SHELBY GOT OFF THE ELEVATOR ON the seventeenth floor and walked across the marble floor to the receptionist’s desk.
“Shelby Parker. I have an appointment with David Howell.”
“Have a seat. I’ll let his secretary know you’re here.” Shelby took a seat in one of the over-sized chairs and looked at the magazines fanned out on the coffee table. Software World, Business Communications, Cutting Edge Technology and the most recent annual report for Eastland Industries.
“Ms. Parker?” A young woman in a stylish suit held out her hand. Shelby nodded, rose, and shook the woman’s hand.
“I’m Rhonda, Mr. Howell’s secretary.”
Shelby followed her down the hall to a set of double doors at the end. A plaque on the door stated that Howell was a Senior Vice President and General Manager of EasTech, a subsidiary of Eastland Industries. Rhonda knocked softly on the door and opened it, gesturing Shelby to go inside.
David Howell paced behind his desk at the end of the office, talking on a headset. He appeared to be in his mid-forties, athletic, energetic, good looking. He looked over and waved her to a chair in front of his desk.
Howell’s office was large and elegant, with a teak desk at one end, backed by floor to ceiling windows that gave a view of the river. A conference table with high-backed leather chairs filled one corner; and a sofa, two upholstered chairs, and a cocktail table sat next to a sleek, black and mirror wet-bar. She figured the door next to it probably led to a private bath.
Shelby took an immediate dislike to the man, but mentally shook off the feeling. Howell ended his conversation, put the headset on his desk, and walked over to her.
“Good to meet you, Shelby.” Howell shook her hand vigorously.
“Nice to meet you.” Shelby sat in one of the leather chairs in front of his desk. “You mentioned on the phone that you think someone might be stealing some product information and selling it to another software development company.” She took a pad of paper and a pen from her briefcase.
“Let me fill you in on the details.” Howell sat in a chair across from her and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
“Zircon Industries has released five products in the past two years. Three of them have been almost identical to software that we were developing. Each time, their product was released just as we were performing usability testing and getting our end-user documentation completed.”
“I see.” Shelby nodded. “I assume that after the source code is completed you have about three to five months of testing and documentation, depending on the complexity of the program?”
“Exactly. The way I see it, if Zircon Industries got our source code just as it was completed, they could then release it in short order.”
“What about the documentation?” Shelby scribbled a note and looked back at Howell.
“Our developers keep some documentation while they develop the product. Then, the technical writers produce the books that are packaged with the software, using that information as they’re doing the usability testing.” Howell shrugged and spread his hands. “If Zircon can get their hands on the source code, they already have a sort of rough draft of the technical documentation as well. It would be possible to turn that into end-user documentation in no time.”
“And they just skip the usability testing?” Shelby asked.
“Zircon has a reputation for releasing software that still has a lot of bugs in it. They always sell the first version pretty cheap and then correct the bugs in later upgrades.”
“So what makes you think that Zircon Industries is getting their hands on your source code, other than the coincidental timing of their product releases?”
“Zircon isn’t staffed to be able to develop these programs. They’re a real small operation. I’ve checked around, and they aren’t hiring contractors to do the development. At least, not from any of the contract agencies around here. With the few developers they have, there’s no way they could develop these products in the time frame we’re talking about.”
Shelby scribbled another note on her pad. “You suspect one of your employees is selling the source code to them and you want me to find out who that is?”
“That’s about the gist of it.”
“And do you need hard proof, or do you just want to be able to fire the person?”
“I’m not sure what you mean by hard proof, Shelby. We would certainly require proof enough to be comfortable in our decision to terminate the employee.”
“No, I meant will you be taking Zircon Industries to court over this?” Shelby asked. “If you will, I’ll need to get some kind of proof that you can go to a lawyer with.”
“That would certainly be nice. But at this point, I’d consider it a bonus. I think we’d be happy just to stop this from happening again. If we end up with enough proof to take Zircon to court, all the better.”
“I see. I think the best way to go about this would be for me to come to work here undercover.”
“Exactly what I thought. I’ve come up with a position that will give you the most access to the organization.” Howell sat again and pressed a button on the sleek phone on the cocktail table. “Rhonda, will you ask Jennifer to join us?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Jennifer is the Senior Vice President of Marketing. We thought we could put you in as a marketing executive, heading up the CommLink promotion.”
“Probably a good plan,” Shelby said. “I assume as a new marketing executive I’ll need to learn about the CommLink software and therefore have access to all the developers and other team members?”
“Exactly.” Howell stood as the door to his office opened. “Jennifer, I’d like you to meet Shelby Parker. Shelby, this is Jennifer Thomas.”
Shelby stood up and offered her hand, which Jennifer shook briefly. She turned back to Howell, but continued to observe Jennifer from her peripheral vision. The woman looked to be in her early to mid forties. Her body testified to regular attendance at the gym, the blond streaks in her light brown hair were too perfectly placed to have been put there by nature, and the dewy complexion probably came from a very expensive bottle that had been individually matched to her skin tone. She would have been attractive but for the pinched expression and perpetual frown that creased he forehead.
Jennifer took a seat on the sofa with Shelby and opened a folder, passing her several sheets of paper. “This is the job description for your position, along with some general operating procedures. I’ve transferred the current marketing executive to another project. Fortunately, we’ve had an opening for a few weeks, so I don’t think anyone will question your arrival. Have you had any experience in marketing?”
“No, but I’m a quick study,” Shelby said.
Jennifer’s lips tightened. “I’ve made copies of some articles and background information that should give you an overview, as well as a list of some of the buzz words you’re likely to be confronted with. Hopefully, that will help.”
“Thanks.” Shelby held her hand out.
Jennifer handed over the documents and stood up. “Of course, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. I assume you’ll be starting soon?”
“Good question, Jennifer,” Howell said. “So, Shelby, when do you think you’ll be ready to tackle this?”
“Might as well start on Monday,” Shelby said.
“Good. The sooner, the better. Thanks again, Jennifer,” Howell said as she left his office.
“Now, I need to give you a rundown on all the players.” He pressed a button on the phone again. “Rhonda, can you bring in that material I asked you to get together for me?”
“Yes, sir.”
Seconds later, Rhonda slipped into the room and handed Howell a thick folder, which he passed to Shelby.
“That’s background information on all the employees that would have access to the source code.”
“Do you suspect anyone in particular?”
“No. There aren’t actually a lot of employees that would have access to source code. Mostly, it’s the developers. But the technical writers have access because the developers’ notes are written along with the source code.”
“So, these are the people who would have the easiest access to the information?”
“Exactly. Other than these, only the Senior Management personnel would have access. I can’t imagine why any of them would be involved in something like this. Their bonuses are based on the success of our software programs, so they’d be cutting their own throats.”
“Maybe. Depends on how much someone would be willing to pay for this information. I don’t like to leave any stone unturned, so I’d like to get some background on them as well,” Shelby said.
“No problem, I’ll have Rhonda get those for you. I’ve included all the developers and writers because they all have access to the source code for all projects, whether they’re actually working on them or not.”
“Have you considered changing that?”
“I have a meeting with the head of Information Technology later today to see what can be done about setting up a different access system.” Howell pointed to the papers. “I’ve noted which developers and writers are actually working on the CommLink program.”
“Good, that will help a lot.” Shelby opened the folder, and leafed through the bio sheets on the employees. Each sheet contained the employee’s name, job title, background, and a photograph. The CommLink developers were first, then the developers for other projects, and finally, the group of technical writers.
“I’ll take these with me and do my homework this weekend,” Shelby said.
“Great. I’ll get the backgrounds of the senior management team together. Can I email them to you?”
“Sure, the address is on my business card.”
“Any other questions?” Howell asked.
“Just one, for now.” Shelby slipped the papers into her briefcase. “Who in the company knows about me?”
“Me, Jennifer, and the CEO of Eastland Industries, Martin Scorebsy,” Howell said.
“Good, let’s keep it that way. The more people who know, the more likely it will get out. Once that happens, I’m not going to be of much use to you.”