Smile And Say Murder [On Hold]

C h a p t e r O n e

"She's definitely annoying," the other woman agreed. "But don't take it personally. She bugs everyone, not just you."

Blue listened with interest. Clearly, the women were discussing Flash's co-owner— and they weren't too fond of her.

Blue stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to the eighteenth floor. The doors opened onto Flash's reception area, a large, spacious room decorated with modernised furniture. Sparse but tasteful, and very, very expensive. Huge glass windows gave a perfect view of Lake Michigan, and a brightly coloured painting hung on one wall. Two long hallways, one pale pink, the other cream, led in opposite directions. Through the open door on the right, Blue noticed six or seven brand new and expensive looking computers. Obviously, Flash wasn't hurting for fancy new equipment.

Blue walked up to the young man behind the reception desk. He was playing a game of Clone Wars on the computer. "Hold on," he said without looking up. "I just have to get this last clone." He played intently for another thirty seconds. "Got him!" He half yelled in happiness. "Okay, who are you and what can I do for you?" he asked, finally paying attention to Blue.

"My name is Blue McMahon. I'm here to see Yvonne Verdi." She said with a smile.

"Ah, the queen clone herself. If only it were as easy as a game." The receptionist sighed. "She's expecting you. Her office is down that hall and on the left. He pointed to the cream-coloured hallway.

Blue smiled and headed in the direction he had pointed, filing away another bit of information. Already she had the feeling that Yvonne wasn't too well liked around Flash.

Blue found Yvonne's office and knocked. "Come in," called a voice. "Blue McMahon," the woman behind the desk said as she got to her feet. "Welcome to Flash!" She extended her hand to Blue.

At five feet eight inches, Yvonne Verdi was only slightly taller than Blue, but her imposing presence made Blue feel almost small. She was one of those hot young business people who obviously had it all. Blue decided she couldn't be more than twenty seven years old. In her stylish skirt and blazer, with her brown hair swept into a French knot and her dark eyes flashing, she didn't seem like a woman anyone would want to mess around with. The writer of the letters was either very tough or very crazy to be threatening Yvonne Verdi.

"Glad to meet you, Ms.Verdi," Blue said, shaking the publisher's hand.

"Call me Yvonne," the publisher replied. "We go by first names here. Please, have a seat." She gestured to cushy black leather couch, and Blue sank comfortably into it. "Okay, let's get down to business," Yvonne pulled two envelopes out of the desk drawer and sat down herself. "These are the reasons I called you today."

Blue smiled sympathetically. "Threatening letters can be very disturbing," she said,"but they're not always serious. Sometimes the writer's only mean to scare their—"

"Oh, but these particular letters are serious," Yvonne cut in. "Blue, someone's trying to kill me!"

Blue studied Yvonne's face. It was hard to tell what she was feeling. "Why are you so sure of that?" She asked.

"Because I know who is trying to do it!" Yvonne threw her envelopes down for emphasis. "It's Brian. Brian Vorderman. He's the other owner of Flash— our art director and main photographer."

"Your partner?!" Blue exclaimed, surprised.

"Yes." Yvonne patted a stray brown hair calmly into place. "But," she hastened to add,"it's not his fault. He can't help himself. You see, I think Brian is cracking up. He's never been very stable, and right now, the pressure of Flash's success is getting to him."

"How do you know that he's going over the edge?" Blue asked.

"Brian and I are old friends," Yvonne explained. "I can tell when he's starting to flip out. In fact, our friendship is the very reason I called you instead of the police. I care about Brian a lot, and I want this thing handled delicately. I don't want any embarrassments- not for Brian and not for Flash."

"But, why is he threatening you?" Blue asked.

Yvonne sighed. "To tell you the truth, Brian and I have been . . . disagreeing a lot lately. Actually, we've been fighting,"she admitted. "It hasn't quite come to out-and-out-punching, but almost."

"I see," Blue said. "Well then, why now? I mean, why is Brian getting vicious all of a sudden? Has something changed for him recently?"

"Yes!" Yvonne answered, her dark eyes gleaming. "Not just for Brian but for all of here at Flash. Our sales figures are rocketing, and that's attracted quite a bit of attention, primarily from MediaCorp, the international news syndicate."

"They want to buy you out?" Blue asked.

"They've offered us ten million dollars."

"Are you going to accept it?" Blue leaned forward in her seat, waiting for the answer.

Yvonne's expression remained impassive."No way!" she said. "Flash is my baby. I gave up a writing career for this magazine. I'm not ready to get rid of it yet, not even for a whole lot of money."

Blue was surprised. This was an emotional side of Yvonne she hadn't figured on. "Then it's Brian who wants to sell it," Blue surmised. "That's why he's threatening you."

"Not threatening, trying to kill me," Yvonne insisted. "But no, Detective McMahon," she said with a smile. "I'm afraid you've deduced wrong this time. Brian doesn't want to sell either. But somehow he's gotten the idea that I do! That's the crazy part. Now he's willing to do anything to stop me from selling- though I don't intend to!"

Blue felt uncomfortable. She didn't like the way Yvonne seemed to be getting a kick out of her wrong deduction. But good detectives never let emotions distract them when they were looking for clues. keeping her feelings to herself, Blue said simply,"That's pretty complicated." She reached across Yvonne's desk to take the letters. "May I-"

"Oh, please, go ahead," Yvonne said, interrupting Blue.

Blue picked up the two envelopes. She slipped the first letter out and looked it over carefully. there was no doubt about it- it was frightening.

The letter included a photo. The picture was a still from a horror movie. It showed a brutal looking man with an axe about to attack some poor woman. But the sender of the letter had replaced the face of the movie actress with Yvonne's own picture. There was a note too.

Yvonne,

You're mistaken if you think I'm joking. Unless you change your mind about the deal, you're not going to have one to change. There won't be anything you can do to stop me. So just sit back and wait for the pain. It's only a matter of time . . .

The Grim Reaper

<+><+><+><+><+><+><+><+>

Oooo, there's no stopping the Grim Reaper. Make sure to give this chapter a vote and leave a few comments on what you think. Thanks for reading x

Until next time, bye xoxo