Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

Author:Mia P. Manansala [Manansala, Mia P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2021-05-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-three

I marched into the hospital, then saw an elderly woman at the front desk and made a conscious effort to slow down and appear less pissed off. Doubted she’d want to help me if I started shouting demands.

“Hello, I’d like to speak to Janet Spinelli, please. We had a lunch meeting scheduled, but she never showed up.”

“Oh dear, that won’t do. Let me give her a call, make sure she’s in her office.” The volunteer overseeing the desk looked over the directory list, then punched the number into the phone. She listened for a moment, then shook her head and hung up. “I’m sorry, she’s not answering. Maybe she had to run some errands?”

“Would it be possible for me to wait in her office? I really need to talk to her.”

“Well . . .” She glanced over at the security guard sitting next to her, who shrugged and went back to his phone. “Maybe you could sign in? And just wait here in the lobby? I don’t think I can let you into her . . . Oh, Miss Stanton! Perfect timing.”

A stocky White woman wearing an ill-fitting pencil skirt and suit jacket with white gym shoes joined us at the desk. “Hi, Avis. What can I do for you?”

“Miss Stanton here is Miss Spinelli’s assistant,” Avis the volunteer explained, addressing me. “She can help you out.”

I thanked Avis and turned to Miss Stanton, holding out my hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Lila Macapagal, and I had a lunch meeting scheduled with Janet, but she never showed up. She’s not answering her phone, so I was wondering if you knew when she’d be back.”

She returned my firm handshake, then pulled out her phone to consult her calendar. “That’s odd. I have you on the schedule for lunch at one thirty p.m. and have the reminder set as well. She never showed up?”

I shook my head. “I waited for half an hour before ordering lunch for myself. I just finished and decided to stop by to see if there was some kind of mix-up.”

Miss Stanton pulled her lips into a thin line. “Let’s go upstairs and see if she left a note or something. This is rather unlike her.”

We rode the elevator in silence while I texted Adeena what I’d learned and Miss Stanton also thumbed through her phone. Once we reached their floor, we hurried over to Janet’s office, Miss Stanton pulling her keys out of her purse.

It was unnecessary.

The door to Janet’s office was slightly ajar, so after a quick glance at her assistant, I pushed it open. Her office was fairly small, with a tiny workspace shunted off toward the side and an enormous mahogany desk dominating the room. My eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to it, and Miss Stanton and I made the discovery at the same time.

Or at least, she screamed at the same time I noticed the blood pooling on the floor and the figure lying behind the desk. As she ran

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.