Alex Harris 00 - Armed

emailed immediately to the factory in Europe and distributed to the client as soon as Poupée Mannequins received the order.
    Fascinating stuff but it didn’t shed any light on the Emmanuelle situation. Sandy only heard the bit she already told me and like everyone else, she knew Mrs. Scott and Emmanuelle didn’t get along but had no idea why, except to say Emmanuelle was stuck up and Elvira could be difficult.
    I pulled into one of the parking spaces reserved for Always Prepared and turned off the ignition. I talked with people the entire day and hadn’t found out much. Detective Van der Burg’s words about maybe never solving the case caused my stomach to churn. What if that turned out to be true?
    My fingers cold, I realized I was still sitting in my car. I locked the door and went into Always Prepared.
    “It’s nice to be back at my own desk with my own things,” I said, plopping into my comfortable chair. “We’re so lucky to work here with just the three of us. You can’t imagine the things that go on out there in the real world.” I leaned back savoring the contour of my chair, well worn in all the right spots.
    “Sure I can. You forget that’s why we decided to open up our own business and go hungry for years with no new clothes and cardboard in our shoes to keep out the cold when they got holes.”
    My sister was almost three years older and an inch taller. Both of us had inherited our parents’ height. Her eyes were a soft brown and her skin tone just a shade darker than mine. She had been the typical older sister growing up, forever picking on me, scaring me when she could get away with it, and in general being a royal pain in the backside. We had our own set of friends but as we got older we gravitated toward each other more and more.
    “Things weren’t that bad at the beginning?” I asked.
    “Well, there were times. Hopefully they’re behind us. I’ve grown accustomed to the finer things in life.”
    Speaking of bad times behind us. “Any new leads today?” I asked hopefully.
    “A small job. They need about five temporary staff for four months.”
    “Well, it’s something.”
    “So how’s it going over at Murder Central?” my ever-tactless sister asked.
    “I talked with some people and Mrs. Scott was more difficult to work with than we had imagined,” I said while sorting through some mail.
    “That bad, huh? Anybody a good candidate for the murder?”
    I stopped sorting the mail. “Hmmm. I don’t know. I haven’t uncovered anything that would make me kill someone.” I sat back looking thoughtful, fingering a flyer in the stack of mail.
    “What’s that look for?” Sam furrowed her brow causing a small winkle to form on her smooth forehead.
    “I hate to say it, but I’m beginning to wonder if something went on between Mrs. Scott and Mr. Poupée.”
    “Really? Are you sure?”
    I shook my head back and forth hating myself for thinking it. “No. I’m not sure. But he certainly protected her a lot, and seemed totally oblivious to some of her dealings with employees. And he did go over to her house and help with things.”
    “That doesn’t mean anything. Remember when our neighbor’s husband died? Dad always helped out. Can’t remember her name.”
    “Mrs. Drummond.”
    “Mrs. Drummond! That’s it. Dad went over a lot.”
    “She was in her eighties!”
    “Oh. Well, Mrs. Scott had to be close to eighty, right?”
    “No! Jeez. What’s wrong with you? She…well, she wasn’t eighty. More like early sixties.”
    I grabbed the jar on my desk finding it empty. I pulled a very large bag of mint flavored M&M’s from a desk drawer and refilled the jar, happy the Christmas ones didn’t include the horrible blue ones.
    “So what else have you got?” Sam took a handful and walked to the window, cracking it open a bit, letting in a draft that threatened to blow the mail onto the floor.
    “The consensus is Mrs. Scott and Emmanuelle didn’t get along. Jerry, the factory foreman, really disliked her. Probably because she wouldn’t go out with him. I can’t come up with a reason why Emmanuelle and Mrs. Scott had problems. Everyone knows they did but no one knows why.”
    “At least that’s what they’re saying,” Sam added.
    “True. Emmanuelle’s very ambitious and maybe she just rubbed Mrs. Scott the wrong way. I don’t think anyone is fond of her, though I don’t think anyone really knows her well. Winston said, ‘ You have enemies? Good. That means