Amanda turned. Joanne was standing in the doorway of her office, her arms wrapped around herself.
“My partner and I have some questions for you,” Amanda said.
They went into the small office and sat across from Joanne.
“Just let me route the line to voicemail.” She pushed a button on the phone.
“These are calls for Ms. Kelley?” Trent asked, and Joanne nodded. “I’m surprised they weren’t already going to voicemail.”
“Bob”—Joanne sniffled—“that’s the general manager here, is adamant about my answering every call until her death is made public. But I’m sure with you two here…” Her brow pinched. “Hopefully, he doesn’t get upset about it.”
“I’m sure he’ll understand.” That’s what Amanda said, though it was a grand assumption as she didn’t even know the man. He could have been a tyrant for all she knew. Asking that Joanne answer every call the day after her boss died told her Bob was, in the least, insensitive.
The phone rang once, and Joanne flinched. The call switched over.
“We’re sorry for your loss,” Amanda offered the sentiment, meaning it deeply, and feeling like she had to compensate for a boss who was clueless. She and Trent would speak to Bob next.
Joanne hiccupped a sob. “Thank you. I still can’t believe it happened, ya know? I keep thinking it was a bad dream and that I’ll wake up and she’ll still be alive. What happened to her anyway? She was here and then she wasn’t.” Her bottom lip quivered, and she bit down on it. She was doing her best to bury her feelings, it seemed, but she really wasn’t in any shape to be at work.
“We’re still trying to figure everything out,” Amanda started. “You must have gotten along quite well with Ms. Kelley.”
“She was my boss, and she always kept that line there, but sometimes she’d let me past it and I’d see the real her.”
Trent angled his head. “And what did that look like?”
Joanne flashed a brief smile. “She could be a very nice person, and I admired her for being such a strong, independent woman. She got to where she was by being respectful to others. She didn’t sacrifice her values or trample over people to get there.”
The woman had set Eve on a pedestal, but Amanda got the feeling the last part was a dig at Alicia. “Eve sounds like she was admirable.”
“She was my mentor, truth be told. I don’t know what I’m going to do without her.” Joanne’s eyes glazed over.
“We’re quite sure you can help us, Joanne. We need to trace her movements yesterday morning. Can you help us with that?”
“I’ll try.”
The phone rang, and again Joanne flinched.
“Is there any way for you to turn the ringer completely off?” Amanda felt for the girl.
“Yeah, maybe I will.” Joanne pressed on the side of the phone. There must have been a volume toggle there. “Done. It shouldn’t interrupt us again.” Joanne’s shoulders relaxed.
Amanda offered a gentle smile. “Let’s start with a simple question. What time did Eve arrive yesterday morning?”
“She always gets into her office by nine.”
She and Trent had been walking into Eve’s office just minutes after that.
“Like clockwork?” Trent had his pen poised over his notepad.
“Yes. She was a very punctual person. She wouldn’t tolerate tardiness. Her assistant before me was five minutes late three times, and Ms. Kelley cut her loose.”
Amanda didn’t know what to make of that but was happy that she didn’t report to such a boss. “I noticed she had a coffee from Caffeine Café on her desk. Did she normally pick one up from there every day?”
“Yep. On the way in. Ms. Kelley had her routines.”
That trait would make it easy for a person stalking her—possibly her killer. “Did she have any visitors before us yesterday morning?” It wouldn’t seem likely if she’d arrived just minutes before her and Trent. Also that person would need to bypass the front desk, but they could be looking at a Pixie Winks employee.
Joanne shook her head. “You were the first of the day.”
“So no one in the office stopped by either—even for a minute or two?” Amanda asked.
Joanne seemed to give that question some thought. “Not that I recall.”
“Okay.” Amanda was racking her mind. Could someone have injected Eve in the washroom or on the elevator? In the parking lot? But means and opportunity were always linked closely to motive. So who here could check all three boxes? Someone opposed to Pixie Winks absorbing New Belle under its corporate umbrella? “Did you know that Eve Kelley was planning to expand the business?”
“She never told me, but I had that feeling.”
“Why is that?” Trent asked.
“Just things I overheard. Alicia Gordon called here for her recently.” The way the name came off her lips revealed disdain.
Amanda sat up straighter. “You have something against Alicia Gordon?”
“Yes, no, not really… I don’t know. I just know that whenever Eve spoke to her, she was in a foul mood afterward. But it wasn’t like she was angry, just that her confidence had taken a hit.”
Amanda noted the switch in how Joanne referenced her dead boss by first name now. Joanne seemed to be relaxing—the lack of a ringing phone probably helped. “Alicia intimidated her?”
“I guess you could say that.”
Speaking of intimidation, there was the hate mail. “You supplied us with the written threats addressed to your boss, but did anyone ever call to threaten her, that you were aware of?”
“Just the emails and letters I gave you.”
“One more thing before we go, did Ms. Kelley ever mention feeling watched or followed?” Amanda asked.
Joanne chewed her lip. “Not that she told me, but she has been jumpy for about a week.”
Around the same time Eve had told her sister she felt watched. “Thank you for your time, Ms. Thomson.” Amanda stood and gave Joanne her card. “Call me if you think of anything that might help our investigation.”
“I will, but I don’t expect there will be anything else. I’ve told you everything.”
Amanda nodded, and she and Trent left the office. Once down the hall and out of earshot, he turned to her.
“So if no one visited Eve Kelley in her office, then somewhere in the building just before?”
“Must have been, considering how fast pentobarbital poisoning can cause a reaction, according to Rideout. It’s time to talk to Bob, the manager, and find out if there are any surveillance cameras outside or inside the building.” They got onto the elevator, and she added, “Someone she shared a ride with on here could have jabbed her.”