Red Lips

Harry ended up taking Maria to the mall.
He wasn't sure why, but he decided that he needed to get out, and by taking Maria, he was fulfilling those needs.
The whole ride there was very quiet and sort of uncomfortable, but as long as Mont didn't lash out on Maria again, he was okay with that.
As they pulled into the parking lot, Harry said, "We're here."
Maria just got out of the car and started to walk inside, not glancing at Mont. Women, he thought, getting out and following her.
They went to a shoe store first, like Famous Footwear, or something. Maria spent a full hour just looking at these two pairs of shoes that looked almost exactly the same. She kept looking at them and she even asked Harry what he thought. Mont looked at the pairs carefully, trying to decide which one she would like better.
"Um....I think....uh, that pair is fine..." Mont pointed to the shoes in Maria's left hand.
Maria glanced at the pair in her left hand in a new light and tossed them back onto the self."Thanks,"she said, and Maria left the store with the other pair. Mont looked on in confusion, trailing behind.
The two went to other stores as well, but Mont only traveled in a daze and didn't pay much attention.
While Maria and Mont were at the food court, Mont got a text from Josh:

Just found an interesting bit on Batley- come by the office now.

Harry cleared his throat and Maria looked up from her plate of fries. "What?"she asked.
"We need to get back to the office. Bent just sent me a text that said he found something about Batley."
Nodding her head, Maria finished off her fries and they left.
-----
"Glad you could join us."Charlie greeted them dryly.
Harry and Maria stepped through the door and said hello to the others, Derek, Carey, and Josh, who were all bent over the computer screen, murmuring to each other.
"What did you find Josh?"Harry asked.
"Okay....hmm, where do I start....Okay, so Batley is this really rich guy who owns some sort of factory...you know that...more than one, actually, and he was very popular among the ladies. There is a list of some of his more well known ladies who he must have slept with..."Josh scrolled down the computer screen as he looked for more information.
Derek piped in."Batley only stayed with each woman for a short while."
"A rich player..."Carey muttered.
"We also found out the dead woman's identity."Josh continued. "Her name was Helen Cart, and she was fairly new to the list of women....I think she was meant to be a one night stand kind of thing."
Charlie returned into the room (Mont hadn't noticed him leaving) with a sheet of paper with a list on it.
"Here's the list of names that you printed Bent,"Charlie said, handing the paper to Josh. "That's an awfully long list....how old was this guy again?"
"Thirty five, I think." Josh answered, scanning the list."Let's see... there was Abbey, Christine, May, Beth, Sarah, Caroline, Hannah, Sue, Victoria, Lisa, Linda...I guess Lisa and Linda were twins or sisters or something...same last name....Mary, Carly, Emily, Rachel, Jesse, Darla, Sandy, Grace, Sunny, and.... Elizabeth."
Everyone fell silent as they listened to Josh state all twenty-one names.
"Jesus."Carey breathed.
"Well,"said Harry, somewhat unfazed by the list, "I say we should interview them all, get some facts, and then we can get to know this guy."
Derek looked at him and nodded his head. "Let's try and contact Abbey first."
-----(The next day)
Harry was scheduled to meet up with Abbey Grace at five today at a fancy restaurant much to expensive for Mont's liking. He followed the directions that Abbey had generously given him and made it to the restaurant at 4:45. Harry got seated in a reserved area and ordered some red wine that he hoped Ms. Grace would like.
At five on the dot, Abbey arrived. Harry stood up to greet her and pull out her chair for her.
"Thank you, love." Abbey said as she sat down, beaming at him.
"I hope you like red wine, I spent a fortune on this one bottle." Harry replied, taking out a notebook and pen.
"That's just fine, thank you."
"Okay, so I'll just ask you a couple of background questions, you know, to get to know you and things like that. Real easy."
Abbey nodded her head, her diamond earnings jingling under her curled auburn locks.
"How old are you Ms. Grace?" Harry started.
"Please, it's Abbey. I'm thirty two." Abbey answered.
"Alright, Abbey, what do you do for a living?"
"I own a line of restaurants. Very nice line, if I do say so myself."
Harry nodded, jotting this down. "Were you acquainted with Jonathan Batley?"
Abbey looked down."Yes."
"In what way?"
"I was his girlfriend for a while. A short while."
"Do you know that he is dead?"
Abbey nodded."Yes, I heard some rumors...I was hoping the rumors were wrong."
"How would you describe Mr. Batley?"
Abbey pulled her eyebrows together. "Hmm?"
"How did he treat you when he was your boyfriend? What was he like?"Harry clarified.
"Oh, he was really sweet and bought me all these expensive gifts whenever he saw me. Very into money and getting the best gifts."
Harry scribbled a few notes and continued.
"Were you and Mr. Batley in a physical relationship?"
Abbey blushed to a bright red and fiddled with her napkin. Her gaze went everywhere but to Mont. Harry didn't press any further and wrote down, yes, in his notebook.
"Okay, next question. Was Jonathan suicidal?"
Abbey sighed, relieved that the embarrassing question was done. "Well, hmm, I didn't know him that well, but I don't believe so. He was too concerned with loosing his money half the time, that I don't think he would or could kill himself."
Mont frowned as he wrote this down.
"One last question Ms. Gr- Abbey. Do you believe Mr. Batley had it in him to become violent?"
Abbey took a sip of wine and thought about her answer. Harry took a sip from his glass.
"I believe...that if it had something to do with money...Mr. Batley would defend his money...and ultimately he could become violent...if that would protect his money." She said slowly.
Harry nodded with satisfaction at her answer and wrote all of it down.
"Thank you for your time, Abbey." He said, getting up to place a kiss on her cheek.
Abbey blushed again."My pleasure."
Mont gulped down his wine, and taking the rest of the bottle with him, he left the restaurant.
-----
Later on that night, Mont relayed the evening to Josh and Derek.
"So, he stilled could have killed himself and the woman-Helen Cart?" Derek asked.
"Well, Mont only interviewed one woman, but I'm thinking that he killed the both of them. I mean, there really is no other answer." Josh said.
"Wait a minute Bent. You have to keep your mind wide open to other possible conclusions. Don't jump to the answer." Harry cautioned.
Derek took Harry's notebook and read what Harry had wrote.
"Hmm...the last part is interesting...you know, about the whole 'he could become violent'thing. But, Abbey Grace was just one woman out of the twenty one women on that list. We still need more interviews."
Harry nodded. "I'm on it."