“Who sounds like the FBI?” a new voice interrupted. A waitress with mid-length chestnut hair and a round face approached, carrying an empty silver tray.
“Hi, Snow,” Spion said, turning to her. Trevor looked at her too—she wasn’t conventionally beautiful, but attractive with a quiet, mysterious vibe, especially in the Dressrious Salon’s charcoal and red staff uniform.
“Hi, Spion,” Snow said with a sweet smile. “How’s college life?”
“So-so, not as fun as in here,” Spion shrugged.
Snow gave a quick order to Bob, who was cleaning a goblet: “Tequila Sunrise, two whatever sweet tropical cocktails,” She then turned back to Spion. “Came back a lot, but sorry, it’s a busy day. We can chat later.”
Before Spion could reply, Snow quickly offered, “What can I get for you and your friend? You can go back to your booth to wait, and I’ll bring them over.” She wobbled the tray in her hand. “I want to keep busy so I don’t think about the death. It scared me.”
“Alright, we’ll take these two glasses,” Spion said, picking up the two water glasses. “Bob will tell you the order. We’ll meet you back at the booth.” He turned to leave, then swung back abruptly to ask, “Have you been interviewed?”
Snow paused for a second, her smile fading slightly. “Yes. I was rushing to the kitchen when it happened. Didn’t see anything special.” She immediately turned to watch Bob making drinks, effectively ending the conversation.
“She’s very kind; she helped me a lot when I worked here,” Spion told Trevor as they walked back.
At the booth, their three friends were deep in an argument. “But the ending in the new episode leads the suspect to the new doorman,” Report Man said with ecstasy, waving his pen. “The murderer always is an insignificant little character at the beginning, just like last season.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Trevor asked, sitting down.
Spion gave the water glasses to Lady News and Dr. Fit. “Snow will bring us the other drinks.”
“Thank you.” Dr. Fit said.
“Thank you. It’s the podcast show Only Murder in the Club,” Lady News said, sipping her sparkling water. “We are trying to figure out who killed the old doorman.”
“Isn’t it sort of ironic? Since we just had a murder right here in our Salon,” Trevor smiled serenely.
“But I bet the FBI won’t tell us any clues,” Dr. Fit said. “I doubt they can even definitively identify the poison tonight. Due to the government shutdown, they don’t have enough staff to do any proper scientific analysis.”
“But we have a new clue,” Spion said masterfully, lowering his voice. “It could be a murder on the spur of the moment. The Ambassador only informed the Salon one hour before the party began.”
“We know that,” Report Man said calmly. “We overheard the negotiating group talking. The negotiation wasn’t going well, so they decided to come here for a relaxer.”
Spion’s face fell when his clue wasn’t special. Trevor couldn’t help but grin when he saw Spion’s disappointment.
“We also came to a conclusion,” Lady News continued, lowering her voice further. “If the murderer really wanted to poison the Ambassador, it couldn’t be some international conspiracy like sabotaging the tariff negotiations, because the results of tariff negotiations are never the real issue. The tariff war is just a political manifesto for Queen Regina to gain more power domestically.”
“So, whoever poisoned the Ambassador, for whatever purpose, the Queen may take this as an opportunity to accuse the opposition of undermining national policies,” Report Man said confidently.
“That means the Queen is the most likely suspect?” Spion asked, shocked.
“No, Regina likes to use others to do her dirty work. It couldn’t be her, but she will definitely use it,” Trevor said, his eyes distant.
“Here are our drinks,” Spion waved at Snow, who approached with their drinks on a tray.
“Enjoy your drinks,” Snow said, putting the glasses on the table. “All staff have been interviewed. Now they’re moving on to the premium guests. I guess they will summon you soon.” She looked at Lady News, Report Man, and Dr. Fit.
“Great, waiting for something always makes me nervous,” Lady News clasped her hands cheerfully.
Report Man took a satisfied drink of his tonic. “Who knows, maybe we can take this as a chance to get some new clues from the FBI.”