4Chapter 8: Mitzi's Office
Mitzi was sitting in her office, reading some accounting papers and signing some checks. It was a boring but important part of the job, and one she was finally able to actually do, now that she was at least making money to pay people. She rubbed her eyes...she didn't get too much sleep the night before. Mostly just up thinking. She hadn't thought this much about Atlas in a while...she loved Wick, sure, but it was hard now that Atlas was the main talking point on the Daisy's mind. It seems everyone and their mother knew about the search, but luckily no one had come up with any hair brain theories abo-
"Mitzi!" Rocky and Ivy jumped into the room. Rocky went first.
"We figured it out!" Ivy went.
"The killer knew the place really well and left almost no trace, right?" Mitzi tried to speak.
"Well, I-" Rocky cut her off.
"Which means that he had to be able to get out and not look suspicious!"
"Which means it had to be someone who WORKED HERE!"
Mitzi shook her head. "No, the theory now is-"
"The only one who managed to get a promotion out of this whole deal was Horatio! It was HORAT-"
"Would you two be QUIET!" Mitzi slammed her hands down on the desk and stood from her chair, seething. She sat down. "...the theory is that someone close to us gave information to someone from the Marigold." She said. The group was quiet for just a moment, and then there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." In walked Dominic Drago, who looked a little tired. "Hello, Miss May. I have news."
"What is it?"
"Couldn't have been Bobby or Elsa." Mitzi sighed with relief.
"Thank goodness…" She yawned. "So what's the theory?" Rocky stood up.
"Mister Drago? We have an idea!"
"And what might that be?" Dominic asked. Ivy furrowed her brow and looked over.
"Wait, Rocky, I don't think we were right...how were Bobby and Elsa involved?"
"I can't say." Dominic said. "Confidential. But I have an idea who it might've been." He said. "I think we're looking for a man named Wes." Rocky scoffed.
"Believe me, we've come across Weasel Face before! Couldn't have been him." Dominic leaned on the wall.
"And why's that?"
"You said the killer found his way IN, right?"
"Yes, I did."
"How would he even get into the place if he had no friends here to give him anything?" Ivy leaned in.
"He didn't have any friends at the daisy, did he?" She asked.
"That's true...did he have money?" Dominic asked. Rocky shrugged.
"Only as much as his handler, Asa Sweet, would give him. I doubt it was much." Rocky said. Mitzi groaned.
"Sometimes it doesn't take much." She stood up and walked around to the door. "We haven't got much going for us, have we? How're we supposed to pin it on him?"
"Someone matching his description was seen hanging around defiance that night, 'sfar as I could gather." Dominic said. He paced around the room.
"...how about we intimidate the answer out of him?" Ivy asked.
"He might confess just to get us to stop scaring him." Dominic said. Mitzi looked over.
"With Viktor out of action for that arm injury last week, we haven't got anyone intimidating enough."
"What about Cal?" Rocky asked.
"He's busy with some prostitute's sister." Mitzi said.
"Ivy, I had no idea your sister was a lady of the night!" Rocky seemed surprised. "What's her number, and does she let you call her different names?" Ivy smacked him.
"She's not MY sister! It's different than that." She went over to a bottle of brandy that Mitzi had in her office and poured herself some. "And either way, he's really not that intimidating. He's too much of a sweetie to wanna scare someone like that."
"So this wes character," Dominic said, trying to get back on track, "he didn't have any friends at the daisy, but someone like him was seen around the exit site."
"The Marigold as a pickup site near that old one, too, now they use it for the Arbogasts." Mitzi said. "He had every reason to be back there."
"Then who was running from the site when the Arbogasts left that night?" Dominic asked, his brain knocking itself back and forth, trying to make sense of anything.
"It's a mystery."
"It's a mystery!" Carol was rushing around the apartment. Calvin was there to pick up Ellie and take her to Ivy's dorm for the night, but...well, Carol was looking for something. "I got some money out of the strongbox this morning and now I can't find it anywhere!"
"What color was it?" Asked Calvin.
"It was red. My parents' insurance company gave it to us before they...left." She chose her words carefully...Ellie was, after all, right there on the sofa, helping to look as best as a little girl could. Calvin looked in a closet, and saw all manner of things...mostly womens underwear and scant dresses, but a little bit of red peeking through the back of a drawer. "I think I have it." He pulled it out, and sure enough, there it was. He counted the bills. "424 dollars. Is that right?"
"Perfect! Thank you so much, Cal!" She hugged him and kissed his cheek, and he blushed a little. He wasn't used to this sort of familiarity, especially with women not named Ivy Pepper.
"Thanks, I, uhm...appreciate it." He grabbed Ellie's hand. "C'mon, Ellie, we're gonna go see a college."
"That sounds fun!" Ellie followed excitedly. "Bye, Carol, see you soon!"
"Bye, sweetheart! Calvin, take care of her!" As the door shut, Carol sat on her couch. She felt...something about Calvin. She knew she shouldn't, he was getting married, and familiarity with anyone could be detrimental to her current career. It was fleeting, she was sure of it...he was the first man she'd met in a while who wasn't a potential client, and while she didn't think there weren't good men out there, the last time she'd met one who wasn't critical of her career was hard to remember. She got dressed for the night, looked outside, and heard the phone ring.
"Hello? Yes, this is she. Sure. Alright. Come to think of it, there've been some issues with the stove, you wouldn't mind coming to take a look around 10? Odd hour of the night, I know, but I'm very busy until then. Splendid...thanks." She hung up. She was in for a long night, that guy always took ages to finish the job. Must be his age, she thought, I bet Calvin's not like that, he looks- she stopped herself. She knew it couldn't happen.
She heard a knock on the door. She went over to answer it, smiling gently as she did.
"Oh! You must be here about the lights. The faulty one's this way."