Page 57 of A Simple Mistake
Gareth had only heard snippets of Aidan and Alex’s first meeting, including mentions of Aidan ditching a helicopter in the Thames.Alex’s outfits had never come up.“One day, you’ll have to tell me the whole story,” he said.
“Not likely,” Aidan muttered.“You know far too much about it already.If we tell you more, Alex will have to shoot you.”
“Fine.I’ll ask Jack.”
“And aren’t we a cheerful sight?”Connie Nash, who headed Nancarrow’s services group, had also dressed in black.She greeted them all with a smile and looked Aidan up and down.“You should have worn your wig and gown.”
Aidan blinked.“That’d be… inappropriate.”
“They won’t know.And didn’t you say the more intimidating our lineup, the better?”
“There is that.Are the auditors coming?”
“They certainly are.”Julian shook hands with two newcomers.“Meet Helen Fink and Kurt Mandryk,” he introduced a man and a woman, both in smart suits, but not the foreboding black.“They’ve agreed to tackle the forensic audits.”
“Glad you could make it here so quickly,” Gareth said.“A touch of extra reality is always good.I’m Gareth Flynn.”
“Ah, yes.We spent the morning with your Mr Frazer.He walked us through the backup procedure and the complete data trail for the missing laptop.”
She didn’t mention the discussion between Ronald and Cecily Frazer had recorded, and Gareth grinned.“I look forward to your findings.”
Kurt grinned right back.“Unless something unexpected comes up, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.But kudos to your IT department.Your safety measures are quite something.”
“What can I say?Stiff competition in the mining industry.”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Julian had returned to his space at the head of the table.“Shall we get this show on the road?”
They all took their places—a wall of black with the two auditors off to one side—and faced the screen.One by one, the other participants came online.Cecily, dressed to the nines as usual.Harper, joining from his desk in the City, in a business suit.Donovan and Roland, more casually attired in open shirts and matching frowns.
“Thank you for joining us,” Julian greeted.“This won’t be a long meeting.”
“There wasn’t an agenda attached to the meeting call,” Cecily interrupted.“Most irregular.The Companies Act states that—”
“Quite right.My apologies for the oversight.”Julian talked right over her.“This won’t be a long meeting, as I said.A couple of questions and an announcement, followed by a vote.My first question is for Ronald.When did you lose your laptop?And why did you not report the loss?”
Gareth wanted to applaud.He approved of direct attacks, and Julian had delivered his with aplomb.It worked, too.Had Ronald been a carp, he might have won a beauty contest.He opened and closed his mouth, not emitting a single sound.
Julian left him hanging.
When he proved incapable of a reply, Julian turned to Cecily.“You knew in early December that the laptop had gone missing.Why did you not report it?”
She peered down her nose at him.“It wasn’t my issue to report.It wasn’t my problem.Reporting something that isn’t my problem… that’d be… that’s interference.”
Gareth had never heard her sound so incoherent.“According to the Companies Act, you’re obliged to exercise due care and diligence and act in the best interests of the company,” he pointed out.“Ignoring data loss isn’t exercising due care.Neither is disabling the security features on a laptop containing sensitive information.That unprotected laptop contained reports for all fourteen projects that are now under attack.Some are as far along as the permitting stage, and we’re in danger of losing that investment.”
Julian gave a brief nod, then turned his attention back to the screens.“I have hired a firm of forensic auditors who will establish the impact of Ronald and Cecily’s failure to safeguard business sensitive information and warn us of the loss.Once we have a better understanding of the scale of the damage, Nancarrow Mining will be pursuing legal action for damages.”Julian took a breath.Then he continued.“Because Ronald and Cecily Nancarrow have knowingly endangered company operations, I propose their immediate removal as non-executive directors of Nancarrow Mining.”
“There’s no doubt that the laptop’s security was turned off?”Donovan Nancarrow glowered from the screen.
“None,” Gareth answered the question.“The laptop connected to the network with all security features disabled.If it was lost or stolen in that state, anyone who turned it on could access the data on it.”
“Bloody idiot,” Donovan muttered, but said nothing further.
“Any other questions?”Julian didn’t take his eyes off the screen.“Then we’ll put this to the vote.In favour of removing Ronald and Cecily from their non-executive directorships?”
The result of the vote was not in doubt.Harper already had his hand up, and everyone in the conference room followed suit.The only one Gareth wasn’t sure of was Donovan, who scowled at something on the desk in front of him.Jack had commented once that Donovan had debts and needed his non-executive director’s pay and the dividends his shares produced to keep the wolf from the door.He also dabbled in politics, which wasn’t a cheap hobby.Would he support the family, or vote with his wallet?
Muttering under his breath, he put up his hand.
