The manager’s breathing changed.
“What is going on?”
The CEO pointed toward it.
“Check the serial.”
The forensic auditor crouched.
No touching.
Zoomed.
Read the serial aloud.
The senior auditor opened a tablet.
Scrolled.
Her face changed.
“Match.”
The CEO watched the manager.
“From what?”
The senior auditor answered:
“Controlled deposit made at 9:15 this morning.”
The young teller covered her mouth.
The manager stared.
“What controlled deposit?”
The senior auditor looked at him.
“One thousand dollars.”
“Ten recorded hundred-dollar bills.”
“Customer received receipt for one thousand.”
“Account was credited eight hundred.”
The manager’s lips parted.
The old CEO looked at the bill beneath the counter.
“That bill came from the one hundred dollars I withdrew?”
The young teller shook her head quickly.
“No.”
That surprised everyone.
The CEO turned.
“What?”
She pointed.
“I gave you five twenties.”
“Yes.”
“That hundred-dollar bill wasn’t yours.”
The old man looked down.
She was right.
The bill under the manager’s shoe was a hundred.
The manager had kicked it from somewhere else.
When the papers and cash scattered, the CEO had assumed it came from his hand.
But he had withdrawn twenties.
The young teller stared at the manager.
“That bill was already on the floor behind the counter.”
The entire case shifted.
The manager looked at her with naked hatred.
She took one step backward.
The CEO said:
“Say that again.”
Her voice shook.
“It was already there.”
“Before I came?”
“I saw it when he came out of his office.”
The manager snapped:
“She’s lying.”
The teller flinched.
The CEO turned sharply.
“Do not speak to her.”
The tone changed the room.
No shouting.
Authority finally visible.
The manager froze.
The senior auditor said:
“Sir, step away from the teller stations.”
“I’m the branch manager.”
“Not for the next five minutes.”
“What?”
The CEO looked at the assistant manager.
“Lock the doors.”
She stared.
“Sir?”
“Customers may exit.”
“No one else enters.”
“Call corporate security.”
“Tell them evidence-preservation protocol.”
The assistant manager’s hands shook.
“Yes, sir.”
The manager stepped forward.
“You can’t shut down this branch over—”
The CEO looked at him.
“Over two hundred dollars?”
The manager stopped.
The CEO’s voice remained quiet.
“That what you were going to say?”
No answer.
He continued.
“An elderly widow deposited one thousand dollars this morning.”
“Two hundred disappeared.”
“One of the recorded bills is on the floor behind a counter you control.”
“You altered the transaction using your credentials.”
“And your first concern is the amount.”
The manager swallowed.
“I can explain.”
“Good.”