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"It&039;s a fair question, Mr Reardon How many died in commercial aircraft last year?"
Reardon frowned "I&039;ll sayI&039;ll say a thousand"
"Fifty," Casey said "Fifty people died Do you kno many died the year before that? Sixteen Fewer than were killed on bicycles"
"And how many of those died on the N-22?" Reardon asked, eyes narrowed, trying to recover
"None," Casey said
"So your point is "
"We have a nation in which forty-three thousand people die every year in cars, and nobody worries about it at all They get into cars when they&039;re drunk, when they&039;re tired - without a second thought But these sa on an airplane And the reason," Casey said,"is that television consistently exaggerates the real dangers involved That tape will ood reason"
"You think the tape shouldn&039;t have been shown?"
"I didn&039;t say that"
"But you said it will ood reason"
"Correct"
"Is it your view tapes such as these should not be shown?"
She thought: Where is he going? Why is he doing this?
"I didn&039;t say that"
"I&039; you now"
"I said," Casey replied, "that those tapes create an inaccurate perception of the danger of air travel"
"Including the danger of the N-22?"
"I&039;ve already said I think the N-22 is safe"
"So you don&039;t think such tapes should be shown to the public"
What the hell was he doing? She still couldn&039;t figure it out She didn&039;t answer hi with this She had a sinking feeling she knew
"In your view, Ms Singleton, should such tapes be suppressed?"
"No," Casey said
"They should not be suppressed"
"No"
"Has Norton Aircraft ever suppressed any tapes?"
Uh-oh, she thought She was trying to figure out how , Ziegler, the people at Video Ileton," Reardon said, "are you personally aware of any other tape of this accident?"
Just lie, Amos had said
"Yes," she said "I know of another tape"
"And have you seen the tape?"
"I have"
Reardon said, "It&039;s upsetting Horrifying Isn&039;t it?&039;
She thought: They have it They&039;d gotten the tape She would have to proceed very carefully now
"It&039;s tragic," Casey said "What happened on Flight 545 is a tragedy" She felt tired Her shoulders ached froleton, let me put it to you directly: Did Norton Aircraft suppress this tape?"
"No-Eyebrows up, the look of surprise "But you certainly didn&039;t release it, did you"
"No"
"Why not?"
"That tape was found on the aircraft," Casey said, "and is being used in our ongoing investigation We didn&039;t feel it appropriate to release it until our investigation is co up the well-known defects of the N-22?"
"No"
"Not everyone agrees with you about that, Ms Singleton Because Newsline obtained a copy of that tape, from a conscience-stricken Norton e up Who felt the tape should be id She didn&039;t move
"Are you surprised?" Reardon said, his lips in a curl
She didn&039;t answer HerShe had to plan her nextthe moment
Now
"Have you yourself actually seen this tape, Mr Reardon?" She asked the question in a tone that i it all up
"Oh yes," Reardon said solemnly, "I have seen the tape It&039;s
difficult, painful to watch It is a terrible, da record of what happened on that N-22 aircraft"
"You&039;ve seen it all the way through?"
"Of course So have one to New York, she thought
Careful
Careful
"Ms Singleton, was Norton ever planning to release that taper
"It&039;s not ours to release We&039;d return it to the owners, after the investigation was completed It would be up to the owners to decide what to do with it"
"After the investigation was coive ht safety, there seems to be a consistent pattern of cover-ups here"
"Cover-ups?"
"Ms Singleton, if there was a proble problem, a problem the company knew about - would you tell us?"
"But there is no proble do, at the papers in front of hileton, then how do you explain this?"
And he handed her a sheet of paper
She took it, glanced at the paper
"Jesus Christ," she said
Reardon had his uarded, off-balance reaction She kneould look bad She knew there was no way for her to recover from it, no matter what she said from this point on But she was focused on the paper in front of her, stunned to see it now
It was a Xerox of the cover sheet of a report done three years ago
-
PRIVILEGED INFORMATION - FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY
NORTON AIRCRAFT
INTERNAL REVIEW ACTION COMMITTEE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
UNSTABLE FLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS OF N-22 AIRCRAFT
And folloas a list of the na with her name, since she had chaired the co is But everything about it, even the naht Characteristics" - appeared da to be very difficult for her to explain
He&039;s not interested in inforht It should never have been released It was three years old - not that otten it?
She glanced at the top of the page, saw a fax nu station: NORTON QA
It had come from her own office
How?
Who had done it?
Richrimly
Richman had placed this report in the packet of press material on her desk The material Casey had told Norma to fax to Newsline
How had Richman known about it?
Marder
Marder knew all about the study Marder had been prograer on the N-22; he&039;d ordered it And now Marder had arranged for the study to be released while she was on television, because -
"Ms Singleton?" Reardon said
She looked up Back into the lights "Yes" "Do you recognize this report?" "Yes, I do," she said
"Is that your own name at the bottom?"
"Yes"
Reardon handed her three other sheets, the rest of the executive summary "In fact, you were the chairated &039;flight instabilities&039; of the N-22 Isn&039;t that right?"
Hoas she going to do this? she thought
He&039;s not interested in information
"It wasn&039;t a secret," she said &039;It&039;s the kind of study we frequently conduct on operational aspects of our aircraft, once they&039;re in service"