15
- 15 -
There were many times when Cat’s role—his official one as a part of Authority—was routine to the point of boredom, and the initial inspection of the Factory was one of those times.
He played his part with ease, asking just enough slightly awkward questions to keep Therick, the pompous owner, on his toes, but without giving the man cause to panic. Cat talked to the supervisors—Therick referred to them as ‘nominal supervisors’ for some reason—as well as to many of the workers themselves. He found minor faults with work practices and issues with some of the fixtures and fittings. And, amongst all that, he offered enough praise to lead Therick to expect an overall satisfactory report.
Iralla did the same, and to any observer it would have appeared that the woman and Cat w
