Chapter 8: The Investigation

“Where’s your company manager?” one inspector asked.

Karen tried to take charge, her smile strained. “I’m the HR manager. If you need anything, you can talk to me first.”

The inspector replied, “Someone reported issues with your salary payments. We need to investigate.”

I stepped forward. “Officers, I made the call yesterday. And now, here’s an illegal fine I just received.”

I handed over the fine slip.

Karen got flustered, babbling excuses. “Officers, this is a misunderstanding! I was just joking—we wouldn’t really fine him.”

The inspector’s face darkened as he looked over the slip. “Late and fined $150?”

He turned to me. “Young man, how much do you make a month?”

I held up two fingers. “Last month, $400. That’s what I reported yesterday.”

The inspector nodded, then told Karen, “Get your manager.”

Seeing she couldn’t stall, Karen had to call Mark Johnson. When he saw me with the inspectors, his face froze. Karen immediately started explaining. Mark glared at me, eyes full of disgust and rage.

“Heh, let’s talk in my office, officers.”

“No need. You’re the person in charge, right? Regarding the salary and this fine, write a written solution and submit it to our team.”

The inspector turned to me. “We’ll keep following up. If anything else comes up, report it anytime.”

“Thank you.”

After the inspectors left, Mark exploded. My phone buzzed with texts from coworkers: “Dude, what’s going on?” “You really called the Labor Board?” I just ignored them. For the first time, I had the upper hand, and I wasn’t about to let go.