Page 77 of Love Is an Art
“I suspect it’s a woman. Two women report to Cameron in the finance department, so it seems like a safe bet. Plus, a woman was the caller in that hotline report I referenced in the pitch.”
I nod. “That’s one of the things that impressed me about your pitch. That you asked for past hotline call records. The other firm didn’t.”
“I’ve done a fair amount of compliance work. I like it.”
“Because you like to do undercover investigations?” I ask.
“Miranda and I do joke around that when we’re old ladies, we should open up our own detective agency, although maybe we’ve already started with the Jurgen case. But no. I like compliance work—in part because it’s like solving a mystery, but also because you’re on the right side. You’re trying to do the right thing.”
“And that’s why you also do a lot of pro bono work?”
“You checked out my profile.”
“I had to do my due diligence.” And I was definitely curious. “Did you considernotworking for a corporate law firm?”
“I did, but I wanted to pay off my law school loans. And working at a law firm is valuable experience.”
“So maybe one day?” I ask. “I’m also being careful to save as much as possible for the venture capital partnership buy-in.” If Charles picks me, and if I prove myself worthy of being invited into the partnership.
“Maybe.” She shrugs. “We’re supposed to be discussing the case—not me.”
“It’s weird that there is so much I don’t know about you,” I say slowly.
She huffs. “You know me better than you think you do.”
I’m off track.Again.I need to stay out of this personal territory.
“Here’s the marketing folder you requested.” I hand it to Tessa. “It’s called Comidas en Canasta—or Food in a Straw Basket or Strawbundle—because each delivery comes in a reusable, woven plastic bag to give the feeling of a picnic and to be eco-conscious. But for every hundredth order, the customer receives a handwoven, vinyl, Oaxacan mercado bag made from artisans in Oaxaco to support those artists.”
“That’s cool. This seems like a great company—in theory.” She taps her pen against her legal pad. “Anyway, first up is what reason we’re giving for our visit and our deep dive into their books. Can you explain more about this midyear disclosure?”
“We see ourselves as a partner in helping that company reach its full potential. In general, I monitor the performance of the company to ensure that we make our money and that the money we’ve invested is being spent wisely. Trust but verify.”
Our glances meet, and there’s that pause. I should’ve verified Tessa was an artist. But I don’t usually Google my dates.
A shadow flickers across her face, and she looks down.
“And in July, we issue a more in-depth report to investors on our portfolio.”
“Okay, that’s good.” She opens the folder and hands me an annotated checklist. “I looked at the checklist you sent over for the midyear disclosure report. I’ve annotated it with additional documents we need for the investigation.”
I flip through it. “These should be easy to add—and unlikely to raise questions.” I pull up the PowerPoint on my laptop that she sent in advance.
Doing better. Let’s keep it all on the investigation.
“I looked through the financial statements you sent. There are not so many areas for kickbacks among the expenditures for outside services.” She points to her PowerPoint slide with the topics listed: software developers, talent scouting, office location scouting, office decoration, and outside legal services, among others.
“That’s what I thought.” I sip my water. “Office decoration is the only area where maybe there’s some latitude, but their offices were nicely decorated.”
“I agree. Office decoration is a gray area, where there could easily be kickbacks or overbilling. The few software developers’ contracts are probably legit. You said that they were doing most in-house, and you met with them and they knew their stuff. I’d hope, anyway; otherwise, you’re compromising the essence of your platform. Same with the talent scouting.”
“Let’s hope, but office location is pretty key too. That’s going to affect talent scouting, although maybe less nowadays with so many people working from home. And they have a central location—in Roma—which is a very hip neighborhood. Their office was impressive. It felt both high end and comfortable. It’s not big, though.”
“Okay, good to know.” She bites her nail. “At least we can bring up both topics pretty easily, and we’ll ask for any documents related to those areas.”
“I still asked to meet with the software designers again. I want your take.”
We discuss what else we need to do and what its disclosure would mean—good or bad—for the investigation.
