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Well, that explained the list to a degree. “Is the list”—Finley gestured to the names on the page—“in any sort of order? Seniority? Position held?”
“It’s random,” Lauder assured her. “To Ellen and to each other, we are who we are and of equal importance.”
“What was the purpose of Friday’s meeting?”
“She wanted us to know that she had discovered certain discrepancies in her personal accounts. She asked us to scan all the business accounts to ensure there were no similar issues. Ellen had become aware that Jarrod was moving money from her personal accounts, and she wanted to be sure he hadn’t touched anything here at the office.” Lauder pressed a hand to her chest. “Even the concept of a client’s resources being touched that way was devastating to us all.”
“What did Jarrod do here?” Finley asked. Ellen had explained that Jarrod’s amiable personality and good looks made him the perfect liaison for the firm whenever out-of-town visitors were in Nashville. His reach was very limited. No access to client accounts and such. Just a limo and driver along with an unlimited credit card for showing clients a nice time in Music City.
“He was a sort of PR person.” Lauder inclined her head and seemed to consider what she intended to say next. “Frankly, we were all a bit taken aback when he came on board, since Ellen has never employed a man. She—we—wanted this company to be for and about women.”
“The five of you found his position unsettling?” Finley suggested.
“At first, yes, but we quickly understood the decision was for the best. Ellen felt we had accomplished our primary goal and it was time to move beyond that strict model. After some consideration we all agreed.”
“Have more men been hired since revising that model?”
Lauder hesitated as if she hadn’t anticipated the question, or maybe she needed to do a mental count. “No,” she said then. “We haven’t hired any new employees in the past two months.”
Finley would be verifying the response.
“Why didn’t Ellen confront Jarrod on Friday as well?” That was one of the pieces that didn’t quite fit for Finley. Even if the man was in Atlanta, she could have ordered him back to the office.
“Jarrod was out of town. She didn’t expect him back until Saturday afternoon. She wanted to use that block of time to ensure there were no issues with the company and that we all understood what was happening before confronting him.” She gave a knowing nod. “There’s something to be said for the element of surprise.”
Unquestionably. Surprise was a much-desired tactic in any sort of battle. It was the personal aspect of the decision that felt odd. Finley supposed it was possible Winthrop was just really good at setting aside her personal feelings.
Don’t you do the same thing?
Finley ignored the idea. “Did he go out of town alone often?” Jarrod Grady was twelve years younger than Winthrop. They hardly knew each other, and yet she seemed to have trusted him completely.
Didn’t you trust Derrick completely?
Finley blinked away the question. Enough with that damned little nagging voice!
“No, he didn’t actually,” Lauder said. “Jarrod had arranged a meeting in Atlanta to discuss a new real estate venture. He invited Ellen to accompany him, but she begged off at the last moment.” She made a skeptical face. “I’m surprised he wasn’t suspicious. One never went anywhere without the other. From the moment Ellen and Jarrod met, they were together, inseparable. During office hours obviously there was some minimal time apart, but not otherwise as far as I’m aware.”
“What was her reason for not going?” Winthrop hadn’t mentioned this aspect of his trip.
“She had a meeting on Friday with our new British counterpart that she didn’t really want to reschedule.” The youngest partner turned her hands up. “Personally, I think she just didn’t want to go. She hasn’t said as much, but I’m sure she suspected something was wrong.”
“Wrong in what way?”
Lauder blinked, her face blanked. Obviously, she hadn’t meant to say as much.
“You know.” Shrug number three. “Ellen is an amazingly perceptive woman. She had to feel that things were not as they should be.”
Another thought occurred to Finley. “Did Ellen have someone watching Jarrod while he was away in Atlanta?”
“She didn’t mention having directed anyone to watch him.”
“Once she recognized the deficits in her accounts, what did she do next? Beyond bringing her senior partners up to speed,” Finley asked.
“She and Liz, our head of the forensic accounting department, focused on tracking down where the money went when it left her accounts. Ellen felt they needed to have a firm handle on what was missing and from where before proceeding.”
“What did forensic accounting discover?”
“The money was shuffled through several different accounts, finally landing in a bank in New Jersey. Thankfully, I believe it’s still there. By the time Liz found it, there was no way to start transferring it back until opening hours today.”
