Ghost Writer (4 page)

“You don’t have to take my word
for it,” she advised. “The R&D manager told me about the
prototype, confirmed that the data in the report matched it and
that the unit was not one of our standard units. As far as he knew
– the unit was never passed.”

The investigators came to the
same conclusion as we had with out us prompting them.

“Are you accusing Mr Jefferson,
Miss Marriot?”

“I have no wish to do so,”
Susannah admitted. “But the points I have mentioned need to be
investigated by an impartial authority. I also discovered, by
chance, that Jefferson is dating the new Kittering heir. I don’t
know if that is significant or not. And I don’t know if he had
anything against Bryan and the company. I just know that we are in
a very bad position as a company and Edwina Kittering is dead.”

They would keep us advised. That
was all they said. Susannah sat in Bryan’s office and waited as
they went to talk to all the relevant workers – including John. The
investigators were told the same things we had been told – even by
John. They didn’t question John as if he were a suspect – for which
I was grateful. He would think he had fooled them too – but I hoped
he would be investigated further before being challenged. That way
– John would not think Susannah had suspected him.

We tried to forget the trouble
and think of the future.

“I will have to talk to the
workers,” Susannah said quietly. “They know bits of what’s going on
– they have to be worried. What should I tell them?”

“Let’s assume justice will
prevail,” I suggested.

“Can’t you find out?” she asked
me.

“It doesn’t work that way,” I
answered frustrated.

“Well – the company is going
downhill. We can’t sell – we can’t produce. A month from now – I
won’t be able to pay the men. Then because of John embezzling and
no advertising, and all the suspicion about your plane crash - no
bank will lend us money for new product development – or a new
advertising campaign. Can you find anything positive in that?”

“You have a month. We need to
make the most of the time,” I said.

“Assuming that we don’t have
mass resignations when I tell them the basics.”

“Don’t sell the men short,” I
chided her. “It’s a small company and I think there is a sense of
being a family. Tell them the problems – assure them of their pay
for the next month – and your belief that the investigators with
find the truth and exonerate us. Then, even though we can’t produce
– there are things that need doing and now will be the time to do
it.”

“What do you have in mind,
Edwina?”

“So – you can’t produce anything
– but your procedure manuals should be gone through and updated – I
suspect that your brother won’t have changed anything since he took
over.”

Susannah snorted faintly in wry
amusement.

“And Steve Lehman is itching to
try his ideas - so switch some people to the manuals and the rest
to work under Steve and then when we are cleared – you will be
ready to go ahead.”

“When? Don’t you mean if?”
Susannah grumbled.

“When,” I insisted.

“What about John?”

“Him. Well since he is still
acting as if he owns this place – I would challenge him to produce
a new ad campaign and a range of other ways to promote our
products. In our best … ‘we need you to pull us out of our
slump’…business like manner.”

“Humph! And what will you be
doing, Edwina?”

“Well – I have all these ideas
for an advertising campaign myself,” I said with a sly grin. “For
instance – those flow meters could be used in cars and boats – not
just in planes.”

Susannah looked at me with a
gleam of mischief in her eyes and the start of a grin on her face.
“Go for it, Edwina,” she challenged me.

We had an inkling of the future
when John Jefferson did not turn up to work one day about a week
later. He did not ring or leave a message with a reason for his
absence. He was absent all the following week.

The next day, Susannah showed me
the newspaper. On the front page was the revelation that John
Jefferson had admitted to substituting a faulty instrument into the
Kittering plane. He was charged with premeditated murder.

“Justice prevailed, Edwina,”
Susannah said softly. “Thanks to you.”

“He killed me…” I said shocked.
“Why? Was it because I told him I wouldn’t marry him? Or what?”

Susannah shrugged. “Who knows?
Maybe he saw it as a chance to get at Bryan too…”

“What about your company? Do
they still blame you?”

“Bless your caring heart,
Edwina,” Susannah said reaching out to touch me and finding she
couldn’t. “We are fine – the company is in the clear. They rang me
to say that the audit of our methods came back with very
complimentary comments. All the units they checked exceeded the
compulsory standard. We are still on shaky ground financially - but
now we have a chance.”

“If your brother doesn’t ruin
it.”

“He will have to listen to
me…”

The revelation of the facts had
an unexpected side effect. One I had never envisioned.

Clarrie, our new General
Manager, brought a visitor into the office. Susannah didn’t
recognise him until he introduced himself. I did, and if she had
looked my way just then – I would have looked like a ghost.

My father had aged. I wanted to
run and hug him, but he would not see, hear or feel me.

“Miss Marriot, I’m Edward
Kittering,” he said. “I came to apologise to you and your brother.
I accused him of murdering my daughter. I was angry…”

Susannah did glance at me then.
Tears were leaking from my eyes.

“Mr Kittering, I accept your
apology,” Susannah interrupted him. “I can’t speak for Bryan but …
I wish Edwina could be here now too. I know I couldn’t have managed
these past weeks without the help of what she taught me.”

“You and my daughter were
friends?” he asked, incredulous.

“I still think of her as a
friend,” Susannah told him, meeting his gaze. “It’s like she is
standing at my shoulder, advising me. You taught her well.”

“She never seemed interested in
my business.”

“He never let me do anything…” I
cried

“Did you ever give her any real
responsibility?” Susannah asked.

My father looked thoughtful.

“Perhaps that’s why she kept
doing things that people told her she shouldn’t or couldn’t do.
Like I am going to keep this business afloat – somehow – in spite
of my brother.”

“Miss Marriot – I have to admit
you are right,” my father sighed. “I underestimated my daughter –
to my sorrow. I even thought her a fool for breaking off with
Jefferson. Now the truth is out, I see that he has hurt you as much
as me. How can I recompense you for the extra grief I caused
you?”

I began to smile – I knew how my
father’s mind worked. This was a test and an offer.

“Tell him about your plans,” I
said softly.

Susannah sat for a while,
thinking, and then acted on my suggestion.

“It was horrible – thinking I
would lose the company – not even having Bryan around. But I don’t
wish it never happened. My life has purpose now and I won’t let
Bryan push me back to what I was,” Susannah told him. “Anyway – in
my brother’s absence I am responsible for the company. And as I see
things, we need to upgrade our existing products, develop new ones
– our R&D manager has some brilliant ideas – but the bank is
still reluctant to lend us money…”

I saw the muscles in my father’s
eyes twitch. He scented a deal and the chance to make money.

“I would be willing to invest in
your company,” my father told Susannah.

Susannah sat up straighter.
“That’s very good of you, Mr Kittering. How do you see that the
matter would work?”

Susannah didn’t understand the
explanation but I did. This sort of talk was a game to me. One that
I was good at.

With me whispering in Susannah’s
ear, she negotiated a good deal - one that would benefit both of
them. I saw the smile of approval to Papa’s face.

“Now I am convinced that my
daughter was whispering in your ear,” he said. “And I will not
underestimate you, Miss Marriot. “I will tell my solicitors to talk
to yours and get everything rolling as soon as possible.”

I think they were friends even
before he left the office.

“I wonder what Bryan will say,”
Susannah thought aloud.

“Nothing – if he’s smart. Anyway
– he’s not here!” I said tartly. “Besides – you are an equal
partner with him – right now the superior partner – and the
authority is yours.”

She shook her head, squared her
shoulders and grinned. “So I am.”

I am so proud of Susannah. She
kept the company together through the worst crisis in its history –
when her brother had simply walked out. Now she was on her way and
needing me less and less. Steve Lehman was an excellent advisor and
I could see something developing between them.

I felt I should have been
recalled, but I knew why I hadn’t.

Bryan!

I didn’t like him, but he was
hovering around me, unable to go up. He wanted me to speak to
Susannah for him, but I wasn’t going to do that. I was around to
help her – not lay guilt on her when Bryan deserved it all.

He had been on his way home – as
soon as John Jefferson had been arrested. They haven’t found his
body yet – his car had run off the road. All I could do was give
Susannah a reason to send someone looking for him and a
direction.

Once his body is found, I will
be finished here. I really don’t think I am needed any more since
Steve has asked Susannah to marry him.

I think if I’m asked now, that I
might take up the offer of going around again. And I suspect there
will be a vacancy coming up in the Marriot family soon…

####

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