Page 120 - Labelle Gramercy, Detective

Airtight

I don’t know how long I sat there lost in my own thoughts, maybe
ten or fifteen minutes. Then came a knock on the office door: that
got my attention, because nobody ever knocked on doors at
Cyborganics. “All right. I’m coming.” I put away the bottle and
straightened my skirt; one does have an image to preserve, even in
the worst of times.
Indeed it was not a Cyborganics employee. My visitor was a tall
woman about my age. Her hair, makeup and clothes were all a bit
retro, as if she had been stuck behind a desk for a decade with no
fashion news from the outside world. She had very striking green
eyes, however, to go with a definite air of athleticism. The entire
effect was that of a schoolmarm who doubled as gym teacher. I
guessed the crow’s feet just beginning to form around the outer
edges of her eyelids were from squinting against the sun, not from
laughing. Any bemusement I might have felt evaporated the instant I
saw the badge in her hand.
“Kelly Day?”
“Yes, that’s me. Are you with the police?” Rather a stupid
question, but out it came.
“Yes. Lt. Labelle Gramercy, Homicide Division. Can we talk in
here?” She gestured toward my desk and the chairs around it.
“Homicide? Oh, ah, yes, of course. Please come in.”
We sat down on opposite sides of the desk. I hoped the alcohol on
my breath wasn’t noticeable.
“I’m investigating the death of Dr. Laurel Reath,” began the
detective. “We were notified a few minutes ago by the emergency
hospital that she died of poisoning. It is routine for us to follow up
every such report.”
I felt faint. “Poison? Oh, no. What am I going to tell Ben? What
am I going to tell the press?”
“Ben? Would that be Benjamin Schmarker, president of this
company?”
“Yes. I report directly to him. You’ve got to understand, Lt.
Gramercy, that everyone here has been working tremendously hard
on the Ecodome project. To have this happen just at the climax is
shattering. We’ve got a lot to do in a short period of time to get our
act together.”

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