Candy For A Dead Man

[SimonW]

( chapter 4, part 3… )

“Sorry for the intrusion, sir. Thought you might want to see this,” announced Patrolman Bob Wallis as he stood in front of the sitting down Detective Harry Stone and produced four files from his police jacket that had the same file folder system of Joey Marley’s employment record.
Patrolman Bob Wallis allowed the files he held to fall on top of the late Mr. Marley’s desk in front of Detective Harry Stone, whom looked at the top of the files with mild interest.
“And what exactly are these?” the lead detective asked whilst gesturing towards the four files with folders in front of him.
“Miss Wilson thought they may be of help, sir. They are the work files of the workers that had an appointment with the victim,” Patrolman Bob Wallis stated with tact.
“True, she did say he had several visitors. Thank you, Bob. And if you see her again, thank Miss Wilson for these too,” Harry Stone muttered as an afterthought as he started musing his thoughts once more.
“Will do, Sir,” replied sharply Bob Wallis before saluting and retreating back towards his post, leaving Detective Harry Stone back to his thoughts and the new evidence in front of him.
The Manila folders seemed to taunt Detective Harry Stone, as if daring him to try and find a breadcrumb of a clue within them. Undaunted by the unsaid challenge within his mind, Detective Harry Stone took a resolute puff upon his lit cigarette before he took the topmost file within his hands and opened it to read the contents.

( to be continued… )

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 4, part 4… )

The file had a dossier of sorts, showing a list of achievements and accomplishments within. The files of white papers were at least six pages long. Raising his eyebrow with scepticism at such glowing accolades, Detective Harry Stone merely skimmed over the detailed text and focused upon the initial first page for reference. Apparently, it was the file for one of the newly hired employees of Marley’s Candy Bars, a confectionary maker and chef of some kind called Denise Rose Dupree.
She grew up in France before getting an accolade of awards as a sweet maker and confectionary chef before coming to America to, in her own handwritten words for reason of employment, “broaden my horizons outside of France.”.
A photographic picture was attached showing a white hatted woman looking to be mid-twenties with a determined smile plastered upon her face with a curler bun tying back her golden brown hair and a look of optimism within her hazel green eyes.
“Pretty,” remarked Detective Harry Stone idly to himself as he glanced through the rest of the file before he was content that there was nothing else of interest within the bulky file folder of Miss Denise Rose Dupree. He closed the folder and placed it to the side as he took hold of the next file folder from the remaining three he had yet to look through.

If the last one was too bulky, the next file folder almost seemed too light within his hands. With a grimace, Detective Harry Stone exhaled another puff of his cigarette before he opened file folder number two and began reading.
The name on the file was somewhat not all that surprising to Detective Harry Stone, a Mitchell Abrams, a name Detective Harry Stone knew all too well from the District Attorney’s Office. A hotshot lawyer with nothing but integrity, Mitchell Abrams was an up and coming lawyer of youthful renown and making a fast name for himself with over twenty law cases won and only suffering two losses. And of those two losses, it was only because one of his clients did not show so the case was awarded to the plaintiff and the other was seen as thrown out due to unforeseen circumstances out of Abram’s control.
Still, it was a slight surprise to see Mitchell’s name pop up in this case and was intriguing enough that Detective Harry Stone paid extra attention at the two sheets of paper within this file as he had detected earlier it was lighter to pick up.
First, he noticed the first page was not a simple employee worker page but it held a similar photograph, possibly for reference, to that he saw within the other files he saw of Joey Marley and Denise Rose Dupree.
The photo saw a smiling Mitchell Abrams within a business attire suit holding a book of law in a full body profile picture to the side, possibly a photo copy of one the thirty-two year old lawyer used for an in depth interview about his upward trajectory within the District Attorney’s Office.
The spectacled lawyer had slick backed black hair and looked somewhat bashful in his brown eyes from behind the prideful and upright depiction when first Detective Henry Stone glanced at it.
The first page itself held not much interest except a small photocopy of what looked like a contract of sorts with the Marley Bars Company, but depicted a notary signage of a third party, not Mitchell Abrams himself.
It wasn’t until Detective Harry Stone read the second document that it soon made sense. It was a typed up letter from Mitchell Abrams that he had to renew his contract with his client, a silent investor and newly formed shareholder in the business of Marley’s Candy Bars and acted upon his client’s behalf as a legal interpreter of sorts between Mr. Keith Marley and his client.
Again, Detective Harry Stone let out a resolute puff from his mouth as he closed the file. So, Mitchell Abrams acted as the new representative that had signed up to Mr. Marley’s company that Miss Wilson had talked about earlier. It made sense, in a way.
Putting the second file aside, Detective Harry Stone let himself ponder over this fact, a sense that something in the curt way Mr. Abrams had sent this letter to Mr. Keith Marley and requested an in person interview on the day of his death…
Shaking his head that he was overthinking things, it was plausible that there was something Mitchell Abrams needed to discuss with Keith Marley about in person as, the letter stated, he had to act in his client’s best wishes.

( to be continued… )

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 4, part 5… )

With a noncommittal deep sigh, Detective Harry Stone placed the two documents back within the file folder before closing it and placing it atop the other two and reaching out for the next file folder.
This file was a bit heftier than the Mitchell Abrams folder, but not as much detail as Miss Dupree’s, as Detective Harry Stone soon found out when he opened it.
The photo was a headshot of a greying haired man with a weather-beaten face, whom looked to be in his early sixties. The name in his work employee papers was Donald Russel, a mechanical tradie of sorts.
‘This must be the old employee of the company Miss Wilson spoke of,’ mused Detective Stone to himself, easing himself into a more relaxed pose within the deceased Mr. Marley’s chair.
An engineer of respectful reputation, Mr. Russel was employed with the company for over thirty years, holding the position of Head Mechanical Engineer in high standing with little to no trouble within the company of Marley’s Candy Bars. A testament to old fashioned loyalty as he had stayed within the good graces of Mr. Keith Marley and the company, even with the ups and downs crisis that almost made the company bankrupt due to the factory being overcome with union rioters or the recent “poison rumours” floating about.
Detective Harry Stone did not need to be told any of this, as snippets of these events were cut out of old and recent newspaper articles within Mr. Russel’s work folder. They were with circled in black sharpie pen of several accounts of witness statements and crossed out “facts” that were in possibly Mr. Russel’s own scribbling, hence why they were in his file folder.
These were the only interesting things Detective Harry Stone could detect for the moment, closing the third file of the day with contemplative thoughts swirling within his mind.

( to be continued… )