Their eyes were on her again, but that was ok this time. This was going to end with her in the clear. She was sure of that.
“Maxwell, how many times have you been paid? Including the last stolen check.” Alexia asked.
“If I had gotten that one, it would have been three– ah!” He answered, and looked to the screen, seeing where she was going with this.
There were four entries under Maxwell’s name, starting from the current month and going back to the first of three months ago, probably the very date he was hired.
“The first paycheck… I never got it.”
Merrick smiled at Maxwell in a strange, half-cocked way that didn’t match his stern personality and said, “That can’t be right, I must have printed and delivered it. The computer automatically brings up whoever is due to be paid, so I couldn’t have missed it.”
He looked at Markus and continued, “I can only guess that the same person who stole your latest paycheck took this one too.”
“And if I got away clean with that, why would I then-”
“Shut up for once, Markus. I’ve got this.” said Alexia. It felt good to be the one cutting him off. She didn’t want them getting side tracked into an argument. She reasoned that must have been Markus’s plan this whole time, to muddy the waters and treat the whole issue like a debate. He could win debates, but that wouldn’t prove anything.
He didn’t argue, but just bowed and motioned to her to continue.
“What we can agree on is that Maxwell’s check was stolen, and by the same person that took Mary’s check. Jeorge, can you see if those were cashed, and bring up an image from when the bank scanned them? Start with Maxwell’s check.”
Jeorge navigated a few screens to bring up a low quality black and white scan, but it was clear enough to see what mattered. The payer name, date and amount had been computer printed on the check, but the ‘PAY TO THE ORDER OF:’ section was hand-written and said: ‘Kenneth Mercantile & Supply’. It was signed ‘Merrick Evans’ in a slanted, looping script.
“Look at the amount,” said Markus, “It’s $1874.25. That’s the same as Maxwell’s monthly pay.”
“This is just a mix-up! We buy many of our office supplies from Kenneth Mercantile. I… must have typed the wrong check number into the payroll system.” Answered Merrick.
He was trying to project an air of cool confidence, but his face was pale and his hands shook. He thrust them into his pockets.
“There’s no way.” said Markus, “It matches Maxwell’s missing check to the cent– wait, where have I heard that before?” He turned to Maxwell.
“The video game.” answered Maxwell, “The amount missing from my latest check also matched to the cent.”
Merrick frowned at them both. “Of course it does! You just returned the change after you bought it. ”
“And if I were willing to steal from a servant, why wouldn’t I just raid Alexia’s sock drawer? More importantly, let’s take a look at Mary’s missing check!”
Jeorge brought up that one next, and it was the same story. Payer, date and amount were printed, but payee was hand-written and made out to ‘Kenneth Mercantile & Supply’ again. And again, it matched the missing amount to the cent.
“Rule of threes. Once is an accident, twice a coincidence, but three times is a pattern.” Said Markus.
Merrick slumped forward, catching himself with his hands on the table, where he leaned.
“Markus… Markus set me up! He already admitted to hacking the system to put Alexia in, so we know he can do it.”
Alexia once again held up the sticky slip of paper with ‘Meredith Cranwell’ printed on it.
“The checks were printed with the correct names, this is the proof of that. You put these strips of paper over the names so you could peel them off and write in the name of a business you could use to launder the money. You print the checks Merrick. Only you could have done it. And you told the new-hires they were paid in arrears so they wouldn’t be expecting a check anyways.”
Merrick released a sigh, then stood back up and smiled. Alexia had read several crime novels before, and was familiar with the old cliche about the perp taking a drag from a cigarette before they sigh dramatically and finally confess. She thought now that maybe there was a grain of truth behind it. Merrick looked relieved- almost relaxed. He was about to crack.
“I should have flushed it down the toilet. I suppose I got lazy.”
“Oh my God, he just confessed, didn’t he?” Whispered Elise.
Merrick’s face drew taut again and he grit his teeth.
“You think this is bad? What do you think this whole damn Marcellinus family has been doing! I’ve been here for a long time… a very long time. I used to dread the days when Chairman Medici’s henchmen would show up for a meeting with Lord Lucius. A few days later, I’d be reading the names of one of his enemies in the paper and trying to forget the things I had overheard. Things changed after Lady Marcellinus came. She put a stop to it. At least while she was alive.”
Merrick looked at Markus.
“You look so much like her, you know. I had hoped that one day you would take over the family and carry on in her memory…. But then….”
“But then I picked up a slum girl and you assumed the worst about me.” Markus finished for him. The confident, charming smile he always wore was gone. He looked hurt– actually hurt and not faking it this time.
“Well, you had been building a reputation for yourself! So I thought, ‘I can’t blame him, that’s just the way the rotten world works!’ The strong eat the weak. So why shouldn’t I take a few nibbles too?”
Merrick glanced towards Alexia, then looked into Markus’s eyes.
“But you really… you didn’t…?”
Markus leaned across the table and stared straight back into Merrick’s eyes.
“I swear on my mother’s memory that I never put a hand on her. I wanted to help. That’s why…”
Merrick nodded, then addressed the room:
“So I framed the young master. I was bitter over the hopes I had placed on him. I apologize to all of you for my conduct and my lies. And for my harsh words to you, young lady.”
He addressed the last to Alexia, then he turned to Jeorge.
“Jeorge, I’ll cooperate in returning everything. Obviously I stole from more than just Maxwell and Mary. Now, would you accompany me to see Lord Marcellinus? I would like to confess.”
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As Jeorge and Merrick moved towards the door, Markus stepped forward and bumped into Merrick with his shoulder, blocking his path. Markus leaned close and whispered:
“As one liar and thief to another, take my advice– don’t give up until the bitter end. Tell that last lie to my father and things might just work out for you.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Jeorge asked Maxwell and Mary to accompany them, as they were the direct victims of the crime. Maxwell expressed his enthusiastic thanks to both Markus and Alexia, as well as another apology for suspecting him. Mary favored them with a full smile and Elise clapped them both on the back before she returned to the gardens. At last, only Markus and Alexia remained. Even the shouts from Juris in the foyer had gone silent.
“So Markus, I have questions,” said Alexia.
“Ask away.”
“Tell me the truth. Did you steal Maxwell’s check, or did Merrick? I was sure it was you, until he confessed to framing you at the end.”
Markus smiled back at her, and that confident, charming smile reappeared.
“Well, if I promise to tell the truth, will you promise to believe me?”
“That would leave me in a vulnerable position. What if you lied?”
“Well, what if I told the truth- for example that I didn’t steal it– and you didn’t believe me? That would leave me in a predicament too.”
She didn’t think those two things were quite the same, but decided that maybe he had a point.
“Fine. I promise to believe whatever you say.”
“Alright, here's the truth: Of course I stole Maxwell’s last check and framed Merrick. You delivered the last letter, so you should know that. Merrick knows it too, of course. I think he confessed to my crime as a way of throwing himself on his sword, to apologize for assuming that I was a sexual predator.” Markus said, with a trace of bitterness pulling down on the edges of his mouth..
Alexia was taken aback at this uncharacteristic confession. Promises or not, she had been prepared to swallow a lie, just so she could put it behind her.
“Ok… so then how did you know that Merrick was stealing in the first place?”
“Ah, that really was because of what he said at your performance review. After he made the comment about stealing from servants, I confronted him. He denied it, but that just confirmed my suspicions. He may be an expert at manipulating the payroll, but he’s still inexperienced when it comes to lying. He has a tell. I was sure he was stealing, but I had no idea how.”
She wasn’t at all satisfied with that answer. It was just riddled with holes.
“So you… stole from Maxwell and framed Merrick by… framing yourself?”
Markus turned and began gesturing enthusiastically. His face was beaming.
“No, that was a stroke of genius on my part! Just listen, it’s brilliant! You see, Maxwell was the perfect target because he’s young and idealistic enough to challenge me and he hasn’t been here long enough to really fear the Marcellinus family yet. That’s my pretext for kicking off the investigation! By the way, I’m the one who fiddled with the computers in the security room and broke the AC vent. That made sure Merrick would be in there with the door open, so I could narrow it down to the two of us. Then I just needed to get the records up, and I could figure out what he was doing!”
Alexia thought for a minute about how to react to this and decided on disappointment. He seemed to be forgetting that he hadn’t been the one to expose Merrick. He got the numbers and hadn’t been able to find anything in them. If she hadn’t lucked into figuring it out, what was he going to do then?
“That’s… the most retarted, bullshit, Rube-Goldberg plan I’ve ever heard of. Why didn’t you just go to Jeorge or your father with your suspicions? And what if you had been wrong about him?”
“And tell them what, exactly? That Merrick’s eyes flicked slightly to the left when he mentioned stealing? Besides…. I wanted credit. This way I’m not the spoiled little noble boy who ran to daddy, but the genius detective who exposed a thief! Did you see the way Maxwell and Mary looked at me? Like I was really something. Like I could be a worthy leader. And if I was wrong? I guess I would have been in trouble then, but I knew I was right.”
Alexia sighed. It made sense, given what she knew about Markus. It reeked of a desperation to prove himself, but no need to tell him that. She had something else to tell him though.
“‘Genius detective’ my ass. That’s your problem Markus. You think you’re smart– and maybe you are! But not as smart as you think you are.”
Markus burst out laughing, throwing his head back and covering his eyes, as if it were funny enough to bring him to tears.
“That’s a good one! Stultus te esse memento, Markus! What would I do without you, Alexia? Always here to put a pin in it when my head starts to inflate!”
She blushed to hear him laugh at her like that. It was supposed to be a barb, but it irked her that he could laugh it off so easily, while quoting Latin at her that she didn’t understand. She only had one more question, though she had a good idea what the answer would be.
“Who is ‘Alexia Travesta’ and why did you give me her name?”
Markus looked away from her, out of the open door to the common room.
“Ah, that.” He cleared his throat and looked back to her, “Alexia Travesta Marcellinus… was my mother. Travesta was her maiden name. Why did I give it to you? I guess I had a few reasons. The first was to protect you. The only person who could really throw you out of this house would be my father, but he was a pushover when it came to mom. I figured he would have trouble being cruel if you wore that name, especially since my mom also spent some time in the slums. And…”
He put on a wistful expression, which might have been real.
“After mom died, he took it really hard. Talking about her became a taboo in this house. I guess I wanted to hear the name ‘Alexia’ spoken within these walls again.”
“I see,” she said, and after a short pause, “Thank you.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Alexia borrowed Markus’s school jacket to discreetly bundle up her cash and they left too. When they exited the common room, they could see Juris at the bottom of the big C shaped staircases. The police were gone and he was now slumped over the mahogany reception desk, looking like he was taking a nap. Next to him was an antique style phone, the handset made of a black cylinder with two golden bells hanging from the end for the mouth and ear pieces. It rested on its cradle next to its master, looking like a set piece for a noir film. Only the lack of any cords gave it away as modern. Markus jaunted down the stairs and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Good work today! I take it you managed to drive away the vultures?”
Without getting up, Juris rolled his head to the side and looked up at Markus out of exhausted eyes.
“I guess I did. Not that it matters. I handle all of the Marcellinus family investments and everything is on the up-and-up anyways.”
He leaned back and gazed up at the ceiling, as if staring through it at the floors above and continued,
“But your esteemed father– the great and powerful Lord Marcellinus!– has decreed that if they are to get our records, they had better step over my dead body to do it! That old bastard really is going to be the death of me one of these days.”
Alexia shuddered at hearing a lord called an ‘old bastard’. That was the sort of thing that was supposed to be whispered among close friends in bars, and only once everyone was sufficiently drunk, not announced stone-cold sober in the lord’s house. Markus noticed her reaction and grinned.
“The ‘old bastard’ is too smart to fire a man who can go the distance against a district attorney. I think Juris has earned an insult or two.”
“Oh all I really do is stall for time and argue with them while Lord Marcellinus calls down the thunder. Those guys are trained not to go home until their masters tell them to. I’ve taken more than one ride in the back of a squad car for refusing to cooperate, but strings are pulled and I’m always back at work the next day. The current DA knows it’s all a song and dance, so he doesn’t bother. I ought to invite him out for drinks some time, we can commiserate about our lot in life.”
Alexia pictured the two men who had played at being mortal enemies slapping each other on the back in a bar and congratulating each other on their respective performances. ‘That was a good one, bringing up such-and-such precedent.’ one would say, and the other would respond, ‘But you almost had me with the so-and-so financial ruling of 1835!’ The thought took the edge off the seriousness of the legal showdown. She smiled to herself and found that she could say what was on her mind.
“Wait, didn’t you say the lord was in Morocco anyways?”
“Oh, did I say that?” answered Juris, finally cracking a smile. “I guess I lied. He’s been up in his study the whole time. He hates getting dragged into these issues.”
“Obviously. Jeorge and Merrick just went to see him, right?” interjected Markus.
“But why go through all that trouble if there’s nothing to hide? Is it just a matter of pride?” She continued.
Juris laced his fingers behind his head, leaned back in his chair and said, “I’m betting it’s a decoy. All I know is that if there’s any dirt, it’s not in my records. Best to have them focus their attacks on a fake target.”
Then his smile faded and he added, “But you better forget I said that!”