The Body in the Building by Jane Stockwell

Author:Jane Stockwell
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-03-31T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

I rode the lift down to the floor below my office. All of the administration and IT support staff worked on this floor, and I needed the help of one person who could find the information proving the geo report had been modified.

Simon Fielding was the company's system administrator. As usual, he wasn't sitting at his desk, so I walked across to the server room where he seemed to spend most of his time. The sound of humming computers was audible through the closed door.

My swipe card had no access to the server room; only Simon and the company directors were authorized, so I rapped on the door sharply. There was no answer. It was common for him to not hear over the servers, so I waited a few moments and knocked again.

I was about to knock a third time when the door handle twisted and the door opened. The muffled hum from the room suddenly became a cacophony of servers, fans, and air conditioners. Simon slipped out of the room, quickly closing the door behind him.

If it were possible for Simon Fielding to be more the stereotypical computer nerd, it wouldn't take much. He was in his early twenties and wore a black Space Invaders T-shirt and jeans, his thin, pale face behind large glasses and messy, greasy hair.

"Hey, Nat," he said as he walked back to his desk. Simon was far more comfortable around computers than other people, but we shared a love of science fiction so he was usually chatty with me. Today, however, he seemed stressed and sullen, unwilling to make eye contact.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, concerned.

He waved away the question. "Yes, just stressed," he replied, staring intently at the screen in front of him. "One of the... one of the servers has issues, trying to find it." Simon had days where social interaction was difficult, so I didn't press further.

"Look, I can see you're busy and I wouldn't ask if it weren't urgent," I said, "but can I please get you to check something for me?"

Simon finally tore his eyes off his screen and looked at me. He paused before answering, "I suppose so, as long as it doesn't take too long."

"Thanks, Simon," I said, relieved. "It shouldn't take long." I reached into my pocket and took out a post-it note with the file name and the modified date on it. "I need a backup copy of this file," handing him the note, "from before this date."

Simon stared at the note for a moment, his expression uncertain. "Look," he said, "Let me take a look, but there are no guarantees I'll have it."

"I thought we had to keep all of this information for at least a year after the project ends," I replied.

"Oh yeah," he said, his face unreadable. He paused for a moment. "That's just for the, umm, latest versions of the info. It might be there. Give me an hour and I'll check for you."

I opened my mouth to challenge his assertion but decided to let it go.

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