She thought she would feel better after getting it out, but instead she felt the room spinning. The five sets of eyes on her made her feel vulnerable and exposed. Images passed through her head: streets lined with broken glass and burnt out husks of buildings– images of the slums. Where she had come from, and perhaps where she would be returning to.

But Markus smiled. A knowing smile without a trace of panic. She wondered if he had misjudged her. She was going to tell them. She would let him try to talk his way out of it, but she was determined to come clean here and now.

“You’re right, of course, Alexia. I know you have a strong sense of right and wrong, so I thought you might speak up. Don’t worry your little head, I’ll reveal everything now.”

The words gave her no reassurance. Whatever came out of his mouth next wasn’t going to be the truth. That damn self-assured smile told her so. Markus shifted his body slightly to face the others, but kept his eyes on Alexia.

“The truth is, I became suspicious based on a conversation Merrick and I had a few weeks ago.”

“You’re referring to when I consulted you about Alexia’s annual performance review?” asked Merrick.

“Yes Merrick, you made some rather… suggestive comments that put some doubts into my mind about possible misdoings. After that, when I realized I was being framed for this theft, I knew immediately who must be responsible.”

Markus glanced at Merrick, then looked once more at Alexia. Suddenly she understood what he meant. He was threatening her. She was drawing a salary under a fake name. Markus had set it up. He had chosen the name and put her on the payroll. He had done everything– but she had accepted it. She didn’t even know how he had done it. He had even made her the one to deliver the final letter. If she wanted to defend Merrick, he was going to shift the blame onto her instead. It wouldn’t be just a matter of going back to the slums. She could do time in prison.

She wondered if she had sold her soul to the devil when she allowed him to help her. The only way to save herself now was to keep quiet and let him commit whatever vile acts he wished.

If there was a choice to be made, she had made it long ago, when she lost her parents– when they had been killed. She was going to survive, no matter what she had to do. She still had a conscience, she told herself. She was willing to lose her job to save Merrick, but prison… not prison.

She broke his gaze and looked down. Markus took that as his cue to continue. He turned to face Merrick and said in an even, calm tone:

“I made a little joke and told Merrick he could embezzle some money if he gave me a cut– and what you said stuck in my head. I believe it was ‘Wouldn’t it be easier to steal from the servants- what are they going to do about it?’”

“That was…” Merrick answered, but there was a look of dawning realization on his face.

Markus stared hard at Merrick. The only sound was the muffled voices from the grand foyer, where Juris still argued with the police. Jeorge looked at Markus thoughtfully and said:

“Young master, Merrick has served the family faithfully for many years. This is not the right place to make such accusations. But if you are serious, then I’ll take this to your father, and he can judge–”

“Hah! How convenient for me! Both the plaintiff and the judge share the same last name! I look forward to a favorable verdict.”

Merrick looked disturbed at the mention of Lord Marcellinus. His eyes darted between Jeorge and Markus.

“After all I’ve done for this family… am I to be crushed for… for a rotten video game?!”

“Merrick, I assure you, Lord Marcellinus is a fair and ju–”

Markus cut off Jeorge again:

“The man once known as ‘Medici’s Pet Devil’, a fair and just man? No, I intend to give Merrick the right to defend himself here and now! And you all shall be the judges! The evidence has shown that one of us must be the thief, and is framing the other. Either I evaded Alexia and placed that letter, or Merrick went in through the back. Either I am framing Merrick for a ‘rotten video game’, or he did it to implicate me. And why, you might ask? Because he knows that I’m on to him!”

Merrick’s spat out his next words, no longer hiding his venom:

“And what exactly have I been doing then? What evidence do you have that I’ve been ‘cooking the books’? I am in charge of payroll, but there are checks and audits to ensure every cent goes where it is supposed to. If you want to steal money, payroll fraud is one of the hardest ways to do it.”

“Well said Merrick– those records are exactly what I would like to have a look at.”

Merrick smiled.

“Yes, why not? I’ve heard the most common way to embezzle money is to put a fake employee on the payroll. Why don’t we bring up the pay records and see if anything looks out of place there.”

Markus smiled back.

“Excellent!”

Merrick’s smile faded and he took on a lecturing tone.

“Young man, I say this for your own good. Those audits don’t contain anything favorable for you. Take my advice and come clean now. It will be better for you in the end.”

Markus continued smiling.

“They contain the truth, which is what I want.”

“You don’t know when to quit. Like Jeorge said, I have worked here a long time. Long enough to know who ‘Alexia Travesta’ is.”

Alexia started. Maxwell, Elise and Mary looked at her with curiosity, but Jeorge glanced awkwardly towards the wall.

“Jeorge, bring up the payroll records.” commanded Markus.

Jeorge hesitated and finally looked at Alexia. There was pity in his eyes.

He knows too. She thought. Whose name did you give me, Markus? She wanted to scream at him. Jeorge started to head to the computers.

“Hold on. Those records are confidential.” said Merrick.

“Got something to hide after all?”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“No, but you can’t just expose everyone’s pay stubs. That’s private information.”

“Well, how about if we limit it to just those present here. Does everyone consent to that?” asked Markus, looking at the others.

Maxwell nodded, followed by Elise and Mary. Markus looked to Alexia, who stood frozen.

“You don’t want to do that, little girl.” warned Merrick.

“Don’t worry Alexia. I’ll protect you. Trust me.”

Before she could answer, Merrick jumped in again, and there was a note of panic in his voice:

“Trust you? You’ve been using her! I’ll tell you what I’m guilty of– looking the other way! While you– you-! And this girl!”

Merrick pointed a shaking finger towards Alexia.

“Say what you mean, Merrick. Make your accusations plainly.”

“Well, I– I’m the head of payroll! I know what you did. You took this slum girl off the streets and gave her a fake name– that name– and put it on the payroll! She was never actually hired. And every month I have to sign checks to ‘Alexia’ knowing full well where the money is going. You make her hand over her pay while she warms your bed! That’s why you could place that letter and force her to vouch for you! You and this slum-whore! What would your mother think if she could see you now?!”

Markus’s eyes went cold. Very quietly and slowly he said:

“Watch your mouth when you speak of those I care for.”

Alexia flushed and shouted, “I do not ‘warm his bed’! And I don’t hand over my pay either!”

Markus spoke again, this time projecting his voice so it boomed through the room.

“You’re right, Merrick! I took a starving girl off the streets and hacked her into the payroll. I gave her a fake name and paid her with my family’s money! I confess to that! But you, Merrick!”

Markus slapped his hand down on the table so hard it echoed like a pistol shot.

“You have been stealing not from the Marcellinus family, but from your fellow servants!”

Markus thrust his finger in Merricks face, inches away from his nose. In that moment the old man seemed to wither and shrink, while Markus grew taller and more formidable. Only Alexia had the presence of mind to look down and notice Markus was standing on his toes.

“How?” Merrick croaked at last.

Markus gave Jeorge a ‘take it away’ gesture, and Jeorge went to a computer and pressed a button. A section of the wall that looked like wallpaper shimmered and became an image of the computer desktop, revealing it to have been a huge screen disguised as a wall.

While Jeorge brought up the information, Alexia began waving her arms. Merrick’s final accusations had hit a nerve and she couldn’t let it go unchallenged.

“I didn’t! I never! And– oh, I can prove it! I still have all of the money, I never spent any, or gave any to Markus! And I always sleep alone!!”

She stamped a foot down and shouted, “I’m no whore!”

“Really? I mean about the money, you never spent any?” asked Markus.

“Yeah, I keep it in, uh, the back of my sock drawer.”

This was a lie. She actually kept it stuffed inside the couch cushions in Markus’s room. Life in the slums had taught her many hard lessons about money, and instilled a healthy mistrust of banks.

“Why don’t you bring it all here, and we can add it up. My fate also depends on your reputation, so let’s take pains to establish it.” said Markus.

Alexia agreed and ran to get it.

“Whore? Slum-whore?!” She muttered to herself as she ran down the halls, “Damn you, Merrick! I hope you do get framed!”

By the time she returned, arms full of cash, the wall displayed a list of names, dates and dollar amounts. There were 12 entries for herself, Merrick and Elise, 4 for Maxwell and 1 for Mary. Not surprisingly, Merrick made the most, followed by Elise, though Alexia noted that Maxwell made more than herself, despite being newer.

Markus counted out the money she brought, adding it up to $12,919.60. He looked at the totals on the screen for a moment and announced:

“There’s $200 missing.”

“Oh, right.” said Alexia, then took off her right shoe, lifted the insole and pulled out two crumpled hundred dollar bills (her emergency funds) and threw them on the pile. “There.”

Markus looked at the pile of cash with dismay.

“That’s disgusting. You’ve been sitting on a stash like that and never spent a penny?”

“I get a roof, food and clothes for free with the job. What else do I need?” she answered matter-of-factly.

Merrick had pulled out his phone and was adding up the totals displayed on the wall in his calculator app. When he finished he scowled.

“So she kept the money. That doesn’t prove she didn’t lie for you.”

Markus was beaming as he stared at the numbers.

“Put away that crutch for the mathematically illiterate and watch a master at work! Now that I have the data, I can finally expose you, Merrick!”

Markus’s eyes darted back and forth over the screen as he crunched numbers in his head. But as time passed, his smile started to fade and his face grew strained

“Fuck… why is it adding up…? I know you’re doing something… it should be there in the numbers….”

“Because I haven’t been doing anything!” Merrick said. He was quickly regaining his composure after Markus’s theatrics.

Suddenly Mary once again raised her gloved hand.

“U-uhm… Why is my name there? I’ve only been here for 5 days….”

There was one entry for Meredith Cranwell, totaling $1774.80 and marked PAID. Markus glanced at the screen but dismissed her immediately.

“No, that makes sense. You get a base pay of $10 an hour right? 8 hours a day, 5 days plus the remaining 29 days in this month, then you back out 13% tax and 25% expenses for room and board. It comes to $1774.80.”

“No… but…. I haven’t been paid… Mr. Merrick told me…” she trailed off.

At the mention of Merrick’s name, Markus’s entire demeanor transformed. He gently placed an arm over her shoulder and with his other hand lifted her chin so she would meet his eyes. In a soft, soothing voice he said:

“There, there. No need to be shy. What did the bad old Mr. Merrick tell you, exactly?”

Mary blushed, but gained a little confidence.

“Well… he said we’re paid in arrears… for time already worked. So I’ll get my first check next month. That’s pretty normal, I think.”

Jeorge stepped forward, frowning.

“No, that’s not right. The Marcellinus family pays in advance. Many times the people we hire are in urgent need of money, so we find that’s the best policy.”

“Care to explain this, Merrick?” said Jeorge. There was a warning in his old gray eyes.

Merrick’s face had lost its indignant anger and just looked old and tired now. He looked from Jeorge, to the screen and back again, then swallowed.

“Did I say that? Of course we pay in advance. I apologize if I misspoke.”

“So where is the check? It is marked as ‘paid’.” Jeorge pointed to the screen.

Merrick straightened up and began speaking more calmly again.

“I printed it and put it in her box, just the same as the others.”

“Liar!” Markus shouted, “I’m sure you did print it, but you didn’t put it in her box!”

“If it’s not there, perhaps you stole it along with Maxwell’s. Yes, that would make sense. It’s a much larger amount, and you could distract everyone with this ridiculous investigation.”

And just like that, all the pieces suddenly assembled themselves in Alexia’s head. Maxwell was the key after all. Him and that slip of paper with Mary’s name on it. She picked it up off the table, turning it over in her hands. It was sticky on the back, as she knew it would be. She stuck it on her finger and held it up, displaying it to the others.

“I think I figured it out. I know who did it, and how they pulled it off. And this is the proof.”