Cooked balance of books

[Johnyxxx]

Hello.

Does the bold text mean "there was a pile of balance books at his door, stacked by the clerks and directors? (He was an accountant)


He broke into a steady trot that soon became a run; the perspiration poured from him; his legs felt weak, and his breath was difficult to manage. He was only conscious of the overpowering desire to get away as fast as possible from the sign-post at the cross-roads where the dreadful vision had flashed upon him. For Martin, accountant on a holiday, had never dreamed of any world of psychic possibilities (sféra psychických možností). The entire thing was torture. It was worse than a "cooked" balance of the books that some conspiracy of clerks and directors proved at his innocent door. He raced as though the country-side ran crying at his heels. And always still ran with him the incredible conviction that none of this was really meant for himself at all. He had overheard the secrets of another.

Accessory before the Fact by Algernon Blackwood, 1913.


Thank you very much.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Martin is an accountant. In accounting slang, cooked books are financial records that have been altered for criminal purposes. For example, dishonest people cook the books to hide embezzlement or avoid paying taxes or attract investors.

Whatever the signpost said that upset him, it was worse than if people he worked with had cooked the books to make him look bad.