Carolyn Arnold - McKinley 03 - Money is Murder

by Carolyn Arnold

  “Do you know when he’ll be back?”

  “He’s at a breakfast meeting trying to woo a client.”

  “Interesting. A breakfast meeting.”

  “Oh, you’d be surprised. These men are used to being wined and dined, but they are early risers, so a nice homemade-type breakfast, especially if they are traveling, is just what the doctor ordered.”

  “I see.” Sara turned to Sean. “That is awfully disappointing though. We were hoping to speak with him.”

  “You never said when he’d be back,” Sean interjected.

  Daniela glanced at her monitor and then to her notepad. She leaned in toward them. “I’m not sure.”

  “He’s not at a business meeting is he?” Sara asked.

  Daniela pulled back and a deep breath heaved her chest. She shook her head. “You actually just missed him. I’m sorry I lied to you. He told me to tell you that.”

  Sean and Sara turned to each other, then back to Daniela.

  “Why would he do that?” Sara asked.

  “I’m not sure. Please believe me. I wouldn’t be avoiding you two. You seem real nice.”

  “Sean? Sara?”

  They turned to see Edward Cranston.

  “Well, it seems like everyone knows we’re in the building.” Sean extended his hand.

  “Good day, McKinleys. I wasn’t expecting you. Thought you’d be headed back home.”

  “Actually we were looking to speak with Robert West.”

  Edward placed a hand on Sean’s shoulder, guiding him to the hall, and Sara followed.

  “I’m not sure what you’d want with Robert. He’s just a glorified salesman.”

  “We just have a couple questions for him,” Sean answered.

  “Come with me.” Edward gestured, with a waving hand, for them to follow.

  They loaded onto the elevator and Edward pressed thirty. When the doors opened, Sean expected they’d go right toward his office, but instead Edward took them left.

  “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.” Edward reached into a pocket and took out a keycard. He slid it through the lock on an office door at the end of the hall. “Here, go on in ahead of me.”

  The space was double the size of Edward’s—the furniture plush and new, speaking to the taste of a younger generation. Windows banked the back wall and the view was splendid.

  “It’s like heaven in here.” Sara turned when Edward shut and locked the door. “Where are we?”

  “This was Cindy’s office.”

  There was a blanket of silence that lasted a few seconds. Edward walked behind the desk, pressed a button, and a computer beeped to life.

  “Please, have a seat.” He gestured to a lounge area that consisted of a black leather couch and two matching chairs.

  Sean and Sara sat on the couch.

  “Either of you care for a drink? She had a loaded bar.”

  “Mr. Cranston, it’s nine thirty in the morning.” Sean watched the man pace the room.

  “Yes, you’re right.” Edward settled in one of the chairs. His expression fell somber. “It’s best you stay away from Robert West.”

  Sara leaned forward. “What do you mean?”

  He looked at her. “Just that. He’s a dangerous man.”

  “Yet he’s on your staff?” Sean pointed out the obvious.

  “He is, but like I said, he’s locked in. Without significant loss to the company we can’t terminate the contract.”

  “I’m sure there are enough funds to get rid of someone, if you felt inclined.”

  He turned to Sara. “Yesterday you mentioned it was a tragedy that Cindy died before she had a chance to get married. I should have told you then, but Cindy was married to Robert for a time.”

  “Then why didn’t you?”

  “I was hoping it wouldn’t be necessary.” Edward rubbed his hands together. They were dry and made a brushing noise as he did so. “I know you used to be cops. Murder detectives, right?”

  Both of them nodded.

  “The circumstances surrounding Cindy’s death are questionable.”

  “I find it interesting you say that.” Sara traced his facial features with her eyes.

  “Cindy wasn’t depressed. She was on top of her game. She had just graduated with her fancy business diplomas and was a natural for the job. Like I told you, she put others to shame.”

  Sean glanced over at Sara. She met his gaze. That was one grouping they had forgotten to include in their list. He recalled her mentioning the conversation with Paul Moses.

  “Was anyone on staff more upset than the others?”

  “Robert took it the hardest. See, when Cindy came on, she brought in Robert. It was rumored around the company that she told people she felt sorry for him, but Robert had his own business background. Sean, you met him. He was twelve years Cindy’s senior. He had lived life and worked hard to get to where he was, and then a young wife puts him in his place.”

  “She used her power and money to demean her own husband. No wonder the marriage failed,” Sara said.

  Edward shook his head. “Robert never would have left her. She ended things.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yes.” Edward let the one word sink in the air. “It’s really best you leave her death alone.”

  “How did you know we were looking into it?” Sara asked.

  “Mr. Quinn came to me not long after Cindy died. He said it didn’t sit well with him, that he was going to remove Robert from the Will, and that he should have done so sooner. He pushed hard for the police to arrest Robert. He felt the man killed his daughter. You know how the rest turned out. Anyway with your background, and unlimited resources, it would make sense he’d ask you to pick up where he left off.”

  Sean nodded. “Yes, it does.”

  “Here, take this.” Edward extended a keycard. “This will give you access to any room in the building. Sara, I’ll get one made for you.”

  “That would be wonderful, but we’re not going to get in your way here.”

  “You never would be. Please, feel free to roam as you wish. This is your company, after all. Just be careful.”

  “You really don’t think she killed herself, do you?”

  “As I mentioned, no, I think she was murdered and it’s likely someone from within these walls is behind it. And if you ask me, I think it’s her death that killed Mr. Quinn.”

  Strange Happenings

  EDWARD CRANSTON EXCUSED HIMSELF AND left them with passwords to login to Cindy’s computer.

  Sara sat behind the desk. “I don’t even really know what I’m looking for. Edward is certain it’s an employee at Universal. Paul Moses mentioned that she excelled at acquisitions.”

  “What if she took a generational company away and they came after her? There’s a lot of pride that goes into building a business from the ground up.”

  “Very good point, darling.” Sara opened up the directory for the hard drive and read down the folder names. “This could be easier than I thought.” She clicked a folder called acquisitions.

  “Maybe we’re trying to chase down a dead end. Edward believes it has something to do with people in this building,” Sean said.

  “I think we should look into this. See if it leads anywhere. We’ll wait on Robert to return.”

  “If he does.”

  “There is a possibility he won’t.” She glanced at the phone on the desk. “She was meticulously organized. It’s no wonder she was successful at business.” She noticed a speed dial button with Robert’s name and pressed it, assuming it would ring through to Daniela if there wasn’t an answer. After four rings, she had Daniela on the line. “This is Sara McKinley. I understand. It’s all right. I need you to notify us the moment Robert is back. Oh, he did? All right, thank you.” Sara hung up, latching eyes with Sean. “As it turns out, Robert suddenly isn’t feeling well.”

  “He’s got to be hiding some—”

  There was a knock at the door.

&nb
sp; “Come in,” Sean said.

  Beverly entered the room.

  “I apologize, Mr. and Mrs. McKinley. I didn’t know. I just saw the lights on and wondered who was in here.”

  Sean got up to meet her. “What a surprise to see you up here.”

  “Yes, I’m allowed off the front desk sometimes.” Her eyes drifted past Sean to Sara. “Is there something I could help you find?”

  “I’m not sure if—”

  “I’m sure I could. I used to be her assistant, before everything got shuffled around.”

  Sara passed a look at Sean. “No, I think we’re all right. Thank you anyway.”

  Beverly’s eyes flitted about the room. “Sure. Okay.” She smiled awkwardly then left.

  With the door closed, Sean turned to Sara. “She didn’t just happen upon this room. She came up here for something.”

  “You think she’s in on this?”

  Sean gave a small shrug. “It’s mighty coincidental.”

  “I tend to ag—” Sara pointed at the screen. “Sean, something is happening to the files. They’re disappearing. Look!”

  Sean came around and saw what she did—they were being deleted one by one.

  Sara was moving the mouse around but it wasn’t responding on the screen. She went for the power button on the PC.

  “No!” Sean stopped her just before she made contact.

  She lifted her hands.

  “Someone’s tapped in remotely and taken over the system. Don’t fight it by trying to move the mouse.”

  “We need to find out who has access to do something like this,” Sara said.

  A few more files disappeared.

  “I have an idea.” She dialed another extension marked E Cranston. Adam Laverty answered.

  “You’re actually who I’m looking for. Can you please come to Cindy Quinn’s office? See you soon.” She hung up. “He’ll be here shortly. It’s just down the hall.”

  There was a soft knock on the door.

  “Mrs. McKinley?” Adam came in and when he saw Sean, he nodded a greeting. “Mr. McKinley.”

  “Our first names will do just fine. Come around here, quickly.” Sean gestured for him to move.

  Sara pointed at the screen. “These files are disappearing in front of our eyes. Someone’s logged in remotely.”

  Adam leaned on the desk. “How strange. Who would want—”

  “We’re hoping you can help us with that,” Sara said.

  He assessed her eyes, and she felt his attraction to her steaming from his retinas. Maybe she could use it to further her advantage?

  “Can you track down who is doing this through IP address or something?”

  “I can do pretty much anything.” Adam smiled and pointed to the chair she was in.

  “Oh, here you go.” She got up and they switched places.

  Adam clicked around the screen. “It seems they are gone now.”

  “Oh, no, there it goes again.” Sara pointed animatedly to the monitor.

  “Interesting.” Adam moved in closer to the screen. “Whoever it is, they are taking everything from her acquisitions folder.”

  “What could they be trying to keep us from seeing?” Sean asked.

  Adam didn’t look at him when he answered. “That’s a good question, but I’d guess it has something to do with your interest in Cindy’s death.”

  Sara glanced at Sean. How did Adam know they were looking into things? Did everyone around here talk, or was there more to it?

  Adam clicked keys and lifted his hands from the keyboard in exchange for a pen and paper from the desk. He quickly scribbled down a bunch of numbers.

  “All right. I got him.”

  The screen went black.

  “It looks like I got that just in time.” Adam stood abruptly. “Come with me.”

  Sara and Sean followed behind him.

  Sean put his arm around her. “I have a feeling the reason Cindy is dead has something to do with her computer files.”

  “It sure seems that way. Let’s hope our new friend can help us in that regard.”

  Seeing Numbers

  ADAM LED THEM BACK TO his desk where he dropped into his chair. Edward Cranston didn’t seem to be around anywhere.

  “All I have to do is punch these numbers into my computer.” He input the sequence in record time, then looked up to Sara, and spoke to Sean. “The IP traces back to this address. One minute.” More keys were typed in. “It comes back to—”

  “Adam?” Sara prompted.

  “The address belongs to Robert West.”

  Sean turned to Sara. “Why would Robert West be stealing files from Cindy’s computer?”

  “That’s a good question.”

  “Looks like we need to get over there and find out.”

  “Ah.” Adam held up a finger. “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. If he did have something to do with Cindy’s death, it could be dangerous. Have you met this guy? He’s not the warmest person in the world.”

  “Yes, I had the privilege yesterday,” Sean said.

  Sara set her purse on Adam’s desk. “Okay, what about Cindy’s files, is there any way you can recover them from the server somehow? We need to see what he’s gone to all this effort to steal.”

  Adam slowly shook his head. “Unfortunately, no.”

  “There’s no backup or anything? For a company this size, I would think—”

  “We do run backups on our server, but they’re kept off site.”

  “We’re going to need access to that.”

  “There is one other option.” Adam shared looks between the two of them and settled his gaze on Sara. “Cindy would have had a personal computer. In fact, she was inseparable from her laptop. I have no doubt every file she had here, she had there too. She might even have more on her laptop.”

  “Where would we find—”

  “I assume you have access to Cindy’s flat?”

  “We do,” Sara said.

  “You’d probably find it there.”

  “Let’s just hope that everything is as she left it.” Sara passed a concerned look to Sean.

  “I’m sure Mr. Quinn would have seen to that, darling.”

  Sara picked up her purse. “Seems it’s time to find out.”

  Universal Acquisitions Corporation had a few company vehicles and driving staff, and they took one over to Cindy’s place. With traffic, it took over an hour and it was mid-afternoon when they arrived.

  The doorman looked at them skeptically and nodded his approval once Sean made the introductions.

  “Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. McKinley. I heard about your good fortune.” He smiled at them politely.

  “Thank you. Please direct us to Cindy Quinn’s flat.”

  He provided directions and they got on the elevator for the top floor.

  “There was no financial hardship in this family was there,” Sara stated.

  “None. I find it interesting that Quinn lived simply, while his daughter lived it up in a place like this.”

  “Different generation. She was also active in the company and had a certain image to uphold.”

  Sean wanted to insert a comment here about their current situation. When they returned to Albany, it would be time to find a house to make a home. He knew that her vision differed from his, but he saw things the way Cindy must have. There was a definite image to uphold. Although he wasn’t driven to impress people—he answered to no one but himself—it was appropriate that they have a home in which to host large functions. He knew he had to work at it from that angle, or the mansion he now dreamed of would never happen.

  “Here we go.” The elevator operator held back one side of the doors for them to get out.

  Sean put the key in Cindy’s door and turned the handle. He looked up.

  “What is it, darling?” Sara asked.

  “The door was already unlocked.”

  “What do you mean? We should be the only ones with a key.”

  Sean opened the door,
slowly, and Sara held a hand to his back, creeping in behind him.

  “Be careful.”

  He glanced over a shoulder. “I’ve got this cov—” He held a finger to his lips to keep her quiet and then whispered, “Do you hear that?”

  She nodded.

  There was the rustling of paper and things being moved around, drawers being opened and closed.

  They cleared the doorway and Sara locked the door.

  Sean gestured for her to stay behind him and he moved quietly up the hallway, in the direction of the noise.

  The intruder was in the last room on the right.

  Sean peeked inside and then he mouthed to Sara, “It’s Robert.”

  She put a hand on his shoulder.

  He moved into the room. “Surprised to see you here.”

  Robert looked up, sheer panic written in his expression—his eyes went wide and his mouth fell askew, as if about to speak, but no words came out. He ran toward Sean.

  “Oh no, you don’t.” Sean wrapped his arms around Robert in an effort to hold him back.

  Robert struggled beneath his grip and broke free. His fist connected with Sean’s nose and had Sean’s steps faltering backward.

  Sean gathered his adrenaline, and charged forward—his head to Robert’s gut. Robert beat on his back and pain coursed through him, but Sean wrestled, pushing until Robert reached the wall. More punches pounded Sean’s sides, causing him to stagger back a few feet, but he regained ground and moved forward.

  “Stop right there.” Robert drew a gun and had it aimed on Sean. He glanced at Sara. “Neither of you should be here. You should have left things alone.”

  “You killed her,” Sara cried out.

  Robert seemed to be having difficulty deciding who to train the gun on. That indecision was his big mistake.

  Sean lunged at him, knocking the gun from Robert’s grip. It flew across the floor, where it came to rest near Sara.

  She picked it up and held it on Robert. “Let him go.”

  He lifted his hands in surrender.

  “Seems we have some talking to do,” Sean said, his words coming out on winded breath.

  “I never killed her.”