Kim preceded Elmer out of the room. Elmer hesitated at the door to look around one final time. Only then did he put out the light and close the door. Taking out a large ring of keys, he locked it.
Kim was busy rinsing out his mop when Elmer turned to him. “I’m going to keep my eye on you, boy,” Elmer warned. “And I’m going to come back and inspect these two restrooms after you’re done. So don’t cut corners.”
“I’ll do my best,” Kim said.
Elmer gave him one final disapproving look before heading back toward the lunchroom.
Kim slipped his earphone back into his ear as soon as Elmer disappeared from view.
“Did you hear that whole exchange?” Kim asked.
“Of course I heard it,” Tracy said. “Have you had enough of this nonsense now? Come on out!”
“No, I want to try to get those papers,” Kim said. “The problem is the bum locked the door.”
“Why do you want them?” Tracy asked with exasperation.
“It’s something more to show Kelly Anderson,” Kim said.
“We already have the results from the lab,” Tracy said. “That should be enough for Kelly Anderson to make a case for a recall. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“Of course,” Kim said. “At a minimum, Mercer Meats’ entire January twelfth production has to be recalled. But those papers also show how the industry is willing to buy sick cows, avoid inspection, and then allow a grossly soiled cow head to continue in production.”
“Do you think that was how Becky got sick?” Tracy asked emotionally.
“There’s a good chance.” Kim said with equal emotion. “That and the fact that her burger wasn’t cooked through.”
“It makes you realize how tenuous life is that it could be snuffed out by something so trivial as a cow’s head falling on the floor and a hamburger not cooked enough.”
“It also underlines the importance of what we’re doing here,” Kim said.
“How do you think you can get the papers now that the record-room door is locked?” Tracy asked.
“I don’t know exactly,” Kim admitted. “But the door has a thin piece of plywood covering a hole. It probably wouldn’t be too hard to knock it off. But it will have to wait until I make a stab at these two restrooms. I expect Elmer to wander back here in a few minutes, so I better get busy.”
Kim looked at the two doors. They faced each other across the hall. He pushed open the men’s room door. Careful to avoid tipping over his bucket, he maneuvered it over the raised threshold and onto the tile. He gave it a shove into the room and let the door close behind him.
The room was a generous size with two toilet stalls and two urinals on the right and two sinks with mirrors over them to the left. There was a series of coat hooks just inside the door. The only other objects in the room were two paper towel dispensers and a trash container.
In the middle of the far wall was a window that looked out onto the parking lot.
“At least this men’s room isn’t very dirty,” Kim said. “I had fears that it was going to look like the one on the kill floor.”
“I wish I could come in there and help,” Tracy said.
“I wouldn’t mind that at all,” Kim said.
Kim grabbed the handle of the mop. Stepping on the wringer’s foot pedal, he wrung out the mop head. Then he walked over to the window and started mopping.
The door to the bathroom burst open with enough force for its knob to crack the wall tile. The sound and the movement shocked Kim, and his head shot up. To his utter dismay he now found himself staring at the man who had attacked him previously. Once again the man was brandishing a kill-floor knife.
The man’s lips slowly curled back into a cruel smile. “We meet again, Doctor. Only this time there will be no police and no woman to help you.”
“Who are you?” Kim demanded, eager for the man to continue talking. “Why are you doing this to me?”