She may be in shock, but she had some brains. "I'm not making fake invoices and stealing money. I wouldn't ever do something illegal and wrong."
"Then who did?" Mrs. Bensen leaned back, crossed her legs, and tapped one finger on her knee. "You say it's not Mr. Jergens, and it's not you. Who is it then?
"I have no idea." I only know it's not me or Charlie. Oh God, he's up for promotion, mentions it every time we talk. What will this investigation do to his chances? Christine felt actual physical sickness in her stomach. "But I will help you any way I can."
"I suggest we go through each transaction one at a time." Mrs. Bensen glanced at the files and clutter. "Jim, clear away some of this so I ensure Ms. Howell's focus is exclusively on the invoices in question."
Christine spent the next four hours going over and over figures, invoices, ordering, corporation policy, and explaining her actions, accounts, contracts, and everyday business for the last year. She gave detailed explanations for each and every transaction she'd made and the whole time she wondered if she would be fired or worse, arrested. When they'd exhausted every corporation business venture she even remotely had a hand in, Mrs. Bensen pulled out yet another stack of papers and handed them to her. "Ms. Howell, you've made several deposits into your personal checking account, opened Cds, taken your 'dream vacation', and done extensive home repairs all within the last six months."
Christine stared in disbelief while Mrs. Bensen talked about her private, she thought, bank records. How did the corporation get them?
Jim answered her unasked question. "The corporation subpoenaed all bank records under your name, Ms. Howell, as part of the investigation."
She still couldn't comprehend it. The corporation thought she stole and would be dumb enough to deposit the money into her own checking account which they could freely access? She thought the direct deposit for paychecks and 'no secrecy' clause everyone signed at hire was for ease in paying employees. Corporation accountants could see anything they wanted it seemed. All without me even aware Big Brother was watching me.
"How do you explain these deposits? They aren't your salary." Mrs. Bensen watched her so close Christine felt as though she was under a high tech microscope.
Pain she'd long believed dulled shot through her. She had to go through with this, explain it all, even if it hurt. "Oh. Well, then the Corporation should have seen they were insurance settlements, right?"
"The transaction simply says 'deposit', not 'transfer from an insurance company'." Mrs. Bensen's raised brows showed her as skeptical as her voice.
"They're from my husband's life insurance." Christine swallowed more sarcasm. "The company received a court order to pay me so they sent checks, and I deposited them into my checking or savings account." Guess Big Brother Corp couldn't get access to everything. "I can get my bank to do a complete print out, which shows the actual checks I deposited and where they came from."
"Your husband died over three years ago." Mrs. Bensen glanced through a file. "Why did it take the insurance company so long to settle?"
Jim sat silent, offering no support, though he knew all the circumstances. Christine twisted her fingers then forced the words out. "The company refused to settle without an official death certificate, and it took time, pending autopsy results. Plus, there were lawsuits disputing the beneficiary."
"What lawsuits?" Mrs. Bensen's tapped the file. As Christine hesitated, she pulled out a cell phone. "I could simply call the local newspaper, search for your husband's obituary and any other articles concerning his name and death if you refuse to cooperate."
Christine closed her eyes. "His car hit a guardrail on the interstate and crashed over the side of the mountain, killing him and the, the woman with him instantly. His blood alcohol level tested above the legal limit, so the insurance company refused, at first, to pay, citing reckless endangerment and DWI canceled any payout."
"So you sued the insurance company?"
Christine met Mrs. Bensen's stare but didn't really see her. "No. His brother fought for the insurance payoff because I'm the sole beneficiary. He alleged I had something to do with Randy's death because of the insurance money. The judge held his decision until final cause of death could be determined."
Mrs. Bensen kept her gaze on Christine's. "And what did the determination turn out to be?"