How to Get Ahead Without Murdering Your Boss

by Helen Burton

  Paul looked at the others, sighed and shook his head. He followed her out and caught up with her as they trotted off to Arnold's cabin. "Hey wait up." But Lou powered on. Paul decided for once to keep quiet and just walked along beside her. In the silence they heard voices behind them and realized that the Medivalue team had followed them. Paul noticed a small smile on Lou's face. "You're quite the motivator, aren't you?"

  "This way," Lou yelled over her shoulder as she followed Yasmin down the path to Arnold's cabin, set back from the others near the base of the cliff. As she neared the clearing she pushed through the surrounding trees to see Yasmin kneeling beside Arnold's body. It was sprawled in an awkward shape at the bottom of the steps to the cabin. Paul reached the body just as she did. Lou pulled Yasmin to her feet and tried to comfort her while Paul dragged the body over on to its back. Arnold's pale white face stared glassily up at them. Paul looked at Lou and shook his head. "He's dead."

  "What?" Kylie had joined them. Ed and Nathan appeared, breathing hard.

  "I told you! I told you!" Yasmin screamed at them. Lou turned just in time to catch her as she collapsed.

  20

  It seemed to Lou that in the hour or so following the discovery of Arnold's body, she was working on automatic pilot. Even in death Arnold had a way of dictating her movements. After arranging for Paul to cover the body and keep everyone away from the area Lou made the unpleasant call to the Cairns police to let them know that in fact there was now a dead body. They said they would send their launch and a detective and rescue team as soon as possible. No sooner had she put down the receiver than the radio crackled into life again. The ferry captain was calling to say that the ferry had survived the rough seas but he couldn't make the trip until the following morning to pick up her guests.

  Lou returned from the office to find that everyone had departed to their cabins. Suddenly she was at a loss and wandered from room to room, opening shutters and checking for damage. She opened the door to the training room to find Kylie sorting through some papers. "Oops, sorry to disturb you."

  "That's fine, no trouble," said Kylie. "I was just collecting my notes."

  "I guess there will be a lot of changes now in the company? With Arnold gone I mean," said Lou. She crossed to the windows and opened the curtains.

  "Yes, I hope so," said Kylie. Lou saw her hesitate. "Thank you for all that you've done this weekend. You have performed above and beyond what could be expected."

  "Really? I think that in business the customer always comes first so I just follow that philosophy."

  "Well it shows."

  "Thank you." Lou turned to go.

  "I hope to make Medivalue the sort of company that has that philosophy."

  "You can do that as HR Manager?"

  "No, but I can as CEO."

  Lou looked puzzled. "I thought Nathan…"

  "Yes but Nathan doesn't want it. We've already spoken and he is going to support my nomination to the board. He'll be a great deputy." Kylie snapped her briefcase shut and picked up her laptop.

  "I'm sure," said Lou. She thought quietly herself. Not dead half a day and already they were dividing up the kingdom. Perhaps Nathan wasn't quite as sincere about his sea-change as he said.

  "I guess it's all worked out for you then," said Lou.

  Kylie turned and stared. "What are you suggesting?"

  "Nothing, just that with Arnold no longer around, it looks like you have been handed your dream job."

  "I haven't been handed anything. I've worked my way into a position where I'm an obvious choice for CEO. I would have been chosen even if Arnold was still around. Mrs Strong and the board were getting sick of Strong's management style. Not to mention his extra curricular activities."

  "Sounds like you know Mrs Strong pretty well." Lou's fishing had worked well on the other Medivalue staff but Kylie's face remained impassive.

  "We women in business have got to stick together, haven't we?" Kylie smiled and picked up her bags. "For instance, I know that it must have been tough for you trying to start this business by yourself without investors."

  "Yes, it was," said Lou.

  "So I know how attractive it would have been to ask Arnold to step in and help out."

  "What are you saying?" Lou started to feel her face getting hot under Kylie's stare.

  Kylie put her briefcase down on a table and leaned in close. Her voice was low and intimate. "All I know is that Arnold had a reason for choosing this resort, way out here. I know that he liked to go into business with young women. And that he could be ruthless when it came to collecting his… benefits."

  "Really?" said Lou holding firm under Kylie's stare. "Lucky for me that I don't have Arnold as a partner then, isn't it?"

  "No one has Arnold as a partner anymore, do they?" Kylie smiled. "Someone's done us all a favour."

  Lou frowned. "So you think someone killed him?"

  "Whatever happened, I think we can all move on now, can't we?" Kylie straightened and headed towards the door.

  "Thanks again for your hospitality Lou. I'll make sure you receive a bonus for looking after us this weekend."

  "Thank you. And good luck." said Lou, shaking hands. She closed the door when Kylie left, leaned back against it and sighed. This weekend couldn't finish quick enough for her.

  21

  "She did it."

  David's outburst caught Paul off guard. "Who did what?"

  "That HR woman, Kylie. She killed Arnold, didn't she?"

  Paul smiled and scratched his chin. "What makes you think it was her?"

  "Well she had the motivation. Arnold was going to send her to Darwin and push her out of the company." David started to warm to his theory. "And she had the opportunity — alone in her cabin all night — and she was very strong and ambitious. She had the guts to do it." David toasted himself triumphantly and sat back.

  "Hmm. All good points. She is a woman of action. A for ACTION actually."

  David's face fell. "Another letter?"

  Paul nodded. "A for action and reflection. There's no point in going through the other stages if you don't actually make any changes. But you have to systematically go through options and reflect on the possible outcomes before proceeding. It's about taking responsibility for your career."

  "Just like Kylie did?" David hinted, trying to wheedle out the answer.

  "The book's about getting ahead without murdering your boss, mate. Do you think my wife's suggesting homicide as a career option?"

  "All right then, so who did it?"

  "Let me finish," said Paul. "We have one letter to go."

  Summary

  Action and reflection

  Now that you've identified who you are and considered the practical aspects of careers, you can put your current career options, and any that arise unexpectedly in the future, through a reflective process to check their viability:

  Will this option give me job satisfaction?

  Will this option lead to more opportunities?

  Is it aligned to my values?

  Does it utilise my skills and strengths?

  Will it meet my financial requirements?

  How can I test this option out before making an irrevocable commitment?

  22

  Just after Sunday lunch, Lou met the police launch. A burly man dressed in blue strode down the walkway, followed by a figure swamped by an oversized police spray jacket. They reached Lou and the larger man reached for her hand. "Hello Lou. Been meaning to get out here for months to look at your place. Sorry it has to be like this." Detective Samuel's hand enveloped hers in a friendly crush.

  "No problems John. I'm sorry to pull you away from town when I'm sure you have enough going on with the cyclone." Lou squinted into the spray that was being blown over them. "No air/sea rescue then?"

  "Not in this weather. Their safety first you know." He indicated the friendly face peeking out of the hood of the jacket behind him. "This is Dr Chen. He's going to do the medical exam for us." Lo
u reached for a thin hand extending out towards her. "Pleased to meet you. Are you new to town?" Dr Chen's grip was surprisingly strong and his voice clear. "Yes I am doing a locum at the coroner's office." He pushed the hood away from his face and shielded his eyes against the spray. "I always wanted to see this part of the country."

  "Well you're not seeing it at its best," said Lou. "I hope you come back in better circumstances."

  Samuel was clearly already getting tired of the small talk and turned back to the boat. "What the hell is that kid up to now?"

  He adjusted his wet weather jacket and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Tie it steady Davies," he shouted. He received a wave in return from the young man scampering around on deck. He turned back to Lou. "I don't think you've met young Davies. Only transferred up from the big smoke a couple of months ago. Got a face only a mother could love but he's willing."

  Lou exchanged a smile with Dr Chen. Samuel had a reputation for giving his recruits a hard time. "The big smoke" was any place with a population of more than twenty thousand.

  He stood with legs astride while a young Constable clattered down the ramp, loaded with gear. Samuel shook his head. "You right Constable? We're not trekking the Amazon you know."

  Constable Davies was obviously keen to make a good impression and had packed enough equipment for several investigations. He was trying to fit it all in a bulging backpack.

  "Yes sir," said Davies as he nearly dropped a camera.

  Samuel rolled his eyes at Lou as they set off towards the van and she began to explain the retrieval of the dummy and then the discovery of the body. Samuel asked few questions but Lou suspected that he was listening and didn't miss much.

  "Looks like you've done well for yourself here Lou," Detective Samuel looked around as the van pulled up in front of the lodge. "Now I know why your Mother keeps raving on to me about how proud she is." He stretched as he got out and attempted to button up his jacket in a losing battle against an expanding stomach.

  Lou shook her head. "Sorry you've had to endure that."

  "It's a Mother's job to be proud of her kids," Samuel was keeping the conversation light but he was having a good look around and had seen the cliff-face.

  "Is that where the first incident happened?"

  Lou came and stood beside him. "Yes. Do you want to look at that now?"

  Samuel looked at the heavy purple clouds still hanging around the coast. "No, the body first. We'll have a look at that later."

  They skirted around the lodge and squelched through the grounds to Arnold Strong's cabin.

  "You've done a good job Lou," said Detective Samuel noting the tarpaulin covering the body and the ropes tied efficiently to stakes. "It couldn't have been an easy weekend."

  "Not the best I've had," Lou forced a smile.

  "What? Not so keen on finding out your guests are dying to leave?" joked Constable Davies. When he saw Samuel narrow his eyes in his direction he started to quickly photograph the covered body from different angles.

  "Not so keen on potential guests finding out what's been going on," said Lou.

  "Well we'll just see what we can do to keep it all low-key shall we?" Detective Samuel had known Lou since she was fifteen and took an interest. "Dr Chen, lets get started." Despite his casual air Detective Samuel was serious about his work. The three men methodically checked the scene before uncovering the body. Dr Chen knelt down at the edge of the tarpaulin and started his examination. Lou stood back giving them plenty of room.

  Samuel spotted Lou watching. "We could all do with a cuppa to keep out this cold."

  Lou nodded. "Of course. Sorry. Tea all round?"

  Davies looked from his camera and smiled. "Coffee please." Chen was absorbed in his task and didn't hear her. Samuel answered for him. "Tea. We'll be done soon and then we'll wrap it up and move the body to the coolroom while we chat to everyone. Can you arrange that for us?"

  "Certainly." Feeling as if she had been politely but efficiently dismissed, Lou headed back to the lodge.

  She returned half an hour later, carrying a tray full of steaming mugs and some brick-sized brownies. She hadn't really meant to eavesdrop but just as she approached the group she overheard Dr Chen. "I'd say between three and five A.M. this morning but being outside in this weather it's hard to be more accurate."

  Samuel was crouching over Chen and the body. "And it was instant?"

  "Oh no, it would have taken a few minutes for him to drown."

  Samuel stood up quickly. "Drown?"

  Chen also got to his feet. "Well I have to do a proper examination but falling down the stairs and the blow to the head wouldn't have been fatal. It was landing face-first in this puddle of water that made the difference."

  "Well I'll be." Samuel shook his head and looked around, spotting Lou and waving her forward.

  Samuel took the mug of tea gratefully and paused until after he had a couple of deep sips. "Thanks love. That hits the spot."

  Constable Davies reappeared, having presumably photographed the inside of the cabin. He grabbed a brownie and swallowed it in two enormous bites and then reached for a second.

  Samuel raised an eyebrow and Lou smiled. "Good appetite."

  "What's that Constable?" Samuel pointed at the plastic bag hanging out of Davies' evidence bag.

  Davies quickly swallowed the brownie and brushed the crumbs from his hands. He pulled a couple of bags out and held them up. "Some pills in his bathroom — lids off, contents spilled — and several bottles of alcohol. Looks to me like Mr Strong had been mixing his medications and his drinks, sir." Davies fairly bristled trying to impress.

  Lou tried to look at the bottles without appearing too obvious. They looked like the same bottles she had seen in Yasmin's cabin. "You found them in there? In the bathroom?" she asked Davies.

  "No the bedroom."

  Samuel looked at her closely. "Something wrong?"

  Thoughts flashed through her mind in a second. What was the probity of her looking through Yasmin's bathroom earlier? And how could she be sure that they were the same bottles? That would mean that Yasmin had somehow slipped the bottles back into the cabin in the last few hours after the discovery of Arnold's body. Lou bit her lip. She thought Yasmin was huddled in her cabin, recovering from the shock. Maybe it hadn't been such a shock after all?

  She realized that Samuel and Davies were staring at her, waiting for a reply.

  "No, all's well. I am just surprised. He came across as such a fitness freak."

  "Older man trying to regain his youth," joked Davies. He quickly shut up when he saw Samuel give him a withering look. "Not every older man wants to be a young idiot again Davies."

  "No sir." Davies back pedaled at lightning speed and picked up his gear. "I'll keep walking the perimeter will I?"

  With a nod from Samuel he set off round the cabin, bumping into Paul who appeared around the corner.

  "Sorry mate," said Paul heading towards the group.

  Samuel stood up straighter and placed his hands on his hips. "Handy? What are you doing here?"

  Paul ambled over to Samuel but stood a few paces away. "Oh you know Sarge. A bad penny me. Always showing up when you least expect it."

  "I know that you always seem to show up where there's trouble. And I'm a Detective now." Samuel wasn't backing down.

  "Have we got trouble then?" Paul looked over a Lou with mock seriousness. "I thought we just had some drunken idiot falling down some steps in the middle of a storm. Sarge."

  The two men stood eyeballing each other, waiting for the other to blink. Lou stood back watching the two roosters marking their territory. Any other time it might have been amusing to watch but it had been a tough couple of days and she had no patience for the testosterone being whipped up by the cyclone. Although she was curious to find out more about Paul's reputation, she was saved from further speculation by the sound of Dr Chen snapping shut the lid of his examination kit. The sound seemed to jolt Samuel back to his surroundings and he t
urned away from Paul. "Just keep out of my investigation Handy, that's all."

  Paul saluted sharply and winked at Lou before marching off back to the lodge. She shook her head at him and frowned.

  Dr Chen stood up from where he had been concentrating on the body. He tugged off a pair of plastic gloves and reached for his tea. "Thank you."

  Lou was reminded of something.

  Lou addressed her question to Samuel. "I forgot to ask, did you manage to reach his wife?"

  "Yeah a couple of hours ago. She ah," he looked at Chen, "she took it rather well let's say. Didn't seem particularly upset or surprised. She seemed to think that the business weekend was just an excuse to cheat on her." Samuel looked at Lou. "Do you think she was right?"

  Lou leaned back with her arms crossed. "Let's just say I don't think she was too far off the mark."

  "Well she gave us the name of a funeral home to have the body sent to."

  Lou raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like she was very organized."

  "Yes she was."

  He smiled. "Okay now lets interview everyone shall we?" He turned to Chen. "Can we leave you with this or do you want to sit in?"

  "I might need a hand to wrap and transfer to the coolroom."

  "Okay get Davies to give you a hand while I set up inside," said Samuel.

  "I'll get Clara to show you the coolroom," said Lou as she collected the mugs and picked up the tray.

  "Righto then," said Samuel. "Lead on Macduff."

  23

  Lou had warned everyone that they would be needed and all the guests and staff had gathered in the lounge. One by one everyone entered Lou's office and then came out, looking wary but relieved. Finally, as it was nearing dusk, it was her turn. Detective Samuel sat behind the desk with Davies by the window, a tape recorder and notebook by his side. They looked like they were looking forward to the end of what had been a long day. They started with a few routine questions and she answered as truthfully and factually as she could.