Sam: A Novel Of Suspense by Iain Rob Wright Page A

danger
to Jessica and her son.  He’d checked through the company’s financial records
first and had found nothing concerning – profits were down, but that was mostly
due to Joseph’s efforts to clean up the company and do things ethically, but
overall Black Remedy still had its fingers in hundreds of very successful pies:
from banking and finance, to a chain of successful bakeries, there was nary a
single industry that the company didn’t have at least some of its hooks into. 
The company had even recently begun purchasing cruise liners to add a tourism
arm to its already vast shipping fleets.  But of course, as had always been the
case, the jewel in the crown of Black Remedy was pharmaceuticals.  Whether it
be for a common cold or full-blown AIDS, every time someone in the western
world popped a pill, there was a sixty per cent chance that it came from one of
Black Remedy’s processing plants.  The company possessed such power that it
could regulate people’s health on a whim.
    Frank
had come to the conclusion that whatever had been worrying Joseph had not been
a financial issue.  Which meant the threat must have been more personal.   Closer
to home.   Frank clicked on a folder marked ‘Personal Files’ and was met
with a list of several hundred files.  Organisation was not one of Joseph’s
many strengths.
    Frank
looked through the randomly named files:  Car Insurance, holiday booking
confirmation – March 2012, Receipt – Television for lounge, Tax summary – 2011,
Letter to Thom Brady (Real Estate) January 2012, Job applicants – Gardeners. 
Invoice – George Farley, Corporate Researcher.  Most of the files Frank saw
were things he knew about or concerned people he knew.  That last file, however
– George Farley, Corporate Researcher – was named after someone he had
never heard of.  He clicked on the file and opened it. 
    A
document opened on screen.  It looked to be a typical corporate invoice.  The
letterhead read FARLEY DOSSIER SERVICE: Corporate Fact Finding.
    “What
the hell is Corporate Fact Finding ?” Frank asked himself.  He looked
over the document and saw a chargeable item listed as: Asset Investigation -
£13, 500 .  The next item read: Personnel Background and Surveillance -
£24,000. 
    What
the hell was Joseph paying almost forty grand for?
    Frank
looked over the document and located an email address in the small print of the
footer.  He opened up the email manager and pasted in the address. Then he began
typing:
    Dear
George Farley:
    I
am an employee of the late Joseph Raymeady, CEO of the Black Remedy Corporation. 
I currently reside at his former home and am charged with the protection of his
widow and orphan.  I believe that, prior to my employer’s death, he was under a
great deal of stress.  Something was concerning him, and I believe that something could pose a threat to his surviving family.  I am hoping you could disregard
the typical etiquette of confidentiality and divulge to me the nature of the
work you recently undertook for Joseph.
    Yours
faithfully,
    Frank
Senz
    Household
Coordinator, Raymeady Estate.
    Frank
leant back in the chair and hoped that it wouldn’t take long to get a reply.

 
    CHAPTER TWELVE
    “Who
was that?” Graham asked.
    “Frank,”
Mike replied, putting away his mobile phone.  “He was just checking in.”
    Graham
took a sip from his coffee flask and then dropped it into the dashboard’s
drinks holder.  “How’s everything inside the house?”
    “Tense,
by the sound of things.  I don’t think Frank trusts Jessica’s guests.  Apparently
there was an incident with Sammie and now he wants them gone.”
    “I
don’t blame him.”
    Mike
sighed.  “They’re okay.  Angela seemed pretty normal.”
    Graham
laughed.  “You know she’s a dyke, right?”
    “What’s
your point?”
    “Nothing. 
Just saying.  No point wasting your time on a rug muncher.”
    Mike
rolled his eyes.  “I’ll bear that in mind.”  In