Biceps on the Trail: The Last Login

It was a Monday morning. Biceps was just finishing his workout at his home gym. After the last set of presses he reached for his phone to check what was new on X. Between posts about politics and technology he noticed a message from a worried employee.

“Mr. Biceps! Our colleague has gone missing! The same one who was looking for the Christmas bonus with us!”

Biceps put down his dumbbells.

“Someone is looking for something again? It’s becoming a tradition.”

The detective went to the office. On the missing man’s desk he found a half-finished coffee and a note: “I have to find out where the bonus money went.”

Exhibit ANote from the missing man’s desk

I have to find out where the bonus money went.
Last login: Friday, afternoon

Questioning the HR department quickly produced an answer. It turned out the colleague had not gone missing at all, he had been dismissed as part of “human resources optimization.” His last login to the system dated from Friday afternoon. Biceps’s translation~~human resources optimization~~layoffs.

Biceps did not believe that was the whole story. All the leads pointed to the ground floor, to the boardroom.

InterrogationWhere did the budget go?

Biceps has a budget sheet in front of him with a few line items. Where did the Christmas bonus budget go?

The rest of the story is locked. Choose where the budget went.

After a short investigation of the financial documents he uncovered a shocking truth. The budget set aside for Christmas bonuses had been moved to pay out a dividend for shareholders. The board knew perfectly well that the employees would not see a single cent. Biceps’s translation~~had been moved~~vanished, with an invoice. Biceps’s translation~~a dividend for shareholders~~a bonus for people nobody in the office has ever seen.

“So the money did not disappear! It just changed pockets!” Biceps exclaimed.

In the evening, during another break between sets at his home gym, the detective posted a short summary of the case on Discord. He had no time to enjoy the reactions before he received a mysterious message from an unknown account:

Exhibit BMessage from an unknown account

unknown accountevening

“Biceps, you think you’ve solved the riddle? The bonus is only the beginning. Check what happened to the raise budget.”
Biceps’s translation~~the raise budget~~an office legend.

Attached was a photo of the CEO, the CFO and the dismissed employee. They were all sitting at one table, and in front of them lay a mysterious folder labeled “Project Space Bus.” Biceps’s translation~~Project Space Bus~~classified. Biceps is still checking.

Exhibit CPhoto from the anonymous message

Before he could zoom in on the photo he saw a new notification: a calendar invitation to a meeting with… the CEO.

Invitation · from: the CEO

Meeting subject: “Urgent. Let’s talk about the future.”

The detective narrowed his eyes.

“Well, well. It looks like this time they’re the ones who want to question me…”