thing. I texted him to let him know you were here. This is about Holly, isn’t it?” Her eyes misted.
“Yes,” Bree said.
“I can’t believe she killed herself. I worked with her every day, and I didn’t see that coming.” She plucked a tissue from a box on her desk and blotted her eyes.
Bree’s statement about the murder had gone out to the press, but the secretary clearly hadn’t seen it.
“She didn’t die by suicide,” Bree said. “She was murdered.”
“Oh.” The secretary froze. “That’s horrible.” She inhaled a few times and, with effort, composed herself.
“I’d like to ask you a few questions,” Bree said.
Paul’s lateness for their meeting was annoying, but it was also an opportunity to question his employees without the boss’s presence.
The secretary gave Bree a wary look. “All right.”
Bree began. “Was there any animosity between Holly and the other employees?”
“Not that I’m aware,” she said.
“What about with the boss?” Bree asked.
“Animosity?” the secretary asked. “No.”
“No one was mad at her?” Matt asked. “Most offices have their share of personal drama.”
“I didn’t say we had no drama.” The secretary gave him a wry smile. “But there’s nothing serious. Our part-time help is young. One of them is always late, and she dresses very inappropriately for a place of business.” She sighed with disapproval. “The other one is pretty reliable, but she has an attitude.” The secretary rolled her eyes. “But all we have is typical office drama, mostly petty squabbles over who ate whose yogurt, if you know what I mean.”
“I do,” Bree said. “Did you and Holly ever spend time together outside of work?”
The secretary picked up a pair of readers on her desk and toyed with them. “No, but Holly is more than twenty years younger than me. We got along fine here. She did her job. I do mine. Holly was usually on time and fairly conscientious about her work. Sometimes she liked to go out for happy-hour drinks. I’m tired at the end of the day. I go home.”
“I’ll need the names and contact information for the part-time employees,” Bree said.
The secretary wrote the information on a piece of paper. She tapped the point of her pen next to one of the names. “Deb has a second job as a waitress at the diner. If she’s not home, try there.”
The door opened and a college-age woman entered. She wore jeans with holes in the thighs, a cropped sweater that showed off a belly ring, and Converse sneakers. The secretary’s irritated glance at the clock pegged the newcomer as the always late and inappropriately dressed employee. As much as he didn’t want to, Matt had to agree with the secretary, which made him feel really old. The girl looked like a hot mess.
Her eyes opened wide as she took in Bree’s uniform. “You’re here about Holly.” She burst into tears, her whole chest heaving.
The secretary picked up the box of tissues and carried it to the girl. She made some soothing there, there noises.
When the girl had calmed down, the secretary introduced Bree and Matt. “This is Connie, one of our part-timers.”
Not Deb, then. Matt was disappointed. He wanted to question the part-timer Owen had claimed hung out with Holly after work.
“I’d like to ask you a few questions about Holly.” Bree glanced around. “Is there somewhere we can speak in private?”
“Sure.” The girl gave a nervous shrug. “I guess we could go in there.” She walked toward a doorway. They went into a larger room. A long table occupied the middle, and a computer station was set up at each end. Connie set her bag on a filing cabinet.
Bree asked Connie the same questions about Holly, but the interview yielded no new information. She’d had drinks with Holly once or twice after work, but said, “She’s kind of old, ya know? I’d rather hang out with my friends, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.”
Matt had never heard of pity drinks.
By the time they’d finished with Connie, it was eight thirty, and Paul still hadn’t arrived. They returned to the outer office. While the secretary called Paul again, Matt walked the office perimeter, stopping to look at framed photos of gleaming new kitchens that hung on the walls.
The secretary lowered the phone. “He’s not answering.”
“Is that normal?” Matt asked.
Seemingly unconcerned, the secretary set down her phone. “He’s not very good about returning calls, and I don’t usually call him this early in the morning. He visits whatever jobsites he wants, then stops in the