He hesitated for a brief moment and then took the plunge. It was the principle of the thing, after all. “Well, I didn't mean to pry. It’s just that I was in here checking the stock prices, and the book was open on the desk." Randall raised his brows. "Yes?" "Well, I couldn’t help but notice that Mr. Ventnor has not been entirely accurate.” He frowned slightly. "Oh? Where?" Randall looked at the several examples Simon provided him with, and could see what he was saying only with great difficulty, and some degree of dawning horror. “Is he cheating me on purpose, do you think?” he asked after a time. Simon shrugged. “It’s not for me to say. They’re either really basic errors, in which case he’s not competent, or he’s skimming money off the top for himself, and is therefore a thief.” Randall sat down by his side and within half an hour, Simon had identified all the errors made in the last quarter, the rents collected versus the sums entered in the book, and found a considerable number of ‘errors’.
