around the comforting glass of wine.
“Okay.” Rita unfolded herself and got up. “You’ve got a hell of an excuse.”
Rita dialed, hung up, hit the repeat button and hung up again. This went on for some time before she gave up and went back to her spot on the floor.
“All the lines are busy. Should have known. Probably a few hundred agents in the county want to hear every detail. We can stop by this afternoon after we get your clothes and your car. Or we can wait till Tuesday. You going?”
“Going?”
“To sales meeting.”
Jean slowly pulled in that thought. The decision came more quickly.
“For sure. Not staying alone here with nothing to think about but …”
Another sentence Jean didn’t want to finish. She set her empty wine glass on the floor and rolled onto her back, light-headed from the wine and feeling better. There were probably other suspects, not just her office family.
“There’s something we don’t know. Some motive,” she said. “We need an heir who stopped in the office Saturday.” Jean closed her eyes, wanting it all to go away.
Rita rubbed the back of her neck, an echo of Ed.
“Problem is it would be too obvious to come into the office to get a murder weapon. So back to us. Same problem there, though. Why would anyone from our office use a weapon that would incriminate us? Symbolic? Jealousy? Someone who would never earn the money that Theresa did? Why wouldn’t anyone—in the office or not—use a knife from home? Or a hardware store? Shit! We’re going to get hung up on that question no matter where we start.”
“Ignore it,” Jean advised, aware that she was looking for an easy way out.
“Okay.” Rita was clearly pleased Jean was at least willing to participate. “This table has the name of everyone in the office except us. The next column is PERSONALITY PROBABILITY. That’s why you’re not on it. Maybe I should be.”
“Rita!”
“What? You know I didn’t like Theresa and I could kill under the right circumstances.”
Rita rearranged her legs again, cross-legged, and set the computer in front of them.
“Next column, MOTIVE, then OPPORTUNITY.”
Jean ate a slice of cucumber, wondering how she could keep eating.
“Who’s first?” she asked.
“Kevin. He was there.”
“Not when I got there.”
“Wanted to watch some baseball game on TV. Wouldn’t have done any harm to turn on the TV until someone came, but she sent him home. Sounds like Theresa. This thing never did scare her and remember how pissed she was about sharing the commission?”
“So that’s what he said,” Jean said thoughtfully. “But he was right there. They do say the quiet ones, the ones you least suspect, are sometimes repressed and when they lose it, they lose it big time. That could be Kevin. But he needed her. The only money he earned was from her.” Jean thought about her own relationship with Theresa and added, “she used him a lot but didn’t pay much.”
“Good thinking, girlfriend!” Rita sounded surprised. “Maybe he was repressing anger until the right time. Those other two things, the first murder and the other where the agent was threatened, maybe they provided the right time. This could have been planned, so he could have taken the opener. But the opener doesn’t tie in with the others and Kevin is at least bright enough to see that.” Rita paused, her hands over the keys. “But, you know, that thing might have had some significance for him. Sign of success, which he didn’t have?” The fingers began moving. “Good. We got us a suspect. Who’s next?”
“Harold,” Jean said.
Rita’s eyebrows went up.
“That didn’t take long. Why Harold?”
“A social misfit. He’s always kind of, I don’t know, been a little scary maybe? Uncomfortable, at least,” she modified.
“Hah! Of course! And he’s the one who sharpened Theresa’s opener when she complained about it ripping up envelopes! Goes in PERSONALITY PROBABILITY.” Rita’s fingers
“Okay.” Rita unfolded herself and got up. “You’ve got a hell of an excuse.”
Rita dialed, hung up, hit the repeat button and hung up again. This went on for some time before she gave up and went back to her spot on the floor.
“All the lines are busy. Should have known. Probably a few hundred agents in the county want to hear every detail. We can stop by this afternoon after we get your clothes and your car. Or we can wait till Tuesday. You going?”
“Going?”
“To sales meeting.”
Jean slowly pulled in that thought. The decision came more quickly.
“For sure. Not staying alone here with nothing to think about but …”
Another sentence Jean didn’t want to finish. She set her empty wine glass on the floor and rolled onto her back, light-headed from the wine and feeling better. There were probably other suspects, not just her office family.
“There’s something we don’t know. Some motive,” she said. “We need an heir who stopped in the office Saturday.” Jean closed her eyes, wanting it all to go away.
Rita rubbed the back of her neck, an echo of Ed.
“Problem is it would be too obvious to come into the office to get a murder weapon. So back to us. Same problem there, though. Why would anyone from our office use a weapon that would incriminate us? Symbolic? Jealousy? Someone who would never earn the money that Theresa did? Why wouldn’t anyone—in the office or not—use a knife from home? Or a hardware store? Shit! We’re going to get hung up on that question no matter where we start.”
“Ignore it,” Jean advised, aware that she was looking for an easy way out.
“Okay.” Rita was clearly pleased Jean was at least willing to participate. “This table has the name of everyone in the office except us. The next column is PERSONALITY PROBABILITY. That’s why you’re not on it. Maybe I should be.”
“Rita!”
“What? You know I didn’t like Theresa and I could kill under the right circumstances.”
Rita rearranged her legs again, cross-legged, and set the computer in front of them.
“Next column, MOTIVE, then OPPORTUNITY.”
Jean ate a slice of cucumber, wondering how she could keep eating.
“Who’s first?” she asked.
“Kevin. He was there.”
“Not when I got there.”
“Wanted to watch some baseball game on TV. Wouldn’t have done any harm to turn on the TV until someone came, but she sent him home. Sounds like Theresa. This thing never did scare her and remember how pissed she was about sharing the commission?”
“So that’s what he said,” Jean said thoughtfully. “But he was right there. They do say the quiet ones, the ones you least suspect, are sometimes repressed and when they lose it, they lose it big time. That could be Kevin. But he needed her. The only money he earned was from her.” Jean thought about her own relationship with Theresa and added, “she used him a lot but didn’t pay much.”
“Good thinking, girlfriend!” Rita sounded surprised. “Maybe he was repressing anger until the right time. Those other two things, the first murder and the other where the agent was threatened, maybe they provided the right time. This could have been planned, so he could have taken the opener. But the opener doesn’t tie in with the others and Kevin is at least bright enough to see that.” Rita paused, her hands over the keys. “But, you know, that thing might have had some significance for him. Sign of success, which he didn’t have?” The fingers began moving. “Good. We got us a suspect. Who’s next?”
“Harold,” Jean said.
Rita’s eyebrows went up.
“That didn’t take long. Why Harold?”
“A social misfit. He’s always kind of, I don’t know, been a little scary maybe? Uncomfortable, at least,” she modified.
“Hah! Of course! And he’s the one who sharpened Theresa’s opener when she complained about it ripping up envelopes! Goes in PERSONALITY PROBABILITY.” Rita’s fingers
Similar Books
