Lacey looked up from the Polar Family Roofing financial statements on her desk and at the woman sitting across from her. It was the twelfth of December and only eleven more days until Wesstlar Brothers and Associates, the accounting firm Lacey worked for, closed for the holidays on the 23rd. Not that Lacey was counting down the days. She was one of those people who were genuinely invigorated by their job. To her, accounting was like solving a giant puzzle, which she constructed ledger by ledger until she saw the real financial picture. This was also almost certainly why Matty Polar had come to see her, with dark circles under her eyes accentuated by worry lines.
‘So, your brother asked you to bring in the family business’s statements for review?’
Matty nodded, ‘Yes, but I am also part of the business. My brother runs the day-to-day operations while I manage human resource issues. In our small business, this basically means dealing with the work roster, personnel squabbles, and work-related injuries.”
‘Ah, that sounds like a very diverse job description,” Lacey replied with a smile. “And you asked for me specifically?’
‘No, I asked the receptionist who to talk to about financial oddities, and she brought me to you.’
It was true. As Robert Wesstlar, the managing partner, liked telling clients, Lacey was their number one detective. Financial oddities were Lacey’s bread and butter.
‘Oh? You think there might be fraud?’
Matty twiddled her fingers nervously before leaning forward, dropping her voice, ‘We think there’s … you know … someone … ah, something’s not right.’
Lacey pulled a notepad closer.
‘What have you and your brother noticed?’
‘Well, we’ve had a terrific year. The business should have a bunch of money in the bank, but we’re barely squeaking by. Peter, my brother, even had to take a pay cut so that we could afford the materials for the last few jobs. He just bought his own house too. It’s been really rough on him.’
‘That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s fraud though. It could be that the business’s pricing is off or that there are too many outstanding accounts.’
‘We know, and that’s what Uncle Albert also said.’
‘Wait,’ Lacey stopped her. ‘Who’s Uncle Albert?’
Matty hesitated, clenching her hands, and then breathed something.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you. Could you say that again, louder?’
‘I said, he’s our financial manager.’
She grabbed her handbag and rifled through it, pulling out a travel pack of tissues. Taking one, she blotted at her eyes, which Lacey belatedly realised was tearing up.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
‘You think he’s stealing from the business?’
‘Oh, I don’t know. He’s been with us for ages. He wouldn’t betray us, we’re family.’
Lacey didn’t respond to that, as they both knew it was quite possible and, under the circumstances, maybe even probable. And, if it were true, as HR manager, Matty would be the one who had to deal with it.
‘Okay, let me take a look at it. Can you and Peter come in tomorrow so I can speak to both of you?’
‘It’ll just have to be early so Peter doesn’t miss work. We don’t want Uncle Albert to know what we’re doing.’
Lacey didn’t mind early. Most of the time, she was in the office well before work hours anyway.
❄️
A singer bellowed about his candy cane of joy to the sound of screaming guitars. Lacey blearily focused on the television, which was happily streaming Christmas music on autoplay. It was close to midnight. Something crinkled as she lifted her head off the dining room table. She ran a hand over her face, dislodging a cash flow statement stuck to her cheek. It belonged to Polar Family Roofing.
Outside, snow fell in thick flurries, obscuring the Christmas-light-decorated houses up and down the street. Her and her direct neighbour’s houses were the only ones not decorated yet. Hers, because she was still working, and the neighbour’s because he had only recently moved in. Not that she’s had a chance to meet him yet with her work schedule. Maybe over the holidays if he doesn’t go on vacation. She hoped his renovations would be done before Christmas. She was getting tired of seeing the building-rubble skip bin outside.
Christmas tended to be a lonely time for Lacey, having grown up in a foster care group home. According to the group home’s mom, she was found one Christmas morning when she was two. She had a card pinned to her coat with her name and date of birth. No explanation, no letter from her parents, nothing. The story gave Lacey a special connection to the season, and she had always found solace in the twinkling Christmas lights. Watching them, she imagined the wonderful ways she and her family might have celebrated it if they were together, and she liked to think that maybe her parents were thinking of her too.
Turning back to her work, she was afraid she didn’t have good news for the Polars. The more she read, the more certain she became that someone was embezzling from the business. Her money would be on Uncle Albert since he was in charge of finances, but she needed to gather more information to confirm it. As always, the thought excited her. Nothing could beat the rush of pursuing a trail of clues embedded in the numbers to its conclusion. A part of her even wondered how she had managed to fall asleep in the middle of such an exciting challenge. By tomorrow morning, she would have everything Matty and Peter needed.
❄️
Lacey could barely force her eyes open when her alarm went off the following day. It was still dark outside, and there was a familiar winter chill in her bedroom. Why am I so tired? She wondered as she drifted back to sleep. Oh, yes. Polar Family Roofing.
Half an hour later, she woke again with a start. What time is it? Oh no! She flew out of bed and rushed through the shower. Coming out of the shower, a petite, fair-skinned blonde with tired green eyes caught her eye for a moment in the mirror as she ran a toothbrush through her mouth. Then they both bolted away, Lacey grabbing coffee and dashing out the door into the silent white landscape outside. This would’ve been fine except for the layer of ice that had formed overnight on the bottom porch step.
Time slowed as the world gyrated around Lacey, the ground dropping away under her feet and the sky flying across her vision. She fell flat on her back, hearing her breath whoosh as the impact thumped through her body. Something hot was spilling down the back of her head. Oh no, my coffee! Reaching up to touch it, she couldn’t feel the mug, but her fingers came away covered in sticky red.
Complete exhaustion flooded her, making her body feel like lead while a monotonous whistle blew in her ears. She tried to lift her head, but that made the world spin in nauseating circles. So she stayed on her back, watching the sky gradually become darker until all was black.
❄️❄️❄️