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Authors: jeff edwards
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question contains a built-in assumption that she is working on some deep undercover project which makes her disappearance either necessary or desirable. Unfortunately, the answer is no . Leanda is not working in any undercover capacity, or at least not for TransNat Telemedia. Nor are we hiding or protecting her.”
“Question number two—Was Leanda working on anything that might threaten or anger some unnamed person or persons? Specifically, do I know of anyone with a motive for kidnapping Leanda? I’m afraid the answer to this question is also no . I am confident that, given more time and seasoning, Leanda would have graduated to higher profile stories. But she simply wasn’t there yet. We hadn’t yet assigned her to anything with high enough stakes to make her a target.”
I gestured for him to continue. Apparently his peripheral vision really was excellent, as he seemed to catch my movement, even though he was looking away from me.
“Question number three,” he said. “What was it like to work with Leanda? Was she one of the boys, so to speak? Or did she wave her family’s money and influence in everyone’s face? I can only give you my opinion on this matter. Leanda had talent and she earned her pay. She never brought up her family, and—if the subject did come up—she was quick to point out that her parents had made their own ways in the world, and she was making her own way.”
His chair reclined sharply. “I am not suggesting that Leanda Forsyth was a saint. This is a highly-competitive industry. Leanda was not afraid to climb over someone to get what she wanted. But she depended on her own cunning, her own skills, and her own ambition. Her family’s influence didn’t enter into it.”
Thurman spun to face me again. “How am I doing so far?”
“Three for three,” I said.
His chair spun away. “I believe that question number four is a natural corollary of question number three. Did Leanda have any strong emotional ties, either positive or negative, to any of her co-workers? Did she have any enemies or lovers among the cast and crew of TransNat? The answer is not that I know of . And I believe that I would have known, Mr. Stalin. She stepped on a few toes, but no more than is normal in this business. And she kept her relationships with her co-workers on the coffee and doughnuts level. She planned to make her career in the news industry, and she was smart enough to know that a running feud or an office romance could damage her chances.”
He spun back to face me. “I believe that covers it. Do you have any more questions?”
“Just a couple,” I said.
His chair twisted away again. “Please continue.”
“Thank you,” I said. “First, is there any chance that Leanda was working on a story you didn’t know about? Maybe doing a little freelance digging in the hopes of latching on to a big enough story to take her national?”
Thurman hesitated before answering—his pause a bit surprising in view of his rapid-fire style of speaking. “I can’t be certain,” he said. “But I believe that she may have been freelancing. Leanda was understandably upset when we pulled her off the Dyson Pharmaceuticals piece. It was the first national-interest story that she’d been assigned to. I assured her that the reassignment had nothing to do with her handling of the story, but I’m not certain she believed me. It’s possible that she decided to go after a major story on her own, with an eye toward proving that she could handle it.”
“Why did you pull her off the story,” I asked.
“Our legal department advised us to expect a retaliatory suit from Dyson Pharmaceuticals as soon as the story broke. It’s difficult to sue an organ of the news media, but it can be done. Our attorneys warned us that Leanda’s family fortune would make her an attractive co-defendant in any legal action, thereby increasing the probability of a lawsuit. By severing her connection with the story, and moving her
“Question number two—Was Leanda working on anything that might threaten or anger some unnamed person or persons? Specifically, do I know of anyone with a motive for kidnapping Leanda? I’m afraid the answer to this question is also no . I am confident that, given more time and seasoning, Leanda would have graduated to higher profile stories. But she simply wasn’t there yet. We hadn’t yet assigned her to anything with high enough stakes to make her a target.”
I gestured for him to continue. Apparently his peripheral vision really was excellent, as he seemed to catch my movement, even though he was looking away from me.
“Question number three,” he said. “What was it like to work with Leanda? Was she one of the boys, so to speak? Or did she wave her family’s money and influence in everyone’s face? I can only give you my opinion on this matter. Leanda had talent and she earned her pay. She never brought up her family, and—if the subject did come up—she was quick to point out that her parents had made their own ways in the world, and she was making her own way.”
His chair reclined sharply. “I am not suggesting that Leanda Forsyth was a saint. This is a highly-competitive industry. Leanda was not afraid to climb over someone to get what she wanted. But she depended on her own cunning, her own skills, and her own ambition. Her family’s influence didn’t enter into it.”
Thurman spun to face me again. “How am I doing so far?”
“Three for three,” I said.
His chair spun away. “I believe that question number four is a natural corollary of question number three. Did Leanda have any strong emotional ties, either positive or negative, to any of her co-workers? Did she have any enemies or lovers among the cast and crew of TransNat? The answer is not that I know of . And I believe that I would have known, Mr. Stalin. She stepped on a few toes, but no more than is normal in this business. And she kept her relationships with her co-workers on the coffee and doughnuts level. She planned to make her career in the news industry, and she was smart enough to know that a running feud or an office romance could damage her chances.”
He spun back to face me. “I believe that covers it. Do you have any more questions?”
“Just a couple,” I said.
His chair twisted away again. “Please continue.”
“Thank you,” I said. “First, is there any chance that Leanda was working on a story you didn’t know about? Maybe doing a little freelance digging in the hopes of latching on to a big enough story to take her national?”
Thurman hesitated before answering—his pause a bit surprising in view of his rapid-fire style of speaking. “I can’t be certain,” he said. “But I believe that she may have been freelancing. Leanda was understandably upset when we pulled her off the Dyson Pharmaceuticals piece. It was the first national-interest story that she’d been assigned to. I assured her that the reassignment had nothing to do with her handling of the story, but I’m not certain she believed me. It’s possible that she decided to go after a major story on her own, with an eye toward proving that she could handle it.”
“Why did you pull her off the story,” I asked.
“Our legal department advised us to expect a retaliatory suit from Dyson Pharmaceuticals as soon as the story broke. It’s difficult to sue an organ of the news media, but it can be done. Our attorneys warned us that Leanda’s family fortune would make her an attractive co-defendant in any legal action, thereby increasing the probability of a lawsuit. By severing her connection with the story, and moving her
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