Forget Me Never

but without us the company couldn’t function.’
    I wondered if she ever shut up. Lottie took me around, making introductions and pointing out fascinating little features such as the office snack box (very important, apparently) and the stationery cupboard. I wanted to ask her about the new drug, but after the office intro Lottie decided it was coffee time. I’d done some research last night about drug development, and apparently it took years. Whatever Vaughan-Bayard were developing would definitely have been in the pipeline when Danielle was here.
    After coffee, Lottie asked one of the HR guys to talk me through record keeping. This turned out to be way more interesting than it sounded. I’d had no idea what a human resources manager even did. Not only did they keep tabs on everyone in the company, but apparently they conducted interviews, set policies, delivered training and investigated complaints. I quickly realized this might be a good opportunity.
    ‘My mate’s cousin used to work here,’ I said. ‘Danielle Hayward – did you know her?’
    ‘A little, yeah. Really sad what happened to her.’
    I decided to chance my arm. ‘What was she like?’
    I thought that question might raise a few eyebrows, but the man didn’t so much as blink. ‘Didn’t work directly with her, but she was always nice and friendly. Happy to give people a hand with computer problems. Messed us about by leaving so suddenly, but it seems off to speak ill of the dead.’
    ‘Talking about Danielle?’ A woman at the next desk leaned across. She looked the type who liked to gossip. She’d stopped typing the moment Danielle’s name had come up, so I knew she’d been listening. ‘She was all over the place, that last day at work. Really stressed. Jumped sky high when I wanted to clear some forms with her.’
    The woman paused, glancing over her shoulder. ‘I reckon she must have annoyed Aiden in some way. He came stomping in here black as thunder about an hour after she’d gone, furious about something. Nice guy, but such a drama queen! I do wonder if those two had something going on, y’know.’
    The man I was with started to look uneasy. The gossipy woman opened her mouth to continue. Then her phone rang and the moment was gone.
    This isn’t looking good for Aiden, I thought. The more I hear, the more obvious it is he’s up to his eyeballs in something. Maybe Danielle screwed up and knew he’d be after her unless she got out.
    The big question was, what were they doing that had such high stakes? They’d evidently not been found out, else Aiden wouldn’t still be at Vaughan-Bayard. That made it likely that whatever they were doing hadn’t been completed yet. Stealing Edith made a lot of sense. Aiden must have been really afraid that Danielle’s files might expose him.
    I absolutely had to get closer to Aiden while I was here. It was the only way I could see us getting to the truth.
    It was Thursday lunchtime, so I had one and a half days left at V-B. I was running out of time.
    Snooping wasn’t the walk in the park I’d thought it’d be. I was with people all the time, and most doors needed security passes to get through, and everyone went to lunch together, so there wasn’t ever an opportunity to slip off. I had however had a look at the labs. Mr McIntyre had asked me to help him carry some files across there. Thanks to that visit I’d discovered that Aiden had a desk in an office next to the labs for when he needed to use a computer. I knew from my session with the IT guys that all emails were strictly monitored, but Aiden’s desk would be worth checking out.
    Sophie and I had even hatched an action plan.
    ‘Best chance is lunchtime,’ she’d said last night. We’d been at her house, sitting on her bed, sharing a bag of salted peanuts. ‘You say you’ve seen Aiden every day in the canteen?’
    I nodded. ‘Twelve thirty sharp.’
    ‘So . . . if you went to his desk at twelve forty-ish, he wouldn’t be there.’
    ‘Yeah. But I’d have to get lucky. There are other people who work where he does. I’ve seen them in the canteen, but can’t say for certain they go at the same time every day.’
    Sophie was silent for a moment. ‘What you’ll have to do is this . . .’
    My eyes were on my watch. Time was passing so slowly! Or maybe it just seemed that way because I was in the filing room, halfway along the upstairs corridor between the main office and the labs.
    The door creaked and Lottie came