Chapter 7
?
E lizabeth paced through the main floor of her house, going from the kitchen to the living room and back out to the kitchen, her arms clamped around her chest, as she assessed whether anybody at her job could have sent her a phony call from her brother. The fact that the CEO wanted to enact these new return-to-work rulings might have made her missing brother now calling her somewhat more of an issue. Yet surely they would have just fired her, rather than pulling a stunt like having a fake recording of Nicholas show up now, enticing her to quit rather easily. She ended up talking herself into a good case against her boss, Fred, and his new CEO, but then right back out again because she had absolutely zero issues with her direct supervisor. Besides, this new return to work maxim surely affected everyone at the bank, so why would it be done simply to single her out?
When Masters called a little bit later, she greeted him by saying, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hang up on you earlier.”
“Of course you did,” he noted, in a wry tone. “We’re having a bunch of fun here too.”
“Good,” she said, “hopefully it’s productive fun.”
“Not really,” he admitted. “How about you? Anything pop to mind?”
“Lots, and I think I’ve talked myself out of all of it.”
After a moment of silence, he suggested, “It might help to talk things over with somebody else.”
“And that’s true. It might be helpful, but it also might be a great disservice to people.”
“It’s not as if I’ll turn around and arrest people if there isn’t any proof that they’ve done anything wrong,” he pointed out.
She loved the dry humor that came through so clearly. He had such an expressive voice, and his face?… She’d heard that phrase about having a very emotionless face, versus somebody who showed every expression. She’d always thought that she was expressive, but Masters took the cake when it came to that. “No, you’re right,” she admitted. Then she hesitated and asked, “How about coffee?”
“At your place?” he asked.
“Yeah, I didn’t even get a chance to tell you about what Dolly told me,” she muttered.
“What was that?”
“Apparently two workmen were at my brother’s house a couple weeks or so ago,” she replied.
“Workmen? Did you assign them?”
“No, I didn’t know anything about it. They came through one day, and Dolly said that, when they left—some two hours later—they left in a big hurry.”
“Damn.”
“I suggested to her that maybe it was the police and that they got called away on another case, and she was all in agreement that that was quite possible because she’d seen that happen on TV.” Elizabeth let a laugh escape. It was either a laugh or a cry because she sure couldn’t keep track of her emotions right now. She was all over the place.
“Yeah, don’t we love how TV portrays things like that,” Masters muttered.
“She couldn’t identify them, only that it was a white unmarked van. Two men, white van, and toolboxes. And she didn’t know about anything else,” she muttered. “And she didn’t remember what day it was, only that it wasn’t last week and she thinks it might have been the week before.”
“And she never thought to mention it to you.”
“No, she sure didn’t, at least not until I asked her about it. Then she was hoping that maybe it might have been the police going in to check things because she didn’t want to think that she had missed something.”
“No. Most people are generally good to help out,” he noted. “And they’re not looking to cause us harm. They generally just get by and have a good life themselves.”
“Right. I would have said that Dolly was in that category. She’s always been there, capable for the most part, friendly, and she’s the one who often keeps track of what happens around here.”
“Which it seems she did again in this case, kind of.”
“She did, indeed,” Elizabeth agreed. “It’s just a little confusing as to what these people would have been doing in the house.”
“Looking for the USB key perhaps.”
“Have you been through it yet?” she asked.
“Not all of it, no. I haven’t had two seconds.”
“Right.”
“So, do you want to tell me what else is going on?”
She winced and muttered, “Not really.”
“If you had to hang up on me to consider all the ramifications of something—presumably to do with your job,” he began, “it would be nice if you would fill me in so that I can at least be down the same pathway.”
She groaned. “Now we’re back to that coffee thing.”
“How about I take you out for dinner instead?” he offered.
She stared down at the phone. “Are you allowed to do that?”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning what?” she asked. “I’m a suspect in the case, after all.”
“Yeah, that’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh, do you have a reason to bring me in?” she asked. “I think I would consider that a betrayal if you’re only being friendly to get answers.”
“I’m not being friendly to get answers. If I wanted answers, I would haul you down here and get the answers the way I would with any suspect,” he explained. “However, I don’t consider you a suspect, and I don’t know exactly what’s going on with you, but I do have a couple more questions I would appreciate some answers to.”
“Great. So, am I supposed to come down to the station?”
“No, that’s why I asked you out for dinner,” he stated. “You suggested coffee, but it’s almost dinnertime—in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Oh, good Lord,” she muttered, staring at her phone in shock. “I hadn’t even noticed that.”
“I understand. And the problem is, we’ve got an awful lot going on right now, and we’re not exactly paying attention to what could be some interesting developments. The fact that two men were at your brother’s house is very important, and I’ll get techs on that right away.”
“And what can techs do?” she asked.
“They can look for street cameras to see a white van leaving your brother’s place, maybe find out where they went and what they were up to.”
“Oh my, then I guess it would have helped if Dolly had mentioned something earlier, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, it would have. We would certainly have had more notice to get information on it.”
“But that would also have implied that somebody gave a crap.”
“I’ll tell you this once and for all. I care, and I give a crap,” he declared. “I’ll figure this out. I’ll come and pick you up in about twenty minutes, so be ready.” And, with that, he disconnected.