. ." he started. She
blushed.
"I've got something to show you at the house," she said.
"Good," he heard himself say. He stood there, grinning, amazed at
himself. "Friday," he confirmed. He went back to the computer--happy
but frightened. He couldn't make excuses; he _had_ to see her. Don't
panic, he told himself. Just stay for a couple of hours and go to
Deweys for a Friday night drink with the boys. Go home smelling of
Guinness and cigarettes . . . He was skidding, losing control. He
plunged into the hunt for the missing money with renewed determination.
Computer programs evolve and become more complicated over time. This
accounting package had been in place for eight years. Many new versions
had been installed and much had been changed to suit this particular
hospital. It would take too long to set up a parallel test system, and
it probably wouldn't help, anyway. The best hope for fixing programming
problems is to catch them when they happen, when there are clues to
help in the search. The monthly trial balance is off--why? What changed
last month? A weird data situation? A new program? Modifications to an
old program? But in this case, the accounts had drifted out of balance
over a six-month period, nearly two years earlier.
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