“Perfect.”She was typing away on her computer.“It will give me time to do a quick search on something.”
I glanced at her food.It was almost gone.Good.
A few minutes before two, we made our way to the conference room.
Valerie looked nervous, but I couldn’t put my finger on the reason why.She’d met everyone before, well, except John.But our boss was a good guy, which was why turnover at the company was so low.
I made a mental note to see if we could find out the turnover rate at Rustic.I had to wonder if that might be a reason for the quality issues we saw.
Cassie, Marcus, and Miles were already there when we walked in.Miles and Marcus automatically stood when they saw Valerie.
“Tour go south?”Marcus asked.
“Not exactly,” I answered and guided Valerie to a chair and held it out for her.I didn’t miss Marcus’ and Miles’ raised eyebrows.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
Josh, Dean, and John walked in.
“Ms.Ray,” John said.Valerie started to stand, but John waved her back into her seat.“I’m glad to have you onboard.”
“Thank you, sir.”
John took his seat at the head of the table and looked at me, so I dug right in.
“Valerie and I went to Rustic Delights today as arranged.”I glanced around the table.“There was an odd vibe.”
“What do you mean by odd?”Dean asked.
“Valerie pointed out how quiet the warehouse was and how we saw no employees other than the person who let us in, the owner, and the accountant.”
“That is odd if they’re as busy as they tell us they are,” Miles commented.
“Exactly.Another thing.When Valerie and I inspected some of the equipment, we found problems.”
“What kind?”John sat forward.
“Cracked wood, loose fastenings, metal used in places it shouldn’t be used.”I pulled my phone up.“I took pictures.”I passed my phone to John, who looked at them and passed my phone to Josh and so on until it came back to me.
“Ms.Ray?”John looked at Valerie.
“Valerie, please.I saw what Lucas saw.The owner was very nervous, and the best word I can come up with is squirrely.”
“Did you tell him what you saw?”Marcus asked.
“No.I asked him about quality control, but he didn’t know if that had happened or not.”
John nodded.“And the accountant?”
I looked at Valerie.
“At first glance all seemed fine, but her answer about how she categorizes the equipment was off.It’s not a standard process I’ve ever seen.And she uses paper ledgers.Not necessarily a problem, but unusual in everyday scenarios.”
“You use ledgers,” I said.
“Only to do a deep dive.Not for everyday accounting.”
“What do you mean the categorization was off?”Cassie asked.
