Employees responsible for purchasing inventory can be tempted to accept bribes from unscrupulous vendors. In exchange for the bribe, the employee favors the vendor in future purchasing decisions. This fraud is known as a kickback. Because the bribe is not recorded in the accounting records, it can be difficult to detect. Marcus Salazar suspects one of his purchasing agents may be involved in a kickback scheme. To gather support for his suspicion, he has created graphs that depict the quantity and price paid for purchases of each inventory item from each vendor. An increase in the number of units purchased from a vendor, together with an increase in price, is a red flag of a kickback, since the vendor must raise the price to pay for the kickback. The graphs for model AX-43 motors are shown below. Model AX-43 Purchases by Vendor 16- 14- 12- 10- Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Month Amhurst Industries McGinnis Company Global Manufacturing $57.0 56.00 55.00 54.00- 53.00- 52.00 51.00- 50.00- 49.00- 48.00+ Model AX-43 Purchases by Vendor Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Month Amhurst Industries McGinnis Company Global Manufacturing The first graph shows the monthly purchase quantity (in thousands) for each vendor. The second graph shows the unit price charged by vendor. Assist Marcus in interpreting this data by answering the following questions. 1. From which vendor did the number of units purchased tend to increase over time? 2. How did the unit prices change for the vendor with increasing purchases? Support your answer. 3. Could there be a valid explanation why the buyer might purchase more from a vendor despite an increase in the unit price?