Sex, Lies & Serious Money

32

The board of directors of the Arrington Hotels Group convened at five PM that afternoon, and Stone, refreshed by his swim and renewed by his new acquaintance, attended.

His friend Marcel duBois chaired and began with an announcement. “Ladies and gentlemen, at around noon today a maintenance crewman watched a bellman unload a hotel van carrying half a dozen guests, and after they had claimed their luggage, a single suitcase remained. Our maintenance man immediately obtained what we call, with apologies to Linus, of ‘Peanuts’ fame, a security blanket, and covered the case. These blankets are woven of a metallic cloth that stops cell phone and Wi-Fi transmissions. The Los Angeles bomb squad was called to the scene immediately and arrived in unmarked cars, while our security people checked Stone Canyon Road and found a single individual in a car, attempting to make a cell call. They held him for arrest by the police. The case was taken to a safe distance by the bomb squad and was found to contain a homemade explosive device which was capable of killing anyone within fifty feet, and the cell phone confiscated from the arrestee was found to contain the number of a cell device attached to the bomb.” There was a murmur of alarm from the board, but Marcel held up a hand for silence.

“Our security people immediately contacted their counterparts at the other three Arringtons — in Paris, Rome, and the south of England — who discovered similar devices at each location and suppressed them with security blankets until bomb squads arrived. One person was arrested, in England. I need hardly tell you that the quick work of our security people has undoubtedly saved lives today.”

That got a round of applause from the board members present.

“These events have caused a question to arise which we must answer. To wit — should a public announcement be made regarding these events, and if so, in what detail? The floor is open.”

A woman member raised her hand.

“Karen?”

“Thank you, Marcel. I believe we should make an immediate announcement about this, primarily because other hotels will wish to take precautions.”

“I’m sorry, I should have told you that the police, employing an established protocol, have already contacted every hotel in the city and alerted them to the threat. Also, the police have searched the home of the arrestee and found a small-scale bomb factory in his garage. From the lack of further explosive materials found, and from questioning the arrestee, they are convinced that it was a one-man operation and that there were no accomplices. The same appears to be true at the other locations. However, that fact does not rule out the possibility that the arrestee was aided and abetted by some organization, and the police are making that a point of their investigations. Federal authorities are involved, as well.”

Stone raised his hand. “Do the police know how the bag containing the device got into our van?”

“They believe it happened at Los Angeles International Airport, where the van was briefly unattended while awaiting passengers.”

“The same at the other locations?”

“We have not had word yet about that. Stone, you are an attorney, is it your belief that, if we do not make a public announcement and an explosion should occur elsewhere in the city, we could be held liable by victims in a court of law?”

“I think not. I believe that whether or not to make a public announcement is for the police to decide. They may feel that an announcement might do more harm than good, not to mention the possible effect on the business and tourist trades. We cannot be blamed for leaving the decision to them.”

“And certainly,” said Karen, “keeping it quiet will make our own lives easier.”

“That should be the least of our concerns,” Stone said. “We must put our guests first. Still, I don’t see how leaving the announcement decision to the police violates that principle. Certainly, our guests might be frightened to know that a bomber came so close, and we don’t want them unnecessarily frightened. I do think that, in light of what has happened, we have an obligation to review our security practices, to see that there is no recurrence of this activity.”

“That has already been done,” Marcel said, “and although our security was sufficient to prevent an explosion in this case, patrols of the hotel grounds and the roads around us are being increased in frequency, and it will now be standard practice that any driver leaving his vehicle, for however short a time, will lock it.”

“That said,” Stone observed, “it appears that we have met our legal, moral, and ethical obligations to our guests and staff.”

“Is that the sense of you all?” Marcel asked.

There was a murmur of assent, and the chairman moved on down the agenda.