Part Nine: The Web

A few police officers visited the office just after lunch the next day. A smart Mr. D left a note under the mattress before his death. Police discovered it when the crime scene investigators left nothing unturned in the room.

The officers set up interviews with all the staffs. Doug was the first to meet them since he’s the most senior manager on the boss’s absence. He was asked many questions but he found it hard to answer ninety percent of the inquiry. He was not placed as a suspect. Outside his office he saw members from the meeting on the night Mr. D was found dead. They appeared calm and wordless to each other.

The police officers left at 10.30 pm. The entire company rushed to get out after them as if they dared not break the boss’s “never work after 8.00 pm” rule. There was still no sign of the boss.

That night Doug talked to his wife on the matter. They had decided that Doug should quit the company as soon as possible to avoid more trouble. It could be a turning point in his career if there would not have a greedy and revengeful Mr. D.

Without a good sleep, Doug was late for office the following day. He found someone quarreled in the meeting room. They were Charles, Fiona and Sue. What an amazing thing to do early in the morning? Doug thought as he knocked on the meeting room door. All in red faces, they were not surprise to see Doug. It was as if they were expecting him to intervene. After Doug stopped their heated brawl, he made them sit in a line on the other side of the conference table.

Sue was the quickest to pour out the reason they got mad with each other. She told Doug that Fiona was the mastermind behind the “don’t work late rule”. She screamed, “Fiona seduced the boss and they turn the boss’s room into a honeymoon suite every night because she is a bloody married bitch!” Stunned, before Doug could response Fiona threw a mug-full of water on to Sue’s face. Without hesitation Charles turned his body to slap a furious Fiona.

What a mess, what a mess. So Doug stood up with a loud bang on the table to signal the halt of physical attacks. He asked why Charles laid hand on Fiona. Charles replied with a very short but clear explanation: Sue was my girl friend before she worked for the company. I introduced her to the boss for the sales job. She later lost herself to the boss on a few night outs with him. She kept a distance from me three months after she came here. Fiona was worried for her future in the company, she hooked the boss and they had frequent activities in the office. Sue was fighting with Fiona all the time when the boss could alternate his choice. So here we are, this is the best chance to face each other and open our cards since the boss is not in the office. This story was like an inter-twined web – messy and sticky, Doug sighed.