Page 33 of Jane's Story
“Not that I know of. I haven’t put as much time into my magic as the rest of my family, though.” I suspected maybe a spell that might do something like that existed, but I’d have to wait until morning to ask.
Charles stared at his computer screen. “Here’s a list of employees who attended the conference.”
Over a hundred employee names comprised the list. Most of them were unfamiliar, but there were a few I’d met.
Fitzwilliam Darcy, Directing Board Member
Charles Bingley, CEO, Lead Engineer
Lance Patel, COO
Armond Moreau, CFO
Owen Holt, Associate Engineer
Kyle Grimes, Associate Engineer
Catalina Herrera, Events Manager
Ashley Waters, Advertising Executive
My mind kept returning to Lance’s argument with Armond. I tried to ignore it because we needed to consider the other people as well. That left Catalina, Owen, Kyle, and Ashley as the only other people I knew. But with so many peopleat the hotel, our list was endless. Perhaps none of my new acquaintances were guilty.
“We know Catalina, Owen, Kyle, Ashley, and Lance were all near the suite when Armond died. But then there were also the housekeepers, the concierge, and the hotel manager. It’s too many.” I frowned.
“I wonder what we’re missing.” Charles looked into my eyes.
We sat so close together, I wanted to lean on his shoulder. But I refrained. “Let’s focus on the ones that we saw. We don’t know the housekeepers at all, the concierge was helpful, and so was the hotel manager. Unless they knew Armond previously, I can’t think of a motive.”
Being an empath, I perceived enough of people's emotions to realize they weren't as complex as they seemed. The same base ingredients composed them into infinite mixtures, like recipes. “Well, I suppose there are only a few real motivations for murder. In general, it’s money, fear, jealousy, romantic rivalry, anger, or maybe revenge, right?”
”Not really my area of expertise, but I think so.” Charles scratched Moonbeam, who’d reclaimed his lap, behind the ears.
“That sounds right. You can’t think of anyone that might benefit from Armond or Margery being out of the way?” I had to be sure. “Since Armond and Margery were so different, a romantic rivalry or jealousy wouldn’t make much sense.”
“Probably not. Armond’s death might actually hurt Lance since he depended on him for market analyses. Also, Armond’s presence benefited Owen and Kyle because he secured funding for their projects and ensured a market for their inventions. Margery took photos of the new products.” Charles tapped his fingers on the table. “Catalina takes care of Haven Corporation’s image, which would be hurt by multiple murders. Ashley wouldn’t benefit at all. She definitely would have needed Margery around for advertising photography.”
“You don’t think any of them sabotaged Haven Corp., do you? Maybe someone’s got some vendetta we don’t know about, or a rival company is paying them out?” I gripped my pen and doodled spirals in the notebook.
“Anything is possible,” Charles said absently as he clicked through files. “I wonder if someonewanted Armond’s job?”
“Chief financial officer. Is that a fairly well-paid position?”
“Yes, he was making decent money. Who knows?” Charles stopped clicking through screens and paused on the professional portfolio of a beautiful, familiar-looking middle-aged woman.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
“That’s Margery Blake.” Charles’s eyes softened, and he slowly shook his head. “I guess we still have her listed on the website.”
“She looks different here than on her socials. She’s beautiful. You don’t think she had any other romantic connections at Haven Corp, do you?”
“Unfortunately, I’d be the last person to know. Something about being the CEO means people only tell me what I want to hear.” Charles yawned. At least he was aware of his blind spot. Whether people avoided telling him things, he was a little oblivious.
I stifled a yawn as well. “But it also means we can’t rule out the possibility. I think we need to investigate who benefits financially, and if there were any romantic relationships we’re unaware of.”
“Getting tired?” Charles offered a half-smile and patted my hand. I should have pulled it away since we did not need to pretend at my aunt’s home. But I didn’t. Instead, I leaned closer to him, and patted Moonbeam on the head. "We can look into more tomorrow."
With heavy eyelids, I nodded. “Let’s get some sleep.”
