Kelly screamed, “Oh my god!! Meredith is dead!!”
Panic crept in and Andy yelled out, “We have a serial killer on the loose!”
“Hmmm…I don’t remember anything like this in the game, but then I never got to the next level.” Creed mumbled quietly to himself.
Pam knew she had to do something before everyone started to panic so she shouted out loud.
That got everyone’s attention and immediately quieted them down. But just as Pam was about to speak, Jim and Dwight burst through the kitchen door. Jim looked a bit wide-eyed before locating Pam and immediately walked over and pulled her into his arms. “What happened? Are you okay?”
She returned his hug and reassured him. “I’m fine, but Meredith’s not. We just found her on the floor.”
Dwight was carrying his crime kit. “What? We heard you scream and assumed it was you.”
After another squeeze and a kiss on her forehead, Jim released Pam and stooped down to Meredith’s body. “I don’t see any blood. I think she’s still alive.”
“Let me check.” Dwight kneeled down and checked Meredith’s pulse. “She’s still alive, so everyone can just calm down.”
“Maybe we should carry her to the sofa.” Ryan suggested.
“But be careful,” Pam said. “She looks like she has a big bump at the back of her head.”
“The power of the nun-chucks should never be underestimated.” Dwight intoned.
Kevin hefted Meredith up in his arms and carried her to the sofa next to the reception desk. Erin and Phyllis wrapped some ice in a towel to apply to the bump on the back of Meredith’s head. Jim and Pam helped Dwight take a small sample of both the coffee and the pretzel and joined everyone else in the front office.
While Dwight started his test for poison, the conversation turned back to who did all of this.
“I still don’t understand why they harmed Meredith.” Angela said.
“Maybe she found out something about the killer.” Oscar proposed.
Michael nodded. “Yeah, maybe she found a clue about the killer.”
“But who was back there with her, though? I didn’t realize she was missing until we heard the sound and went back there.”
“Pam’s right.” Andy piped up. “All of us were here when Jim and Dwight went to the car. None of us noticed Meredith’s absence.”
“And on Toby’s desk were just personnel files of everyone in this office which is normal since performance reviews are next week. I don’t know what she could have discovered on his desk.” Pam added.
Phyllis looked over at Erin, “You were the closest to the kitchen, Erin. Did you see anything?”
“Yeah, Erin. You were the closest to the kitchen. Maybe you were in the kitchen. Maybe you were even back there at Toby’s desk. Maybe you…”
Eyes wide, Erin shook her head. “I…It wasn’t me! I didn’t even know Toby! Or Meredith! And I wasn’t back at the kitchen. I was just about to walk back there!”
Andy, seeing the object of his affection seemingly under suspicion, saw his chance to come to her rescue. “Kevin, how could you accuse poor Erin here? It’s obvious that out of all of us, she’s the least likely one to do anything. I mean, look at her!”
Kelly also came to the rescue of her new BFF. “Yeah Kevin. Stop accusing everybody. Maybe you are the killer.”
“Whaaa? I didn’t do it. I don’t have a reason to.” Kevin protested.
Kelly plowed on. “Well, maybe you did something that Toby discovered. Something really bad.”
Kevin scratched his head. “Like what?”
Sensing another round of everyone accusing one another, Michael and Jim exchanged a look. “Shut it! Everyone just shut it!” Michael screamed at the group.
“Pam was right. We should see what else was on Toby’s desk. Maybe there’s some sort of clue there.” Jim said after everyone quieted down.
Pam nodded. “At the very least, we could gather some additional information for when the police get here.”
Just as they were about to head back to the annex, Dwight came out from the conference room where he’d set up his crime kit. He held up a strip of material, half covered in a dark liquid. “Everybody! Look at this!”
