Chapter 9

 

The spacious reception area inside AirTech company headquarters had the normal things. Pictures of happy employees on the wall, chairs with company reading material scattered around the tables like a doctor’s office, and the commanding reception desk observing it all. But what made this reception area unique was the large display model of an ultramodern office building at its center. The model had clear, see-through walls exposing a complex but regimented system of air handlers, water pipes, and ducts running under the floors and over the model ceilings. The building’s roof was molded with large sheets of thin solar panels. Digital displays explained the various features of the high-tech design.

Emma didn’t have a clue about advanced climate control management systems. But she was proud that one of her family’s companies made something so important to people who worked in such buildings. She checked in at the reception desk.

“I’ll tell Mr. Gooden you’re here.” The receptionist picked up a phone.

Ten minutes later, a tall black man in his late thirties buttoned his blazer as he came down the wide central staircase behind reception. Ben Gooden’s arms opened as he headed straight to Emma, who accepted the man’s hug.

“Great to see you, young lady. How are you and your grandmother doing? You holding up okay?” the man asked.

“We’re fine I guess. Still seems like it happened yesterday.”

Ben’s face softened as he touched Emma’s arm. “Rosa and I would love to have you guys over for dinner. The kids would love to see you too.”

“Right. Kids don’t love their babysitters.”

“Mine do. We haven’t found a good replacement since you moved to California. They miss your magic tricks.” Ben noticed Nadia examining the building model with great interest. “Isn’t that a beautiful piece of engineering?”

Nadia appeared to shy away from the sudden attention, but she kept her eyes on the display model. “The statistics on energy efficiency are quite impressive. The way you designed the panels on the roof and molded the other solar panels down the corners of the building is also impressive. They supply energy to the building’s climate control system during the night hours, isn’t that correct?”

Ben joined Nadia near the model. “Yes, a very astute observation. This new system can keep the climate control system running without outside power for five days. On reduced power it can go as long as two weeks.”

“Two weeks? That’s amazing.”

Emma introduced Ben to the other girls before he led them up the stairs. For being a president of a major company, Ben’s office was cluttered with stuff. The white dry-erase boards were filled with scribbles and numbers. Piles of books and air-conditioning models sat on the floor. Ben had to clear off some files from his leather couch so the girls could sit. He offered them something to drink and finally asked what he could do for them.

Emma spoke first. “I’m doing my own investigation into Dad’s death. It wasn’t an accident. His plane was sabotaged.”

Ben sat back. “Sabotage? The French investigation said it was pilot error.”

“They’re wrong. I can’t tell you how I know. But I know. I swear to God. Someone killed my dad and your engineers. And I need your help to find out who.”

Ben thought about that. “Why would someone kill your father?”

“That’s what we need to find out, Mr. Gooden,” Olivia said.

“Have you told the police?” Ben asked. “Isn’t this something they should be investigating? I share your desire to get answers, Emma, but you don’t know anything about conducting a criminal investigation.”

“But I—”

“All four of us want to expose whoever did this,” Olivia interrupted. “We’ll turn over all the evidence to the proper authorities when the time comes. But all we’re asking for is your cooperation, Mr. Gooden.”

Emma fired a look at Olivia. Ben was her family friend and she wanted to do the talking.

“No offense to you, young ladies, but you’re just a bunch of kids.”

“Ben? I need to know why Dad was over there in the first place,” Emma said. “Did he call you at all during his trip?”

Ben sat back in his chair, his mind digging. “We talked a lot. There was this pending agreement between one of Ken’s tech firms and the Polish government. Your dad had been working on the deal for months.”

“Was that normal for him to fly clear across the Atlantic in his private jet for a simple business agreement?” Olivia asked.

“Ken was very hands-on in all aspects of his business. If he thought he could help seal the deal, he would fly to Siberia if he had to.”

“My dad was a workaholic to the extreme,” Emma said.

“Ken loved it. He wasn’t the type of owner who sat at home and let other people run his companies. Whenever he could find time to dip his toe into something, Ken would do it. Sometimes it made people frustrated.”

“Frustrated enough to kill him?” Olivia asked.

Emma watched Ben for an answer.

“Despite Ken’s idiosyncrasies, people loved working for him. Ken could have let one of his executives handle the Polish negotiations, but he wanted to do it. That’s the way he was.”

“Why were the AirTech engineers on his plane when it crashed, then?” Miyuki asked.

Ben folded his fingers together. “As I said, I talked with Ken a lot when he was in Poland. One night I mentioned some strange modifications my engineers had discovered on a follow-up to a job we did for a European customer.”

“What kind of modifications?” Olivia asked.

“Well, one of my engineers found that our customer made unapproved modifications to the climate control systems we installed. I told my head engineer to document the changes and send them to me. When I told Ken about this, he was intrigued and wanted to get involved. Since he was in Europe anyway, he flew to France and met with them.” Ben cocked his head. “Are you sure his plane was sabotaged? I wish you would tell me how you got this information.”

Emma stood up and faced her new friends. “Do you mind leaving us alone for a minute?”

“Why?” Olivia asked.

“Please?”

“What will you tell him?” Nadia asked.

“Not what you think I’ll say. Please?”

Nadia and Miyuki left the office. Olivia hesitated by the threshold of the door and studied Emma.

“Trust me.”

Olivia didn’t look convinced, but she left and shut the door anyway.

Emma came up to Ben’s desk and eased into a chair. “Do you trust me?”

“I trusted you with my babies for years. Of course I trust you. But what you’re telling me, Emma, doesn’t add up.”

“I’ve got powerful friends helping me with this investigation. They’ve got access to info other people can’t get. I can’t tell you who they are, so all I can say is…they want to help bring the people who killed Dad to justice. And that’s the truth.”

Ben frowned. “What have you gotten yourself into?”

“There’s nothing to worry about. Grandma knows these people and she’s fine with everything.” Emma crossed her fingers under the table. “We really need your help because I don’t think we’ll get very far without it.”

Ben sighed and shook his head. “I need to know more.”

“Sorry. As much as I’d like to…I can’t tell you more. You’ll just have to trust me.”

Ben left his chair and walked towards a dry-erase board, staring at the mess of blue and black scribbles.

“You’ve never let me or Dad down,” Emma said. “Please don’t start now.”

 

Ben cooperated and gave the Gems an empty office and his master password to AirTech’s internal computer network. Flipping open a couple of notebook computers, the girls went right to work, searching the company’s database for anything out of the ordinary. Emma didn’t know what to do. She knew how to use a computer. Duh, who didn’t these days? But the other girls were trained in cyber investigations and knew what things to look out for while Emma could only do a thorough search of her social media news feeds. To be useful, Emma brought up drinks and snacks for everyone from the company’s break room on the second floor.

Nadia found the original AirTech climate control designs that were installed for a company named AgEurope, the one Mrs. B wanted them to flag. “Interesting.” Nadia leaned closer to the screen. “AgEurope is a part of the Raymond Foods empire. And AirTech put in new systems for all the other Raymond Foods companies too.”

“How many companies?” Olivia asked.

“According to AirTech’s billing department,” Miyuki added, “all of them.”

“Hang on,” Olivia said. “I’ll look through the project files.”

“Already there,” Nadia said. “The installment dates all occurred within a three-year period.”

“Sounds like a major project for AirTech,” Olivia said. “So their engineers noticed something strange after they finished with the AgEurope install, right?”

“That’s what Ben said,” Emma replied with a mouthful of chocolate mini-donut.

Olivia scoffed at Emma’s lack of manners. “Anything else, Nadia?”

Nadia pressed her lips together. “Earlier, I found a way into the Rothchild company servers in New York and hacked into Mr. Rothchild’s personal email. Didn’t find anything strange the last few months he was alive. No threatening emails. Arguments. That sort of thing.”

Emma swallowed. “You hacked into my dad’s email?”

“Only as a precaution. Our investigation must be thorough.” Nadia glanced up at Emma and pointed at her own mouth. “You have some chocolate.”

Emma wiped her mouth and glanced at her fingers. “Thanks.”

Nadia hesitated. “You now have more between your…”

Emma broke out the compact and guided her tongue over her teeth while she double-checked.

“Find anything else, Miyuki?” Olivia asked.

She shook her head. “No Swiss bank accounts on file. No financial records look out of place. Read through some Chinese toy contracts that looked legit also.”

Olivia leaned against the office wall, deep in thought. “And I checked the HR database. Think we can rule out disgruntled employees. No processed reprimands issued by your dad. No files on ex-employees suing your dad or making threats.”

“This is a dead end,” Miyuki said.

“It still brings us back to AirTech’s dealing with AgEurope,” Nadia said.

“I could…told…that.” Emma was munching on another mini-donut. “That’s where…should…”

“Could you please not talk with your mouth full?” Olivia said. “I can’t understand a flipping word you’re saying.”

Emma fired her a look and finished her donut. “I said…I could have told you that. That’s where we should’ve started. No one working for my dad would have done this.”

“How do you know that?” Olivia asked. “We can’t take anything for granted.”

“Because everyone loved my dad.”

“Rothchild Industries has over one hundred thousand employees in all of its companies. It’s illogical to assume that every single employee loved your dad. That’s statistically impossible.”

“Whatever,” Emma said. “It’s true.”

“You girls argue statistics,” Miyuki said. “Meanwhile, I’ll go pack for Europe.”