Page 45 of Night Watch
“Not a peep, which is surprising, but maybe he’s running down more promising leads.” Erik sat forward and took a sip of his coffee. “I finished reviewing your mom’s computer files last night and printed out a contact list from her phone.” He slid a piece of paper across the table that held names, phone numbers, and emails. “Recognize any names?”
Kennedy scanned the list. “Mine, of course, and Finley’s and Nora’s, but otherwise? None.” She reviewed the list again and looked up. “The email addresses could help. Since my mom only used it for work, they would all be work related. College and lab both. They’re the people most likely to have access to biotoxins.”
“Then I’ll have the guys look into them.”
“Sounds like a good way to start.”
Erik set his cup down. “Do you know if PSU would have access to anthrax? Should we be ramping up our investigation into her fellow professors?”
She shook her head. “Most college labs aren’t equipped to handle the list of Select Agents and toxins monitored by the feds. To be approved, they’d need a biosafety level 3 lab, and most colleges don’t exceed BSL-2. I do know OHSU and OSU both have or at least had level three labs, but the last I’d heard, they didn’t deal with Select Agent research. My mom’s lab is a level two, but she insisted on several of the requirements for a level three for added safety, which is why I was wearing the right kind of PPE.”
“But the scientists who work in these college labs might know how to get a sample of anthrax, right?”
“Yeah. It’s not a bad idea to look in that direction.”
“Let’s talk about it at our next meeting and get my brothers’ take on it.”
“If terrorists can get Select Agents on the black market, counterfeit drug manufacturers likely could too. Especially the large operations working out of Mexico.” She picked up her bagel and took a bite, the creamy strawberry flavor melting on her tongue.
“Something else we can’t lose sight of. I should also mention that your mom had one credit card with a very low limit and it was maxed out. All the charges were for dining, which is odd, considering she had plenty of cash in the safe to spend and she only paid the minimum balance due on the card.”
“That’s odd.” Kennedy washed down her bite with a sip of the strong black coffee. “My mom always preached about saving and money responsibility. I know she kept that credit card for emergency purposes or for the times she was required to have one for car rentals and such. So I don’t know what’s going on here. Or with Finley. I called her after you left last night. She said the only debt she’s carrying is what she’s racked up on her credit cards.”
Erik held his mug just shy of his mouth. “Did she sound believable?”
Kennedy chewed another bite of bagel and swallowed it as she considered his question. “I’m not sure. I can tell when she’s lying when I see her, but over the phone it’s hard to do. I’ll ask when I see her again.” She nodded at his computer. “Did you find anything else?”
“Your mom’s checking account was opened shortly after your father died. The initial deposit was only two hundred dollars. Kind of low, but since then there are monthly deposits of five thousand dollars from PSU.”
“Her salary,” Kennedy said.
He nodded. “And just like the twenty K deposits, she didn’t really touch this money, and the balance in her checking account was building.”
“This all seems off.”
“Agreed,” Erik said. “Maybe we could learn something from her college things.”
Kennedy shook her head. “Finley has them at her place.”
He leaned forward, enthusiasm lighting his eyes. “I think it’s time we review them too.”
Great.More personal things Kennedy really didn’t want to look through. “The boxes are in Finley’s storage room. I have a key, so we can pick them up whenever we want.”
“Then let’s get over there after we finish this.” He looked at his computer screen. “Also odd if your mom practiced what she preached, is that she had no savings. Zero. Or at least I can’t find any. Her checking account has been growing with the big deposits, but she wasn’t socking it away in savings.”
Kennedy shook her head. “My dad was big on saving too, and he should’ve left her well prepared for an emergency.”
“Well, if hewassaving, it would have to be in a separate account in his name, and your mother didn’t inherit it. At least not via electronic transfer or a cashed check.”
“Could she have cashed out a savings account and put it in the safe?”
“Sure, but forty K is far less of a balance than recommended for their age, and it sure wouldn’t gain any interest sitting in a safe. But I didn’t see any financial records for your dad at the house. In case I missed them, I’ve asked Brendan and Clay to go through your place today. With your permission, of course.”
Kennedy didn’t want even more eyes prying into her mother’s past, but they would be discreet. “That’s fine.”
“Also in the computer files I uploaded from the lab, I found security footage for the past thirty days. I’d like to review the videos before I go get the files from Finley’s place. And then I want to see the logs and any files for a few months before that to see who’s been logging in and out of the lab. Problem is, we don’t have access to those files because the pharma company is paying for it.”
“Do you think they’d give it to me if I asked?”
