Chapter 26
“You’re thinking Stan was here to remove things from his office, Ms. Abbott walked in on him, and he killed her?” The whole thing was odd to Lainie.
“That’s what I’m seeing,” Shea said, but he didn’t sound convinced.
“Stan wouldn’t have to destroy the safe; he’d know the combination,” Lainie said.
Shea folded his arms. “He should know it, I agree. But I believe that we’re dealing with a desperate man.
He’s on the run and he needs money. He tried the scam in Hawaii to get money and it failed.
He somehow knew we searched his home; he came here looking for something, and Abbott surprised him.
If he doesn’t have a motive to clean out his office, then who? ”
“Benton,” Ben said, and Lainie and Shea turned to him.
“She didn’t work here; she came here often to collect paperwork and money for Vine.
Maybe she entrusted Moffit with important items and wanted them back before you found them or him.
Right now, Benton and Vine would be the only ones who’d be concerned about you searching this business, especially if they knew Moffit was about to be arrested. ”
Lainie considered this for a minute before asking Ben a question. “You see Benton as the killer? Not Vine? Not Stan?”
“Vine never does his own dirty work. And I’m not convinced Moffit is a killer.”
“I’ve got nothing on Vine,” Shea said. “But I can put out a BOLO for Benton.” He punched in a number and put the phone to his ear.
“As much as I dislike Stan, him murdering someone in his own business seems too obvious. Did you figure out when Benton came back from Hawaii?” Lainie asked Ben.
He shook his head. “We don’t know what alias she would have used.”
Just then, Bryce yelled out from the bathroom, “I found another one.”
Lainie and Ben let Shea precede them into the room.
It was a large space, handicap accessible.
She looked over his shoulder when he bent down to see what the tech had found.
A square of the flooring had been removed in the corner to reveal another floor safe.
Lainie saw that the trash bucket had been over the patch.
“Well, I’ll be,” Shea said. “How did you find this?”
Bryce fairly beamed. “The linoleum square was off a tad. Searching every corner of the space paid off.”
“Can you open it?”
“I’ve got a crowbar coming.”
In a few minutes another tech brought in a crowbar and some other tools. They got to work.
“I think you’re right,” Ben said to Lainie. They stood close together in the doorway while the sounds of banging and prying emanated from the bathroom.
“About what?”
“If Stan had been the one here cleaning out his office, he would not have missed this safe.”
“Besides that, he would have to be an absolute moron to kill a woman in his own office.”
Ben leaned against the wall, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“It’s all staged. Someone ransacked the office and killed Abbott to make it appear as if Stan had done it.
She had no ID, and her purse is gone, leading me to believe that whoever killed her took it.
” He nodded to the floor safe. “Maybe some of the answers we want will be in there.”
It took about ten minutes, but the techs got the safe open. Shea pulled out three manila envelopes: two were rather thick, one was thin. He took them into the office and set them on the desk.
The first one he opened was filled with cash, bundles of hundred-dollar bills.
“Wow.” Lainie whistled.
The next one was filled with passports and IDs.
Shea opened one. “Picture is of Stan Moffit, under the name Clinton White.” He opened another. “This one is a Canadian passport, Stan with another name. And here we have a woman.” He handed the passport to Ben.
“This is Crystal Benton with the name Martha White.”
Shea pulled out all the IDs. After he finished opening all of them, six were for Stan, six were for Benton, different names, various nationalities.
Ben studied the one in his hand. “These are professionally done. It would fool me. I now have a list of Benton’s aliases to check with the flight logs. She probably used one of these names to return from Hawaii.”
“What’s in the last envelope?” Lainie asked.
Shea opened it and leafed through the papers.
“Bank records, a lot of money in a foreign bank. Moffit and Benton set themselves up with offshore accounts.” He looked up from the papers.
“I’m not an accountant, but if I’m reading this right, Benton and Moffit were stealing from the big boss.
All of this might lead straight to Vine. ”
Lainie felt lightheaded. It was so surreal. It didn’t line up with the selfish, self-absorbed person she hated seeing across the dinner table. How was Evie so fooled?
“We need to work together on this,” Ben said. “I’m calling my supervisor. We’ll get a team down here as well.” He stepped aside and made the phone call.
Shea jutted his chin. “Moffit’s our guy. Maybe he didn’t kill that woman in there, but I’ll bet he knows who did. I’m putting out a BOLO for him as well. We’ll find them both and sort all of this out.”
Ben finished his call. “Team is on the way. We have a couple of forensic accountants. They can figure out all that paperwork. If Moffit and Benton were trying to pull something over on the boss, they should wish that we find them first. Vine won’t wait for explanations.”
“No turf war? My arrest?” Shea asked.
“I just want the man in jail.”
Shea nodded. “Okay, I’ll call my boss.” He walked off and Ben turned to Lainie.
The expression on his face troubled her. Despite what he’d said, she feared a turf war when things got going. She’d seen egos at work when there were jurisdictional battles. “What’s the matter? You don’t think Shea will cooperate?”
“It’s not that. We’re missing something,” Ben said. “Things have moved along too quickly.”
“I don’t agree. Things are not moving fast enough. I’m no closer to finding Evie than I was on the beach in Hawaii.”
There was such tender understanding in Ben’s eyes it took her breath away.
“This has to be a lot for you to take in.” He touched her elbow. “I can’t imagine; you haven’t even buried her yet.”
Emotion bubbled up and Lainie felt sad, tired, and angry all in a swirl. She turned away. “I don’t have a body to bury.”
Ben cleared his throat. “I’m seeing things in this office that make Stan appear like a real bad actor. Efren never hinted that there was this kind of activity going on here. Fake IDs, offshore accounts. Efren had no inkling. He made friends with Stan. Is the man capable of all this?”
“A week ago, I would have said no. Now, I don’t know what to make of everything.” Thankful for the change of subject, Lainie felt her control return, and she turned back to Ben. “Everything here says he was involved with Crystal Benton. Did Efren see that?”
Ben shook his head. “Efren believed that the relationship between Benton and Stan was purely professional. She had a good head for numbers and was as ruthless as Vine. He didn’t think Stan was her type.”
“Her type being?”
“Powerful mover, the boss of things, lots of money. Efren saw Stan as a family man. He talked about his boys a lot. Whatever your brother-in-law did, whatever he is, he loved his kids. It made an impression on Efren.”
Lainie considered his words. “If there was one positive comment I can make about Stan, it would be that he does love the boys. It’s hard for me to be charitable about anything else. Have you heard any more about Efren?”
Lainie didn’t miss the pain that flashed across Ben’s face. “I hit a nerve.”
“It’s not you.” He clenched and unclenched his fists, then relaxed. “We found his car. Stripped and dumped in the desert.”
“I’m so sorry, Ben. Just the car?”
“Yeah. I’m heading to the impound lot to check it out. Hoping that Efren left some kind of clue in the car—” He stopped. “Crazy, huh?”
She shook her head. “You guys are friends, partners. I’d try to leave a clue, if I could. Do you mind if I tag along?”
Ben raised his eyebrows. “Why?”
“I got nothing else to do. At least until Stan and Benton turn up. And I believe Efren and Evie’s disappearance are linked in some manner. I won’t get in the way.”
“I’m not worried about that. Follow me over?”
“Lead the way.”