Grim Reaper 01 - Embrace the Grim Reaper

opening the passenger door. He held out his hand and a woman took it, stepping from the car.
    Rosemary narrowed her eyes. “Who are they?”
    Eric shrugged. “Never seen them before.”
    They walked into the building, leaning on each other, the man’s arm around the woman’s waist.
    The picture switched suddenly to the inside of the office, and Yvonne, Karl’s secretary, whom Casey had met earlier that day—came into view, as seen from the vantage point of Ellen’s desk. The image was lopsided, as if the camera were strapped to something, or set in a place that would be hidden, perhaps by the computer. The date was the day following the footage of the parking lot.
    “What are we looking at?” Eric said. “I mean, other than the office?”
    “Karl’s door.” Casey pointed to the left of the screen, where the door was clearly visible past Yvonne’s left shoulder. “Maybe somebody’s in there who will be coming out soon.”
    “Is there sound?” Rosemary got the remote and turned the volume up. They heard the generic sounds of air-conditioning, computer keyboarding, and the occasional comment or question from Yvonne to Kathy.
    Minutes passed in which they watched Yvonne work on the computer—words flying across her screen as she typed—talk on the phone, and file papers.
    “How did Ellen get this?” Eric asked. “She certainly wasn’t working there anymore.”
    Casey considered it. “Either she got someone else to plant it, or she snuck in and placed it herself, using a timer to start filming when she wanted. Is there someone who would help her with that?”
    “Here we go,” Rosemary said. “Look.” Karl Willems’ door opened.
    Yvonne looked up at the open door, and even as she continued working smiled up at Karl.
    No, she wasn’t smiling at Karl. She was smiling at the person behind him, who came through the door directly on the CEO’s heels.
    It was Eric.

Chapter Thirty-one
    Eric’s face grew even whiter than before. “ Me ? Why was she taping me ?”
    Rosemary paused the disk and looked from Lillian to Eric. “Okay. What is going on?”
    Lillian sat like stone on her stool, looking at the wall, somewhere past the television console. Eric shook his head repeatedly, in short bursts, as if rejecting the image on the screen.
    Casey placed a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes. Had she been completely wrong about this whole thing? Was Eric somehow involved in putting the townspeople out of work? Or in killing Ellen?
    No. She couldn’t be wrong.
    But then, Death was awfully anxious for her to befriend him.
    “Eric,” she said, “you’ve got to think back. What happened that day? What were you doing there? Why were you talking to Karl?”
    He ran his fingers through his hair roughly, pulling it into peaks, as he had done in his office. “I don’t know . When was it?”
    They looked at the date on the screen, jittering slightly on the frozen image.
    “Two weeks ago this past Tuesday,” Rosemary said. “Ten-forty-three AM.”
    Eric’s hands remained on his head as he thought. “I don’t know. I don’t remember .”
    “ Think .” Casey wanted to shake him.
    He sighed loudly. “There was a day I went to talk with Karl about COBRA. You know, the insurance for the workers once they’re laid off. And severance packages.” He thought some more. “I went once to ask why I hadn’t been copied on some memos. I had to find out from people at dinner—Home Sweet Home—that the move to Mexico had been pushed back two weeks.” He looked up at Casey. “But I don’t know which day that would’ve been. Maybe if I went home and looked at my calendar…”
    Casey sat back on her heels and looked up at Rosemary. Rosemary’s hair, usually so cheerful and bright, looked out-of-place now over her lined and pale face. Lillian, still seated on the ottoman, kneaded her hands on her lap, chewing her lip.
    Casey stood. “Let’s watch the rest of the footage.”
    Lillian turned so quickly she almost lost her balance. “So we can see more of that ? Accusations against Eric?”
    Casey waved a hand at the television. “There was no accusation. Just a film of him coming out of Karl’s office. If we keep watching, maybe we’ll see something that would make more sense.”
    They all looked at Eric. He took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring. “Yes. Okay. I know there was no reason for her to be filming me. I want to know what else there is.”
    Casey nodded, and waited for Rosemary to