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all this.’ Randy said. ‘The factory was actually
in the process of being closed down when your father
died.’
    ‘ What? Why?’
Carlo asked, sounding alert at last.
    ‘ Well, there
had been an accusation you see; regarding the manufacturing
process.’ Randy paused and looked Carlo squarely in the face as if
deciding what to say next.
    ‘ What
accusation?’ Carlo prompted.
    Randy sighed and continued.
‘Someone told the authorities that Leodoni’s were using an illegal
ingredient in some of its produce. An investigation that would have
shut down the factory for a period was about to start when your
father died. In fact that was why he was back in the van. We were
trying to bring in enough profits to let us continue paying the
staff whilst the investigation took place.’
    Carlo didn’t say word, but then
realised that he wasn’t breathing. He exhaled slowly trying not to
make it look too obvious. ‘An illegal ingredient? That sounds
weird.’ he said, thinking about the vanilla ice cream. ‘So what did
the investigation find then?’ he asked, not really wanting to hear
the answer.
    ‘ It never got
started. After Luigi died, we closed the factory, sent the staff
home and made plans to open up the factory for the authorities.
Then we had to make plans with your family for the funeral and the
reading of the will and make sure you were OK. Anyway, by the time
we got back round to thinking about it, whoever had made the
allegation had withdrawn it. We presumed that it must have been a
prank or perhaps a disgruntled customer.’
    Carlo felt a wave of relief
course through him as Randy continued.
    ‘ Of course by
that time the staff had been away for a number of weeks and after
your Dad’s will became public knowledge the certainty of Leodoni’s re-opening was less apparent, so
the old staff became nervous and many found new jobs. Then there
was the kerfuffle over you being the new owner.’
    Carlo shuffled in his seat. He
understood what had happened with the social services who had
expressed doubts about a school child being bequeathed a large
company, especially an orphan who in their minds was likely to move
to Italy soon. A lot of people had argued vehemently on Carlo’s
behalf that he should be allowed to inherit the company and
eventually a compromise had been reached whereby he would own the
factory but Randy would run it in his name and would officially be
named his guardian with the blessing of his family. It was a great
victory in many ways, but no one had actually asked Carlo if that
was what he wanted and by the time they did… well, he didn’t.
    ‘ And then it
took months to work out the new deal…’ Carlo added
uncomfortably.
    Randy nodded. ‘So you see it’s
not a case of the staff not wanting to come back. It’s more a case
of them being able to. It’s been nearly two years. Most will have
new jobs or will have retired.’
    ‘ I’m sorry,
Uncle Randy, I really am. I didn’t mean to be this much
bother.’
    ‘ I know,
Kiddo, I know. I think you need to do something before we make any
more plans. I want you to go back to the factory at some point and
take a look through those staff files. Take a really good look at
them. They are the people who used to be the heart of Leodoni’s.
Without them, your father and I wouldn’t have lasted as long as we
did. When we closed, it was their lives that were affected. If we
re-open, even if it’s with different staff, there will still be a
lot of families that your decisions will influence. It’s a huge and
quite grave responsibility. I want you to try and take that in
before you decide you really don’t want to sign the papers. Do you
understand?’
    Carlo nodded, but didn’t say
anything.
     
     
     
    Norton stared up at the gates.
‘If you don’t hurry up, I’ll just climb over.’
    ‘ You couldn’t
climb over these. You had trouble with the four foot wall into the
cemetery the other day.’ Ben said.
    ‘ I’ll have you
know that I