Page 38 of Night Watch
Erik felt Kennedy’s eyes tracking him, but he had to be strong. Just like he’d been raised. Set a goal. Focus on it. Achieve it. Yeah, that was it. Focus on the goals. He had three of them right now. Keep Kennedy safe—top priority. Then find her mother’s killer, if she was indeed murdered. And achieve the first two without causing either Kennedy or himself emotional distress. So, professional it was.
He remembered his search, and the fire for Kennedy evaporated. He headed back to the table, where she was looking up at him expectantly.
He set the folder on the table next to his phone, which he’d used to take pictures at her mother’s place. “Before we start, I wanted to tell you I got a call from Sarge. A detective is going to call us for statements about the break-in. Plus, they’re confiscating all the evidence, and they formed a multi-agency task force.”
“All of this is because of the potential anthrax, right?”
He nodded. “They also want to see what we’ve learned. Even though the sharing won’t go both ways, we’ll cooperate.”
“Of course.”
“Let’s start with your mom’s phone. I only glanced at the data after I imaged it, but her call history has been cleared. Not a single call listed. Same for the internet. Why would she clear it if she didn’t have anything to hide?”
Kennedy held his gaze. “She wouldn’t. At least, I doubt she would. She hated technology. Well, except for work. Even then, she had her assistant do most of the data entry. And her phone?” Kennedy shook her head. “She didn’t know how to use it for more than making calls and had no desire to learn anything new. I doubt she’d have any idea how to clear the history. Is this a big set back?”
“Pretty major. Besides seeing who she’d been communicating with recently, we could’ve compared the calls to the phone numbers on the Responsible Official’s list. If we get it.”
Kennedy pursed her lips. “I could contact the phone company and get her information.”
“They might give you access, but the problem is, it’s a lengthy process to get paper copies.”
“I can just ask for access to her online account.”
“I doubt the phone company will give you that. Even if your mom made you executer of her estate. As such, her will gives you rights to certain assets, but there’s been recent legislation regarding digital access.”
“Why do you know about this?”
“You know how I geek out over anything digital.” He flashed a quick smile. “Anyway, she doesn’t specify digital assets, like her online phone account, in her will. Digital assets are different and are subject to federal and state laws. In Oregon, if the will doesn’t specify them, it falls to each service providers’ terms of service agreements. I checked the company’s agreement, and it guarantees user confidentiality even after death.”
“I’ve never heard of this. Are you sure?”
“Positive,” he said. “And something people should really be thinking about when they draw up wills these days.”
She crossed her arms. “So is there anything I can do?”
“Our best bet is to search her computer and try to obtain passwords.” He settled back in his chair. “I haven’t done that yet as there are other priorities right now. Like this photo of what’s inside your mother’s safe.” He scrolled through the photos to the correct picture and displayed it for Kennedy. “You’re looking at roughly forty grand in cash.”
Kennedy gaped at the screen. “But I…we…” She shook her head. “Why would my mom have that much cash?”
“That’s what I was hoping you could tell me. There’s no evidence of any money being withdrawn from her checking account, so I have to believe the cash was given to her.”
“No. No.” She shook her head hard. “Maybe Finley will know where it came from.”
He didn’t like what he needed to say next, but he had no choice if he wanted to figure out what was going on with the money. “Often when this much cash is found in relation to a murder, the money was gotten by illegal methods. I don’t really think your mom would do anything illegal, but we can’t rule it out.”
Kennedy’s eyes flashed wide open. “But how can we know?”
“I’ll review older bank records that I haven’t looked at yet. Maybe she cashed out proceeds from selling her home instead of leaving it in her bank.”
“But why cash?”
“Did she ever express concern about keeping money in banks?”
“Never to me.” Kennedy grabbed a legal pad and pen he’d left on the table and scribbled a note. “I’ll ask Finley about that too. Maybe it’s from before. From when my dad broke the law.”
“Can’t be. The bills are Series 2003 which are the current bills in circulation today. So too new. Have you given more thought to your dad working in something illegal or even hooking back up with the scammer from his past?”
Kennedy shook her head so hard her hair slapped in her face. She swiped it away with a frustrated hand. “I can’t imagine him doing it the first time let alone another.”
