by Ashe Barker
She nodded, slowly. “Yes, that could work. I’d be happy doing that for you.”
“Excellent. So, I’ll ask you again. Where would you like to start?”
“Start? I’m not sure I…”
“Please try to keep up, Mrs Richmond. I mean, now that we’ve sorted out the methodology, where are you going to begin your overhaul of Dart Logistics?”
Thea’s head cleared, the ground once more solidifying beneath her. For the first time in days, ever since she’d walked into his office to discover her worlds colliding before her eyes, she felt in charge, certain.
“Oh, finance. Definitely. If the money’s not under control, nothing is. And problems with the accounting system can be pretty fatal if not put right, but they are usually easy to rectify. We get that solid, then look at the rest.”
“Okay. When can you start?”
“Tomorrow.”
“It’s Sunday tomorrow.”
“Yes, so no one else will be around. I’ll have a clear run at it, no distractions. Can you let me into your office in the morning?”
“I could, if necessary. But we agreed you can access our networks from here.”
“I’d like to make an early start then. If that’s alright with you.”
“It sounds very sensible. Perhaps we should get an early night…”
Chapter Six
“We have—eggs, two rashers of bacon, some cereals, and half an onion.” Tony turned to Thea, the fridge door still standing open. “I could rustle up an omelette I suppose.”
“Sounds fine. Do you want me to make it?”
“No. I want you to sit there, drink your tea, and tell me what you make of those mid-year accounts. You wanted an early start, remember.”
“Okay.” Thea perched her glasses back on her nose and turned her attention back to the laptop open in front of her. She clicked the mouse a couple of times, and made notes on a sheet of paper next to her.
Tony watched, loving her quiet, studious efficiency. Having abdicated responsibility for their breakfast, Thea’s concentration on the matter in hand was total. He admired her single-mindedness, particularly as this was a quality he’d never cultivated for himself. It wasn’t that he didn't value clarity and focus, but for Tony the real fascination always lay on the far horizon, the allure of possibility and opportunity, of what ifs.
Ten minutes later he slid a plate onto the table beside her. Thea acknowledged it with a slight nod, her gaze never leaving the screen. Tony took his seat opposite and contented himself with sipping his coffee and watching his newest member of staff at work.
She hadn’t formally accepted his job offer yet, but she would.
It was just over an hour later when she lifted her solemn, serious gaze to his. “I think you have a thief in your accounts section. Maybe more than one.”
“What!” He’d known there was an issue, but had convinced himself it was one of cock-up not conspiracy. “Why? What have you seen?”
“Some entries in your spreadsheets are out of sync. By which I mean, entered much later than others relating to the same transactions. I’ve been tracking the changes, and finding amendments which seem to indicate that clients’ accounts are in debit, when earlier records had shown those same accounts to be up to date or even in credit. That’s consistent with someone removing funds, then amending records to conceal the discrepancy. It’s been going on for quite a long time too, at least a couple of years.”
“So, who…?”
“The culprits will be easy to identify. I’ll see to that for you in due course. For now, our priority is to seize and seal all evidence. That means closing down your entire network so that only you and I can access any records. If I get started now I can eliminate those parts of your system that aren't affected and put those back on line. By Monday morning Dart Logistics will be functional again, apart from the finance section I imagine. You need to suspend all your finance team on full pay until my investigation is complete. Two days, I’d estimate, though the police may extend that.”
“Shit. Are you sure? And are you saying it’s a police matter?”
She peered at him over her rimless glasses. “Financial records have been tampered with. I’m guessing at the most likely reason for that but I suspect fraud, and my recommendation is that you authorise me to undertake an immediate forensic audit. And yes, if when I’ve completed that audit we believe a theft has taken place then that would suggest involving the police. Or do you prefer to deal with it in another way?”
He regarded her, then nodded. “Let’s get to the bottom of what’s happened first, then decide what action to take. Do the audit. What will you need?”
“Some clothes. I came here without much last night if you recall. There’s a limit to how much more I can actually achieve via remote access because I need access to some hard copy documents too—invoices and such like—to check against spreadsheets. But it’s Sunday so I could go into your premises and get started. If you could run me back to my flat, then let me into your offices and leave me to it…”
Tony grinned. She was wearing an old T shirt of his, and was without doubt the sexiest auditor he’d ever seen. But she was right. She needed her own stuff.
“Okay. I’ll drive you home. You can change, get anything else you’ll need, and we’ll go to Dart. The warehouse will be open, that part of the operation is twenty four seven. And security of course…”
She shook her head. “Your security team are suspects the same as anyone else. You need them out of the picture too, until my audit is complete. Can I suggest you ask Stephen for a couple of his men, just to manage the building, and give your team a couple of days off too? Full pay, obviously.”
“Obviously. Right. You can phone Stephen from the car. Let’s get moving.”
*****
Tony felt redundant. Thea had hardly lifted her gaze from first one terminal, then the next for the last five hours. She was working her way through all his systems, jotting down notes, checking input data against invoices, even requesting that cheques be recalled from their bank.
“I think that’s how the money was syphoned off. Online transactions are easily tracked, the payee electronically recorded. Cheques are easier to fudge. A number, an ambiguous payee name. That‘s how I’d do it.”
“You?”
“Yes, me. If you want to work out how a thief has managed to steal from you the best place to start is to try to work out how you’d have done it. You know your system’s weaknesses, where would you head for? And be sure, if your financial controls are not watertight, if there’s a way to defraud your company someone, at some time, will do it. Dart isn’t secure. It will be, soon. But right now… no.”
Tony gave her a wry smile as he picked up the phone to call his head of finance. Thea could deal with his systems and root out his bad apples. He’d deal with the suspensions.
*****
“Mr diMarco, there’s a David Lister at the front desk. I explained that the company is closed but he insists.”
“Right. I’ll come down.” Tony replaced the phone when his temporary security manager, seconded to Dart by a somewhat startled Stephen Kershaw, hung up. He glanced at Thea. “My Finance Director’s arrived. I’ve been expecting him. He took the news of his suspension hard.”
“You can’t let him in.”
“Got that. Do you want a sandwich or anything, while I’m down there? I think there’s a Polish deli open on Sundays.”
“Chicken salad please. No mayo.”
Dismissed, Tony left her to continue her investigations while he went down to placate his irate corporate accountant.
Another two hours passed. And another two. Thea was still hard at it. Tony had fielded dozens of calls from anxious employees as news of the suspensions circulated, but now the flow had dried up. It was just the two of them. Well, more accurately, Thea, and him keeping her supplied with tea. She was a demon with the IT, over-riding passwords, isolatin
g first one part of his network then another, narrowing down the area they had to search. By ten thirty that evening he was exhausted, but she still looked to be going strong.
“When do you want to pack it in for the night?”
“When I’m finished.”
“We’ll come back tomorrow. Look at it fresh.”
“I don’t want to look at it fresh. I have it now. Almost. Another few hours…”
“You mean you want to work through the night?”
“Yes. That’s best. That way nothing gets lost. Or forgotten. No chance of anyone tampering.”
“The office is locked up, the systems offline.”
“A clever thief might be able to get in remotely. And by now they all know we’re onto something. The thief must be panicking. Really, I’d prefer to stay here and see this through. You don't have to though.”
Tony leaned back in his chair and placed his feet on his desk. “If you’re staying, so am I. Shall I order up a pizza?”
Thea just smiled, nodded, and returned to her work.
*****
“I’m done. We can go home now?” Thea tapped Tony on the shoulder not sure of the protocols in awakening a sleeping Dom. Especially one who has been made to stay at his office all night while she combed through pretty much every file in his system. He’d been sweet tempered about it, keeping her supplied with junk food and occasionally massaging her neck for her. But he’d wanted to go home, and she had refused. That would have consequences, and right now she was bone tired. She hoped he’d let her sleep all day and take up any outstanding issues later. Much later. “Sir? Tony? I’ve finished.”
“What? All of it?” He opened one eye to peer up at her.
“Yes. All of it. I’m pretty certain I know what’s been happening, and I have the evidence you’ll need to confront the staff responsible. As I feared, it's probably a matter for the police though rather than for your disciplinary procedures. I have a file for them.”
“A… you have a file for the police?”
“Yes. Fraud is a criminal offence. Your Mr Lister has some questions to answer and so do Mrs Benson in purchasing, and Mrs Reece in dispatch. It’s all in here.” She tapped the envelope file where she had stored the originals of the documents the police would find of most interest. “I expect they’ll want to send their own IT specialists in to crawl all over your systems. It’s all set up ready for them.”
“Who did you say? David Lister, and…?”
“Mrs Benson, she’s been generating ghost purchase orders, and as far as I can make out pocketing the associated payments. She had help from Shirley Reece in your dispatch team. They’re cousins. David Lister knew about it and they gave him a cut to turn a blind eye. It’s been going on for nearly three years, ever since Mrs Benson started here. It’s all in there.” Thea tapped the file she’d placed on his desk. “I suggest we go back to your house. Or if you want you can drop me at home. I need to get some sleep. And you can read through the file before we hand it over to the police.”
“What time is it?”
“Twenty to seven.”
“Shit. And you’ve been working all night. You look ready to drop.”
“I am tired. I just don't like leaving a job like that, once I’ve got into it. Thank you for letting me stay. And for waiting.”
Tony got to his feet, stretching. “You’re the hero of the hour, Mrs Richmond. It was the least I could do. Come on. Home, bed, sleep. Before you fall over. And thank you.” He kissed her on the mouth, then took her hand to tow her out of his office. He grabbed the file from his desk as he passed.
In the foyer he paused to exchange a few words with the temporary security guard he’d borrowed from Kershaw’s. He was frowning as they left the building.
“David Lister was back here late last night, after he spoke to me. He became abusive, and only left when he was threatened with the police. We’ll have trouble from him I reckon.”
“He’ll be scared. But it’s already too late for him to do anything to cover his tracks. That’s why we needed to seal the evidence as soon as I suspected, and prevent anyone accessing it. Standard forensic accountancy procedure and it means I can stand up in court and swear to the accuracy of the data we’ve supplied.”
“Will it come to that, do you think?”
“Well, we have enough to justify dismissal, but there’s always the chance one or more of them might decide to challenge us. Better to have the police investigation to fall back on. And it's good for encouraging the others. You know, show them you won't tolerate thieves.”
“You’re right, but still it leaves an unpleasant taste.” He held the door open for her and they exited into the car park, still grey in the early morning light.
“Mr diMarco! Tony. Do you have a moment?”
“Oh fuck, I thought we’d got rid of him. Thea, this is David Lister.” Tony paused and nodded at the middle aged, slightly dishevelled man barrelling towards them. A sleek BMW was parked in the corner of the parking area, its driver’s door swinging open where its occupant had leapt out to confront the pair now leaving the building. “Good morning, David. Have you been here all night?”
“I wanted to talk to you. Those idiots wouldn't let me in. I told them I work here, I’m in charge of finance. You’ll need me to help sort this mess out.”
“Thank you, but we have it under control. Now if you’ll excuse us…”
“But you owe me some sort of explanation. I’ve worked here for years, I know these systems better than anyone. If there was anything amiss I’d be the first to spot it.”
Tony made to sidestep him. “Thank you, Mr Lister. We’ll be in touch in the next few days.”
“We? Who’s we? And who’s this? What’s she doing here?” He jabbed a finger in Thea’s direction. She stepped back, out of his reach.
Tony placed himself between Thea and his disgruntled soon-to-be ex-employee. “May I introduce Mrs Richmond? She recently joined my team as Dart Logistics’ new Corporate Services Director.”
“Why do we need her? And why wasn’t I involved in making the new appointment? It’s my job, anything to do with finance. You know that.” David Lister’s voice had risen, he was almost shouting at Tony now. Thea was relieved to spot the security guard exiting the building.
Tony appeared unfazed. “I’ll let you know if we need anything from you, David. Now if you’ll excuse me….” He turned to the guard who had reached them. “Ah, yes. Mr Lister was just leaving. Could you make sure he gets away safely please? Oh, and David, if we could just have your electric key to the car park back, please…?”
“What? Why? I’ll be needing it.”
“In which case it will be returned to you in due course. Could you hand it over to security please, or if it’s easier for you we’ll just deactivate it.”
Silenced at last, David Lister glared at his boss. Tony seemed to consider this a good opportunity to make their exit, and placed his hand on Thea’s elbow to direct her towards the practical Ford parked in the bay marked CEO. Thea reflected that Tony must pay excellent salaries if his staff could drive around in BMWs. Perhaps she should look again at that contract.
*****
Thea opened her eyes and peered at the window opposite where she lay in Tony’s bed. Sunlight streamed through the curtains throwing golden pools across the dark blue carpet in the bedroom. She rolled over, and winced as her bladder gave her an insistent prod. She needed to get up. She squinted at the small clock on the bedside table. Three fifteen.
Three fifteen! Shit! She’d been asleep nearly all day. She needed to get up, she had work to do, an investigation to finish. And where the Hell was Tony anyway?
She shot out of bed and rushed across the room to the en suite loo. Her comfort restored, she charged back into the bedroom and started to throw on her clothes. Was her car still outside? She went to the window to check. Yes. Where were her keys? How long would it take to get to Dart’s offices?
Her phone buzzed in the pocket of her jeans as she jogged downstairs. She pulled it out. Caller ID told her Tony was on the line.
She answered it, breathless. “Hi. I overslept, sorry. Where are you?”
“At the office. You were spark out so I left you to get some rest.”
“You should have woken me. Or sent me an alarm call. Something. I’m just on my way.”
“Well stop being on your way. Everything’s under control here. You’ve earned a day off.”
“I can’t take a day off. I haven’t started work yet.”
“Oh. So who was it who turned in a twenty four hour shift yesterday then? It looked like you. Seriously, Thea, we’re fine. The police want to interview you, but I told them you’d be in tomorrow and they’ll come back then. They took your file. They seemed to think we could probably reinstate the finance team, with the obvious three exceptions. Would you agree?”
“Yes, if the police are happy I think that’d be fine. I collected all the evidence they’re likely to need and it’s important for you to get your company back to normal as soon as possible. You’ll need to put someone in charge of finance temporarily.”
“I was thinking I’d go to an agency.”
“Can I suggest Mrs Metcalfe? She’s been David Lister’s assistant for two years so she knows the job. And there’s no evidence linking her to his scam.”
Tony was silent for a few moments. Thea suspected he was trying to place the name. “She’s rather young…”
“Twenty four. She’s bright, and she’s honest...”
“Well that counts for something I suppose.”
“I think so. It’s your choice, but from what I’ve seen in her personnel file I’m happy to recommend her. And she could start immediately.” Thea made her way into the kitchen. She wedged the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she clicked the switch on the kettle and hunted up a cup and the caddy containing Earl Grey teabags. A few seconds later the gentle hiss of soon to be boiling water lent its own comforting tone to the silent room. Still, she couldn’t entirely reconcile herself to not appearing at the office at all that day. It would be pleasant though to take her tea back upstairs, snuggle up in Tony’s king size bed, maybe have a shower later…
