Jane kept abreast of her coworkers. Though she and Gina had butted heads, they had a mutual respect. And a mutual dislike.
As if sensing Jane’s thoughts, Gina grinned at her. “Stay out of my way, Cannon.”
Jane grinned back. “With pleasure, Holtz.”
Feeling oddly buoyant, she approached Lisa’s desk. “Lisa Chen? Jane Cannon. We’ve met briefly before.” But they’d never worked on anything together.
They shook hands though Lisa didn’t stand to greet her. “Pull up a seat. I just need to finish one thing here.”
Like Jane’s squad’s area downstairs, the cybercrimes squad shared space, though they maintained cubicles with high walls, separating individual desks. For good reason, as everywhere Jane looked, the cubicle walls appeared covered in spreadsheets and documents.
Jane grabbed a chair and pulled it close, studying the duty expert who’d been added to the home invasion investigation.
Lisa appeared to be around Jane’s age, with a petite frame and short, dark hair. According to Jenn, who knew everything abouteveryone, Lisa had been with Seattle for the past six years, was everyone’s favorite go-to for accounting-related cases and questions and had recently gotten engaged. A computer geek with an addiction to luxury purses, she and Jenn bonded over a shared affection for Louis Vuitton and Prada.
Jane glanced at the bag tucked neatly in the corner of Lisa’s desk.
Lisa saw her looking and grinned. “Jenn’s been telling stories, I bet. This isn’t an actual Birkin bag. It’s a knockoff my sister got me as a gag gift last year.”
“Ah. Good to know.”
“Trust me. If I could afford a $25,000 dollar purse, I doubt I’d be working here.”
Jane gaped. “Twenty-five thousand? For apurse?”
“I know. It’s a dream. I’d totally go for the royal blue. It’s my color.”
“Er, right.” As someone who only owned dresses and wore makeup because her profession demanded she sometimes look the part, Jane had no business discussing fashion. She loved being a woman, but she preferred workout clothes to playing dress-up.
Hard to chase a perp in heels.
“Okay, so I’m fairly up to speed on the millionaire home invasion cases. And yesterday’s find makes three.”
Jane nodded. “Though we found the Strands yesterday, it’s likely they were killed this past Monday. Like the other families.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. We already know the Duvalls lost millions. Local PD was already checking into the Coatneys’ financials. Now we have to add the Strands’ as well.”
“But? You have the look of someone who wants to add a but in there.”
“Aren’t you clever?”
“That’s why they pay me the big bucks. I’m smart like that.”
Jane liked her. “Well, our killer isn’t hacking the victims’ financials. He seems to be stealing their passwords andmoving money before we know it’s gone. As soon as the banks release the info on the Coatneys, my bet is we’ll find millions missing there, too.”
Lisa nodded. “The Duvalls were big into cryptocurrency. I’d be surprised if the other two families aren’t as well.”
Many of those with wealth invested in art and real estate, in addition to their lucrative money market, brokerage, and cash management accounts. But crypto had been making a splash for investors over the last few years.
Lisa studied Jane. “How much do you know about cryptocurrency and how it works?”
“Not much. Probably less than our thief knows. He stole passcodes to bank accounts as well as bitcoin, I think.”
“Those are two different things.”
“What?”
