“Yes. You were right—Leland was hiding something. One of the IT guys got me an old version of that file from the backup tapes. It was archived on the night Stacy disappeared. Stacy had made several notes about discrepancies. It took a lot of digging to sort through what’s going on, but—well, the short story is… Leland’s embezzling.”
“No way. How?”
“Leland has been overpaying the insurance premiums. I guess he has a contact or a partner over at Right-A-Way, as they’ve been issuing the refund check to a shell company owned by Leland’s brother-in-law. It didn’t trigger any flags because the payment to Right-A-Way is legit; it’s just too frequent. He was working the scam with a number of other companies, too. He did it again this week with a different company.”
“Have you told anyone about this?” Jack asked.
“I’m calling Detective Vargas next. And I’m going to our CFO in the morning. I wanted to tell you first because… well, you earned it.”
Jack said quickly, “If you don’t mind—please don’t mention to Vargas, or to anyone else, that I had anything to do with your research. I’m already in a bit of hot water.”
Betty chuckled. “I think I can understand why—you’ve got a way about you. Don’t worry. I won’t say your name.”
Jack exhaled. “Thank you.”
“If that son of a bitch murdered Stacy to hide what he was doing, you can bail me out after I kill him. And Jack… I still don’t understand exactly how you’re involved in this, but I’m glad you’ve stepped up. You probably saved a bunch of people’s jobs.”
“You have too, Betty. You stuck your neck out. Thanks again.”
Jack clicked the phone off and stared at the receiver in his hand. He had known something wasn’t right with Leland Chambers—and now the police would have to look harder at him. Maybe it would lead to something more. It gave Leland motive. But…
Jack thought about his list of whys. Leland’s embezzling answered several of the questions on that list, but not all of them.
He walked over to the trashcan and stared down at the notebook. He reached down for it, then hesitated.
Walk away.
Jack straightened back up and his shoulders slumped.
Walk away.
This time, he listened to that voice in his head and left the notebook in the trash.
Leave it to the police.
He grabbed his plate and headed downstairs. He put the phone on the kitchen table and his plate in the sink. He opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed the aspirin bottle.
Betty said Chambers ran the scam again this week. If he killed Stacy, wouldn’t he take a break and lie low?
Although he could keep himself from investigating, he apparently couldn’t stop his mind thinking about the case.
Chandler was right about the emails—the doctors told me nothing. Privacy laws shouldn’t—
Jack stopped suddenly, the aspirin forgotten. He ran back up to his computer and read the email from the clinic again.
Pending litigation.
“They didn’t say they couldn’t comment because of privacy laws. They said they couldn’t comment because of pending litigation. What litigation?”
The telephone rang. Thinking it might be Betty again, Jack ran downstairs to answer it. But it wasn’t Betty.
“Jack?”
It took Jack a second to place the voice. “Two Point?”
“I’ve got to talk to you. Can you meet me at the ball courts?”
“Why?”
“Come on. I’m there now. It’s important.”
“Listen, Two.” Jack tried to lower his voice so his mother wouldn’t hear him. “You’ve been jerking me around. I’ve almost gotten arrested—twice—all because of you and your brother. Neither of you is telling me the truth.”
“I am. I’m not lying.”
“You did before.”
“Not now,” Two Point said. “Look. I want to come clean.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Did you hear what happened to Jay?”
“No.”
“He got stabbed this morning.”
“Are you serious? Is he all right?”
“No.” Two Point swallowed. “It’s bad.”
Jack’s shock shifted to anger. “That’s on you.”
“I know. I know. Look, if you come… If you come with me, I’ll talk to that suit you know.”
“You’ll tell them it was you who found the wallet?”
There was a long pause. “Yeah.”
“If you’re playing me…” Jack threatened.
“I’ll tell them it was me. I swear. On my father’s grave. I swear. But you gotta come with me.”