Grim Reaper 01 - Embrace the Grim Reaper

press Play on the remote. When she didn’t, Casey stepped forward, pushing the button on the machine.
    The footage went back into motion, with Yvonne watching as Eric and Karl left the picture. Her face was expressionless, her smile disappearing the instant Eric was gone. She grabbed a notebook and pen and stood. Karl Willems swept by the table and she followed, disappearing into his office.
    Casey looked sideways at Eric as he watched, wondering what he was feeling. Sorrow? Surprise? Perhaps even guilt? She didn’t like to consider that.
    A few minutes of footage passed with only the office sounds, the image framing Yvonne’s desk and Karl’s door. Soon the door opened and Yvonne came out, her face stony, her posture stiff. “I’m going out for a minute,” she said.
    Kathy said that was fine.
    Yvonne dug in her purse, pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a cell phone, and left. The image held on the empty desk. Rosemary, focused again on the task, fast-forwarded until Yvonne was back in her seat. There were several more minutes of keyboarding, which Rosemary fast-forwarded, until Yvonne reached for her phone. Rosemary rewound to just before the movement.
    A beep sounded over the speaker, and Yvonne leaned over to grab her handset. She glanced up, toward the front of the office. “Of course. Thank you.” She replaced the phone and stood, waiting for someone. They could see by her face when the person appeared, for it became slightly more animated, although still professional. “Good morning, Mr. Nolan.”
    Eric glanced over at Casey. Todd ?
    It was Todd, and he didn’t wait for Yvonne to lead him to the door, surging past with an energy Casey hadn’t yet seen in him.
    Yvonne was able to sneak past him at the last moment in order to open the door, but Todd pushed directly by her and into the room. Yvonne stood there for a few seconds before stepping back and shutting the door. She looked over at Kathy with an expression of surprise, and sat back at her desk.
    Ten minutes later—fast-forwarded by Rosemary—Todd came out of the office, banging the door open against the wall, startling Yvonne. She jumped up from her chair, hands out in front, as if to defend herself. Todd stormed past, his face mottled with rage. He brushed so near to Yvonne’s desk that papers fluttered, and she reached out to hold them down. As soon as Todd was gone she hustled to Karl’s office, where she spent only a few seconds inside before coming back out and shutting the door behind her, leaning against it, her eyes closed.
    After almost half a minute Yvonne walked back to her desk, where she sat and placed her hands on the desktop, hesitating there for several beats until pulling her chair back up to her desk.
    “Is there more?” Lillian’s voice was small, and quiet.
    Rosemary pushed the fast-forward button, but all they saw was Yvonne at her desk, everyone leaving for lunch, and the same routine in the afternoon. No more visitors. Eventually everyone was gone, and the camera stopped filming.
    “Well,” Eric said. “At least taping Todd makes more sense than taping me .”
    Casey sat on the love seat. “Ellen must’ve known he was coming by at some point, but didn’t know when. I still don’t get it. Sure, we saw he was angry, but how does that help us?”
    Eric dropped into a chair. “It shows that Todd and Karl had a fight.”
    “Yes, but…” Casey looked at Rosemary, and then Lillian. “ Karl’s not the one who died. If he had been, then perhaps Todd would be a suspect, based on this. But Karl’s alive and kicking.”
    “Unfortunately,” Rosemary muttered.
    “It’s got to have something to do with the lay-offs.” Eric laid his head back on his chair. “Why didn’t Ellen just tell me? Instead of…” He jutted his chin toward the TV. “Of that .”
    Casey considered his words. “Maybe she was still gathering evidence. She didn’t want to say anything until she had it all pieced together. If we think of this video in that way, it makes more sense. It’s not everything she knew, but just a part that would make sense with other information.”
    “So where’s the other information?” Eric banged his hands on the arms of his chair. “This doesn’t look like anything that should’ve gotten her killed.”
    Lillian gasped, and Rosemary strode quickly to her side. “What is it?”
    Lillian’s mouth opened, then shut, and she stood up, almost knocking Rosemary aside. “I think…” She rushed from