The Six o’clock train shuddered to a stop in the station. The platform is quickly filled with even more commotion as passengers file off of and on to the newly arrived train. Alecia Grey is among those boarding the train. The tall, raven-haired Alecia is tailing a man for his wife. She believed that her husband, Jeffrey Webber was having an affair on her. Alecia was unsure of this claim, but she had only just started the case. Her intuition told her to believe the wife though. Webber owned a decent sized software company, and was doing quite well. Through her years as a private detective, Alecia noticed that when it came to wealthy executives, if a wife assumed there was an affair, she was generally right. There are many characteristics of the wealthy businessman, but it seemed to her that the only common won in all of them was that they were adulterers, or if they were single then they were guaranteed playboys.
Alecia didn’t have any real reason to be on this case. Although she could use the money, she was comfortable living off of the alimony she received from her former husband, a wealthy CEO himself. But she liked helping out women in need. She was sick of seeing women treated badly by their husbands just because they were rich, or bored, or far away or whatever lame excuse they had. She was sick of seeing women being used as tools of satisfaction for wealthy white men.
Once on the train, Alecia sat down in a semi-private room adjacent to Webber’s. With a stethoscope she kept in her backpack, the only luggage she carried, she listened into the room next door. Realizing that nothing was happening in the room next to her, she reached into her bag and grabbed some duct tape, and taped the stethoscope to the wall so her hands would be free to read the morning newspaper she had purchased earlier. As usual, nothing exciting had happened the day before: the big story was a softball tournament being held in the park.
Halfway through an opinion article on the war in Iraq, the train reached the first stop. Passengers came on, others got off, but Webber and Miss Grey stayed in their rooms. As the train resumed its journey, the door to Webber’s room opened. Putting down the paper, Alecia focused on the sounds coming from the adjacent chamber.
At first, all she could hear was muffled conversations, a man and a woman’s voice could be heard. Webber had most likely met his girlfriend on the train. Soon after, Alecia heard what sounded like a bit of a commotion. Had it been two men in there, she would have assumed that a fight was taking place, but given the circumstances she felt certain that it was a little more complicated than a fight. Her suspicions were confirmed to her by the guttural cries that emanated from the room, preceding a long silence.
After a while, Alecia packed her equipment up and stepped out of the room. She had heard enough and wanted to get to a better location where she would be able to take photos of the two as they left the train and follow them more easily. As she stepped out, another passenger was heading in her direction. As the passenger approached, she passed by Webber’s open door. The passenger let out a squeal, and nearly fell over as she yelled for help. Alecia quickly stepped over to have a look. Inside the room lay Webber, with his young mistress. Blood spilled from both of their heads, and a silenced 9mm lay near her hand. Obviously, something more sinister than a clandestine rendezvous had taken place here.
The train came to its next stop and halted at the station. Alecia ran through the crowd to the front and told them what had happened, the doors were instantly shut and the police were called. If this was a murder, and Alecia suspected that it was, then the killer had most likely exited the train as soon as it stopped. She followed the directions being broadcast over the train speakers and returned to her seat, waiting to be questioned by the police.
The police arrived on the scene in good time, and promptly cordoned off the crime scene. The detectives and coroners were in for a short time, looking over bullet wounds and body positions. Meanwhile, detective Cabrera was interviewing Alecia in the room next door. Cabrera and Alecia had known each other since childhood, and were on good terms with each other. He knew that Alecia had nothing at all to do with the deaths next door, but was getting her statement just as a formality. She told him all about her assignment, saying that she assumed the dead woman was his mistress. Cabrera relayed this information to the others next door, and they informed him that that made it more clear. They told him that it appeared to be a murder-suicide. Most likely Webber had wanted to break it off, and the woman, a Tanya Feinstein, had become upset and killed him and then herself. Most likely he had agreed to meet her here on the train to finalize it with her, or for one last fling, and she ended it more permanently. The police took a few more witness statements, and then let everyone go home. To them it was an open and shut case, but Alecia had her doubts. If it was a murder-suicide, why the hell was the door open? More likely, someone had killed the two of them and then simply walked out and forgotten to shut the door completely, and it swung open more as a result of gravity and the movements of the train. But the police dismissed this assumption rapidly, they said that with her statement of a possible affair, and the forensic data regarding bullet wounds and body positions, they were confident in their conclusion and the case was closed.
Three days had passed, and as a favor to Alecia, detective Cabrera delivered the information she had asked for to her. She was interested in the identity of Tanya Feinstein, and what her relation to Webber was. If they were having an affair, she wanted to know how they met, but more importantly, she wanted to know if there was some possible connection between Webber, Tanya, and a killer.
The file being faxed over was brief, as not much was compiled by the police because they considered it an open and shut case. Tanya was an employee for a local computer manufacturer. Apparently, Webber’s company had been dealing with this computer manufacturer: “Harmanware,” owned by Bill Harmon, and that is where the two of them met. But this still provided no solid information or clues to Alecia, so she decided to look into the matter more herself.
It is amazing how valuable the internet has become. Alecia was able to get full company histories for both Webber’s and Harmon’s companies. The two seemed to be mirror images of one another. Both were one-man success stories praising the resourcefulness of the two CEO’s in their abilities to build a company up from a garage office to a bustling office. It seemed that both men had been masters of their particular fields, and shrewd businessmen, a perfect combination for success. The final note on both of the sites was that the two companies had been in negotiations to merge, and form a larger corporation, and that the merger would be taking place in a few short weeks.
These new developments intrigued Alecia. To her they screamed “Business Scandal!” but she knew that she needed some sort of proof. So she made up her mind to go right away to Harmonware’s headquarters, just a twenty minute train ride away. She got off at the first stop and walked the rest of the way to the office building located only about a block away. The busy streets were crowded with businessmen and women, most likely all on their lunch breaks. The three piece suits and professional skirts seemed to move in unison in the opposite direction of Alecia. Her blue jeans and bright red pull-over sweatshirt stood out in the crowd. Braving the sea of people, she managed to shove her way to Harmonware’s headquarters and opened the glass door to the first floor reception area.
Inside was a quite different scene from the streets on the outside. Quiet music played throughout the building, and the employees were dressed more casually than the typical business employees. The walls were adorned with a soft green paint, and the lights were shaded, creating a very relaxed atmosphere. At the front reception sat a spiky haired temp, answering the phones. Alecia walked towards her, her footsteps making a slapping sound on the hard-tiled floors of the office.
She thought for a moment on which way to handle the receptionist, would the truth work, or should she make up some sort of confusing story and hope that the receptionist would grant her access that way. Seeing the way that she popped her gum and played with the phone cord, Alecia decided to go with the latter.
“Hi, I’m Tanya’s sister, I was told I could come by today to pick up her things.”
“Um, excuse me Mike, someone’s here I’ll call you back. What was that miss?” Alecia repeated herself. “Oh, um, Tanya was Mr. Harman’s assistant right? The one who was having the affair on the train?”
“How dare you insult my sister like that! My sister was not some slut tramp who would go around with a married man on a train! You spiky haired twit! I should report you to your boss, is this how you deal with all of your visitors? Or just the ones who are grieving from the loss of their sister? Where is your boss?”
“Wait wait wait, I’m very sorry I didn’t mean that, we all loved Tanya here. I barely knew her but she seemed really nice. Here, here’s the key to her office, it’s right next to Mr. Harman’s, just please don’t say anything to him, I’m kind of new here and I’d like to keep this job.”
“Well I’ll consider it, but it depends on how I feel when I get up there, now what floor is it on?”
“The seventh.”
As soon as Alecia walked past the desk, she couldn’t help but smile. Something about mentally manipulating people just made her happy in the deepest possible way. She stepped over to the elevators and pushed the round number seven as the doors closed her in. The same music was being played in the elevator as in the reception area, and it was actually quite calming. By the time the elevator stopped on the seventh floor, Alecia was completely relaxed again.
As she neared the office, she noticed the door was open, and Mr. Harman was sitting in the chair, looking at a photo of the beautiful Miss Feinstein. He stood up when he saw Alecia come in, and greeted her. Figuring that he may have actually met Tanya’s family, she decided to change her angle with him. “Hi, I’m a reporter for the Bee and I’m interested in the merger between yours and Mr. Webber’s company. My name is Alecia.”
He shook her hand and replied “My name’s Chris, what can I help you with?”
Alecia asked some questions and recorded his answers on her tape recorder. She asked how Webber’s death had affected the merger, as Chris replied that it really hadn’t, that he was now working with a Mr. James Miller, the man who took over after Webber’s death. Webber’s death hadn’t really slowed anything down, in fact it speeded things up because Miller was really the one who had orchestrated the whole thing. As he said this the intercom buzzed, it was the spiky haired receptionist. “Mr. Harman, Mr. Miller is here to see you, he should be near the seventh floor now.”
“Well Alecia, it was a pleasure meeting you, if you’d like to stick around I’d be sure to answer more questions and maybe pose for a few photos after my meeting, but right now I have to go, I look forward to see my name in the papers.” He said the last sentence with a smile and headed out of the office towards his. On her way out, Alecia passed Miller on his way in. Once he made it to Harman’s office, she rushed back to Tanya’s adjacent office and pulled out her stethoscope from her pack again.
The walls were thicker than the trains, but there was less background noise so she was able to listen in a little better. She overheard bits and pieces, but was intrigued by what she heard. Something about “good job” and “now the merger can take place” and “it had to be done.” She assumed that they were discussing the murder of Webber and stopped listening to inspect the room a little. She found a memo tucked in the back drawer of Tanya’s desk and read it. It said that the merger was being cancelled, that Webber had second thoughts and decided that he didn’t want to hand over that much control of his company. He was quoted as saying that he didn’t care how much money he made off the deal, he would not stand around and watch his company run by someone who had no part in building it. It was dated two days before his death.
Alecia exited Tanya’s office at the same time that Miller exited Harman’s. He gave her a funny look and followed her to the elevators. He entered the same one as her and let her push the button to head towards the lobby. In between the fifth and fourth floor, Miller pushed the stop button on the elevator. Alecia froze for a second in fear, then put her hand in her pocket and clutched the .357 revolver she kept in the holster she had sewn into the pocket. But she didn’t draw it, because Miller didn’t come any closer, instead he just turned to her and looked deep into her eyes. His icy stare paralyzed Alecia once again.
“What are you doing snooping around here?” he asked. “Listen, we all know about Tanya’s and Jeffrey’s affair, it wouldn’t be fitting for you to put something like that all over the papers. So as a favor, please don’t print anything too negative about it.”
Alecia began to regain her nerve with the feeling of the cold steel in her hand, and she replied “I was actually more interested in the merger, isn’t it convenient that he died before he could completely back out of it?”
Miller pulled out the stop button to resume the elevator. “Oh, if I were you, I don’t think I’d look into that too much. Too much information can really hurt your brain, it hurt Tanya’s I know that for sure.” Once again he fixed his icy eyes on her and his cold stare penetrated deep into her skull. Alecia knew that she was staring into the eyes of a killer, and she was filled with mortal fear. The only thing that stopped her from breaking down was the protection of the gun in her right hand.
That night Alecia slept restlessly, she was unable to shake the horrible feelings that she had. She began to imagine what had happened, just what had gone down in the train cabin next to hers. She had heard him die, what she thought was an orgasmic moan, was a dying cry uttered from a suffering man. She knew in her heart that Miller had pulled the trigger. He stood to lose the merger and the money it would have brought him, so he and Harman planned the murder. And possibly worst of all, they used young Tanya to die, and take the blame for the murder. Tanya was not guilty of murder, all she was guilty of was having loose morals and sleeping with a married man, a mistake Alecia had made herself in the past. Now all she needed was to prove this.
Armed with her intuition, her .357, Alecia headed over to Webber’s former office. She would confront Miller and get him to admit it, right before he tried to kill her most likely. She marched once again through busy streets to yet another office building. This building was quite different from Harmanware. There was no soft music playing, and no receptionist. The walls were a sterile white color, and the lights were fluorescent and harsh to the eye. Alecia walked straight to the elevator banks and headed straight to the top floor.
The top floor was dominated by Miller’s office, and she didn’t even knock before she walked in.
“Listen Mike, I gotta go, someone’s here.” Miller hung up the phone and sent the icy stare right at her. “What do you want?”
“I know, I know all about it. I know that you are the one who killed Webber, and I wanted to know that you were going to go down for it. I know you framed an innocent woman and I’m here to clear her name. Just because you are rich doesn’t mean you can get away with what you’ve done, you’ll fry for this you bastard.” Alecia hoped that being direct and insulting would get him to admit to what he’d done. She needed him to do that if her plan was to work.
He slowly opened his drawer and fondled a silenced 9mm. in his desk. Apparently it was his weapon of preference. Fearing for her life Alecia drew her pistol, but was too slow, Miller’s hands moved with extreme speed and he fired at her. With a well aimed shot he put a bullet through her forearm and straight through to stop in the thick office door. Her hand opened and dropped the magnum in her hand before she could squeeze off a shot. He had her where he wanted her. “Yeah, I killed him, and yeah I killed her. I got away with it because I’m smart. Jeff was standing in my way, the same way you are, so now I’m going to kill you. Nothing is going to stand in my way of my money. It will be a little harder to explain your death, but you were wrong about one thing, I will get away with it, because I am rich. I have the resources to hide your body and silence all questions. So, any last words?”
Clutching her injured and bleeding arm, Alecia stood tall and confident. She returned the icy stare of Miller’s and for once felt in control. “Yeah: Cupcake motherfucker.” Miller stood in bewilderment as she spit out the codeword. Just then, Cabrera, who had been listening behind the door via a wireless microphone worn by Alecia, busted in the door with his gun drawn, behind him came in six Kevlar wearing, gun-toting officers.
“Drop the gun Drop the gun!” Cabrera ordered Miller. Looking from officer to officer, Miller knew that he was caught, that he was going to jail for a long time. He didn’t even want to think about it. Instead he clutched the pistol in his hand. It had begun to feel like he was holding a hot coal, and it was burning the inside of his palm. He had one chance to avoid jail and once again moved his pistol with blazing speed, squeezing off two shots to the head of one of the officers. If he was going down it would be quick and sudden, not rotting in a cell, sharing a shower with three hundred pound rapists who hadn’t seen a woman in twenty years. The remaining six cops responded in an instant and quickly emptied their clips into his chest, neck and face.
By the time the ringing in Alecia’s ears subsided, two bodies lay on the floor and Cabrera was on the radio for a paramedic and to have Harman brought in for questioning too. If he had any part in this he would be found out. As for Alecia, her suspicions were confirmed. Webber’s murderer had come to justice, and all responsible would be found out through routine police work. Alecia took a seat in a chair outside of the office. She had a slight chuckle as Cabrera came out to sit next to her. “What the hell is funny at a time like this?”
“I didn’t even get paid for this.”
