Page 53 of A Simple Mistake
“Before it went AWOL?”
“Yes.I found snapshots proving that all protections were off when the laptop was last on the premises.”He shrugged.“The weak point in any security measure is the idiot using the system, right?”
“Can’t argue that.And, I suppose, with security turned off, any Tom, Dick, and Harry could have accessed the data.”
“Yes.Nobody tried to connect the laptop to the network, but what he had on the hard drive is damaging enough.”
“Do we know when Roland disabled the security?How long it was off?”
“I can’t say exactly, since he only connected so infrequently, but we keep offsite incrementals—” Frazer raised an eyebrow in question.
“Go on.”
“They’re older backups we move into protected storage for recovery and to keep audit trails.Checking those will give us a window.”
Gareth made a note of that.“That’s time-intensive, I take it?”
“It is.And it needs a trip to Wiltshire.”He tipped his head to the side.“You know we keep the backups in a cave in the Downs, right?”
“Yes, I know that much.These incremental backups… they are physical?”
Frazer grinned.“Jack’s paranoia’s rubbing off on you, boss.They’re on tape, yes.Date stamped and sealed, too, so we can prove nobody’s tampered with them.”
“Excellent.We’ll keep them in reserve.Now tell me whatreallyhas you standing all on end.”
“I’m not standing all on end!”
“Could have fooled me.Tell me.”
“It’s… maybe not strictly legal and I know you want things done by the book, but—”
Gareth rolled his eyes at the half gleeful, half apologetic tone.“I said I’m happy to stick my neck out for you guys, provided I understand the risks and rewards.At the moment I understand neither.”
“It’s useful, I promise,” Frazer hastened to explain.
“Then by all means, Don, explain it to me.”
Frazer took a deep breath.“I said earlier we image each remote or mobile device connecting to the network, right?”
Gareth blinked, got it, and couldn’t hold back his grin.“You got his phone!You little beauty!”
“He connected to the in-house Wi-Fi.”
“Well, if he’s daft enough to do that… any data exchanged inside Nancarrow Mining is monitored for breach of confidentiality and training purposes,” he quoted company policy, then leaned forward.“What did you get?”
In answer, Don Frazer held out a sheet of paper.
Gareth took it and read messages exchanged between Ronald and Cecily Nancarrow.“That is fucking gold dust!”He had to remember to update Jack.And Aidan.
“It proves that the laptop is missing,” Frazer agreed.
“More importantly, it proves that Ronald was aware of the loss and didn’t report it, and that Cecily knew and didn’t report it, either.”Gareth rose and waved Frazer to do likewise.“Come along.Let’s cheer up Julian.You realise you’re handing him a hefty stick, right?”
“I was hoping that’s what it might turn into,” Don admitted as they made their way upstairs.“Shame Donovan wasn’t part of that conversation.”
Gareth dropped a hand on his shoulder.“Slow and steady, kid.Patience and the opposition’s arrogance will get us there.”
“Miss McTavish is here.And… I have Julian Nancarrow on the phone for you.”
