where,” Carol Ann said. “And then into her pockets. She’s on her way out of town right now, with a suitcase full of cash in the trunk of her car. Sheriff, I demand you put out an APB.”
Davy leaned against the wall, his face a careful blank. “Mr. Jefferson?”
“We don’t have any proof that a crime’s been committed yet,” Mark Anthony said. He looked at Davy. “This is going to take a while. We’re a local, privately owned bank, as you know, and we don’t have a fraud unit as such.”
“You don’t have a fraud unit at all.” Marge snorted. “I’ve got somebody you can hire as a consultant, Mark.”
“We’ll see.” Mark moved his shoulders uncomfortably. “I’ve got to call a meeting of the board of directors. I think it would be a good idea to talk to Mrs. Henry. I’ve got some questions, certainly.”
“Questions!” Carol Ann was almost bouncing with anger. “I’ve got a question for you. Why aren’t you sending a squad car for her right this minute?!”
Mark sat back in his chair with a relaxed air that didn’t fool Quill at all. “Ms. Spinoza, Mrs. Henry has sole discretion over this account. The money was moved to a bank in North Dakota. I’ve just sent an inquiry about the balance. They’ll get back to me. Maybe it’s an interest-bearing account, and Mrs. Henry decided that the fete funds would be better served with a bank that can afford to do that. I just don’t know. To go any further than that, I’m going to need to talk to the other people signatory on the account. That’s right, isn’t it, counselor?”
Howie nodded.
Mark folded his arms across his chest. “As president of this bank, I will go so far as to say, I’m concerned enough to ask that the fete steering committee grants permission for an investigation.”
Davy nodded. “Sounds good to me. Quill? Who all’s on the steering committee?”
“Me, Reverend Shuttleworth, Elmer, and Althea Quince.” Quill pulled her cell phone from her pocket. “I’ll see if I can get them all here, shall I?”
“Cover-up!” Carol Ann shouted. “I am so sick of you people thinking that you run this town. You know what? I’ll tell you what. It’s time we fixed that.” She narrowed her eyes to a threatening glare. “There’s quite a few of us ready to change things around here. We’ve been, like, totally pissed off at the high-handed way you’ve been running things, and the theft of this money is just the tip of the corruption iceberg, the tip!”
“The what?” Miriam asked.
Carol Ann took a deep breath and smiled; the effect was a lot scarier than her threats. “You’ll see. You all might want to make a point of watching the six o’clock news.” She looked at her watch. “Pardon me. Better make that the eleven o’clock news. I’ve got a lot of phone calls to make.”
Without another word, she walked out of the room and slammed the door behind her.
Miriam threw up her hands. “The woman’s crazy.” Mark Anthony Jefferson looked uneasy. Marge rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Davy muttered, “What the hell?” and punched a number into his cell phone. Howie put his peninto his sports coat pocket and his yellow pad into his briefcase.
Quill, who had been sending and receiving texts, slipped her own phone back into her pocket. “I reached Dookie. Althea Quince is off on a wine tour with her husband, and she’s more than an hour and a half away, but they’ve turned around and headed back. Harland is bringing Elmer back here right now. That’s three of us, Mark. Is that going to be enough to authorize whatever we need to authorize?”
“Sure. I’ll just need you to agree to remove Mrs. Henry from the account and maybe file an official request to move the inquiry forward.”
“We can do that,” Quill said sadly. “Davy?”
“Yeah,” Davy said. “I’ll go out and talk to her.”
~
“I don’t think I’ve ever spent a more awful afternoon, Myles,” Quill said into her computer screen.
Davy leaned against the wall, his face a careful blank. “Mr. Jefferson?”
“We don’t have any proof that a crime’s been committed yet,” Mark Anthony said. He looked at Davy. “This is going to take a while. We’re a local, privately owned bank, as you know, and we don’t have a fraud unit as such.”
“You don’t have a fraud unit at all.” Marge snorted. “I’ve got somebody you can hire as a consultant, Mark.”
“We’ll see.” Mark moved his shoulders uncomfortably. “I’ve got to call a meeting of the board of directors. I think it would be a good idea to talk to Mrs. Henry. I’ve got some questions, certainly.”
“Questions!” Carol Ann was almost bouncing with anger. “I’ve got a question for you. Why aren’t you sending a squad car for her right this minute?!”
Mark sat back in his chair with a relaxed air that didn’t fool Quill at all. “Ms. Spinoza, Mrs. Henry has sole discretion over this account. The money was moved to a bank in North Dakota. I’ve just sent an inquiry about the balance. They’ll get back to me. Maybe it’s an interest-bearing account, and Mrs. Henry decided that the fete funds would be better served with a bank that can afford to do that. I just don’t know. To go any further than that, I’m going to need to talk to the other people signatory on the account. That’s right, isn’t it, counselor?”
Howie nodded.
Mark folded his arms across his chest. “As president of this bank, I will go so far as to say, I’m concerned enough to ask that the fete steering committee grants permission for an investigation.”
Davy nodded. “Sounds good to me. Quill? Who all’s on the steering committee?”
“Me, Reverend Shuttleworth, Elmer, and Althea Quince.” Quill pulled her cell phone from her pocket. “I’ll see if I can get them all here, shall I?”
“Cover-up!” Carol Ann shouted. “I am so sick of you people thinking that you run this town. You know what? I’ll tell you what. It’s time we fixed that.” She narrowed her eyes to a threatening glare. “There’s quite a few of us ready to change things around here. We’ve been, like, totally pissed off at the high-handed way you’ve been running things, and the theft of this money is just the tip of the corruption iceberg, the tip!”
“The what?” Miriam asked.
Carol Ann took a deep breath and smiled; the effect was a lot scarier than her threats. “You’ll see. You all might want to make a point of watching the six o’clock news.” She looked at her watch. “Pardon me. Better make that the eleven o’clock news. I’ve got a lot of phone calls to make.”
Without another word, she walked out of the room and slammed the door behind her.
Miriam threw up her hands. “The woman’s crazy.” Mark Anthony Jefferson looked uneasy. Marge rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Davy muttered, “What the hell?” and punched a number into his cell phone. Howie put his peninto his sports coat pocket and his yellow pad into his briefcase.
Quill, who had been sending and receiving texts, slipped her own phone back into her pocket. “I reached Dookie. Althea Quince is off on a wine tour with her husband, and she’s more than an hour and a half away, but they’ve turned around and headed back. Harland is bringing Elmer back here right now. That’s three of us, Mark. Is that going to be enough to authorize whatever we need to authorize?”
“Sure. I’ll just need you to agree to remove Mrs. Henry from the account and maybe file an official request to move the inquiry forward.”
“We can do that,” Quill said sadly. “Davy?”
“Yeah,” Davy said. “I’ll go out and talk to her.”
~
“I don’t think I’ve ever spent a more awful afternoon, Myles,” Quill said into her computer screen.
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