Her Frozen Cry (Detective Amanda Steele)

“And you lock your office door or…?”

“No. Alicia had an open-door policy and valued transparency. She understood that privacy was needed at times but didn’t believe anyone in a management position should ever lock their door.”

“Could we see the printer?” Amanda asked, standing.

“Sure.” Harold took them to his office and pointed toward a printer on a credenza. “That’s the one I used.”

“Could you print something for us?” Amanda nudged her head toward his computer on the desk.

Harold obliged, and the printer whirred to life. It made a little groaning noise as it worked and spit out the page. Creased just like Alicia’s hate email and the threat given to Tony Bishop. He’d said other people could enter his office. Conceivably another person could use his printer, but the fact he had a motive to kill couldn’t be ignored.

“Mr. Armstrong, we need you to come with us,” she said.

“What for?”

“You’re under arrest for making a threat against Tony Bishop.” They’d also be looking at him more closely for Alicia Gordon’s and Eve Kelley’s murders. But one step at a time… “You can come with us willingly, or we can do the walk through the building. Up to you how you’d like us to handle it.” She pulled her cuffs, driving home the mental imagery of his fate if he didn’t cooperate.

“I’ll go along willingly, but I want a lawyer.”

“And that is your right.” She proceeded to read him his Miranda rights, and they left New Belle.