Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: WORK OUT (05/20/21)
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TITLE: Why be constrained? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Samuel Kane
05/27/21 -
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Snide comments echoed throughout the room, as the young man rose from his seat. He nervously approached the teacher’s desk, painfully aware that every eye in the room was upon him.
“Do you know what I’m going to say to you?”
“No Sir.” He replied quietly.
“It’s your maths paper, William, you haven’t shown a single jot of working.”
“But Sir, I do it in my head.”
“Yes, I know; but you have to show your working. You’re an honest kid, but your examiner won’t necessarily know that. As far as they’d be concerned there’s nothing to show that you hadn’t cheated.”
“But-”
“Look William, you’re bright and I’m sure you can do it, but look at this question here. You’re out by an order of ten but because you didn’t show your working out, I can’t even give you any method marks for it. I’ve been doing this for a lot longer than you have; I know what the examiner is looking for. It’s far easier and simpler to just follow my advice because I know what I’m talking about. Just show your working out.”
The years passed by and William lost many of the lessons he had learned at school.
William sat in his office, poring over endless documentation. His inbox was brimming with emails, most clarifying details about an upcoming audit his firm would complete, yet one stood out among the rest.
“Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.” (Proverbs 12:19)
It was a “verse for the day” from some Bible app he’d downloaded as a teenager. He rarely paid attention to them; he just couldn’t be bothered to delete his account.
He considered the verse for a moment.
“If only life were that simple” he thought. “Thankfully, we’re intelligent and rational enough not to be constrained by such restrictive measures.”
He deleted the email.
“Mr Atkins, William Smith here to see you.”
William stepped into the office.
“Ah William, thanks for coming. Take a seat. How’s Susan?”
“We’re actually taking a break at the moment.”
“Oh, sorry to hear that. Women sure can be difficult, can’t they?” he laughed.
No response.
“Anyway, what can I do for you?”
“Well, you see,” William began as he opened up his briefcase and placed some papers upon the table, “I was looking through your files, and I think that I’ve found certain irregularities. I thought I’d check with you before I write my report.”
“Irregularities?”
William passed the wad of paper to his client.
“Some unreported finances and payments, unconventional channels of interest, revenue reported through two separate systems… things like that.”
Atkins slowly responded; a false smile painted across his face.
“Well that certainly does surprise me. All our policies are carefully vetted by our legal department, so I’m sure that they would have picked up on something like this. This must just be a misunderstanding… I’ll tell you what. You’re the expert in this sort of thing so I’ll let you decide where to go from here. Take another look over the papers and I’m sure you’ll come to see that there’s nothing to be worried about.”
William stood and shook Atkins hand. As he opened the door, he heard Atkins call out again.
“Peter, come in here, would you?”
A surprised janitor looked up and stepped into the office.
“Ah Peter, it’s been too long since we last talked. How’s your son? Tommy, isn’t it?”
“Oh, Tommy hasn’t been feeling very well recently. Marie is quite worried, but we have to hope that he’ll recover.”
William sighed.
He sat at his desk once more, thumbing through the incriminating papers. Atkins was responsible for thousands of staff, people just like Peter who needed the money. Yet how was such behaviour affecting the competition, let alone the wider community? Why did it all have to come down to him?
He pondered silently for a while, and then reached for the shredder.
Surely, it will all work out in the end.
William gazed at the front page of the paper.
“ERN CAUGHT IN FRAUD SCANDAL. THOUSANDS UNEMPLOYED. PEOPLE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO BLAME!
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