Once MiraBeth was locked in the room by herself, she began to spread her notes around the room. Using Roman's tape I hope he doesn't mind, it is for a good cause – she taped pieces that began to match up on the walls.
"The man that was seen on the tape appeared to be between six foot two and six foot three. He clearly had brown hair and dark eyes, probably brown. He appeared to be in his forties or fifties." She picked up her notes on Eric Bischoff. "This man is five foot ten, too short." She put her notes on him in on the table in the middle of the room. "Drew McIntyre is six foot six and so is Jake the Snake Roberts, so they are too tall." She put their names with Eric Bischoff's. "Someone put Alex Riley's in there because of his brown hair and brown eyes. True, he wasn't happy that he stopped wrestling on t.v. but he is still employed. Hmm. New pile…possible conspirators. I'll put him…over here." MiraBeth turned around and picked up the nearest notes. "CM Punk…appeared to leave under duress but is happily employed elsewhere. He is also too young." She moved her notes on him to the ever-growing pile of not-suspects and picked up another piece of paper.
"Shane McMahon…Vince's forty-four year old son. He is six foot two. He has a history of working well with his sister and his mother. People wouldn't really think twice about seeing him here since he is a McMahon. He is a viable suspect." She taped Shane's name on the wall. "Shawn Michaels…forty-nine years old and a popular veteran in the back. He comes to visit regularly. The McMahons must like him with the whole Montreal Screwjob incident. He's also six foot one, close to the approximate height of the perp." She turned back to the wall, taping his name under Shane's. "He's also a viable suspect. Good friend of Hunter's, Vince's, and could work well with the McMahon women." The next paper she picked up caused her to snort. "I am going to guess Sam put Buff Bagwell in here. Really, Sam? I'll give you that he has brown hair and brown eyes. He is 6'1" and he's 44 years old. But who around here has contact with him? How would he get close to Vince? Buff would stick out like a sore thumb backstage. He was only in the WWE for one year way, way, way back. He was a WCW dude. He goes in the 'no way, who cares?' pile."
MiraBeth propped her hands on her hips. "Who's left?" Picking up another page of notes, she said "Sting…55 years old and six foot three years old…but I don't see these guys…well…what goes on in front of the cameras isn't necessarily what happens behind them, either." MiraBeth sighed. "Where to categorize this guy…" She looked around the room. "I am going to put him with Alex Riley. I don't know about either of you yet. Now, Stone Cold Steve Austin. Stone Cold is a good friend of Vince McMahon's as evidenced by that podcast they just did. He also fits the age range since he is 49 years old and he is six foot two inches tall. If Vince is perpetrating a publicity stunt, Stone Cold could be his accomplice so he goes on the wall." She looked at the three remaining names on the floor. "Al Snow and Val Venus, hmm…both fit the age and the height description. Both fit the eye color and hair color description. But…both were employed by WWE after their wrestling careers ended. Both were taken care of and were quite happy. I'm adding them to the not suspect pile."
She picked up the last name and drew a deep breath. "Rosey…360 pounds, six foot four inches and 44 years old…not particularly thrilled that he disappeared from wrestling in 2009 but he has a successful restaurant. He also has had health issues. Could he really be a viable suspect?" MiraBeth sat on a chair and stared at the notes. She continued talking out loud to herself. "Why am I questioning this? Is it because I am wondering about the person or his brother? Specifically his brother's reaction?" She rolled the paper up and whacked herself in the forehead and then looked up at the ceiling. "Um…" Looking around again, she seized up on the photo from the garage again. "There's no way this guy is over 300 pounds. Rosey is out."
MiraBeth stood back and looked at the wall. After starting with 15 names of possible suspects, she had it narrowed down to three good ones and two so-so ones. She also had two working theories of what could be motives. Not too shabby for one day's work.
Her ringing phone let her know that Roman was on his way. She met him at the door, letting him in and locking the door behind him. "Hey." He unlocked his phone and handed it to her. "You might want to listen to this."
"I thought I told you…"
"You are welcome." he interrupted.
"Thank you for whatever you have done." she said, sitting down with his phone.
Roman walked towards his bag, pausing as something caught his eye. "Why is my brother's name in this pile?" he asked, picking up the paper with Rosey's information on it.
"Before you get upset, he's been ruled out. That's the not-suspect pile." MiraBeth explained.
"What pile am I in?" Roman asked, irritation clearly showing in his voice. "If my brother was possible, so am I."
"Only previously employed workers were possible and you are a current employee. Remember that conversation we had before you left the room? Come on, Roman. I know this is rough. This isn't over yet. I haven't found Mr. McMahon. I did rule out ten people, so a lot of progress has been made. And I am probably going to need some help now. Please don't abandon me now." Roman glared at her.
His reply was two octaves lower than she had heard before. "Do not accuse anyone in my family. We did not do this." He turned on his heel and slammed the bathroom door.
MiraBeth leaned against the door and sighed. "Dammit. I don't have time to straighten this out right now." She took a couple of steps away before she pushed play on his phone. She heard two male voices.
The first said, "Listen man, I gotta talk to you. Things have gotten out of hand, a lot further than…"
The second voice replied, "Shut up! Whatever you are about to say I don't want to hear
and I don't want to know. There are cops here."
The recording stopped but MiraBeth already knew who she was going to question. The WWE might be sports entertainment and a foundation for acting, but he hadn't been that good.
