Page 82 of Exposed

“Look at you, learning the lingo.”

“I did my homework last night.” Mary returned her attention to the stack, thumbed through it, and pulled out another email. “Like this.”

Bennie accepted the email, skimming it:

From Simon Pensiera

To Todd Eddington

Re Quality Control

Todd, I happened to walk through the factory floor yesterday on my way to a smoke break and I noticed the drywall on the top-of-the-line product looked funky. The paper was bubbling, which could signify that there was too much water in the drywall. The top-of-the-line product was supposed to be 5/8 inch and be appropriate for noise and firebreak barriers. You should probably talk to Ray and he can talk to the folks at OfficeSolutions. It’s probably a mix-up and should be corrected before it gets fabricated. I mentioned it to Brian Mulcahy because he was on the line at the time but he didn’t have any satisfactory answers.

Mary handed Bennie another email. “This is from Todd. He did respond to this one.”

Bennie read the response:

From Todd Eddington

To Simon Pensiera

Re Quality Control

Simon, I’ll talk to Ray.

Mary said, “A man of few words. Not to speak ill.”

Bennie gave her back the email response. “But we were talking about Pollstar.”

“Oh, right.” Mary turned to one of the stacks and started flipping through it. “I think I read about a company in Willow Grove that had some electrical issue. Here we go.” She turned around and gave Bennie the email.

Bennie read it:

From Simon Pensiera

To Todd Eddington

Re Quality Control

Todd,

I got a call from Michelle Botuzzi at Delaware Valley Deed & Title that the undercounter LED keeps flickering on their product, top-of-the-line, #9272. It effects two out of ten cubicles. Michelle says it gave the one employee a headache and can provoke a migraine. You should talk to Ray or somebody at PowerPlus. That shouldn’t happen in top-of-the-line. It’s embarrassing.

Bennie handed it back. “Did Todd respond?”

“No. I assume he couldn’t. Simon writes a lot.” Mary pursed her lips. “Simon’s a really smart and wonderful guy. He works really hard and he expects everyone to do the same. He looks out for his accounts. It’s not like he’s being a jerk.”

“I don’t think he’s being a jerk.”

“He just cares. He’s responsible. It’s what makes him a great father, too.”

“I’m sure. Don’t worry about it. How about emails to or from Ernie, the head of security? Did you come across any of those?”

“Not so far.”

“How about from Ray Matewicz?”

“Not yet. I don’t think that Simon writes to Ray directly, or vice versa. Simon follows the chain of command, asking Todd to talk to Ray.”