Being the odd one out, the weird one isn’t fun at all. For as long as I can remember people have told me I was a little weird. And the truth of the matter is I just never “fit in”.

I didn’t really fit in with my family or at school. I haven’t been able to determine just what it is about me that makes me different from anyone else. But having said that the fact of the matter is I like myself. I’m intelligent and kind and creative and funny. I’m honest to a fault. Maybe that is my main problem I’m honest to a fault. And I decided long ago that people are going to like me or not.

And I’m not going to change who I am to please other people.  Life has thrown me quite a few curveballs. Because of the downturn in the economy I’ve had to change jobs several times in the last couple of years. You know the saying the last one hired, the first one fired. Well, I’m now on my third new job in a year and a half.

One of my many quirks is that I absolutely hate being late. I’m always, always early. So here I am in the still empty parking lot of my new job at Bowman and Sons. I’m an accountant I have a head for numbers. And I’m a perfectionist. In fact, that is how I lost my last position. I was doing my monthly oversight of the company’s books and low and behold I found a discrepancy. And it wasn’t a nickel here and a nickel there it was over a hundred thousand dollars. The funds were moved from one account to another. I checked and re-checked it and it was clearly not just an error. But an intentional attempt to steal money from one account and then it was deposited into another.

I can not tell you the number of times I went over and over these accounts. And no matter how many times I checked the results were always the same. Someone was embezzling.

And now I have only to establish who the embezzler is. And what steps I have to take once I have proof. It’s clear it was someone at the top of the pyramid not at the bottom. It’s clear that whoever was stealing the money had been doing it over a long period of time. And I was going to establish without a doubt who it was and they were going to pay the price for their crime.

The worse aspect of embezzling is that it is a betrayal of trust. And that my friend is something I can not and will not tolerate. I began creating a plan that would establish who the low-life scalawag is. And when I do I will make sure this culprit is punished to the full extent of the law.

I have worked overtime for the past month in my pursuit of this culprit. And I believe I’m very close, very close. And I will only be satisfied if this criminal is charged with a Federal crime. And he or she and will serve a full twenty years in Federal prison. And when and if they survive that they will be fined a minimum of a $50,000.00 fine. I look forward to that day like a kid looks forward to Christmas day.

Eureka, I have finally followed the paper trail, and arrived at my pot of gold so to speak, the crook, the thief. And you will not believe this but it is none other than the vice-president of our firm. And today I’m going to contact the federal authorities with my proof. And then my friends the shit will hit the fan.

I worked through lunch. I received a text stating that the authorities would be arriving at my office before the end of the day. My stomach was doing flip-flops. Why? You may ask. Because one of the original partners of this firm is the embezzler. He is an affable guy and I knew it was going to be a bitter pill to swallow when everyone found out that he has been stealing funds from this company for a long time. Probably since day one.

Probably the majority of people aren’t going to believe he is a thief. But numbers don’t lie. And I don’t lie, I’m incapable of lying. Even if it would benefit me to lie. If someone asks me how they look in their new suit and they look terrible. I tell them, it looks awful on you. So, you can see how some people might prefer that you lie to protect people’s feelings or keep them out of trouble. I can not do that.

I hear some kind of a commotion in the outer offices. I look up and see three men walking toward me. I don’t recognize them. But, I do know a cop when I see them. Even if they’re wearing a three-piece suit. I think at first they were going to walk right up to me. I break out in a sweat. And I think, well this is going to be my last day at this job. I better start looking for a new job.

But they didn’t even glance at me. They walk right past me and toward the main meeting room. The agent taking the lead opens the door and walks right in and asks, “Mr. Edward Robinson my name is Agent Michael Lombardi can you please step outside we need to speak to you privately. “

Mr. Robinson’s face turns bright red. He couldn’t even get a word out. Then I see him gulp and hear him clear his throat and he says, “what the hell is this all about?”

“Mr. Robinson, I’d rather not do that in front of everyone but if you insist I will. Mr. Edward Robinson, you are under suspicion for embezzling. Which is a Federal crime. I’m going to read your rights to you. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. “

Then Mr. Robinson swallows again and says, “I want to talk to my lawyer. I haven’t committed any crime. This is total crap.”

And that is the last thing I hear him say. Until the day I sit in the courtroom as a witness to testify to his crime of embezzling. And that is all they wrote folks, you do the crime, you do the time.

The next morning I’m called into the head pardner’s office. I have no doubt that they’re going to fire me. The partner’s assistant buzz me on the phone and asks if I would be so kind as to go to the meeting room. As I walk toward the meeting room I feel as if I’m about to show up for my own lynching. When I walk through those double doors I start sweating. And as I step in front of the meeting table all the members of the board stood and clap. I look behind me to see what they are clapping for? And there is no one else, just me.

“What’s happening?” I say to no one in particular.

“You are Mr. Miller. You are. We’re honoring you. Because you did your job. You were not afraid and stood up and did the right thing. You have probably saved our company millions of dollars by following the money trail and contacting the Feds before Mr. Robinson robbed us blind. You are getting a raise and a promotion. And it is our sincere hope that you will continue to serve our company for all the years to come. Congratulations.

And that my friends was the beginning of the rest of my life. And all because I believe that you must, stay focused on your mission, remain steadfast in your pursuit of excellence, and always do the right thing.

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