Evelyn David - Sullivan Investigations 01 - Murder Off the Books (24 page)

Mac nodded. It all fit with the background information he’d gathered on Dan Thayer.

“Said that somebody named Fieldstone put in a good word for him. And that Malwick was a son of a bitch from day one.”

Mac’s cell phone vibrated. He glanced at the number and walked back into the hallway.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Have you seen Kathleen?” Jeff began without preamble. “She’s not answering her cell. She’s not at home. She’s not at her women’s club meeting. Sean has no idea
….”

Mac laughed. “You need to put a tracking device on that woman.” He glanced up as the door to the interrogation room opened and Joanne Giles walked out. “Can I call you back? I’m sort of in the middle
….”

“You haven’t heard from Kathleen?”

Mac snorted. “She doesn’t tell you where she goes, why on earth would she tell me?”

“I just thought maybe. You sure she didn’t call. Maybe she needed the car
….”

“Don’t you remember? I’ve got the bug-mobile,” Mac said, lowering his voice when a couple of uniformed cops started to stare.

 “Right. I forgot.”

Mac frowned
. It wasn’t like Jeff to track his wife’s every move. “What the hell is the matter with you?”

“Nothing.” Jeff’s voice was barely a whisper.

“Hey buddy, you okay?” Mac asked. He was momentarily distracted as he watched Joanne start for the stairs. He waved to grab her attention. She mouthed “Ladies Room,” and he nodded.

 
“Sure. Just… I need to find Kathleen,” Jeff answered.

“Sorry, I haven’t heard from her. When I’m finished here, I’ll
….”

“Where are you?” Jeff demanded.

“Now? I’m at police headquarters.”

“
Good. I’ll meet you there in fifteen minutes.”

Mac dug deep for patience. “I don’t think you need to put out a missing persons report because you can’t get your wife on the phone.”

Jeff ignored the jibe. “Fifteen minutes.”

“Why don’t you
….” Mac stopped when he heard a dial tone. “Damn. Everyone’s going nuts.”

Chapter 33

Kathleen found a single parking place for her Sebring right in front of the building housing Mac’s office. She carefully maneuvered the car in front of a black van and behind a white BMW. She’d barely shut off the motor before Rachel had the car door open.

“Thanks for the ride,” Rachel said, clipping the leash on Whiskey and gathering up her things.

“I’ll come in with you.”

Rachel tried to keep from frowning. At the moment she didn’t have the time or energy to deal with Kathleen’s good intentions. “That’s not necessary.”

Kathleen exited the car and locked the doors. “I’m not going to leave you here without transportation until I know Mac’s here. I’d call him but my cell phone battery is dead. As soon as I see him, I promise to go away and leave you to it.”

Rachel blushed, maybe she hadn’t been as subtle as she’d intended. “I’m sorry. I just–”

The other woman brushed off her apologies and took Whiskey’s leash. “Don’t worry about it. We hardly know each other. Jeff always says I’m too pushy. Let’s find Mac so you can figure out what you need to do next.”

“Thanks.” Rachel noticed the dog licking at Kathleen’s hand. “Looks like you and Whiskey are old friends.”

“We go way back.” Kathleen gave the dog a pat and then held open the building’s main door for Rachel. “It’s upstairs. I’m not sure which office.”

Rachel stepped inside the dark, drafty foyer and frowned. “Not exactly prime office space.”

Kathleen started up the stairs. “I haven’t been inside Mac’s office yet, just heard horror stories from Sean. Apparently the office does need some work.”

“Looks like the whole building could use some work.” Rachel smiled as she saw Whiskey straining at the leash. “I think Whiskey can find it.”

The two women and the dog clattered up the old wooden steps.

“A lot of empty space in this building,” Kathleen remarked as they proceeded down the hallway, past two empty offices–the doors open and the interiors in shadow.

Whiskey whined, and then barked, pulling at the leash.

“Good dog,” Kathleen said, leaning over and giving the dog a hug. “You know where you are, don’t you. Did you miss Mac?”

Rachel saw the hand-drawn sign on the door–“Sullivan Investigations.” She turned the knob and pushed, looking up as a string of bells chimed. “This is it.”

“Come on girl,” Kathleen said, tugging on the leash.

Whiskey whined again, refusing to budge and Rachel looked back to see what the holdup was.

Kathleen shrugged. “Strange. She doesn’t seem that interested in going inside. Guess you’ve been feeding her better than Mac.”

“Not me, my neighbor. She makes great roast beef.” Rachel held the door open and Kathleen was finally able to coax Whiskey inside. “Whiskey had both our shares earlier.”

“Can I help you?” A young woman appeared in the open doorway between the back office and the front one, a broom in hand.

“Are you JJ?” Rachel asked, stepping into the empty room. “We spoke on the phone earlier.”

“Yeah.” JJ leaned the broom against the pristine white wall. “Who are you?”

“Sorry. I’m Rachel Brenner and this is Kathleen O’Herlihy. I’m sure you know Whiskey.”

JJ shook her head and smiled. “Whiskey and I have never crossed paths.” She bent down and held out her hand to the dog.

Kathleen unclipped the leash and the dog padded over to the girl.

Whiskey sniffed the proffered hand, then stared at the girl for a few seconds before giving her an approving lick.

“Where’s Mac and Sam?” Rachel asked, looking at her watch. She also wondered what was happening with her brother. She could only hope Dan would give himself up without making things worse than they already were.

JJ gave the large dog a final pat and stood. “Last I heard he was going over to the campus. He had a lunch meeting. Can I take a message?”

Rachel frowned. “What do you mean he’s not here? You told me on the phone that–”

“Hang on,” JJ interrupted. “You mentioned a call earlier. I didn’t talk to you.”

Rachel shook her head. “You called me less than an hour ago and relayed a message from Mac. He wanted me to meet him here.”

“Nope.”

“What do you mean ‘nope’? You–”

“I’ve never spoken to you before in my life.”

Whiskey suddenly stood, growling. She lunged towards the door just as it opened.

Startled, Kathleen dropped her purse and the leash, instinctively reaching out and managing to grab the dog’s collar and hold her back.

The bells continued to clang nosily, but no one noticed. Everyone’s attention was focused on the pointed gun.

***

Mac walked back to the interrogation room. Greeley was talking to Tom Atwood and Joanne Giles, but stopped when he saw the private detective approaching. Mac hesitated, but joined the group when the lieutenant cocked his head in invitation.

“Thayer asked for you. Something about his sister.”

Mac’s arched eyebrow asked the question.

“You can sit in, but not a word out of you, got it?”
Greeley answered.

Mac nodded and followed
Greeley back into the small room. Dan Thayer was pacing, his face flushed as he stared at them from behind the bars. Joanne Giles unlocked the door to the holding cell and nodded towards the steel table and chairs in the outer area.

Thayer rushed from the cell and took a deep breath before sticking out his hand to the detective.

“Mr. Sullivan? You’ve been good to my sister. Thanks.”

Mac hesitated, then shook the suspect’s hand. “How are you doing?”

Thayer shrugged and sat down in the chair Joanne indicated.

“Okay,”
Greeley started. “You’ve got Sullivan in the room. We can’t locate your sister. And you’ve waived the right to an attorney.”

“Yes. I’m-I’m ready to talk, but could I
….” Thayer had abandoned his feminine disguise at Lenore Adams’ house and was now dressed in worn jeans and a plaid flannel shirt. He ran his hands through his mop of curly dark hair and Mac was struck by the familial resemblance to his sister.

“No more deals Thayer.”
Greeley cut him off.

“I wasn’t–I’m not–Just…tell me that Sam and the kids are okay.”

“They’re fine. We’re not holding the tall kid and the girl, and your nephew refuses to talk unless his mother is present. We’re taking that to mean that he is insisting on counsel.”

Dan Thayer shoulders slumped. “And what about Lily and Lenore?”

“We may be releasing the house-mate. But Lenore’s got reason to worry,” Greeley stated. “Of course if you tell your story first….” He left Thayer to draw his own conclusions.

“Lenore’s got nothing to do with this mess,” Thayer protested. “And Lily, well Lily was just–”

Greeley slammed his hand down on the table. “Look, either start talking or get back in the cage.”

Startled, Thayer pushed back in his chair. “I will. I’m just a little nervous. And I…don’t do well in locked places.”

“Then I suggest you start explaining yourself, unless you are planning on spending the rest of your life in a smaller room than this,” Greeley warned.

“We understand,” Joanne Giles interjected. “We want to be on your side. Tell us what you know. Start with the missing half million dollars.”

“I’m pretty sure, in fact, I’m positive that Malwick has some off-shore accounts. Find them, you find the money,” Thayer answered.

“Back up a little.”
Greeley held up his hand. “Tell us how you got to be assistant comptroller if you majored in American Studies.”

Thayer took a deep breath and began.

“I don’t have a degree in accounting,” Thayer shrugged, “but this wasn’t rocket science. I’d handled the books for the shelter and I like to read, so when I got the job at the college, I took out a stack of books on accounting and figured out what I needed to know.”

“You didn’t think it was strange that you had so much responsibility without the necessary training?” Giles pushed.

“Malwick told me that I had ‘potential’.” Thayer made air quotes with his fingers. “But the week before Malwick was killed, I had finally realized that my real potential was to be the fall-guy for an embezzlement scheme.”

Greeley
leaned forward. “Okay, I’ll bite. How did the plan work?”

***

Several seconds passed before Rachel was able to lift her eyes from the silencer attached to the steel-blue barrel to the face of the fiftyish woman she’d last seen at Malwick’s funeral, the woman who’d sat with Lenore Adams.

“Julianna is correct,” the woman said. “I believe you spoke with me earlier.”

“Who are you?” Rachel asked, her expression a mixture of anger and fear.

The woman waved the gun at JJ. “Don’t be rude, dear. Introduce us.”

JJ swallowed hard, glancing from one woman to the other, then at the snarling dog. “Vice President Fieldstone, this is Mrs. Brenner and Mrs. O’Herlihy. And I believe you may have already met Whiskey.”

“That incessant barking is giving me a headache.” Audrey Fieldstone aimed the gun at Kathleen. “Shut the dog up in the other room or I’ll shoot you and the mutt.”

Rachel looked over at Kathleen, worried that the woman wasn’t strong enough to control the frenzied dog alone. “Maybe I should–”

Fieldstone shifted the gun towards Rachel. “You should be quiet until I ask you a question. It would have been much easier if you’d just arrived on your own, without involving Mrs. O’Herlihy or Sullivan’s dog. Now things are going to get complicated and I absolutely abhor complications.”

Rachel wisely refrained from saying anything else, but did lean over and pick up the leash. She held it out, a question in her eyes.

“Well, give it to her then,” Fieldstone ordered. “Afterwards, move over against that wall and sit down.”

Rachel clipped the leash on the frantic dog’s collar and then sat down as instructed.

“Come on, girl,” Kathleen urged, dragging the angry dog towards the back room. Whiskey’s nails scraped across the bare wood, the sound further irritating the older woman.

“Help her.” Fieldstone waved the gun at JJ, who then rushed over to assist Kathleen in forcing the large dog into the other room.

As they half-lifted, half-dragged the barking dog, Kathleen whispered to JJ. “Phone?”

“On the floor, back room, unplugged.”

Fieldstone smiled. “No talking, ladies. Keep moving.”

JJ nodded her agreement. Kathleen glared.

Rachel hoped that Kathleen’s expression wasn’t an indication of her intentions. She sensed that Fieldstone wanted an excuse, any excuse, to use the gun. She caught Kathleen’s gaze and shook her head, trying to discourage her from resisting the woman who was holding all the cards.

“Hurry up.” Fieldstone followed JJ and Kathleen, stopping in the doorway between the two rooms. “Put her in the bathroom and shut the door.”

Whiskey’s barks turned to howls as the door closed and she was left alone in the small restroom.

***

“It was simple.” Thayer flattened his palms on the table and looked directly at the lieutenant. “He just got into the vendor file, changed a mailing address, and then processed an invoice that he created. The check was mailed to an apartment he was renting.”

Greeley shook his head. “Wouldn’t the real vendor complain when they didn’t get paid? Wouldn’t the college notice the extra costs on these contracts?”

“I think in the past Malwick limited the scam to small amounts and remembered to change the mailing address back when real invoices from that vendor came into the office.” Dan sighed. “If I were advising the college, I’d have them check every contract for the past five years–see what was paid versus the amounts the vendors actually received.”

“Well, since I don’t think you’re going to be working at the college again unless you’re cleared of murder,” Greeley snapped, “you should concentrate on convincing me that you know what you’re talking about. How did you discover the scam and when?”

Thayer flushed. “Sorry. It began about six weeks ago. I’d developed some software that simplified our billing system.” He paused, then added, “Malwick, by the way, took complete credit for the system, but that’s another story.”

“And….” Greeley drummed his fingers on the table.

“But in transferring the data from the old system to the new one, I was literally comparing invoices to entries just to make sure that there weren’t any glitches. I then compared the totals to the contract specifications. I found several accounts over the last few years where the actual payments continually exceeded the estimates in the contracts. Then when I started entering some of the more recent transactions, I found a half dozen very large invoices from two vendors–DMG and Computer Doctors. I had been involved with the bid specs for DMG and I knew that the amount invoiced was six times what it should have been.”