At Witt's End (22 page)

One thud and then another echoed from the dark opening. Sadie whispered, “I knocked a couple cans off the shelf. This must be their pantry.” She felt along the wall for a light switch.

A light flooded the room. Theo looked through the window. “Are you all right?"

"I'm right here,” Sadie said, coming up behind Theo. He jerked upright and screamed.

Catching his breath, he rasped in anger, “Don't do that. You startled me."

"Sorry. I thought you might want to come in through the front door. And take that stupid suit coat off. You look ridiculous."

"I look ridiculous?” Theo said. “I'm not the one wearing a mini skirt and a halter top. It's not me who's exposing a sagging abdomen with a tattoo of a worm."

"That's an asp,” Sadie said. “Like the one that caused Cleopatra's death. I love that story, don't you?"

"I hadn't given it much thought. That tattoo actually looks more like a shriveled up worm."

Staring at Theo with her mouth askew, Sadie said, “My asp isn't any more shriveled up than your balls."

"My balls, Madam, are about as important to me as the Ides of March were to Caesar."

Opening her mouth to reply, Sadie paused, took a deep breath, and said, “I don't get it."

"I didn't expect you to."

Sadie closed the front door behind them and pointed toward an opening. “That must be his office. I see file cabinets."

Theo sat at the desk while Sadie rifled through a stack of papers on Richard's desk. “Where did Tim say the key was hidden?"

"Under a horse statue."

"There's got to be twenty horse statues in here.” Theo scanned the shelves and pedestals featuring Richard's collection. “You start there and I'll take this side of the room.” Theo began by lifting the smaller pieces of art. Leaning one of the larger bronze statues against his chest, a key dangling from a felt pad tumbled to the floor. “Eureka!"

Placing the key in the middle desk drawer, Theo pulled it open and ran his hands through the shallow drawer. He repeated the process with two more drawers. He inserted the key into a deeper bottom drawer and unlocked it.

"This might be it.” He pulled a hard-bound checkbook from the drawer and placed it on the desk. He lifted a stack of folders and separated them into two piles. Pushing one pile toward Sadie, he said, “You start with this and I'll see what's in the checkbook."

Sadie opened the first folder and paged through the contents. The folder held several letters with envelopes stapled to the back of each piece of correspondence. “These are all addressed to Gessal Life Insurance at a Minneapolis address.” Paging deeper, Sadie said, “Here's one from Mrs. Fading Sun."

"Who?"

"Mrs. Fading Sun. She lives in Pinecone Landing. Her husband died about six months ago.” As she finished reading the letter, Sadie said, “This is a letter of complaint. Apparently she thought her husband had signed a $100,000 life insurance policy. But when he died, she got a check for $10,000.” Sadie turned the letter over and tapped it with her fingers. “It looks like this letter was a second request. Here she says she previously asked for a copy of the original application, but never received one."

Theo held out a check. “Look at this. Here's a check written to Fading Sun for three thousand dollars. He's got a note clipped to it indicating it's the return of premium payments. The check's signed by Richard Fossum."

Sadie held up several more letters. “These are complaints, too."

"Give me their names,” Theo said. He laid several checks on the desk's surface.

As Sadie read the names, Theo turned the checks over one by one. “There's a check here matching each of the letters in your hand. There are also envelopes with stamps on them. I believe Richard was getting ready to mail refunds to these people."

Opening another folder, Sadie whistled. “Looks like somebody's been making duplicate applications. Here's the original signed copy, and here's the one that actually got turned in.” She pointed to the line indicating the dollar amount. “The original application says one-hundred-thousand dollars. The copy says ten thousand dollars. These polices were altered."

Sadie looked up in disbelief. “On this original policy it says to send the payments to a post office box in Minneapolis."

"And look at the insurance agent's signature,” Theo said. “Paul Brinks. Gessal Life Insurance."

"Richard obviously got his hands on the paperwork sent to the Minneapolis office. That's what Tim heard them arguing about."

"Here's the proof we need,” Theo said. He held copies of two bank reconciliation forms. “Paul had the policy holders pay their premiums for the larger policy to a post office box in Minneapolis. That money was deposited into a personal account Paul had down there.” Theo looked up at Sadie. “Some businesses have their collections processed by holding companies and pay a fee for the processing."

Theo tapped on the second reconciliation form. “It looks like some of those funds were transferred from his personal account in Minneapolis to the business account Richard worked with here in Pinecone Landing.” He pointed at the two forms so Sadie could see the progression from one account to the other. “Paul transferred enough from that holding account so Richard could record the receipt of premiums on the lesser policies and pay the bills. Who knows how long this went on before Richard figured it out. I would guess Gessal Life isn't involved in this scam. Gessal Life Insurance paid the larger death benefit to Paul and Paul paid the lesser benefit to the recipients."

"Do you think Richard was ever in on it?"

"I doubt it. I'm guessing he figured it out and worked through the process to prove it. He got his hands on Paul's personal bank account by tracking the account number the funds were transferred from. He must have requested copies by using Paul's official letterhead.” Theo pointed at a stacking tray containing letterhead.

"Do you think he told Paul he was going to refund the money?"

"He must have. Either that or Paul figured it out. Tim heard Paul tell Richard he'd never live to see another day if he turned him in. A threat that serious means Paul was worried,” Theo said. “Is that characteristic of him?"

"What are you getting at?” Sadie said.

"Did you ever think Paul was capable of murder?"

"Shrewd. Sneaky. But not a murderer. We've got to show this to the police. With this evidence, we can get them to follow up on the rifle Tim saw. If the autopsy didn't show any evidence of Richard being shot, then maybe we can convince them to look closer at the car. Something caused that car to swerve."

"It's not we, Sadie. It's you who has to convince them. In case you don't know it, you can't present evidence you've gathered by breaking and entering. That's against the law.” Theo tucked the reconciliation sheets back in the folder. “You're going to have to convince them to look for the same information we found. But we've got to come up with something believable before you approach them."

A muffled bark came from outside the front door. “Oh, no. Belly followed us.” Sadie hurried to the front door. Opening it a crack, she whispered, “Shush. Be quiet."

"Let him in before he barks, again,” Theo said. “Someone might get suspicious."

Cracking the door to coax the dog in, Sadie's breath caught in her throat. “Paul's car just turned in to the driveway.” She released the knob and eased the plunger into place before dashing to the desk.

Belly barked and dropped down on his haunches. Four wild tail hairs swept the porch floor in an arc.

"Hide in the other room,” Theo whispered. He gathered the papers and shoved them in the drawer. “Hurry, Sadie."

Paul strode up to the house, studying the dog. “What are you doing here, Belly?” He held out his hand letting the dog sniff his fingers before patting the dog's head. Paul walked to the corner of the porch and looked around the side of the house before scanning the driveway. He turned his ear toward the road. “You sure get around. The last time I saw you, you were at the nursing home."

Belly whined his appreciation and pawed at Paul's leg.

Paul sauntered casually around the dog, looked from side to side, and then turned the knob.

Theo tensed. His hand stopped mid-air when he heard the latch click.

Realizing the door wasn't locked, Paul removed his hand and looked from side to side again. He pressed the latch again. It gave way as easily as it had the first time. He eased the oak door open and listened before poking his head through the opening.

As Paul entered the front room, Sadie squeezed in between the pantry door and the shelving. She held her breath, listening to Paul walk across the floor toward the office.

Paul pulled at the desk chair and rolled it back toward the credenza. Dropping into the chair, he lifted a key off a stack of papers and kneaded it in his fingers. He paged through two piles of folders. After placing them on the corner of Richard's desk, he added more folders to the pile before rummaging through the desk drawer.

Theo stood near the desk watching Paul's fevered attempt at locating the incriminating evidence. The crosser gasped when Belly nosed through the front door and waddled over to where he was standing.

Belly danced his glad-to-see-you dance around Theo's feet before pawing at the man's knees.

"You stupid dog,” Paul said. He tugged on Belly's collar and pushed him toward the front door. “Get the hell out of here."

Belly veered toward the kitchen sniffing wildly. He circled the room trying to locate his buddy. Trotting into the pantry, his tail darted in double time as he nudged behind the door and butted his head against the Sadie's ankle.

Sadie pushed Belly back toward the door and tapped her finger to her lip to signal silence. She froze at the sound of Paul's loafers marching across the kitchen floor.

"You stupid dog. I told you to go outside.” Paul grabbed Belly's hind leg and pulled him from the pantry. He spun him around on the slippery floor and grabbed his collar. “Quit growling, you worthless mutt.” He unlatched the kitchen door and ushered Belly out with a shove from his left foot.

Paul locked the exterior door before striding back toward the pantry. He grabbed the doorknob. He stared into the darkness, muttered to himself, closed the door, and left the kitchen.

Sadie released her breath as the latch clicked and Paul retreated to the living room.

Paul made two trips to his vehicle to load his trunk with folders, bank statements, checkbooks, and ledgers.

Theo and Sadie watched their evidence disappear as Paul's taillights flashed red before he stepped on the gas and turned out of the driveway.

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Theo waited until the nursing home administrator gathered her briefcase and made her way down the corridor before he entered her office. After making sure it was safe, he sat in the administrator's chair and moved the adjustment levers back and forth to find a comfortable position for his lanky frame. He drew a long, calming breath. He had finally found a location away from prying eyes where he could compose his final piece of correspondence.

Theo ran his hand across the finely crafted desk, searching for a pen. He didn't know how long she'd be away. It was crucial he make the most of his time before the woman returned.

During his years on the bench, Theo's business associates warned him about putting too much emphasis on his career and not enough on his personal life. They recommended he broaden his leisure horizons. Theo had disagreed. Why should he waste time on pleasure if the bane of his existence might accompany him? He'd done everything possible to avoid being with his wife.

Theo had given his life to the justice system. He was proud of what he achieved. He was also proud of several financial partnerships he had formed. If only he could feel the same about his personal life. His marriage had been a disaster and he had never forgiven himself for falling for the guiles of that horrid woman and her two children. How could he have been so naive? The feeling of remorse more than deflated him, it devastated him. He fought to regain clarity to help him compose the most important document of his life.

He pulled a desk drawer open and searched for a sheet of paper. He found several sheets of nursing home letterhead, but pushed them aside in pursuit of a clean, unmarked sheet. Settling for a lined legal pad, Theo placed it on the desk. His fingers brushed over several writing instruments until he found the perfect pen and tested it on the corner of a financial printout. After wiping the space clean with a swipe of his little finger, he situated the tablet at an angle and began to write.

As my time on earth has come to an end, I must admit to a grievous error I made.

First you must understand my shortcomings. Obsession with my vocation and an unfortunate marriage distorted my belief in the justice system and turned me into the type of man I loathe.

I realize I will never be able to make up for what’ I've done, but I hope with what I'm going to tell you, I can...

A burst of laughter rang from the hall, startling Theo from his concentration. He tore the sheet from the tablet and folded it in half before sliding it inside his suit coat.

The door opened as he rose from the chair. When the administrator entered her office and noticed the tablet in the center of her desk, Theo hurried out of the office.

Leaning against the wall to regain his presence of mind, Theo heard someone shout his name. He turned toward the plea. The urgency of his name being repeated made him rush toward the voice.

"Theo. Help me,” Aanders cried. “I can't get Tim to wake up."

Aanders crouched over Tim, who had collapsed on the cold tile floor. “I tried to get him back into the wheelchair, but he was too weak."

Theo lifted Tim off the floor and started down the hall toward the front door. “Call Sadie and tell her what happened. Tell her to bring the van."

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Nan knocked softly on the cabin door, waiting for one of the sisters to acknowledge her arrival.