Even after a good night’s sleep, Kim’s resolution about the validity of her plan for the day ahead had not changed one little bit. Claire’s visit had actually strengthened her resolve not to leave without at least firing a few salvoes of her own. As she lay in bed that fateful Wednesday morning, she wondered how much she’d get for her home after paying off the mortgage. It was clear now that she was done with the newspaper industry. Of that she was certain. Proper Journalism was dead and just waiting to be buried and the current newspaper business model was on its last legs anyway. Unless you were an online scandal and gossip sheet there was little future in the industry.

The rise of online news and social media was making their work harder and harder. Getting an exclusive was next to impossible and had been for some considerable time. People just could not keep a secret any longer especially when it seemed that everyone in the world would sell out their loved ones for their personal fifteen nano seconds of fame.

---

Kim walked into the Head Office of the Newspaper just before ten that morning. She could feel everyone looking at her but at the same time trying not to show it. She held her head high.

She had hardly sat down when another woman came up to her desk. She recognised April Caine. She was the P.A. to the Editor of the paper, Sandy Wynn.

“Kim, the Boss wants to see you.”

“Which Boss? Sandy or Henrik?”

“Henrik,” replied April.

“That sounds like trouble. I’m either getting a raise or fired. As no one gets a raise these days it sounds like I’m being let go,” said Kim lying through her teeth.

April didn’t react.

Kim stood up saying, “Oh well, I’d better go and get this over with.”

She reached down under her desk and pulled out a cardboard box. She began to stack her personal possessions into the box. Since the last round of blood-letting at the paper, all the journalists had bags or boxes secreted away for the time when the almost inevitable axe fell in their direction. It was jokingly called ‘the exit bag’. Kim’s one was an old laser printer paper box.

All those sitting around her stopped work and looked at her for a few seconds before getting back to work. To a ‘man’ they looked sad.

They all knew that Kim was the best investigative journalist on the paper. She was also one of the last of her kind on the paper. One by one they were all getting the chop as the publication became more and more populist and almost totally celebrity driven, the need for real journalism was rapidly approaching zero.

Once Kim had loaded all the personal items that differentiated her desk from all the others into her ‘box’ she walked towards the lift with her head held, high carrying her ‘exit bag’. None of her colleagues said anything or did anything such as applauding Kim off the floor. A recent edict from ‘above’ had made it clear that any signs of empathy towards those departing would not be welcomed one little bit.

---

“Go on in Kim, he’s expecting you,” said the Editor in Chief’s Assistant as Kim stepped out of the lift on the 23rd floor. The views of the City were particularly good but this day was even better than normal.

Kim put down the box holding her belongings to one side of the lift and after taking a deep breath, she went into the adjoining office.

“Ah Kim,” said the Editor in Chief.
“Please take a seat. I need to get this email off to New York.”

Kim looked around her. The door to the ‘inner sanctum’ meeting room was ajar. She guessed that someone was listening from the other side of the door.

After a flurry of keys, Henrik sat back and smiled at Kim.

That smile went right through her.

“Do you know why you are here today Kim?”

Kim felt sick to the pits of her stomach. Even all the hours she’d spent preparing her for this moment were nowhere near enough. It was like being hauled up before the headmistress at school.

“You are going to let me go because the so-called story was not a story but you are going to make up something anyway and Journalism be dammed. Is that about it?”

Henrik smiled back at Kim.

“That’s about it in a nutshell.”

“You didn’t need to send for me to tell me that,” exclaimed Kim.

“Indeed, but I want to know why you didn’t invent something as you were instructed to by Sandy?”

“Does it matter what I say?”

After a brief hesitation, Henrik said,
“Not really.”

“Fine. I take it that I am no longer on the books.”

“No, you are done here.”

Kim stood up and said,

“Then I’ll save my explanation for the lawyers.”

“Lawyers?”

“Oh yes. I’m going to give a deposition just in case you print a load of lies about some people who have done nothing wrong to anyone. If you do, then I hope that you get taken to the cleaners and that you personally are made liable. Of course there is the little matter of constructive dismissal to consider? I’m sure that you will be hearing from them very soon… If you are still here that is?”

“Get the hell out of here before I call security!” exclaimed Henrik.

“Gladly.”

As she reached the Office door, she turned and said to Henrik,
“May you rot in hell!”

Then she added.
“To whoever is listening behind that door and is too much of a coward to face me, everything that Garth Emerson told me on Sunday is true. You see, I did get to the real reason why you sent me on this story. It was nothing to do with money laundering or any form of wrongdoing. It was just ‘Business’. You were prepared to ruin the lives of hundreds of people just to get your hands on some Intellectual Property. You need have not bothered as within six months, it will be made free for everyone to use. There are some people with a conscience left in this world. I don’t want to be associated with the dregs of humanity any longer. The term ‘gutter press’ is wrong by the way. I’d use ‘sewer press’ or ‘swamp press’ as that is where those who run it belong.”

The sound of a glass or cup being knocked over reached her from behind the open door. What she’d said had obviously hit a nerve or three.

On her way to the lift, she literally threw her company phone at the receptionist.
“Here you go. My company laptop is locked in my desk. Here are the keys.”
She tossed a small set of keys and her paper ID at the secretary.
Then she headed for the lift.

On her way down to the ground floor, she realised that she’d left her ‘exit box’ on the 23rd floor. She said to herself,
“Nah! I don’t really need anything in it. Let them throw it out it will save me having to do it when I get home.”

Kim walked out of the building feeling elated but dirty at the same time. When she’d joined the paper, ethics had meant something to her. Getting the truth was what it was all about. With the advent of ‘Fake News’ that hardly mattered any longer.

The bright sunlight streaming through a gap in the tall office blocks blinded her for a moment. It was if she had been born again.

---

A rejuvenated Kim went home and began to clean and clear out things she no longer needed. She’d picked up the habit from her mother. Kim smiled when she remembered that. Then she felt a bit guilt as she realised that she hadn’t called her mother for over a week and it had been three months since she’d seen her. It was time to rectify that. She didn’t have a job to go to after all so using ‘work’ as an excuse for not visiting her was now even more limp and worthless than before…

“Hello Mum,” said Kim when she called her mother.

“Yes, it has been a while. Too long.”

“How about tomorrow? Is that too soon?”

“No Mum, I don’t have to work. I’m unemployed.”

“No, I didn’t leave. They gave me the sack but it wasn’t for something I did so my conscience is clear.”

“No Mum, I can’t come until tomorrow. I have to see my Solicitor about filing a claim for wrongful dismissal in the morning. Then I’ll take the lunchtime train down.”

“My car is not in London. It is in Kings Lynn. It is a long story. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.”

“No Mum, I’m not involved with anyone. Don’t forget twenty past four at Truro station. Last time you went to Camborne and watched as the train went straight through.”

“I will Mum. See you tomorrow. Bye.”

Kim hung up and let out a great sigh. There was no going back now. She had to tell her Mother everything. That wasn’t going to be easy. If past episodes were anything to by, her mother would see right through whatever she tried to gloss over. At least she had 24 hours to get what she was going to say straight in her mind. Finding Brian wearing a dress was certainly not on the agenda. He mother would just not even begin to understand so she’d better leave that little item out of her story. If Kim knew her mother, the fact that Brian had been married before and had two children would be more than enough to condemn her to eternal damnation.

With a date with her mother all set up Kim spent the rest of the day sorting out her flat and preparing it for sale. If all went well, she’d be putting it on the market before very much longer.

---

Kim’s visit to her Solicitors the following morning was pretty uneventful. The recording of the episode with Henrik and all her notes helped move things along quickly enough.

That allowed her to reach Paddington Station in plenty of time for her train to Cornwall. She was so early that she even helped an American family take photos of the famous bear that the station is named after. Well, that’s what the six-year old boy thought and she wasn’t going to tell him otherwise. As she saw them looking so happy, she realised that for the first time in years she was happy as well. She did wonder if this was due to not having a deadline or an angry editor on her back but whatever it was she was glad that it wasn’t there.

Her good mood continued when she found that she had a table for two all to herself. She’d treated herself to a first-class ticket so that she could spend some time going over her story in the hope of not falling foul of her mother’s inner sixth sense. She’d inherited that from her mother. It had helped her spot people who had been lying to her when she’d been on assignment and also sense when her cover might be at risk. The problem was that her Mother’s version was honed to a far sharper edge than hers.

A good lunch, a glass of wine and some stunning scenery along the south Devon coast all helped the time go by until it was time to meet her mother.

---

Any hope of pulling the wool over her mother’s eyes vanished the moment that she saw her waiting on the platform at Truro. The train was half an hour late due to some idiots trespassing on the track at Teignmouth. Apparently, they’d been caught by the tide on the section of the line that runs right along the coast.

Kim had tried to call her Mother but failed to get an answer from her home. As her mother flatly refused to get a mobile phone there was no way to let her know about the delay.

The look told Kim that her mother was not amused.

“What time do you call this eh? I have things to do, people to see. You can’t expect me to hang around here all day waiting for you, you know!”

“Hello Mum. I tried to call you at home but you had obviously left.”

“Pah!” came the reply.

“Well, don’t just stand there!”

Kim just knew that from that moment, her visit would be short and not sweet.

Once their evening meal was over Kim’s mother sat at the head of the table with her arms crossed and a very stern expression on her face.

“Now! What have you got to say for yourself eh? Getting fired? I’ll bet that there is a man behind this. You mark my words.”

Kim sat there silent.

“Cat got your tongue eh?”

Then came her next salvo…

“Are you expecting? I wouldn’t put it past you living in that den of iniquity that is London. In my mother’s time, any girl who got with a child and without a man on her arm was called a slut and for good reason.”

Kim suddenly had visions of her mother morphing into her grandmother right before her very eyes. It was not a pretty sight.

“No Mum, I’m not pregnant and I’m not involved with a man.”

“Well? What caused you to get the sack eh? I have to say that I never approved of you becoming a reporter. Lowest of the low if you ask me…”

Kim had heard all of this before, at least ten times.

“I was sent undercover to a business in a place in Norfolk called Kings Lynn. There was no story at all. I told my editor so and they didn’t like it. He wanted me to make something up instead and I refused.”

“There has to be more to it than that? You don’t get fired for telling the truth!”

“Mum, life is not as black and white as you think it is. I was sent to do a job and I failed. In the course of failing I found out a lot about myself thanks to two wonderful men.”

“There I knew it. A man is involved and you have to get involved with two! I bet they are both married! You mark my words, this won’t end well!”

“Mum! Would you stop jumping to conclusions that don’t exist anywhere but in your mind.”

“Pah!” said her mother.

“One of the men was married and has two children but before you ask, there is nothing going on between us. The other is a billionaire who lives on Long Island. That is close to New York City.”

“Married I suppose?” said her mother.

“Widowed and before that divorced. Oh, and he’s also old enough to be my Father and I have no interest in him.”

“If he lives on Long Island how did you meet?”

“We went to visit him last Sunday. He was hosting a charity reading. I did get you a signed copy of the latest Hélène Harris novel. I know how much you like her other work.”

“What? You did what? How on earth did you get to see her let alone get a copy of her new book? People were queuing all night at bookshops here on Monday when it went on sale. It was on the TV news the other day.”

“I met with a bunch of people who didn’t treat me like some numpty from the back of beyond or someone with the plague which is how many of my former colleagues are regarded. None of them had an axe to grind or anything else. It was then that I realised how low the journalism profession has sunk.”

“I told you that it wasn’t a career all along, didn’t I?”

“I know that now but it was the only thing I ever wanted to do and until very recently I loved every minute of it so please don’t go on about it.”

“And what about starting a family eh? The clock is ticking you know.”

“It takes two to tango and I’ve never found anyone that I’d even think twice about settling down with. Before you mention Martin Keen, I always said that he was strange and… well you know very well what he tried to do to that poor woman he shacked up with. Living next door to someone for most of their life is no way to judge how someone will turn out.”

“I’m just saying…”

“No Mum, you want some grandkids to gloat over with when you meet up with all your friends for Bridge or Church or Flower Arranging or whatever…”

Before her mother could reply Kim said,
“I’m going to bed and then I’m going for a long walk tomorrow. I need to get the fug of the city out of my body.”
That was a lie but the walk down to the coast was one of her favourite places to go.

“The forecast isn’t good. Rain from before dawn clearing in late afternoon,” came her matter of fact reply.

“It does not matter. I need to get some sea air and some silence. London is a really noisy place to live and work in. It just never stops.”

Kim’s mother just glared at her daughter. Kim was of the opinion that she was a disappointment to her. She’d tried to get Kim married off to a number of locals before she left home to go to University. Since then she’d dated a few men but never found anyone who really clicked with her.

---

Kim got up very early the next morning. Her mother was still asleep when she left to go on her walk. That pleased her no end.

Her route was one that she’d done many times over the years. It took her down to the coast and along the coastal path towards the Lizard, through the edge of Helston and then back home. A distance of just over six miles. Her mother was right in that there was a squally wind coming in off the sea which had quite a bit of rain with it. Kim was glad that she was wearing her not only warm but waterproof jacket.

Kim didn’t meet anyone for more than an hour which suited her mood perfectly. The stiff breeze had cleared out the cobwebs from her mind. Things started to become a bit clearer.
Kim’s path led her onto the old road down to the Lizard where there was a Café. It was a welcome sight and a chance to get out of the wind and rain for a bit.

After a good breakfast, Kim carried on with her walk. She was feeling a lot better in body as well as in mind.

---

When Kim returned home, she found that her mother had gone out. After a bit of thought, she realised that as it was Friday, her mother was playing Bridge at the British Legion. There was a lunch laid on and her mother was not one to miss a free lunch and an hour of gossip with her friends if she could help it.

Kim felt renewed after her walk which was the aim of the walk. She’d decided in general terms on her return journey what she was going to do next. Now it was time to tell someone. That someone was her mother.

She made herself a cup of coffee and sat at the kitchen table wondering which of a dozen things that needed to be done would be done first.

Kim was about to call Brian when she stopped and thought a bit more. She’d remembered a name that came up in the discussions on Long Island. She smiled when she realised that it was less than a week ago that she was tottering around in a dress and heels in the company of some very wealthy New Yorkers and a former supermodel and an internationally famous novelist”

After some time thinking, she went to her bedroom and retrieved her laptop. Then she returned to the kitchen. Her old company one had most of her research notes on going back the past few years. The backup she’d taken was in London so she had to work from memory as she started searching for information.

Gradually a picture started forming in her mind of just who this other party was that Garth was modelling his business activities on for now and the foreseeable future. She needed to know who, what and how this unknown person had caused one of the richest men in the USA to change his whole way of doing business.

She’d never heard of this company, ‘Lorelei Investments’ before. That in itself was hardly surprising. There were thousands if not a million or more companies operating in the UK that she’d never heard of before but that was no reason not to investigate.

As time went on, she realised the reason for this way of operating. The nature of the businesses that they invested in were hardly high on the radar but the way that they invested got her really interested. All the time the words that Garth had spoken were in her mind.

A whole different world opened up before her very eyes. Many of the things that had been worrying her from the weekend started to fall into place. Her natural inquisitiveness that had been honed working as a journalist soon took over and for a while she was in her element.

She realised that if Garth was indeed changing the way he was doing business that would be a story worthy of a front-page headline on the Financial Times.

After a couple of hours Kim sat back and smiled.

What she’d uncovered in that short space of time was also right up the street for some of the Tabloid Press. She even thought that her old employer would be interested in it. A hatchet job on this company would get the paper some sales but would ruin lives.

Kim shook her head. These people did not need exposing like that. They were not doing anything wrong or illegal, far from it. Lorelei Investments was providing a service to companies and people that most other investors would not give time of day to in a million years. With most companies looking for returns within a year, Lorelei’s method of partnership for the long term was certainly not mainstream.

Kim took a break and made herself some tea. So far, the day was turning out to pretty good. Spurred on by this she returned to her investigations.

It did not take her long to find out that there were other organisations doing similar things for small businesses but none were putting up the sorts of Capital that Adrian was working with and then taking an active role in running those companies but without taking them over. That alone impressed her.

Kim sat back and smiled. The fresh sea air had worked it’s magic once again. There were a lot of loose ends to not only tie up but she was sure that there were more leads to discover. One thing had become clear to her from the visit to Cornwall and was that her future was in Kings Lynn.

Kim was sitting in the kitchen with a small smile on her face when her mother returned.

“How many times have I told you not to do your work on my kitchen table? Are you going to clear up this mess? I want to start dinner,” exclaimed her mother as she walked through the door.

There was no ‘how was your walk darling?’ or other greeting from her mother. Instead, she received a rebuff that made her feel ten years old again. Then she recovered her composure.

“Hello Mum. Did you have a good afternoon at Bridge? Who did you trump this week?”

Her mother was briefly taken aback by the assertiveness of her daughter’s comments. Kim saw her opportunity so she carried on.

“I’m not staying for dinner. I’m going back to Kings Lynn.”

“Why would anyone go to that place? What is there that makes it so important that you go right now? Why all the rush? Didn’t you come down here just to escape the hustle and bustle of the City?”

Kim smiled and calmly said,
“Why am I going to Lynn? Because the man I’m more than likely going to marry lives there.”

Kim’s mother was left open mouthed. She had clearly lost the ability to understand her daughter. Her immediate thought was that living and working in London had changed her daughter for the worse, far worse than when she was her little baby.

[to be continued]