Chapter 4 - THE MISSING ACCOUNTANT
Emily called Rebecca back.
No answer.
She immediately called Bennett.
“Rebecca Lane may be in danger.”
Bennett took down the address and sent investigators.
Emily drove there anyway.
Rebecca lived in a small apartment complex twenty minutes from downtown.
Her front door was open when Emily arrived.
A lamp had been knocked over.
Papers covered the floor.
Rebecca was gone.
Bennett arrived seconds later and stopped Emily from entering.
“You can’t contaminate the scene.”
“She called me.”
“And whoever came here may know that.”
An investigator found Rebecca’s phone beneath the kitchen table.
The final call displayed Emily’s number.
There was no blood.
No sign of forced entry.
Only an empty space on the wall where a framed photograph had been removed.
Emily noticed a scrap of paper beneath the couch.
She pointed it out without touching it.
An investigator lifted it with gloves.
Four numbers were written across it.
8-14-22-5.
“What does that mean?” Bennett asked.
Emily stared at the numbers.
“I don’t know.”
Her phone rang again.
Daniel.
She declined the call.
He called back immediately.
On the third attempt, she answered.
“Where are you?”
His voice had lost its arrogance.
“Why?”
“Because my mother says those investigators are trying to frame her.”
“Eight million dollars moved into her account.”
“She says you arranged it.”
Emily almost admired Patricia’s speed.
“And you believe her?”
“I don’t know what to believe.”
“That has always been your problem, Daniel. You wait for your mother to tell you.”
“This isn’t the time.”
“You made it the time when you humiliated me in front of your family.”
Daniel exhaled sharply.
“Come back. We need to talk.”
“No.”
“Emily, the investigators said someone forged my signature.”
She looked toward Rebecca’s apartment.
“I heard the same thing.”
“How?”
“Rebecca Lane called me.”
Silence.
Daniel’s breathing changed.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Where is she?”
“Missing.”
Daniel swore under his breath.
Then Emily heard Patricia shouting behind him.
“Hang up that phone!”
Emily narrowed her eyes.
“Put me on speaker.”
Daniel hesitated, then complied.
“Patricia, Rebecca found evidence of who forged Daniel’s signature.”
Patricia’s voice became strangely calm.
“Rebecca is an unstable woman. She was fired this morning.”
“Who fired her?”
“I did.”
“You don’t work at the company.”
“I protect my son’s interests.”
Emily looked at Bennett.
He had heard everything.
“Why are you afraid of Rebecca?” Emily asked.
Patricia laughed.
“I’m not afraid of some secretary.”
Rebecca was a senior accountant.
Patricia knew that.
Before Emily could respond, Daniel shouted.
“What’s that?”
A crash sounded through the call.
Then the mansion’s alarm began screaming.
Daniel dropped the phone.
Emily heard footsteps and Patricia yelling.
Finally, Daniel returned to the line.
“Someone broke into the study.”
“What did they take?”
“The original shareholder ledger.”
Emily’s stomach tightened.
Without that ledger, proving her ownership could become far more difficult.
May you like
Then Daniel said something even worse.
“The security camera shows you entering the room.”
