threatened you. ’
‘ Stop b ullyi ng me. I’ve told you all I know! ’ She cradled her head in her trembling hands.
Jack reached out and patted her shoulder . ‘ Take it easy, Grace. Mike’s only trying to help . ’
‘ A limp, h e walked with a limp. H e was strong , very strong . ’ Absentmindedly she rubbed her forearm. ‘ And he had this odd habit of licking his lips at the end of every sentence . ’
‘ It’s not much to go on, ’ said Mike. ‘ I’ll get one of the guys to run it through the computer. Do you have a photograph of your husband ? ’
Grace took her wallet out of her purse , and removed a snapshot . ‘ It was taken a couple of years ago. ’
Mike picked up the bank statements and flicked through them. ‘ Grace, I’m going to hold on to these , along with the photograph . ’ When she started to object, h e held up his hand. ‘ Jack will give you a receipt and we’ll get you some photocopies . I’m going to assign one of our forensic accountants to take a closer a look at the listed transactions , see if we can track the deposits and find out where the money originated. ’
‘ What about Cody, are you going to pull him in for questioning ? ’ Jack asked.
Mike flicked an imaginary speck of lint off his shoulder. ‘ I don’t see much point at present. W e’ll keep him and the bank under surveillance. S ee if anyone tries to access the account. Jack, hate to do this, but your vacation just ended . I want you to pay a visit to the house on Gasparilla Island. ’
‘ You’re not going without me, ’ Grace said, surprised at her own bravery.
‘ No, not without you. Jack, you take Mrs. Elliott with you. See if you can find out what her husband did to while away the lonely hours when he was there. Now Grace, if you don’t mind, I’d like to have a word with Jack in private. ’
Starchily , Grace stood and strode out of the room. When the door closed behind her, Mike turned to Jack.
‘ She seems innocent. What do you think? ’
‘ She is . Daniel Elliott dominated his wife . He paid all the bills, and g ave her a monthly housekeeping allowance to cover food and clothes . He didn’t tell her anything about what money he had or how he spent it. If she asked too many questions he verbally abused her and undermined her confidence . ’
‘ And she stayed with him? ’
‘ Grace had a strict upbringing and she married young. Her father was a minister, so divorce was never an option for her. I wouldn’t say she’s entirely naïve, but whatever Elliott told her , she believed . ’
‘ She s ounds totally gullible to me. ’
‘ I like to think there’s some fight in her. ’
‘ Now, Jack, ’ Mike counselled . ‘ You aren’t developing some feelings for the pretty widow, are you? ’
Jack kept his face impassive and hoped he sounded convincing. He knew what happened to agents who had a relationship with their informants—they were either fired or despatched to some backwater to end their career in obscurity.
‘ Me? Oh, hell, no. You know me. ’
‘ I do. That’s why I’m asking you. ’
‘ The answer is no, Mike. Really. ’
‘ Okay, ’ Zupanik sighed. ‘ So this lady’s husband was a control freak who kept secrets. Accountants can access a lot of financial information. But he wasn’t siphoning money from his clients’ accounts or the British Tax authorities would have picked up on that, most likely. ’
‘ Most likely. ’
‘ Which means, Jack, the money had to be coming from other sources. You know what I’m getting at. ’
‘ That’s my thinking, too. Elliott had a second passport in the name of Lionel Lattide. ’ Jack handed it to his boss, along with the piece of paper Grace had found in Elliott’s briefcase. ‘ H e used it when ever he flew between here and London. ’
‘ Lionel Lattide? Hm m . I’ll organize a background
‘ Stop b ullyi ng me. I’ve told you all I know! ’ She cradled her head in her trembling hands.
Jack reached out and patted her shoulder . ‘ Take it easy, Grace. Mike’s only trying to help . ’
‘ A limp, h e walked with a limp. H e was strong , very strong . ’ Absentmindedly she rubbed her forearm. ‘ And he had this odd habit of licking his lips at the end of every sentence . ’
‘ It’s not much to go on, ’ said Mike. ‘ I’ll get one of the guys to run it through the computer. Do you have a photograph of your husband ? ’
Grace took her wallet out of her purse , and removed a snapshot . ‘ It was taken a couple of years ago. ’
Mike picked up the bank statements and flicked through them. ‘ Grace, I’m going to hold on to these , along with the photograph . ’ When she started to object, h e held up his hand. ‘ Jack will give you a receipt and we’ll get you some photocopies . I’m going to assign one of our forensic accountants to take a closer a look at the listed transactions , see if we can track the deposits and find out where the money originated. ’
‘ What about Cody, are you going to pull him in for questioning ? ’ Jack asked.
Mike flicked an imaginary speck of lint off his shoulder. ‘ I don’t see much point at present. W e’ll keep him and the bank under surveillance. S ee if anyone tries to access the account. Jack, hate to do this, but your vacation just ended . I want you to pay a visit to the house on Gasparilla Island. ’
‘ You’re not going without me, ’ Grace said, surprised at her own bravery.
‘ No, not without you. Jack, you take Mrs. Elliott with you. See if you can find out what her husband did to while away the lonely hours when he was there. Now Grace, if you don’t mind, I’d like to have a word with Jack in private. ’
Starchily , Grace stood and strode out of the room. When the door closed behind her, Mike turned to Jack.
‘ She seems innocent. What do you think? ’
‘ She is . Daniel Elliott dominated his wife . He paid all the bills, and g ave her a monthly housekeeping allowance to cover food and clothes . He didn’t tell her anything about what money he had or how he spent it. If she asked too many questions he verbally abused her and undermined her confidence . ’
‘ And she stayed with him? ’
‘ Grace had a strict upbringing and she married young. Her father was a minister, so divorce was never an option for her. I wouldn’t say she’s entirely naïve, but whatever Elliott told her , she believed . ’
‘ She s ounds totally gullible to me. ’
‘ I like to think there’s some fight in her. ’
‘ Now, Jack, ’ Mike counselled . ‘ You aren’t developing some feelings for the pretty widow, are you? ’
Jack kept his face impassive and hoped he sounded convincing. He knew what happened to agents who had a relationship with their informants—they were either fired or despatched to some backwater to end their career in obscurity.
‘ Me? Oh, hell, no. You know me. ’
‘ I do. That’s why I’m asking you. ’
‘ The answer is no, Mike. Really. ’
‘ Okay, ’ Zupanik sighed. ‘ So this lady’s husband was a control freak who kept secrets. Accountants can access a lot of financial information. But he wasn’t siphoning money from his clients’ accounts or the British Tax authorities would have picked up on that, most likely. ’
‘ Most likely. ’
‘ Which means, Jack, the money had to be coming from other sources. You know what I’m getting at. ’
‘ That’s my thinking, too. Elliott had a second passport in the name of Lionel Lattide. ’ Jack handed it to his boss, along with the piece of paper Grace had found in Elliott’s briefcase. ‘ H e used it when ever he flew between here and London. ’
‘ Lionel Lattide? Hm m . I’ll organize a background
Similar Books
