On September 28, Mr. Henderson paid his October rent. This was three days early and therefore immediately suspicious.

The property manager, who had spent seventeen years pursuing tenants who paid late, had never encountered a tenant who paid early. She consulted the lease.

Rent was due on the first of each month. Nothing was said about paying before that date. She opened an incident report. Mr. Henderson was asked to explain himself. He replied that he had received his salary and thought he might as well pay the rent.

The explanation was recorded but considered inadequate. The accounting department was consulted. Its software had already closed September and was not prepared to recognize October. The payment was consequently classified as an unidentified surplus.

Mr. Henderson was informed that he had a credit balance. He replied that he had paid his rent. The property manager explained that these were two different things.

On October 1, the automated system issued a notice reminding Mr. Henderson that his rent was due. He telephoned the office. The property manager assured him that his money had been received, but the system could not apply it until the surplus had been properly identified.

A committee was formed. The committee established that Mr. Henderson had no outstanding debts, had never missed a payment, and had occupied the apartment for six years without complaint.

These findings were troubling.

One member suggested that early payment might indicate an intention to vacate. Another suspected an attempt to conceal an unauthorized subtenant. A third proposed reviewing his financial circumstances. Mr. Henderson was invited to a meeting. He declined, explaining that he was at work. His refusal was added to the file.

On October 12, the committee concluded that no violation had occurred. However, to prevent future irregularities, Mr. Henderson was instructed to pay his rent on the first of each month, neither earlier nor later. He agreed.

On November 1, his payment arrived at 8:03 a.m. The accounting system had been scheduled to process rent at midnight. Consequently, Mr. Henderson was three minutes late. A late fee was automatically assessed. The property manager was relieved. At last, she knew what to do.