me
out of the corner of his eye.
“That’s only the second time
since I met you that you’ve used your father’s position for
personal reasons,” he said slowly. “The first time was last night,
with Devi.”
“Well, I don’t usually like to
remind people about it. Besides, I’m a bit of an embarrassment to
dear old Dad. He and Mum pretend they keep us kids out of the
spotlight for our own privacy, but really it’s because they don’t
want to admit too publicly they have a cop in the family. And
certainly not a biracial ex-cop.”
“They ought to be proud of
you.”
“ Yeah, you’d think.”
Didn’t want to talk about that either.
The recording equipment,
normally used for training and some promotional purposes, took very
little time to set up and then Kirin called Jishnu into his
office.
This time, Jishnu was more
afraid than guilty when he saw me. He knew the game was up, but he
still tried bluster. “Kirin, do I need to call my lawyer? This is
verging on workplace harassment.”
“Sit down and shut up, Jishnu,”
I snapped. “We know you did it. We found the wallet where you hid
it, and the dispatch record where you sent the pendant back to
Shrimati Gemate’s lawyers, and when I speak to the centrifuge
repairers and confirm there’s nothing at all wrong with that unit,
it’ll be brought back so Kirin can run some tests on it. I’d bet my
investments that he’ll find the residue of smoke-creating
chemicals, and probably even signs where you attached the remote
trigger to the motor. So all I really want to know from you is why?
How much did they pay you?”
His face drained of colour.
“You can’t prove anything!”
“Wrong. We have more than
enough to call the police in, and once they do and once they talk
to Shrimati Gemate and examine your phone logs and your bank
records and do all the things that as a civilian I can’t do right
now, you’ll be prosecuted as a thief. You’ll never work again, not
in this field and likely in no other. So you have a choice. Tell
the truth in full, then resign quietly and leave, or be exposed as
the criminal you are.”
His eyes darted back and forth
between us. Kirin stared back, implacable and angry. From me, the
man would see no pity for I had none. I loathed thieves. “It’s not
an open-ended offer, Jishnu,” I said. “Talk, or Kirin calls the
police.”
His capitulation came quickly
after that. “All right. They didn’t pay me anything. They’re
helping me out with a legal problem.”
“Which is?”
“Um...I’m getting divorced from
my husband. He’s wealthier than me and can afford really good
lawyers.”
“I don’t think Wala and Faute
are exactly what you’d call ‘really good’ anything, except crooks.
So you admit to setting off the smoke device, concealing the
pendant and secreting it from the building in a parcel dispatched
to that firm? Say it, Jishnu.”
“Yes, I admit it,” he said
sulkily. “What more do you want?”
“A signed statement admitting
your guilt, a resignation without notice, and then your departure,”
Kirin said. “No one needs to know about this except us, unless you
cause me any trouble. Don’t expect a reference and if you contact
Wala and Faute about this, I’ll call the police and let them rip
you to shreds.”
Jishnu typed out the two
documents and signed them, with me as a witness. Kirin called his
security guards and had him escorted from the building, his
personal belongings to be sent on later. When Jishnu departed,
Kirin rubbed his forehead. “He’s been with me so long. I’ll have to
speak to the staff about it.”
“Do that, and if Pritam’s
hiding something, which I’m sure he is, that’ll give him a false
sense of security. I’ll contact the repair firm just to confirm
what I suspect and have them send the unit back. Do the chemical
testing, okay? He could still repudiate the statement, and he’s
only the little fish. I want to net Gemate, and the stronger our
proof,
out of the corner of his eye.
“That’s only the second time
since I met you that you’ve used your father’s position for
personal reasons,” he said slowly. “The first time was last night,
with Devi.”
“Well, I don’t usually like to
remind people about it. Besides, I’m a bit of an embarrassment to
dear old Dad. He and Mum pretend they keep us kids out of the
spotlight for our own privacy, but really it’s because they don’t
want to admit too publicly they have a cop in the family. And
certainly not a biracial ex-cop.”
“They ought to be proud of
you.”
“ Yeah, you’d think.”
Didn’t want to talk about that either.
The recording equipment,
normally used for training and some promotional purposes, took very
little time to set up and then Kirin called Jishnu into his
office.
This time, Jishnu was more
afraid than guilty when he saw me. He knew the game was up, but he
still tried bluster. “Kirin, do I need to call my lawyer? This is
verging on workplace harassment.”
“Sit down and shut up, Jishnu,”
I snapped. “We know you did it. We found the wallet where you hid
it, and the dispatch record where you sent the pendant back to
Shrimati Gemate’s lawyers, and when I speak to the centrifuge
repairers and confirm there’s nothing at all wrong with that unit,
it’ll be brought back so Kirin can run some tests on it. I’d bet my
investments that he’ll find the residue of smoke-creating
chemicals, and probably even signs where you attached the remote
trigger to the motor. So all I really want to know from you is why?
How much did they pay you?”
His face drained of colour.
“You can’t prove anything!”
“Wrong. We have more than
enough to call the police in, and once they do and once they talk
to Shrimati Gemate and examine your phone logs and your bank
records and do all the things that as a civilian I can’t do right
now, you’ll be prosecuted as a thief. You’ll never work again, not
in this field and likely in no other. So you have a choice. Tell
the truth in full, then resign quietly and leave, or be exposed as
the criminal you are.”
His eyes darted back and forth
between us. Kirin stared back, implacable and angry. From me, the
man would see no pity for I had none. I loathed thieves. “It’s not
an open-ended offer, Jishnu,” I said. “Talk, or Kirin calls the
police.”
His capitulation came quickly
after that. “All right. They didn’t pay me anything. They’re
helping me out with a legal problem.”
“Which is?”
“Um...I’m getting divorced from
my husband. He’s wealthier than me and can afford really good
lawyers.”
“I don’t think Wala and Faute
are exactly what you’d call ‘really good’ anything, except crooks.
So you admit to setting off the smoke device, concealing the
pendant and secreting it from the building in a parcel dispatched
to that firm? Say it, Jishnu.”
“Yes, I admit it,” he said
sulkily. “What more do you want?”
“A signed statement admitting
your guilt, a resignation without notice, and then your departure,”
Kirin said. “No one needs to know about this except us, unless you
cause me any trouble. Don’t expect a reference and if you contact
Wala and Faute about this, I’ll call the police and let them rip
you to shreds.”
Jishnu typed out the two
documents and signed them, with me as a witness. Kirin called his
security guards and had him escorted from the building, his
personal belongings to be sent on later. When Jishnu departed,
Kirin rubbed his forehead. “He’s been with me so long. I’ll have to
speak to the staff about it.”
“Do that, and if Pritam’s
hiding something, which I’m sure he is, that’ll give him a false
sense of security. I’ll contact the repair firm just to confirm
what I suspect and have them send the unit back. Do the chemical
testing, okay? He could still repudiate the statement, and he’s
only the little fish. I want to net Gemate, and the stronger our
proof,
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