Page 27 of In the Line of Ire

"Arethey nearby?" I asked and Maddox shrugged. "Is anyone elseundercover here? Or any surveillance equipment in thestore?"

"I can'tconfirm or deny any of that."

"Maybewe have some of our own!" I said hotly.

"Doyou?"

"No," Isighed.

"Listen,this is a federal case. Don't get in the way of my investigationinto the big guys, and I won't get in the way of yours into thelittle guys, but I'd really appreciate it if you avoided tippingoff any of my suspects."

"Who areyour suspects?"

"Everyone currently."

"Not aproblem. They are also my suspects. It would be great if we couldshare information, don’t you think?"

Maddoxchecked his watch. "I'll talk to my team. We need to get downstairsor Oliver will start to wonder why we've been up here for so long.Stow your stuff in one of the lockers and I'll walk you downstairsand introduce you to the rest of the staff."

"You'vebeen here long enough to know everyone?" I asked as I shucked myjacket and stowed it and my purse into one of the empty lockers. Iturned the lock and pulled out the key, depositing it safely in mypants pocket.

"Only a few days but, yes, long enough. C'mon." Maddox led theway out of the employee breakroom. We went down the corridor Ientered and the staircase. We popped out of theEmployees Onlydoor on the storefloor. "How'd you get this job anyway?"

"Themall board pulled some strings. You?"

"Weraised the issue with the department store head office once we weresure someone here had to be involved. Officially, I'm strictly anobserver, an area manager from the head office here to oversee thegeneral management of the store with a view to improvingefficiency."

"What isthat supposed to mean?"

"That'sjust the beauty of it. Nobody knows!" Maddox pulled a pair ofblack-rimmed glasses from his pocket and slipped them on. "I justwear these glasses, ask probing questions about customer service,and commiserate with the staff; then I pretend to makenotes."

"I've had a lot of temp jobs like that," I said, privatelynoting that Maddox looked good in glasses. Almosttoogood. How irritating.I might be a married woman now but that didn't mean I’d lost myability to see. "I recommend frowning a lot. Everyone assumesyou’re busy and thinking hard about something when they see youfrown." Too late, I realized that was one of my tactics when Maddoxand I were both employed at the insurance agency. He was undercoverand doing a very convincing job, while I, a very disinterestedtemp, just kept frowning hard and taking a lot of "research"breaks.

Maddoxbit back a smile. "Duly noted."

As westood at the employee door, we assessed our surroundings. I had noidea what Maddox was looking for but I was secretly hoping to finda celestial arrow with "murderer" printed on it and pointing to asuspect, preferably alongside an arrow that said"counterfeiter."

"I'msupposed to be working in accessories," I said. "I know where thatis."

"Ofcourse you do," said Maddox. "Accessories is Magda’s dominion.She's a little older than you, and a bit on the strict side butvery warm and friendly. The other sales assistants regularly rotatetheir shifts and today Joan and Curtis are working. Out ofcuriosity, I checked their schedules earlier. All three of themwere working here on the day of the murder."

"Do youthink one of them might have done it?"

"Noidea. I'm not investigating that case but since I’m assessing workpatterns with the counterfeit operations, I just happened to noteit. All three have access to all the purses too. I thought you'dfind the information useful.

"I do,thanks."

"We'rehere. Your place of joy," said Maddox as we arrived in the sectionfilled with purses, wallets, hats, gloves and just about everyother wonderful item a stylish person could want orneed.

"Isthere a staff discount?" I asked, happy to find myself surroundedby the beautiful, swanky items.

"Probably," said Maddox. He waved to a prim woman in blackpants and a silk t-shirt as he walked over to her. I hurried tocatch up with him again. "Magda, this is Lexi, your newassistant."

"Hello,"said Magda, extending her hand and giving me a warm shake. Then sheturned to Maddox, her eyelashes fluttering as she simpered, "Adam,that's so nice of you to bring Lexi all the way over here. Youdidn't need to go to so much trouble!"

"Anyopportunity to visit you, Magda," said Maddox. Magda giggled. Ilooked between the two of them, nearly aghast at the overtflirting. "Why don't you stay while I show Lexi around? I'd love tohear your input on the new displays."

"I lovewhat I'm seeing," said Maddox, winking. Magda simpered somemore.

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