The Interior (Red Princess 2)

“Last night.”

Randall nodded sympathetically. “When I checked in, I had about a dozen messages from her. But she’s been sniffing around for a long time and hasn’t been able to find anything of substance.

What’d she say? Did she have names to go with the bribery?”

David was fully aware that Randall had let slip an important piece of information: Even before David walked in the room, Randall Craig had known there were problems and that a reporter was here in Taiyuan ostensibly to cover the sale. David’s senses, which were already working at full tilt, jumped another notch.

“She doesn’t know any names,” David said. “She may not even know of the bribery, but she’s aware of some of the other problems….”

“The way your predecessor explained it, if there’s been wrongdoing in the past, we’re not responsible. If it happens in the future, we are.”

David leaned forward in his chair. “I think the Knights lied on their disclosure forms.”

“About the bribery?”

“About the child labor, about the working conditions…”

“My position is, I don’t know about all that.”

“But you do.”

“And how’s the government going to know?”

“I have to disclose it to the SEC.”

“You could do that,” Randall acknowledged, “but what’s the point? It’s better just to let the sale go through as is. Tartan’s shareholders will be happy. The Knight shareholders ought to be thrilled too. What’s done is done. I say let the old guy retire gracefully.”

“I still think we have to disclose.”

“You know what would happen to a guy like Henry Knight? Maybe he’d pay a fine. On the other hand, maybe the Feds would send him to a country-club jail. He’d be in good company for a few months, and then he’d go back to his retirement. But in the meantime you will have hurt his son, and we’re counting on Doug for continuity.”

“And what about me?”

“What about you?”

“I have a legal obligation to file the papers properly. If I don’t, I’m leaving my law firm open to prosecution.”

“You do what you gotta do. But remember this, you’ll have a clear conscience, but you will have wrecked havoc on a lot of people’s lives and for what? Once Knight Senior’s out of the game, we clean up the company’s internal problems.”

Randall’s tone sounded suspiciously practiced. David felt the need to remind Randall that Knight’s crimes could come back to haunt Tartan.

“My job here is to perform the due diligence and—”

“No,” Randall shot out sharply. “That was Keith Baxter’s job, and he did exactly as we wanted. Your job is to make sure the acquisition contracts are signed on Sunday. I’m not hearing that.”

“What if the women who’ve been hurt come forward?”

Randall Craig shrugged. “I’d say that sometimes there are little blips on the radar screen, but that they never amount to anything. Put another way, we’ve got five factories in and around Shenzhen, and we haven’t had any problems.”

“China’s laws are changing.”

Randall grinned and spread his hands wide. “Not fast enough. And besides, who’s a Chinese judge going to believe? A peasant woman or two or a big American conglomerate that employs thousands upon thousands of men and women, that has been responsible for increased prosperity in various provinces, and that has the backing of high-ranking officials in the government?”

“A court might think differently if it had documents to back up what the women said.”

Randall’s demeanor suddenly changed. “What documents are those?”

“A young woman smuggled them out. She planned on giving them to Pearl Jenner.”