here for years, never heard of her.”
Leo sighed and turned away. “Well, thanks anyway.”
“Then I happened to think. Maybe I didn’t know her because she’s not on regular staff.”
“What do you mean?”
“We hire out to a temp agency when we’re short on staff, which is all the time. Payroll cuts a check directly to the company and they pay their employees from their end; the person’s name never goes on our payroll. And when I fill in the schedules, I just pencil in the word temp because I never know who they’ll be sending over.”
“Is that a fact?”
The nurse cracked open her Rolodex and flipped through it. She scribbled a number on a scrap of paper and shoved it across the counter at Leo.
“BWB Temporary Services. Check with them.”
“Thanks, I will.”
Leo folded the paper over and inserted it into his breast pocket.
Halfway down the directory posted in the lobby of the building, Leo found BWB Temporary Services. He took the elevator to the ninth floor and introduced himself to a good-looking, youngish man eating a take-out sandwich at his cluttered desk.
“It must be exciting working for the DA’s office.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“I guess that was a stupid thing to say. I bet everybody says that. It’s probably boring just like everybody else’s job. Although I can personally testify that running a temp agency is never boring. Every day there’s another emergency. Some girl’s got her period and can’t work her assignment. Some boy’s got his period and won’t come in. You know how it is.”
“The thing is, I’m looking for a lady who might have worked for you.”
“What’s her name?”
“Violet Perkins.”
“Oh sure, Violet worked for us.”
“She did?”
“Sure.”
“I’ve been looking all over for her. I was beginning to think she didn’t exist.”
“Oh, she exists all right. But she’s not on my Christmas list, I can tell you that much. I had an assignment for her three weeks ago and she never showed. You have no idea what a bad impression it makes when one of our people is a no-show. The clients usually don’t call back. Anyway, I bet you ran her name through your computer and couldn’t find her.”
“Right.”
“I bet I know why.”
“Why?”
“Because you were right, she doesn’t exist. Her name isn’t Violet. It’s Constance. That’s what it says on her driver’s license. But she hates it, so she tells everybody to call her Violet. And I have to say, I don’t blame her. Violet is much more colorful. I’ve got a photocopy of it if you want.”
“What?”
“Her driver’s license. We have to keep one on file for everybody that works here.”
The youngish man, Leo could now see, augmented his good looks with a bit of makeup and was older than he had first thought. He opened a massive filing cabinet drawer and thumbed through the files until he got to the right one. He held out a photocopied page to Leo.
“Here, you can keep it. Since she doesn’t work here anymore, I won’t be needing it.”
“I really appreciate this. You don’t know how much.”
“Happy to help.”
“So, what does BWB stand for? I guess everybody asks.”
“Everybody does, and I always say they’re my mother’s initials, but for you, I’ll tell the truth. When Craig, that’s my partner, when we started the business, it was just the two of us. And it was just a cleaning service. We went into rich people’s homes and cleaned up. And we really did—clean up, that is. So we expanded into other areas and hired more people and eventually became a multiservice temp agency. We just never bothered to change our name, which has since grown to be an embarrassment.”
“Because?”
“Because BWB stands for Bitches With Brooms.”
TWENTY-NINE
“This is Anne Hunter, may I help you?”
“Guess who’s investigating a murder at the DA’s office?”
“Who is this?”
“Do you want the story or not? Maybe I should call Dear
Leo sighed and turned away. “Well, thanks anyway.”
“Then I happened to think. Maybe I didn’t know her because she’s not on regular staff.”
“What do you mean?”
“We hire out to a temp agency when we’re short on staff, which is all the time. Payroll cuts a check directly to the company and they pay their employees from their end; the person’s name never goes on our payroll. And when I fill in the schedules, I just pencil in the word temp because I never know who they’ll be sending over.”
“Is that a fact?”
The nurse cracked open her Rolodex and flipped through it. She scribbled a number on a scrap of paper and shoved it across the counter at Leo.
“BWB Temporary Services. Check with them.”
“Thanks, I will.”
Leo folded the paper over and inserted it into his breast pocket.
Halfway down the directory posted in the lobby of the building, Leo found BWB Temporary Services. He took the elevator to the ninth floor and introduced himself to a good-looking, youngish man eating a take-out sandwich at his cluttered desk.
“It must be exciting working for the DA’s office.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“I guess that was a stupid thing to say. I bet everybody says that. It’s probably boring just like everybody else’s job. Although I can personally testify that running a temp agency is never boring. Every day there’s another emergency. Some girl’s got her period and can’t work her assignment. Some boy’s got his period and won’t come in. You know how it is.”
“The thing is, I’m looking for a lady who might have worked for you.”
“What’s her name?”
“Violet Perkins.”
“Oh sure, Violet worked for us.”
“She did?”
“Sure.”
“I’ve been looking all over for her. I was beginning to think she didn’t exist.”
“Oh, she exists all right. But she’s not on my Christmas list, I can tell you that much. I had an assignment for her three weeks ago and she never showed. You have no idea what a bad impression it makes when one of our people is a no-show. The clients usually don’t call back. Anyway, I bet you ran her name through your computer and couldn’t find her.”
“Right.”
“I bet I know why.”
“Why?”
“Because you were right, she doesn’t exist. Her name isn’t Violet. It’s Constance. That’s what it says on her driver’s license. But she hates it, so she tells everybody to call her Violet. And I have to say, I don’t blame her. Violet is much more colorful. I’ve got a photocopy of it if you want.”
“What?”
“Her driver’s license. We have to keep one on file for everybody that works here.”
The youngish man, Leo could now see, augmented his good looks with a bit of makeup and was older than he had first thought. He opened a massive filing cabinet drawer and thumbed through the files until he got to the right one. He held out a photocopied page to Leo.
“Here, you can keep it. Since she doesn’t work here anymore, I won’t be needing it.”
“I really appreciate this. You don’t know how much.”
“Happy to help.”
“So, what does BWB stand for? I guess everybody asks.”
“Everybody does, and I always say they’re my mother’s initials, but for you, I’ll tell the truth. When Craig, that’s my partner, when we started the business, it was just the two of us. And it was just a cleaning service. We went into rich people’s homes and cleaned up. And we really did—clean up, that is. So we expanded into other areas and hired more people and eventually became a multiservice temp agency. We just never bothered to change our name, which has since grown to be an embarrassment.”
“Because?”
“Because BWB stands for Bitches With Brooms.”
TWENTY-NINE
“This is Anne Hunter, may I help you?”
“Guess who’s investigating a murder at the DA’s office?”
“Who is this?”
“Do you want the story or not? Maybe I should call Dear
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