Spoiled Rotten by Mary Jackman

eased for a second and he laughed. He knew there was never any money in it. I always borrowed a twenty from one of the staff’s cash envelopes before I left for the day and Daniel had personally loaned me out of pocket a few times.
    Superior Meats would be different. They didn’t take credit cards and had a minimum purchase for debit. I’ve seen a lot of cash exchange hands while waiting to pay for my purchase. Any safe of theirs would be full and consequently a prime target for thieves.”
    â€œSo you loaded your car and then what?”
    â€œSomething was wrong. I could feel it in my bones. I walked along the hallway that connected the delivery area to the showroom up front. The overhead lights were off, but the blue fluorescent tubing inside the display case cast a glow, so it wasn’t completely dark. Except for the compressors kicking on and off, the place was deathly quiet. I didn’t want to call out. I can’t explain it, but I was afraid of disturbing someone or something.
    â€œI found an open carton of packages on the work counter behind the case. The letters W.W. were written across the front of the box. I wondered what it was doing there since I never placed an order that night. I picked up one of the packages and turned it over. A gooey liquid seeped through the paper and covered my hands. When I smelt my fingertips I instantly recognized the odour.” Daniel hesitated.
    â€œBlood.” I finished his thought.
    â€œYes. Lots of it and bright red. I remember being surprised at the colour. It had to be a fresh kill for that texture of blood and I knew Tony didn’t slaughter on the premises. Suddenly I got the feeling I wasn’t alone. There was someone else in the room.”
    I held my breath, waiting.
    â€œA face was looking at me through the display case. I was scared, but I couldn’t look away.” His breathing had become rapid, his eyes unclear. I waited. We all waited.
    â€œYou know how sometimes you have to focus really hard to understand what you’re seeing?” Daniel continued, “Like the picture doesn’t make sense. I stepped closer and finally understood. The face had been peeled off and the skin stuck on the inside of the glass in its own blood. When my brain finally clicked the image into place, I panicked. I looked around, desperately trying to put it together. Then I saw the severed head sitting on a scale. That did it! I dropped the packages, ran down the hall, and slammed the door behind me. I’ll never forget that narrow screen flashing the weight in pounds and kilos over and over again.”
    I gave him a moment and asked quietly, “Then what did you do?”
    â€œI drove directly home with the meat in the trunk. I was too scared to do anything else but hop a plane to see my sister. It was awful, such a lot of blood.” Daniel’s hands began to tremble. Meriel put a steadying hand on her brother’s shoulder. Andy reached over and put his hand on mine. Nervously, I withdrew it.
    â€œDaniel, you weren’t the only one to witness that gruesome scene. Maria D’Agnole found Anthony Vieira’s body when she opened the store in the morning.”
    â€œWho’s that, their cleaning lady?”
    â€œYou don’t know her? She worked as a sales girl in the store. Young, black hair, very pretty.”
    â€œNo, sorry, I made it a point to stay away from the girls. Tony was bossy and possessive around them, always flirting. I didn’t want to get involved.” Daniel’s eyes drifted away and he began to whine, “I put all the spoiled meat in my trunk. I know it. Something else must have caused the food poisoning. Maybe the eggs were spoiled.”
    â€œAndy, let’s get one thing straight, okay? It was not food poisoning that caused Albright’s death. He ingested a lethal dose of rat poison that was injected into his steak. The police are calling it a murder, not accidental