The Investigator Has Many Media

John visits the investigator to get the results

Transcript

I arrive at Josh’s office and he invites me to sit down. He gets right to business, either being efficient or not wanting to delay the obvious for me.

“I’ve seen her, John,” he says. “I’ve got a ton of pics, some video, and even some audio when I sat next to them at an outdoor café. The first thing you should know is that it’s a woman, I mean, the person she’s having an affair with is a woman. I’ve been able to find out that it’s one of her students in the class she teaches, but at least at this stage I haven’t identified her name yet. I wanted to show you all this first before I go any further. Before you give me the go-ahead to go any further.”

And then he stops. And I was stopped when he started talking about audio and so now we’re like two men freeze-framed in a room, the player glitchy, the two of us just staring while some large monster keeps hitting PLAY and reloading.

“A woman,” I manage soon enough. “A student.” My logical part ignites and I start coming up with questions, is Sadee just giving her advice, help with an assignment, are they just friends, maybe, or did you see or hear something that makes them lovers?

“You should take all this home with you—I’ve downloaded it all to a USB flash drive”—he hands it to me—“and look at it all and make your own conclusions. And in practical terms, concerning the agreement I have with you, you should decide if this is enough or if you want me to find out more. But to answer your obvious question, yes, it’s an affair. The pics and the audio especially will show you that.”

I feel like I’m stuck in the chair, paralyzed, and I stare down at the USB drive in my hand as if it’s a remote control that I haven’t learned to operate. I look up at Josh and his lips are pursed crookedly, and I imagine him telling me, It is what it is, mate, I’m sorry but you’ll know when you watch and listen to all this.

The next thing I know I’m in the street and I can’t remember how I got down from his office. Sadee is still at work, and working late if I recall correctly, when I arrive home. I get my laptop and a pen and a notepad and sit down in our most comfortable chair again. I watch the video first. It’s not grainy so as to suggest the possibility of some ambivalence, but digitally clear as Sadee finishes a short conversation with the student and then moves in closer to her and they kiss as lovers do. The unbelievability of what I am seeing is only slightly mitigated by my mind wandering and wondering just how Josh was able to get this close up. And get sound, too.

After the kiss, the student pulls away and adjusts her backpack so that it’s not slouching down off her shoulders. “So we’re still good for Saturday afternoon?” she asks.

“Yeah, for sure, honey,” Sadee replies, and then taps two fingers to her own lips and touches them affectionately on her student’s lips. The student smiles and then turns around and heads in the opposite direction. Sadee stares at her for a few seconds and then heads back into the building.

In the next audio they’re at the café. I can see from the datestamp that this is the Saturday get-together the student mentioned. The conversation is almost unbearable for me. I feel like, like, like something I’ve never felt before, like two thugs are planning to kill my children as a vendetta for crimes that deserve that kind of revenge. I wince when I hear the word honey or sweetheart so much. I look down at tears that are falling onto my keyboard and I rub at my eyes.

“He’s going to be away visiting his mother with the kids this weekend. Let’s get a cushy hotel room and treat ourselves for a night.”

The student laughs and says yes. There’s the sound of dishes clattering a bit and I imagine them both leaning toward the centre of the table to kiss the deal sealed.

My pen and notepad have turned out to be a stupid idea. Was I really going to mark down the locations of, what, the juicy bits, the times when they’re talking about me, the revelation of some tiny detail in the mass of this trove of betrayal? I set them on the side table and close up the computer. I can’t binge on this and will have to portion it out like small meals in order to get through it. I take the USB drive out and put it back in my pocket. I make a mental note to always go through my pockets when I’m changing clothes and not to simply toss this mess onto the prosaic pile in the laudry hamper.