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It’s Gloria. “Oh! Bailey’s here. I can come back.”
Bailey stands. “I’m all done. Rhett, I’ll get that memo out.” She turns to Gloria. “We’re having a company meeting at two.”
“Oh!” Gloria says. She glances between us.
Even though she was quite properly on the opposite side of my desk, and we were discussing work, my neck still feels on fire. It’s like Gloria is also wondering what we were up to. I’m not going to be able to shake this.
When Bailey is gone, Gloria sets a folder on my desk. “I wasn’t going to bother you with this, but since Viola seems to have disappeared, and the investigation into her marketing requisitions is ongoing, I thought you might want to see it.”
I pull the folder forward and open the front cover.
It’s Viola’s HR folder. It begins with her original application, her government forms, and several performance reviews, which seem adequate.
“Turn one more page,” Gloria says.
The next file is an HR complaint against Viola by Toby Barnsdale from the IT department. It was six months ago. Viola repeatedly insisted Toby work on her computer station, refusing any other member of the department. Toby was uncomfortable around her because they had formerly dated.
“She’s broken the fraternization rule multiple times, but I’m not sure how enforceable it is between departments anyway,” Gloria says. “We’re mainly watching for power dynamics.” She stops talking abruptly, and I know she’s just realized I’m seeing my assistant. The ultimate power imbalance.
I can’t do anything about that. I’m not firing Bailey, and I’m not giving her up either. “We’re going to strike that anyway. Today might be a good time.”
“At your company meeting?” Gloria asks.
I don’t think she intends for it to sound as snarky as it comes across.
“Probably not quite yet,” I say.
“There’s more,” she says.
The next page is a complaint by an intern who used to work in marketing. She says that Viola stalked her after seeing her talk to Toby Barnsdale. She felt uncomfortable. She left the company three months ago.
“I added a printout in there from another HR folder since it seemed to apply here,” Gloria says.
I flip the page. This one is a performance review for Blake Samuels in IT, dated a month ago. He got low marks for incomplete tasks, time away from his desk, and altering files not in his scope of work. Hammond conducted it.
I sit forward. “What files did he alter?”
“We’ll have to see if Hammond knows. I asked around, and it seems Blake was spending an inordinate amount of time near Viola’s desk.”
“Is he here today?”
“That’s the kicker. Nobody’s seen him since the cruise.”
But Viola came to my room. Surely she wouldn’t have done that if she was seeing this Blake fellow.
Unless she’s simply manipulating him to do her bidding.
I stare at Blake’s performance form. There’s no picture. Was this the guy she was sitting with at the pool when I got back to the ship?
We could have our culprit. I need to visit Hammond.
“I appreciate this,” I tell Gloria. “Can I hang onto this file?”
“Sure. I’ll snag it if I need to close it out.”
“And she hasn’t even called in?”
“Nope. Blake neither. It’s like they both vanished.”
