Chapter 514: Reiner - Doesn’t Add Up
“I’ve taken a look at the past financial records of this place over the years, and I have a few questions for you. It would be great if you could give more clarification on some of the cost buckets and cost items,” I informed Celine politely.
I tried to pick my words carefully so that I wouldn’t come across as being too offensive to her. Although I was here to audit her and she probably knew that as well, I didn’t want to accuse her any wrongdoing until I had solid proof. Internally, I prayed that there wasn’t anything unethical going on here. Innocent until proven guilty, right?
“Of course, I’m more than happy to answer your questions. Some of the labelling of the costs may not be so clear,” Celine replied with a smile.
Reiner and I sat side by side across from Celine at the meeting table. Since she seemed willing to cooperate, I started asking the questions on the list that I had prepared beforehand right away. Just as I just discussed with Reiner before, there were a few unclear points that needed clarification. At that point, I didn’t want to call them suspicious before we had a better understanding of things.
“Let me show you around the kitchen and equipment room so that you’ll get a better idea of how things work,” Celine suggested as she got up from her seat.
After answering all of my questions quite flawlessly, we decided to follow Celine for another tour of the facility. Unlike the tour from last time where we were focused on evaluating the well-being of the children living here, this tour was focused purely on cost utilization.
I glanced over at Reiner’s face as he walked along side me. His expression was unreadable and guarded and that told me that he found Celine’s responses to my questions suspicious or unsatisfactory. Reiner did not appear friendly or relaxed and I knew that he was thinking of something. Hopefully, we’ll see something on this trip that would either clear or solidify our suspicion. Whatever it was, we had to face it head on for the sake of the children.
“The garden and the playground seem extremely well maintained. You use a professional company for this, right?” I asked when we made it outside into the gardens.
“Oh yes, that’s why it looks so clean and perfect all the time,” Celine replied with a smile.