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35. Probing Deeper

Hamish opened the hotel's staff entry door, and as he stepped outside, he flipped his hand and called, "Hey, there! Heed the thirty-foot smoking rule." Then, after a short wait, he beckoned us to follow, leading us toward two people standing next to a minivan.

As we approached, the man slid open the side door, and the woman pulled out a badge wallet, opened it and showed it to Lorne, saying, "I'm Constable Cheng. We've been told to take you to the detachment."

"Great!" Lorne showed his ID. "I'm Crown counsel Wilson, and all three of us require emergency admission to the Witness Protection Program. I can initiate the application once we've settled."

We remained silent as we got into the van, then as we headed down Blackcomb Way, Constable Cheng turned from the passenger seat and asked, "Do you need accommodation?"

Lorne pointed out the window. "I have a townhouse in there along Snowy Creek that is uncompromised. We have need for nothing but secure transportation at the moment – and I have some evidence to register."

She nodded and returned the phone to her ear, again speaking below my hearing ability, so I turned to talk with Cynthia, seeing her head twitching, her eyes darting and her mouth agape. I placed a hand on her clenched fist and said, "We're safe now, Cynthia. Relax."

"Wish I could." She grimaced. "So much. So fast."

"But we're now safe."

She slumped her shoulders and nodded. "Yeah. But my stupidity caused this mess."

"What? How?"

"By not taking the time to question. He used my mailing list and influence. Not my skills." She shook her head. "No PR follow-up after the openings. I should have suspected something."

I pressed my hand on her tightly clenched fist. "Is follow-up usual?"

"It's a necessary part of an opening promotion. Reinforce the initial positive image. Maintain a steady flow of PR. Monitor response. Keep the place in the public eye until it's well established. Then do ongoing promotion as needed."

I nodded. "And Frank and his managers did the follow-up and ongoing by using duped reviewers."

"Yeah, and I'm ruined. My reputation's in tatters."

Lorne shook his head. "No, not at all, Cynthia. You'll come out of this unscathed."

She contorted her face as she looked up at him. "Hunh? How could this not ruin me?"

"You'll be seen as having helped bring down this scam. People like Frank are skilled in manipulation and coercion. Duping people is part of their game."

"Yeah, like he duped me."

"Did he answer to anyone?"

"How do you mean?"

"Did he make all the decisions? Or did he have to wait for input? For instructions?"

"Ummm, not always immediate. He sometimes took a while to think, but I saw no consultation. Never mentioned the need for permission. Appears he's the head of this."

Lorne bobbed his head. "And payment? How did he handle that?"

"Cash. Everything with cash."

"And the promotional items – corkscrews, pens, canvas bags and so on. Did you organise those?"

"I assembled the first kits. But from then onward, he did the ordering." Cynthia winced. "Used my suppliers. Took over everything. Used me only to show legitimacy."

"Do you have any of the pens?"

"Hunh?"

"Fat pen barrels make it easy to hide micro GPS chips and batteries."