Best Laid Plans(44)

“That doesn’t make sense.” Gregor rose and followed Sean down to Harper’s office. Sean had met Debbie Alexander, Harper’s admin, that morning. She was at her desk. “Debbie, Mr. Rogan seems to think that Harper wasn’t using the computer in his office. Was there a problem with it?”

“Is something wrong?” she asked, obviously confused.

“It’s an anomaly,” Sean said.

“Three or four weeks ago he took over the BLM audit—”

“BLM?” Sean asked.

“Bureau of Land Management. There were several boxes of files, and Terry—that’s our accountant who usually handles the BLM—is on maternity leave. Terry told him to use her computer because she had all the relevant documents in her office.” Debbie’s eyebrows scrunched together. “You know, Terry thought something was off with one of the boxes BLM sent. She wanted to come in and help Harper sort through it, but he told her to stay home with the baby.”

“Did Harper usually take over clients when someone went on leave?” Sean asked.

“Sometimes.”

“And use their office?”

Debbie was surprised by the question. “No, not since I’ve been here.”

“I need to see his computer, then Terry’s.”

“All the files, except for physical documentation, are on the intranet,” Debbie said. “They can be accessed from any computer.”

Sean ignored her because he wasn’t looking for the obvious.

He sat at Harper’s desk, ignoring both Debbie and Gregor, who watched him with blatant curiosity.

Why would Harper not use his own computer? Did he think something was wrong with it? That it had been compromised? Why wouldn’t he have said something to Gregor or the tech department?

Sean booted up the computer and used the admin code he’d created that morning so there would be a record of everything he did—important if anything he uncovered led to a civil or criminal trial or employee termination. He had already run system-wide diagnostics, but he ran diagnostics on a deeper level on Harper’s computer. Nothing popped—no viruses, no malware, no piggybacking of data. He checked the logs and found a deleted memo from Terry to Harper. It was a long email listing all the projects she was working on and who she’d assigned them to while she was on leave. At the end she wrote:



BLM has continued to send over documents, past our deadline, and there are a couple of discrepancies that I can’t seem to reconcile. I’ve asked for specific files—the memos are in the master file—but they claim they’ve already sent them. Maybe this pregnancy has made me more tired than I thought. Ian has been working with me on this, and can take it over while I’m gone. However, you might want to work with him because he hasn’t handled something of this magnitude alone. Everything is in my office— I pulled the questionable files from the storage room last week to give them another look through. Call me at home if you have any questions. I’m sure you’ll find the problem. ~Terry



“Debbie,” Sean said, “why didn’t Harper bring the boxes into his office? Or the conference room?”

“I never asked,” Debbie said. “Since my office is between Terry’s and Harper’s, I didn’t think anything of it. But I told the FBI agents who were here that Harper wasn’t quite himself for the last couple of weeks. He was distant, like he had a lot on his mind, but he didn’t say anything to me. Maybe I missed something.”

Sean walked back through Debbie’s office and into Terry’s much smaller office. It was crowded but immaculate. The boxes were neatly lined up and labeled, three high, under the solitary picture window. The desk was clear of work. “Debbie,” Sean said, “I need to talk to Ian.”

“I’ll call him in,” Debbie said and left.

Sean went back to Harper’s office. It was twice the size, with a second workstation in the corner and an adjoining conference room. There were photos of Harper and his wife, Harper and his daughter, Harper and horses, awards, his degrees, as well as a comfortable couch. The room was warm and inviting, but also said conservative and professional. Why hadn’t he moved all the files into the larger, more comfortable space? Why work at a colleague’s desk?

Sean skimmed through Harper’s emails. He’d exchanged several emails with Terry related to the files, mostly asking questions about what she’d done. Nothing that pointed to a crime or even a suspicion of a crime.

Sean leaned back in Harper’s chair and closed his eyes, ignoring Gregor’s unspoken questions.

Harper hadn’t wanted to work in this office. He’d changed his habits and worked in Terry’s office, at the same time that his behavior had changed, according to his admin. Sean wished he could call Lucy and ask if she had confirmed with his family or friends that Harper’s personal behavior had changed at the same time as his office behavior.

Clear change in behavior. Preoccupied. Didn’t use his own computer. Which meant he didn’t use his phone …

Sean sat up and typed rapidly on Harper’s computer.

“What?” Gregor asked.

Sean didn’t answer right away. He accessed HWI internal phone records and located Harper’s phone number.

Harper hadn’t taken any calls at his desk for four weeks. No ingoing or outgoing. Sean checked Terry’s extension—it had been used consistently during the time Harper was using her office. Which meant that even when he wasn’t working on the BLM audit he wasn’t using his phone or his computer.