Nefelibaterist

She does not follow rules.

Not hers.

Not yours.

Penny found herself among people others insisted were friends. They made all of the right connections and said all of the right things. So fond of appearances. So distant from content.

Her room scan was penultimate to her action. She need not differentiate guilt from innocence among this crowd. Mere presence indicated intent.

Penny would not feel remorse tonight.

Within 24 hours, Detective Roberts had a series of electrical and building inspections for the loft covering the previous ten years. There was nothing to indicate faulty wiring or structural defects as suggested by the media. This six story converted factory succumbed to gravity not by chance. The only question was who stood to profit. Was the culprit among the dead or somewhere on camera, fleeing the scrutiny of prying eyes?

Amanda waited longer than Penny instructed. The fuel tank was full and the rear seat was stocked with provisions for the journey. Penny insisted on printed maps for she was not one to use any electronics. Perhaps the claims of tracking were true. Perhaps they were not.

Penny did not take chances. Neither did Amanda.

At least not with Penny.

Sinkholes are common where limestone substitutes for bedrock. Depleting the water table creates a vacuum (negative hydro-static pressure) in which residents abhor even the simple solution of permitting adjacent seawater to fill the void, thus restoring structural integrity. Water prices would soar and returns on investments would plummet.

Where Penny strolled, such concerns were of no consequence. She had her reasons for what she did. That (alone) should suffice.

Many of the buildings erected since 2008 arrived without the intent of anyone, ever, completing a mortgage. Rich residents move in. Dead residents move out. No one goes the distance. With an ocean front view, no one cares.

Roberts wished he wasn't so far from retirement. He had plans for later this summer. He had grandchildren he wished he knew better. He wanted to spend his mornings fishing.

But now, those plans lay asunder. Or is it, put asunder? Roberts didn't dwell on such details when there was work to be finished. With hundreds of hours of video to watch and more bodies being removed daily, his job would soon become a process of elimination exercise. That is if his people could identify the recovered bodies. That is if the bodies that were recovered actually died before the collapse.

Penny paid, as always, in cash for the deposit. She needed Amanda as the bank employee to vouch for the rest when the inevitable call came through. It didn't matter in the long run. Miss Emily Peters, aka Penny, wouldn't be here long enough for a long run to begin.

The building consisted of 48 units over 6 floors, each with an exposure to justify the added expense. Penny asked for a street side view to keep her payments reasonable. The agent abided her wishes but found such wishes to be illogical in her 20+ years of selling sea-view real estate. The view paid off with each sale reaping a sizable profit for both seller and agent alike. She implored Miss Peters to reconsider. Miss Peters became somewhat distant at the realtor's insistence, but simply returned a small smile translated as an ultimatum of "take it or leave it".

The realtor took the cash deposit and the details of future payment while she still could.

She would never see a future payment from Miss Emily Peters.

She would be lucky to see much of anything else.