Read Online Death Loves a Messy Desk by Mary Jane Maffini - Free Book Online

Dyan .
    “Barb. She didn’t come in.”
    “Oh.”
    “Can you blame her?” Robbie blurted. “She’s practically being persecuted by all of you she-witches, and you expect her to come in and take it day after day? What is the matter with you people?”
    She-witches? Puh-lease.
    At that moment Dyan slunk into the reception area and shot Robbie a look of pure tanned malice. Today she was even more dramatic in black with stud decorations than she had been in leopard pattern.
    Robbie pointed at Dyan. “It’s you. You’re the one behind it. Don’t worry, it will catch up with you. What goes around comes around. You will be sorry and I mean it.”
    Dyan upped the ante by laughing. Autumn emitted a tiny gasp.
    Fredelle straightened and snapped, “That’s enough, Dyan. Robbie has reason to be upset, even if he is misjudging most people in this office. You will treat him with respect. And you will treat Barb with dignity, too.”
    The tiny quaver in her voice hinted at how hard it must have been to stand up to Dyan.
    Dyan sneered. At every encounter, she managed to act like someone who was auditioning for a B movie. A living stereotype of bad behavior, not to mention egregious style. “People should earn respect, if you ask me. I don’t think too many people here can say they do.” The sneer seemed to be split between Fredelle and Robbie, with plenty left over for the absent Barb, and spillover for Autumn and me.
    What kind of workplace was this where an employee would openly disrespect the manager? Not to mention also laughing in the face of the owner’s son? Dyan was special, that was for sure. I couldn’t imagine why she’d been allowed to continue working there. She must have had something on someone. But what?
    She slunk out of the room, swaying her black leather butt.
    “Well,” I said, “there might be a better time for me to talk about my observations, Fredelle.”
    “Please don’t leave. I can use your support.”
    Robbie stormed past me and out the front door, his keys clutched in his hand. The heavy glass door closed with a thunk behind him.
    “Perhaps in your office, Fredelle?” I said, with a reassuring smile at Autumn. “Everyone needs to chill out a bit.”

    Fredelle closed the blinds on her glass wall. “Perhaps it was a mistake to do this. Barb must feel humiliated.”
    “Fredelle, I didn’t tell anyone that my visit was about Barb’s messy desk. Did you?”
    “Of course not, I would never do that. I couldn’t single her out for that kind of bad attention. And I would never, ever, say anything about Barb to Dyan. I like Barb. She’s kind and capable and cheerful. Dyan is . . .”
    “A bitch,” I said. “High-ranking, specialty type. So if you didn’t tell Dyan, then who did?”
    Fredelle stared at me. “I have no idea.”
    “Somebody wanted to make a bit of trouble for you and for Barb.”
    “I didn’t tell anyone, because I felt that would be underhanded. I didn’t want any of the staff to think that I would do things behind their backs. Although I suppose I did.”
    “What about when you spoke to me on the phone?”
    “The door was closed, the blinds were pulled. No one could have heard, unless they were bugging my line, which is”—she paused to chuckle—“ridiculous.”
    I said, “I imagine we’ll get to the bottom of it. So one more question: How did you find out that I had a near collision with Barb on the way in yesterday?”
    Her mouth formed a perfect pink O.
    “You’re thinking about that, Fredelle. Is that because you believe there’s a connection?”
    She shook her head. “Couldn’t be. I got a call from Mr. Van Zandt. He told me. He was upset that someone visiting our operation could have a close call as a result of an employee.”
    “Did you tell him why I was here? About the plan to have me come up with solutions to the desk problem.”
    “Oh no. He wouldn’t have liked it. Might have been disappointed in Barb and anyway, I should have been able