“Help you how?” Ms. Evans said.
“Can you tell us how all of this works?” Paige asked. “How does someone go about getting a job through you, and how do people end up with particular people working for them?”
Ms. Evans gave a bright, professional smile then. Evidently, this was something that she was more than happy to talk about and had probably explained to people plenty of times. If it got her to relax enough to answer more questions, then it was definitely a good place to start.
“All our workers begin by sending in a resume,” Ms. Evans said. “They then go through an extensive vetting process, making sure that no one we employ is a criminal or has any skeletons lurking in their past.”
Which was fine, unless they simply hadn’t been caught for what they’d done, or unless they started it after they began to work at the agency. Even the best checks couldn’t guarantee that a serial killer wasn’t working there.
“We also interview them to find out the kind of work they wish to do, and the kind of environment that would best suit them,” Ms. Evans said. “Above all, we look for people who will truly care about the people for whom they will provide support.”
“And once you’ve determined that they are suitable?” Paige asked. “How do they get matched up with specific jobs?”
“People put in a call to us with the details of the position that they want filled. Then one of our agents goes through the files of the people they have on their books and finds a suitable match.”
“Presumably you keep records,” Christopher said. “Records of who found jobs for which people?”
“Yes, of course, it helps us to work out their bonuses at the end of the year, and to make sure that each of our recruitment agents is hitting their targets.”
She made it sound so brisk and efficient, a long way from the caring approach that she had been so proud of just a few moments before. At the same time, though, the most important thing was that they did have those records. If they could show a connection between the murdered women and a single individual, then whoever that was would rocket to the top of their list of suspects.
“We’ll need to see those records,” Christopher said. “Plus any information you have on people who sent in resumes but weren’t found jobs.”
“I’m really not sure,” Ms. Evans said. “We pride ourselves on our discretion. It’s one of our major selling points with our wealthier clients. If we were to simply give out information, it might look very bad for us.”
“It would look worse if people heard that you could have helped to catch a killer, but decided not to,” Christopher pointed out.
“And I’m sure you want to find the person who has been killing people employed through your agency as much as anyone does,” Paige suggested, taking a much more conciliatory tone. “It’s not about discretion, Madeline. It’s about doing the right thing. I’m sure the people who employed Amelie and Zoe would want to know that you’re doing everything you can to try to find the person who killed them.”
The good cop, bad cop combination seemed to be enough for Ms. Evans, because she nodded.
“Yes, yes of course. I wouldn’t want anyone to think that I wasn’t helping.”
She led them around to her computer screen and called up a spreadsheet.
“Here, this is our record of who is employed where, which agent got them the job, what they’re being paid, and what percentage is due to our agency under the terms of their contract. If you give me a moment, I should be able to find the names. Remind me of them again?”
“Amelie Pichou, Zoe Wells, Linda McCarthy, Tammy Khorikian,” Paige supplied. “I’d also like you to check Marta Huarez’s name to see if she has any connection to your agency.”
It seemed to take forever for Ms. Evans to check the names, calling the relevant sections of the spreadsheet up on the screen. Christopher looked over her shoulder, and immediately saw one issue.
“It seems that the women were all placed in their positions by different agents,” Ms. Evans said. A strange look came over her face, as if she’d just thought of something, but she seemed to compose her expression into something more precisely professional. “So you see, it seems impossible that one of my employees would have had contact with all of them. I’m sorry, but you’ve wasted your time here.”
It sounded like a dismissal. Christopher knew that he ought to have felt as though the bottom had dropped out of this lead, if not the entire investigation. Yet there was something about the speed with which the woman seemed to be trying to get rid of him and Paige that made him suspicious.
“What are you holding back?” he asked.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Ms. Evans said.
“You thought of something before,” Christopher said. “There was something, just as you told me that they were all put in place by different agents.”
“It’s nothing,” she said. “Just a suspicion.”
“Even that might help us a lot,” Paige said. “Whatever you’ve thought of, the more information we have, the better.”
Christopher heard Ms. Evans sigh. “There was a man who worked here. Ben Astor. I believe that Zoe Wells made a complaint about him. That complaint crossed my desk.”
“What was the complaint?” Paige asked. “What did she accuse him of?”