Allowing his web browser to remember all his IDs andpasswords so he didn’t have to fill them in each time was yet another exampleof lax security. He really was handing all of this to her on a plate.
She clicked logon, wondering if she could get throughsecurity as she had before. Two security questions came up. The first asked forthe name of his favourite sports team. That was easy. He was always banging onabout Chelsea which all went straight over Kay’s head. She was not remotelyinterested in football, preferring motor sports, something that Alan haddismissed as “sad tossers driving around in circles”.
The second was that old favourite, his mother’s maiden name.She knew that, too, because his parents had got divorced not long after Kay andAlan had got married. At the time, his mother had made a big thing of goingback to her maiden name, insisting it be prefixed with ‘Ms’.
The final hurdle was using the security key. She hadsomething similar for her own bank and knew she would have to put a passcodeinto it. She switched it on and found it was asking her for a six-digit code.He couldn’t have been stupid enough to use his date of birth again, could he?She typed in 251064.
It worked – he really had been that stupid. All she had todo now was type in the new code which had flashed up on the device.
It was as simple as that and now she was sitting there infront of her husband’s illicit account, looking at over €300,000, which by hercalculations must amount to at least a quarter of a million pounds. And thiswas ten months ago. How much more had he added since?
What should she do now? She could steal the money. Why not?She was in Universe 2.0. What was the worst that could happen? It would beworth doing it, just to see if she could get away with it without anyconsequences. If all went smoothly, she could do it all again once she got backinto the real world. Yes, this was a good idea. She would have aconsequence-free dress rehearsal.
She clicked on the button marked “Make a payment” and thenfilled in the section marked “Create a payee”. She put in her own name andcurrent account details. Then she entered the entire balance as the amount.
Just before she hit send, an amusing thought occurred toher. While she was here, she may as well have a little fun and make the Alan ofthis universe squirm. She would derive a lot of satisfaction out of that.
She reduced the amount in the transfer box by eight euros,which would leave that as the remaining balance on the account. She chuckled asshe did so, looking forward to telling him exactly why she had left him withthat exact amount. Then she hit send, wondering if such a huge transactionwould go through undetected.
It went through without a hitch and a confirmation appearedon the screen. Kay was amazed. Were amounts that large not questioned when theywere moved around? She was sure they would be in England. Perhaps that was notthe case with Swiss bank accounts. There were all sorts of rich, not to mentioncorrupt, people using them to move around millions. Her six-figure sum probablywasn’t enough to even bat an electronic eyelid.
The next thing to check was whether or not it had reachedher account safely. Logging onto her own online banking through her mobilephone, she was delighted to see the full amount sitting in her current account.Mission accomplished!
Relaxing for a moment, she felt a rumble in her stomach asher brain informed her she was hungry. Checking her watch, she discovered itwas already past lunchtime. She had been at this for over three hours and sheneeded to eat. But before that she needed to memorise as much as possible ofwhat she had seen if she was going to be able to use this information again inthe future.
She began with the Swiss bank account. It had a five-digitsort code and a twelve-digit account number. Over and over she spoke them outloud, as well as writing them down twenty times on a piece of paper. Sheremembered being told at school that this helped permanently etch a number intoone’s brain.
Next she memorised the dates of the transactions from thewine company into the account. She would need this information for what she hadin mind. It was essential if Alan was to believe she knew everything when shecame to confront him over it.
Satisfied she had done all she could, she left his office,not bothering to cover her tracks behind her. There was no need. She headeddownstairs, made herself a quick sandwich, then pulled on her coat and headedinto town.
She stopped at the cashpoint, drew out as much cash as shecould and then, on a whim, made for the taxi rank. When she asked the taxidriver to take her to London, he couldn’t believe his luck. Such fares didn’tcome up too often, she imagined.
The taxi cost her £150 and he insisted on payment inadvance, but she wasn’t bothered about the cost. She had achieved what she hadcome here to do today, and didn’t intend hanging around the house watching BridgetJones’s Diary like she had first time round on Valentine’s Day. She wasgoing to live the life of Riley instead.
While she was in the taxi, she took great pleasure intexting Alan:
You might want to check the balance of your secretaccount. Don’t worry, it hasn’t all gone. There’s enough left for you to getyourself an omelette next time you’re in Marbella.
A few minutes later, her phone rang and his name flashed up.She could have answered, but found it more satisfying to simply press rejectinstead. Shortly after that she got a notification that had received avoicemail. She ignored that as well. Then the texts started coming, first anger,then pleading and bargaining. At this point she switched her phone off. Let himsweat.
In London she headed straight for Oxford Street where sheblew several hundred on a complete outfit for the evening. Then she headed fora
