Turned out he did have an online profile. That was news to him. Historically, the firm hadn’t bothered devoting individual web pages to profiles of their paralegal staff.
This had to be Ameera’s fault. She came from a tech industry background and believed in doing away with the traditional hierarchies of legal practice. Her team had a stand-up every Monday and she never had ordinary calls, only synced.
At least his surprise profile was bare bones. The one piece of identifying information on it, besides the shortened and rearranged version of his name he went by at work, was the fact he’d studied at Universiti Malaya. No picture. It was no wonder the girl had been led astray.
“I’m sorry about your grandma,” said Ket Hau.
He might be able to bluff this girl into thinking he was Siong for the duration of a phone call, but any face-to-face encounter was going to shatter the illusion.
“You’ll be busy,” he said. “Rather than meeting up, would it be easier if you courier the documents to me?”
“I think better to hand them to you,” said Clarissa. “I could come to your firm? It’s near Holborn, right?”
She seemed anxious to put herself out on Ket Siong’s account. Whatever he had told her, clearly it had impressed upon her a sense of obligation.
“The thing is, I’m in all-day meetings this whole week,” saidKet Hau apologetically. “Can you drop the documents off at reception? I’ll let them know to expect you. Sorry, it’s just a busy time.”
Clarissa hesitated. “The documents are, you know, they’re pretty sensitive. I shouldn’t really have them. But after what you told me… I want to help. But I hope—I’m trusting you to handle these carefully.”
She sounded very young. Wasn’t one of the Low daughters some kind of influencer? Ket Hau had seen photos of her before, floating around on social media—a long-legged teenager in Chanel. If this was her, she couldn’t be older than twenty, at most.
“I understand,” he said gently. “I appreciate your trust. You don’t need to worry. If you pass those documents to reception, I’ll make sure they come straight to me. This is a reputable firm. We know how to handle documents.”
Documents she’d stolen from her father’s company and was sharing with an outsider, unbeknownst to her father.
An outsider and a stranger? It didn’t sound like Clarissa knew Ket Siong that well. She wouldn’t be the girl Ket Siong had been seeing. Would she?
“It’s probably the least suspicious way to do the handover,” Ket Hau added. “If you’re spotted and someone starts asking questions, you can say you came to consult the firm on something.”
A nerve-wracking pause, and then:
“That makes sense,” said Clarissa. “I’m going to Senate House Library tomorrow afternoon. I’ll drop by your firm on the way, if that works? Can you let me know as soon as you receive the documents? I’ll give you my number.”
Ket Hau took the number down. “I’ll let you know the moment they’re in my hands.”
“Thanks, Ket.”
“No,” said Ket Hau, with complete sincerity. “Thankyou.”
21
Su Khoon wrappedup work just before seven, the evening before the pitch presentation to Freshview—early, by his standards.
“Go home,” he said to the team. “Get a good night’s rest.”
His staff had either been trained up to low expectations, or had the good sense to pretend. They looked appropriately grateful.
He glanced at Renee.
In the course of the past couple of weeks, there had grown up between the two of them what was not exactly camaraderie, but a functional alliance. Having a common objective to work towards, and being surrounded by witnesses who weren’t related to them, had smoothed over their interactions out of all recognition.
Renee knew Su Khoon better, now, than she probably ever had before. She’d learnt he played cricket—cricket—for fun; socialised mainly with his circle of friends from primary school; disliked his in-laws cordially, but rang his wife and kids twice a day every day. If he was seeing Eva, or any other girls, in the evenings after work, Renee didn’t ask.
She knew better than to think she could trust him simply because they weren’t actively biting each other’s heads off. But it was nice, not being at loggerheads with her own brother, the sibling closest to her in age.
She tried not to wonder what Su Khoon had learnt about her.When it came to her family, it was safest to assume they cared a lot less than she did about having a normal, amicable relationship. That wasn’t, in the Gohs’ view, what family wasfor.
“Dinner?” said Su Khoon. “I’ll pay.”
