M 05 Missing Persons by Sean Campbell

Author:Sean Campbell [Campbell, Sean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
Published: 2017-05-04T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 37: Not My Job

Saturday 25th June, 12:01

Auger and Co were by far Jake’s most lucrative client. They were a temp agency, one of the largest in the City of London. On any given day, they would have a thousand temporary employees allocated to almost as many locations, and every single one of them would be logging their hours so they could get paid.

Most of the paperwork they had was in-house. Their hours were logged electronically, and payments including taxes, liens, and the like were dealt with by the computer. Then there were the adjustments – extra hours, travel and other expenses, holiday and sick pay for those not on zero hours contracts.

It was a complex system, and only Jake Sanders had oversight of everything going on. It was his job to reconcile the costs, authorise the payments, and ensure that Auger and Co stayed within the law while paying minimal National Insurance. The total salary bill then left their bank account as a single payment via BACS. All of which gave Jake Sanders the access he needed to pilfer thousands of pounds a month to pay non-existent employees.

It wasn’t a complicated fraud. He included dummy employees on the BACS transfer and routed them through dummy accounts that he’d opened with a variety of different banks, and ultimately paid himself for non-existent work. Morton had dispatched Mayberry to the Fraud Squad to find out just how extensive the theft was.

In the meantime, Morton wanted to find out what the clients knew. He didn’t want to get involved with a fraud case. They were boring, and they involved far more paperwork than Morton cared to read, but if it was the underlying factor in a murder, then he had to take his investigation as he found it.

Auger and Co were based just north of Moorgate Underground Station in a fashionable office by Finsbury Square Garden. It took forever to find somewhere to park, as all the roads were double-yellows, and Morton refused to get caught out again.

He’d called ahead to make an appointment with Monsieur Jacque Auger. The boss didn’t usually work Saturdays, and had only reluctantly agreed when Morton said the magic words “murder enquiry”.

Auger was waiting for Morton in the lobby. ‘You are late.’

Morton almost laughed. ‘Good thing I’m not here for a job, then. Mr Auger, I presume.’

‘My time is valuable, Monsieur Morton. I allotted you half an hour.’ Auger made a show of checking his watch. ‘You have six minutes remaining of that time.’

The apology for his tardiness that had been on Morton’s lips disappeared. ‘This will take as long as it takes. As part of my murder enquiry, I am investigating a number of financial irregularities. This meeting is a courtesy, one which I do not have to extend to you. If you’d prefer that I return on Monday morning with a search warrant and a team of forensic accountants, then I can.’

Auger’s haughty demeanour dissipated. ‘Financial irregularities? What financial irregularities? Shall we sit?’

Auger motioned for Morton to sit in the lobby.

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