Otter Under Fire

by Dakota Rose Royce

  “Did he give it to him?”

  “You don’t know our IT guy. He had a lot of fun making all kinds of fake passwords and giving him false information.”

  “Maybe someone didn’t think it so funny and killed him,” Tempest said.

  “Interesting little animal,” Susan said to Otter as she examined the toy.

  “I think he’s kind of cute. I’ll put him with my dragon collection.”

  “I looked over your blackmail list too,” Susan said, “You aren’t on there.”

  “No and neither is Michael or any members of management.”

  “My dad isn’t on there either,” Susan said with a hint of relief in her voice.

  “Maybe he has another list for management,” Tempest said.

  “Good heavens, I hope not,” Otter said.

  “We don’t know for sure what this nonsense is,” Susan gestured to the lap top with the toy. “So there is no point in taking it right now. I took everything else you gave me into evidence and gave it to Detective Addison. He plans to get in touch with you and he will have a lot of questions.”

  “Thanks Susan. I really appreciate it.”

  “If you’re right, we need to find a killer and you may be in some danger. I can’t ‘not do’ something.”

  “I appreciate it all the same.”

  “Let’s get some food,” Tempest said. “That’s the reason you came over here, isn’t it?

  Susan saw the table and grinned at both of them. “This is so pretty! You’re making me feel so special.”

  “If we can’t glam up breakfast once in a while, then life would not be worth living.” Tempest said as she took the juice out of the refrigerator as well as the fruit salad.

  “You are special,” Otter said as she cut slices of quiche and put them on plates, “but it’s just fun to put together a little informal elegance once in a while.”

  “Do you know,” Susan said as she pulled out her chair, “That I buy dresses just so I have something special to wear to your house? I rarely have occasion to dress like a girl, and your little events make me feel like one.”

  “Me too,” Otter said and made Susan laugh. “Tempest dresses up all the time but you and me—we have to wear uniforms and regulation shoes. It’s nice to be reminded that we’re women.”

  “Oh, and the Halloween dance, I got to go and buy a dress for that too.”

  “Me too,” Otter said, “I got a flowing blue dress with silver sparkles in it with a really nice drape so it moves right when I dance.”

  “Who are you taking?”

  “One of my customers, a guy named Bob. He goes dancing with me once in a while.” Otter said taking a napkin and putting it on her lap.

  “So when did you talk to Clark’s wife?” Susan asked, taking a bite of fruit salad.

  “I took some of Clark’s things to her yesterday,” Otter said, “Oh shoot; I forgot to tell you that. She knew he was blackmailing people, but claims she didn’t know to what extent. She got agitated when I suggested he might have been murdered. She and Clark were separated because they didn’t agree on this ‘Christ’s Sword’ thing and the last time she saw him he was having a meal with a blond woman in a diner next to the place where he was staying.”

  “You certainly gathered a lot in a small amount of time.”

  “And as I was leaving, that kid I told you about—Jeremy Redding—drove up to see Clark’s wife. She did not look happy to see him.”

  “I’ll pass everything on to the detective. He’s going to have a lot to sort through.”

  “Something just occurred to me,” Otter said, “I need to tell Michael and Mitch about this. I don’t want them to hear about it when a detective shows up in the office.”

  “That would probably be a good idea,” Susan said.

  “I hate to be the one to tell them,” Otter said, “I hope it doesn’t break Michael’s heart. He had a lot of faith in Clark.”

  Chapter 7

  India international text service: Hello Tempest, this is your mother, Viola Blackthorn Claremont.

  Blackthorn Marketing: Mom, I know it’s you. You don’t have to spell out your full name.

  India international text service: I hope I didn’t wake you, I know you hate to get up early, but rising early is good for you.

  Blackthorn Marketing: You didn’t wake me because it’s 6pm. I told you about the time difference. How is your trip so far?

  India international text service: I am enjoying India immensely. Today we are going on a tour of Old and New Delhi. Tomorrow we are going to the birthplace of Lord Krishna.

  India international text service: Apparently Lord Krishna is a very popular guy here. I’m going to read up on him tonight.

  Tempest sighed to herself; there was no point in trying to educate her mother.

  Blackthorn Marketing: I’m glad you’re having a good time, mom. How is Mr. Devon taking care of you?

  India international text service: Oh, he’s very competent, but I’m afraid he is in poor health. He’s been taking stomach pills and headache pills since we got here.

  Tempest had hand-picked Mr. Devon herself to guide her mother and her mother’s church group through some of the spiritual places in India. He was quite adamant that he could handle Viola and her friends with no problem.

  Blackthorn Marketing: When did the pill taking start?

  India international text service: I didn’t notice it until after I had the elephant ride. It was quite exciting. The handler actually understood English and he was quite happy to accommodate me.

  India international text service: Mr. Devon didn’t approve of using a handler that he didn’t know, but it is my vacation and I didn’t see the harm.

  Blackthorn Marketing: So what happened then?

  India international text service: Well, the elephant just mis-stepped and crashed into a market stall. Nobody was hurt and I told Mr. Devon I was fine.

  Blackthorn Marketing: Where was the elephant’s trainer?

  India international text service: He turned away for a moment, and told me to wait, but I figured that since I paid the money I should enjoy my ride.

  India international text service: And I think Mr. Devon has some blood pressure problems too. His face goes all red and sometimes purple. Are you sure you checked to make sure he was fit enough to travel?

  Teach him to think he had things under control, Tempest thought.

  India international text service: And day after tomorrow, we get to see the Taj Mahal. Then we are going on an overnight train ride.

  Blackthorn Marketing: I’m jealous, it sounds really fantastic.

  India international text service: Oh and I met this lovely man and he was so handsome. He kept telling me he wanted to come to the United States.

  India international text service: And after only a few days, he asked me to marry him. I was so flattered because he is so much younger than me

  India international text service: But as you know I already have a husband, so I had to turn him down. It would have been highly inappropriate, what would people at my church think?

  Blackthorn Marketing: I’m sure he was very disappointed mom.

  Somewhat alarming, but not unusual with her mother, Tempest thought, Viola was a woman who forced her way between raindrops. Sometimes the people around her tended to get splashed now and again.

  India international text service: I have to go or I will miss the tour bus. My love to you and Otter, the puppies and the cats, and I’ll bring you back presents.

  Blackthorn Marketing: Bye mom, love you.

  Otter drove to work feeling moody. Joel hadn’t contacted her again about dinner and what day they were supposed to meet. She hoped that wasn’t his typical pattern of turning up unexpectedly and then disappearing just as suddenly. Annie gloated about her newly painted porch on the drive to work and how much fun she had with all the “kids” that came over to help. Otter almost wished she had been there to see it, but knew she already had enough problems
.

  When she got to work, her mind automatically shifted to production mode and she made her way around the shop to check on all the departments and schedules. Everything looked good which lifted her spirits considerably so she went to her office, her purse and lunch bag still tucked under her arm.

  The door was ajar which wasn’t all that unusual, but the room had been trashed. She stared in frozen horror at the unlocked, general filing cabinet that had been emptied on the floor, Clark’s box was turned over and searched through and it looked like someone tried to get into her locked filing cabinet that held her confidential documents.

  She realized that she should have put her tampons in the locked cabinet too, as they were scattered all over the floor as well. She became indignant—why would anyone think she’d hide something in a box of tampons?

  “Wow, Mackenzie, you really have a mess in here,” Ron Defray said from behind her.

  “Thank you for pointing out the obvious,” she said as she unlocked her cabinet and put her purse in there. She opened the mini fridge and put her lunch inside and turned to face him.

  “Do you have any idea who did this?” He asked.

  “Not yet, but the day is still young.”

  “OMG, you keep those in your office?” He said in sincere shock. Otter looked where he was pointing and saw the pile of sanitary supplies.

  “Of course,” she shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “This is a work place, that kind of thing doesn’t belong in here.”

  “Why, because nobody lets you borrow any?”

  “I always know when you girls have your periods,” Ron Defray smirked at her, “You all get so moody and snotty.” He ran his bullet casing along its chain.

  “So what would be your reason for being moody and snotty? Are you in biological sync with us?”

  “Ron Defray, you could be easily replaced by a hemorrhoid,” Sandy said in her five-pack-a-day voice. On the phone she had been mistaken for a man more than once. “Maybe you should just walk away before people start thinking you did this and came to gloat.”

  “Now you listen…” Defray said, beginning to get red in the face.

  “Walk away, Defray, just walk away.” Sandy said, shooing him with her hands.

  “I think it would be a good idea for you to walk away right now Mr. Defray,” Mitch said in his heavily accented voice. “You are obviously causing turmoil.”

  Ron Defray stood for a moment looking like he wanted to say something else, and then thought better of it. He tucked his bullet casing on a chain into his shirt, turned on his heel and marched off down the hall.

  “Good heavens, what happened to your office?” Mitch asked Otter.

  “I have suspicions someone was looking for something. I need to have a meeting with you and Michael at your earliest convenience,” Otter said. “I think we have a very serious situation here and it needs to be addressed.”

  “Don’t tell me that you already want to withdraw from the shop coordinator position? That would be very disappointing.”

  “Oh no! Nothing like that, it may be related to this and a lot of other issues.”

  “Very well, Michael and I will be free at ten o’clock. We can meet then.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You have a hell of a mess here girl,” Sandy said as she watched Mitch’s retreating back.

  “I know. I have to get someone to clean it up. I don’t have time to do it myself.”

  “I’ll do it. The new girl is doing my stuff for me this morning and I need to stop hovering over her. It won’t take but a few minutes, since I put it together the first time.”

  “Thanks, Sandy; you’re a super hero today.”

  “Yeah, I am pretty awesome,” she said as she crouched down to sort the files, “but it sure fucking hurt when they tattooed that red ‘S” on my chest.”

  “Clark McCartney was attempting to control and threaten nearly half the people in this shop.” Otter began. She was sitting in the conference room across from Michael and Mitch. They were both looking at her in utter shock.

  “He confiscated Nolan’s grandfather’s knife and told him he destroyed it, but he kept it in his desk like a trophy. He gathered dirt from people’s pasts and used it to make them give him information.”

  “Do you have proof of this?” Michael asked.

  Otter produced a copy of the list from her computer.

  “Here is his hit list of all the people he had on his radar and why. I don’t think he has anyone from management on this list, which seems kind of odd. If he was looking to control the shop, a member of management was what he would need.”

  “How did you get involved in this in the first place?” Mitch asked.

  “Well, things started showing up in my office to my attention,” Otter answered, not wanting to bring Greg into it. “This last weekend things were left on my front porch. Someone wanted me to know what Clark had been up to-- maybe several someones. Either way when it started coming to my home, I figured the police needed to be involved so I turned everything over to them.”

  “You turned everything over to the police?” Mitch nearly shouted.

  “She did what I think she had to do,” Michael said quietly to Mitch. He turned to Otter. “Thank you for letting us know what’s been happening.”

  “You should have told us first,” Mitch said.

  “I didn’t think it was going to be such a big deal,” Otter said.

  “I wish I had known about this when he was alive,” Michael said, “Then we could have fixed it easily.”

  Otter realized that Michael was coldly furious and it scared her a little. She was used to him losing his temper and yelling. This chilled anger was way more frightening.

  “Then there are people murmuring that maybe someone on his list killed him, he didn’t kill himself.” Otter said. “I keep telling everyone I’m an engineer, not a detective and want to keep it that way. If there is anything to find, the police will find it.”

  “That’s probably the best thing,” Mitch said. “They will go through everything and find out he killed himself and we can all stop wondering about it.”

  “Oh and this morning when I came in, I discovered that someone had gone through my office. They left everything on the floor. I’m assuming that it’s related to this, as I see no other reason for someone to dig through my office like that when it’s much easier to ask me for what they want.”

  “Once we find out this is all nothing,” Mitch emphasized, “Then we can all get back to work and forget about this unfortunate incident.”

  “Mitch is right, Otter, it is all probably nothing,” Michael said looking her in the eye. “You should go back to work now and not worry about it.”

  “You’re probably right, Michael,” Otter admitted, gathering up her things to go, “I need to get back on the floor.”

  “Just let us know if there are any other things happening,” Mitch said as she reached the door. “We would like to know.”

  “Of course,” Otter said and left.

  “Do you think she will stay out of it?” Mitch asked Michael.

  “She has a logical mind. She won’t pursue something that doesn’t make sense. Once the police find a rational explanation, she’ll be ok with it.”

  “I hope you’re right, Michael. This place is chaotic enough without some other craziness in the mix.”

  “And Otter knows that. She will do what needs to be done.”

  It was an open secret that Otter took her lunch in the locked classroom. Sometimes Annie joined her and sometimes she ate by herself, but it was 30 minutes in the middle of the day when she could have some peace and a break from the action on the floor. Everyone knew they could call her on her cell phone if they really needed her, but otherwise they were to leave her alone unless it was an emergency.

  This is why Otter was a little surprised when Michael unlocked the door and came in.

  “I hope I’m not disturbing you,” Michael said as he we
dged himself into a desk.

  “Of course not,” Otter said, sitting up a little straighter.

  “You’ve worked for me for quite a while and I like to think I know you pretty well. I get the impression that you know a lot more than you told us in the conference room this morning.”

  “Yeah, I do,” Otter admitted, “but it seemed to get Mitch agitated so I figured it best to minimize everything and not share the details.”

  “Mitch is a great general manager, but he doesn’t like any disruption to his world,” Michael said, “You and I know that disruption is a natural occurrence and we adjust accordingly.”

  “This is true.”

  “So would you do me the courtesy of telling me the entire story including your speculations and everyone you’ve talked to.”

  Otter told him the entire story, from meeting Jeremy Redding and finding the appointment book to Marvin Jones’s suicide after Clark had visited him. She ended with the box on her porch with the stuffed animal and computer in it with a label that said ‘Mackenzie’ and Susan’s announcement that a Phoenix Police Detective had decided to look at the case. She omitted the parts about the dominatrix ball and the new guy she was dating. As much as she liked her boss, she wasn’t about to go into that.

  Michael was silent for a moment. Then he smiled.

  “You’ve been very busy and not just doing a great job transitioning the shop to new leadership.”

  “I like to think so.”

  “If I know you, you will keep at this until it is totally played out. You won’t be able to stand it if there are any loose strings. I would feel the same way.” He smiled broadly. “I rather liked Jabberwocky myself, when I was in school.”

  Otter chose not to comment.

  “I also think it best we not include Mitch on any more of these meetings. It just gets him upset.”

  Otter nodded and said nothing.

  “Please keep me informed of what is going on with this, Mackenzie. I would consider it a personal favor.”

  “I will.”

  “And I’d better get back to my office. I would appreciate if you keep this conversation totally confidential.”