The Tiger Lily Code (Quickreads Series 2)

THE TIGER LILY CODE Janet Lorimer

1

SERIES

2 The Accuser Ben Cody’s Treasure Blackout The Eye of the Hurricane The House on the Hill Look to the Light! Ring of Fear The Tiger Lily Code Tug-of-War The White Room

Development and Production: Laurel Associates, Inc. Cover Illustrator: Black Eagle Productions Copyright © 2002 by Saddleback Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. Reproduction of any part of this book, through photocopy, recording, or any electronic or mechanical retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, is an infringement of copyright law.

Three Watson Irvine, CA 92618-2767 Website: www.sdlback.com ISBN 1-56254-422-5 Printed in the United States of America 07 06 05 04 03 02 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2

“One of you five is a thief and a traitor!” Sabrina Sweet leaned forward, glaring at the people grouped around the conference table. For a moment, no one in the room moved or spoke. At the back of the room, Kim Manners shifted uneasily in her chair. She knew that Sabrina couldn’t be talking to her. This was Kim’s first day on the job at Sabrina’s cosmetics company, Sweet Scents. But even at that, Sabrina’s accusations made the new employee feel uncomfortable. For Kim, working at Sweet Scents was temporary—a way to earn money for college. Her real interest lay in the 3

field of espionage—spying. Kim was studying to be a cryptologist. Someday she wanted to be a code-breaker for the United States government. Kim glanced at the others grouped around the table. Sabrina Sweet was the president and founder of Sweet Scents. She was unusually attractive and well dressed. But she was no match for her vice president, Veronica Slade. Veronica was one of the most glamorous women Kim had ever met. Steve Murray sat next to Veronica. As Sabrina’s head chemist, he created the formulas for all the company’s perfumes. Kim couldn’t imagine Steve stealing anything. Besides, he was engaged to Kim’s older sister, Karen. “And Steve just isn’t the sneaky type,” Kim thought to herself. Karen sat on the other side of the table. She worked in the advertising department, creating ads to sell the perfumes. She was the one who’d helped 4

Kim get this “go-fer” job. Two more employees also sat at the table—Pat in accounting and Linda in sales. Kim hardly knew them at all. Then a sudden explosion of angry voices broke the silence. People were reacting to what Sabrina had just said. “—never been called a thief before—” “—can’t prove it was one of us—” “Oh, I do have proof!” Sabrina’s voice rose above the others. She held up an article torn from the local newspaper. “Eden Cosmetics is introducing a new perfume,” she went on, “called White Lace. We planned to introduce our new perfume—Frosted Satin—in less than a month! Now Eden has beaten us to it.” “We can always change the name of our perfume,” Karen said. “It’s not too late to develop a new ad campaign.” Sabrina glared at Karen as she plunked down a tiny perfume bottle on the table. Karen reached out for the new Eden scent and sniffed it. Then she 5

gasped in alarm. “Oh, no! It’s identical!” she cried out in a shocked voice. Sabrina nodded slowly. “This is the second time in less than a year that Eden Cosmetics has come out with a product we developed! We’re losing business!” “But how can Eden—” Pat began. “Very easily,” Sabrina cut in coldly. “One of you has to be passing our secrets to Eden Cosmetics!” “Industrial spying!” Kim thought. The word “spy” made most people think of military secrets. But Kim knew that businesses often spied on their rivals. Industrial spying was big business. And the cosmetics industry was huge. After all, it included everything from perfumes to hair products, from makeup to aftershave! If Sabrina couldn’t stop the spy, Sweet Scents could very well be put out of business. A few minutes later, the meeting broke up. Kim walked out of the boardroom with Steve and Karen. 6

“Who could do such a thing?” Karen wondered aloud. “Money could be a motive,” Kim said, as they walked down the long hall. “Eden Cosmetics would pay a fortune for Sweet Scents’ secrets.” She thought for a moment. “And revenge could be another motive. Is there anyone working here who might be holding a grudge against Sabrina?” Karen frowned. “Sabrina fired one of our workers just a few months ago,” she said. “Remember him, Steve? The guy’s name was Joe something.” Steve nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. I’d almost forgotten about him. But he had it coming. That guy was always late for work. And his work was sloppy.” “Where did he go after he left Sweet Scents?” Kim asked. Steve and Karen didn’t know. “I don’t see how he could be stealing from us,” Steve added. “Those formulas are locked 7

up as tight as the gold in Fort Knox.” Kim remembered Sabrina Sweet’s last words to her workers. “Mark my words: This thief will go to prison for a very long time—I promise!”

The

rest of the week was uneventful. Kim was glad that she didn’t sit at a desk all day. She was an active person, and she needed variety to keep from being bored. As she learned her way around, Kim got to know the other workers much better. Everyone was kind and helpful, but Kim could sense the underlying stress. Sabrina’s threat had left everyone tense and fearful. “I hope Sabrina catches the thief soon!” Karen exclaimed one day in the lunchroom. “I’m so tired of watching other people out of the corner of my eye. It’s horrible when you wonder if the person working next to you is stealing!” With a big sigh, she rewrapped her half8

eaten sandwich and thrust it aside. “We can’t do anything about other people,” Steve said. “Besides, you and I have something else to think about— like our wedding!” Karen smiled. “I guess I am overreacting,” she admitted. “It’s hard not to. Just this morning I caught Pat going through my desk. When I asked her what she was looking for, she turned bright red. She said she was looking for a paperclip. I pointed out several paperclips lying on top of my desk. She said she hadn’t noticed them—but it made me wonder.” “Steve’ right. Sabrina’s going to have all her workers at each other’s throats,” Kim said. “You guys need to be planning your wedding, not worrying about who’s spying on whom!” Karen agreed. For the rest of the lunch hour, she and Steve talked about the wedding. Kim pretended to be interested. But deep down she was 9

wondering about the future of Sweet Scents. It didn’t matter much to her if Sabrina’s company went out of business. But it would make a big difference to people like Steve and Karen.

A few weeks later, Sabrina called everyone together for another meeting. Kim thought Sabrina looked very excited as she stood at the head of the table. “Maybe she’s caught the thief,” Kim thought. “What a relief that would be!” But Sabrina had other news. “We have a terrific new perfume,” she said proudly as she passed around a sample. “I’ve decided to call it Tiger Lily.” “Sabrina, this scent is marvelous!” Veronica exclaimed. “But why the secrecy? I knew nothing about it.” “I’m taking no chances,” Sabrina replied. “Steve and I worked on it alone. Believe me, this is one formula that isn’t going to be stolen.” 10

Sabrina gazed at her workers. “We don’t have much time, people. I mean to have Tiger Lily in the stores before the holiday season.” Everyone stared at her in stunned silence. Bringing a new product to market took months! Kim wondered if they could meet Sabrina’s goal. Before the meeting ended, Sabrina brought up the subject of security. “From now on, the lab is going to be off-limits to most of you. I know that’s going to make it difficult to do your work. But until we have Tiger Lily out on the market, we can’t be too careful.” The subject of who could go in and out of the lab came up later in the lunchroom. Pat was the first to complain. “I’ve never been suspected of anything,” she grumbled. “There are papers I need to get from the lab, and—” “Don’t take it personally,” Veronica cut in. “Try to see it from Sabrina’s point of view.” Veronica stabbed her fork into 11

her salad. “You heard her say that she can’t afford to take any chances.” “That’s right,” Kim said. “I didn’t come to work here until after the formulas were stolen. So no one could suspect me of being the thief. But I’m not allowed in the lab, either.” “Calm down, Pat. It’s for your own good,” Veronica went on, as she threw a grateful smile in Kim’s direction. Karen seemed upset, too. “I’m not going to be allowed in, either,” she complained. “I thought Sabrina trusted me. Steve and I have been with this company since day one.” “Take it easy,” Kim said. “Once you and Steve are married, you’ll see more than enough of each other.” Steve smiled. “You’ll probably be sick of tripping over me every day,” he joked. Karen turned bright red, but she managed to grin. “I didn’t mean that I wanted to go to the lab to hang around with Steve,” she said. 12

“Speaking of the wedding,” Veronica asked, “have you two set a date yet?” The subject immediately turned into a lively discussion of Karen’s wedding plans. Then the door to the lunchroom suddenly flew open. Sabrina Sweet stood in the doorway. Her face was very pale, and her big dark eyes glittered in anger. All conversation stopped as Sabrina glanced from person to person. Veronica spoke first. “What is it, Sabrina? You look upset!” Sabrina didn’t answer. Instead, she fixed her gaze on Karen. “Clean out your desk, Karen,” she snarled. “You’re fired!” Stunned, Karen stared speechlessly at her furious boss. Kim rose to her feet. “What’s going on, Sabrina?” she asked, hoping she sounded calmer than she felt. “Why are you firing Karen?” 13

“I told you I’d catch the thief,” Sabrina hissed. “And I have. Karen, I want you out of here in an hour.” “Wait a minute!” Steve demanded. Kim glanced at him in surprise. Steve was usually calm in any situation. It wasn’t like him to raise his voice. “How can you accuse Karen of stealing? Why, she’s the most loyal—” Sabrina waved a piece of paper in the air. “This was found in your desk, Karen. Don’t pretend you don’t know what it is. It has the name and phone number of an Eden Cosmetics employee.” Karen shook her head in disbelief. “I—I’ve never seen that piece of paper before. And I assure you that I don’t know anyone who works at Eden. Come on, Sabrina—this is crazy!” “I had my secretary call the number,” Sabrina went on. “She pretended to be you. The person at the other end of the line set up a date for a meeting to—” Then she paused, taking a deep, ragged 14

breath. “—to talk more about the newest Sweet Scents perfume!”

The next hour passed in a blur. Karen was in such a state of shock that Kim had to help her sister clean out her desk. “I’m innocent,” Karen whispered. Her eyes filled with tears. “I never contacted anyone at Eden. I never stole any formulas. I’m not guilty, Kim!” Kim put her arm around her sister’s shoulders. “Take it easy,” Kim murmured. “Steve and I believe in you. We’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise.” “Sweet Scents means everything to me,” Karen went on. “Sabrina gave me my first big chance. She promised that if I worked hard, I’d have a good shot at making it to the top.” Steve appeared at the entrance to Karen’s cubicle. “I called a friend of mine—a lawyer,” he told Kim. “If 15

Sabrina decides to press charges against Karen, he’ll handle her defense.” Kim felt as if someone had poured ice water down her back. “Do you think Sabrina will—you know.” She simply couldn’t bear to say the words have Karen arrested out loud. Steve shrugged. “I hope not, but we’ll be ready if she does.” Karen groaned and shook her head in bewilderment. “How can I afford a lawyer?” she asked. “Steve, everything we saved for the wedding—” She burst into tears. “How can Sabrina think I would steal from her?” “Can you drive her home?” Kim asked Steve. “She’s in no shape to drive herself anywhere.” Steve nodded. “What about you?” Kim smiled. “Maybe it’s time I did a little bit of detective work on my own,” she said quietly. “Okay,” Steve said, “but please be careful. Someone has gone to a lot of 16

trouble to frame Karen. Who knows when the real thief will strike again?”

Kim knew that Steve was right. She would have to keep a low profile while she investigated. But she couldn’t afford to drag her feet, either. By the time Sabrina realized that she’d fired the wrong person, it would be too late for Sweet Scents. Eden would have the Tiger Lily formula, and Sweet Scents would be out of business. For the rest of the day, Kim did just what was asked of her. But while she worked, she thought about possible suspects—especially the employee who’d been fired recently. “Joe something,” Kim said to herself. “Maybe I can check personnel records and find out more about him. If he wanted to get even with Sabrina, selling formulas to Eden Cosmetics would be almost the perfect way to do it. He’d not only get revenge, 17

but he’d make some big bucks, too.” Kim got a chance to check the files later that afternoon. She found Joe’s file in a bottom drawer along with the files of other ex-employees. Not everyone who’d left Sweet Scents had gone away angry. Some people had moved away; others had taken better jobs. Joe appeared to be the only former employee who might have had a score to settle with Sabrina. Kim quickly wrote down his name and address. Then she checked out the active personnel files, jotting down names and addresses as fast as she could. Later on, she’d ask Steve for more information about these people.

K im

and Karen shared an apartment on the north side of the city. When Kim got home, she found Steve watching television. He told Kim that Karen had a headache and was resting. 18

“Did you have any luck with your detective work?” Steve asked, picking up the remote to turn off the TV. “I made a start. Here’s a list of people who might have had a motive for stealing those formulas,” Kim said, handing the paper to Steve. “What can you tell me about them?” Steve took the list and scanned it. He told Kim a little about each person. “So now we have a lot of possibilities,” Kim said. “Almost anyone who worked at Sweet Scents.” “Except Karen or me,” Steve said with a grin. Then his smile vanished when he saw the look on Kim’s face. “You can’t seriously think that—” Kim sighed. “Look, I hate to say this, but you guys had both motive and opportunity.” The color drained from Steve’s face, so Kim tried to explain quickly. “You needed money for your wedding,” Kim went on. “You both had access to the stolen formulas—especially 19

you. You do work in the lab, after all!” “It would be pretty weird to steal the formula I created,” he snapped. “Maybe you should know that Eden Cosmetics wanted to hire me last year. And the fact is, I turned them down!” Kim patted his hand. “Just for the record, I don’t really believe either you or Karen is guilty,” she said. “Let’s talk about who else had access to the lab. And do you know exactly when those formulas might have been stolen?” They paused briefly to fix dinner. While they ate, Steve and Kim went over the list again. Steve was able to remove most of the names. “Most of these people never came into the lab,” he said. “And to be honest, the only time we ever had the formulas out of the safe was when we were working with them.” “Could someone have copied the formulas when you weren’t looking?” Kim asked. Steve frowned. “I don’t see how. We 20

are very careful. We never leave our papers out for anyone to look at.” At last they narrowed the list down to just a few suspects. “Pat, Linda, and Veronica,” Kim said. She frowned, remembering something. “Karen caught Pat going through her desk,” she said. “I wonder if that could have been—” “—when she planted the name and address of the Eden employee,” Steve finished her sentence excitedly. “Now we just have to prove it!”

For the next few days, Kim and Steve kept a close eye on the suspects. At the end of the week, they sat down to compare notes. Karen listened in with great interest. “Pat hasn’t come anywhere near the lab,” Steve said. “But Sabrina only put the lab off-limits when she introduced Tiger Lily. So Pat could have been the person who stole the first 21

two formulas. That makes sense.” “The same goes for Linda,” Kim said. “What about Veronica?” “Veronica is the vice president,” Karen said. “Locking her out of the lab would be like locking Sabrina out!” Steve agreed. “How could it be in Veronica’s interest for Sweet Scents to go out of business?” he said. “She needs more money,” Kim said. “I did some checking. Veronica inherited a house from her parents, so rent isn’t a big issue. But she spends a fortune on clothes and jewelry! And she just bought an expensive new car. All told, she’s in debt up to her ears.” Steve frowned. “Sounds like Veronica could be our thief. She has the motive to steal, and she has the opportunity.” Karen’s eyes narrowed in anger. “Let’s call the police. Let’s—” “Hold it,” Kim cried. “If Veronica is the thief, just how is she passing the formulas on to Eden Cosmetics?” 22

Karen and Steve gazed at each other. Then Steve shrugged. “Veronica comes to work early and stays late every day,” he said. “I’ve never seen her leave—not even to go out to lunch.” “But she has to go out sometimes,” Kim said. “We know she shops. Maybe she goes to the movies. Maybe she goes out to clubs.” Steve and Kim agreed to take turns following Veronica after work. For a few days, nothing unusual happened. Then Steve reported that Veronica had gone out to dinner at a popular club the night before. “She went by herself,” he told Kim. “No date.” Kim was intrigued. “Did you follow her inside?” she asked. “Yes, but all she did was eat dinner and leave. She didn’t dance or anything. I talked to one of the waiters. It turns out that Veronica is a regular customer. Oh—and one other thing: A guy from Eden Cosmetics was there, too.” 23

Kim gasped. “Are you sure?” Steve nodded. “Yeah, I know him. It was the same guy who tried to get me to come to work for Eden last year.” Karen jumped to her feet, whooping for joy. “That’s it!” Steve and Kim stared at Karen as if she’d just lost her mind. “What’s it?” Steve asked. “Veronica didn’t talk to the guy or even act like she knew him. Besides, he was sitting clear across the room. So if she’s passing him the formulas, how’s she doing it?” Karen’s joyful smile immediately vanished. She dropped back onto the sofa and groaned in disappointment. Kim thought for a few moments, wondering what to do next. Then she smiled. “Don’t give up so easily, Karen. I’ve got an idea. Maybe we can get the proof we need.”

24

K im and Steve continued to keep Veronica under surveillance every night. The following Tuesday, Steve called Kim. “I’m at the club,” he said in a nervous voice. “Veronica just got here. The Eden guy is here, too.” “I’ll be right there,” Kim said. Half an hour later, Kim slipped into a chair across from Steve. Luckily, he’d been able to get a table in a dark corner. Kim looked around. This was a large club with a lot of tables grouped around a small dance floor. At one end of the room, a band was playing. A few couples were dancing, but everyone else was still eating dinner. Kim was amazed at how crowded the place was on a weekday night. “Where’s Veronica?” she asked. Steve pointed. “By the window. The Eden guy is way over there.” He nodded at the other side of the room. Kim smiled. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s 25

sit tight and see what happens.” About halfway through her dinner, Veronica took a pen from her purse and began to write on her napkin. “What’s she doing?” Steve asked. “You don’t think—” “That she’s writing out the formula?” Kim finished. “No way. That would be much too obvious.” Veronica lifted the napkin to her lips and blotted her lipstick. Then she dropped the napkin on her dinner plate. A moment later, a passing waiter picked up the plate and napkin. Kim watched him closely. The waiter walked casually across the room. When he reached the Eden man’s table, he appeared to brush against it. The waiter paused to apologize. But as he spoke, he tipped the plate he was carrying, and Veronica’s soiled napkin fell to the floor. The waiter moved on. The Eden employee glanced around casually. Then he seemed to accidentally drop his own napkin. When he reached over to pick it 26

up, he scooped up Veronica’s napkin at the same time. Kim watched him study Veronica’s napkin. Then, carrying Veronica’s napkin with him, the Eden man stood up and walked out of the room. “Stay here,” Kim said to Steve. “Don’t take your eyes off of Veronica.” After slipping from the dining room, Kim stayed in the shadows. The Eden man was just ahead of her. She wasn’t worried that he’d see her. After all, he didn’t know who she was. By the time he reached the lobby, the man was on his cell phone. Kim couldn’t hear what he was saying, but she saw the napkin in his hand. The moment he ended his call, he dropped the napkin into a trash can. Then he hurried out the front door. Kim rushed to the trash can and pulled out the napkin. A moment later, she slipped into the chair across from Steve. On the other side of the room, 27

Veronica was settling her bill. As soon as Veronica was gone, Kim spread out the napkin. She and Steve scanned the series of lines and dots Veronica had drawn. “Just doodles,” Steve said in a disappointed tone. Kim grinned. “That’s certainly what this is supposed to look like,” she said. She took out paper and pencil, and copied the first line of symbols.

•

••

•

••

“Wait a minute,” Steve said excitedly. “That’s a floor plan of the Sweet Scents building, isn’t it? Those must be people’s offices. But the dots—” He shook his head, puzzled. Then, Kim drew what looked like a crosshatch for tic-tac-toe. In each section she wrote three letters of the alphabet. The first letter she left alone. But she placed a single dot under each second 28

letter. And under each third letter, she placed two dots. A B CDE FGH I • •• • •• • •• JK LMNOPQR • •• • •• • •• S T U V WX Y Z • •• • •• • Then Kim wrote a letter under the first symbol Veronica had doodled: •

••

•

••

T Suddenly Steve figured out what she was doing. “It’s a code!” he cried out. Kim finally finished scribbling and showed the paper to Steve. He gasped when he saw the first two words. “Tiger Lily!” he cried in amazement. Kim nodded. “Can you make sense out of the rest of it?” she asked. “I can 29

understand a word or two, but—” Steve studied the dots again and then nodded grimly. “This is it! It’s part of the Tiger Lily formula,” he said.

The next morning, Kim and Steve went to see Sabrina. Glancing up from her work, she frowned at them. “If you think I’m going to let Karen come back to work, you can think again,” Sabrina said sharply. “She’s lucky I didn’t press charges.” Kim took a deep breath. “At least let me tell you how your formulas are being passed to Eden Cosmetics,” she said. Sabrina smiled coldly. “Not are— were. We caught the thief, remember?” Kim gritted her teeth. “If you don’t listen, Sabrina, you’re going to lose everything. Right now, your rivals at Eden are looking at a portion of the Tiger Lily formula which was passed to them last night.” Then, very quickly, she 30

started to tell Sabrina what had happened in the club just the night before. Sabrina listened with growing disbelief. “Are you saying my vice president is behind this?” she cried out. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I ever heard!” She reached for the intercom. Before Kim could stop her, Sabrina ordered Veronica to her office. When Veronica arrived, Sabrina made Kim and Steve repeat their story. “If Veronica passed secrets to Eden, how did she do it?” Sabrina demanded. Kim pulled out a plastic bag with the soiled napkin in it. Veronica took one look at it and burst out laughing. “Oh, dear! You’ve got the evidence, all right— some dangerous criminal is guilty of doodling on a napkin!” But then Kim showed Sabrina her translation of the code. Sabrina frowned. “Veronica—” she started to say. “Oh, really!” Veronica exclaimed angrily. “And what makes you think that 31

dirty old napkin belongs to me? It could have been used by anyone!” Kim smiled, turning the napkin over. She showed Sabrina the lipstick blot. “When this is analyzed, it will prove to be the color and brand of lipstick Veronica always uses,” Kim said. “If that’s not enough, there’s always DNA testing!” At that, Veronica turned pale. Sabrina studied her vice president’s expression. Then she reached for the intercom and buzzed her secretary. “Get me the police,” she snapped.

A n hour later, Kim and Steve called Karen with the good news. As they walked by the lab, the scent of a tantalizing perfume wafted through the door. Steve took a deep breath. “Tiger Lily,” he said. “Do you like it, Kim?” Kim nodded. “You bet! I call that the sweet smell of success!” 32