their jobs. Brent didn’t seem to care, although at the end of the discussion he’d asked Black not to tell Jacobs about what he’d said in confidentiality. Black agreed – there was no point in getting the kid fired.
Black checked his phone. No return call. He noted the time and rubbed a tired hand across his face. Maybe Brent was right, and this was all an attempt to create a smokescreen for Bethany, who was looking increasingly like she was guilty as hell.
Which reminded Black. He extracted the card Larry had given him and entered the number. Larry answered on the third ring.
“Who the hell is this?” he barked.
“Larry, it’s Black. From your store. You said to call anytime? I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No, no. I was just getting ready to hit it. What have you got for me?”
“I really need to talk to Bethany. Now, preferably.”
“I’ll try to reach her. I did earlier, and she said she’d call.”
“She didn’t.”
“Let me see if I can fix that.”
“I’m not going to be able to do a decent job if I don’t hear her side of it.”
“Right. You already said that. I’m on it.”
“I’ve got my phone with me at all times.”
“Okay.”
Black hung up and shook his head. Larry was lying. Black would have bet money he hadn’t told Bethany about his investigation. It was just a hunch, but for whatever reason, Larry didn’t want him to talk to her.
Which made no sense unless she was guilty, and he was afraid to hear that ugly truth from Black. As long as it was the police, he could view it as a miscarriage of justice by lazy incompetents. But if his own investigator arrived at the same conclusion…
“What have I fallen into?” Black murmured to himself, and went to find Mary, for whom he had some more questions before he continued his interrogations with the rank and file.
Chapter 19
When Black arrived at Mary’s station she looked up with wide eyes, clearly startled again by his sudden appearance. Black tried a smile, but got no love back from her. She closed the top drawer and locked it, and then cleared her throat.
“No sign of Mugsy, I’m afraid,” she said, her voice tight.
“That’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh. Are you having some kind of problem with one of the staff?”
“No. Everyone’s been forthcoming so far. I want to access Alec’s computer files. I figured you’d know how to do that.”
“Oh, dear. No, I’m afraid I don’t. You mean on his personal computer or on the network?”
“I don’t know a whole lot about technology, Mary. You’ll have to forgive me.”
“I was going to say, there’s no point in trying to get into his office, because one of the company rules is that everything has to be stored on a common server.”
“Why?”
“Some sort of legal precaution. To keep…unwanted content off our computers, in case someone’s up to no good.”
“You mean like kiddie porn?”
“That would be one of the things.” She wiped her brow with a shaking hand.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m not feeling very well, Mr. Black. I think I’m coming down with something. Or it could be the stress of all this.”
“You do look a little pale,” Black said sympathetically. “What about accessing the files he kept on the network?”
“As one of the administrators, he had his own password. There are different security levels for different employees. I don’t know his.”
“Wouldn’t Larry?”
“Mr. Jacobs isn’t involved in the day-to-day operations at that level, Mr. Black.”
“How about the day guy?”
“He’s gone for Christmas vacation. Won’t be back until the twenty-seventh.”
“Give me his number. I’ll call.”
“We only have his home number, not his cell. He doesn’t carry one. Something about being tracked. Although it won’t do you any good – he’s out of town.”
“But what if something critical is in Alec’s files?”
“Then it will still be there on the twenty-seventh, won’t it?”
Black
Black checked his phone. No return call. He noted the time and rubbed a tired hand across his face. Maybe Brent was right, and this was all an attempt to create a smokescreen for Bethany, who was looking increasingly like she was guilty as hell.
Which reminded Black. He extracted the card Larry had given him and entered the number. Larry answered on the third ring.
“Who the hell is this?” he barked.
“Larry, it’s Black. From your store. You said to call anytime? I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No, no. I was just getting ready to hit it. What have you got for me?”
“I really need to talk to Bethany. Now, preferably.”
“I’ll try to reach her. I did earlier, and she said she’d call.”
“She didn’t.”
“Let me see if I can fix that.”
“I’m not going to be able to do a decent job if I don’t hear her side of it.”
“Right. You already said that. I’m on it.”
“I’ve got my phone with me at all times.”
“Okay.”
Black hung up and shook his head. Larry was lying. Black would have bet money he hadn’t told Bethany about his investigation. It was just a hunch, but for whatever reason, Larry didn’t want him to talk to her.
Which made no sense unless she was guilty, and he was afraid to hear that ugly truth from Black. As long as it was the police, he could view it as a miscarriage of justice by lazy incompetents. But if his own investigator arrived at the same conclusion…
“What have I fallen into?” Black murmured to himself, and went to find Mary, for whom he had some more questions before he continued his interrogations with the rank and file.
Chapter 19
When Black arrived at Mary’s station she looked up with wide eyes, clearly startled again by his sudden appearance. Black tried a smile, but got no love back from her. She closed the top drawer and locked it, and then cleared her throat.
“No sign of Mugsy, I’m afraid,” she said, her voice tight.
“That’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh. Are you having some kind of problem with one of the staff?”
“No. Everyone’s been forthcoming so far. I want to access Alec’s computer files. I figured you’d know how to do that.”
“Oh, dear. No, I’m afraid I don’t. You mean on his personal computer or on the network?”
“I don’t know a whole lot about technology, Mary. You’ll have to forgive me.”
“I was going to say, there’s no point in trying to get into his office, because one of the company rules is that everything has to be stored on a common server.”
“Why?”
“Some sort of legal precaution. To keep…unwanted content off our computers, in case someone’s up to no good.”
“You mean like kiddie porn?”
“That would be one of the things.” She wiped her brow with a shaking hand.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m not feeling very well, Mr. Black. I think I’m coming down with something. Or it could be the stress of all this.”
“You do look a little pale,” Black said sympathetically. “What about accessing the files he kept on the network?”
“As one of the administrators, he had his own password. There are different security levels for different employees. I don’t know his.”
“Wouldn’t Larry?”
“Mr. Jacobs isn’t involved in the day-to-day operations at that level, Mr. Black.”
“How about the day guy?”
“He’s gone for Christmas vacation. Won’t be back until the twenty-seventh.”
“Give me his number. I’ll call.”
“We only have his home number, not his cell. He doesn’t carry one. Something about being tracked. Although it won’t do you any good – he’s out of town.”
“But what if something critical is in Alec’s files?”
“Then it will still be there on the twenty-seventh, won’t it?”
Black
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