Page 8 of Heart Me Up
I shifted in the chair. Jesus. “I’m a detective with the Bent Oak PD, but I’m not here on official business.”
Craig sat down in his chair. “Okay, so what can I help you with today?”
I handed him the folder I’d brought. “My neighbor found this in her granddaughter’s room. She was pretty upset. I told her I’d come talk to you about it.” I watched closely for his reaction as he opened the folder.
He blinked and said, “Corrie Richards.” He didn’t touch the card.
“You want to tell me why your business sent a condolence card for a living person?” I tried hard to keep my voice even and calm.
Craig sighed and scratched his neck, grimacing as he plucked off the offending clump of white fur. “At the time we sent this, I promise we thought she actually was dead.”Hmmm. That one statement made my suspicions about Corrie a lot stronger.
Then Craig sucked in a breath and his eyes went wide. “You said Corrie’s grandmother found this? Oh, god, how awful for her. She must think we’re terrible people.”
No kidding. I managed a slight smile. “She’s pretty mad at you, but I’m getting the feeling she’ll be mad at someone else after I report back to her. Tell me what happened.”
He considered for a moment. “It’d probably be better if you heard the phone calls.” He shoved the papers off his laptop and woke it up.
“Wait, you record your phone calls? I’d think you’d have to be a much bigger business to afford that.”
Craig scoffed. “You have obviously never dealt with a client who cannotbelievewe gave her precious baby a bath when she issureshe told us not to. Or the client who ispositiveshe canceled the Christmas reservation and not the Thanksgiving one.” He shook his head. “Sometimes the clients are right, and it’s useful for training.” He snickered. “But occasionally we get to play a client the recording of their own voice asking for or declining a service after they’ve insisted we were the ones who screwed up.”
I grinned. I liked this guy. I hoped he didn’t turn out to be a bullying asshole. “Ah. An anti-Karen system.”
Craig laughed. “Exactly. But the other benefit is being able to document employee call-outs and other HR-related stuff. Corrie’s calls were so unusual I saved them in case something happened. Which it seems it has.” He paused. “Look, I’m not really supposed to discuss employee issues with anyone other than the employee, but given you’re the police….” He raised his eyebrows.
Ah. I smiled and shifted in the chair so my badge—not to mention my package—was more prominently displayed. “So you need an opinion on whether a crime has been committed?”
He snorted and browsed on his computer. He selected a file, then told me, “Corrie had only been working for us a few days. She was going through her training and doing a decent job, though we had to speak to her several times about putting her cell phone away. She was supposed to work Sunday afternoon, and Sunday morning Kat, our Boarding Manager, got this call.”
He started the recording.
“Thank you for calling Bark & Purr, this is Kat.”
“Hey, Kat, it’s Corrie.”It was odd hearing Corrie’s voice coming through the computer speakers. I was a little conflicted about invading her privacy, but I remembered Craig saying they’d thought she was dead. I needed to hear this.
“Hi, Corrie. What’s up?”
“Hey, I’m not coming in today. I took a test last night and I found out I’m pregnant.”Holy shit!
“Oh. Um, congratulations, I guess? So why can’t you come in?”
“I’m pregnant!”
I must have made some sort of sound, because Craig paused the recording.
“I don’t think her grandmother knows,” I told him, rubbing my face. Shit, I wasnottelling Silvia about this.
“Don’t panic just yet,” he said. “I’d bet it isn’t true. Kat smelled bullshit right away. She’s heard a lot of call-out excuses in her time, so she’s got a good ear for which ones are legit. Corrie never says she feels sick or she’s freaking out too much to focus at work. Kat would’ve let her have the day off for something like that, no problem. But that’s not what Corrie said, so Kat suspected she was lying.” He clicked his mouse again and Kat’s voice came back on.
“Being pregnant is not a valid reason to call out. Pregnant people work here all the time, even up until their due dates. It’s a summer weekend and we’re completely full. Unless you have a doctor’s note stating you aren’t well enough to work, we need you here or else it will be an unexcused absence.”
“Why are you being so mean?”
Kat’s tone was firmer.“Corrie, like I said, if you bring me a doctor’s note stating you can’t work for medical reasons, I’m happy to excuse your absence. Otherwise I will expect you here this afternoon. Do you understand?”
The recording ended abruptly.
“Did she hang up on her boss?” I don’t know why I was shocked, given Corrie had probably been pretending to be pregnant.
