Page 135 - Labelle Gramercy, Detective

Airtight

exam. I’m sure they checked many of the references on my resume,
and it was a good deal for me: I could give up my apartment, sell my
car, pay my debts and have a nice lump sum waiting for me at the
end of the year. No expenses, all profit, plus the material for a book
or series of articles to be approved by Cyborganics but with all rights
retained by me. You know that, Kelly: we worked on the contract
together.”
I nodded. Again, Toro had the right idea. You can’t put your foot
into a closed mouth.
“Well, it’s fairly easy for a freelancer to fudge on a résumé; you
know, leave things out or make up fictitious employers you can claim
went out of business and can’t be traced. I only gave references I
could count on, of course, and I took the chance that you—that is,
Cyborganics—wouldn’t dig deeper. You see, I have a connection
with Semotech that I concealed in order to get the job.”
“What!” Waldo nearly gagged on his coffee.
“I wrote an article about Semotech for a popular biotechnology
magazine a few years ago, without byline. The same qualifications got
me that job as did this one, Waldo. It wasn’t a big commitment, and I
forgot about it until the opportunity to join the Ecodome team at
Cyborganics came up. Then I realized it would be better to leave out
that particular bit of experience on my job history. The companies
were rivals, after all. But I didn’t understand how the game is played
in this industry. No sooner had I been accepted for this job than I
was paid a visit by a woman from Semotech, someone I had barely
seen while I was there researching for my article. She was, you’ll have
to excuse me, Kelly, your counterpart.”
“That’s all right, Blanche,” I said. “I know who you mean, and she
probably has as little respect for me as I have for her.”
“Well, her job description evidently included dirty tricks as well as
publicity. She wanted me to sabotage the project.”
“The hell she did!” Waldo’s indignation was intense.
“All I had to do was break the seal or bring in some seeds from a
local garden supply shop or find a way to cripple the crops before
maturity, and I would be well-recompensed. Naturally, I refused.”
“Naturally,” said Waldo, who had taken on the role of chief
interlocutor.

134