Brad Meltzer - The Millionaires

“… would make a VC place like Five Points Capital wet itself. Think about how it played out: Six days ago, Martin Duckworth had three million dollars in his account. Three days ago, the computer said it was three hundred and thirteen million. But when you look at these records, it’s clear that that didn’t just happen overnight. These transactions go back six months. Hundreds of deposits. It’s like keeping two sets of books. The regular system always said he had three million, but below the surface, his little invention was quietly creating the full three hundred. Then, when the gold-plated nest egg got big enough – wham! – they went to grab it. But we nabbed it first – and as it was sent on its way, the second set of books merged with the first, and every one of his fake deposits now somehow correlated with a real transaction at the bank.”

“Maybe that’s how the program works,” Charlie jumps in. “Like the forty million we transferred to Tanner Drew – it waits for a real transaction to take place, then takes a random amount that’s under the audit criteria. By the end, you’ve got a whole new reality.”

“It’s the same thing happening now,” I agree. “The bank thinks Duckworth’s account is empty, but according to this, there’s a new five million in there. The crazy thing is, none of the people he took it from is missing any cash.”

“Maybe it just looks like they’re not missing cash. For all we know, whatever my dad put in the system could be wiping them clean.”

I shake my head no. “If that were true, Tanner Drew wouldn’t have been able to transfer forty million bucks. And if Drew was shorted a single dime, we would’ve heard it the instant it happened. Same with Sylvia and the rest. The richer they are, the more they inspect.”

“So that’s the big ultra-secret?” Gillian interrupts. “Some diddly computer virus that makes a few people rich?”

“We should be so lucky,” I say, turning back to the blue glare.

Charlie watches me carefully. He knows that tone. “What’re you saying?” he asks.

“Don’t you see what Duckworth did? Sure, on the small stage, he invented some cash, but when you pull the microscope back, it’s far bigger than just adding a few zeros to your bank account. To pull this off, he not only sidestepped all of our internal controls – he also somehow fooled the bank’s computer system into thinking it was dealing with real money. And when we transferred that money out, it was good enough to fool the London bank, and the bank in France, and every bank after that. In some of those places – including ours – we’re talking state-of-the-art, military-designed computer systems. And Duckworth’s imaginary transactions fooled them all.”

“I still don’t see what’s-”

“Take it to the next level, Charlie. Forget the private banks and the tiny foreign institutions. Grab Duckworth’s program and sell it to the highest bidder. Let a terrorist organization get ahold of it. Even worse, put it in a too-big-to-fail.”

“A what?”

“ Too-big-to-fail . It’s what the Federal Reserve calls the top fifty or so banks in the country. Once Duckworth’s little worm digs in there, your three hundred million is suddenly three hundred billion – and it’s flowing everywhere – Citibank… First Union… down to the little mom-and-pops across the country. The only problem is, when all is said and done, the money’s not real. And the moment someone realizes that the Emperor’s not wearing any clothes, the pyramid scheme collapses. No bank trusts its own records, and none of us knows if our bank accounts are safe. The whole world lines up at the teller windows and the ATMs. But when we go to make our withdrawals, there’s not enough real cash to go around. Since the money’s fake, every bank runs out of funds. The too-big-to-fails implode first, then the hundred smaller banks that they lend to, then the hundreds of banks below those. They all crater at once – all of them searching for money that was never really there. Sorry, sir, we can’t cover your account – all the money in the bank is now gone . And that’s when the real panic begins. It’ll make the Depression look like a quick stock market dip.”

Even Charlie can’t make a joke about this one. “You think that’s what they want it for?”

“Whatever they want, there’s one thing I know for sure: The only proof of what actually happened is right here,” I say, once again tapping the screen.

Click.

Account Balance: $5,104,221.60.

The elevator pings behind us as ninety-one thousand new dollars stare back at us from the screen. Charlie checks the elevator, but no one steps out.

Glancing over his shoulder, I see it too. We’ve been here too long. “We should print this out…”

“… and get out of here,” he agrees.

“Wait,” Gillian says.

“ Wait ?” Charlie asks.

“I-I just… we should be careful with this one.”

“That’s why we’re printing it out. For proof,” he says as he stares her down. This close, his fuse is shorter than ever.

There’s an out-of-date laser printer right next to the computer. I flip a switch and it grumbles to life. Grabbing the keyboard, Charlie hits Print . On screen, a gray dialog box pops up: Error in writing to LPT1: Please insert copy-card . At the base of the printer is a handwritten card that says: All copies fifteen cents per page .

“Where do we get a copy-card?” he demands.

There’s a machine in the corner. Two people are standing in front of it, stuffing dollar bills down its throat. Charlie’s in no mood to wait. A few computers down, the porno kid has a copy-card sitting on his desk. “Hey, young sir,” Charlie calls out. “I’ll give you five bucks for your card.”

“There’s already five bucks on it,” he tells us.

“We’ll give you ten,” I add.

“How ’bout twenty?” the kid challenges.

“How ’bout I scream ‘Titty-freak’ and point your way?” Gillian threatens.

The kid slides the card; I pull out a ten.

As I get up to make the trade, Charlie jumps back in the driver’s seat. Leaning over his shoulder, I stuff the card into the small machine that’s attached to the printer and wait as it whirs into place. The screen on the card-reader lights up. Current balance: $2.20 .

We turn back to the porno kid. He sniffs the ten-dollar bill with a smirk. Charlie’s about to stand up.

“Leave it be,” I say, turning his head back to the screen.

Refocused, he once again hits Print . Like before, a gray box pops up, but this one’s different. The font and type size match the ones on Duckworth’s bank statement: Warning – To print this document, please enter password .

“What the hell is this?” Charlie asks.

“What’d you do?” I blurt.

“Nothing… I just hit Print .”

“See, this is what I was talking about,” Gillian says.

The porno kid next to us once again starts to stare. The elevator doors close in the corner. Someone’s calling it from below.

Charlie tries to click back to the bank statement, but he can’t get past the password warning.

“Ask the lady at the reference desk,” Gillian says.

“I don’t think this is from the library,” I say, leaning in over his shoulder. “This may be a Duckworth precaution.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“We do the same thing on the important accounts at the bank. If you were hiding the smoking gun in the center of one of the world’s most popular websites – wouldn’t you bury a couple land mines just to buy yourself some safety?”

“Wait, so now you think it’s a trap?” Gillian asks.