Point of Contact

Jack handed him the tablet. He watched closely as Singh tapped a few more icons. On the big screen, both delivery men were surrounded by boxed target reticles, one red, one yellow. The men separated. One fell into a car, the other climbed onto a motorcycle.

Singh zoomed out, clicked more icons, and the virtual camera lens zoomed back out so that the entire city could be seen again. The two men were just yellow and red dots. A moment later a red line and a yellow line sped away in different directions from the warehouse, snaking through the city streets. Both lines ultimately landed in two separate locations on either side of the city. It took less than a second for the Steady Stare software to accomplish the feat. Singh paused the program.

“Wow,” Jack said.

“I set a time limit of only two hours.”

“How far back can you go?”

Singh shrugged. “That depends completely on how much data you have stored. If a client keeps video records for a year, they could trace those two guys — or anybody else — for a year.”

“Storage is the key, isn’t it?” Jack said. “Depending on what you want to do with the data.”

“Storage is another profit center,” Lian interrupted. “Make sure you note that in your report.”

“I will.”

“Have you seen enough?” Lian asked.

Jack studied Singh’s face. Singh’s eyes locked with his. A silent invitation.

Jack shook his head at Lian. “I’m guessing there’s still more to all of this.”

“Maybe there is,” Lian said.

27

Paul and Bai grabbed two cups of steaming-hot tea and settled into their seats back in his small office. Bai was on Paul’s elbow, as usual, and intensely interested in Paul’s every keystroke. Paul spent the first thirty minutes doing another random survey of the various subledgers, especially accounts payable and accounts receivable.

He then turned his attention to the statement of financial position and pulled up the shareholders’ equity statements. After all, the overall purpose of this accounting exercise was to help assure both Dalfan and Marin Aerospace that the agreed-upon price for the stock purchase was a fair value for both parties. There were a few technical details and also terms in Mandarin script that Bai needed to clarify for him early on, but overall it was an uneventful exercise in due diligence as Paul plodded on, line after line, figure after figure.

Though initially attentive and alert, Bai’s focus began to wane. The young accountant began pecking away at his own laptop hardwired into Dalfan’s LAN. Paul couldn’t see Bai’s screen, but he could see the reflections of an intense video game playing on the lenses of the young man’s glasses.

What Bai couldn’t have suspected was that Paul was running a subroutine in his brain’s CPU while he was overtly working on his accounting assignment. Paul thought he might have found a way to override the encrypted electronic lock on the Dalfan computer he was using, but it would be a multistep process, and the first step in the process was wearing Bai down.

So far, so good.

From yesterday’s work session, Paul had learned that Bai had a fast metabolism and was nearly ravenous by the time lunch rolled around. Paul pushed on with his mundane accounting work until he could hear the boy’s stomach mewling like a drowning cat.

“We have a problem,” Paul said.

Bai’s attention was fixed on his laptop screen. “I’m sorry, did you ask me something?”

Paul turned in his squeaking swivel chair. “I said, there’s a problem.”

Bai’s eyes snapped up. “Problem?” He slammed his laptop shut.

“Yes, a problem. I can’t do my job if I can’t connect my laptop to the mainframe.”

“It’s not possible. You know the security protocols.”

“It’s not possible for me to do my job if I don’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m finished doing my preliminary survey. Now it’s time for me to do my formal examination of your records.”

“I thought that is what you were doing.”

“No. That was only a survey — an overview. To give me the thirty-thousand-foot perspective. Now I need to drop down and hit specific targets.”

“But why do you need to connect to the mainframe with your laptop?”

“That’s where my accounting software is located.”

“That’s not possible, sir.”

“That’s why we have a problem.”

“What kind of software do you use?”

“Analytical software.”

“We have CaseWare IDEA analytical software already installed on our computers. If you don’t know how to use it, I can show you.”

“IDEA is an excellent program and I’ve used it many times. But I prefer my own software.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s mine. I wrote it.”

Bai blinked a few times, his face blank with confusion, his brain stuck in a continuous logic loop. Finally he blurted out, “I’m sorry, it’s just not possible.”

“Then how else am I supposed to be able to download all of these data sets?”

Bai shrugged.

“Oh, I have an idea,” Paul said. “You can load all of the data points I need by hand into my computer within the next twenty-four hours. It’s probably not more than half a million numbers. And of course, you can’t make a single mistake while you do it. Would that work for you?”