condensed master

The Reluctant Agent
A Compelling Story of Espionage
have to suffer.
Within the week more discs were missing, this time the most expensive in
production. Will knew that Stefan had not been up into the department, so Mike's
inference was unfounded. Realizing that there was nothing more he could do, Will
called in the company police, and after a short investigation, they called in the
regular police.
Two detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department conducted
interviews, and everyone came under suspicion. The whole department was under
a cloud, and the normally simple action of leaving the factory to go home became
a burden, with the possibility of being watched or stopped, always in the forefront
of the mind.
Another week went by, and one morning, about an hour after arriving, Will
asked to see Mike.
"He's not in yet."
"Is he sick?"
"We don't know, he hasn't phoned in."
Will dismissed it from his mind. Mike very rarely took time off. Around 11.30
a.m. the two detectives walked into his office. "We've caught the crook, you won't
have any further incidents."
"Who was it?"
"Your assistant, Mike Cowley."
Will was stunned. "How was it possible?"
"Well, we watched everyone leaving each night, looking for bags large enough
to carry the loot, and when Mike Cowley was crossing the foyer last night, two
records fell out from under his jacket coat on to the floor. He'd made the mistake
of hiding them upside down and they slipped out of their covers."
Mike disappeared never to be seen again and Will breathed a sigh of relief as
things quickly returned to normal. At least it appeared that way, until Will noticed
a change in Joanna's demeanour.
She would take occasional day's off which she had never done before, and she
seemed far from being on top of her work. It was getting to the stage where Will
was going to have to approach her about it, and he wasn't relishing the idea.
Fortunately, his hesitation provided an opportunity for someone to give him the
information he wanted.
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