Chapter Ten: Dunder Mifflin (Part II)

It only took him a minute to collect Roy from the warehouse and lead him to the conference room. News of his presence had spread and work had pretty much ground to a halt while speculation and gossip reigned supreme. He was a broad man, looked like he went to the gym but stuck to weights as well as the heavy lifting involved in his job. He was certainly the right build for his perpetrator, that was a start.

"Mr Anderson, how did you know Jim Halpert?"

"He works here, he's friends with Pam." He kept his answers clipped. He reclined casually in the chair with his legs crossed at the ankles.

"You were engaged to Pam?"

"Yeah."

"But you broke up?"

"Yeah. What does that have to do with Halpert?" Brass noted that he used his last name, a sign they weren't close.

"You like Jim Halpert?"

"He's alright. We could talk if we had to, about sports and stuff."

"How did you feel about him and Pam being friends?"

"What's going on here? Are you saying I had something to do with this?" His body language altered, he was leaning forward ready to jump out of his chair. Brass didn't flinch.

"I'm just figuring out the dynamics of Mr Halpert's life. Friends, family, work colleagues. It's all connected to the bigger picture. So, did you mind that Pam had a male friend?" The investigator kept his tone as neutral as possible so his potential suspect didn't feel cornered.

"Not really, at the time I thought he kept her from complaining to me all the time, I was grateful. Thought he might be gay or something. You think this could be one of those hate crimes?"

"He's straight. He liked Pam a lot."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You hear any rumours about Jim and Pam? Maybe at some awards thing..." Brass opened his notebook, "...the Dundies?"

"No, I left early, Pam and I got into a fight because I wanted to leave. What happened?"

"How about any other times, you heard anything about them being a little too cosy?"

"What are you trying to say, you trying to tell me they were fucking or something?" Brass noticed that his fists were balled up and he was puffing like a bull ready to charge. It hadn't taken him long to get worked up.

"I'm just asking you if you heard any rumours."

"No, I haven't. A couple of the guys said I should watch out but like I said, I thought he might be gay. I know he dated chicks while he worked here, smoking hot ones too, but he seemed like a stand up guy."

"If you saw him dating, why'd you think he was gay?"

"He just seemed a bit, that way, you know."

"You know who might want to hurt him?"

"No, I mean some people think he's annoying but no one would do what Pam was telling me last night."

"Last night?"

"Yeah, Pam was really upset after speaking to Jim's sister; I let her stay at mine. We talked."

So much for being in love with the victim. The relationship between these three was more complex than he'd anticipated.

"You're back together?"

"No, but I want to be. I think we're getting there. I appreciate her now."

Interesting revelation, looks like this Pam Beesly has a spell on both these guys, Brass mused and made a note. "So you didn't sleep in the same bed?"

"I took the sofa bed. Why are you asking me all this?"

"Did you know that when you were engaged to Pam she and Jim Halpert kissed? Couple of times too. Wasn't just him either, she kissed him." Brass had braced himself for an eruption but he just sat, fist balled up and his whole body rigid and tense. He waited but nothing happened. "This news to you?"

"Pam tell you that?" He asked coldly with his jaw set.

"Where were you Sunday night? Go for a drink at Poor Richards?"

"I was at home. Had a few beers, watched some TV then fell asleep." He just stared out the window contemplating something.

"Got anyone who can confirm that?"

"No."

"What did you watch?"

"Poker, some classic football, usual shit."

"So come on man, you don't seem that surprised your girl was swapping spit with the guy upstairs, must have made you mad when you found out. Pam called off the wedding, she wants him now."

"NO SHE DOESN'T!" Roy slammed his fists on the desk. Brass jumped in surprise.

"Got a temper, Mr Anderson?"

"She was just friends with the guy, if they kissed it was his doing, he should have just stayed away."

"Decided to keep him away permanently? Must have been a surprise when Pam found him alive?"

"Say what you like, I didn't touch him, you've got nothing on me."

"You've got size ten feet?"

"Yeah, so?"

"See, when the guy stomped on Mr Halpert he left behind a boot print, a pretty damn perfect one. Let me see the bottom of your shoes." Brass demanded.

Roy leant back and slammed his heels up on to the table. The bottom of his boots looked new, they were hardly scuffed.

"These new?"

"Bought them a while back, not worn them much."

"Where are your old ones?"

"Threw them out."

"That doesn't look good for you."

"What? A guy can't throw out his shoes when they're all worn out?"

"Not when they're covered in Jim Halpert's blood."

"I. Didn't. Touch. Him. I didn't even know about him and Pam until you just told me!" He yelled.

"I think you knew, I think you were at Poor Richards that night and you saw Jim. I think you saw him outside all alone and a little drunk and saw your chance to take him out of the picture."

"Bullshit! I wasn't there!"

"What did you drive to work today?"

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer my questions and this will all be over."

"My truck, Ford F150."

That would work. Maybe he could find someone who saw him at the bar last night too.

"Mind if I take a look?"

"Whatever." He sulked. His moods were swinging and unpredictable. Brass was on high alert.

"Is that a yes?"

"Yeah, go crazy, you can look just don't mess it up or take anything, I know my rights, you need a warrant."

"Show me your truck."

Roy silently led him to the parking lot and pointed at a blue Ford near a chain link fence.

"That's mine."

"Can you open it up?" Brass slipped on a pair of latex gloves he had in a baggie in his coat pocket.

"No, just look in the windows, you need a warrant to get inside."

Brass walked up to the truck and examined the dirty truck bed. No visible signs of blood but it had rained a fair few times since the attack. "You got a lug wrench in that tool box?"

Roy huffed and opened it, pulling out a lug wrench. "Pam told me what they hit him with so I know what you're asking."

"Don't you want to prove you didn't do it?" Brass took it with his gloved hand. It was clean to the eye. "Can I take this?"

"No. Look, just get this over with."

Brass handed back the lug wrench and planned on getting a warrant later. He had a couple more people to question first and Jennifer had only just started processing the moving van. Brass wasn't so sure he fancied the ex-girlfriend's brother for the attack anymore. He had a look in the main cab. Black carpet, black seats and a black dash was not ideal for spotting blood. He examined under the door handle too but nothing.

"How long you had this truck?"

"Couple of years."

He had to be missing something. He moved round to the passenger side and tried that door handle, hoping he'd find some trace of blood. Still nothing.

"You done yet, it's cold and everyone is looking."

Brass looked to the third floor. The entire Dunder Mifflin contingent was watching the inspection.

"Nervous?"

"Cold." He replied sourly.

Brass circled the car one more time. There was nothing suspicious other than the fact it was clean and that wasn't a crime. There were a few receipts in the doors and some chewing gum wrappers; it looked like a normal car. His gut was telling him something wasn't right. He'd have to get a warrant but he didn't have enough evidence yet.

"I'm done here." He snapped off his glove and shoved it in his pocket.

"Can I leave now."

"Yes. Oh, if anything happens to Pam I'll be coming directly for you, you understand?"

"I wouldn't hurt a hair on her head, asshole." He cursed as he stormed away. Brass wasn't so sure about the hairs that used to be on Halpert's head.

Once he was out of earshot he gave Jennifer a call.

"Tell me you have something Jenn?"

"Sorry Jim, we've only just started processing, got side tracked by a B&E, some insurance fraud job. Any luck at the vic's job?"

"You know the receptionist he was obsessed with?"

"They were screwing right?"

"Don't think so, but she was engaged, the guy works in the warehouse below the office. She broke it off just a couple of weeks before they were due to tie the knot."

"Whoa, there's a motive. He got a truck?"

"Yep, looking at it now."

"So bring it in."

"I haven't got enough for probable cause yet, was hoping some people upstairs might give me something. I've still got Toby Flenderson to question and guy called Andrew Bernard that looks like he's got anger issues."

"I don't think I've ever met a bad guy called Toby."

"Yeah, can't say I've arrested anyone with that name before."

"I'll process whatever you can give me Jim. I page you if we get anything on the van but it could be another day yet."

"Ok, I'll speak to you then, thanks Jennifer."

"No problem, Jim."

It was time to head up and see if we could get a few more fingers pointing at the blue collar worker and check out this Toby.

Back in the conference room she showed Toby Flenderson to his seat.

"What did you think about Jim Halpert?"

"Uh, he was a nice guy, used to torment Dwight a lot, didn't really take the job seriously, think he thought he was too good for it but he was fun to have around. He organised the office Olympics when Michael was out of the office one day. That was fun."

Brass noticed he used the past tense. He was a nice guy. "Doesn't sound like you liked him much."

"I liked him. I let him look after my daughter a couple of times, he's a nice guy, I don't know who would hurt him."

"What were you doing Sunday night?"

"I dropped my daughter off at 7pm then I saw Karen, she left at 9.30ish and I took a bath and went to bed, my daughter's quite tiring."

"What did Karen say?"

"Told me about her family and the business. She told me that she and Jim had broken up but to be honest we all saw it coming."

"Why's that?"

"Ask anyone, Jim was so hung up on Pam he wasn't fooling anyone. I work in the annex and I knew."

"Was Karen angry?"

"Sad. Humiliated, but not angry. I can understand that, she's a nice girl."

"You like her?"

"She's not really my type."

"What about Pam, she your type?"

"Pam's really nice and sweet but..."

"But..."

"I'm not really in the right place for a relationship right now. Roy would probably kick my ass too."

"Scared of Roy?"

"Oh, that was a joke." He said meekly.

"You know I'm the police right? I'm investigating the brutal attempted murder of one of your work colleagues. You might do better to take this seriously." Brass was firm but he really didn't have Flenderson down as the type to attack someone head on.

"Sorry. You think it was attempted murder?"

"Yes. Still might be murder if he dies of his injuries within a year and a day."

"Well I wish I could help."

"Tell me more about Roy; you're the HR rep, any complaints about him?"

"Nothing official. He shouted at Jim once but that was over a year ago, closer to two."

"What happened?"

"Jim was round the desk with Pam, he walked in and saw them, started shouting about Jim 'touching up his woman' or something like that. He hasn't shouted like that since, Jim looked
scared as hell; he kept the touching to a minimum then. It was clear he liked her though. Obvious when he booked his vacation so he wouldn't have to go to the wedding. I had to clear his vacation time."

"Roy know there was something going on between them?"

"Maybe, I couldn't say. I don't hang out the with warehouse guys."

"What about this Andy Bernard?"

"Oh Andy's taking compulsory anger management training after punching a hole in a wall. He apologised immediately but he's already got a note on file about his temper, he beat up a photocopier once in Stamford."

"He came from the Stamford branch?"

"Yeah, only he and Karen stayed on. Well, I guess not Karen now. The others quit."

"Bernard make a complaint about Jim?"

"No, but I don't think he knew it was Jim. Jim's played a lot of pranks though, usually on Dwight, I've got a whole box load of complaints under my desk. Jim once put all Dwight's stuff in a vending machine."

"You think Jim may have pushed too far this time?" Maybe it was time to take a closer look at Dwight Schrute, he has made an effort to try and direct the investigation for all of his
over-eager helpfulness.

"I couldn't say, but both he and Pam are behind most of the office pranks."

"Anyone else make complaints about Jim?"

"Pretty much everyone has complained about everyone else at some point, it's just that type of office."

"I'm going to need to see all complaints filed against Jim Halpert. Has Jim ever filed a complaint against anyone here?"

"Uh, he complained about Pam once but he had it redacted. It was about her planning her wedding during office hours."

"Ok. Box up those files for me and I'll collect them later. Thank you."

"Um, before I go can I mention one thing?"

"Sure."

"Michael, the manager, he's going to say it's me, that I did it."

"Ok," Brass raised a curious eyebrow, "why are you so sure about that?"

"He hates me. I don't know why, he just does. I mean he really, really hates me. I have a note in my desk that if anything ever happens to me, it's probably Michael."

"He have a problem with Jim too?"

"He adores Jim, sees him as a younger version of himself. He doesn't adore him in the same way as Ryan, but that's just creepy."

"Ok, I'll take that under advisement."

Brass ushered Toby from the room and sat down with his note book. He was picking up new suspects in each conversation. At least he could scrub out Toby as a potential suspect. He could barely raise his voice let alone his fists.

He had a list of all the employees on Dunder Mifflin. He could cross reference those names with complaints which might yield a clue or two. Right now he wanted to confirm the Dwight Schrute wasn't a person of interest. He hadn't raised any red flags when they first met but the deeper he delved the more sinister things felt.

He asked Dwight into the conference room. He sat bolt upright in his chair and stared at Brass with intense focus and concentration.

"Can you tell me where you were on Sunday night and the early hours of Monday morning?"

"I was at Schrute Farms with my cousin Mose. He has nightmares when there are storms after... an incident. I was comforting him by singing songs passed down the generations, would you like me to sing one to prove my story?"

"That won't be necessary."

"Very well. Before that we were preparing for the high winds."

"You got any reason to hurt Jim Halpert?"

"Jim was insufferable but I am a hunter, I outsmart my prey, I don't attack them in an alley like a coward. If I wanted to fight Jim I could have defeated him with my bare hands."

"Did you perhaps mention your dislike of Jim to anyone who might hurt him for you?"

"No."

"What do you drive?"

"A 1987 Pontiac Trans Am."

Brass was sensing this was a dead end. "What do you think? Who's your prime suspect Dwight, you've been following the investigation, right?"

"Tommy Filippelli, arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon in 2003 when he ran down a man with his car. Also arrested in 2000 for assault during a bar fight."

"I know his rap sheet, so you like him for it?"

"I don't think anyone I know would try to kill Jim, I would have picked up on menacing intent and been able to protect him."

"You'd protect the man who'd pranked you on multiple occasions?"

"It's my duty as a citizen."

"Fine. Anything else you need to tell me? Details matter, I should have known about the Bernard incident yesterday."

"Bernard is weak; he couldn't do that much damage to a kitten."

"You'd be surprised how strong people are when they are really angry. He punched a hole in the wall, right?"

"That is true."

"Know what kind of car he drives?"

"A Nissan Xterra."

"That's an SUV, right?"

"It is."

"Anything else you wanna tell me?"

"I don't have anything probative for you, sir."

He believed him. "Ok, thanks Dwight."

He showed him out and was pretty convinced he wasn't involved. He'd visit this 'Mose' on the way back to the station to confirm the alibi as standard procedure.

It took another four hours to interview everyone else in the office. Everyone had a theory. A pious blonde woman believed it was punishment from God, the manager believed Toby was responsible with a vehemance that was slightly chilling and an old guy who smelled like death thought Jim was part of a street fighting gang. All in all, it was an unsatisfying and disturbing exercise. Everyone had an opinion on Jim and Pam ranging from it being one sided on Jim's behalf to Pam having a secret abortion after he left for Stamford. It was all gossip and tittle-tattle. All he knew was that it was one weird work place.

A few people pointed the finger directly at Roy and Brass would just have to hope it was enough to take his truck in and get a warrant for his house. He had to be getting close to some hard evidence and reason to bring someone in for a proper Brass Interrogation. Right now, he had some alibis to check and a new potential suspect to research.

We'll be joining Pam again next chapter. There were so many ways I could write this chapter, including thousands of words of Michael being insane and trying to get Toby the electric chair but I wanted to keep it a little more serious.

Reviews are muchly appreciated, especially for feedback because I don't want the details to eat up the entertaining element which I know I can let happen. Thanks! Hope you're enjoying it so far!