No 12938, Monday 18 May 2020, Afterdark

Day 55 of 68 Stay safe at home

(I am maintaining lockdown till 31 May)

Solution to 22D has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular/novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance.

ACROSS
1   Workers’ presentation submitted earlier to finance professionals... (11) ACCOUNTANTS {ANTS}<=>{ACCOUNT}
9   ... is a mistake, books left one embarrassed in retrospect (7) BLUNDER {B}{L}{UN}{RED<=}
10 Shake used milk container (7) SHUDDER {SH}{UDDER}
11 Rob’s son is holding a duck (5) STEAL {S}{TEAL}
12 Net money distributed, touring Japan for pleasure (9) ENJOYMENT {NET+MONEY}* over {J}
13 Leading Indian dissenter is orchestrating trouble; imbecile (5) IDIOT Acrostic
15 Pill contains sulphur, aluminium and sodium chloride (5,4) TABLE SALT {TABLE{S}{AL}T}
18 Relative has cow, but had beef heartlessly earlier (9) GRANDAUNT {DAUNT}<=>{GRoAN}
21 Relish found in fajitas tested (5) TASTE [T]
22 Auctioneer’s upset, losing oriental liqueur (9) COINTREAU AUCTIONeER*

24 Records copies after end of shoot (5) TAPES {s..oT}{APES}
26 Now that it’s destroyed, find other similar things (7) WHATNOT*
27 Start to blow away (7) KICKOFF {KICK}{OFF}
28 To mislead class in the absence of leader to pass time reading is antagonism (11) CONTRARIETY {CON}{T}{R}{vARIETY}

DOWN
1   Attacking American president (ex) in German capital... (9) AMBUSHING {AM}{BUSH}{IN}{G}
2   ... is indecent, cold and impolite (5) CRUDE {C}{RUDE}
3   Concentrated and repaired instrument kept inside (9) UNDILUTED {UNDI{LUTE}D}
4   Ordeal for soldiers in dry surroundings (7) TORMENT {OR}{MEN} in {TT}
5   Son’s upset, wants to be back holding sweetheart in cosmetic surgery (4,3) NOSE JOB {SON*}{B{JO}E<=}
6   Investigation on custody challenged, company dismissed (5) STUDY cUSToDY*
7   Yes, waged war towards the end (8) EDGEWAYS*
8   Pace gets last wicket, dismissal by Thomson primarily (4) TROT {w...eT}{RO}{Th...n}
14 Almost magic recreated in a landscape, originally resembling a picture (8) IMAGINAL {MAGIc}*{IN}{A}{La...e}
16 Automobile seen on Eastern Express causeway corner’s reportedly Alfa Romeo (6,3) ESTATE CAR {E}{STATE}{Ca...y}{AR}
17 Too much of a dalliance with this will lead to sleeping often (6,3) TSETSE FLY [CD]

19 Leftover tuna, reheated with some elder and given to nurse (7) UNEATEN {TUNA+El..r}*{EN}
20 Driver is curt, gets drunk on weekend having beer often (7) TRUCKER {CURT*}{weeK}{bEeR}
22 Hood seen at college with a member of parliament (4) C?W? (Addendum COWL {C}{OWL} - See comments)
23 Cordial subject, donates a penny for society (5) TONIC TO(-p+n)NIC N/Society, Afterdark has agreed that it's an editing error, it was supposed to be Knight and not Society.
25 Search for pastor’s gown (5) PROBE {P}{ROBE}

Reference List
Book = B, Left = L, One = UN, Used = SH(Second hand), Son = S, Japan = J, Oriental = E, Time = T, Reading = R, American = AM, Cold = C, Soldiers = OR, MEN, Sweetheart = JO, Company = CO, Dismissal = RO(Run out), Eastern = E, Nurse = EN(Enrolled Nurse), College = C,  Penny = P, Pastor = P

Dr RKE's TalePiece

An ESTATE CAR pulled to a stop outside the  bank branch at Park Town one Monday afternoon. The car was unremarkable, except for a tiny insignia of the CBI just above its COWL. Two officers in safari suits, got off and went at a TROT to the manager's cabin. The manager was sprinkling some TABLE SALT on the curd rice packed from home for lunch. He was about to TASTE the first spoonful when the CBI officers ordered him to down the shutters. He had to leave it UNEATEN to attend to the PROBE by the officers.

The CBI officers KICKed OFF the probe by asking for all the files pertaining to the loan account of Lodhra & Co. Lodhra was a TRUCKER with a fleet of national permit lorries. He had increased his fleet size tenfold in 3 months and was suspected to be bringing in the banned gutka from the north, hidden with other cargo. A cursory STUDY of the files showed glaring CONTRARIETies that made it clear to them that due diligence had not been done in granting the loans to Lodhra. The ACCOUNTANT in charge of the Lodhra account was SHUDDERing when called to explain. His TORMENT began when he was asked to explain the lack of securities for the loans, the ignoring of the credit history of Lodhra etc. The biggest BLUNDER was that the guarantor of the loans were the accountant and bank manager themselves, a CRUDE contravention of the norms. The AMBUSHING of the corrupt duo provided UNDILUTED ENJOYMENT to the rest of the bank staff, many of whom had voiced their concerns about the shady transactions. The CBI team then examined the CCTV TAPES and got IMAGINAL evidence that Lodhra had left a small briefcase casually after signing the loan papers. That briefcase was  recovered from the accountant's bank locker in the same bank and it contained gold biscuits and currency notes and WHATNOT. 

The successful investigation was a shot in the arm for CBI, a much needed TONIC to boost their sagging morale. But the question is will they be able to follow the leads to the political Godfather (is it a GRAND AUNT) who was backing Lodhra?