Page 85 of Exposed

“So that’s why you write emails about, like, the weave of the fabric?”

“Yes, the fabric matters, too. It’s cosmetic but it’s what accounts see. We have twelve colors. The accounts choose it carefully. They want to match the rug or the curtains. It’s a thing. When the color dye is inconsistent or the fabric weave looks funky, they’re not happy.”

“And I saw you made a number of other complaints about even the things that are internal, like the metal, the lighting, and the drywall.”

“Right, why are you asking me this?” Simon asked, mystified. “Why does this matter? I mean, you’re trying to figure out who killed Todd, right?”

“I’m coming to that.” Mary was working on a theory, just beginning to cohere. “Whose job is it to make sure that thequality on the production lines is consistent? Is that HR or Operations?”

“Operations. It’s Ray’s job.”

“So you have all these complaints and you write to Todd about them, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you write to Ray directly? Because that’s not the chain of command?”

“Correct. I want to keep Todd in the loop and I know they’re buddies, so I know Todd will talk to Ray.”

Mary took a flyer. “This can’t endear you to Ray, can it? You’re pointing out problems that he’s not noticing or not doing anything about. You’re essentially saying that he’s not doing his job.”

Simon frowned. “It’s not like that in business. Ray doesn’t take it personally.”

“Don’t you think it makes Ray look bad?” Mary thought back to her conversation with Bennie, about business and personal not mixing.

“No, not really. Granted, it would make him look bad if I wrote tohisboss, Mike Bashir, but I never did that. I only told my boss. Todd.”

“Did Ray ever say anything to you about you pointing out all these errors?”

“No.”

“Do you think Ray likes you?”

Simon shrugged. “I used to. Before those lies they put in the defamation suit. If he’s going to say I made those statements, he’s no friend of mine.”

“Did you ever write to Ray directly on a quality issue or for another reason?”

Simon thought a minute. “Yes. From time to time, when an issue wasn’t getting addressed.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t remember.” Simon rubbed his face again. “Okay, yes, I do. The fabrication was sloppy on one of my accounts. It was Crowley’s, a wholesaler for medical equipment. The metal frames of the units weren’t plumb. They were out of whack. At first I thought it was the assembly, but it turned out that it was fabrication. I never got another order from that account. I remember I wrote Ray about that and we had some back and forth.”

Mary made a mental note. “Were there other accounts as well, that you remember you wrote to Ray about?”

“Does this matter?”

“It might. Maybe Ray was more angry with you than you know. Maybe he had something to do with Todd’s murder.”

“You thinkRaykilled Todd?” Simon recoiled, aghast. “He was Todd’s friend. He would never do that.”

“Look at the facts, Simon. Ray is willing to lie for the company, saying that you defamed Todd. And somebody framed you for Todd’s murder or is willing to let you go to jail for it.”

Bennie interjected, “Simon, you should know that I spoke with Ray last night at OpenSpace. He told me he thinks you killed Todd, no question. Ask yourself why he would say that. The answer is, the best defense is a good offense.”

Simon shook his head, nonplussed. “I have nothing against these guys. Nothing. I don’t know why they’re doing this. I don’t know why they would kill Todd.”

Mary touched his arm. “Look, it’s only a working theory at this point, and we have to keep digging. I wish I had emails you’d written to Ray, but we don’t. We only have emails between you and Todd.”