Suspicion June 5, 1985
We had a burglary here last Saturday night as I’ve pointed out before.
Suspicion squarely rests on the shoulders of Mary Jane even
though there are other options I’ll get into later.
First, we need to lay the ground work as to what Mary Jane’s
motivation might have been.
Primarily, she is addicted to cocaine. I’ve seen her go
through the same pangs of withdrawal that I saw Fran go through, a slow,
strange and painful process in which she moves her jaw as if grinding her
teeth. She frequently clenches her fists for no reason.
I know this is not proof of thievery, but it is evidence
none the less.
We need to consider the crime as well. If the thief was out
for money, he would not have left the change fund, which every store keeps so
the morning shift can start with some cash.
The only thing stolen was Kodak film.
Mary Jane has become more and more bitter at the company,
complaining a lot about how overworked and underpaid she is, and how management
treats her like shit. So, possibly, this crime was about getting revenge of
some kind.
She is always complaining about not getting enough hours and
not having enough money. She’s been scrambling for cash for as long as I’ve
known her.
I met her for the first time at the Rutherford Fotomat, one
of the handful of store fronts operating in this neck of woods. She had taken
on extra hours by doing inventory of all the stores and booths.
She and Safire worked the Rutherford store together for a
time, one working the morning shift, the other the afternoon shift. They even
became best of friends for a time.
But even then, the two of them seemed to compete with each
other, especially when it came to the male customers, and even Safire’s
husband.
Safire believes there is more going on between her husband
and Mary Jane than just innocent flirting and over time, Safire has come to
suspect Mary Jane of every foul deed. If there is a mistake, she blames Mary
Jane,
Bob, the manager, transferred Mary Jane there earlier to reduce
the growing friction between the two women. When Safire changed the locks and
did not tell Mary Jane, Mary Jane had a fit, enraged not just at Safire, but at
manager Bob as well as the company. She kept saying how she was going to get
even with everybody.
So, when the break-in at the Clifton store was discovered,
Mary Jane’s was the first name that came to Safire’s mind.
Mary Jane is also upset by the fact that she worked only two
hours one week and the pay barely covered the cost of the insurance payment. So,
the check was practically nothing. I
remember her bitterly talking about this the day of the break-in, but it seemed
irrelevant at the time – even though she seemed obsessed by it all.
Safire believes Mary Jane or one of her male friends is
responsible, although she also speculates that Bob might have removed the film
after some vandal broke the glass but had not stolen anything – a far fetched
theory. Safire is unreliable. Two weeks ago, she called the police because she
said some guy sat on the wall behind the Quick Chek and stared at her in the booth
for hours.
There are so many theories about the break-in I suspect I
might even be a suspect in some of them.
The only thing we know is that someone broke the glass, and
that film has been taken. Who did it and why is pure speculation?
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