Nothing that happened in the Upin Arms, the city's premier luxury apartment building, escaped the scrutiny and control of Property Manager I. M. DeGuy. Residents suspected that the surly, sanctimonious scoundrel had a secret surveillance system enabling him to eavesdrop on everyone both for pleasure and for profit.
Since last year, when known-gangster Giovanni Richini was the victim of a mob "hit" outside of his penthouse apartment, everyone speculated about what had happened - and even more, about what might happen next that and would be featured on the front page of "The National Inquisitor."
Tonight, though, residents, staff and guests are eating, drinking and socializing at a party in the building's large rec room. DeGuy is there, looking nervous and a little anxious. Suddenly, his cell phone rings and he rushes out of the gathering, only to be found later - his dead body lying in front of the first floor elevator. Someone had hired a hitman, a seemingly common occurrence in the Upin Arms.
Was someone fed up with the manager's misdeeds? Or, did his past make an unexpected return? Perhaps, someone simply knew too much about the malevolent manager, and too little of how to arrange the hit without professional assistance.