Excerpt: The Crossword Killer

There were more envelopes on the table when Dave opened the door to his office. Judith must have gotten in early again today. She was a really good receptionist, but if she kept arriving so early, she was going to cost him a fortune in overtime, which he wasn’t sure he could afford if, as he suspected, these letters were all bills.
Dave sighed and sat down and started flipping through them, making a list in his head of which needed to be paid first. The phone bill was a week or two overdue (it could wait a few more); the rent was actually paid up until Tuesday; electricity was well over a month overdue (Dave had brought in a few candles already and was surprised he hadn’t needed to use them yet); and the mortgage for his house was about to fault if he didn’t pay something for it soon (why do they deliver that to his work address anyway?).
There was a letter from his parents, too. They wanted him to know that they loved him and that they weren’t worried about the money they’d lent him almost a year ago and didn’t expect him to pay it back if he couldn’t although he would be able to very easily if he got a proper job.
At the bottom of the pile, almost as if Judith had hidden it there, was a letter from a “M. McKenric, Personal Discovery Agent”. Dave eyed it suspiciously, wondering what “Personal Discovery Agent” was and why he could possibly need one. Eventually, after deciding that the envelope on its own wasn’t going to give any more hints as to its purpose, he opened it and unfolded the paper inside.