The Merger – 17

 

"What's on your agenda today?" Josh asked, walking into Mike's office Monday morning, three weeks after their combined agency had officially opened.

"Going to one of the lawyer's offices to pick up two summonses they want served then tracking down the recipients. You?"

"Checking out a security system I installed a couple of months ago. The owner says one of the cameras isn't working the way it should." Josh shook his head. "My bet, knowing him, he decided he wanted it facing a different display case and when he tried to aim it there, he messed up the connection."

"He monitors them himself?" Mike asked.

"Yeah. He didn't want to pay the extra to have me do it. He wanted all the bells and whistles but was only willing to pay me to monitor the alarm box for any unauthorized use."

"By employees?"

Josh nodded. "If someone tries to break in, the call is automatically directed to the police. He just wants to know if any of the people who work for him come in after hours for some reason."

"Why do they have the alarm code? Okay, never mind. It's a case of the first one to arrive disarms the box rather than standing around waiting until he shows up."

"Exactly. The same thing in reverse when they leave. "

"I hope he had someone do background checks on all of them before giving them the code."

Josh laughed. "Angling for a new client? I have no idea if he did or not, but one can hope. Okay, see you later. Have fun serving summonses." He stopped in his office to print out a report for his client about when the system had been armed and disarmed within the last week then headed to the client's place of business.

*****

"I never touched it," the client, Mr. Allen, protested after Josh checked the angle of the camera in question. "Why would I want it watching my office door?"

"Well, someone did," Josh replied. "Whether they intended to break the connection or not, it happened. When did you realize it wasn't working?"

"Yesterday morning. I'd have called you then but it was Sunday. I decided waiting a day wouldn't hurt."

"Have you checked the contents of the display case to make certain nothing is missing?" Since the case the camera had originally been aimed at contained dozens of engagement and wedding rings, it was a valid question in Josh's opinion.

Apparently, from his frown, Mr. Allen hadn't. "It didn't occur to me. I thought the camera had gone down, not that there might be a reason behind it." He studied the case in question, his gaze moving from one item to the next. From across the store, two of his employees watched as they waited on customers. As far as Josh could tell, neither of them seemed particularly worried—just interested.

It took a few minutes, but when Mr. Allen was finished, his frown had been replaced by a scowl. "I need to check invoices from yesterday," he said, striding into his office with Josh right behind him. He pulled up the computer records of sales from the previous day. "It looks as if we're missing four diamond engagement rings. If I find out who took them…"

Josh took the printout he'd done from his bag, handing it to Mr.. Allen. "Someone came in just after midnight on Sunday," Josh said after they'd both looked at it. "I presume it wasn't you."

"Hell, no. It had to be one of the people working for me. Right?"

"A logical conclusion. A thief wouldn't have entered the security code. He'd have had tools to bypass the system instead, including turning off the cameras. I take it that didn't happen, except for the one that's been moved."

"No. I'd have said something if none of them had been working." Mr. Allen sighed. "Now I have to find out which one of my employees stole from me."

"If you want, I can have my partner come by to talk with you then you can decide whether you want to hire him or not." When Mr. Allen nodded, Josh said, "I'll have him call you, probably later today. In the meantime, I'll reset the camera and fix the connection. If it happens again, call me immediately."

"Believe me, I will," Mr. Allen replied.

*****

Josh didn't get to talk to Mike until early afternoon when his partner returned from serving the summonses, grumbling, "Some people should understand that slamming the door in my face will not stop them from being served. It just pisses me off."

Josh grinned. "Tell me you didn't punch them out after you finally handed them the summons." 

"Tempting, but no. Did you find out what was wrong with the guy's camera?"

"I did." Josh went on to explain, including the fact that Mr. Allen was waiting for Mike to call.

Mike did, setting up an appointment to talk to Mr. Allen that afternoon.