“Oooh, your system is much faster than ours,” Mondrya said. “Anyway, Mr. Collins reports employment dates being from July, 1988 to February, 1989.”
“That's correct.”
“Can you tell me if he resigned or terminated?”
“Company policy prohibits the release of that information.”
“I understand. Here's my problem, Judy. Mr. Collins has applied for a sensitive position and I need to know if he was ter
minated for any type of financial impropriety.”
“Hmm, I understand your situation, Mondrya, but I hope you can appreciate the need to protect confidential information. So, Mondrya,” Judy paused.
“Yes, Judy.”
“If I were to tell you that Mr. Collins was fired for gross mismanagement of the accounts assigned to him, I could be fired. Sorry I couldn't help you. You have a nice day, Mondrya.”
“You, too, Judy. And thank you for your help,” Mondrya said and hung up the phone.
The better part of the day was filled with a boring meeting, followed by a dull corporate lunch. At least the food was good. Lunch was followed by two more boring meetings. It was three-thirty before Mondrya got back to her office. While she sat through the endless series of meaningless meetings, Mondrya's mind was focused clearly on how she was going to proceed. She needed to access Frank Collins records in the system. This time she wasn't worried about any automatic triggers sending email, since all the email would come to her anyway. Mondrya turned on her computer and tried logging in with her old group manager password.
ACCESS DENIED
She tried to remember the system password she'd seen Richie type so many times.
ACCESS DENIED
Mondrya knew she would only have one more attempt to gain access before the system locked her out. Think, Mondrya, think. She thought about logging in as herself, since she had access to the system, but she definitely didn't need anybody knowing what she was looking for in the system. The HR system was one thing; the in-house brokerage system was another matter entirely. Last chance. Mondrya began to type slowly W O N I E M T E L and pressed enter. When she saw the hourglass she knew she had it. W O N N I E M T E L is, let me in now, spelled backwards.
Now that she had access to the system, Mondrya searched for all documents or entries related to Frank Collins. The system returned 39,892 items. She needed to add a variable to narrow the search parameters. Mondrya thought back to the weeks before he committed suicide. Frank had meetings with Bill Hudson on an almost daily basis. Then the promotion came. She remembered how it seemed strange to everyone that Frank wasn't happy about it at all. The daily meetings became daily arguments. The time before Suzanne died. She tried to remember the exact date, but it didn't matter. New Search, get all document or entries related to Frank Collins, last 14 months. The system returned 47 items. Display list.
Mondrya opened and read each document carefully. She got to a document named, CLIENT LIST COLLINS, FRANK, and another named, CLIENT LIST COLLINS,FRANK, Mondrya thought it was the same list. The only difference was one had a space and one didn't. Mondrya scanned CLIENT LIST COLLINS, FRANK. Frank's client list, nothing she hadn't already seen hundreds of times as his supervisor. Mondrya sat straight up in her chair when she began reading CLIENT LIST COLLINS,FRANK.
“Jackpot.”
When the document was accessed the system sent the following email:
To: advisory board member advisory [email protected]
From: System Administrator [email protected]
Subject: Unauthorized File Access
This message was automatically generated and sent to the advisory board member distribution list. Please be advised somebody has accessed restricted document:
File name: CLIENT LIST COLLINS,FRANK.
Was Accessed by: SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR
From Terminal Position: 136
Position Owner: Mondrya Foster
The document she opened contained a list of ten clients that Mondrya had never seen. Some of the names were in Spanish, while others had names like, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison. It didn't take her long to figure out the pattern was dead presidents. Mondrya quickly printed the document. Mondrya called and left a message for Marcus, confirming their luncheon engagement for the following day.
And Marcus, I have something's that I'm sure will interest you.
Then she got a file folder out of her drawer and took out her pad. At the top of the page she wrote, Notes To Marcus, then created an outline of all her observation and the conclusions. Then she came across a document named 11A2B3675C489. Mondrya opened it and the system automatically generated the following email: