The Knowledge Stone

by Jack McGinnigle

  The Coroner summed up and concluded:

  ‘This was a great tragedy. A terrible waste of a young life. Perhaps the law firm should review its dismissal procedures to ensure that vulnerable staff are suitably supported at such traumatic times.’ Julian looked at the floor and gritted his teeth.

  Finally, the verdict: ‘That she took her own life while the balance of her mind was disturbed.’

  Julian

  The fresh air felt very good to Julian as he walked away from the Coroner’s Court.

  ‘I’m very glad all that is over! Of course I’ll say nothing about the criticism the Coroner made about the Firm. It was a load of nonsense, anyway. After all, once you have dismissed someone, especially for a serious misdemeanour, they are no longer your responsibility, are they?’

  Julian had to admit he felt a little depressed about the whole affair. Hearing all the details about Jana’s suicide had disquieted him. He hoped fervently that her actions would not reflect badly upon him at the Firm. Surely Oberto would see that it was not his fault in any way? Yes, he felt sure Oberto would be on his side – after all, his father and the Senior Partner were such old friends. Nevertheless he was strangely worried and now sought to soothe his fears by rational analysis: ‘I wonder why she did such an extreme thing? After all, she was only dismissed from a low-level administrative job and she had the whole of her life before her. I suppose it was a pity she had to take the blame for the mistake in the Senior Partner’s document pack, but Top Management were absolutely furious about what had happened and someone’s head had to roll. All the DC staff were involved in the catastrophe but Jana did have the lead position. So she must be responsible for the loss of such an important document.’

  Typically, Julian had already schooled his mind to believe his own fabrication of events. He continued his justifying thoughts.,

  ‘Obviously, as Senior Staff, neither Margarite or I could take any of the direct blame. That would have been very bad for the whole Firm and could have led to a general loss in morale in the Department. As HDC, I am afraid I just could not allow that to happen.’

  Now he felt better!

  Julian’s next thoughts were about Margarite: ‘Poor Margarite! I know she was rather fond of that girl. I hope this doesn’t make her unhappy and angry with me for insisting on dismissing Jana. I don’t want our relationship to be damaged by what has happened. We’re thoroughly used to each other now and I don’t want to be forced into finding another partner. I’ll just have to be extra charming to her. I know – I’ll get her some flowers. That always works.’

  A few minutes later, Julian had entered the flower shop near the law firm building and soon emerged with a large bunch of red roses which he carried into the Firm’s underground car park.

  ‘I had better leave these flowers in the car and give them to her when we get home. If I took them into the office, everyone would wonder why I have bought her flowers. They might suspect it has something to do with Jana and I want to dampen all that down as soon as possible.’

  The flowers seemed to work. Margarite was very pleased to receive them; even more pleased that Julian should have thought about her so lovingly. Nevertheless, she remained in a quiet and introspective mood. In truth, she had been deeply shaken by what had happened. Of course she was very upset by Jana’s untimely death but somehow the terrible suicide seemed remote and unreal. By contrast, the sequence of events in the Office was terrifyingly vivid, a dreadful procession that led inexorably to the girl’s dismissal in disgrace.

  Margarite knew the quality of Jana’s work and, although she had queried Julian’s selection of the girl as Base Co-ordinator for this very important task, she had been pleased that he had appeared to recognise the girl’s talents. She was even more pleased to see how Jana proceeded to organise the work. It had been a large and complex document pack to set up and it took considerable time and manpower. Several times, Jana had spotted that wrong documentation had been brought in by her colleagues and initiated the necessary rectification procedures. When all had been assembled and checked by Jana, Margarite had taken the heavy pack away for the DHDC check and found only very minor errors – the odd document slightly out of date order.

  Margarite knew that the Formal Contract was certainly in place during her check. There was absolutely no doubt about this; this was a very important document in the pack and she could actually remember seeing it. After she had completed her comprehensive and meticulous check, she had signed it off as DHDC, closed the pack up and returned it to Jana’s desk. This was routine procedure. After the disaster, when the document was found behind the filing cabinet, Julian had proposed that Jana must have opened the pack again, for some reason removed the Formal Contract sheet and placed it temporarily on top of the filing cabinet nearest to her desk. From there, the sheet had somehow fallen down the back of the cabinet where it was completely concealed from view.

  That Jana would have done such a thing was completely illogical; not only illogical but dangerous, because this would be interfering with the pack after the DHDC check – something the staff were forbidden to do. Margarite knew that Jana would never have disobeyed orders. In any event, she was sure that the girl would never have separated a single document from any pack and placed it temporarily on top of a general-use cabinet away from her desk. Finally, no one, not even Julian, could explain how this crisp, heavy sheet of paper fell down the back of the cabinet; the building was sealed and air-conditioned and the General Office of DC was never subject to sudden gusts of wind!

  Margarite’s final thought concerned Julian himself and this made her feel very uncomfortable. The Record Sheet indicated that Julian had carried out the final HDC check. Why did this final check not reveal the absence of the document? Love and embarrassment prevented Margarite from following this particular thought process any further. Instead, she shook her head in sorrow and despair and concluded: ‘It really doesn’t add up.’ Then, with considerable effort, she forced her mind away from the catastrophe: ‘I really must snap out of this, for Julian’s sake. It was lovely of him to buy me flowers. I must cheer up.’

  With Jana gone, DC was now short-staffed. After a week had passed, Julian and Margarite met to initiate a new recruitment exercise. Newspaper adverts were placed by HR, responses received and passed to HDC for consideration. Subsequently, Julian and Margarite met again to decide on a short-list of candidates.

  ‘This boy Alain will take some beating,’ Julian said decisively, ‘did you see his qualifications?’

  Margarite had also been impressed by this particular candidate. ‘I agree. Maybe it would be a good idea to interview him first?’

  ‘Yes. I agree to that. Could you set it up for next week? We’ll interview the other four after we’ve seen him.’

  The day of the first interview arrived. The candidate Alain arrived at the front desk in good time for his interview and, in due course was conducted to Julian’s office where Julian and Margarite were waiting. Alain impressed at first sight, being a tall, good-looking boy of eighteen, confident and well-spoken. The interview explored his education, motivation, other achievements and interests. His replies were intelligent and comprehensive, expressed in clear, respectful tones. Interview over, did he have any questions?

  The boy responded with a slight smile: ‘I’m sure I will have many questions in the future. But first, I have a lot to learn.’

  Even Julian smiled with admiration at that answer! ‘Thank you for coming,’ Julian said, ‘my deputy will show you around the department and you can see what goes on. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions.’ He nodded at Margarite and shook hands with the boy before he left.

  By contrast, the next three candidates did not inspire. Two girls and a boy, they came across as disinterested and generally rather dull; their educational achievements confirmed that impression.

  ‘Those l
ast three were dreadful!’ As usual, Julian’s judgement was unequivocal. ‘I wouldn’t employ any of them, even if there was no-one else.’

  Margarite often thought that Julian’s judgements were extreme but, in this case, she was in general agreement. It began to look as of their favourite candidate had the job “in the bag” – until the last candidate appeared, that is!

  Sunia was a seventeen year-old girl whose father was Chinese and her mother Brazilian. In her, this combination of race had produced striking physical attractiveness. Her large almond shaped eyes, fine features and perfectly smooth skin gave her a classical beauty, while her body had developed to be quite tall, slim and perfectly proportioned. Even as a small child, her prettiness had always been greatly admired and she augmented this with a sweet, gentle and loving personality. Now, on the brink of adulthood, it was obvious that her beauty was proceeding towards perfection.

  She had been born in Switzerland but her father’s work for an international company meant that the family often moved to different countries around the world. In consequence, Sunia had attended many schools as she grew up – always the very best ones wherever they were. With each change, the latest school did its best to raise her educational standard and develop her other talents – the trouble was, she remained contentedly passive and could not be persuaded to learn at the same rate as the other children. Because of this, she eventually left school at the age of sixteen with distinctly sub-standard educational achievements.

  Of course Julian and Margarite had noted the poor educational qualifications at the sifting stage. They were about to reject her application when Julian noted the unusual pattern of her upbringing and schooling: ‘What a peculiar background she has,’ he had said, ‘I think we should interview her just to see what she is like.’

  Margarite was unimpressed by this idea: ‘It’s probably a waste of time, Julian. However, if you really want to see her, we’ll see her.’ Margarite knew better than to argue – she never won in the office. Thus, Sunia was invited to attend.

  The interview day arrived and Sunia had been ushered into Julian’s office. As she stood, waiting to be asked to sit down, Julian was strangely silent. Margarite looked at him with surprise and found he was staring fixedly at the girl with a sort of frozen expression on his face. As the silence lengthened, Margarite took over: ‘Come in. You’re Sunia, aren’t you? Please sit down.’ She went on to introduce Julian and herself to the girl. Meanwhile, Margarite’s words had brought Julian back to life and now he took over the interview.

  ‘I wonder what happened to him,’ Margarite thought, ‘it’s like his engine stalled!’

  As Julian spoke, she studied the girl. She certainly was pretty – no, really beautiful was the correct term. Softly spoken, simply dressed in expensive clothes, she appeared to radiate a sort of calm, gentle serenity. However, when Margarite began to listen to what she was saying, it was immediately obvious that she was coping badly with Julian’s questions, sometimes silently perplexed, sometimes completely misunderstanding the question, often ignorant of the simplest everyday topics. Even when invited to speak about her own life and experiences, she was far from fluent.

  ‘What a waste of time,’ Margarite thought and then she realised that something strange was happening. Although the girl’s answers were poor and often monosyllabic, Julian was reacting as if they were totally splendid! He was smiling encouragingly at the girl. Anytime there was a possibility of any humour in the answers, Julian was laughing heartily. It was all very strange.

  ‘I wonder if he sickening for something,’ she thought, looking at him carefully.

  He noticed her look and blenched a little. Turning to her, he said, ‘Would you like to ask Sunia some questions, Margarite?’ Out of politeness, Margarite did so but it proved to be a sterile experience. Although the girl’s voice and manner were pleasant enough, her answers were hugely disappointing. Soon, Margarite indicated she had no more questions and thanked the girl.

  At the end of the interview, Julian was effusive. He thanked her very much for coming. She would hear about her application as soon as possible. His deputy would now show her around the Department and he hoped that she would enjoy this. She would be able to ask questions about any aspect of the work.

  ‘Bet she asks nothing,’ Margarite thought wryly!

  Ten minutes later, Sunia had left the building. Margarite was amused to see that her presence caused some interest among the young men of the General Office. She had outlined the functions of DC and described the work the girl would do. Sunia smiled at the staff and remained silent. She shook her head when Margarite asked finally if there was anything else she would like to know. Shortly after, the girl departed and, in accordance with their normal procedure, Margarite made two cups of coffee and joined Julian in his office.

  ‘Well,’ Margarite began, ‘that was more than a little painful, wasn’t it? She certainly was a lovely looking girl but I’m not sure if she had any brains at all in that pretty head. That’s definitely one of the worst interviews I have ever been involved in.’ She paused for a moment. ‘So shall I now go ahead and have a formal offer sent to the boy Alain? We might as well get on with it. He certainly was an outstanding candidate and he probably has a very good future with the Firm. I’ll go and get the papers for you to sign and take them up to HR, shall I?’

  Julian sipped his coffee introspectively. ‘Don’t go yet, Margarite. You know, I’ve been thinking. If we took the boy it would unbalance the sexual distribution in the General Office. I think it would be much better to employ a girl in what was Jana’s position. It will keep everything on an even keel.’

  Margarite looked at him in puzzlement. ‘Julian, we have never needed to consider that sort of balance before. I mean, when Jana came, she replaced a boy and, before that, there were always more boys than girls. Anyway, as their immediate Line Manager, I am absolutely sure it doesn’t matter. What matters is that everybody is sufficiently bright, energetic and motivated to do the work reliably and that they all get on well together. Although I know we’re not considering her, the last thing we need in DC is someone like that stupid girl we’ve just seen. We need to employ the best person for the job – and we know who that is, don’t we?’

  Julian looked into his coffee cup as he spoke, ‘Margarite, I have decided that Sunia will be the successful candidate. I liked her. I thought she would develop well.’

  Margarite looked at Julian in utter astonishment. ‘Julian, I’m sorry, but have you gone mad? That girl would be a disaster in the General Office. At best, she would be useless but, more likely, she would cause serious problems for us and the Department.’

  Julian now lifted his head and looked at her with steely eyes. She knew that look!

  ‘I have decided, Margarite. The job is to be offered to Sunia. See to that immediately.’

  So Sunia joined DC and took Jana’s place. Margarite did her very best to train her. She spent a lot of time with her – more time that she had ever spent with any other trainee – but to no avail. Sunia seemed incapable of assimilating even the simplest of procedures and had to be supervised by Margarite or other members of staff in order to avoid serious mistakes being made. Although some of Margarite’s young men were quite happy to have contact with Sunia at first, they soon grew tired of her lack of effort. Rather than learn, Sunia was quite happy to let her supervisor do all her work while she sat and stared out of the window!

  Margarite was furious. She reported Sunia’s lack of progress to Julian:

  ‘The girl is totally idle and stupid, Julian,’ she raged, ‘I can’t trust her to do anything. All the other staff have to pick up what should be her work. She does absolutely nothing. I’ve taught dozens of trainees in my time and never had a failure – until now. We must get rid of her.’

  Julian demurred:

  ‘Don’t be so hard on the girl, Margarite,
she has had a really disrupted life, travelling around the world. I’m sure she will improve. You’ll see! I tell you what – I’ll do a little training with her when I have time and I’m sure everything will soon be fine.’

  ‘Julian, I wish you luck. You are welcome to have her anytime – she’s just sitting around doing nothing anyway.’ Margarite stumped out of the office angrily.

  Julian was absolutely delighted. How clever of him to have achieved that! He would have Sunia to himself in his office. Now he sat and thought about her. He hadn’t changed his mind since their first meeting. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and he was absolutely bowled over by her. This would be a wonderful chance to get to know her better.

  Not long after, Julian appeared in Margarite’s office, diary in hand.

  ‘About Sunia, I’ll try to spend a little time with her every morning next week. Tell her to bring in my coffee at 1000 hours. Oh, and Margarite, tell her to bring her own coffee in too.’

  Margarite was far from pleased but there was nothing she could do.

  ‘Well, it’s your funeral,’ she said shortly and made a note in her diary.

  The rest of that week and the weekend passed on slowly lumbering, plodding feet. Julian was agitated and fretful, impatient for Monday to come. Monday would be the start of a very exciting week and Julian was carefully planning his meeting with Sunia. He practiced the words he would use. He even practiced facial expressions in the mirror to make sure he would look as attractive as possible. Where would they sit? He must make sure that he did not talk to her across a desk. Then he had a brainwave; they would sit together at his computer terminal – he could show her how skilled he was, how extensive his knowledge and how he knew all the important people in the Firm. He hoped she would be pleased and impressed. Maybe she would smile at him? Julian felt quite faint with the rush of pleasure that came with that thought.