“If we Google it, we can plug in ‘fire’ and the company name.”
“But that might not get anything if it wasn’t a fire, or if there was a fire but it didn’t reach the newspapers. I would start with the company websites, see if there’s a mention of any kind of any incident, whether it’s fire or not, involving electrical wiring.”
“Okay. You take the first ten accounts, I’ll take the second ten.”
“Go for it.” Bennie navigated to the website for Larkspur Graphics, then the About Us page, which went on about the graphic design franchise that helped people create their own websites, now opening offices in Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Marlton, New Jersey.
“Nothing so far,” Mary said, typing.
“Same.” Bennie navigated to the next website, Deal Town Dollar Stores, which seemed equally innocuous, a line of dollar stores opening in Delaware and West Virginia. “Todd’s territory extends pretty far.”
“Agree, I’m seeing that too. Tot’s Togs makes kid’s clothes and it’s in northern Virginia.”
“Keep going.” Bennie plugged in Bethlehem Bank, and as soon as the company website popped onto the screen, she sensed they had struck paydirt. “Mary, look at this.”
“You got something?” Mary leaned over, and they read together:
We at Bethlehem Bank are devastated by the fire which took place in our newest branch in Manassas last month. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of our Adele Watson, a bookkeeper who perished in the blaze. We thank God that there was no further loss of life. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation, and the branch will be closed for the near future. We hope to rebuild and reopen again soon, to serve the wonderful community of Manassas, Virginia.
“Oh no,” Mary said, hushed. “It was a fatal fire. Somebody died.”
“I know.” Bennie scrolled down, and at the bottom of thepage was a small photo of a sweet-faced older woman with a funereal black frame around the picture, under which it said,ADELE WATSON.
“This is it.” Mary met Bennie’s eyes, her expression turning grave, the shadows harsh from the overhead light. “Let’s spin it out together. Bethlehem Bank buys cubicles from Todd, who has been put on notice only a month before that the electrical wiring is faulty. And Ray is on notice too.”
“So OpenSpace is liable, and not just for the damage to the building.” Bennie felt the weight of her words. “They’re liable for the death of the woman. It would’ve been broad civilandcriminal exposure. Remember, Simon had problems with the wiring at Jarrat and also with Crowley Medical.”
“Right, there’s no telling how many other cubicles were affected. Once they were on notice, they covered it up. They didn’t care if anybody died.”
“At this point, the cause of the fire is unknown, but those investigations take a long time. I bet nobody from OpenSpace is volunteering the information about past problems in the electrical wiring. In fact, they hid it from us.” Bennie felt anger glowing like a flame in her chest. “So they covered it up and the question is, how high up does it go. Does it stop at Ray or does it go to Mike Bashir? And is Mo Nustrall involved, too? He must be. He runs sales at PowerPlus. They play golf together.”
“I agree. I bet Mo is involved, but not Mike because he’s new.”
“Right and it’s not like he came from PowerPlus. So let’s bet they keep it to those three.”
“Ernie the security guy might be involved in the cover-up, too, since he was in the defamation complaint. They never should have done that. They overplayed their hand. But they’re not professionals.”
“I reserve judgment on Ernie.” Bennie’s instincts were telling her otherwise. “Criminal conspiracies are smaller than people think. Ernie doesn’t know production details. He’s a plant security guy and that’s how they view him. Ernie could have lied in the complaint because his job was on the line. I say the bad guys are Todd, Mo, and Ray.”
“But why would they kill Todd?”
“That’s not a hard one. They find out about the fire and it’s under investigation. It’s one of Todd’s clients, and they agree to cover it up in the beginning, but Todd starts to get nervous. Todd knows he can go to jail for this. This is a criminal act, so maybe he wanted to spill the beans.”
“So they kill Todd to silence him. But what about Simon? Maybe that’s why they fired Simon in the first place!” Mary answered her own question, shifting forward excitedly. “He probably doesn’t know anything about the fire in Manassas, because it’s far away and outside of his region. It certainly doesn’t make any Philadelphia papers, and as soon as that happens, Todd keeps it quiet in the company.”
“Right.”
“But Todd and Ray are still worried that Simon has information about the faulty wiring, it’s just information that he doesn’t know the significance of. So they want to get rid of him but they don’t want to raise alarm bells. They reduce his territory and fire him.”
Bennie got it. “But Simon senses it’s a pretext. He knows they’re lying to him and he thinks the real reason they fired him was because of Rachel’s medical expenses.”
“He’s half-right.” Mary smiled, understanding. “He’s right that they’re not telling him the real reason they’re firing him, but the real reason for firing him is that they don’t want him to stay at OpenSpace. They don’t want him to keep raising questions about the wiring issues. They don’t want him around if or when there’s another electrical fire. They don’t want him to find out about the fire in Manassas.”
“Right, but then he sues them, and we kick up a fuss, so they’ve got to improvise. At the same time Todd is making noises like he’s going to come forward, so Ray kills him and frames Simon for the murder, and meanwhile—”
“Meanwhile, Simon is so preoccupied with Rachel and her need for a transplant, which happens just at the same time, that he’s forgotten completely about this wiring thing. It gets lost in the shuffle.”
“Oh my God, it’s a perfect murder.” Bennie shook her head.
