It was a cold, Thursday evening when the door of my Hotel room was rapped loud enough for me to believe that the rapper was indeed irritated. Yup, has to be Marylou! I swung open the door and saw one very pissed off woman standing there. Come on in, Marylou, I said. The first thing she noticed was a pitcher on the table that probably held her favorite orange juice and vodka. She ignored it and began a tirade as to how inconvenient it was to have to fight traffic to come over to this side of town and what was this check business all about. I could tell that her defense was going to be a hard offense.
First of all, I said, you have been a pain the ass to me for 6 years. Your latest stunt of quitting with a week's notice has forced me to spend 4 nights a week up here in Detroit in a hotel room. I was told today that I have to move my family up here permanently and quite frankly, that pisses me off. I was very happy running our Cincinnati office. I've listened to your shit and complaints for 6 years and now you're going to listen to what I have to say.
Imagine my surprise when I was setting up the property records book for the new Durability Lab and couldn't locate a couple of the cancelled checks that were written. The strange thing is, they were posted to the Contractor's account but when I received the copies from the bank, I found that they were really written to you. Oh yeah, they were endorsed and cashed by you too. On the table next to the booze are copies if you want to see them. How in the world did you get Jim to sign them or was he in on it too?
Marylou knew that I had her and also knew that embezzlement was a felony in this state with a minimum of 3 years in Jail. She was done for and couldn't think of any way out of this mess. Quite simply, for whatever reason, she had taken a chance and blew it. She walked to the table and poured herself a drink and then said I mixed them in with several checks to be signed and stupid Jim signed them without looking at them. What are you going to do about it?
I'm not sure. It's something I discovered only yesterday
And I guess I wanted to hear your side of it before I tell Jim. He'll be happy to see that he helped you steal $18,000.
Now, as Marylou knew, my boss Jim is a mean SOB and he would like nothing better than to set an example with this embezzler. She was screwed and she knew it.
Who else knows about this?
No one, I said, the property records is my own little project. I've been contemplating my options.
What options? She said while pouring another drink.
Well, the easy thing would be to drop this in Jim's lap and head for home. I'm sure he'd have a field day with this. He's not exactly pleased that you quit with little notice just before our year-end audit.
Or, I could help you and destroy the copies and forget about this project of mine. I wouldn't help you cover it up but if they were still just "missing copies" ...
Marylou seized that thought and pleaded with me to shred the copies and forget it.
Why in the world should I help an embezzler who has made my life miserable for so long?
I would make it up to you and do anything you asked she said with hope in her eyes.
Anything? I questioned.
Yes, anything. She said very deliberately.
Marylou, you have made my life miserable for six years. I don't know why you took the money but I do want you to know that it will be quite a pleasure watching you go to jail.
She stiffened at the thought.
Of course, there just might be one thing. I have to spend the next several weeks stuck in this room until I move my family here. You could make my life a little easier by entertaining me, and you know what I mean by that, don't you?
She nodded her head and I was sure she remembered the time only six months ago when we were working on a project together and she had caught me glancing at the view she was giving me down her blouse. She had very nastily reminded me that sexual harassment was cause for dismissal in this company and that if I had continued to look she would bring me up on charges. What a bitch.
What do you want me to do, she asked.