Pam nodded, “And I was here with Jim the whole time during the party. Jim would never do anything like this! Neither one of us knew about the emails!”
“But you guys knew about what Toby was doing about Jim’s promotion?” Michael asked.
“We’d only learned of it last week when David replied to my phone call.” Jim quickly responded and proceeded to detail how Charles’ doubts about the validity of Jim’s promotion had caused Jim to seek reassurance from David. The accompanying pay raise and title change were never entered because Toby had withheld the paperwork, for whatever reason. Jim’s frustration had finally led him, on a whim, to Toby’s home in an attempt to discuss the situation with him.
“That was probably when you saw me, Oscar.” Jim said to the other man.
“Why didn’t Toby file your paperwork, Jim?” Phyllis asked.
Jim shook his head. “I didn’t know at first. I’d assumed that he forgot about it.”
Michael pressed, “Did it have something to do with Pam?”
After a quick look to his fiancée, Jim continued, “Apparently it did. I didn’t know he still had feelings for Pam. And now we have evidence of that.”
When Pam saw how quiet everyone was, she said urgently, “Jim couldn’t have done it! I mean, he was with me when Toby was killed!”
Dwight added, “And he was with me in the parking lot when Meredith was knocked out. We’re assuming that whoever killed Toby probably tried to kill Meredith too.”
“But Jim is the one with the biggest motive here: revenge against Toby for screwing up his promotion and lusting after Pam.” Oscar reasoned.
Kevin agreed. “Plus, Pam, you could have helped him. We just don’t know.”
Angela stepped in. “It couldn’t have been Pam. She was talking with Michael and Andy when we heard Meredith’s body fall to the floor.”
“She was talking to both of us.” Andy agreed.
“You people argue it out. Someone give me a flashlight so I can use the bathroom.”
Without waiting for someone to hand him a flashlight, Stanley took the one closest to him and headed to the men’s room.
Ryan held up the folder that was discovered in Toby’s desk. “There are other emails in here besides the ones that Toby planned to send to Pam.”
“Michael, did you know about Toby asking David to transfer Holly?” Andy looked up from one of the sheets.
“Does it look like I knew about it, Andy?” Michael snapped. “If I had known about it, do you think I would have been as nice as I’ve been to Toby?”
Considering the fact that even though Michael didn’t know that Toby was directly responsible for Holly’s transfer, he’d already blamed Toby for it and was treating him even worse than ever. So…no one said anything.
“He should’ve just stayed in Nicaragua.” Michael added.
“Guatemala.” Creed said.
“No, he was in Costa Rica.” Kelly corrected.
“It doesn’t matter where he was! My point is: he should’ve just stayed there. Then maybe none of this would have happened. He would still be alive. Meredith would still be alive…”
Jim looked up, “Meredith is still alive, Michael.”
“Yeah, but she’s probably in a coma now.”
“What is Stanley carrying?” Andy pointed to the kitchen door.
Everyone looked over and, indeed, Stanley was carrying what looked like a garbage can over to where they were standing. When he reached Michael, Stanley dropped the trashcan at Michael’s feet.
“Michael, is this your shirt in here?”
Angela gasped. “Oh my goodness….is that blood on the shirt?”
Dwight shone the flashlight into the bin. One by one, after they took a look at the contents of the garbage can, each looked up at Michael, accusations already forming.
“C’mon, you guys. We already went through this. I did not kill Toby. Yes, that shirt is mine, but Erin spilled something on it earlier, that was why I had to change and when I came out of the bathroom, you guys know the rest!”
“Yes,” Andy agreed, “but we never finished talking about your motive. And now we have both motive AND evidence!”
“Erin, you spilled something on me earlier, right?” Michael asked.
Erin looked around apprehensively, “Yes…I did, but I don’t think the punch was thick like that.”
Phyllis nodded, “She has a point. The red stains look too thick to be fruit punch, Michael.”
Pam and Jim exchanged a look, both thinking that all of these accusations back and forth weren’t going anywhere. With a sigh, Jim spoke up amidst the full blown arguments about motives and evidence. “I can’t believe we didn’t think of this earlier. Why don’t some of us go and get the police to come back here. Who knows when the power will come back and all of this arguing is not going anywhere.”
Dwight chimed in, “I agree. Let’s pick some of us to go get the police. Then when they get here, I will help them find the real killer among us.”
“But who’s going to go?” Oscar asked.
Pam tapped her lips and said, “I think Angela, Creed, Stanley and Kevin should go. They’re the ones with the least motive. If need be, Jim and Dwight and Andy can help subdue the killer if he or she tries to leave.”
“Excellent suggestion, Pam.” Dwight said. And with that, Angela, Stanley, Creed and Kevin left in search of the police.
The office was quiet for a bit after they left. Then Meredith stirred on the sofa.
