CLOVER

Background Check

"Well, that was fast."- inside of Scarlett rushed a feeling of accomplishment. "Unlike you, I don't work alone. Meet me at the High Street at 7 pm today to discuss our plan with my agent."
William nodded, and Jennifer showed her the way out.
-"Sir if I may ask... I admit that her theory was really impressive, and it also made sense, but shouldn't we ask for a background check? We don't know who we are hiring, and she clearly did not seem like someone to be from around the ton."
"I believe that won't be necessary Jenn, besides I don't have time for that. You know I have to solve this case as soon as possible."
After saying that, William left the office, leaving Jennifer behind and alone. She felt anxious about this. Something inside her wanted to change William's mind about Scarlett. She sat down and opened his cabinet. She was determined to do a background check on Scarlett. Maybe there was something to make Scarlett go away. Her hands were shaking as she looked through the files for her name. Scarlet Jones. No results. She searched the other cabinet but still nothing. Jennifer decided to check the archives. Something must be there. As she was going to the archives room, William left the agency to meet Scarlett. It started raining heavily. It would be the perfect time for Clover to strike again, only if she still was alive and breathing somewhere near. Jennifer got inside the archives room. She went to the S section, searching for Scarlett's name. The files were crashing on the floor, and papers were flying above her head. Jennifer never was this stressed about something, but if something was off in her eyes, she would spend nights to put an end on it. What was wrong with Scarlett in her eyes, though?
William was soaking wet when he arrived at Dorringtons, a bakery across the High Street.

"You are 16 seconds late, Trenor."

"Sorry, Ginger, I will make sure to come 16 seconds earlier next time."
"What did you just call me?"
"You must be the famous handsome detective William Trenor. I'm Tyler, Scar's assistant."-he interrupted them.
"You prefer being called Scar instead?"
"I will show you later what I prefer, Trenor. Why don't you take a seat next to the fire place, looks like you might need it."
William gave her a despising look and sat down after greeting Tyler.
"So where did you hear about the handsome part, Sir..?"
"Fernsby. Tyler Fernsby. The ladies of the ton whisper a lot. I can now confirm what they say seem to be true."
"We didn't come to discuss the physical appearance of Trenor. Let's move forward to the Clover case."
"You seem so determined to catch Clover. Do you have any motive, Ginger?"
"I just like some adventure. Besides, I want to see how the ton will react to this. Their hero needed a woman's help to solve a case with a woman mastermind in it."
"Is she always like this?"-he looked at Tyler.
Tyler laughs-"Oh, you know nothing, pal."
"Your agency doesn't have a lot of women working there, which makes it easier for us to detect the suspect."
"Clover is really good at this. If she is a woman from the agency, she must be someone close to me. Someone who knows my every move."
"You are getting to it."
William figured out who Scarlett meant by that but was being hesitant. Could it be?
"Impossible!"-he yells,"Jennifer is not that capable of committing 48 murderers herself."
"Sometimes you don't have to think outside the box Trenor, sometimes the answer is just inside of it. At the people who we are less suspicious about. Jennifer is never with you at the crime scenes."
"That's because she is my secretary, I ask her to stay behind and work with the case files."
"Exactly, that is an open opportunity for her. Tyler looked up her file and looked at what he deciphered. Jennifer's surname is Bonheur, which in old French means 'lucky' , and what do clovers symbolize?"
William took a second to answer.
"Luck. Look, I understand your point, but can't this just be a coincidence?"
"I agree. Well, let's move to another direction. You and I, Tyler, too, are the only ones so far who think that Clover is still alive, plotting something mysterious and evil as usual. Maybe she moved to another place, or to be exact, she is planning to."
"Jennifer never moved out to somewhere else."
-"Yes because she was busy killing innocent men for God knows why!"-Scarlett raged. She got up, leaning closer to William.
"Go at your silly little office and investigate her. Clover never was more late than 2 weeks. She must be getting ready to move out somewhere else. Like in London."
" I appreciate your efforts, really, but this is going a bit too far. It is starting to look as if you are holding some personal grudge against her. Your hypothesis make sense, but they are directed to the wrong suspect. I know Jennifer for way too long. There is not the slightest bit of chance for her to be Clover's assistant, let alone to be Clover herself."
"Well, if that is how you are going to end this discussion, then very well. We will make sure to find other clues on other possible suspects. Have a good evening, Trenor!"
Tyler got his briefcase and left after Scarlett, leaving William inside the bakery. William has never been this confused. What Scarlett said was based on factual hypothesis, but he found it hard to admit them. 7.30 pm. He got up to leave the bakery and headed to the agency. It was still raining but not as hard as before. The posters of Clover were getting wet and dissolved. He stopped under a street lamp, the rain soaking his gold blonde hair. Could Jennifer be behind that mask? Behind that red poisonous lipstick? The agency's lights were shining just 2 blocks away. If he wanted to put an end to his thoughts, then he had to go there before Jennifer went home. When he got inside the agency, he found all the workers circled close to the archives room, whispering roughly to one another.
"What is going on in here?"
"Sir, someone is locked inside the archive, and some of the workers can't get in to get the files they need for their work."
"Who is it?"
We don't know, and they aren't answering us. If the boss finds out about this, that person will for sure be fired."
William pushed through the messy crowd and told everyone to back off as he was about to kick the door open. He kicked once, twice, and the door fell down, leaving everyone to see who was inside.
"Jenn?"
More whispers and complaining were heard from everyone until the boss showed up.
"What happened to the door, William?!"
"Jennifer got stuck inside while she was looking up a file I asked her for, so I had to kick the door open. Right, everyone?"
Everyone nodded and got back to their work as William gave Jennifer a questionable look.
"You got to pay for that door with the money you will earn from finishing Clover's case. If you will ever finish it."
-"Oh Sir. Beddington, I'm so close to finding out who she is -"
- "Yes yes, that is what you have been saying for the past 2 years, William. Go back to your work now. You have such a little time left."
Jennifer got up, holding some files tightly on her arms, and tried to walk away, but William grabbed her by her arm and stopped her.
"What are those?"
"I told you I wanted to do a background check on the girl you hired. The funny thing is that her name isn't in our archives. She must be from somewhere else, maybe London."
"Why are you so determined to find out about her? She seems pretty normal and really skilled to me."
"We still have to be sure Will!"
-"Oh come on, stop the nonsense."
"What kind of normal person shows up in an office like that with that much material about a case that even the town's detective couldn't solve for 3 years?"
-"Okay so what now? You are going to London's archives all by yourself because you can not sleep these thoughts off?"
"Yes."
"Looks like I may have to stick up to Scarlett's assumptions a little longer."
"What assumptions?"