Harry sat down at his desk, signed on to his computer, and opened his e-mail box. The first message was from Ed Slate.
It said, "Got the pic. I don't know her, but I know of her. It's a long story. Call me."
At that moment he heard Gloria's voice on his intercom.
"I've got Ed Slate on line one, Harry," she said, "pick up and I'll be right in."
"Olivia, sometime your timing is downright scary," said Harry.
"What do you mean?" said Gloria.
"I'll explain later," said Harry.
"Okay," said Gloria.
Harry answered the call and put it on speaker so that Gloria could hear it when she got there.
"Talk to me, Ed," said Harry.
"Hi, Harry," Ed said sarcastically, "I'm fine. How are you?"
Harry laughed and said, "Okay. You're right. I'm sorry. This whole situation has got me going every which way. That's all."
"I understand," said Ed, "I'm just yankin' your chain."
"Yeah," Harry said, "You're good at that."
"Everybody's good at something," Ed shot back.
By that time Gloria had pulled up a chair to sit next to Harry.
"Hi, Ed," said Gloria, "How are you?"
"Well, I'll be darned," Said Ed, "There's an actual polite person in that office!"
"Did I miss something?" asked Gloria.
"Only the part where I tried to reach through the phone to throttle this jerk," said Harry with a chuckle.
"Hi, Gloria" Ed said, "How are you?"
"I'm fine," said Gloria, "Can't you two boys get along for five minutes?"
"Where's the fun in that?" said Harry and Ed at almost the same time.
Gloria just rolled her eyes.
"Did you get my e-mail?" Ed asked.
"Yes," said Harry, "just before Gloria called you. What's the story?"
"For a start Olivia Freemont is not her real name," said Ed.
"That figures," said Gloria.
"She usually goes by the name Zelina Mayer," Ed continued, "but, that's probably an alias, too."
"No doubt," said Harry.
Ed explained, "She's normally a small time grifter. She starts affairs with guys like Bill then blackmails the snot out of them."
"Delightful lady," Gloria snarked.
Ed continued, "Her other gambit it to finagle her way into a job with some company, seduce as many supervisors as she can find, and file multiple sexual harassment suits."
"The company then offers her a large, out of court settlement," said Harry, "Am I right?"
"You've nailed it," said Ed," The company keeps everything quiet with a no-tell agreement, and she walks away with a nice chunk of change."
"Delightful," said Harry ruefully.
"This is a new wrinkle for her, though," Ed went on, "she's never pulled the accounting scam before."
"Does this swindle work the way I think it does, Ed?" Gloria asked.
"If you're thinking that the phony accounting firm uses their position to bleed a company's coffers dry," Ed answered, "then, yes it does."
"There are times when I'd really rather not have been right," said Gloria.
"I know what you mean," said Ed, "One other thing, though. She's probably only the front for this thing. She's likely got other people working on it with her behind the scenes."
"That would make sense," said Harry.
"What's the name of the firm she claims to represent?" Ed asked.
"A.W. Accounting and Consulting," said Gloria.
Then she sat bolt upright as though an electric shock had just gone through her.
Ed said, "I'll check that out, and..."