I nodded. “Yes, James made me leave it when he forced me into his car.”
“Well, thankfully, Mr. Anderson still had his and that he isn’t as technically savvy as Simon Fielding. His phone is owned by the company and has the “Find my Phone” app installed on it, something Mr. Fielding had done in case they were stolen or left somewhere. The police officer we had stationed to follow you was able to track where Mr. Anderson was going. He called me and we followed as quickly as we could.”
Symonds smiled one of his not-quite-smiles that didn’t reach his eyes. “We got there just in time to prevent you from being shot.”
“How did you know to come right to here, though?” Dave asked the detective. “You could see the general direction they were headed, but it would probably have taken too long to save Nat to locate exactly where they were going.”
“That was actually a Mr. Geoff Anderson,” Symonds replied. “Once he had been informed of the situation, he immediately agreed to help. When he saw where it was heading, he knew where James Anderson was going. It turns out that this is where his father used to take him fishing when he was a boy.”
I absorbed all of this information before speaking. “It looks like I have quite a few people to thank for saving my life today,” I said.
“I believe you do, Ms. Shaw,” Symonds said. This time, the smile was genuine.
---
Dave and I sat in the back of Symonds’s car as we drove back to the police station. Uniformed officers and a forensic team remained in the clearing where I had been sure I was going to die, but we were no longer needed there. I was very glad to be away from there, I had never been so terrified in all my life.
When the forensics team had searched Anderson’s black Mercedes, they found the missing chain and combination lock from the Olsen construction site in the trunk. It had disappeared on the day I had found Elliot Walther’s body.
James Anderson was on his way to the hospital under police guard, but with a combination of the gunshot would and his advanced illness, he wasn’t any further danger. Before the ambulance had departed, I made sure that the detective had retrieved the USB stick from Anderson that containing all of the evidence I had collected.
“What I don’t understand,” Dave said, “was why James Anderson left Elliot Walthers’ body in such a conspicuous place.”
“I doubt that he planned to leave it there,” Symonds answered. “I assume that he had left to find some way to pick it up when Ms. Shaw returned to retrieve her purse. If I had to guess, I would say that he would have taken the body to the place he took Ms. Shaw. But given Mr. Anderson was trying to make it look like a mob hit, he may also have dumped Walthers somewhere that had no connection with himself or his company.”
“Was he still there when I found Walthers?” I asked.
Symonds shook his head. “Unlikely. There was no other vehicle on the premises, apart from the heavy machinery used for construction. He may even have come back while we were there, but realized the body had already been discovered when he saw the police lights.”
“That makes sense,” I said. I was more than slightly relieved. Had he still been in the basement, my fate may have been the same as the young reporter and none of this would have come to light.
“What is going to happen to Fielding?” Dave asked. I’d wondered that as well. Simon had done the wrong thing, undoubtedly, but he had been blackmailed into it. It was likely that he too would have been killed anyway.
“I can’t say for sure, but given the circumstances, a judge is likely to be lenient as his actions were under coercion. And if it weren’t for him, Ms. Shaw would almost certainly be dead,” Symonds replied. The narrow dirt road finally reached the highway and the detective turned on to the main road toward the city.
“I still don’t know why I landed in the middle of all of this,” I said. “If it weren’t for the note Walthers had left in my bag, I would have believed that he had been killed by the mob.”
“You were supposed to,” Dave said, then he smiled. “If you weren’t you, you wouldn’t have kept digging once you found the note.”
“But I was sure it was Samuel Olsen, why didn’t he let that sit?”
“I’d guess James was afraid that while you were looking for evidence to support your theory that Olsen was responsible for the murder and the fraud, you would eventually find something that implicated him,” Dave replied. “Especially since there was no evidence of Olsen’s involvement because he had nothing to do with it.”
“Oh My God, Samuel Olsen is going to be so pissed at me,” I said, horrified. “I got the man questioned as a murder suspect, for God’s sake! It has to ruin his chances at a political career.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much, Ms. Shaw,” Symonds answered. “I’m sure that Mr. Olsen can turn this around to his favor. He is, after all, the victim of fraud here and as far as we are aware, not done anything untoward. His public relations people will find a way to make crime prevention a platform he can stand on for his candidacy.”
“One final question,” I said. “Although really only James can answer this.” I looked at Dave and the detective. “Why did he commit the fraud in the first place? The new mall could have still been built, it just would have required a different design. Or a way to engineer around the clay deposit.”
“I’m guessing it was a matter of time and pride,” Dave said. “You saw James, he doesn’t have much time left. Any changes would have delayed the project by several months, and I doubt he would have survived long enough to see it through.”
I nodded. “Just before he was going to shoot me, James told me that he wanted to make sure he left the business in a strong position for Geoff when he was gone. I think James underestimated Geoff’s abilities.”
“It’s a common enough trait for fathers to be overprotective of their sons,” Mark Symonds said. “And to underestimate them.”
Dave looked thoughtful. “Symonds…Symonds… you aren’t related to Michael Symonds, are you? The former police commissioner?”
“My father,” Mark replied. “From when I was just a small boy, I always knew I wanted to be a policeman. I have Asperger’s, which he took to mean that I was somehow broken. I grew up with him telling me I would never be good enough, that I’d never make detective. After I joined the police, he tried to meddle with my career, to try to force advancement he didn’t believe I was capable of without his help.”
The detective shook his head. “In the end, I told him to butt out of my life, and I never spoke to him again. We never reconciled, he died last year.”
“I’m sorry to hear, Detective,” I said.
“It is what it is,” he replied. “I have some understanding of James Anderson’s actions, even if they aren’t necessarily rational when viewed from the outside.”
“I just hope James’s actions don’t end up destroying what he tried to protect,” I answered. “If the company fails, I’m out of a job.”
Chapter 18
The following Monday morning, I walked into the coffee shop. It was early, and I was the only person there. The barista smiled when she saw me and began making my usual coffee.
“Nat! Glad to see you,” she said. “Are you okay? Everything has been all over the news. I can’t believe that James killed that poor man. He always seemed so nice!”
“I’ll be okay, Rosie,” I replied. “None of us ever thought James capable of such a thing. I’ve known him for years, and I always liked and respected him.”
“I feel sorry for Geoff, I know he and his father are close. I can’t imagine what he is feeling right now.”
“Nor can I,” I said. “On top of finding out that his father is a murderer, he has to try to salvage his company and his livelihood.”
Rosie finished making my coffee and put it on the counter in front of me in a takeaway cup. I reached for my purse, and Rosie shook her head. “On the house, Nat,” she smiled. “It’s the least I can do after everything you have been through
.”
“Speaking of livelihoods, you can’t make one if you give away free coffees, Rosie.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that, you’ll make up for it by the time you’ve bought your other three coffees for the day,” she replied cheekily.
“Hah. If only it weren’t true,” I laughed. I picked up the coffee from the bench and walked toward the exit.
“See you in a couple of hours, Nat,” Rosie called out after me.
I walked the half a block from Rosie’s cafe to the Andersons and Andersons building and took the lift to my floor. When I stepped out of the lift, Pete Larson, my manager, was already at his desk. He looked up when he saw me and walked over to greet me.
“Nat! Glad you’re back! I won’t go through the “are you all right” questions that no doubt everyone else is asking you,” he said. “You can only say you’re fine so many times.”
“Thanks, Pete,” I replied gratefully. “There has been plenty of that, I can tell you.”
“Well, let me know if there’s anything you need from me.”
“I will,” I promised.
“Good,” he said as he started to walk back to his desk, before stopping and turning toward me. “Oh, before I forget, Geoff has booked a meeting for you, me and him with Samuel Olsen at nine o’clock. It’s in the boardroom upstairs.”
My stomach sunk. I was not looking forward to seeing Samuel Olsen after what I’d put him through. I had no choice though, the mall still needed to be finished and we had to find a way for that to happen in light of what I had uncovered around the issue with the footings.
“Ok, I’ll be there,” I said. I walked to my desk and put my things down. It had only been three days since I had last sat there, but my world had changed completely.
I had argued with Dave about coming to work that morning, but I knew the best way for me to put it all behind me was to try to solve the problem of the mall’s foundations. If possible, I wanted to have at least a draft solution before the meeting with Olsen and Geoff Anderson. I looked at the clock on my computer – I had just over an hour before we were due to meet.
Although the police had kept my USB stick as evidence, I had requested that they copy the original geological reports for me. They were the only remaining copy of them as James had made Simon destroy the server backups containing them. To my surprise, Mark Symonds had emailed the files to me.
His email was typically succinct. “My captain said it was fine for you to have these. Good luck.” I was glad that he had checked with his superiors, the last thing I needed was to get in trouble for being in possession of the files.
By nine o’clock, I had the beginnings of a plan. I picked up my laptop and took the lift to the top floor. When I entered the boardroom, Samuel Olsen and his aide, Sally, Geoff Anderson, and Pete Larson were already present. Geoff looked exhausted; the last few days had been incredibly tough for him.
In contrast, Samuel Olsen looked as immaculate as ever. When he saw me, he stood up and extended his hand. “Ms. Shaw, glad you could make it. Have you had anyone arrested yet today?” The words could have been harsh, but the tone was light and friendly.
Rather than try to banter, I decided to address the elephant in the room directly. “I am so sorry, Samuel,” I said. “I’m sorry that I thought you were involved, and I’m sorry for the embarrassment my accusing you caused. I can only imagine what impact this may have on your business and political dealings.”
“No harm, no foul, Natalie,” Olsen replied magnanimously. “From what Geoff has told me, despite your incorrect conclusions, it was through your efforts that uncovered the issue that could have had serious long term consequences for my project.”
Relief flooded through me. I had been seriously dreading this conversation, and Samuel Olsen had made it very easy for me.
“Thank you so much for seeing it that way,” I said. “I was sure I was summoned here so you could chew me out, then Geoff would fire me.”
“On the contrary, you have done me a huge service, both professionally and politically. I had a call from the mayor late last night, he is retiring and isn’t nominating for the next election. He wishes me to run for office as his endorsed successor, an offer which I have accepted.”
“Besides, Nat,” Geoff Anderson spoke up, “you’re as much a victim here as Samuel. My father set out to frame you for being negligent when the foundations eventually started to crack under the mall.”
Before I could respond, Geoff laid his hands on the table in front of him and said, “So the question is, how do we move forward from here? Now we have identified what the issue is, what can we do to prevent having to knock the thing back down again?”
I raised my hand. “I might umm, have a solution.” Everyone turned to look at me.
“When I inspected the real geological report, I found that the clay deposit at its edge isn’t very deep, only about a meter below the base of the current footing.” I opened my laptop and turned the screen around.
“If we build a barrier wall with a double layer moisture membrane a one point five meters into the raw bedrock approximately two meters away from the footings, here,” I pointed at the diagram on the screen, “that should stabilize the footing and prevent the moisture from soaking into the wall. Filling the trench between the footings and the barrier wall with gravel and drainage pipes will prevent any long term problems.”
Pete Larson and Geoff Anderson exchanged glances before Pete asked, “How far around would the wall need to extend?”
I zoomed out the diagram. “It should only need to cover until we hit the bedrock on both ends, somewhere around sixty meters.”
“So we’re talking about a delay of only a couple of months then?”
“You’d have to ask Jacky, but once I’ve drawn up a formal version of the plans, I would assume about two or three months, yes. The construction of the upper levels of the mall will need to wait until it’s complete, but with some rescheduling, some other tasks could be undertaken concurrently. Two months is an educated guess as to the total delay.”
“I knew she’d crack it!” Pete exclaimed. A moment later, he realized what he’d said. “If you’ll pardon the pun,” he smiled.
Geoff turned to Samuel Olsen. “Would that work for you, Samuel?”
“The time frame is acceptable to me,” he said. “What about the additional construction costs?”
“We will cover those, it’s only fair,” Geoff replied. “If you are prepared to absorb the two to three additional months of lost revenue with the delay, the project will be completed with the mall matching the original design requirements.”
“The negative press of having delays and legal wranglings between us would cost far more than that,” Olsen said. “I’ll await the final version of the updated plans and schedule, but in principle, we have an agreement.” He reached out his hand to Geoff, who took it.
“I appreciate it, Samuel,” he said. Everyone stood up.
“It looks as though we have a path forward,” Pete said. “I’ll get Nat to work on those plans this morning, so we can get back on track.”
“I look forward to seeing the revised documentation,” Olsen said. He filed out of the room with Sally, his aide, in his wake.
Geoff called to me as I started to walk out behind them. “Stay a moment, Nat? You too, Pete.”
“Of course,” I replied. Pete and I sat back down.
He waited until the lift closed behind Olsen and his aide then looked across the table.
“Nat, I wanted to thank you for all you have done this week. The danger you have been in, I somehow feel it’s my fault.”
That surprised me. “Your fault, Geoff?”
“Everything my father did was to benefit me. If it hadn’t have been for you, I would have been blissfully unaware and blaming you when the foundations cracked in a year or two. In light of everything that has happened, I’m ashamed to believe that to be the truth.”
“You have nothing to be ashamed of, Ge
off. You haven’t done anything.”
“Thanks to you, Nat. And even after how badly my father treated you and was prepared to trick me into treating you, you still found a solution that salvaged the whole damned thing.”
“I did that for me as much as for anyone!” I laughed. “I like my job, I didn’t want to have to go find another one.”
Pete looked at Geoff, who nodded. “Well… speaking of new jobs, Nat.”
I looked at them both, mystified. “You’re not firing me, are you? That whole thing with blaming Samuel…”
Geoff held up his hand. “Not at all! Relax, Nat.” He smiled. “In fact, I’m offering you a new job. How would you like it to be a junior partner in the company?”
“Wait, what?” My brain couldn’t process what I’d just been told.
“With my father leaving the business, there is now a vacancy. I had planned this to happen when he formally retired next month, but with what’s happened, I want to bring that forward.”
“But what about Pete? He’s senior to me, he deserves this more than me.”
“Pete complete agrees with my decision. He was the one who suggested it in the first place.”
“Nat, you’re a star, everyone knows that except maybe you,” Pete smiled. “I’m a paper pusher, a manager. You are a visionary. I can’t think of anyone better to help to shape this company over the next few years.”
Geoff looked at me expectantly. “So what is your answer, Nat?”
“How can I possibly say no?”
“I was hoping you would say that,” he smiled. “We’ll formalize the paperwork over the next few days. In the meantime, you have some plans to update.” He pointed at James Anderson’s former office. “You can move your things up here whenever you’re ready.”
I was still thunderstruck at the turn of events. “I will do that in a while. Thank you so much for keeping your faith in me, both of you.”
Both men smiled. “You gave us reason to, Nat,” Pete replied. “Now scoot!”
The Body in the Building Page 9
