The Manifest

Chapter 32

     Mr. Smith was in his office working intensely, which was rather normal for his line of work. The program always kept everyone on their toes, and this case with Mrs. Johnson was no different. Even though she is one of the most co-operative members of the program, even an unintentional act could cause weeks of endless problems. Sometimes those acts are worse than the ones done intentionally, because at least you can track them, using behavior and patterns to predict a run. Smith had just finished his report, printed it up, and bound it presentation. He was sure Mr. Carlson and his superiors were going to find this very interesting reading, even if it was no where near the truth of the matter. Right now the truth wasn't something Mr. Carlson and his people were ready to handle. Their answer for everything was to expand and relocate anyone who asked too many questions.

     Truth is, on occasion it was good to take people out and send a message to anyone else who tried to investigate them: you mess with the bull, then you get the horns. Smith didn't feel bad about what happened at Tuck's office, his only regret was not being able to take out Edgar Willis at the same time. Smith thought it was all taken care of, but it turns out the man who he thought was Edgar Willis was just a co-worker who falsely confessed to being Mr. Willis. A very heroic gesture, because if he had known that Edgar wasn't in the building, he would have left people at the site to look for him. But Tuck was the only man who knew the truth, but was unwilling to talk. Whoever was backing their project still remained a mystery. Mr. Tucker took that secret to his grave and to his maker. This kept Edgar and his back safe for now, but it was only a matter of time before he found Willis and the key this time would be to make him talk so they can find out who was paying for this little fiasco. Someone was backing this goose chase, that much Smith was sure of. Proving it on the other hand was going to be another matter altogether. The money was impossible to trace and doesn't go back any further than Dryden Supplies. He needed to keep digging and eventually the truth would come out, even if he had to call in every favor he had left with the every person he knew. While he was going over the paper work for Dryden Supplies, someone came knocking at his door.

     "What seems to be the problem?" Smith asked, as he didn't even take his eyes off of his work.

     "We seem to have a problem with Mrs. Johnson." A junior agent said trying not to sound worried, but failed.

     Smith put down what he was looking at and then looked back up at the worker at his door, "What's going on with Mrs. Johnson?"

     "Well, normally she's a very conservative spender." The agent calmly answered. "Normally she doesn't go out of hand when making online orders."

     "Jesus, what the hell did she buy?" Smith asked. Even he knew this was uncharacteristic of Mrs. Johnson. Normally Carlson would only have to worry about Eva and her Gucci bag collection being the only thing that ran the bill on their cards a tad high.

     "A necklace." the junior agent replied, "She purchased it off an online auction site for twenty-seven hundred dollars."

     Smith sat back and thought about it for a moment, and after a few moments, he looked back up at the worker, "How old is this necklace?" he asked with potential answers already buzzing around his head.

     "Well," the agent started, "The Corporation that made it doesn't exist anymore. According to someone I know on the floor who knows a lot about jewelry, she said that this company's items are rare to find, especially online. She said that they hardly ever make it online and are usually sold at one of those private in house auctions."

     Smith mulled over the expenditure for a moment and then shrugged it off, "Let it go. Chances are this was her favorite jewelry company way back in her younger days. There's a good chance she probably had one just like that in her past life. Things like this happen all the time, especially when it comes to women and their Jewelry."

     They both shared a laugh at that comment.

     "Besides," Smith continued, "It's not like she's going to make a habit of this. You said yourself that pieces like these rarely if ever make it online. That means this purchase is likely going to be a one time thing. I highly doubt she's going to pull an Eva and spend six digits anytime soon."

     The junior agent laughed again, "No, I guess not. I'll let the payment clear and I'll have a team inspect the item when it comes in through the mail."

     "Why do we want to inspect it?" Smith asked, somewhat confused.

     "Well, if the taxpayers are going to foot the bill for an expensive necklace," the junior agent answered, "The least we should do is make sure that it's not a fake."

     "That doesn't seem too unreasonable." Smith agreed. If the taxpayers were going to buy stuff like this, the least they should do is make sure they're buy stuff wasn't fraudulent. He dismissed the worker and sent him back to the floor to do his job. At that moment, women's obsession for jewelry wasn't exactly a high priority. He went back to his investigation of Dryden Supplies, the one thing that was in his humble opinion the real threat to the program. He wasn't worried about the online spending habits of a woman who has a specific taste for jewelry. He should have been.