The Interior (Red Princess 2)

“He knew that what I was saying was true,” she continued, “because he’d seen it himself. I think at the end he was ready to give me proof, tangible evidence of Knight’s activities here.”

“Of what?” David asked. “Here’s what I’m hearing: Knight has a factory in China that has bad working conditions. But Tartan is about to buy Knight. Once that happens, any irregularities that exist—and I’m not saying they do—will be immediately remedied.”

“Unless Henry Knight’s hiding the truth from Tartan to keep his stock prices high. That should be of great concern to you and your client.”

David had had enough of Pearl’s insinuations. The papers he’d seen at Suchee’s house already troubled him. He needed to get up to his room and see how they related to Sun’s. Gnawing at him was the thought that he was representing a client who might be up to his eyeballs in illegal acts. If this was so, he was trapped by an ethical code that said he would have to continue to represent Sun. At the same time, he had a responsibility to Tartan to make sure the sale went through smoothly and without illicit shenanigans attached. What Pearl had just suggested about Knight International was fraud, pure and simple. He couldn’t let Tartan get pulled into that muck. He had to know if she had any real information.

“Are you saying that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the sale?”

“No,” Pearl answered.

“Did Keith give you proof that there was a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act?”

“Of course not.”

“Did Keith give you any reason at all to believe that there was a federal investigation of any sort?”

“No,” she responded.

“And yet you wrote—”

“I had to pressure him somehow.”

“You made that stuff up!” David jabbed out the words.

“I always said it was alleged,” she answered defensively.

“Alleged? Alleged by whom? You made it sound like he was the target of a criminal investigation. Do you have any idea what that did to him?”

“Well, I had to keep the pressure on,” she repeated lamely. “I had to make him believe that an investigation already existed so that he’d bring me the papers. You know, take his case to the press—”

“Do you have any concept of how your lies made his family feel after his death?”

“That’s why I wrote that the case was no longer an issue. That’s why I manufactured the quote from Henry Knight. It was unethical, but I’m not the first reporter to do it.”

“But there never was a case!” David’s hands bunched into fists. He’d never felt so strongly the desire to hit someone—a woman—before.

Pearl regarded him coolly, then asked, “Have you considered that Keith might have appreciated what I wrote? That maybe it provided a safe cover for him, especially if he was going to be a whistle blower?”

“We’ll never know that, will we?” David said through clenched teeth.

David’s fury grew as he realized Pearl’s indifference to the pain she’d caused. Guy continued to sit there, pathetic in his misery. Around them business travelers swilled down a last beer or scotch before retiring.

“What are you doing in my country?” Hulan asked, her voice frigid in anger.

David looked over and saw on Hulan’s face what he felt—utter loathing for this woman. But Pearl seemed indifferent.

“As you already know,” Pearl said, “I knew about Miaoshan. A week before her death, Guy said that she’d smuggled papers out of the factory and that he’d send them to me once he got a copy. The day after she gave them to him, she killed herself.” Pearl looked around. “But none of us believes that, do we? That’s why I thought it would be good to get them in person.”

Hearing of the papers, David stifled the desire to catch Hulan’s eye.

“You say you have papers,” Hulan said to Guy in a tone that revealed nothing but a kind of general interest. “What are they?”

“She never explained to me what they were,” Guy said, “but she said they were the proof of many things.”

“What did she mean by that?”

“Miaoshan always talked on many levels,” he said. “She was very smart. I went to university, but she was much smarter than me.” Guy reached down and pulled a sheaf of papers out of his satchel. “These plans show how the factory was designed. There aren’t many doors and very few windows. If there were a fire, many people would die.” David had thought the same thing when he’d seen them at Suchee’s, but he didn’t say so now. “But also, if they use chemicals, then there isn’t proper ventilation.”