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?“Is that the screw you found in Randall’s bedroom?” I asked.
?“Yes,” Sheryl said. “Bright and early this morning I took it to a shop where they repair computers. As it turns out, it is a most unusual screw. You’ll notice it’s very short and flat.”
?I took the screw and turned it over in my hand.
?“It is specifically made to hold a laptop hard drive in a small metal bracket that keeps it secure,” Sheryl said.
?I met her eyes. “The police took the hard drive out?”
?“I don’t think it was the police.”
?“You believe the killer took it?”
?“Correct.”
?“I still don’t get—”
?“Randall had an office computer, but brought his laptop everywhere. Both machines possessed double and triple-level security. He did everything online for all his finances—stocks, bonds, and most important: transfers.”
?I snapped my fingers as I saw her line of reasoning. “So you think the killer was out to steal the information—account numbers and the like.”
?“Good, Watkins, but you are still not seeing the whole picture. Let’s say a clever person finds Randall’s accounts. How could they access them?”
?I thought for a minute. “I assume they would need the necessary passwords.”
?“Which only Randall knew.”
?“So, they would have to go online to the accounts and have Randall give them the codes,” I said.
?“Now you see.”
?“I’m not sure,” I mused. “Do you think Candy got to Randall through the offer of a kinky evening and tricked him into letting her cuff him up? Then her accomplice came in and threatened Randall to give up his passcodes while he was helpless?”
?“Exactly!” Sheryl announced with a broad smile. “Once the accounts were accessed, they could use the laptop to transfer the funds to anywhere in the world.”
?“So, you think they used my gun and fired a shot in the wall to persuade him,” I speculated.
?“To show they meant business. They also could have used the pillow to scare him, not suffocating him, but threatening to—”
?“Until the final coup de grace. So, it wasn’t revenge or a sex crime. It was flat-out robbery,” I deduced.
?“Exactly!”
?“But why kill him?”
?“Because he was the only one who knew about the accounts and the only one with the skills to get his money back.”
?“Which made the robbery untraceable,” I considered with my mouth agape. “The perfect crime.”
?“Except for one thing. The hard drive of the laptop would have a record of the transfer.”
?I exhaled heavily. “So, why didn’t the killers just take the laptop with them?”
?“Too risky. There might be a way to trace it. Much safer to remove the hard drive with the data.”
?“Pretty cold-blooded, to smother him and then take apart the computer with him lying there. You really think Jon Kane could do that? And that Candy would help?”
?“If there was a big enough prize, I think Candy would’ve enjoyed getting him trussed up and getting the information,” she hypothesized and stood up. “But I am not sure she would want to smother him.”
