DEATH COMES TO AN OPEN HOUSE Read Free Page A

Harold’s aroma was even stronger than usual, a blend of sweat, deodorant and after shave.
    Something important enough to bring the broker back from Annapolis and require another meeting had happened. “Tell you when we get together,” Ed had said over the phone as each asked what was going on. Now all eyes were on the blocky figure whose rumpled shirt and trousers were evidence of his rushed return. As usual, Ed was half-perched on the computer table, his hands resting on it, the forward curve of his shoulders made more evident by their width. His face was square with strong features, a wash of red warming his dark complexion. Today, the usual pleasant grin was missing and, before he began, he rubbed the back of his neck, a sign that he was worried.
    “One detail the police left out in their initial report to the news people was that a couple of June’s business cards were found torn up at the scene of her murder. Mary Markey was holding an open last Sunday, too. This morning, she was counting the leftover information sheets and found a few of her cards torn into small pieces and a note saying she was lucky the buyers in the house saved her life. Called the police and they made the connection. Seems this is someone after agents.”
    Ed looked at each agent individually to emphasize the importance of what he was saying.
    “Board phoned every broker in Montgomery and Prince Georges. Not sure we want opens Sunday.”
    He stopped. Good salespeople knew when to stop talking and let their people think.
    “Mary was somewhat like June,” Theresa offered. “Maybe this is a vendetta against unscrupulous agents.”
    “Hardly think you can call both women unscrupulous.”
    “Perhaps it depends on how well one knew them,” Theresa persisted, her voice as empty of emotion as her expression.
    Ed looked away from his most successful agent, dismissing her comment.
    “I think we ought to consider canceling our opens until the police know more,” he continued. “We are definitely going to put two agents on each one. We do that on big homes to prevent theft or damage anyway.”
    Theresa frowned. She was the best closer in the office and didn’t like sharing commissions.
    “I could take Jean with me if she doesn’t have an open house herself.”
    Theresa would use their time together for the mini-lectures she enjoyed giving, a teaching experience, no commission split owed. Stan needed the experience more, but they were the oil and water of the office.
    Ed avoided that issue for the moment.
    “The first question is: do we want any opens?” He looked around. “Thoughts?”
    “No open house. Bad, bad,” Hua said, not surprisingly.
    “I’d like to hold the DeLucca’s house open if I get the listing.”
    Jean was tentative. She had very little hope of getting that listing.
    “And you need to show the owners you really mean to work for them. Okay then. Show of hands. How many think they might want an open Sunday?”
    Theresa’s, Stan’s and Jean’s hands went up.
    “Stan? Got a lead? Great! That’s three. Okay. Who’s with Theresa?”
    “Me,” Kevin announced loudly, pointing to himself. “I’m always helping Theresa.”
    “But not a fifty-fifty split,” Theresa objected. “Twenty percent should be quite adequate.”
    That Kevin was well known to be broke and Theresa borderline wealthy was irrelevant. This was business.
    “Kevin, you okay with that? You are, after all, providing protection.”
    Kevin wasn’t a fighter. “Yeah. Okay.”
    “Right, then. Kevin will make a good bodyguard, Theresa.”
    “I can take care of myself,” Stan said.
    “I’m sure you can. But when I set a policy, we stick to it.”
    “Then I’ll bring a buddy from college. I can split the commission any way I like.”
    “You can’t split commission with someone who isn’t licensed.”
    “Then I’ll pay him as a bodyguard.”
    Ed nodded approval. “That works. A set fee. Get a receipt for taxes. Jean, then.”
    Ed’s voice