came from, anyway. It was probably just lying on the mail cart, nothing to do with the murder.“
“Why do I not find that reassuring?“ Michael mused. “That you're spending your days in a place with lethal weapons just lying around on the mail cart? I don't suppose I could convince you to come out here after all?“
“I thought you liked the idea of me staying here, keeping my eye open for a house.“
“Oh? Have you had a lot of free time today for househunting? For that matter, have you had a lot of free time for anything since the minute you walked into that crazy place?“
“It's bound to get better, now that we're in the new office,“ I said. “At least it will once all the fallout from Ted's murder is over with. And then I might actually have time to read
“Why not?“
“Most of these single rooms are giant lofts with panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline or the San Francisco Bay. So much for Mother turning practical.“
“At least she's trying.“
“Trying too hard, if you ask me,“ I growled. I, flipped the book closed and added it to the two-foot-high stack of decorating books that we were using as an end table. If Mother didn't stop sending books soon, we'd have to start building a second end table. Or perhaps a room divider. I was beginning to dread checking the mail and finding yet another large, flat parcel, I thought – and that jogged my memory.
“Hang on a second,“ I said. “I just remembered something I need to do first thing tomorrow; I want to jot it in my notebook.“
“Things to do today,“ Michael intoned. “Number one, find a new receptionist. Number two, find Ted's killer.“
“No way,“ I said. “I just want to remember to call the company that supplies the mail cart. The police impounded the one. we had, so I need to get them to bring over another one.“
“So finding Ted's killer moves to number three.“
“No way,“ I said.
“I thought that's the whole reason you were there,“ he said. “To find out what's wrong in the company.“
“And fat lot of good I've been at mat,“ I said.
“You haven't figured out anything that could account for Rob's worrying?“
“All I know is that if there's a problem here, it isn't financial,“ I said. “And I can't even take full credit for that; Mother did as much as I did.“
“Your mother?“
“I know everyone thinks she's a financial bantamweight, especially anyone who's seen her in action as a shopper, but she's actually pretty financially savvy.“
“Yes, especially when it comes to telling other people what they should do with their money.“
“Precisely,“ I said. “So after I'd looked over the books, I reminded her that any financial malfeasance at Mutant Wizards would ultimately reduce the dividends she received as a stockholder and got her to do the same thing.“
“And she didn't find anything?“
“A lot of potential money-saving ideas. She recommended against installing the mail cart, incidentally. Wish I'd had more success talking Rob out of it. And the lousy discount coffee is her fault; we'll be changing that as soon as I can manage it.“
“But no financial irregularities.“
“No, more's the pity,“ I said. “Finding and firing a crooked accountant would be a quick, painless fix.“
“And now you have another mystery to solve,“ Michael said.
“I'll leave that to Chief Burke,“ I said. “Like I said, all I want to do is give him enough reasons to keep investigating, instead of just latching on to Rob as the guilty party.“
“Yeah, right,“ Michael said.
Of course, if I was going to inspire the chief to expand his investigation beyond Rob, first I had to find the chief. Two hours into Tuesday, and he still hadn't returned to our office. Or returned any of my calls. Meanwhile I was stuck at the switchboard again.
“We're so sorry,“ the lady from the temp agency said, when I called to report that the promised receptionist had not shown up. “It's just that – well, you had a murder there yesterday.“
“Yes, I know,“ I said. “If your employees are worried about their safety, please reassure them that there's still a strong police presence here.“
Of course, the last time I looked, the police presence was in one of the conference rooms playing Nude Lawyers from Hell and giggling, but the lady from the temp agency didn't need to know that.
“Oh, I'm sure it's perfectly safe,“ the woman replied. “But – well, the only person we had available mis morning was Muriel, and she's rather timid – she said the idea of trying to work in a place where they'd just had a murder made her blood run cold.“
“How long do you think it will take you to find a warm-blooded receptionist?“
“We're working on it,“ the woman said. There was a pause.
“Muriel did say that she might reconsider if we offered her double pay for hazardous duty.“
“We want a receptionist, not an extortionist,“ I answered. “See if you can't find someone who'd love to get a first-hand look at a real crime scene. I'd be happy to give her a guided tour.“
So I was punching the buttons on the console just a little harder than necessary and answering the phone in the very brittle, polite voice that any reasonable person would recognize as a red flag.
Of course, why would any reasonable person call Mutant Wizards? I thought as I punched another blinking button.
“And what did that poor switchboard ever do to you?“
I glanced up to see Jack leaning against the wall by my desk.
“Nothing,“ I said, smiling in spite of myself. “But I can't throttle the dozens of friends and relatives who keep calling to ask what's going on. The staff are another matter. If one more of them asks me what's going on…“
“I'm trying to keep them busy,“ he said. “I realize you don't know any more than the rest of us do.“
“Not quite true,“ I said. “I can make some deductions, based on reports from friends and relatives. The Caerphilly police are interrogating everyone who knows Rob. Probing them for any information they can get about his financial status, spending habits, college grades, sexual history and orientation, juvenile transgressions – everything.“
“Maybe they're doing that to everybody,“ Jack said, frowning.
“Caerphilly doesn't have that many police officers. There's only so much they can do. Of course, they did check on me; I gather it's not just in Dad's mystery books that the police are suspicious of the person who finds the body.“
“Yeah, but with your injured hand…“
“And what if I were faking an injury?“ I asked. “At least they did check with the hospital to make sure I was really injured. They looked at the X rays of my hand – Dad found that out from a radiologist he knows.“
“You're more like your Dad than you like to admit,“ Jack said with a chuckle. “You sound almost pleased to have been a suspect, however briefly.“
“That's not it,“ I said. “I just want to believe that they know what they're doing. And maybe enough of a feminist that I don't want to be overlooked just because I'm a woman. If it weren't for my hand, I could have strangled him just as easily as any man here. More easily than most, in fact. I'm pretty strong.“
“So the chief took you seriously and you're happy.“
“I'd be happier if Rob weren't the only one being investigated.“
“You're sure?“
“Except Ted, of course,“ I said. “They do seem to be paying a little attention to Ted.“
“But not a lot,“ Jack said. “Or they'd be spending a lot more time talking to my team.“
