"Post, Judith - Something Subtle" - читать интересную книгу автора (Post Judith)

"He might have gotten ahead of us," Jackie argued, "but that doesn't mean he'd have won."

Chaz pushed a button on Norm's machine, and new ledgers sprang to view. "Hot shit! He'd done it, man. He'd hit the three million dollar mark. He'd have won the trip for two to Hawaii and fifteen per cent of the sales."

"AND the promotion to VP," Jackie added.

"He couldn't have," Josh said. "None of us had passed the one million mark on Thursday. No one can sell two million in two days."

"Read it and weep. Norm did." Chaz pointed to the numbers. "And there's the accounts to prove it." The screen shimmered with one customer after another.

"Poor sap, all that work, and he can't enjoy it," Josh said.

"But someone has to take over those accounts, right?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah, probably whoever makes VP," Josh said. "And you know the Boss. Now that the stakes are higher, he'll probably up the ante on the contest."

"He'll say, 'You never get something for nothing,'" Chaz mimicked.

"That's not fair," Jackie protested.

"Since when was the Boss fair?" Chaz asked.

"He'll claim we'll get more, so we should do more," Josh said.

Footsteps rang in the hallway. The office door opened and their boss and a detective entered the telemarketing room. Donald Blane glanced at Norm and snapped, "Has anyone downloaded the accounts on his computer? Damn lucky we didn't lose them the way he fell. He could have wiped everything off the screen."

The cop's right eyebrow rose. "No one touches anything until the scene of crime people have been here and gone. I'm Detective Monroe. Which one of you was the one who found the body?" He looked at the three workers huddled around Norm's desk.

"We all found him," Josh said.

"All together?" He sounded skeptical.

"We all walked in at the same time."

"Does that happen often?" he asked.

Josh explained about the contest and it's prizes.

"So this guy stayed all weekend to get ahead, and none of you did?"

Chaz said, "Norm pretended to leave on Friday, put his coat on and got his briefcase and walked out of the office."

"You guys are pretty serious about promotions around here," Monroe said.

"There aren't that many." Jackie shot a look at the boss.

"So why now?" Monroe asked. "Did someone retire?"

"No, Blane fired Tarcher," Chaz said.