He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not

Less than eight hours later, Lange regretted his hasty decision. What was he thinking, taking on another case? He barely had time to eat and sleep, let alone devote the time and surveillance a case such as this required. And yet, here he was, rearranging his entire schedule to take on a questionable case, and he was breaking one of his cardinal rules to do it. He was going in completely unprepared.

Lange was a stickler about prepping for a case. Normally, he would go in with a case file already established. It was his policy to know as much as possible about each case he worked on. To that end, he always did a complete background check immediately after taking on a new client. There would be notes, photos, sometimes even preliminary legwork, all tucked inside a file he carried to this initial meeting. He prided himself on being well informed and well prepared; surprises could be disastrous in his business.

But today there had been no time for prep work. After Ashli Wilson left his office, he spent the remainder of the morning handling paperwork and phone calls; the afternoon he spent with clients and realigning priorities. He wrapped up one investigation, delayed another, and lost the business of a third client not willing to share his attention. Without a decent meal or any additional sleep, he was now running on fumes. And as if going in unprepared wasn’t enough, he was also going in late.