In the days following Geoffrey Landgraab's death the mood at the company headquarters was not only solemn but filled with tension and anxiety as well. It was a company where the right hand didn't know what the left hand often did, where rumours of various shady dealings percolated under the surface and that it was prudent to know who your friends were, and who was going to plunge a knife in your back.
Alice Ethington, a pert and efficient blonde girl whose instincts and insights belied her 22 years of age, was not immune to the tension of the office and she too felt that the axe could swing at her at any moment. Her official role in the company was that of Personal Assistant to various heads of department but in reality she had always been the unofficial eyes and ears of Geoffrey and Nancy Landgraab.
Because of her youthful prettiness people tended to assume she was a sweet ingenue; yes, good at office tasks but few suspected that she was watching, listening and learning about the men who casually flirted with her and the women who would include her in their gossip circles. Alice had always been this good at watching and listening all her life and she knew when to shut up around those who were more outgoing and influential.
For now she kept her head down and finished off a report she had started compiling last month when she was assigned to some internal security work. Mrs Landgraab suspected someone in the company was passing secrets to rivals or the press; Alice wasn't told exactly which, but she was told to keep an eye out for anyone acting suspiciously and to go through the files of suspects to see if there was anything amiss.
It seemed a little futile now; it turned out the informant was Jeremy Saint and he had left the company after turning evidence over to the police, but her report still had to be completed and handed in to Mrs Landgraab. Alice, ever dutiful and efficient, complied without comment.
Her concentration was interrupted by the arrival of a colleague in her workspace.
"Hi Alice....I say, you look really nice today; that shade of blue suits you." said a young, fairly good looking man who looked nerdy with his heavy horned rimmed glasses and beige cardigan worn over a button down shirt.
"Thank you, Karl." Alice replied, noticing his awkward way of trying to flirt with her. "Is there anything I can help you with?" she said with a pleasant smile; this seemed to make Karl feel self-conscious.
"It's not me...erm, I mean I'm here on an errand...from the boss." he stammered.
"The boss? Mrs Landgraab?" asked Alice.
"No...the new boss: Mister Landgraab: Malcolm III"
"Oh him...Karl, the office shorthand for Mr Malcolm Landgraab III is 'Big Mal'. He doesn't mind it." Alice said as she took the sheaf of paper from her typewriter and put it in a folder on her desk. Then she stood up.
"Did Big Mal say what he wanted to see me about?" she said as she walked over to Karl. The young man caught a whiff of her perfume and almost lost his bearings from being intoxicated by her essence.
"Erm...nothing specific, but he asked for you, by name and said it was a matter of some importance."
"A matter of some importance? It sounds vague enough to be either something trivial...or of dire consequence. Which would you place a bet on, Karl?" she said with an impish grin.
"I...don't bet, Alice" he meekly replied.
"No...I don't suppose you do" she said looking him up and down before heading off to find Big Mal.
It didn't take her long because he was standing in the corridor right outside of her office. Moreover, he knew immediately who she was.
"Miss Ethington..." he said, more as a definitive statement than a question.
"Yes, sir?" she replied.
"I hear that you're a young lady who can be trusted...implicitly."
"Well, sir, that's kind of people to think so..."
"Cut the false modesty" he said, curtly, taking a note of the short hemline of her dress. She can't be too modest wearing an outfit like that, he thought.
"I need to talk to you about a new assignment; one that requires discretion. Now let's adjourn to the boardroom and I'll explain what I mean..." said Big Mal, jerking his head towards a door that led to the hallowed ground that was the Landgraab Corporation boardroom.
"Take a seat, Miss Ethington" said Mal as he shut the door to the room shut. She demurely sat down at the table and Mal sat a couple of seats away from her.
"Miss Ethington, on top of your regular company duties you were recently appointed by my daughter to oversea a departmental security check."
"Yes sir"
"The department you were responsible contained the whistleblower, Jeremy Saint" Mal added, solemnly.
"Perhaps. I wouldn't be so hard on yourself. What made you give Saint clearance?"
"He was deemed least likely to be a security risk as he had been sent downstairs for 'treatment' in the machine. I felt that his two colleagues; Fanshawe and Lew were higher risk propositions."
"A reasonable assumption. For people of your generation trust in machinery is more commonplace than for people of mine. I never liked the machine downstairs. I will have it dismantled and we will return to more traditional methods of influence."
"Yes sir"
"But don't concern yourself with that right now. I have another mission for you."
Alice said nothing.
"What do you know of Edna Sneedley and the League of Decency?" Mal asked.
"It's a moral majority, anti-permissive society organisation, sir. It's headed by George and Edna Sneedley, a couple of who live in Oasis Springs. He's the head chef at the Radishon Hotel and she is a housewife who has recently declared an intention to run in this fall's local city council elections. The League have 5 members and their most high profile exploit was an anti-Communist protest on the Britechester University campus. The Landgraab Corporation donate to their campaign funds. Not much, less than the secretarial pool petty cash fund."
"What's our interest in supporting them?" Mal asked.
"It was seen by the late Mr Landgraab that they could be useful in attempts to break the city council stranglehold of Victor and Lily Feng"
Mal didn't instantly reply but instead let out a hum whilst nodding his head. "Could Edna Sneedley compromise this company?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. Her politics are definitely ultra-conservative but we fund them via a system of donations that keeps the Landgraab Corporation hidden from the accounts."
"Very good. You know so much without having to refer to notes, Miss Ethington. I like that, I like that a lot. Miss Ethington...Alice...I'm instigating a new directive for you. Back when I ran the company full time I had everyone associated with it categorised in one of three folders: Green, Amber and Red. Green is for those who I do not see as a threat. Amber is for those who are under suspicion but no immediate action will be taken. Red is for those who prove to be a threat to the company and my family and who will be targeted with retribution in some form. Do you understand me, Alice?"
Alice gulped nervously. "I do, sir"
"For example, you are in the green folder"
"Thank you sir" she said with relief.
"And Mr Saint will go in the red folder. I wish for Edna Sneedley to go in the Amber folder."
"What about her husband, George?"
"No need to give him a designation. He seems to be a harmless and ineffectual sidekick for his wife. He knows little of our activities. But I want to see how things with Mrs Sneedley develop."
"I understand, sir"
"I'm glad you do" he replied, suddenly standing up. "I won't keep you any longer, Alice" she took the cue and stood up to leave as well. Back in the corridor she paused to speak with him one more time.
"I will get on to this, sir, and thank you for placing trust in me" she said.
"You're welcome. Don't let the company down, don't let me down" he replied.
"I won't, sir" she said, before she headed back to her office.
I know you won't. You know the consequences if you do. Thought Mal.
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