‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t forget, David,’ Aunt Beth grinned, ‘Sebastian is my second husband. We haven’t been married as long as you two old fossils.’
‘Fossil! I beg your pardon,’ Mum said with mock indignation. ‘Speak for yourself, Beth. You’re older than me.’
‘Thanks for reminding me,’ Aunt Beth replied.
The grown-ups were off! I faded out for a few minutes, like turning down the volume on a television, until I heard Sebastian say, ‘It’ll get sorted out, David, just you wait and see.’
‘I can’t exactly do anything else.’ Dad smiled slightly to take the sting out of his voice.
I looked at Gib. I’d missed what had brought this conversation up in the first place. I’d ask Gib later.
‘I can’t help thinking that it’d probably all be sorted out by now if they’d only run my weekend checking program,’ Dad sighed. ‘But Nicola, the General Manager, refuses to see past the nose on her face.’
‘What do you mean, David?’ Mum asked.
I wanted to know that too.
‘My checking program runs on both the development and the live system. It reads through all the relevant program files on the development system and checks the transaction files on the live system for any strange anomalies,’ Dad began. ‘But Nicola reckons that I put a time trap in my program and that’s how the million pounds got into my bank account in the first place, so she’s ordered that none of my programs should be run until further notice.’
‘What’s a time trap, Dad?’ I asked.
They all looked at me as if they’d forgotten Gib and I were at the table.
‘It’s a piece of code you write to only work on a certain day at a certain time,’ Dad replied, before turning back to Sebastian and Aunt Beth. ‘Now I reckon that if she’d just let my checking programs run on both systems, there’d be a report on all those things on the systems that need further investigation. And in one of those reports might have been a pointer to the person who really put the money in my account. Do you remember, Beth, how I caught you out a few weeks ago.’
Aunt Beth laughed. ‘I sure do. I’d specified an end-of-month date incorrectly in one of my programs. I had input a date for last year instead of this year and the acceptance testers didn’t spot the mistake.’
‘But my program did,’ Dad said stonily.
Aunt Beth nodded.
‘Well, there’s no point going on about it,’ Dad sighed. ‘If they didn’t run it, they didn’t run it. I’ll just have to wait for my innocence to be proved another way.’
‘And it will, David.’ Mum smiled at Dad.
‘It’s a shame I’m on holiday for two weeks, David,’ Aunt Beth frowned, ‘otherwise I’m sure I could get Nicola to run your program. Mind you, as soon as I get back I’ll ask her. I’ve already asked Eric to make sure that all the transaction logs and system changes are copied onto back-up media while I’m away, so that I can analyse them when I get back.’
‘It’s very good of you, Beth,’ Dad said gratefully.
‘Nonsense.’
‘And if I can help in any way …’ Sebastian left the rest unsaid.
I glanced at Gib and coughed, nodding towards the door. Gib frowned at me and carried on eating. The dimwit didn’t get the hint at all. But I reckoned I was on to something.
Chapter Eight
I STOOD UP.
Mum asked, ‘Where are you going?’
‘The loo!’ I replied.
Mum and Dad exchanged a look and I walked to the door. I turned back to try and catch Gib’s eye, but he was deeply involved with his roast lamb. I ran upstairs to the bathroom. Another good thing about Aunt Beth’s house was that Gib and I could run everywhere and the sound would be muffled by their pile carpet so we never got bellowed at to ‘Walk, don’t run!’ They had the same mid-grey carpet throughout the entire house and it looked really good.
Once in the bathroom, I locked the door and leaned against it. I knew why that money had been put in Dad’s account. I was sure I
‘Don’t forget, David,’ Aunt Beth grinned, ‘Sebastian is my second husband. We haven’t been married as long as you two old fossils.’
‘Fossil! I beg your pardon,’ Mum said with mock indignation. ‘Speak for yourself, Beth. You’re older than me.’
‘Thanks for reminding me,’ Aunt Beth replied.
The grown-ups were off! I faded out for a few minutes, like turning down the volume on a television, until I heard Sebastian say, ‘It’ll get sorted out, David, just you wait and see.’
‘I can’t exactly do anything else.’ Dad smiled slightly to take the sting out of his voice.
I looked at Gib. I’d missed what had brought this conversation up in the first place. I’d ask Gib later.
‘I can’t help thinking that it’d probably all be sorted out by now if they’d only run my weekend checking program,’ Dad sighed. ‘But Nicola, the General Manager, refuses to see past the nose on her face.’
‘What do you mean, David?’ Mum asked.
I wanted to know that too.
‘My checking program runs on both the development and the live system. It reads through all the relevant program files on the development system and checks the transaction files on the live system for any strange anomalies,’ Dad began. ‘But Nicola reckons that I put a time trap in my program and that’s how the million pounds got into my bank account in the first place, so she’s ordered that none of my programs should be run until further notice.’
‘What’s a time trap, Dad?’ I asked.
They all looked at me as if they’d forgotten Gib and I were at the table.
‘It’s a piece of code you write to only work on a certain day at a certain time,’ Dad replied, before turning back to Sebastian and Aunt Beth. ‘Now I reckon that if she’d just let my checking programs run on both systems, there’d be a report on all those things on the systems that need further investigation. And in one of those reports might have been a pointer to the person who really put the money in my account. Do you remember, Beth, how I caught you out a few weeks ago.’
Aunt Beth laughed. ‘I sure do. I’d specified an end-of-month date incorrectly in one of my programs. I had input a date for last year instead of this year and the acceptance testers didn’t spot the mistake.’
‘But my program did,’ Dad said stonily.
Aunt Beth nodded.
‘Well, there’s no point going on about it,’ Dad sighed. ‘If they didn’t run it, they didn’t run it. I’ll just have to wait for my innocence to be proved another way.’
‘And it will, David.’ Mum smiled at Dad.
‘It’s a shame I’m on holiday for two weeks, David,’ Aunt Beth frowned, ‘otherwise I’m sure I could get Nicola to run your program. Mind you, as soon as I get back I’ll ask her. I’ve already asked Eric to make sure that all the transaction logs and system changes are copied onto back-up media while I’m away, so that I can analyse them when I get back.’
‘It’s very good of you, Beth,’ Dad said gratefully.
‘Nonsense.’
‘And if I can help in any way …’ Sebastian left the rest unsaid.
I glanced at Gib and coughed, nodding towards the door. Gib frowned at me and carried on eating. The dimwit didn’t get the hint at all. But I reckoned I was on to something.
Chapter Eight
I STOOD UP.
Mum asked, ‘Where are you going?’
‘The loo!’ I replied.
Mum and Dad exchanged a look and I walked to the door. I turned back to try and catch Gib’s eye, but he was deeply involved with his roast lamb. I ran upstairs to the bathroom. Another good thing about Aunt Beth’s house was that Gib and I could run everywhere and the sound would be muffled by their pile carpet so we never got bellowed at to ‘Walk, don’t run!’ They had the same mid-grey carpet throughout the entire house and it looked really good.
Once in the bathroom, I locked the door and leaned against it. I knew why that money had been put in Dad’s account. I was sure I
Similar Books
