TT Spalding-Polly's Story

I finished the work, made contact with Philippe and made sure the equipment was safely on the way. He assured me it would be home and in my studio by Monday afternoon. He wanted to know how the proofs came out and I told him we were golden. He laughed, said it was not a surprise to him and he would see me later. Good old Philippe, always dependable and good for my soul.

Monday morning found me dressed in a simple skirt and blouse with my hair in a ponytail and wearing solid working shoes with matching socks. I looked like a part time bookkeeper and reported to my contact in HR. Within an hour, I was at a desk with a computer and the master access code that give me complete access to the corporate server. From there I could access any and all files and databases. This is what I did well. Give me a computer and I would locate the last dollar in any account in the world. Not bragging, but I could actually do it. I could have been wealthy by cyber stealing but that was against my own principles. Not cool.

For the next three days, I called up and examined every single transaction that Wallace Inc, the company I was working for, made. Their business was importing clothing from China and Taiwan. Most of it was designer label and was ordered by particular stores. Each account had its own label and designs. All on the up and up. Only the biggest clients could afford their stuff and they paid top dollar. That's where I started looking. By going back over the history of purchases and disbursements, I began to see a pattern.

The same pattern that Mr. Harris came to TT about. Historically, the imports and disbursements were slowly increasing, showing a nice growth rate. But, about two years ago, that growth rate slowed and by the end of the first year, had begun to level off. Yet all of the numbers indicated the growth rate should have increased. During the second year, growth was flat, even though imports and disbursements increased. Prices were steady so that was not a factor.

Now that I was convinced that Mr. Harris and TT were correct, I began to examine the sales personnel and the inventory personnel. Somewhere in those files I expected to find the skunk. I only needed time. I spent my days working the computer, printing out files that I wanted to go over later and evenings were spent finishing up the layout for the magazine article I had completed. Things were going great and I was pleased. I expected to finish this little caper for TT by the end of the second week for sure. Then things took an unexpected turn.

It was Friday, the end of the first week and I was deep into an examination of the files of three people I had flagged for concern. I wanted to dig deeper into their files so I tapped the HR database and somehow came to the attention of the Head of Personnel. He was not on my watch list but he was also not privy to what I was doing there. So when he stumbled on to my search of his information files, he came to see me.

I was deep into a search of one of the suspects when I became aware that someone was entering my little cubicle. I hit one of the function keys to bring up an innocuous screen that would hide what I was really doing. I glanced up and batted my eyes when I saw a good looking man about thirty-five or so standing there watching me. I recognized him as Carson Palmer, the Personnel Director and decided to give him the innocent act.

"Excuse me but what are you doing?"

He seemed angry and I was even more convinced that innocence was the right way to play this. As I thought of an answer that would sound convincing, I had a sudden thought. How could a civilian, a personnel guy, catch me digging into some personnel files? No one who wasn't a pro in this area should be able to track me. I was damn good at what I did and I had never found another person who wasn't a computer pro who could track me. Ever! Something was rotten in Jersey!

"I'm sorry? I'm working on tracking some shipments from Taiwan that seem to be late. Did I do something wrong?"

I put a look of panic and fear on my face as I looked up directly into his eyes. Guile was one of my better acts. Innocence just dripping off me, I stood and put my hands together in front of me and started to look wildly around. I was really getting into this act. But more important, I suddenly decided I would find out more about our Head of Personnel!

"Were you trying to access some Personnel files? Someone from this computer station showed up as trying to access my files."

He was looking around my desk and actually picked up some papers I had laying there in case someone checked on my work. They were actual bills of lading that referenced some existing orders. He looked at them and tossed them aside, apparently convinced that it was some sort of glitch.

"No sir! I wouldn't have access to that kind of information. I only have limited access for this job sir. Please, you can ask Mrs. Evans. She gave me the access code." I kept the fear look but dropped the panic.

"I guess it was some sore of error in the system. You're not in trouble. I'm sorry to bother you." He was about to turn away when he looked at me again with a small smile.

"I haven't met you before. I'm Carson Palmer and I'm head of Personnel. Have you been here long?" He was relaxed and smiling now. So, that little crisis was past.

I gave him my cover name. "I'm Susan Marks, and I just started Monday. It's just a two-week fill in position. I'm glad to meet you."

I held out my hand which he took and then held far too long as he stared directly into my eyes. He had nice eyes, a deep green that had little flecks of gold in them. I could get used to looking at them, but I noticed the ring on his finger. Married! All the cute guys were either married or gay. Just my luck.

Carson Palmer stayed a few minutes and made it clear that he was hitting on me, a fact that only reinforced my desire to get into his files. While I was not a prude and had done my fair share of kinky stuff, I had a thing about married men. They were taboo! I was going to make it a priority to check on this slime ball, but I was going to use a great deal of care. Since it was late in the day and I had been caught due to carelessness on my part, I decided to put it off till later. Just one last little thing to do and then I was on my way home to change into something a little more funky for a date with a guy from the stockroom that hit on me my second day here. He was cute, sexy as hell and could be fun. A job with benefits!

Stockroom guy turned out to be a winner, so after a really great weekend, I was back at work and hard at it on Monday. Carson was not in his office, a fact that I confirmed myself so I began to open some very personal files. His, of course. I had done a little homework over the weekend, accessing the Personnel files via a worm I installed last Friday just before I left. It allowed me to register as a valid user so I could log in and not be flagged by the little program Carson or someone else had installed. I pulled up the files, traced them through the system and found exactly what I was looking for. I started working in earnest then and continued through the day. By quitting time, I had what I needed.

What I found was that the two disbursers were modifying orders from several of the largest buyers. The way it worked was that the actual order would be for 2000 pieces of some item. The bad guys would alter the posted order to show only 1000 pieces. All other system trackers would continue to make the real order come out right but the tracking would show that order to be 1000 instead of 2000. The difference in collected monies would be diverted into a separate account that was eventually used to transfer funds into an offshore account. It was quite complicated but it worked. Only three people had access to those accounts. You guessed who the third person was.

I called in to work sick the next day and instead, called TT. I told him I had the information he wanted and made an appointment to see him and Molly later that day. TT was always ready when I called. Made me wonder if he didn't already have some way of knowing what I was doing. Spooky, but it wouldn't have surprised me. TT seemed to know everything. He was too much like his hero, Mike Hammer. Mike always knew things he shouldn't have known.

I met with TT and Maggie that afternoon, all of us sitting in TT's office. Maggie had found another comfortable chair somewhere and the three of us were together, me with a Pepsi and Maggie with a cup of tea. TT was just leaning back, his hands crossed over his ample belly waiting. "OK, Polly O, talk to us. What did you find? I bet it was more than one and I bet I have a good idea who was the ring leader. A guy named Palmer?"

"How in the hell did you know that? He wasn't even one of my primary suspects. At least until he almost caught me going through his files. The creep even tried to hit on me, and he's married." I was floored! How could he have guessed? He wasn't human!

"It wasn't all that hard. I went through the files of everyone in his organization, pulled up some bank records and credit cards on the old computer and did some checking. I had this case for a few weeks before I called you, you know. I'm not totally inept! Give me a little credit. Anyway, there was something wrong with our Mister Palmer and I couldn't figure out what it was. But I knew he was dirty. That's where you came in. Maggie reminded me that no one is better at sniffing out dirt than you, Polly O. No one!"

I was slightly mollified but I was still stumped. I didn't see it when I went through the same records TT had. It just wasn't fair. He was really something else. No wonder Maggie loved the guy. He was superman and she was superwoman. They made a pair for sure.

I went through the information I had gleaned from the files, the records I had dug up, and the deposits made into an offshore account for Carson Palmer and two others who were in the disbursement department. Seems they were hired personally by Mr. Palmer. No one would ever think to look at them for this. But Carson Palmer kept impeccable records and I had copies. TT was pleased with the stuff and he and Maggie began to ask questions. Maggie took notes while I went over everything. I gave her the numbers of the accounts and she promised to contact a source at the FBI. He could track those accounts and freeze them under some new part of the Homeland Security laws. It was a done deal.

"Great work Polly O. Maggie will cut your check today so you don't have to wait. I appreciate it but I know you have bills to pay just like I do. So, thanks for your time. We'll put this scum away and leave Mr. John Harris a happy man. Probably offer you a full time job with his company as a security expert. Hope you don't take it though. I like having you around." He glanced over at Maggie but she just smiled back at him. There was no lack of trust between those two.

I walked out with Maggie who shut the door behind her and laughed as she hugged me. "Thank you for that. He really believes he is helping you out. And he knows you love this business like he does. That's important to him, so it's important to me."

"For you, anything. You know that. And TT is too smart for his own good. You just keep an eye on him. He scares me sometimes."

We hugged again, made plans to meet in a week or so for some shopping and I left for my studio. I kept it even after Maggie sold the shop and moved in with TT. I live and work there still. Regardless of what stuff I acquired or how much I made, this was home to me. It was the first place I ever felt was mine; it was the place where I grew to know and love Maggie, my best friend in the whole world; and the place where Max taught me the skills that gave me my life and a reason to dream of something better. I had come there as a tough young girl, living on the streets, making my way by myself and beholden to no one. I had nothing of my own but my wits and my pride, Maggie and Max gave me hope, love and a life that has turned out to be pretty damn great. Max is gone now, but Maggie is still here and still my best friend. She and TT and Bruno are my family and I love them to death!

More to come.