“But?”
“But in the last month or so the paper has received a series of anonymous phone calls and letters suggesting that there are financial improprieties in your programs that need to be investigated. So my editor ordered me to follow it up, and here I am.”
Simon Lawrence nodded, his face expressionless. “Financial improprieties. I see.”
He studied Wren. “You must have done some work on this already. Have you found anything?”
Wren shook his head. “Not a thing.”
“You won’t, either. The charge is ridiculous’ Simon sipped at his latte and sighed. “But what else would I say, right? So to set your mind at ease, Andrew, and to demonstrate that I have nothing to hide, I’ll let you have a look at our books. I don’t often do this, you understand, but in this case I’ll make an exception. You already know, I expect, that we have accountants and lawyers and a board of directors to make certain that everything we do is above reproach. We’re a high-profile operation with important donors. We don’t take chances with our image.”
“I know that.” Wren demurred, looking vaguely embarrassed to deflect the implied criticism. “But I appreciate your letting me see for myself.
“The books will show you what comes in and what goes out, everything but the names of the donors. You aren’t asking for those, are you, Andrew?”
“No, no.” Wren shook his head quickly. “It’s what happens to the money after it comes in that concerns me. I just want to be certain that when I write my article extolling the virtues of Fresh Start and Pass/Go and Toto the Wonder Wizard, I won’t be shown up as an idiot later on.” He tacked on a sheepish smile.
Simon Lawrence gave him a cool look. “An idiot? Not you, Andrew. Not likely. Besides, if there’s something crooked going on, I want to know about it, too.”
He stood up. “Finish your latte. I’ll have Jenny Parent, our bookkeeper, bring up the records. You can sit here and look them over to your heart’s content.” He glanced down at his watch. “I’ve got a meeting with some people downtown at five, but you can stay as long as you like. I’ll catch up with you in the morning, and you can give me your report then. Fair enough?”
Wren nodded. “More than fair. Thank YOU, Simon.”
Simon Lawrence paused midway around his desk. “Let me be honest with you about my feelings on this matter, Andrew. You are in a position to do a great deal of harm here, to undo an awful lot of hard work, and I don’t want that to happen. I resent the hell out of the implication that I would do anything to subvert the efforts of Fresh Start and Pass/Go and the people who have given so much time and effort and money in support of those programs, but I understand that you can’t ignore the possibility that the rumours and innuendoes have some basis in fact. You wouldn’t be doing your job if you did. So I am trusting you to be up front with me on anything you finder, more to the point, don’t find. Whatever you need, I’ll try to give it to you. But I’m giving it to you in the belief that you won’t write an article where rumours and accusations are repeated without any basis in fact.”
Wren studied Lawrence for a moment. “I don’t ever limit the scope of an investigation by offering conditions,” he said quietly. “But I can also say that I have never based a report on anything that wasn’t backed up by solid facts. It won’t be any different here.”
The other man held his gaze a moment longer. “See you tomorrow, Andrew.”
He walked out the door and disappeared down the hallway, leaving Wren alone in his office. Wren sat where he was and finished his lane, then stood up and walked over to the window again. He admired the Wiz, admired the work he had done with the homeless. He hoped he wouldn’t find anything bad to write about. He hoped the phone calls and letters were baseless-sour grapes from a former employee or an errant shot at troublemaking from an extremist group of “real Americans’ He’d read the letters and listened to the tapes of the phone calls. It was possible there was nothing to them.