One evening a few weeks ago a great friend and coworker of mine and I were staying late before going to a Jazz game. While closing up we started talking to another coworker, Debbie. She mentioned that she really wishes she could go to lunch with us but she is afraid of getting in trouble. Apparently she is aware of a person in our office that watches how long we are gone on a daily basis. At this point I realized that there is a coworker lurking somewhere who has entirely too much time on his or her hands and has become a spy, waiting for the moment to divulge all activities of Cindy and myself to our boss.

After a few too many beers and a great basketball game Cindy and I tried to narrow down our list of suspects. It didn’t take long to decide that the Spy is no other then our VP of Accounting. I had assumed that it was out of pure adoration that he constantly is walking by my desk. Cindy points out that I am wrong. He is now the enemy.

05/17/2007

08:01
I am late, again. I was able to sneak in so that my boss does not notice I am over 15 minutes late. I sit down in my desk and am getting ready to turn my computer on when I feel the presence of another person behind me. I turn around and see the suspected spy, looming over my desk. He asks if traffic was bad, noticing that I was late this morning.

08:21
I send Cindy an email relaying to her the conversation between the suspect and me. She agrees, our suspicions are coming closer to being confirmed. She suggests we start keeping a log of how often he walks by our desks.

16:25
The suspect walks past my desk to leave the building. This route is out of his way. I know that he is checking to see if I am going to leave early. I smile at him, not letting on to the fact that we know what he is doing.

16:53
Cindy and I compare notes. My tally is 7 hers is 4.

05/18/2007

I am out of the office today. But Cindy emails me her tally, 9. Apparently she thinks he walked past her desk more because I wasn’t in.


05/21/2007

07:46I arrived early today, currently I have been working for around 15 minutes. The suspect just walked past my desk and smiled at me. The more and more this continues I realize he is watching us.

09:05
I left the office to run in get my coffee, my drug. Upon returning I run into the suspect in the parking garage. He tells me that he needed to get some files out of his car. Ah ha! I never asked what he was doing down there. His explanation sounds shockingly like an admission on guilt. Could it be true?

10:45
I had a long call with the airlines in which I was yelling. I had to sneak out for another morning break; the desire for a cigarette is enormous. Oddly he is in the parking garage again when I get back.

16:47
Cindy and I compare tallies again. Me: 6 Her: 8. Apparently she is become the main object of his spying. I send a request to IT. I would like my computer on the opposite side of my desk so that my back is not facing people who walk by.

05/22/2007 – 05/23/2007

He was out of the office on travel today. I contact IT to follow up on my request. They inform me that I can do this on my own. I move my computer to the opposite side of my desk and await his return.

05/24/2007

07:52
I sit at my desk and within minutes he is making what Cindy and I have deemed the rounds. He notices that my computer is now not in his straight line of site and comments on it. I laugh it off, uncomfortable and paranoid at his response.

09:45
I leave the office for a board meeting. As I am driving I notice that his car is behind me. I dig everywhere for my phone, hoping to take a shot and forward to Cindy. My cell phone is dead. He follows me until I turn into the parking lot for the meeting.

11:25
He was in the parking garage again when I came back from smoking. He seems to know my schedule. The paranoia is increasing. Cindy and I discuss our findings and feel that he is in fact a spy.

12:15
Our boss calls both Cindy and I into his office. We steal a look at each other certain that our fate is poor. It is obvious to us that the suspect knows we were on to him and presented his findings to our boss early. Luckily all he wanted to do was discuss the fall department outing. Phew.

13:49
We get back from lunch and he is sitting at Cindy’s desk, claiming that he needs to go over some drug testing questions. After he leaves we discuss how often he is spending time in our department with one of the other managers. She agrees that he has been visiting a lot lately.

14:32
At this time we can say, with certainty that he is a spy. We will be on the lookout for him and continue to keep our tally. Next week is month end; hopefully he will be more concerned with his job then what we are doing.