Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Nothing was happening at work. It was like the place had closed up or something.
Maybe it had and he hadn’t heard anything.
The transactions were coming in from the stores, so he knew that part of the business was up and running, but little else seemed to be going on.
So, with hours on his hands, Marty refreshed his resume and placed it on the job search websites.
He also looked for openings and sent his resume and a cover letter to anything that looked interesting.
In the late afternoon, he sat in the living room, looking out the window as the clouds outside began to clear.
Facing east, he smiled as Ranier began peeking out the top of the clouds.
He watched as the clouds continued clearing, the rocks and snow at the peak shining in the late-day sun.
The mountain was one of the special things about living here.
It was solid and steady… and every now and then, it put on a terrific show.
As the light faded and night fell, Marty wondered where Eddie was.
Not that he had any right to worry. Eddie could take care of himself.
Still, as it got darker, he wondered if something was happening.
Marty sent Eddie a message to find out when he’d be home and then began looking in the refrigerator for something to eat.
By the time he’d finished a quick dinner, lights shone in the window. Marty checked and waited for Eddie to drag himself inside. “What happened?” Marty asked as Eddie took off his coat and shoes, flopping into the chair near the sofa.
“Based on what Vicky told us and the deposit slips, we were able to locate all the accounts and executed search warrants at Haver’s home and the office, as well as at the store locations.”
Marty winced. “I take it you found what you were looking for?”
Eddie nodded. “We did. We found plenty, including a safe full of cash in his office as well as more cash hidden behind a wall in his home. It seems that a few of his stores were being used as pickup and delivery points for heroin and cocaine flowing into the Seattle market. Basically, they had corporatized the distribution of the stuff. And with the number of shipments received, they hid the real product in with the legitimate product. The only problem they had was what to do with the cash. It had to be processed and ‘cleaned.’”
Marty understood now. “Let me guess. At first, they inflated the sales at the stores, adding extra cash and disguising it with sales of nonexistent product. But that only showed up as inventory swellage, which didn’t work.
So they brought in fake product and then sold it and used their drug cash.
But that got too cumbersome, so they just started using Vicky to make deposits, and then transferred the money out to offshore accounts. ”
“Exactly. And unless someone looked closely, those entries would be missed on the statements because, in the end, the balances were exactly what they should be.”
“Okay,” Marty said, putting up his hand as he tried to keep everything straight in his mind. “What about Vicky?”
“She knows very little. All she ever did was make deposits from locked bank bags that she didn’t have the keys to.
But we were able to trace transactions into accounts that had been opened in a number of names, including your boss’s dead parents.
Vicky made deposits into those accounts as well.
There were multiple accounts at multiple banks, and all Vicky did was the deposits that were later consolidated and sent overseas.
Millions of dollars. The banking system should have picked up on some of this activity, except I believe it was spread out over too many accounts, names, and banks.
In all, there were almost a hundred accounts that they cycled the money through. ”
“And Vicky was the key to all of it,” Marty said.
“Well, yeah, in a way. But she wasn’t the only one making deposits.
It seems there were others, and we’re still tracking them down.
Haver and your boss were very good at covering their tracks and laundering this cash.
And to think it would have gone on if it wasn’t for you catching the balances in those accounts when you did.
” Eddie grinned, and Marty basked in the glow of that smile.
“It was an accident. I was looking for something and discovered what I wasn’t looking for.” He slumped his shoulders. “What do I do now? I’m out of a job now, I’m sure. I don’t think that the business is going to be able to weather this, not once this story breaks, and it’s too big not to.”
“Well, that’s the interesting part.” Eddie scooted closer. “My captain and the chief want to speak to you. They were impressed with how you found this money and how you understood what it meant. And there’s a joint task force in the area to help fight this type of crime.”
Marty swallowed. “You want me to go to work for the police?”
“I don’t know what they have planned or what any of the details are. But they asked to speak to you once this case is wrapped up.”
“But it’s not,” Marty said as he nodded.
“You figured out everything about the money and why this was happening, but you haven’t answered the big question: Who killed Bryce?
I mean, you could say that Mr. Haver did it to cut Bryce out of the proceeds or because the scheme had been discovered.
But I bet he has an airtight alibi for the killing, right? ”
Eddie nodded. “He was at a party with friends in Seattle. Dozens of people saw him that evening. So there was no way he did it unless he paid someone, and with the amounts of money flowing around this case, it’s going to be impossible to trace a transaction.”
“And the killer would have been paid in cash that needed to be laundered anyway, so there’s no way to trace it.
And any DNA that you match, the defense would say it was contaminated because Haver owned the building where everyone worked, and he had been in and out of every office and workspace over the past months and years. His DNA could literally be everywhere.”
“That may be true, but he doesn’t match what we got from Bryce’s office. We already checked.”
“So you are looking for someone else?” Marty asked.
“Yup, and as far as we know, you are the only person who has seen him.”
Marty closed his eyes and tried to bring up an image of the man coming out of Bryce’s office or from the McDonald’s the night that Eddie first came to help him.
It was just a few days ago, but the more he went over it, the more he knew that he had told Eddie everything he could remember.
“And that also means that I’m the only person who can identify him…
and it’s likely that he knows that. He also has to know that you’re looking for him.
” Marty shivered as the full ramifications of his situation fell on him.
“Jesus. This guy is going to try to kill me next.”
“We don’t know that. If he were smart, he’d leave the area or the country. We don’t have enough information to find him. If he simply made himself scarce, then he’d probably get away and the murder would go unsolved. Which sucks for Brian and me, but it would be the smart play.”
Marty couldn’t help shaking. “That may be true. But it also means that there is someone out there who wants me dead. They’ve cleaned up after themselves so far.” He raised his gaze to Eddie. “What did Mr. Haver say when you questioned him?”
“Brian talked to him and led the questioning. He claims to know nothing about the murders, and in fact caved pretty quickly when it came to the money-laundering, but he didn’t cop to hiring someone to kill Bryce or to follow you.”
Marty held his head. “You think Bryce did it on his own?” He went through what he knew of his former boss.
“He wasn’t the smartest man, that was for certain.
And the first time I saw the man, he was coming out of Bryce’s office.
” He gasped as a thought hit him. “What if Bryce was the one behind all of it? I mean, yeah, he was no genius, but he was greedy. There’s no doubt about that. ”
“Haver claims that Bryce was the one who started it all. Haver says that he caught him, and Bryce convinced Haver that there was a lot of money to be made. They could use the business to generate a ton of cash and launder it. Basically, Haver is blaming everything he can on Bryce, and I’m not sure how convinced I am. ” Eddie sat back.
“No, it makes sense. Bryce starts out with his drugs and laundering scheme. Gets caught by Haver but convinces him to go along. Bryce’s crime, if word got out, would kill the business.
The rumors and bad press would shutter the place and force it under.
The government would step in, audit everything, freeze all accounts, and kill the business dead.
Maybe it was a case of go along or….” He could see that very clearly.
“But once things were running, there was no turning back. The money came in hand over fist.” Eddie was clearly thinking of possibilities he hadn’t before.
“Okay. I need to give this some thought and review the evidence again. But there’s something even more important and that’s keeping you safe.
Vicky has been moved into protective custody, and we have people seeing to it that she stays safe. ”