Mid-morning I had a call from Henry Donaldson of UR, asking for a meeting. He did not want me to go to the office as he was trying to keep our arrangement as secret as possible, so we agreed to meet later for lunch at a country hotel near Wellesbourne about 15 minutes away. When I entered the restaurant I recognised him immediately from the description Tom had given me, a distinguished looking silver-haired 60-something, and went over and introduced myself. The waiter took my coat and your drinks order, I hung my bag over the chair, and sat down opposite him

“Good afternoon Ms Rowland, in other circumstances I would say I’m pleased to meet you at last, I’ve heard all about you sorting out that business in Birmingham and am most impressed. However we now have an even bigger problem and I would like you to get involved. If you can sort this one out for us, I assure you that your fees will be the largest you have ever received, but it will involve you full time for a few weeks, do you want to know more.”

“That’s why I am here, and please call me Jacquie, and may I call you Henry? Tom Chapman could not give me any details of what your problem is, just that it is very significant for you, so please start at the beginning, and obviously anything you tell me is confidential.”

“ We are a public company, Universal Retail PLC, listed on the stock exchange as UR, and lately our share price has been very erratic, swinging wildly, based on rumours and opinions on the share chat-lines. This is all part of the share trading game and the market has always responded to these rumours. However nowadays most major share trading is semi-automated with systems detecting trends and automatically buying and selling, and can be lot more volatile than it used to be. We have two problems, the rumours circulating about us are remarkably accurate and somewhere there is a lot of insider information triggering the swings, but the main problem is that our big shareholders, the investment funds, are getting very nervous and are threatening to cut their investment in us. Once the big boys start offloading, confidence goes down the drain, banks won’t release loans, and we will be on a steep spiral to difficult times. We need to find out how and by whom our confidential financial information is being leaked.”

“I am not a financial fraud investigator, and to be honest I am not familiar with stock market trading practices, however nothing you have said has confused me or gone beyond my general knowledge. However if there’s a security breach that is my area of expertise, let me investigate for a couple of weeks and if I’m getting nowhere you can pull the plug, ok? When I sorted out the shop fraud problem for you I was allowed to work undercover in the store and left to see what I could find. I suggest that we need to do something similar with this, have you thought about getting me placed somehow in the main finance office?”

“I have already had the same thought. My chief accountant’s secretary/PA is on holiday for a few weeks from next Monday. You are obviously familiar with general office procedures and dealing with people at a senior level. I assume that, like most people nowadays, you are familiar with computers and general commercial programs and can type, even if not at secretarial speeds, and are more than capable of handling the role. how you go about investigating is your speciality and we’ll leave that totally to you.”

“I assume that there is to be no direct contact between us and that we do not know each other in the office. Our company has a subsidiary trading name, JR Staff Solutions Ltd, that we use for situations such as this, If you employ me as a temporary PA through JRSS, everything will appear above board. If I need to talk I will send you a text with just a time to meet. I think it is best if we are well any from the office and suggest that here is as good a place as any and I will see you here. Obviously the same applies if you need to talk with me.”

“That’s all agreed then Jacquie, I will arrange for you to start on Monday, please arrive at reception and ask for Mr Joseph Cole, and hopefully we can get this sorted before too long, good luck.” He shook my hand , bid me goodbye and left me wondering how I could get to the bottom of serious financial irregularities.”

Back at home, I went online to find share chatlines and what they were saying about Henry’s company. He was right, it was a running story of rumours, opinions, share price forecasts, many of which contradicted each other, but after wading through it all for a couple of hours, I noticed that one of the commentators seemed to judge the market better than the others and always seemed to know when the market price was going to rise or fall, but I didn’t have a way to get past their online nickname to identify them or to check whether they were actually trading in line with their comments.

I spent the rest of the week and weekend reading everything I could about stock market operations in general and UR in particular. Henry was right, their shares fluctuated 5% or more some days, giving the opportunity for big traders to make a lot of money if they timed it right. Most of the big price swings seemed to coincide with major rumours on the chatlines and a lot of the instances seemed to be a week or so before any public announcement of trading figures or sales forecasts on the official UR message boards.

Monday morning as PA to a senior manager, I dressed formally in my plain Navy skirt suit, Crepe-de-Chine full-sleeved blouse, and matching patent block-heel shoes. I turned up early at UR’s headquarters to report reception to be taken to Mr. Cole. I was surprised when he arrived personally, I was expecting that one of the office staff would collect me to take me up to his office. I had pictured a middle-aged, staid, balding, spectacle-wearing, caricature accountant, but was met by a smartly dressed, well-groomed, tanned thirty-something with a pleasant smile and a warm handshake. I’m sure that if any of the girls had been with me that he would have made a very good first impression as he was a most attractive man.

We went up to my new office, which was next door to his, he settled me in, arranged for one of the office girls to organise some coffee, and invited me to sit down for a chat.

“Welcome to UR Jacquie, please call me Joe, unless there is someone else around, when it should be Mr Cole. I have not used anyone from your agency before, but have had strong recommendations for both the company and yourself personally from my colleague Henry Donaldson. It’s unfortunate that Sarah my PA was not able to overlap with you and show you where things are and how we do things around here, so don’t be afraid to ask me, or one of the girls in the office, if you can’t work things out yourself.”

Joe soon went off to a meeting which gave me the chance to have a good look around his office, and I found nothing obviously untoward, no confidential papers lying around, all finance files on the computer were password protected and restricted access, the computer dustbin files were clear and permanently deleted, all financial filing cabinets were locked with no keys lying around, the general level of confidentiality and security seemed high. It was the same in Sarah’s office, nothing was out of place. Whether it was normally like that or whether it was because Sarah had made sure that everything was in order before she went on holiday, I couldn’t tell.

The next two days I spent familiarising myself with who did what in the office, who had access to confidential information while reports were being prepared, who had access into Sarah’s and Joe’s office and generally getting to know the girls in the office. Whilst I had a printer in my office for downloading any work I was doing for Joe, I needed to use the copier in the general office for running off multiple copies and this was a good location, along with the office kitchen to pick up gossip and find out if anyone seemed to be living beyond their means. It seemed that most of the girls lived relatively humdrum lives, but there were two or three that never seemed to be short of money.

There was no significant activity on the share market, just general daily rises and falls that could be expected, and I decided that I needed to provoke some reaction. Following the format and style of previous reports, I drafted a report that gave projections for future sales, and contrary to popular trends with high-street retailers was very bullish about the confident prospects of future stability of the company, watermarked it ‘Draft for comment and discussion, RESTRICTED ACCESS.’ and ’accidentally’ left it in an unlocked drawer in my desk.

The next morning I checked the share price and trading, and when the exchange market opened there was a flurry of buying activity and a major rise in the share price, mainly triggered by a broker in Birmingham making a comment on the chat-lines that “I see a rosy future for UR, I understand that sales figures are expected to go up.” Whilst this made very little difference to what went on in UR it gave me confidence that someone with access to the finance office was picking up and passing on information. I immediately shredded the printed report and deleted the computer file so that nothing could be traced back to me. Throughout the day the share price
drifted back to where it had started, as personal input into dealing took over from the automatic trading systems.

I was getting on very well with Joe and managing to do all he needed from me, and adjusting to life as his PA. We were getting on well personally and after a few days he suggested that we went out to lunch to get to know each other better.”

“Tell me about yourself Jacquie, you seem to be very capable and get on well with everyone, why are you doing temporary work, I’m sure that you could easily get a position as a senior PA in most major companies if you wished.”

“I worked for 7 years as a private secretary/PA for an extremely wealthy American helping him to administer his country estate the other side of Stratford. However he decided to go back to the States and sold off his property, the new owner had their own staff, and that was the end of that chapter in my life. It is a bit of a niche market and I am trying to sort out what I want to do with my life and career. For the last 18 months or so, I have been doing what I am doing now. Whilst it would be nice to be settled with long-term prospects, I am actually enjoying the variety from temporary placements. What about you, have you always worked for UR?”

“I’ve only been with UR for just over 2 years, i came from a similar role in a much smaller company but felt it was time to stretch my career. Henry Donaldson, the CFO, is due for retirement in the next few years and hopefully, if I keep my nose clean , his position should be mine for the asking. What about your personal life are you still unattached?”

“Why is it that attractive charming and capable men like yourself are never asked that question and that they can have a perfectly fulfilling life based around their career, but it is assumed that a woman’s main goal in life is to find a partner. I’m not a raging feminist or anything, but I do get annoyed at that?”

“Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to be patronising, its just that I’m surprised that someone as capable, pleasant and attractive as yourself has managed to escape the clutches us evil men for so long. And you are right, I am fully committed to my career, and apart from my mother, nobody ever asks me when I am going to settle down. Thank you for the ‘attractive and charming’ comment, by the way.”

The conversation returned to more general safer ground and despite our little earlier flurry I found myself quite liking Joe, although he had a way of getting more information from me than I did from him. He appeared to be looking for a long-term career with UR and it seemed unlikely that he would want to jeopardise that by doing anything illegal or unprofessional.

However as Chief Accountant he was privy to a lot of the confidential company information and had to be one of the main suspects for the leaks, he had to be definitely ruled in or out of my investigation. He was due to be away from the office for a couple of days visiting one of our subsidiary companies to carry out a review of their accounts, which would give me the opportunity for a more detailed look in his office and try out my next scheme.

That evening, when I knew that he would not be in the office, I left a copy of a dummy letter supposedly from him to one of our other directors on my desk, detailing a proposal for discussion to merge with one of our rivals which would give us a major market share and potentially greater profits. As expected, the following morning the trading in UR shares went crazy, prompted by the same brokers who had triggered the surge after my last false report. I was now confident that Joe was not responsible and was glad to rule him out.

I phoned the office mid-morning. “Hi Joanne I need to meet up with you for lunch if you are available. can you bring me some very small, discrete, battery-powered video-cameras with bluetooth transmission, and an associated video recorder, I’ll tell you what I am doing when I see you. “

When I walked in she stood up and greeted me with a hug and cheek kiss as she would any other female friend. “ Wow, you are looking good girl, that outfit really suits you, you are settling into your new job like a hand in a glove. You really must keep this up when you get back in the office.”

“Thanks Joanne, I really must get used to accepting compliments gracefully, I am not used to it, girls are brought up with getting told that they are pretty, but boys don’t get anything like that nearly so much. Thanks too for bringing the stuff over for me, I know it has been a bit of a trek for you, but I think I am getting somewhere and the cameras should clear things up. I am certain that someone in checking the offices for any financial information, but I need some proof before I report it.”

Before I left work that evening, I had set up the cameras to cover all areas of my office and Joe’s office, and had hidden the recorder in a stationery store cupboard, left a few bits of general letters and correspondence in the out tray on my desk and left to see what would happen.

The following morning I couldn’t wait to inspect the recordings. After I left there was no activity for an hour or so until the cleaners came in, they did their work and left showing no interest in what was on my desk, other than giving it a dust and polish. However, later one of the night security guards, came into the office, for no apparent reason, briefly went through to Joe’s office, then had a quick look at my desk saw the papers I had left in my tray, smiled and left. Two hours later, on what must have been his scheduled next walk-around, he came in again, lifted the correspondence and left, returning five minutes later, and replaced them, but I noticed that he went away with several papers in his hand, obviously having copied the documents. This time there was nothing significant in the documents and the share price and trading just went on as normal.

I sent Henry Donaldson, a simple text “6:30”, trusting that he would understand. When I arrived, he was waiting for me, greeted me with a soft handshake, ordered me a drink and sat down to discuss what I had discovered.

“One of the night security guards appears to be making intrusive visits into our offices, I don’t know if that is part of his duties, but it seems someone has been taking documents and passing them on to a broker who has then been manipulating the share price by spreading rumours on the chatlines and playing the market in UR shares. I have recording cameras in our offices, I would like to place some in your office as well, can you arrange that.”

“I’ve seen a film and a tv show where cleaners had done something very similar, but thought that it was very unlikely, maybe the media people are not so daft after all. I think it is time to get Tom Chapman fully involved again, send a copy of your videos to my personal email at home, I’ll get Tom to come over to see if he can check our records to identify the guard. Meanwhile I will get him to arrange for my offices to be monitored to see if he goes in there as well. Give me a couple of days, then plant another false report, and we’ll see what reaction we get.”

“ Here’s my gmail address, i don’t use it much so your messages shouldn’t got lost among a load of spam like my other accounts would. You seem to be making a lot of progress, well done.”

Two days later I drafted a memo, watermarked MOST CONFIDENTIAL, from Joe to Henry Donaldson, suggesting that one of our biggest suppliers was about to go insolvent and that we would have problems re-stocking and that our buying policy needed a major review. Copies were left in folders in the in-trays in Joe’s and Henry’s offices, and the cameras reset so that they could be monitored by Tom and his senior team. As expected The security guard came into our office, looked in a drawer that I had left unlocked and slightly open, saw the memo, copied it, and then went to Henry’s office to do the same.

At the end of his shift one of Tom’s team followed the guard to a back-street pub where he had a long discussion before passing on the document to a smart well-dressed man in an expensive business suit. One of the advantages of modern mobile phones is the excellent quality of images from their built-in cameras and clear shots were obtained of the handover of the document and the passing back of a well-padded envelope with the faces of both men clearly identifiable. It was an easy task to go to the broker’s website, see the images of the senior staff and identify the man in the pub.

Tom called in the police fraud squad who raided the broker’s office, took and analysed his computer and were able to clearly link him as the source of the rumours posted on the chat-line.

Using the broker’s computer and identity, Joe posted on the chatline that recent rumours that had been posted had now been found to be incorrect and malicious, and that accurate information could always be found on the UR shareholders web page. Henry Donaldson contacted some of the major shareholders, mainly investment funds, and gave them the bare bones of the fraud, assured them that share trading in UR should now stabilise, and they should let it all settle down before making decisions about future investment actions.

Another job successfully carried out, UR gave JRI a rolling two year exclusive contract to act as security consultants and investigators, but I only agreed on condition that Joanne and my staff would carry out virtually all the work and that I would only normally be involved in an overseeing coordinating role. This was enough to ensure the continued success of our business, and eased worries about any reaction to my decision to live and work as a woman.

Joanne organised a meal out in a private room at one of the top riverside restaurants in Stratford for the girls in the office, as a thank-you for the extra work they had to deal with when I was away Joanne had let them all know about my lifestyle decision so none were surprised when I walked in as a very glamorous thirty-something woman. I had spent half the day in a beauty parlour, getting the full treatment, hair restyled and tinted a light auburn shade with sun-kissed streaks, facials, full body wax, and nails shaped and painted. I had bought a flowing calf-length cocktail dress, paired with matching shoes and clutch bag, and felt on top of the world walking in to meet my staff as Jacquie. Previously they had accepted that I was dressing as a disguise, but now they knew that this was how I would always be.

“ Hello everyone, we are here tonight to socialise but a small bit of business first. As you can see, Jacquie is here to stay now. I hope that you can all accept me as I am now, but if any of you have difficulty accepting it, please come and talk to me or to Joanne. I wouldn’t want to think that I could lose any valued members of the team because of the way I look. That’s all lets’s enjoy the food, drink and company.”

Everyone relaxed and had a good time, many complimented me on my appearance and welcomed me officially to the world of women, and nobody said that they had any problems with how I had chosen to live.

At the end of the evening, they all left to go home, or to do their own thing, leaving Joanne and I
alone.

“You’ve got yourself sorted now Jacquie, the company is doing well, your lifestyle is now established, I am accepted and treated by our clients as a partner, but have you decided what you are going to do with your personal life and relationships. Do you think that, as a woman, you
are comfortable having relationships with men, do you find men sexually attractive, and can you see a long term future with someone?”

“I don’t know Joanne, when I first met Joe Cole I did think that he was extremely good looking and a real charmer, and that he would make a wonderful catch for some lucky girl, but I never considered that could be me, I see him as a good friend, nice to be with, but no more. When I am out with you and Julie, and hear you both making comments on men you see, I can understand what you find attractive in them, but I don’t get the same tingle myself. I still get more of a buzz from looking at attractive women.”

“I may regret this Jacquie, would it shock you if I told you that I am bisexual and have had relationships with both men and women, I have tried not to make it obvious, and nobody other than the people involved has a clue about it. I’ve always had a bit of a thing for you as Jack, and that has not changed, now you are Jacquie, if anything, my feelings have got stronger. I would really like to get to know you better and more intimately. I would like to think that whether we take this further or not that our professional relationship would not be affected.”

“Joanne, at the moment I have no intention of transitioning, and I have no thoughts or intentions of having a relationship with a man, I am still trying to get my head around it all. Just like you, I have always thought of you as more than a business associate. I really care for you too and would love to develop things with you, but let’s take things slowly and see how they work out, you do not seem bothered by my cross-dressing but it will always be there in the background. If you are happy to do that, I would be delighted, come here and give me a hug, it is always a good gentle way to start.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

12 months later

“ Come here Mrs Rowland, now the ceremony is over, we can really call each other that. I have never been as happy as I’ve been since we got together, and look forward to a long life with you. We have the best of both worlds, we have our lives together as wife and wife, but in our intimate moments we can also choose to be husband and wife, as the mood takes us. I’m so glad that you have been happy to accept me as I now am, it has been so much easier for me with your love to keep me going. I love you so much.”

“ I love you too. You know that I am happy to be with you in your Jack moments as well as your usual Jacquie times, no matter what, we will always be together.”

“ Jacquie, It’s Tom Chapman, I thought I would let you know that the share fraud case has finally ended in court today, It always seems an awful long time for them to prosecute this sort of case, but tracing and comparing records can be very difficult. The brokers involved have been sent down for a long time, it appears that it wasn’t only UR that they targeted. Anyway, Henry and I are most appreciative, things are a lot more relaxed now, and we would like to celebrate with you and Joanne. Can you arrange something in Stratford for dinner in a couple of days time, and book rooms for Henry and I. You can book rooms for yourselves too if you wish but I know that you live in the town centre and will probably want to just go home.”

“That will be delightful, I look forward to it, I’ll tell Joanne and we’’ll see if we can book the Alveston Manor hotel, I think that you will find it impressive and comfortable.”

“Good evening ladies, you’re looking delightful tonight,” said Henry, turning on the charm, “before we get down to enjoying ourselves and relaxing, I have a bit of business to discuss, if you don’t mind. Jacquie, you and your company have really helped UR over the last year or so and have made us realise that we are very naive and old-fashioned in terms of security and fraud. Tom here is doing an excellent job with the day to day operations and managing policy, but we need more strategic advice at board level.”

“The board have asked Tom to join as an executive director, but between us we consider that we would welcome outside advice too, In the same way that we appoint bankers and financiers from other companies to give us the benefit of their expertise from their other activities, we would like to appoint you as a non-executive director. There would be no day-to-day commitment needed from you and you are free to continue with JRI, we would just need your attendance at regular board meetings, and the associated background reading and preparation of documents, Obviously there would be a generous retainer fee, and a share-allocation package. Please say you agree, we look forward to working more closely with you.”

“I’m flattered and not sure that I deserve it but of course I agree.” I replied , holding back tears of joy. this would set up Joanne and I with a comfortable life.

“Ok, that’s the business finished.for tonight, we’ll tie things up with you later. Let’s enjoy our meal.”

We had a wonderful meal in excellent company, Henry insisted that we had the full three courses, The men both had Ribeye steaks, whereas Joanne and I went a bit lighter with the Hake and the Pork Shoulder, and finished of with the Peach Melba. We had a very enjoyable Veuve Cliquot as a celebration, and a bottle between us of Barolo and a lovely fruity Sancerre to wash it down.

“Thank you so much for a wonderful evening to both of you, and for the offer of a seat on the UR board, you have made me so happy.” I said as we bid goodbye, giving them both a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

It was a calm balmy night so Joanne and i decided to just walk home rather than getting a taxi, I was walking on air anyway. As we approached our house we were suddenly confronted by two balaclava-wearing men pointing knives at us.

“Get into the garden out of sight you bitches, you have caused us a lot of bother and a lot of money, and we aren’t too happy with you, our associates will be locked away for a long time thanks to your meddling, and it’s time you got your comeuppance.”

Although to all appearances I was now fully female, my hormones were still awash with testosterone and I reacted as a man and went for the one nearest me, sent him flying and told Joanne to go get help, but his mate grabbed me from behind and threw me to the ground and started kicking away at me. Joanne’s shouting and screaming alerted neighbours and lights started coming on and a couple of the men came over to help, but the assailants ran away before they could be stopped. The next thing I knew I woke up in bed with Joanne sitting next to me.

“Thank god, you are awake at last, we were really worried about you, you’ve been in hospital sedated for three days now. let me get the doctors in to have a look at you.”

“Ms Rowland, for the sake of convenience that is what we have registered you as, you have had a really bad beating. You have several broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a broken leg from where they stamped on you and kicked you, you are on a lot of pain-control medication, but those injuries have been dealt with and will heal with time, along with a lot of minor bruises and cuts.

We were surprised to discover that you are still physically a man despite your outward appearance, but that gives us another problem. Your genital area has been badly damaged by several kicks, and also by being badly cut by a knife attack on you, we think it unlikely that you will ever function properly as a man again, although we could do some reconstruction if you prefer. I have discussed this with your wife here, and we advise, to prevent sepsis setting in, that we remove your genitalia and create what is in effect a female outward appearance. Bearing in mind your lifestyle we advise that this may be the best way to proceed. Obviously you need to think about it and talk it over between you, but you will be here for a while, so there is no hurry. let me know what you want us to do, I’ll leave you on your own now, give the nurses a call if you need anything, and they will get hold of me if I am needed.”

“ Oh Joanne, I am so sorry, you have been talking about trying for a baby, and it looks like that will never happen now.”

“Don’t you worry about that, that is the least of our problems. I haven’t had an opportunity to tell you, and I wanted to make sure before I said anything, but I am certain that I am expecting.” It was a wonderful bit of news that far outweighed the bad news I had just been given and we hugged for a long time until my sore ribs began to ache.

"I've got more good news for you Jacquie, your attackers dropped the knife when they were punching you and left it when they ran off. The police were able to get a DNA match with someone on their records and have them and his partner in custody. They were also able to get them to confess to other crimes. They will face a long prison sentence when their case comes up. So we don't have to worry about them anymore."

I spent the next few weeks in hospital or at home in bed while my physical injuries recovered and passed a lot of the time thinking about whether or not to go ahead with the gender reassignment that the doctor had suggested, before going back to review my situation with the doctor.

“ What happens if I decide that I want to keep my male genitalia, am I likely to get any further complications?

“There is always an option of reconstructive surgery for your penis, but is pot luck whether it will work or not, sometimes the nerves reconnect themselves, sometimes they don’t. In your case because of the extent of the damage I don’t think that will be successful. Again because of the damage, there is always a possibility of sepsis getting into your system from the damaged tissue, which can lead to all sorts of problems.”

“And if I opt for female reconstruction how successful will that be?”

“Externally you will look like any other female, but obviously you will not have the internal organs, it is a routine operation nowadays and almost certain to be a complete success, and as we would be removing most of the damaged tissue, the likelihood of infection is minimal.”

“i’ve already had long and detailed discussions with my wife and we have decided that if you didn’t foresee any problems today to go ahead with the operation. Please make the arrangements.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

12 months later

I am sitting nursing our baby daughter Lily, holding her to my now natural breast, now fully recovered from all my injuries and from my gender re-assignment, to all intents and purposes now a complete woman, gazing lovingly over to Joanne who is gently rocking Lily’s twin Sophia.

Our family is complete, we now have a happy and fulfilling life with our family, and are very comfortably off thanks to my role with UR. With a lot of help and baby-sitting from their adoring Auntie Julie, Joanne and I share the roles of mothering the girls and running JRI and all is well with the world.

“You never know where life is going to take you.” my mother always used to say, and she could not have been more correct.

The end