The Magpies A Psychological Thriller - By Mark Edwards Page 0,74

into the office he knew his fears weren’t unfounded. People looked at him then looked away quickly, their gazes burning his back as he walked to his desk. He sat down opposite Mike.

‘I hate to say this, Jamie, but you’re in deep shit. George Banks wants to see you.’

George Banks was the manager of Jamie’s section. Jamie had never been called in to see him before. As he walked towards Mr Banks’s office he felt like a Death Row prisoner walking towards the electric chair. His colleagues stared at him; he thought he could hear them whispering as he passed by.

He’s going to get the sack. He’s going to get the sack.

‘Jamie.’ George Banks leaned forward across the desk. He was in his late forties but, with his bald head and bloodshot eyes, looked older: a good advert, Jamie had thought before, for staying below managerial level. ‘Do you know what I like to do on Saturday afternoons?’

Jamie shook his head.

‘I like to play golf. Every weekend a couple of friends and I drive down into Kent and play a round. It’s about the only relaxation I get these days.’ He took a deep breath. ‘This Saturday I only made it to the sixth hole when I got a phone call. I guess that’ll teach me for taking my mobile onto the course, but the call told me my game was over. I had to come to the office. The entire computer system had gone down. Files were disappearing into a black hole. Thousands of pounds worth of damage was being done every minute. Do you know why?’

Jamie swallowed hard. ‘The virus.’

‘That’s right. A virus that we traced back to an email sent by you and opened by one of your colleagues working overtime.’

‘But I didn’t send it.’

‘What?’ He spoke sharply.

‘I wasn’t anywhere near my computer on Saturday. I didn’t send any emails that day. It was…’

‘Jamie, we’ve ascertained that this virus wasn’t even created until Saturday. I spoke to a chap at Norton this morning who told me that every reported case of this virus they’ve received came from the same source. An email titled Honeymoon. An email that came from your email address.’

‘But…’

‘Do you know how much damage this virus has done to us? How much it’s cost? An amount not dissimilar to your annual salary. It would have been a lot worse if we hadn’t noticed it so quickly.’

‘It wasn’t me! With respect, sir, I know how these things work. If I did, for whatever sick reason, want to send a virus to everyone in my address book, I sure as hell wouldn’t be stupid enough to send it from my own email account!’

George Banks sighed and took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. He appeared to slump in his seat. ‘We’re all under a lot of pressure here at the moment, Jamie, what with the takeover.’

‘Is that definitely going ahead?’

‘We think so. And our prospective new bosses certainly weren’t too happy when they heard about this episode. We install software, for God’s sake. If it got out that we had a deadly virus on our systems we’d lose all our customers overnight.’

George was clearly anxious about the takeover himself, like the rest of the staff. Nobody below management level even knew the identity of the company who were going to take over. People were worried about their jobs.

‘Are you going to fire me?’ Jamie said, his voice cracking a little. He pictured himself going home, having to tell Kirsty – his new wife, his pregnant wife – that he was unemployed. ‘I swear, it was nothing to do with me.’

George Banks shook his head. ‘I’m going to leave that decision to our new masters. I’m willing to accept that this was a mistake, that maybe you forwarded this virus by accident. Your record has been impeccable up to now. Everyone tells me what a good worker you are – how bright and reliable you’ve always been. I understand you’ve just got married and have a child on the way. Personally, I can’t see what you could gain from sabotaging your own employer. But for God’s sake, Jamie, you’ve got to be careful.’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Maybe you’d better take a few more days’ leave. Some of your colleagues lost a lot of files and are – understandably or not – unhappy with you.’

‘OK.’

Jamie stood up and George Banks opened the door. Before Jamie left the office, George said, ‘It goes without saying that if I find out that you