Shangri-Lah Furniture Manufacturing - Part (1/3)

Shangri-Lah Furniture Limited was a large manufacturing company found on the outer edges of the big city, miles away from the original crime scene. It had several large warehouses used to store raw wooden material such as lumber and wooden planks; one giant shed to house their carpentry machines that were cooling down or under maintenance; and one single story office building close to the entrance gate. Tall chimney pipes rose up to point into the sky, belching thick white smoke to mix in with the clouds. The parking lot could hold about 30 cars. So far, only 3 cars and one company van could be see, and the other lots either piled up with neglected garbage or had random machines and materials left out for the rain to chew on.

Sergeant Leo drove up to the factory and parked his vehicle in front of the office building. He entered the lobby and spotted a young looking secretary at the front desk. One glance and the detective could see 15 waiting chairs and couches. All empty. The only person alive was a young looking secretary at her desk, behind a short wall with the company name branded on across the face. As Leo came up he could see the secretary had her head down, watching a stream on her phone of a mouse girl Vtuber with iron-horns playing a horror game.

Leo faked a cough, loud enough to make the secretary to jolt in her seat and shove her phone under her files. The muffled voice of the mouse Vtuber could still be heard.

“Welcome back boss, I have--Oh...” The secretary stood up, only to stop when she did not recognize Leo, “Um. D-do you have an appointment sir?”

“Sergeant Leo.” The detective nodded, showing his ID card, “C.I.D. I am here to talk to your employer, Frank Tucker.”

“He’s out right now. Ahem!” The secretary sat back down, hands folded on her lap under the table. When her buried phone made a faint Vtuber scream, she had to bring her hands back up to press down and muffle out the noises from the game stream. “Uuuh. He, he is in the middle of an important meeting.”

“Do you know when he’ll be back?”

“He’s......out.”

Leo resisted the urge to sigh. He gave the secretary a break by breaking eye contact, letting her sneak her phone out to turn off the sound and hide it in her desk drawer. He glanced about in the mean time, and noticed the door to an office cracked open.

“Is that his office?” Leo pointed, “shouldn’t you lock it?”

“Uuuuuuh.” The secretary stood up, shuffled over, and closed the door...the door slowly opens again on its own with a creaaaak. “We’re, rather I, a-am waiting for the locksmith to come over but...he’s um..running late.”

“Oh, why don’t I help?” The detective would step into the doorway, examining the lock and the handle, “I did house construction and renovation work before I became a cop. If you got tools, I can fix them.”

“How-how much, officer?”

“Ah well. I would charge you but given my position, it would be considered bribery. Tell you what, since I’m waiting for you boss I’ll do this for free.”

“Oh wonderful!” the secretary clapped with glee, “this would help, sooo much. My boss, is such a penny pincher. If I couldn’t find a locksmith that fit his budget, he’ll take a cut out of my pay. This, you’re a life saver officer!”

Leo nods back with a wry smile, “To protect and to serve. Tool box please.”