of you. I don't want any records with my company's name anywhere that shows that report exists. The only report that will have my company name on it will be the report that says we didn't find anything."
Marie waited while the new report was typed up and watched as the original report was shredded. She wrote Don a check for the investigation and left the office with all of the records that he had gathered.
Don looked out of the window as Marie's Mercedes pulled out of the parking lot. He didn't feel good about what had happened but he knew that Marie would do what she threatened. If she carried through with her threat many customers would assume that there was some truth to her accusations and would stop doing business with his company. He knew that Byron Carbonet's life would not be pleasant from now on.
Epilog
Several months later Byron Carbonet walked into Don's office. He had said on the phone that he wanted to hire Don's firm to conduct an investigation. When Byron walked into his office he was about forty pounds thinner than when Don had last seen him and his face seemed to be extremely troubled. Byron Carbonet was a beaten man. Don made no mention of the fact that he had investigated Byron Carbonet in the past.
"What can I do for you Mr. Carbonet?"
Byron shifted in his seat, "I'm not sure that you can really help me. I don't know where to turn anymore. Some friends told me that you used to be on the police force so I figured that you might be able to tell me my options and whether an investigation is warranted."
"Explain your situation," Don said.
"My daughter is the light of my life. She's not my present wife's daughter, I was married before. My wife had someone investigate me a while back and she has some stuff that she's holding over my head. I did a few foolish things a while back and she found out about it. My wife and my daughter don't get along. They are constantly fighting and life is getting to be such a chore around that house anymore. I know that my wife is seeing other men and some of them are not nice people. She even has them in her bedroom when I am home. Last week four of my wife's man friends tied my daughter to her bed and they raped her for hours and hours, one after another. All four of them even raped her anally.
Byron began crying into his hands, "Is there any investigation that we can do that could help straighten this mess out?"
Don leaned forward, "Have you considered sending your daughter to a private school, possibly in Europe?"
Byron looked confused for a minute, "I would like to but I can't afford it. My wife controls all of the money and she won't allow me to spend that much on my daughter."
"Mr. Carbonet, rape is a serious crime and should be reported to the police. Have you reported the rape?"
Once again Byron got the confused look on his face, "No... we can't have the police in this. Definitely not the police. No... not the police."
Byron stood up and left the office without a word. Don watched as
Byron Carbonet walked toward the bus stop and began waiting for a bus.