Chapter Twelve
In the waiting room, Angie glanced up from her magazine when Melinda, eyes blazing, stormed out of Dr. Parker's small lab and stopped in front of her.
"You'll be hearing from me in two weeks."
Before she could speak, the young woman had slammed out the door. Angie laid the magazine aside, stood and watched through the window as Melinda marched toward her car.
Dr. Parker stepped up beside her. "There goes a beautiful young woman with quite a chip on her shoulder."
"Yes, I know," she whispered. "Such a shame."
"Do you know her mother?" Parker asked.
"No, she wouldn't tell me. Did she tell you?"
He shook his head. "If she's Bud's daughter, she must have taken after her mother, because I don't see any resemblance to him." He touched Angie's shoulder. "I've got to get back to work. I'll call as soon as I get the results."
*****
Tom decided to make the call to the intern from work, and had just hung up when Cliff walked into his office. This morning he sported a golf hat and grumbled loudly about the traffic. Putting on his best smile, Tom nodded. "A good morning to you too, Detective Maxhimer. You need to get up earlier so you can beat the traffic."
Cliff fired a look at him that could have burnt a hole in his chest. "Some people get rude calls in the wee hours of the morning and have a hard time getting back to sleep." He slouched down in the chair next to the desk. "So, did you make the call?"
Getting serious, Tom shoved his sheet of notes toward Cliff so he could read them. "Yes. The intern's name is Bill Crane. The news of Bud's death shocked him. But once he composed himself, he told me he'd found an unusual entry in the Nevers company's financial books. An ABC Wafer Company had been receiving a hefty check each month from the Nevers company. He researched the name on the web and on the stock market, but couldn't find anything about them, so he brought it to Mr. Nevers' attention. He thought Bud took the news pretty seriously, but he never learned of the outcome of the audit because he left for school shortly thereafter."
Cliff stared into space as he listened. "I knew that company smelled too sweet." Then he turned toward Tom. "Your computer man gonna make it today?"
"Supposed to be there now. I gave him clearance."
"Let's get over there." Cliff stood and straightened his wrinkled coat. "It's going to be interesting to see what's locked up inside that computer."
The two detectives drove to the Nevers building and went straight to Bud's office. Cliff pulled a chair over to the front of the desk where William Bird, the computer expert, sat transfixed. His round-rimmed glasses were perched on the end of his nose as he stared at the monitor. The printer hummed, spitting out one sheet of paper after another.
"Yes!" Bird uttered, smiling and glancing up at the two detectives. "Just got the last one opened." Taking off his glasses, he rubbed his eyes and pointed at the printer. "I'm printing them out as you suggested."
"So, how'd it go?" Tom asked.
"It's not hard to break open these files, but if someone uses a code or a series of steps to get in, it's tedious. This man had about five different steps, but once I got the hang of what he did, no problem. Just each one had different codes with some crazy little steps. He probably taught himself. I have to admit, though, he had a pretty good system. Not just anyone would be able to do it. But now that I've cracked them, I hope you're not going to leave this computer here with free access to anyone."
"I'll impound it immediately," Tom said.
Meanwhile, Cliff strolled over to the printer and began putting the papers in order as they finished. He had quite a stack by the time the last sheet printed out. He clipped them together and glanced at Tom. "This will take some time. I think we'll need an auditor next."
"Think we better alert the accountant?"
"Wouldn't hurt. He might need a lawyer."
Tom turned to William Bird. "Thank you for your work. You'll receive a check within the next couple of weeks. And anything that you might have read in these files is to be kept confidential."
Bird smiled. "Don't worry, I don't read them, I only open them."
The detective walked him out the door, then motioned for one of the officers to come to the office. "As soon as Detective Maxhimer is through, I want this computer and all its paraphernalia taken to the station immediately, and put under strict security."
Once the printing had stopped, Cliff motioned for the officers to come and get the equipment. Tom had alerted the receptionist to call Ryan Conners, the company accountant, to meet them in the office. A few minutes later, a small man with thick horn-rimmed glasses appeared at the doorway. The glasses looked too heavy for the bony, thin face lined with serious frown wrinkles. The right corner of his mouth twitched as he stood waiting, his arms folded in front of him.
Cliff finally stopped shoving papers into large envelopes and turned around. He looked at the man from under the brim of his hat. "You the accountant?"
"Yes sir, I'm Ryan Conners."
"Sit down, Mr. Conners. I'll be right with you."
The man edged over to the chair and stared at the vacant desktop where the computer had once perched. He crossed his legs and tapped his fingers on the wooden surface while watching Cliff stack the envelopes into a pile.
Tom came back into the building after seeing the equipment out to the police van. He spotted Conners in the office. Not wanting to take notes, he reached into his pocket and flipped on his voice-activated recorder before entering the room. The minute Tom stepped inside, he said. "Mr. Conners, I presume?"
The man leaped to his feet. "Yes sir."
"I'm Detective Hoffman, and this is my partner Detective Maxhimer."
Conners nodded toward both men.
Cliff scooted into Bud's chair behind the desk while Tom stood at the side.
"You may sit down, Mr. Conners," Cliff began. "We've just had the files unlocked on Mr. Nevers' computer. They appear to be the accounting books of this company. I know you've made a statement to the police already. Is there anything else you'd like to add?"
"No sir. I've already explained that I'd talked with Mr. Nevers about the computer crash the day before he died. My data got lost. And now my back-up disk has disappeared."
"Sounds like quite a coincidence, doesn't it?" Cliff asked.
Conners jumped up. "I resent that. I've been with this company for ten years. I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize my job."
Cliff lifted a hand and motioned for the man to calm down. "No one's accusing you of anything."
Beads of sweat formed on Conners' forehead. "All I can tell you is that I've done nothing wrong."
"Have you talked to Mr. Weber?"
Conners stopped mopping his forehead with his handkerchief and looked at Cliff with a puzzled expression. "No. Why should I?"
"Just wondered if you told him about the ABC Wafer Company?"
The man's face paled and his Adam's apple worked up and down above his collar. "I don't know what you're talking about, sir."
Cliff nodded. "Okay, Mr. Conners, you can go. But stay available if we need to talk later."