Wojcik called Farnicki early in the morning the next day. He told him he would come to pick him up. AlChemie was situated in an industrial zone on the other side of town from Greenwood, in the most northern part of Resovia.
The Wroclaw highway was always desolate on Saturdays, certainly in the early morning hours. The Resovians used that road to exit the city to visit their country retreats, making sure to leave town on Friday night.
"Funny. You have a Wroclaw highway in Resovia," remarked Farnicki.
"I guess most cities in Lechia have named their streets or districts after Wroclaw," Wojcik wanted to continue his explanation but got interrupted by someone calling him on the mobile.
"Inspector Wojcik speaking. Oh, good morning. Yes, indeed. I'd like to order a hundred of those. Yes, with the initials of our police department. When can I expect them? Okay, thanks!"
"What did you order?" Farnicki asked when Edmond disconnected.
"We're out of some office supplies. I emailed them yesterday. The lady said I can expect them next week on Monday or Tuesday. I think we've reached our destination."
Wojcik slowed down in a street with a sloping bridge. Just before the bridge he turned left. They stopped in front of a barred electric gate. Above that gate hung a board with a display, suspended on a thick wire supported by two metal columns on each side of the electric gate. The sign read in black letters: DAYS WITHOUT AN ACCIDENT. Right underneath that board, the display showed in red digits the number 007. Wojcik opened his window and reached for the green button of the gate operator. They heard a beeping sound, and the electric gate started to move.
"Wait, so this means that there was an accident seven days ago on this site?" Farnicki asked in a concerned voice.
"Ten years ago, there was a huge explosion in a toxic waste factory somewhere in these parts. I read about it in the newspaper, but I didn't pay any attention to how the company was called. But I assume it must have been AlChemie. Despite the firm's remote location, the environmental damage was serious enough for the people of Miwoçin District to stay inside and keep windows and doors closed for a couple of days, until the toxic fumes evaporated."
"Speaking of toxic fumes, what's that smell?!"
Farnicki looked out of the window to see the reason for the awful smell penetrating Wojcik's car. The smell wasn't so much foul, as it was poisonous. The more Ivan inhaled of it, the more he felt his insides ache.
They walked inside a one storey building, accessed through a plastic door that didn't close properly. The first thing they saw on entering was a narrow passage between two panel walls, horizontally divided in the middle by transparent plastic windows over the full length of the passage. Behind the window on the right side was a small office with desks spanning the full perimeter of the room. Four women sat behind those desks, staring at their computer screens. He could see the faces of two of them, the others sat with their backs to him. Edmond knew the women had heard them coming in, but they had deliberately chosen to ignore the visitors.
On the left side was another office, though extremely messy, with a few desks pushed together in the centre of the room. In the middle of that island laid a pile of loose documents. There were only two computers and two large copy machines in that office with two operators dividing their attention between the devices, constantly printing out and adding more papers to the pile in front of them. Those women looked up when the police men walked in but didn't rush to deal with them. Wojcik figured that everyone thought them to be drivers or factory workers and expected for them to be patient. However, the Inspector had no intention to wait. He loudly tapped the plastic window with his knuckles and pushed his badge against it. The women were startled by the unexpected sound and glared at the two men. Their facial expressions soon changed from angry to concerned when they saw Wojcik's badge. One of the women, the one that sat closer, stood up and slid open the embedded retractable window.
"Inspector Edmond Wojcik and Detective Sergeant Ivan Farnicki from the Resovia Police Department. We'd like to talk to your boss, Ma'am."
"Mister Wronski is not in the office today. But Martha is the second in charge. A moment please."
Wojcik saw the young woman walk hurriedly to the door in the back of the office. She opened the door to the passage and motioned for them to follow her. The employee led them further to the end of the hallway, where another door was hidden in the darkness. The door provided access to a brightly lit atrium with a convex skylight on the ceiling. There was one more passage leading deeper into the administrative core of AlChemie, but the young woman didn't go there. Instead, she knocked on the only door in the atrium. The Inspector noticed a black nameplate with Martha Glushko written in white letters. Wojcik involuntarily wrinkled his nose as if something irritated his nostrils. Glushko was a Borderlandish surname. Edmond hated Borderlanders. He tried to control his resentment, but the annoying voice behind the door calling to come in only intensified the feeling.
"Martha, there are two policemen here to see you," she whispered.
"Policemen?! Let them in!"
The employee opened the door for them. They walked inside into a small personal office. The walls, ceiling, furniture, and even the laptop and printer were white.
Nevertheless, the white paint can't bleach your black soul, Wojcik couldn't refrain himself from thinking as he studied the short, not young woman that jumped up from her white desk chair to greet them.
Martha had short grey hair parted in the middle. She wore small rectangular glasses in a metal frame, resting on the tip of her nose. The skin on her face was starting to show wrinkles, and her lips were visibly dry. She was of the kind that believed she didn't need any makeup, not even lip balm. Her clothes were as pale and grey as her skin colour. The light blue and yellow flower pattern of her blouse and her three-quarter length pants completed the toxic colleague picture. Wojcik beat her to it before she could say anything.
"Hello, Ma'am. I'm Inspector Edmond Wojcik. This is Detective Sergeant Ivan Farnicki, from the Resovia Police Department. We'd like to have a word with you."
"Is it about that accident that happened to Michael?" Martha asked sheepishly.
"He threatened to sue us for burning his lungs in the factory. I told him that he knew what he was getting himself into when he started to work for us. Smoke inhalation injury was one of the risks he exposed himself to," she explained coolly.
"No, it's not about Michael. However, his case sounds like one worth investigating," Wojcik remarked defiantly.
"Oh. What is it then?"
"Agnes Gott. We believe she worked here twenty years ago."
Martha's black soul instantly shone through her angry light blue eyes when she heard him mention that name. The sudden change in her demeanour was so obvious that Wojcik couldn't help but point that out.
"It looks like you remember her, Miss Glushko?"
"And if I remember her! Yes, I believe you are right, she worked here twenty years ago. We hired that brazen brat right after she graduated from college. At first, things were fine, she did what she was told to. But the longer the more she showed us her true colours and started to get disrespectful!"
"And I assume you were the only one she was disrespectful towards?" Wojcik asked sullenly.
"Well, yes. But I don't like your tone, Officer! I was her superior and she were to follow my orders without constantly questioning me! You shouldn't believe what that manipulative woman told you about me!" Martha exclaimed disdainfully.
"It's Inspector. I don't see anything wrong with my question about your relationship with Agnes. Besides, Agnes didn't have the chance to tell me about her workplace abuse because someone murdered her," Wojcik parried relentlessly.
"Was Agnes killed?" Martha staggered back and plopped down on her chair, "When?"
"Last week. She died from cyanide poisoning. There were several attempts to take her life, however her cats fell victim to it because Miss Gott shared her food with them, ignorant of it being poisoned."
Martha Glushko nodded her head, as if she knew what the Inspector was talking about.
"And yesterday Miss Dominique Moran was also killed. Strangled in her home."
"Dominique?! But why Dominique?" Martha looked at Edmond in disbelief.
"We would also like to know that. We were hoping you would provide us with the answers. When Agnes was killed, we were unsure where to search for clues. Yesterday morning we received a phone call from Dominique. She had something important to tell us after reading about Agnes' death in the newspaper. She expected us at six that evening, but we were too late. Her sister told us where the retired lady used to work, and that Agnes had been a colleague of hers at some point. That's what brought us here."
Wojcik was silent and observed how the shocked woman nervously fidgeted with the panel of her blouse.
"We also know that Miss Gott received a lifetime pension from your company for contracting a work-related disease," Farnicki decided to break the awkward silence by changing the subject.
"Bollocks," Martha blurted out, "the nerve she had to lie about a work-related disease! After our fight, she resigned, and shortly after we received a letter from her lawyer accusing the company of Agnes getting sick. There was no disease! She wasn't sick! She was just a sly snake who found a way to leech off the system!"
Martha's outburst woke Wojcik from his reverie.
"Our coroner will disagree with you, Miss Glushko. The autopsy showed that the poor woman suffered from hyperthyroidism, so her receiving compensation for getting sick while working for your company was justified. And as for leeching of the system, the pension was barely enough for her to buy food, so our coroner will also confirm that Agnes was malnourished at the time of her death."
Wojcik seemed to enjoy sharing all that information with Martha, towards whom his animosity intensified progressively. He meticulously articulated each word to ensure it was clearly understood, implying that their company was accountable for Agnes' poor health. Martha's lips curled in an irate grimace as she was about to spit something poisonous out, but Wojcik didn't let her.
"I was wondering, Miss Glushko, do you keep any poisons like strychnine and cyanide in the factory?"
"I think we do, we are a waste processing company after all," she replied, acting uncertain, "however, I don't see how the company's activity has anything to do with Agnes' and Dominique's death."
"Oh, on the contrary, Miss Glushko. It seems like all clues are leading to AlChemie. Besides, if Agnes hadn't died of poisoning, she would've died from malnourishment or her thyroid gland issues. And in all those three possibilities I sense the smell of your company's factory. And since both women once worked for your company, you're in over your head."
Martha turned red. Edmond succeeded in getting under her skin. Farnicki felt that she could barely hold herself from physically attacking the Inspector. She took a sip from a glass of water on her desk and stood up.
"That is a serious accusation, Inspector. You can't just barge in and accuse a company and people working for that company of murder. I'm sure our lawyer would disapprove of your conduct. Here are his details," she took a business card from the corner of her desk and handed it to Wojcik.
"Thank you, Miss Glushko. But before we leave, I'd like to have the address of your boss. I heard he's not in today, so I might as well bring him a visit."
"I don't think so, Inspector. If you have any further questions, you can submit them to our lawyer."
"I could do that, but I think that your boss would like to know of our visit today and decide for himself whether he agrees to talk to us personally. After all, he has the last word in this company and you're justthe second in charge."
Wojcik's last remark made Martha press her lips together, keeping her from spitting in his face. With slightly shaking hands she opened her desk's drawer and took out a lined notepad. She scribbled down her boss' address, tore the sheet off the block, and placed it on the table.
"I'll inform Oliver of your visit," she hissed between her teeth, without looking at Edmond.
"That's very kind of you, Miss Glushko," Wojcik said in his sweetest voice.
As soon as the two policemen left her office, Martha walked to the closed door and listened to the sounds coming from the atrium. She waited until she couldn't hear them and even opened the door a crack to check if there was no one standing in the hall. She then went to her desk and dialled a number on her stationary telephone.
"Hello! It's me. Where are you? I just had two cops here and I think they found out something!"