Let's Play Dead

CHAPTER 6

Fortified by the cookies, I decided to work through the lunch hour. Unfortunately, fifteen minutes later Front Desk Bob called up to say that there was a Caitlin Treacy to see me. “Send her up,” I told Bob. “I’ll meet her at the elevator.”

I’d only seen Caitlin as she had rushed to Jason’s side the day before, and I wouldn’t have recognized the slender young woman who emerged from the elevator. She was taller than Arabella, and I wondered briefly what her father had looked like, since she bore little resemblance to her smaller, rounder mother. “Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Ms. Pratt.”

“Nell, please,” I said absently. “No problem. As your mother may have told you, I know a bit about the situation you’re in, and I’m happy to help. How’s Jason?” I asked as I led her down the hall to my office.

“He’s good, or so the doctors say. They wouldn’t let me stay overnight at the hospital, so I spent the night at Mother’s.”

We walked in silence until reaching my office, where I gestured her toward a chair. “She mentioned that. So you and Jason live in Camden?”

Caitlin was studying my office, taking in the details-or avoiding my eyes? “Yes. We live together. He’s a graduate student so he doesn’t have a lot of money, and rents are cheap there compared to here. I could live with my mother, but I’d rather live with Jason.”

Well, that was direct, at least. “Does he remember much about what happened?”

“No.” She didn’t elaborate.

It seemed to me that I was doing a lot of the work to keep this conversation going, which was annoying because she was the one who wanted something from me. “What can I do for you? Do you have questions?”

“Mother thought I should talk to you. Look, my job is exhibits management, not public relations, so I don’t really know what to do. Mother said you had something awful happen here, so she thought you could help me with what to say. Or not say. If the press comes around.”

Based on her awkwardness, I could see why Caitlin wasn’t up to handling public relations. I wondered if she was capable of talking to people at all. She was an attractive young woman but definitely short on charm.

“There’s no one else at your place who handles the press?” I hoped there was someone who could bail her out.

“Nope, the person who usually would is out on maternity leave. Bad timing, with the exhibit happening just now.” She said abruptly, “You know it takes years to put together an exhibit, right?”

“Yes,” I said. I’d been involved in raising money for more than one at the Society, although luckily we had nothing in the works at the moment.

“And now it’s just a couple of weeks before we’re supposed to open. It’s all set up, and the publicity for it went out long ago. And now this thing with Jason happened. So far nobody’s paid it any attention, and he’s not going to stir anything up, that’s for sure. I mean, like suing or anything. But say somebody at the hospital talks-what do I do then?”

I felt for her. I’d learned the hard way how fragile an institution’s reputation was, and one wrong step could do a lot of harm to it. Of course, identifying the cause would go a long way toward easing visitors’ minds. “The most important thing you can do is reassure the public that Let’s Play is safe for their children. That what happened to Jason was a simple accident, and that you’ve had everything checked out by experts who have assured you that the wiring is safe. That is, only if this leaks out.”

“But it was an accident. The wiring is fine.”

I was a bit surprised at her almost flippant attitude. “Caitlin, you may know that, but what you have to do is make sure the public does, too-and believes it. Forgive me for saying so, but I think your mother’s a much better spokesperson than you are, if it comes to that.”

“I know,” Caitlin said. “I’m not good with people, and I hate sucking up. I’m a lot happier dealing with paperwork and planning. I think the exhibit is great. Don’t you?”

“It looked charming, though I didn’t really get to see it working before the accident. I imagine that children will love it. But to get back to the point, do you have any connections in city government? A friend at the Inquirer, maybe? Can you invite the mayor to the opening? How about a buddy at a local radio or television station who can help you get the word out?”

Caitlin shrugged-again. I couldn’t believe how uninterested she appeared in this conversation. “I don’t know. I’ll have to check the files, when I get time.”

“Make the time,” I said firmly. “It’s important to keep the press on your side, just in case things like this happen. That means you have to cultivate relationships with them-all the time, not just when you need them. You have to manage all your relationships in this town. People can really pull together and help you, but only if you’ve laid the groundwork first. And right now, if I were you, I’d brainstorm with the rest of your staff and try to figure out what your strongest contact is and use that.” I stared at her. She stared back, her expression blank. Was I getting through to her? I doubted it. I thought for another moment. “Be prepared for quick turnaround-keep ahead of the story. Could Hadley Eastman and her publicity people pull any strings?”

Caitlin grimaced. “I think they’d be happy to wash their hands of this whole mess, including Hadley. All she does is whine.”

I wasn’t getting a much better impression of Caitlin, frankly. I stood up. “I hope I’ve helped you, Caitlin. Now I’m afraid that I’ve got a lot to get finished today. I’ll see you out.”

Caitlin followed my lead and stood. “Thank you for talking with me, Nell. I appreciate your time.” She said it as if by rote. Could anyone be that clueless, even in her twenties? Daughter or not, Arabella would do well to find someone more sympathetic to handle the local media, because Caitlin did not seem to have the necessary skills-or tact. Well, she was Arabella’s problem, not mine, and I’d done what I could. I took her back to the lobby and trudged back up the stairs to my desk.