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Chapter Nine: The CEO
Durenko Sports, Inc. CEO Buck Hoskins was on the phone when Lisbon and Van Pelt arrived at his open office door.
"I'm just glad it worked out," he said, grinning into the receiver. "I was worried for a while, there…"
The CEO seemed not to notice the two women standing in his doorway, so Lisbon gave the metal door frame a sharp rap with her knuckles.
Hoskins glanced up briefly, nodded and smiled at the agents, and then continued on with his phone conversation. "No, I think it's better that way…"
Suppressing a growl, Lisbon dug a hand into her pocket. ID firmly in grasp, she cleared her throat significantly and held the badge out for Hoskins to see.
He regarded it casually, gave another nod, and then held up an index finger, signaling the agents to "give him a minute." Lisbon watched in mild disbelief as the man swiveled around in his chair, turning his back on the visitors while he laughed into the phone.
"Oh, absolutely…But there was that other issue we discussed…"
Lisbon and Van Pelt exchanged glances. Seriously?
The CEO chit-chatted for several more minutes before finally wrapping it up. "Uh-huh…All right, yeah, I'll let you go. Just remember to call when you're finished – I want a full report. All right. Bye."
Hoskins placed the receiver back into its cradle and turned languidly to face the agents. He favored them each with a smile that made Lisbon's skin want to peel itself off her body and slither away down the hall. "So, what can I do for you ladies?"
Lisbon fought down the urge to glare, and squared her shoulders. "Mr. Hoskins, I'm Agent Lisbon and this is Agent Van Pelt. We're with the California Bureau of Investigation. We need to ask you some questions about Paul Jorsten."
Lisbon watched carefully for any hint of guilt or reaction at the mention of Paul, but the CEO's face was smooth and placid as a lake on a day with no wind.
"Of course," he said calmly, gesturing the agents inside. "Please have a seat, and we'll talk."
There were two hard plastic chairs in front of the desk. Lisbon headed for the one on the far right. Van Pelt perched awkwardly on the seat nearest to the door. Hoskins watched the two agents get situated, and then settled deeper into his own chair – a plush, high-backed throne that no doubt featured lumbar support. Hands neatly clasped, cool as a crescent-shaped ice cube and still smiling that slimy smile, he waited for the questions to come.
Lisbon was suddenly, powerfully glad that Jane was not with her. He could not control himself around this type of person. It usually ended badly – like with a punch to the nose, an arrest, or them getting thrown out of the building.
"We understand Paul had been working here for about four years," Lisbon began, "Is that correct?"
Hoskins nodded. "That sounds about right."
"Did you know him personally?"
The CEO frowned. "A little…Enough to know he was a good person, and a wonderful employee. We were lucky to have him. Believe me, no one's sadder about losing Paul than I am."
"What about his wife?" Van Pelt asked boldly.
And right then, Lisbon saw it – just a flicker and then gone – an instant of nervous unease that passed over Hoskins' face before he quickly smoothed it out again.
"What about her?"
"Wouldn't she be sadder about losing Paul than you would?" Van Pelt reasoned, somehow managing to sound neutral and polite.
Lisbon bit back a smirk. She really did need to limit the amount of time Van Pelt spent around Jane.
Hoskins looked relieved. "Oh, yes. Of course she would. I only meant here, at the office. No one at Durenko is sadder about losing Paul than I am."
Lisbon recalled the over-filled card table downstairs, and doubted the CEO's claim.
"Like I said, he was just a wonderful, excellent employee," Hoskins went on. "I could not have asked for a better worker."
"Isn't it true that he recently turned down a promotion?" Lisbon asked.
"Yes, our Head of Technical Support is retiring soon, so Paul was offered that position. He was definitely the best man for the job, but he couldn't accept it due to personal reasons."
"Any hard feelings about that? Him turning down a job you really wanted him to do?"
Hoskins shook his head emphatically. "No. Not at all. My employees are allowed to have lives outside of work. And we have another excellent candidate in line for the job, who is happy to take it."
Lisbon raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing the CEO. There was no sign of the nerves she'd spotted a few minutes ago. He seemed completely at ease. The promotion was a non-issue, just as she'd feared. There was definitely something here, though… Somewhere…
"According to Paul's work log, he did a file recovery for you just a few weeks before his murder," Van Pelt piped up unexpectedly.
There – flicker.
Gotcha, thought Lisbon, suppressing a bona fide grin.
As before, Hoskins recovered almost instantly. "I'm not actually sure who did that…I was out of the office that day." Then he frowned. "And, to be honest, I wasn't aware that any of Durenko's records had been released to the police…"
Van Pelt smiled, a little too sweetly. "Oh, Paul kept his own personal copies of his work records."
"Ah," was all Hoskins said in reply.
"So, you're saying you weren't aware that Paul did a file recovery on your computer?" Lisbon pressed.
"Well, like I said, I was out of the office the day after my computer crashed, so I didn't know who ended up working on it…But of course, if you say it was Paul, then obviously I believe you," he added quickly.
Lisbon did smile then, just a little. "Of course." She sat up straighter on the edge of her plastic chair. "Mr. Hoskins, we're going to need company copies of all of Paul's work records, as well as access to all of the computers and systems that he worked on in the weeks before his death…"
The CEO crossed his legs and returned Lisbon's small smile. "I would be more than happy to help you with that, agent…But, unfortunately, I can't."
Lisbon raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"We have very strict privacy policies," Hoskins explained, relaxing back into his chair. "The kind of access you're talking about would include allowing you to view unreleased prototypes and plans for future projects that we're working on here at Durenko. It's a very competitive industry – we can't afford our newest 'brain children' to fall into enemy hands." He chuckled. "So, unless you have a warrant…"
"We can get one," Van Pelt asserted, her eyes uncharacteristically cold.
Lisbon managed to come off more genial. "Sir, if it's a privacy issue, then there's no need to worry – all CBI employees are bound by a confidentiality clause. By law, we can't release any blueprints, intellectual property or prototype designs to an outside party."
The CEO's smile waned. "Ah," he said again.
"So, we could wait and get a warrant," Lisbon went on, "Or you could save us all an hour, and let us have access now. It's your call."
Hoskins shifted in his high-backed chair, making the springs underneath it creak. "Well, uh…I mean, as long as privacy isn't an issue…"
Lisbon waited, blinking expectantly.
The CEO hedged, fiddling with a pad of pink sticky notes on his desktop. "Then, uh…"
Lisbon could see the silent war in his dark eyes stretch out just a moment more, and then—
"By all means, please, have a look at anything you think will help." Hoskins' gaze flicked back and forth between the two agents. "In fact, would you like me to call our Tech Head right now, have him bring up a copy of Paul's work log?" He reached for the phone almost eagerly.
"No, that's all right," said Van Pelt, before he could pick it up. And again, she had that too-sweet smile on her lips. "I thought we'd start by taking a look at your computer."
"Ah."