Chapter 3

When he arrived back home Michael built a small cabin on some family land. He was deeded five acres on the river near his parent's home. He did most of the work on the cabin himself. It was 25 by 35 feet and had a large bedroom and bath suite with combined kitchen living and dining area. He installed a small wood stove for auxiliary heat. His cabin was on a rise above the river. He could sit on the deck and watch the river flow past. There was a very nice, deep tree shaded hole in which he swam. He did build a three car garage attached to the cabin by a glassed in breezeway that included a shop area.

After his home was completed Mike began looking for work. He had a standing offer to work for the family but he was not sure he wanted to do that. One day his father, Grandfather and Uncle came to his cabin with an offer he accepted. One of the family businesses was losing profitability rapidly. Things looked fine on paper but there were constant inventory problems and quality problems with the finished product. Jeff explained the problem as he saw it then said, "We would like you to take a job in the manufacturing area of the plant and see if you can figure out where the problems are. Take as much time as you need but the sooner you complete the investigation the better. Right now we are just barely profitable and we stand to lose some major contracts if we don't get quality up."

Mike left the next day and travelled to the plant. He rented a small inexpensive apartment then went to the plant to apply for work. The job had already been set up for him and the application was just a formality but he had to make it. The personnel manager had been told by one of the managers outside the factory to hire him because the manager owed an old friend a favor. He told the Personnel Manager Mike was the son of an old friend who he owed.

When Mike arrived at the factory he was not met with friendliness. The Personnel Manager made it known immediately he was not welcome. Mike was hired, filled out the necessary documents as Mike Field. He was then rushed to the factory floor where he was given the job of "gofer". He ran for parts, cleaned, stacked parts and generally was given every unpleasant job his supervisors could think up.

As the days went by Mike could be seen nearly everywhere on the production floor, the warehouse area and the shipping docks. He was always working and always complaining about how he was being mistreated. Some of the other employees began to talk to him, to even befriend him. Even they could see Mike was being dumped on. All throughout his day Mike kept his eyes and ears open. He watched and made notes of those employees who were sloughing off. He watched the managers and supervisory personnel as they did their jobs. Soon a pattern became apparent. There were some employees who just did not have the knowledge or desire to do their work. They were careless and made mistakes. They produced subpar products. Mike took names.

As he wandered around the plant Mike would naturally visit with other employees as did everyone else. One of the female clerks who kept records in the warehouse was especially helpful. After Michelle became comfortable with Mike they began to talk about more than the weather. One day Mike found Michelle sitting at her station with tears in her eyes. He stopped and asked, "What's the matter Michelle?"

Michelle bit her lower lip and the tears ran harder down her cheeks. She just shook her head 'no' and turned from Mike. He felt a pulling in his chest and walked up to her. He gently wiped the tears from her cheeks and without thinking he pulled her to his well muscled chest. Michelle was quietly shaking and sobbing. Finally she got control of herself and pushed Mike away. She looked up at Mike and tried to smile but couldn't. Her eyes looked haunted and she whispered, "Thanks Mike. I'm sorry you caught me doing that. I just ... I'm having trouble making my counts balance again. Every day this week I've been off on product and shipping numbers. A lot of times it takes me a couple of days to balance when this happens."

Mike looked at her strangely and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know what I do but it seems like I get crazy or something and my numbers don't balance like they should. I know I'm better than that but for the last year every few weeks I just seem to lose it and screw up the totals. I seem to get over counts on product or undercounts on sales or something. Then when I go back sometimes for the third or fourth time I find I have the right numbers but for some reason I entered the data wrong in the computer. If I didn't know better I would think someone was fucking with me." Her eyes got big and her mouth dropped open and she continued, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that word."

Mike smiled and said, "No problem Shelly. I've heard it before and said it myself too."

"Yeah but ladies shouldn't use language like that and I'm sorry."

While Mike was listening to Michelle his mind was racing. He wondered if this discrepancy could account for the missing raw material inventory and completed product inventory? What if the original completed product sheets Michelle saw were right and someone changed the numbers lower then replaced the correct documents with altered ones showing lower production. They would then have completed product to sell elsewhere like they did the returns. He was preoccupied as he said, "Well, I gotta go before we both get in trouble for loafing. Catch ya later."

Mike also found that products were shipped to certain customers where they would be tested and the entire shipment returned as being subpar. When it returned it was segregated in the warehouse and later that evening a warehouse manager and the senior floor supervisor would sort through it. They separated the shipment into two piles. One pile went into another box and was loaded into the warehouse manager's panel truck after all other employees left. There would be an entry going to accounting showing the rejected products were sold for scrap for pennies on the dollar. The warehouse manager and the floor supervisor then resold the good products for full wholesale price and split the profits. The actual defective parts were legitimately sold for scrap with the income being placed in the company bank account showing an actual sale from a reputable salvage yard documented by their purchase order. He did find it strange that the weight shown was always obscured and the amounts did not usually tally up to the amount he felt should have been paid for material.

Mike reported to his family and they had outside investigators follow the shipments after they left the Warehouse Manager's hands. The investigation had been going on three months by this time. Mike was almost ready to act but he wanted to check out Michelle's problem first.

Mike hid a camera in the warehouse rafters and trained it on Michelle's desk. Several days after she had alerted him to the discrepancy in her records he hit the jackpot. The floor supervisor walked up to her desk and began searching through her pending work. He quickly found a document and removed it from the pile. He substituted one he had been carrying and quickly left. Mike had taken several pictures as he did that. He also got pictures of the warehouse manager loading two cases of 24 automotive alternators into his panel truck before he left that evening.

The next day mid morning Mike once again walked up to Michelle's desk to find she was upset again. "What's wrong this time Shelly," he asked.

"My damn count is off again. The freaking computer records are 48 units off from the paper documentation. I just don't understand it. I KNOW I balanced yesterday but when I matched shipments of completed product, warehouse stock, shipped stock and manufactured product added I came up 48 alternators off for yesterday. I found the paper production report the floor supervisor left and the production number is smudged to where I could barely read it. I know it was clear when I put it in my in basket last night before I left. Mike I'm beginning to think someone is either screwing with my head or..."

Michelle got a shocked look on her face and said, "Oh my gosh. I wonder ... NO they wouldn't do that would they?"

"What?"

"Mike what if the numbers are being changed and some of the alternators are being stolen?"

Mike felt his stomach lurch. He wasn't sure what to do now. He and Michelle had become very close friends over the last several weeks but did he trust her not to blow his cover? What could he do about her conclusion? He looked as skeptical as he could and said, "Oh, come on Michelle. Who would want to do something like that? You can't really believe that can you?"

"Yeah, I think I do. I'm going to tell ... Oh, heck who can I tell? I don't know who's in on it if that is what is going on. I could tell the wrong person and ruin things. Oh crap. Now I don't know what to do."

"Well, let's think about this a day or two and see if we can come up with something before you do it. If someone's stealing alternators and falsifying records you could get hurt and I wouldn't want that."

"I don't care. This isn't right and this company gave me a job when I got out of college. I was desperate. I couldn't find anything and finally I talked the Personnel Manager into trying me in this job even though I was over qualified for it. My degree was in Business Administration and I thought if I did well here I might move up in the company so I took the job. Guess that isn't going to happen now though. I'll probably get canned for this. I've been down here while this went on under my nose and all I did was change my numbers to match the false ones." She smiled a sick smile and continued, "I guess I wasn't as smart as I thought I was but we have to tell someone about this now even if it does cost me my job."

"Well, promise me you'll wait a couple of days and I'll try to come up with something for you."

Michelle looked at Mike strangely and said, "Mike what do you mean? You know we've talked a lot over the last several weeks and you just don't seem like you belong in this job. You're smart and you don't talk like someone who would do the kind of work you're doing. Sometimes you sound like an uneducated hick then when we are talking about other things you sound like a very educated person. Now you tell me to not report this and you'll come up with something for me? Mike are you hiding something from me? You're not really a 'gofer' are you?"

Mike became even more worried after Michelle said that. He knew from the look in her eyes that he had given even more away with his change in expression. He didn't know how to handle this now for sure. Michelle was staring at him. Her face had a serious, hard look he had never seen her show before.

"Ok Mike. I don't know why but I'll wait a few days before I say anything about this. You'd better not be putting me on though. For some reason I feel like I can trust you but I won't wait forever so you can come up with something either. This is costing the company money it can't afford to lose. I hired on to do my best for this company and I intend to do that. I promised to do the best job I could for the pay and I intend to do that too. If I find out you're messing with me..."

Mike raised his hands shoulder height and interrupted Michelle. He said, "Whoa there girl. We're friends and I promise I'm not messing you around. I NEVER mess with my friends and I always try to do what is right. I just don't want you to get in trouble. Just give me a day or two to see if I can come up with a good idea for you. Ya know, like maybe just an anonymous tip or something. Just let me think about it a while Shelly."

Mike and Shelly talked a while longer then he wandered off. He moved slowly as did most of the other employees taking as long as he could to do his work, not a care in the world. When he turned a corner he looked back and Michelle was still watching him with a quizzical look on her face.

That evening Mike contacted his family, the corporate attorney and the investigators. They all agreed to meet and discuss his new problem with Michelle. The next morning Mike called in sick and they all met at the attorney's office. At the meeting they decided they had enough to go on to bring in the police. Mike and the Attorney went to the local prosecuting attorney's office with documentation of the fraud and theft going on in the plant. After he looked it over the prosecutor agreed they had a case and thanked them for tying it up so nicely for him.

The prosecutor asked Mike hold off on doing anything at the company until he could get a force together to arrest the men Mike had identified as being involved in the fraud and theft. Mike and the company attorney returned to the attorney's office where they once more met with family representatives of the company. Mike was given letters authorizing him to take over as Plant Manager any time at his discretion.

The next day Mike returned to work as usual. It was difficult for him to maintain his normal work patterns. On his first trip past Michelle's desk he stopped to visit as he usually did. Michelle looked at him and said, "Mike what's the matter? You look tired and upset somehow."

"Yeah, I guess I am. I had to take yesterday off because I didn't feel well but I didn't get much better overnight. I've been worrying about your problem too and not sleeping for thinking about it." Mike started to move on then turned back to Michelle and said, "Hey Michelle I've been thinking about what we talked about. Would you like to go out for supper with me tonight so we can visit more?" He looked around as if he wanted to be sure no one was listening and continued, "You know, about what we want to do, ya know just to see where we're going?"

Michelle frowned and looked at Mike for a moment. She wasn't sure what he was asking her. Was he asking her out on a date or did he want to talk about her problem? She liked Mike and trusted him somewhat but even after nearly six months she wasn't sure she knew the real Mike. Finally she said, "I guess I can. What were you thinking about?"

Mike smiled and said, "Oh, I don't know, just a nice meal and somewhere quiet where we can talk and maybe, (he saw the floor supervisor watching them closely and continued speaking a little louder) well, get to know each other a little better?"

Michelle was surprised at the way Mike worded the request then she, too, caught a glimpse of the Supervisor and went with the flow. She forced a smile and said, "Ok. That sounds fine."

The couple rapidly settled on a time and Michelle gave Mike her address so he could pick her up. As he was finishing the Supervisor walked up to them and said, "What's going on here? I pay you two to work, not stand around flirting and making dates. Get back to work before I have to do something you'll both regret."

That evening Mike picked Michelle up as planned. She was dressed nicely but not ostentatiously. When Mike arrived he was in dress slacks and sport coat. Michelle looked at him strangely. It was obvious Mike had spent several dollars on his clothes. She was sure the clothes cost more than a minimum wage worker would spend on them. Mike's vehicle was a nearly new smaller SUV and again was just slightly more costly than she thought he could afford on his salary.

Mike took her to an Olive Garden for supper and she relaxed somewhat. She felt like that would be the top end of what he could afford on his salary. Then she was shocked when he ordered a higher priced bottle of wine to go with their meal. Finally she said, "Mike what are you doing? You can't afford all this on your salary. You don't have to do this."

Mike smiled and said, "I know I don't have to do this but I want to. I save a little along so I can splurge from time to time and I wanted to splurge with you tonight." They visited until after the meal was finished and Michelle was beginning to wonder if Mike had intended this to be a date or what was going on. She became even more worried when he ordered dessert and coffee.

After the waitress left with that order Mike reached for her hands and held them while he looked into her eyes. "I guess we need to talk about your problem now. I have a couple of ideas for you but I really don't want to ruin the evening with business. I've really enjoyed tonight and don't want to spoil it thinking about work.

"Shelly I think I may have an idea on what to do. Why don't you make copies of all the inventory papers that come through your desk for a while then when the next discrepancy occurs copy the changed papers too. When that happens we can take the copies to the Plant Manager and tell him what we found. We could even mail them to him anonymously."

"I guess I can do that but he'll know who had to send them if we just mail them. I mean I would be the logical person you know." Of course Mike didn't care about that because he planned on stepping in and 'dropping the hammer' before Michelle got in trouble for sending the copies. This was just the best he could come up with to keep her from reporting things before he was ready.

"I know but if you do that and keep copies for yourself too if you get in trouble you can find out who Pennington's boss is and go to him." Finally Michelle agreed to do what Mike suggested.

It was almost two weeks later when Michelle once again found a discrepancy in her numbers. She told Mike and also told him she had been making copies like he suggested. Mike smiled to himself when she told him that because he and the police were ready to move in. They had finished their preliminary investigation two days before. Warrants for the arrest of 7 people had been issued by the courts. They had decided to make the arrests before the weekend. Mike convinced Michelle to wait until the next day to report to the Plant Manager. He even convinced her to let him go with her when she made the report.

The next morning just after work began Mike, the company attorney, the Prosecuting Attorney and a task force of police descended on the company. Mike led them straight to the shop floor where he pointed out the men who were to be apprehended. Within minutes they were in custody and Mike and the attorney made their way to the Plant Manager's office. They found the Manager and his assistant already in his office. They walked into the office without knocking. They had heard the assistant telling the manager what was going on out in the shop.