Page 11 of His Undercover Wolf

It took me a moment to regain my tongue after the shock of being accused and Cillian responded.

“Why on earth would we damage a company and its reputation when it has made us billions? You may delve all you fucking like, but I assure you, neither of us would do anything to endanger what we have worked so fucking hard to build.”

Not the language I would have used but Cillian got his point across on behalf of us both. Otsana grinned like she was testing us for a reaction.

“Well played, detective. As Cillian said, you may investigate us all you like…Evan has already looked thoroughly at us both as I’m sure your file shows. But if you feel he may have missed something, by all means do whatever you need.”

Otsana tilted her head to the side again, it appeared to be a habit when she was studying someone closely.

“I don’t believe it is either of you and I will not be disrupting your lives. Honestly, though, your other executives should have been investigated from the beginning and I am a little surprised none of them offered their cooperation willingly. Had they done so in one way or another, or either one of you as CEO and General Manager had forced the issue instead of fighting against it, this matter may have very well been resolved not long after Matilda.”

“You are probably right, detective.” Why was her attitude, accusing us of being tardy, setting me on edge? “We most likely should have, but if we continue sitting here arguing about a past that cannot be changed, we’ll get no closer to the criminal.”

Otsana’s cheeks pinked at my rebuke. “Again I apologize if my comments were out of line. It was not my intention to be rude, but I become frustrated with people who insist on making our job so much harder than it should be. Cases that should be wrapped up in months end up taking years when information is not disclosed in a timely manner. I understand why Evan was unable to settle this case. I shall attempt to keep my frustration in check and my opinions to myself.”

“I also apologize for my tone. Shall we continue without making further accusations?”

Otsana slipped the notepad open and held her pen poised over the blank page.

I turned my attention to the sheet of paper where Cillian and I had made notes earlier in the day.

“These people are senior executives, most in charge of a small team of people between two and fifteen employees excepting the research and development department which has thirty employees. Ralph Kenny is second in charge of sales and marketing as assistant to Cillian. Demetri Elatri is in charge of the accounting team of three including himself. Betty Lowe, who you have met is my current personal assistant and Molly Carne is Cillian’s assistant. Pamela Vault, whom you also would have met, looks after welcoming visitors to this floor, product movement and she also heads our shipping department of fifteen employees which are housed on the ground floor. Glenn Ferris is Human Resources, Elizabeth Watts assists Cillian in procurement of product and components, and Wilson Manx is one of our engineers who is head of research and development.”

I paused for a moment to give Otsana time to finish writing down everything I’d said. When she was done, I continued.

“Most have offices on the ground floor except Wilson who is on the second floor with his team.”

Otsana added the extra information. “You have offices overseas…Have those people been investigated?”

“They are more shop fronts. Each has a manager and two employees. They are situated to coordinate shipping of our new, major product which is their main purpose. They also take inquiries and keep a limited stock of electronics equipment and components for sale. For example…It is easier for our office in Melbourne, Australia, to arrange shipping of our products, which attract high demand, for their region. They haven’t been in place very long, but we anticipate they will take pressure off this head office particularly during new product releases.”

“That makes sense. When are they advised of the details of new products?”

“Around one month before release we will ship product to the regions to ensure it arrives on time, but it won’t be released by the port until our announcement goes live. Panda has gone out, and they have been advised of the delayed release as have the ports.”

“Not very trusting,” Otsana mused. “Have they been investigated? I don’t recall having seen anything in the file.”

I shook my head. “Evan agreed it wasn’t necessary. Our first office in Ontario didn’t open until six years ago and Melbourne came into effect eighteen months ago. Evan ruled them out along with employees who have been with the company for less than ten years since the insider trading was an issue before they were employed.”

“I agree, it’s highly unlikely to be one of them but if nothing is found, we’ll add them into the investigation.” Otsana locked her eyes on mine. “Who do you believe is responsible even though you can’t prove it yet?”

I leaned forward, rested my elbows on the desk, and tented my fingers before glancing at Cillian for a moment. “That, detective, is the ten-million-dollar question. Being honest…Cillian and I have gone through the company servers with a forensic computer specialist. We have watched the movements of employees and tapped phones.”

I held up a hand when Otsana narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to speak.

“We know phone tapping is illegal, but we were desperate and had a judge sign off on it after we explained what was happening. He agreed to give us fourteen days and said anything found outside the time frame would be deemed illegal and inadmissible in court.”

Otsana smiled. “I’m pleased to hear you followed correct procedures.”

“Xavier and I hired private detectives to watch a couple of people we suspected, but again nothing was found,” Cillian explained.

“Yes, I read their reports that were in the file. The final thing we need to discuss is putting a plant inside the company. She will be able to study the workings of employees and pick up on anything that’s out of place that you may have missed. Fresh eyes so to speak.”

“She?”

Again, Otsana tilted her head and studied my face before she answered. “I have information that Betty, your personal assistant has been attempting to retire.” She grinned and raised an eyebrow.

“I have been reluctant to let her go,” I admitted.

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