The bank froze the account within minutes.
But not before several transfers had been initiated.
The detective returned with a printout.
“Some were blocked.”
“How much got through?”
“Enough to matter.”
Daniel studied the transactions.
The money had been divided among several accounts.
One belonged to a foreign corporation.
Another was registered to a property company.
The third had no obvious owner.
Brian looked at the numbers.
“That's more than sixty-one thousand.”
Daniel nodded.
“The original account held far more than we thought.”
I felt numb.
“How much?”
The detective answered.
“Just over two hundred eighty thousand dollars remains traceable.”
Brian stared.
“My father hid nearly three hundred thousand.”
“Yes.”
“And Hale has been trying to move it.”
“Yes.”
I looked toward Patricia.
“You knew this entire time.”
“I knew some of it.”
“Enough to ruin my life.”
Her eyes lowered.
“I know.”
The detective returned to the evidence.
“We need Hale.”
Daniel looked at the account history.
“There may be a way to find him.”
He pointed to the latest transfer.
“This one wasn't sent electronically.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was initiated through a physical authorization.”
The detective frowned.
“Where?”
Daniel enlarged the record.
A branch address appeared.
Brian recognized it.
“That branch is near Hale's office.”
The detective grabbed his coat.
“We're going.”
This time, Brian insisted on coming.
The detective refused.
“You've done enough.”
Brian looked at me.
“I need to know.”
I touched his arm.
“Let them do their job.”
He nodded reluctantly.
We waited.
Thirty minutes passed.
Then an hour.
Finally, the detective returned.
Hale had not been at the bank.
But someone had.
A woman.
She had attempted to withdraw a large amount using identification belonging to me.
The bank teller had refused.
“Who was she?” I asked.
The detective looked at Melissa.
“Someone you know.”
Melissa shook her head.
“I don't.”
The detective placed a photograph on the table.
Patricia's face changed.
“That's Elaine.”
Brian looked at her.
“Who?”
“My husband's former secretary.”
The detective nodded.
“She worked for Hale after the company was sold.”
Daniel studied the photograph.
“She's the missing link.”
“How?”
“She had access to the company records.”
The detective agreed.
“She also had access to Angela's personal information.”
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
Patricia answered.
“She handled insurance documents.”
The detective looked at her.
“Did she know about the account?”
“Yes.”
“Did she know Angela was the beneficiary?”
“I don't know.”
The detective looked at me.
“We're going to find out.”
The bank provided security footage.
Elaine entered wearing a dark coat.
She approached the counter.
She presented identification.
Then she stopped.
The teller apparently noticed something.
Elaine left without taking the money.
Outside, she entered a black sedan.
The detective paused the footage.
The driver was visible.
Thomas Hale.
Brian closed his eyes.
“He was there.”
“Yes.”
The detective enlarged the plate.
The vehicle was registered under a company connected to Hale.
“We have enough for a warrant.”
Daniel asked, “What about the money?”
“Still moving.”
I looked at the screen.
“Why would Hale risk doing this now?”
Daniel answered.
“Because he knows the evidence is collapsing.”
Patricia suddenly spoke.
“No.”
We turned.
“He's not afraid of the evidence.”
“Then what?”
“He's afraid of the money being traced.”
The detective nodded.
“That makes sense.”
Patricia shook her head.
“No. You don't understand.”
She looked at me.
“Hale doesn't care if he goes to prison.”
Brian frowned.
“Then what does he care about?”
Patricia's voice dropped.
“Whoever is above him.”
Silence.
The detective stared at her.
“Above him?”
Patricia nodded.
“Hale wasn't the person making the decisions.”
“Who was?”
“I never knew.”
“You expect us to believe that?”
“I heard voices.”
“What voices?”
Patricia closed her eyes.
“One man.”
“Name?”
“I never heard it.”
“Then how do you know he existed?”
“Because Hale was afraid of him.”
The detective looked at Daniel.
Patricia continued.
“He called him Mr. Black.”
Brian frowned.
“That's ridiculous.”
“I thought so too.”
“Why would Hale obey someone he couldn't even name?”
“Because he had proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Patricia looked at me.
“Your father wasn't the only person who discovered the theft.”
My chest tightened.
“Who else?”
“An accountant.”
“The one from the letter?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to him?”
Patricia's eyes filled.
“He disappeared.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“When?”
“Before your father died.”
The detective wrote everything down.
Then Patricia said something that stopped him.
“He left something behind.”
“What?”
“A recording.”
“Where?”
Patricia looked toward the evidence room.
“In your father's office.”
Brian frowned.
“We searched it.”
“Not properly.”
She looked at him.
“Your father had a second safe.”
Brian stared.
“Where?”
“Behind the fireplace.”
The detective immediately left with two officers.
We waited.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Then one officer returned.
He was carrying a small metal box.
Brian stood.
“That's Dad's.”
The box was opened.
Inside were three cassette tapes.
A key.
And a folded note.
The note was addressed to Brian.
He opened it.
*If you are reading this, I was unable to finish what I started. Do not trust Hale. Do not trust anyone who tells you the money was stolen. The money was never the real target.**
Brian looked at me.
The detective played the first tape.
Static.
Then a man's voice.
The accountant.
He spoke quickly.
“I have found the transfers.”
He named companies.
Dates.
Amounts.
Then he said something that made everyone go still.
“The money isn't being stolen from the company.”
A pause.
“It is being used to purchase property under another name.”
The detective leaned toward the speaker.
“Whose name?”
The accountant continued.
“Angela Brooks.”
I closed my eyes.
Again.
My name.
Always my name.
But the accountant explained why.
The properties were being acquired using trusts connected to my identity.
The ownership was disguised.
The money eventually flowed back into companies controlled by Hale.
My name was the shield.
My clean record.
My ordinary life.
My complete lack of connection to the business.
I was the perfect cover.
The tape ended.
The detective played the second.
The accountant sounded frightened.
“I told Brian's father.”
Then:
“He told me Angela must never know.”
A chair scraped.
Someone entered the room where the recording had been made.
The accountant stopped speaking.
A man's voice appeared.
Hale.
“You should have kept your mouth shut.”
The accountant replied.
“You're going to prison.”
Hale laughed.
“No.”
The recording ended abruptly.
Brian stared at the cassette.
“What happened to him?”
Nobody answered.
The detective played the third tape.
This one began with Brian's father.
His voice was weaker.
“I have moved the money.”
Then he named the account.
The same account that had been opened under my name.
“I chose Angela because she is outside the business.”
He paused.
“If Hale finds out, she will become the target.”
The recording ended.
I looked at Brian.
His eyes were wet.
“My father knew.”
“Yes,” I said.
“He knew you'd be blamed.”
“Yes.”
“And he still chose you.”
I nodded.
The detective's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Hale's house has been found.”
Brian stood.
“Is he there?”
The detective listened.
Then said, “No.”
He hung up.
“But we found something.”
“What?”
“A second vehicle.”
“Where?”
“At a private airfield.”
Daniel stood.
“Is Hale trying to leave?”
The detective shook his head.
“Not exactly.”
He looked at me.
“He's waiting for someone.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
The detective hesitated.
“We don't know.”
Then he placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Hale standing beside a black car.
Beside him was a woman.
The woman turned toward the camera.
I recognized her immediately.
Elaine.
But she wasn't the person who frightened me.
Behind her stood someone else.
A man whose face was partly hidden.
Brian stared at the photograph.
Then whispered:
“That's not a stranger.”
I looked at him.
“Who is it?”
Brian's face had gone completely white.
“That's my father.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 13: “The Man in the Photograph Was Alive, and He Had Been Watching the Investigation From the Beginning”
The Accusation That Turned Nine Years of Marriage Into a Question I Could Not Answer
Part 12 of 20
