Petunia

  "Hello?"

  "Hi, Ms. Dewmeadow."

  "Petunia! How's my favourite former employee? I've told you before to call me Cece."

  "I'm sorry, Ms.- I mean, Cece, sorry."

  "Don't worry about it, old habits die hard, I know. Anyway, what's the matter? You said it wasn't business?"

  "Yeah, I'm sorry for calling on the weekend, but I'd really appreciate your advice."

  "Oh? What about?"

  "Um, it's about keeping secrets, yeah. I said I'd do an interview with the TV people tomorrow before the race, with everything that's been going on, but, um…"

  "You can't tell them everything, huh?"

  "Yeah, um, I'm sorry."

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  "It's ok, I won't ask what the secret is. We're business partners now, right? You have a responsibility to your people to make sure confidential information stays confidential."

  "I do? I thought you'd say I should tell you everything."

  "What? Noooo, unless there was a business advantage in it for P.R.A.N.C. Anyway, is it about the rumours? The interview, I mean?"

  "Yeah. Well, I'm worried they'll ask about that stuff, yeah."

  "Hmmmm, I think my advice would be to, like, challenge the questions. If they're trying to insinuate that you're involved in some shady business, you just point out that there's no police investigation, no concrete accusations. You can even say that it's an attempt to smear your good name, that you're considering legal action – no, wait, what's the right phrasing, you're investigating your options for legal action, something like that. So it sounds like you're already talking to a lawyer, right?"

  "Will that work, though? We don't even have a lawyer."

  "Well you might wanna get one, even if this blows over you're handling so much money you'll need one eventually."

  "Okay, yeah, I'll bear it in mind. Oh, but what about the actual – you know the police are investigating the murder at the farm, though? It doesn't have anything to do with us, but I don't…"

  "Oh, that's easy. If it's an actual police investigation, you just say that you can't comment on it because the police are investigating."

  "Oh. Ok. Is that really ok?"

  "Yeah! I'm sure the police would rather you didn't talk to the media about what happened, anyway. If you say you can't then no-one's going to make a fuss."

  "Oh. Okay, thanks, that's really helpful. Thanks- Cece."

  Wednesday: Brynna - supplement (837 words)

  Thursday: Petunia - supplement (358 words)

  Friday: Qualifying (1670 words)

  Saturday: Phoebe - major update (413 words)

  Sunday: Race (3368 words)

  Twelfth race: Buildup starts 16th September, race day 22nd September

  Thirteenth race: Buildup starts 23rd September, race day 6th October

  Fourteenth race: Buildup starts 7th October, race day 13th October

  Fifteenth race: Buildup starts 14th October, race day 20th October

  Sixteenth race: Buildup starts 23rd October, race day 27th October

  Seventeenth race: Buildup starts 30th October, race day 10th November

  Final race: Buildup starts 11th November, race day tbd (likely 1st week in December)