Ruben was an up and down man, it was clear Adele kept him on his toes, but one thing both Angela and Tom noticed whilst watching the cameras on his daily commute inside that building, was his regular stops at female employees.
"You we're right" Angela said "He's a tail chaser"
"How far back does this footage go?" Tom asked.
"Two weeks"
"Good, go to the camera in his office and playback, let's see if our mystery blonde enters there"
Angela double clicked the rewind button and the camera winded back full speed until there was a blur from the matching suspect.
Angela rewinded it slower until they got to her entry.
"Good day" they heard Ruben speak.
"Nice, this cam even has voice recording" Angela said grabbing her cup of coffee.
"My name is Alison, I came for an interview today?"
"Yes, please have a seat beautiful" Ruben said in a flirty voice making Angela scoff.
The camera pointed towards Ruben, so they still couldn't see Alison's face.
"You applied for the finance department, are you any good at keeping track of money?" Ruben asked clasping his fingers.
"Yes, I would not have applied for this job if I couldn't" Alison said.
Ruben typed away on his laptop then looked up at her "You look young, what's your age?"
"Nineteen"
"Any previous work experience?"
"A small company in west Virginia"
"What's its name?"
She paused "Why?"
"For reference of course"
Tom leaned in over Angela "Pray she gives something here"
"No shit Snyders"
"I can't remember the name now but I'll be sure to get it for you, maybe I can take your number so we can talk on social chat?" Alison said.
Ruben smiled and took out his phone "Of course"
"Sack of seed indeed, she played him like a drum" Angela said.
"Question is did she send him the information? I suppose its back to that damn building again to bring mister Ruben in for interrogation" Tom said standing straight.
"Why not get a police officer to quickly pass by and load him, geez Snyders we're wasting fuel by driving up and down to that place"
Tom stopped at the door "That's a good idea" he said dialling up Robin whilst heading to Warren's office.
Angela looked to the screen again and watched the rest of the interview, Ruben gave Alison his number then continued;
"So what I expect from you here is to phone business clients like small mall situated jewelry stores and make sure of orders and stock, make sure they are up to date with payments and how much needs to be paid, can you do that?"
"Sure, sounds easy enough" she answered.
"Excellent, you seem like a sweet and proper lady, I know you'll be fine, but for now a three month probation period will be opened on your contract to monitor if you can do the job, after that its a permanent contract and a salary raise"
Alison nodded.
Ruben typed on his laptop again then stood up "Sit patiently for me, I'm quickly going to fetch some paperwork you need to sign and after that I'll take your picture for filing purposes"
"Okay then" she answered and he left the office.
Angela sat closer to the screen, this is it, if this girl had a plan up her sleeve she'd do it now, and sure enough Alison scanned the room, glanced the door one last time then quickly stood up taking out an object from her handbag.
Angela saw amazed her lift the laptop and fiddle with it, then placed it down, with a quick snap of a finger Angela paused the recording.
"Snyders!" She shouted but he happened to enter at that exact moment.
"What?" He asked joining her behind the desk.
"Look at this sneaky dog" she said rewinding and playing again.
Tom chuckled and the two gave each other a glance, Ruben came in and sat down but he frowned at to laptop, tapped at the buttons fiddling with his mouse pad, but he lifted his hands.
"It seems this thing just went on a coffee break, here is the papers, just sign of here and I'll take your photo later" Ruben said.
Tom laughed "So poor seed-for-brains talked the truth, but what makes me angry is the damn security that didn't see this"
Angela nodded.
His phone rang and he answered.
"Hey Tom its Robin"
"Yeah, you got the guy?"
"No, he's out, I'm standing here with Adele Monroe, she hasn't seen him and we can't reach him on his mobile as well, is there a reason you want him because I think the man skipped town.
Tom slammed the table "Dammit!"
"Yeah, Adele told me he never goes anywhere without his phone but I found it on his table when we checked his office"
Tom felt a spark of hope "I want that phone! Bring it to me and send a bolo out for Ruben"
"On my way" Robin said and Tom slid his phone over the table.
"He bolted?" Angela asked.
"That's the theory, Adele said he never leaves that phone"
She swiveled in the chair and addressed the laptop again, Tom came in next to her as she scanned the footage of the security guards, so far it looked like the two were basically just enjoying the life, nothing out of the ordinary.
Robin knocked as he entered holding the phone up.
"That was quick" Tom said taking it.
"Its to do with the Butcher right?" Robin said nodding a greet to Angela.
"Yes, so far we have a possible suspect but she's as allusive as a stray cat" Tom said checking the phone "It has a lock on"
"Hand it to me, I can bypass it" Angela said holding her hand out.
Tom gave her a cheeky smile as she took it.
"What?"
"You good with electronics hillbilly girl?"
"Pfft! I had one or two phones I needed to check in my day, let me get this" She said and worked on it.
"You have a name for the suspect?" Robin asked.
"Alison Kowalski apparently" Tom said.
Robin took out his data pad and logged it "I'll scan our database for anything"
"Thanks, I know you're just doing your job but you seem determined officer" Ton asked.
"I am, I knew Oscar's parents personally, family you know?"
"Oh, that's great, it means you can give us more info on Oscars girlfriend?"
Robin looked up smiling "The kid was damn shy about her, he didn't spill anything"
"That's a shame..." Tom said looking at a paused frame of the blonde hair "It could be her right there"
Robin came around to see it, but he shook his head "Can't say, never really saw her"
"This Alison proclaims to be nineteen of age, how old was Oscar's girl?"
"His age"
Tom brushed his chin, there was a high possibility that this girlfriend might be involved, along with this Alison, then someone strong enough to choke the neck of a kid blue.
He looked at Robin, he works out for sure, just half a forehead shorter than Tom he was broad and muscular, that OHPD shirt hugging his bulk tightly...
Would he? Robin didn't seem evil, but then again that one clown in a movie liked sewers, not a hygienic place for a person dressed to make the day of any kid.
"I logged it, it seems no Alison Kowalski is not registered" Robin said looking up.
"How about other states? Can you ask around?"
Robin shrugged "I might be able to, but for that I have to talk to the chief" he said walking to the door.
"Good, let me know" Tom said as the officer left, his eyes on the man the entire way through the glass of his office, Robin didn't once look back, didn't even nod at someone he passed.
Either he's very good at being a killer, or he's dead innocent, a suspicious move would be a glance to see if Tom was watching him, yet Robin did no such thing.
†††
Author's note:
So y'all think the cop is corrupt?