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..."
"Wait a minute, Ed," Harry interrupted. Then he turned to Gloria and said, "All right. I know that look. You just connected a couple of dots that nobody else saw. What is it?"
"Well," said Gloria tentatively, "maybe nothing. Maybe something."
"What, already?" asked Ed impatiently.
"I'm not sure if this means anything or not," Gloria continued, "but, doesn't it seem a bit odd that this particular scam popped up while we're in the middle of a tax audit?"
Both men fell silent for a moment.
Harry's eyes went wide as he said, "That's a very good point," her turned toward the phone and inquired, "What do you think, Ed?"
"I'll admit it's a damned strange coincidence," Ed responded, "but, it could be that the scammers caught wind of the audit and are just taking advantage of it. They might not be directly connected."
"But they might," said Harry.
"It's unlikely, but it's not impossible," I'll check it out as best I can. Things get a bit dicey when you're trying to check out the government." Then he added, "Good thinking, Gloria."
"Yes," said Harry, "Very good!"
"Thank you, gentlemen," Gloria said with a smug smile.
"One more thing, Ed," said Harry, "see what else you can dig up on our Ms. Freemont. The more we know about her the better."
"That's a work in progress, Harry," said Ed, "When are you due to see her again?"
"Thursday at one o'clock," said Gloria.
Ed was silent for a moment then said, "That's not much time. But, I'll dig up what I can. Harry, don't talk to her until after you've talked to me. Okay?"
"Will, do," said Harry.
"Anyway, I'll get started on this stuff right away," Ed said then added, "Gloria, that was really was good thinking. If you ever get tired of working for a bum like Harry I could use someone with your brains."
"It's nice to be appreciated. Ed," said Gloria.
"You know, Ed, sometimes you're a real pain in the ass," Harry said.
"It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it," Ed responded.
"Goodbye, Ed," said Harry firmly, but smiling.
"Goodbye," said a laughing Ed. Then he hung up.
"Okay," Harry said to Gloria, "We got that much done. What else is on the 'to do' for today?"