What Greg Was Actually Doing
Chapter 05 - What Greg Was Actually Doing
Mr. Whitfield, having observed the exchange between Tyler and Mark with the careful attention of a man who had worked alongside Greg Ashworth for years and harbored his own quietly growing suspicions, contacted Richard Mercer directly that same evening.
"I think you should look into Greg's accounts," Whitfield said. "I've noticed discrepancies in the store's inventory records over the past several months, items that should be in our display cases but aren't, marked instead as returns or damages in the system without any corresponding physical evidence."
Richard, already emotionally overwhelmed from the afternoon's unexpected reunion with his son, felt a fresh wave of unease settle over him at this new concern.
"How long have you suspected this," he asked.
"Several months," Whitfield admitted. "I should have raised it sooner. I kept telling myself I was misreading the data, that a regional manager of Greg's seniority wouldn't risk something so directly traceable. Today's incident with his son, claiming ownership of a store Greg has no stake in whatsoever, made me reconsider whether his relationship with this company has been considerably less honest than any of us assumed."
Richard retained a forensic accountant, a thorough woman named Priya Anand, the same kind of careful, specialized professional his company's insurance provider recommended for exactly this kind of sensitive internal investigation.
"I want a full review of every transaction Greg Ashworth has touched over the past three years," Richard told her. "Inventory movements, vendor payments, anything with his authorization attached to it."
Priya's preliminary findings, delivered within the week, confirmed Whitfield's suspicions with considerably more damning detail than anyone had initially anticipated.
"He's been systematically removing high-value pieces from inventory," Priya reported, "recording them as returns or warranty claims, and reselling them through a secondary channel I've traced to a private dealer operating outside your company's authorized network."
"How much," Richard asked.
"Over the past three years, approximately four hundred and sixty thousand dollars in merchandise," Priya said. "This isn't petty theft or an isolated mistake. This is a sustained, carefully managed embezzlement operation."
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Richard sat with that number, understanding now exactly how thoroughly Greg Ashworth had been exploiting the trust his senior position had afforded him, the same trust his own son had apparently inherited and weaponized into a false identity of ownership that morning in the showroom.
"I want him confronted formally," Richard said. "And I want to understand whether this connects, in any way, to the campaign my own mother ran against my wife ten years ago. Greg's position in this company was established around the same time my marriage fell apart. I want to know if that's coincidence, or something considerably more deliberate."
