Alex Harris 00 - Poisoned

though not quite as thin.
    “Mr. Reiser, Ian explained a little about your firm to me over the phone and you talked with my sister, but could you tell us a bit of the background of Reiser and White Consultants? How long have you been in business?” I asked.
    Mr. Reiser sat back in his chair in the small office and crossed his arms in front of him. “I worked for my old firm for over sixteen years, and my partner, Bill White, was with his company for about ten. I’m a casualty of downsizing, and Bill just wanted to make a change. We came together about fourteen months ago and it’s been going well. Which is why we need some additional help. We’ve got a new contract on top of a few others contracts we started working on several months ago, and we’re just about ready to sign for another.”
    “These are all for software packages?” Sam asked.
    “Yes, that’s right. So far, that’s all we’ve been dealing in. We’re doing work for large and small companies alike. The novelty of what we’re doing is that we carry the telemarketing concept one step further. Whereas in the past, large corporations would contract the initial telemarketing out to specialty firms, they weren’t contracting the initial sales contact out as well and that’s where we come in.
    “What we need for this new contract are two salespeople with substantial contacts within large organizations. These would probably be people who, because of downsizing within their own organization, have found themselves out of a job.”
    “Would they have to have a vast knowledge of the software industry or a programming background?” I asked.
    “No. Not at all. We need salespeople, first and foremost, and, as I said, people with good contacts. We’ve already been given leads by the manufacturer, and now we go in and do demos and wrap the whole thing up. But more contacts never hurt. In addition to this latest job, we should, in the next two weeks, be signing a deal with another software firm. This time it’s a document imaging and cloud storage package. Do you have any knowledge of these programs?”
    ”Not much,” I admitted. “Just the cloud storage on my iPad.”
    “As your own firm grows and generates more paper, you may want to consider something like this.” Mr. Reiser said.
    Documents. I let my mind wander, something I did with increasing frequency of late, as Mr. Reiser explained the virtues of a paperless society to Sam. After I got home last night, I cuddled in bed with Bradley’s family history again. And again I found nothing. Both Mrs. Brissart and Kendra mentioned Bradley wanted to discuss the history, but had never found the time. What did he want to know? Was it important? Probably just some little tidbit the young man found fascinating. And besides, Bradley was most likely not the intended victim so what may or may not have been in the history really didn’t mean anything. I had only been concerned about it as a means of getting Mrs. Brissart off the hook. But John seemed to be giving up on this theory and concentrating his efforts on more viable suspects. Still, I found myself curious about the whole history.
    “It’s staggering,” Mr. Reiser continued, bringing me back to the present. “Invoices, memos, faxes, and letters. Not to mention employee files, which alone can account for a small forest. Email has taken a bite out of paper usage, but not as much as you would think.”
    “I think you’ll find our proposal outlines exactly what you have in mind,” Sam said, as she handed Mr. Reiser the proposal we had put together yesterday.
    Mr. Reiser looked over the papers and nodded positively. “Ian speaks very highly of your firm. He’s made a lot of contacts himself at the various companies he’s been sent to, and if he doesn’t come on board with us, I doubt he’ll have a problem finding something. I’d like him to come work with me for a while if for no other reason than to pay me back for all his years of schooling!” Mr. Reiser threw his head back and gave a good laugh. I could see where Ian got his charm.
    Sam and I left with a promise from Mr. Reiser that he would review our proposal and get with us as soon as possible.
    “Do you think he’s getting bids from that new agency?” Sam asked as we made our way back to the car.
    I shrugged inside my new leopard-skin sweater. “I doubt it. I hope not. Besides, Ian recommended us to his father and he didn’t mention the other agency when we spoke.”
    We