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“That would explain how the fingerprint was activated,” Goddard said, “but it still leaves the question of how the thief knew the combination.”
“Let’s leave that for now,” the assistant chief said. “I have a question about Frank. He was last seen on Saturday night, and his body wasn’t discovered until Monday morning. Didn’t his friends worry when they didn’t see him all day on Sunday?”
“No,” Kit said. “I talked to Miss Eloise this afternoon after Georgia was sedated. Eloise said that Mr. Flynn would often drive up to San Francisco for the weekend to stay in the house he and Ryan had shared. He’d leave Friday, stay Saturday, then drive back through the night on Saturday and arrive for Sunday brunch. Maybe they thought he’d left Saturday night after the party.”
Navarro whistled. “That’s eight hours each way by car. I’d have trouble with that much driving, and Frank was eighty-five years old.”
“He was in amazing shape for his age.” Sam smiled sadly. “And then if he wasn’t going to San Francisco, he’d just hole up and be alone. On Saturdays, though, not on Sundays. Benny observed the Sabbath on Saturday and his family would usually pick him up on Friday before sunset so he could celebrate Shabbat with them, then bring him back on Saturday night. This past weekend was unusual because his family was out east at a bar mitzvah. That’s why they weren’t here until today. They traveled back yesterday. Frankie would make his San Francisco pilgrimage on the weekends so that he didn’t lose time with Benny. He only stayed at Shady Oaks for Benny, otherwise he would have moved back to San Francisco a long time ago.”
“But Mr. Flynn stayed this weekend for Miss Eloise’s party?” Kit asked.
Sam nodded. “Yes, he did. But he also stayed because Benny wasn’t going to be with his family this weekend. Frankie wouldn’t have left Benny alone that long. Frankie was loyal to his friends.”
“So if Mr. Flynn’s killer believed he’d planned a trip to San Francisco,” Detective Goddard said thoughtfully, “then he wasn’t expecting Flynn to be there on Saturday night, which was why he chose that night to search Flynn’s room. Although if the staff knew he regularly made that drive, they wouldn’t have expected him to pull the cord on Sunday, so why did the killer go to the trouble of returning?”
“Good question,” Navarro said. “Dr. Reeves, do the residents have to notify the office when they’re leaving the building?”
“The independent living residents don’t, not for little trips and if they have their own car. But on those San Francisco weekends, Frank would have to tell the office he’d be gone because he wouldn’t be there to pull the cord. I think he’d send Miss Evans an email, letting her know. I don’t think it was anything more formal than that. But he wouldn’t have sent one this past weekend, because he was staying in.”
Kit turned to the IT guy. “Jeff, was there any kind of communication to staff concerning absent residents via the company email? Have you broken the encryption on that yet?”
“I can see the company emails and yes, Miss Evans sent out a daily message to the main staff with who would be out of the building. Recipients were…” Jeff tapped at his laptop keyboard. “Kent Crawford, Evans’s assistant Lily, and the head nurse, Janice Lenski.”
“Did you find anything unusual in the emails?” Connor asked.
Jeff hesitated. “I think that Miss Evans and Mr. Crawford were meeting each other outside of work.”
“So Miss Evans is Kent Crawford’s mystery woman?” Connor said, his doubt clear. “Really?”
Sam’s brows went up. “I did see them leave together a few times, but there didn’t seem to be any intimacy between them. I’m not sure they even liked each other. They acted like siblings almost.” He tilted his head, considering. “Or exes.”
Which Sam would know about, Kit thought. She’d met his ex earlier that year and had not been impressed. Sam was kinder to the woman than she deserved after she’d cheated on him. Kind, but stiff and formal around her, like he was walking through a minefield.
“I didn’t say there was intimacy,” Jeff corrected. “I said they were meeting each other. I’ve compiled a list of dates you should check based on their emails to each other. It’s almost like the emails are written in a code. Things like ‘bring an umbrella’ on days it was sunny and dry. I checked.”
“Then Evans may be connected,” Kit said. “Can you send us the dates and messages, Jeff? We’ll start looking at where the two of them were. I think Mrs. Crawford will be very anxious to tell us where her husband was on those days. She needs us to prove her husband didn’t commit suicide because she needs the insurance money.”
“We still need the warrant to get Crawford’s bank information,” Connor said. “Lieutenant, if you and the captain and assistant chief can help to expedite this, we could start following the money.”
“You’ll have it in a few hours,” the assistant chief said, his jaw tight. “The judge was waffling on just cause, but I think we’ve got enough now.”
“Thank you, sir,” Kit said respectfully. “We’ve got a lot of things to do. First up is to find Archie Adler, the Shady Oaks IT guy. Miss Evans said that he was coming into Shady Oaks yesterday afternoon, but he never showed up. She says that she called him but only got his voice mail. We’ve sent uniforms to his apartment several times today, but he hasn’t been home. His car wasn’t in the lot, either.”
Kit hoped the guy hadn’t run. He could be involved in anything from Crawford’s embezzlement to any of the murders. That he’d effectively disappeared was not a good sign.
“Adler’s fingers are all over the encryption,” Jeff said. “If you can find a reason to make him cooperate, he could make my job easier and faster. I’ll be able to get into the books and personnel files. That’s where the encryption is the heaviest. I haven’t been able to break through it. That makes me very suspicious, especially since they kept paper files of the same. I’m wondering if there are two sets of books. It doesn’t seem smart to keep illegal activity on the work server, but if Miss Evans is involved, maybe they weren’t worried about the wrong eyes seeing it.”
Kit nodded thoughtfully. “I’m sure we can come up with something to make Mr. Adler cooperate. Georgia Shearer overheard one side of a phone conversation between Adler and a friend. Adler had noticed that Crawford was driving a fancy car and said that Crawford had bragged about his investments. Adler knew how much Crawford made in salary and joked that he needed to hire Crawford’s broker. If he’d kept poking, Adler might have found the embezzlement. If he did find it, he might be profiting from it somehow.”
The captain leaned forward. “Have you looked into his finances?”
“Not deeply,” Kit admitted, wishing now that she’d looked harder. “But maybe he learned from Crawford, who kept his money offshore. We’ll find out.”
“Do that.” Navarro went to the whiteboard on the wall and drew a responsibility chart. “McKittrick and Robinson, you’re going to find Archie Adler. You’re also going to find out where Crawford and Evans were on the days Jeff believes they were meeting. Detective Goddard, you’re going to search for the missing coins. In that capacity, can you ask who at Shady Oaks knew they existed?”
Goddard hesitated. “Someone closer to them might be able to get a better answer. Dr. Reeves? You want to join me?”
“Oh yes,” Sam said coldly. “I want whoever hurt Benny to go down. Because they’re probably the same person who hurt Frankie.”
