BREAKDOWN

—Chapter VII—

Amanda picked the farthest table at a corner of the restaurant. That place was to become our special gathering spot from that night on.

"So, okay! What do we know so far?" Marc started. "Cal Hartley was murdered around 7:45. His body was found by Claire Meade inside his own office around 8:10. He was shot three times, no signs of struggle. Nobody heard anything so it must have been a silenced weapon. The police never found it."

"What was that man doing so early?" I asked. "Was that usual?"

"He had a meeting scheduled with Daniel and Wilhelmina." Betty answered. "I think they were going to discuss something very important and very secretive in his office. That's all I know."

Mr. Hartley had settled an office in Mode. Ever since he rescued the company from bankruptcy, he had been very particular of the way Wilhelmina and Daniel ran the business but everyone knew he was more ambitious. He wanted to take over the Meade Publications. Everyone at Mode seemed to know that.

"Did he have enemies?" Amanda asked. "Like the mafia or the Russian government."

We were already getting used to her interventions.

"He was a little bit eccentric," Betty spoke, "once he ridiculed Daniel in public."

"Yes, he had a very peculiar way of making business" Beth said. "But I don't think any of his competitors would go as far as to kill him for that."

"I still find it very strange that he and his ex-wife were there so early in the morning. What was so important to discuss with such urgency?"

"Well, there has been some talk of drastic re-engineering at Mode. A lot of people were going to be laid off" she looked at us in turn. "All of this is confidential, you understand?"

Amanda and Marc didn't show any signs of surprise.

"I see. You already knew."

"Don't underestimate me, Cher Horowitz." Marc said. "I'm wiser and older. When you started crawling, I had already danced with tap shoes."

"So, I guess," said Amanda, "it was kind of a good thing Mr. Hartley got killed that morning. We still have our jobs, right?"

Beth was taken aback for a brief moment; even her birthmark grew paler —Was she all right?

"I'm glad he's gone. All these changes! Those crazy ideas: cutting costs, laying off experts and hiring incompetent family members to run the business. No wonder Mode sales hadn't picked up in months."

"Well, why are you here, Marc?" she said. "It seems that now you, Amanda and the rest of the workers of Mode have a motive for killing my uncle."

"What? You think I'm a spy?"

"You could be working for Wilhelmina, for all I know" Beth said without breaking eye contact.

"Why don't we all say the reason why we're here tonight" Amanda suggested. "I think I saw it in a movie! It is so cool. It's when—"

"I'll start" Beth said. "I'm obviously here because I must know who killed my uncle."

"Fine. In my case I'd rather be somewhere else than in this third-rate place," said Marc, "but I can't stand the idea of a murder among us."

"I'm just here for the cupcakes" Amanda said, grabbing a snack from the dish Mauritzio brought to our table, "—and it's fun."

"I'm here because I was invited" said Betty. "But I also think everything is all somewhat strange."

"I have my reasons" I said and my eyes caught Betty's.

"That won't do, Pickle boy. You must have a reason or get out."

"Let's just say I have nothing else to do but clean this place at these hours and you all needed a place to get together so, I'm here for you. Besides, after what happened in that elevator I'm taking it a bit personal."

"Yes, we were almost killed!" Amanda yelled. "Maybe this is not such a good idea. What if the killer knows?"

"The elevator broke down" Betty said, "because of bad maintenance. They said it on the memo."

"What do you know? Maybe someone did try to kills us, maybe someone tried to kill Victoria Hartley" Marc retorted, "Can someone remind me why is she sitting here with us?"

Beth looked at me. She was probably asking herself the same thing.

"Betty will be of great help" I placed my hand on top of hers on her lap. Betty blushed and thanked me by squeezing it gently.

"Mmm, could he join too?" Amanda glared at Mauritizio who was putting out the chairs. "He looks kind of hot."

"No" Beth said categorically, "and I would like to ask you, Gio, to keep him away from this as much as you can. We need to be very discreet."

"Hartley warning! Hartley warning!" Marc jumped in. "Hold it right there, freckle-face. Who exactly put you in charge in here?"

I was starting to wonder what was the deal with Marc and his extreme aversion to Beth.

"Well, have you or anyone else brought anything to discuss?" she pulled some notes from her purse. "Here's list of everyone that was at Mode at that time."

"Well, I've been doing something too." Amanda said, smiling. "I'd been reading plenty of mystery novels to educate me on this… Well sometimes just the index tables but that is something, right?"

Betty rolled her eyes.

"Hey guys. I'm leaving for tonight" Mauritzio said from the door. Amanda winked suggestively at him and blew him a goodbye kiss. "Ehi, Gio. Dimenticare la rossa, dammi il numero della bionda!"

"Vattene!" I shoved him out. I was glad we were finally alone in the Deli. "And there's the deal of the girl from Y.E.T.I.; Marc knew her."

"Not exactly 'knew her'. She studied with us at that time" explained Marc. "She was the African-American girl that worked for that ridiculous magazine 'Breakdown Calling'. She had a thing for everything green: green clothes, green accessories… pretty bad taste, if you ask me. Not too clever, just an average girl. Betty might know more about her. Your boyfriend Matt and she were in the same group until you decided to recruit him to our study team."

"I rarely spoke to her but Matt said he recognized her from the news. It is all so sad."

"What does it have to deal with this case?" Beth suddenly said. She was so arrogant sometimes. "Do you think this has to deal with my uncle? I don't think so. And, Betty, please, keep this away from Matt. We need to be careful with the information we give away."

"I'm sorry" Betty said.

"Okay, now, you're going to be our secretary. Here" She gave her a little notebook and a fountain pen. Betty did as she told, sheepishly. Marc and Amanda laughed loudly with no shame.

That was too much. Beth had not right to humiliate her like that. I snatched the pen and the notebook out of her hands.

"Fine, do as you please," Beth raised an eyebrow at my gesture. "So, let's try to make a breakdown of all the potential suspects, starting with the people that were there by the time of the murder. The first condition is that they had to be at MODE that morning; then, let's try to sort the motive."

We started playing Beth's game classifying people that had any kind of opportunity to go to Mr. Hartley and murder him.

"So, how about we start with Marc st. James?"

"I'm okay being on the list" he said. "I didn't do it, of course and, if you really want to know, I was with Amanda at the reception desk sharing a piece of gossip."

"Okay. Now, Betty Suarez, you were in our floor. I saw you eating with Matt at the cafeteria early in the morning".

"Yes, but I went to my office when I finished."

"You were at Mode by the time of the murder?" I looked at her with worry.

"I was but," she looked at me right into my eyes, "I didn't do it. You must believe me."

"Actually, guys, please. Come on, it's Betty. She couldn't hurt a fly."

"Hey, lover boy, if she's a suspect, she's a suspect. Actually, almost every one of us is… except, maybe, you."

"Actually, that makes him suspect number one."

Everyone of us turned and focused in the same direction.

"What?!" said Amanda. "Usually the killer is the least suspect."

"She's got a point there" said Betty.

"Okay!", Beth says a bit exasperated. "Give me the list. I'll handle it and, Betty, you must understand we have to write you in."

"Then, you were also there when it happened. I saw you in your desk early that morning."

"Yes, you're right" Beth only nodded and calmly wrote in the paper. "So both you and I are going in."

She looked at me from the corner of her eyes while she wrote Betty's name.

"This is so stupid!" I said. "Well, maybe you want to put me in there too but I was in here sleeping by the time it all happened."

"Wow! Nice life you lead there, pickle boy."

"It's none of your business" I replied. "I've been having problem sleeping these days."

It was Betty's turn to look at me. I saw a hint of worry in her eyes. I liked that.

"Mrs. Hartley" continued Beth. "She was in a meeting with Daniel at that exact time but I moved once from my desk so I can't tell if she had an opportunity to sneak out of the room."

"Where were you then, can you tell?" asked Marc.

"I went to the toilet. I hope you're not implying I killed my own uncle."

"Mrs. Hartley was acting very suspicious that day" pointed Amanda. "She barely spoke to Matt when they met at the reception."

I glanced at Betty. She lowered her eyes. I remember the stories she told me about how strongly she was opposed to her relationship with her son.

We concurred that she was our primary suspect. There was a piece that worked on her favor: the elevator that crashed. There was a slight chance that someone could have tried to harm her… or kill us. It also was very suspicious nobody was interested in investigating what happened there."

"Wilhelmina, Claire and Daniel did in a quick meeting that evening the elevator failed. Marc and I were there. They are terrified how bad publicity could cast a shadow on the company. So, they chose to keep everything secret."

"Or maybe one of them is the killer and doesn't want to investigate further." I said, "This is ridiculous!"

"And frustrating" said Betty. "We're not the police. How are we going to make a decent decision out of this doubtful information?"

"I think I'll add Daniel to the list" Beth said and wrote his name. "He wasn't in the office for most part of the day after the incident and he was never too comfortable with my uncle's influence in the company."

"How— How can you do that?" Betty looked at her with horrified expression. "Daniel is your boss. You're his assistant, you must protect him."

Beth responded coldly. "I don't know how you worked with him but I'm just her employee. I mustn't get too emotionally involved to become impartial to him and neither should you. If someone is a suspect then we have to put him on the list."

"But—" she said. I was sitting by her side so I put my arm around her shoulders.

"It's okay Betty. It doesn't mean he did it."

She leaned closer and whispered to me.

"I should have never left him," she looked at Beth through her thick eyelashes, "at least not until he found a proper assistant."

"Nobody is going to be like you were with Daniel" I said, "But you did well, Betty, and I'm sure he appreciates what you did for him but you can't be always be taking care of him. He's a big boy."

"Enough with the chit-chat" said Marc. "I'm tired and sleepy. Who's next?"

"Your boss" Beth said, "Wilhelmina Slater."

"And she surely looks the type that could kill with her bare hands" I joked and grabbed a chip from the plate.

"Well, yeah" Marc said. "But she has no motive. The Hartleys saved Mode"

"But Matt Hartley took her job" said Betty. "She treats him like dirt."

"She survived Daniel Meade, I'm sure she could tolerate another unqualified idiot."

"I'm sorry, Marc" said Beth in a tone she didn't meant to be sorry at all, "Wilhelmina is one of our top suspects so she stays in the list."

"I left her in her office before I went to the reception. She's also the one that called the police and was first one to offer herself to be interviewed."

"Well, she could still be trying to mislead the investigation" Betty insisted. "Also, there's a common pattern in murderers with dominant personalities and power, like Wilhelmina, to develop a self-righteous conscience in order to conceal their own wrongdoings by playing both sides of good and evil. Some call it the Hermes complex."

"And somebody's been watching a lot of TV lately" Marc said.

I blinked —what the hell was all that jazz?

"'Criminal behavior analysis by Dr. Robinson' one of Matt's favorite books" Beth said.

Betty blushed.

"Yes, well. Matt has this huge collection of books on serial killer, murders, weapons and stuff like that."

"Gross. How sick is that?" said Amanda.

"It's just a hobby" Beth looked like she was defending him, "sort of a family tradition. Uncle Cal has— had this amazing collection of spy and criminal weapons and so did grandpa."

"So it runs in the family, eh? I guess that makes you a psycho too, miss Hartley" says Marc, vicious as always.

"You're the one that always says," she looked right back at him, "that I'm just half a Hartley, the blue blood doesn't fully run through my veins."

"So, do you think Matt could have done it?" asked Amanda.

"Like I said, he was having breakfast with me." Betty said.

"He's the biggest procrastinator there is. He's probably too lazy to even plot a murder. But, why not? It could be him" said Marc. "I don't think he's all that well in the head department."

I completely agreed with Marc.

Beth hesitated for a second before she wrote his name.

"Now, there's Claire Meade. She's been acting very strange lately" Beth continued. "She's also the one that found him. I heard her screaming, that's when I knew something had happened."

I told them about the conversation I heard that day at mode. How Wilhelmina threatened her and the mention of a certain secret they shared.

"But she's too kind to be a murder" Betty says.

"She went to prison" pointed Marc, "and remember all those ex-convicts working with her at Hot Flash. She has the profile."

Right then Amanda jumped. "I finally have one! Jenny from accounting!"

Another collective sigh of frustration filled the room.

"What?! Where do you get that from?" Beth said abruptly. "Her name hasn't even been mentioned before."

"Well we don't know if she has a motive but she's related to all this somehow."

"I know Jenny" Betty said. "She's a nice person. I don't see how she could be related to this at all."

"She's sister to Pietro, one of the police officers that came to investigate and she works in the third floor of Meade."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Well, Pietro was worried because she had a secret boyfriend in our floor and he wanted to know if I knew about him."

"Why would he tell you anything about his sister?" Betty asked. "Did you know that guy?"

"No, never met him before in my life. I told him I didn't know anything about it."

"I don't understand" I asked. "Why would he trust you to confide you such thing?"

"He's a teddy bear. He said I looked like a Hollywood actress. Oh! maybe he wanted to apologize for the way police treated me. You know he made the best lasagna."

"He cooked you food? Where? When?"

"At my apartment, the night of the day of the murder."

"WHAT?!" we yelled in unison.

"What what? I liked his cute belly, too."

So that's where Marc got all that information from.

"Wait a minute" I asked. "Pietro didn't mention he had any sister at Meade and I spoke with him for quite some time. I know all his family."

"Well," I remember her, said Marc. "She's skinny, pale face, blue eyes, wears glasses and has brown untreated hair with tons of split ends, never wears make up: a very plain girl."

"Yes, that's Jenny Vitelli. Darn it!"

"So is she in the list?" clapped Amanda, probably happy to contribute in some way.

"We don't have motive. But the fact that our friend, the police officer, failed to mention this is strange enough to me", said Beth. "We'll have them both on the list. So we could investigate them further."

After a couple of more minutes of more discussion, we were ready to call it a day.

"Tomorrow I'll confirm the alibi of these people at the office."

Marc snatched the paper from Beth hands.

"Give me that, Match-head."He waved his index finger in front of her face. "Nah-nah! I'd be very suspicious if you suddenly started talking with people, being socially challenged as you are. I'll work this myself if we want to do it right."

We planned to meet once again the next evening. Soon afterwards, Marc and Amanda left on a taxi. I was about to grab my keys to drive Betty and Beth, when a limousine stopped in front of the Deli. Betty ran to the door.

"Oh! Matt came to pick me up! I must go, now." she stopped for a second. "And don't worry, I won't tell him anything about what we talked tonight."

Beth and I motioned to the door and looked how Matt Hartley welcomed Betty inside the vehicle and both disappeared into the city. He didn't even care to say good-bye to us. I really hated that man.

"Would you give me a ride?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Give me a minute" I said and returned inside the Deli. I picked the purse she had absentmindedly left once again on the table and gave it back to her. "You need to be more careful."

After I left Beth in her place and drove back home through the streets of Queens I gathered some thought about that night's meeting. I believed some of us could be lying, I expected no less from the people of Mode, but I was puzzled about Pietro.

It was very strange of him so I made up my mind to call him personally first thing in the morning.

To be continued

Notes:

Ehi, Gio. Dimenticare la rossa, dammi il numero della bionda!= (it.) Hey, Gio. Forget the redhead, give me the phone number of the blondie.

Vattene!= (it.) Get out!

Edited: Fixed the name of the magazine.