Bit 2.3

"That would seem to be a good place to start. As you say, we've had a pretty easy ride of it for the past few months. IPC have been steering clear of us, mainly been directing their attention towards the opposition and big business."
"Ah yes," Humphreys was not a man who usually revelled in schadenfreude, but the mention of big business made him smile."They did do excellent work on the Golding-Maxwell issue. I think it's fair to say they single-handedly broke that company." Again he smiled at the memory of how the Golding-Maxwell, for so long a thorn in the side of any redevelopment work in the city due to their vast land holdings had been essentially decapitated by articles in the various sections of IPC detailing their links to illegal arms trading. "It's nice to have some ethical journalism being done for a change. You don't, though, find it...unusual how they have left us alone do you?"
"Not at all. You see, thanks to my PPS I'm privy to a lot of what goes on at IPC."
"How so?"
"Well, her brother and a few of her friends are fairly high up in IPC. In fact, one of the friends is the new head of the Investigative Journalism department - he's the one who did the bulk of the legwork on Golding-Maxwell."
Humphreys was taken aback by this. "But surely, that's a conflict of interests?"
"Not really George. I trust her implicitly." Martin smiled across as Humphreys raised an eyebrow. "I only know the IPC Situation from personal chats with her. And, as you say, there's no reason to be suspicious of any IPC links in the current climate."
It still didn't sit easily with George Humphreys. "I would have thought that something like this would have caused problems Miss Jones' career progression. You don't find it unusual that three fairly important people are connected like this?"
"As you say sir, she's exceptionally proficient at her work. Her track record is immaculate, therefore her personal situation hasn't come into it. And with respect, George, given the recruitment policies of both IPC and ourselves, it's not in the least bit surprising that these people are so interconnected. If we will all recruit from the same few Univeristies..."
"Touché, Frank." Humphreys relaxed a little and smiled. "Well, as you say, for the moment at least, this isn't an issue. And if you trust her...implicitly...well, that's good enough for me. After all, the only people who would make mileage out of this are IPC, and I imagine that they've had a very similar conversation to this. Anyway, you were saying about your 'inside information'?"
Frank Martin relaxed a little. The last few minutes had been unpleasantly close to a confrontation. "Well, apparently the head of the News section, chap by the name of..." he checked his papers..."Andrew Marlin, well, he's very "pro" our policies, as is Mistry, the Investigative Journalist. So, while this 'entente cordiale' continues, we don't have a great deal to worry about."
"A far cry from the early days with that fool Lindsay then? Thank heaven for small mercies."
They both took a few moments of respite, sipping their tea. Martin reached out and took a biscuit from the tray. "Well stocked with my favourites I see," he chuckled.
"Thank James." replied Humphreys with a smile.