Financial Investigation

It had started gently snowing about an hour ago and now, as I gazed out the bus window, it had turned into a near blizzard. Leaning my head against the window I began to reflect on the events that had brought me on this bus trip in early January.

Eight weeks ago I looked at the blinking light of my telephone answering machine wondering who would be leaving me a message since I didn't have much of a social life for past year while finishing my Ph.D. dissertation. Pushing play I was pleasantly surprised to hear a familiar voice.

"Hello, Eric. This is Mandy . . . Mandy Sanders. Mom and I will be in town tomorrow checking out the graduate school at your university. Maybe we could get together for dinner tomorrow night. Give me a call on my cell. The number is 704-555-1492. I am really looking forward to seeing you again. I love you . . bye."

I had gone out with Mandy for over a year and mutually strong attachment had developed between us. One evening she told me her father was moving the family back to North Carolina. She did not want to leave but she had to for her mother's sake. I never liked her father. He was an arrogant, 'me first' guy that I suspected was abusing Mandy's mom. Two days later she was gone and I realized how much I really cared for her.

Picking up the phone I dialed her number and accepted the invitation for dinner.

The following evening I arrived at one of the best restaurants in town and spotted Mandy and her mother, Elizabeth, sitting at a table with an older man I did not know. As I approached the table they saw me and Mandy got up from her seat as did her mother and the older man.

Mandy jumped into my arms and kissed me with a great deal of passion. She whispered in my ear, "God, I have missed you."

Liz, as her mother like to be called, gave me a hug and introduced the man as her father, John Martin. After spending time over dinner catching up on what was happening with our lives the past five years Mandy said her grandfather had a perplexing problem he needed help in solving. Seems that he had done some investigation into my background and discovered I was getting my Ph.D in Computer Science and Technology with an emphasis in Forensic Accounting.

"Eric, I don't know what Amanda has told you about me. I own a very large business with its headquarters in Charlotte. I am the third largest producer of lumber and forest related products in the U.S. I own a lot of property in the Southeast as well as several million acres in Oregon and Washington State. In the last eighteen months my profit margin has remained steady but when I look at the bottom line the cash is not there. I have looked at the expenditures to income ratios and they are in acceptable parameters", he explained. "Someone is stealing and I can't figure out how or who."

"Amanda tells me that you might be able to help and I sure could use it." He went on explaining he couldn't trust anyone in upper management as they might be involved, although he sure hated to think that any of these long time employees and friends would do this to him.

After asking him several questions and receiving the right answers I agreed to look into his problem. He then produced several computer CD disks from his jacket pocket.

"These disks have the complete financial records for the past three years", he said. "I sure hope you can help me."

"It will be several weeks before I can start. I am getting ready to defend my dissertation early next month and I have to debug the software program I wrote to analyze deceptive accounting practices", I explained. I promised him some answers by mid- January.

I finished my degree and debugged the software program in late December and began my investigation into John Martin's financials. By January third I not only had the 'What' but also the 'How' it was being done. All I needed to do now was find the 'Who'.

When I made the telephone call to Mandy telling her of my progress and before she put her grandfather on the line she said, "I love you". She then put her grandfather on the line. He wanted to send his company business jet to bring me to Charlotte.

"That's not a good idea", I said. " I'll need to nose around your offices and access your company's servers and I don't want to raise any red flags about myself and a sure way to do that would be to have you send a jet to central Florida to pick me up."

As luck would have it the aircraft mechanics union went on strike the following day shutting down the entire commercial airline industry and forcing me onto riding a Greyhound bus in the middle of the night during a blizzard.

Just then I was shaken from my thoughts as the driver began slowing the bus as he proceeded down the exit ramp from the interstate. Shifting gears he turned onto the street to begin the short drive to the bus terminal. Five minutes later we arrived. The clock at the station read two-twenty and the outside temperature of 28 degrees. Not bad, only ten minutes late. Retrieving my back pack, containing my laptop computer, from the overhead rack I proceeded to the front of the bus, stepped onto the sidewalk and followed the driver to the baggage compartment. He handed me my bag and I quickly entered the warm terminal waiting room.

Looking around I saw John Martin striding toward me. He was alone. The look on his face told me something was wrong, very wrong.

Chapter Two

Taking my bag from me, he turned and walked toward the parking lot. Placing the bag in the back of his Mercedes ML550 SUV, he said. "There has been an accident. Amanda is in the hospital. Elizabeth is with her."

During the forty minute drive he told me as much of the details as he knew.

"The state police told me, that according to several witnesses, a white cargo van deliberately forced her car from the road and down an embankment, rolling several times. The van never slowed down and sped away."

The van was found several hours later abandoned in the parking garage of a local shopping mall. It had been wiped clean of all finger prints. The police lab was now examining it for other possible trace evidence.

Because of the storm, cell phone coverage was spotty so he did not have any up-dates on Mandy's condition since he had left the hospital three hours ago. At that time she was still unconscious and was undergoing tests to determine the extent of her injuries. He knew she had a broken left wrist and some facial cuts, in addition to possible internal injuries.

By the time we arrived the snow had stopped, but not the cold wind. Parking the SUV in a space reserved for the 'Hospital Director' we hurried inside. "He won't mind not having his parking spot. I funded the building of this place two years ago. He is a good friend."

Taking the elevator to the sixth floor Intensive Care Unit we walked briskly down the well lit hallway. As we approached the room he asked for an update on his grand daughter from one of the doctors standing just outside the door.

" Steve," he asked, "what's going on? How is she?"

"John", he replied "in addition to the broken wrist she has a couple of cracked ribs. I am waiting on the CAT Scan to determine the extent of any internal injuries. She took a nasty blow to her head, but there is no evidence of a fractured skull. The EEG shows strong brain activity and we should know more in the next eight to twelve hours. We took her off the ventilator and right now she is resting comfortably."

Before entering the room John turned to me an introduced the doctor he had spoken to, "Eric, this is Steven Jacobs. He is the head of the Neurological Department at Duke University Medical School. Steve, Eric Stafford. He is a very close friend of the family."

Opening the door we saw Liz standing next to Mandy's bed. She was lying there with an IV drip in her right arm. Her left wrist was encased in a fiberglass cast. Her head was bandaged and her face was covered with bruises and several small cuts which had been stitched.

Liz threw her arms around her father's neck an began crying onto he shoulder. "Daddy, daddy what has he done to my little girl? she sobbed. "How could he do this to his own daughter?"

I stood there in shock. What was she saying?

"Calm down, calm down Elizabeth", John whispered into her ear as he gently led her from the room. Then as he was about to leave the room he turned to me and mouthed the word "later".

I pulled a chair close to Mandy's bed and held her right hand while talking to her. "I'm here ... it's Eric. I'm staying right here with you. I'm not leaving you."

I talked to her for quite some time and then must have dozed off because the weak winter sun streamed into the room woke me. As I tried to release her hand she stirred and gripped my hand, refusing to let go. Her eyes blinked open and she stared at me asking what had happened. At that moment Liz and her father stepped into the room. Hearing her question they rushed to her bedside.

"You were involved in a very bad accident and have been asleep for over twenty hours," I replied. "You are pretty beat up but you'll get better." As I stood up and tried again to release her hand she whispered "Don't go. Stay with me, please."

Chapter Three

Later that afternoon when Mandy had fallen into an exhausted sleep, John led me from the room saying, "You deserve an explanation for what Elizabeth said this morning."

"As you know, my daughter and her husband, Larry, separated some years ago. He abandoned her and Mandy. About eighteen months ago he resurfaced demanding money for granting her a divorce. He backed off that demand and told her he would wait until she inherited my estate and then he would divorce her and take half of her inheritance. He could do this under the laws of this state regarding community property."

"When I found this out I changed my will. My entire estate now goes to Amanda. There is only one small problem with this idea. If Amanda dies without being married the entire estate reverts back to Elizabeth and he wins. Elizabeth is convinced that he is behind this accident."

"I have engaged the services of a private investigator to determine if there is any validity to her claim," he continued. "It shouldn't take too long for him to get back to me."

"Meanwhile," he continued, "we'll being staying at a nearby hotel while the doctors run some more tests to determine the extent of Amanda's injuries. Hopefully, we will be able to take her home in ten days or so."

Chapter Four

Tuesday was a bright, sunny but very cold day typical of late January when we brought Mandy home. As John drove up the long driveway, with me riding shotgun and Mandy and her mother in the backseat, I got my first look at John's home. It was huge and reminded me of an English manor house. Stopping in front we were met by members of his household staff who quickly assisted Mandy up the front steps leading to the massive twin doors leading inside. John and I followed along behind into a large reception hall. A magnificent marble staircase swept up to the second floor. To the left and behind the staircase was an elevator with wood paneled doors matching the paneling of the reception hall walls. Immediately to the right of the entrance doors a set of double doors opened into the library which also served as John's study/office. As Mandy, Elizabeth and one of the female housekeepers entered the elevator John escorted me into the library.

"The girls are going up to their rooms to rest awhile before dinner. Let's sit by the fireplace and warm up a little bit. Would you care for a drink?" he asked. Pouring two brandies, he sat in the leather chair across from me and said, "I need to tell you what the private investigators report revealed about the accident and Larry's involvement."

Over the next hour and a half he filled me in on the private investigator's report. Unfortunately, there was no concrete evidence that would be admissible in court of Larry's involvement in Mandy's accident. However, there was enough circumstantial evidence, that we both agreed he was responsible. He had hired two illegal aliens to steal a white cargo van and crash it into Mandy's car. Afterward they disappeared and the P.I. had been unable to track them down.

John said, "I don't think it's going to end with this unsuccessful attempt. Sooner or later he going try again and we have to stop him. Got any ideas."

"Well I do have a thought," I replied. "As you know Mandy and I have spent a considerable amount of time together over the past ten days. We have shared a lot of ourselves with each other and and the fondness I have for her has grown into something far greater. I am not sure how she feels about me but just suppose we were to announce our engagement to be married. In fact, it would not be true. But is sure to get back to Larry and it would accomplish two things. First, he would know that if we were to be married I would become her heir should something happen to her. Second, it would take the bullseye off her and place it on me. He would have to try to get rid of me before trying to get to her again. That would buy us time to figure out on how to stop him from carrying out his threat against Mandy."

John just sat in his chair for several minutes thinking before saying anything. "Well that is certainly one idea. I am confident I could arrange protection for you but before I agree we have to discuss this with Elizabeth and Mandy. They both need to be aware of the personal risk to you should we carry out your plan. I need to think this over for a day before we go any further. I'll give you an answer tomorrow morning and then we'll discuss it with the girls."

"Now on to our next problem," John continued. "Your cover has been pretty much blown. Everyone in the office knows how close a friend you are to me and my family. So we need to drop the idea of you working secretly to ferret out the embezzler. Well, let's sleep on it and we'll come up with something in the morning."

Chapter Five

The following morning John took me aside and said, "I gave your idea a lot of thought last night and came to the conclusion that it just might work. Let's talk about your plan with Elizabeth and Amanda after breakfast and get their take on your suggestion."

Later that morning after breakfast John told the two girls he had something to discuss with them. Leading the three of us into the library he proceeded to outline my plan.

As soon as he mentioned the idea of the fake engagement and marriage announcement Mandy leapt to her feet and ran from the room crying. The remaining three of us sat there stunned.

Finally, Elizabeth stood and said. "I'll go and talk with her and find out what upset her so much."

Five minutes later she returned with her arm around Mandy and said, "Mandy wants to say something to you Eric in private. Daddy, can we leave them alone for a few minutes?"

I stood as Elizabeth and John left the room closing the doors to the library behind them. I grasped both of Mandy's hands and lead her to the leather sofa where we both sat. She continued to cry softly but after several minutes she began talking softly to me.

"Eric," she began, "I don't want a fake engagement. I don't want a phony marriage announcement. Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed how the man I loved would propose to me. Like in a fairy tale where Prince Charming would sweep me off my feet and carry me away in his arms. I know it sounds foolish and when grandfather began talking about fake engagements and phony weddings I just lost it. I love you. I want the real thing."

With that she threw her arms around me and began sobbing again into my chest. I held her tightly and whispered in her ear, "I am a real jerk."

I released myself from her, slid off the sofa to my knees and continued, "Mandy, I love you with all my heart and soul. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you. I may not be Prince Charming, but I promise to love and cherish you forever. Will you please marry me?"

As I rose to my feet I grasped her hands and pulled her from her seat. I wrapped my arms around her and she looked into my eyes and softly replied.

"You are my Prince Charming and this is my fairy tale. Yes . . yes . . yes." She pulled me closer and kissed me deeply.

With my arm around her we walked to the library doors and opened them to find John and Elizabeth waiting just outside. "Mother, grandfather we have something to tell you," Mandy announced.

Later that day after the four of us had finished making making some preliminary plans for an engagement party and selecting a date for the wedding, John and I returned to the library to discuss his other problem. "I am sure the girls will be spending the rest of the day making more detailed plans," he stated. "I need to return to the office on Monday," he continued. "So that gives us four days to to decide some sort of a plan to smoke out the embezzler."

Before I could say anything my cell phone rang. Looking at the caller I.D. I saw it was my attorney and good friend Seth Anderson. "Hey, Seth," I said. "What's up?" I sat stunned listening to his reply. "How much did you say? Please repeat that figure, I am not sure I heard you correctly."

Seth went on to say he would FAX me a completed contract as soon as he looked it over for my signature. Ending the call, I looked at John who had a puzzled expression on his face.

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "They want to buy my forensic accounting software package."

"Who?" he asked.

"The largest distributer of business soft product in the world, Microsoft." I replied. "And they offered me five million dollars up front plus two dollars on each unit sold. Seth told me he was going to play hardball with them. I never realized he had that kind of a fastball."

"Ok." I continued, "Where were we? Oh yeah, a plan. Last night I hacked into your office main frame server. I'll install some new security apps so no one else can do it in the future. From what I learned I've narrowed the culprit down to one of two men in the purchasing department, Ralph Thompson or Chad Jacobs. Now I already know the 'What', 'How' and, by next week, the 'Who'. With your permission I would like to purchase ten new laptops and special cases for them."

I explained to him my plan for not only identifying the embezzler but also possibly getting his stolen money back. He agreed and I went about adapting one of my old programs to accomplish my goals.

Chapter Six

The following afternoon Mandy and I, accompanied by two of the biggest security men I ever saw, went to the local mall to shop for an engagement ring. At the second store we went into Mandy found the exact setting she wanted. She was shocked when I told the sales representative that we wanted to see a selection of diamonds in a one to two carat range. When I selected a flawless two carat blue-white stone she protested that it was much too expensive and she would be happy with something much smaller.

"Sweetheart." I told her, "Prince Charming has no problem being able to purchase this for you. After all it's his job to make sure your fairy tale comes true." The look on her face was priceless.

After making arrangements to have the ring fitted properly the sales rep promised to have it ready for her to wear in about an hour or they would deliver it the next day. I told him we would be back later in the day after doing some other shopping in the mall.

It was a little after five when we arrived back home and Mandy ran inside to show her mother and grandfather her ring. I followed along with a huge grin on my face. It really felt great to see her so happy and excited.

When some order of calm resumed, John informed me that the FAX from Seth Anderson had arrived and was on his desk in the library. He accompanied me into the library and told me to sit at his desk while I read the cover letter and the contract. Everything was spelled out in black and white and was just as Seth had described it to me yesterday morning. I signed it and FAXed it back to Seth's office. In his cover letter Seth informed me that as soon as he received the signed contract back the initial money would be deposited in my account. All of a sudden I was a wealthy man.