Chapter 6 - THE FILE HIDDEN UNDER PAYROLL
Delia spent the next three days examining archived records she was authorized to access.
She copied nothing she wasn't permitted to review.
She altered nothing.
And she kept careful notes.
The discrepancy appeared in an old payroll reconciliation.
A temporary worker had been paid for twelve shifts at a warehouse that had supposedly been closed.
The worker's name was unfamiliar.
Elias Rowan.
Delia checked the associated employee records.
The address belonged to an abandoned office building.
The bank account appeared in several unrelated vendor payments.
She stared at the screen.
A ghost employee.
Then she noticed the approval code.
It matched the code used on the consulting invoices.
Delia called Casimir.
“I found something.”
“What?”
“A payroll account that connects the consulting payments to the closed warehouse.”
He was silent.
“Can you prove it?”
“I can show the accounting trail.”
“Don't send it to me.”
Delia frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if there's a criminal investigation, evidence needs to be handled properly.”
He gave her the name of an independent attorney.
Amelia Grant.
“She can advise you about protecting yourself and reporting what you've found.”
Delia hesitated.
“Why are you helping me?”
Casimir was quiet.
Then he said:
May you like
“Because I know what happens when powerful men convince decent people they have no choices.”
The words stayed with her long after the call ended.
