“Hear me out,” she began. She wasn’t a forensic accountant, but it was hard to get the niggling suspicion out of her head that not only was Wentworth a thief, but an embezzler as well. “I know that he was basically fired from his previous position and that his old boss suspected he was padding accounts, but there was no concrete evidence of wrongdoing.”
“That would be correct.”
“I’m not an expert, but I can’t help but think maybe he’s doctored the books somehow. If he’s crooked enough to steal money from a community festival, then stealing from the city isn’t that far off. For one thing, it’s a lot more profitable. And—” she flushed “—to be honest? The way this city’s finances are structured, it wouldn’t take a genius to do it. An old friend of mine is doing another audit as we speak.”
That definitely got Zeke’s attention. “From what I hear, Wentworth’s confession is going to go a long way to getting the guy a reduced sentence. I’d love to nail him for embezzlement and get another twenty or so years tacked on to his time.”
“And I’d love to find out if we could recuperate any of the money he might have taken.”
“What did Mimi think about all this?”
“Naturally, she knows about the audit, and she also knows I’m not a fan of Doug’s, but I haven’t told her about the embezzling part, not until I have some concrete evidence. I wanted to give you a heads up, though, in case my friend finds anything suspicious.”
“Good idea,” said Zeke. “It’s best to keep this on the down low until we can prove it. If he did take money, he’s managed to do a good job of hiding it. All his financials came back clean.”
“I’ve been thinking, he must have had an accomplice. Someone who might have helped him launder the money. Maybe he’s got an account in the Cayman Islands.”
“Are you sure you’re in the right profession? You’re beginning to talk like a cop. Or someone who’s been watching too many reruns of Breaking Bad.”
“Too many episodes of Sherlock, I’m afraid.”
Zeke grinned, then stood to leave. “If your friend finds anything, let me know right away.”
* * *
It was almost four when Jenna glanced up from her desk to see Pilar standing in the doorway. “The city council meeting starts in ten. Grab your beverage of choice and meet me in the conference room.”
The Whispering Bay city council consisted of the mayor, the city manager, and three elected representatives; sweet old Gus, Larry Jefferson (the original Mr. Grouchy), and Denise Holbert, a sixt
y-something former PTA president. Normally, the previous mayor was also on the council, but since Bruce Bailey had been involved with Doug’s plot to discredit Mimi, he’d been not-too-discreetly asked to resign. This meant that for now, as the city attorney, Pilar also got a vote.
Since this was the end of the fiscal year and today’s meeting centered around approving the budget, Jenna was the first to speak. “I’ve sent you each a copy of—”
“Yeah, yeah,” interrupted Larry. “Let’s get down to the chase. Are we gonna accept Nora’s offer to split her daddy’s land or not?”
“Thank you for speeding things up, Larry,” Mimi said sweetly.
“Not a problem,” he said, waving her off with his hand. Either Larry completely missed the super saccharine sarcastic southern debutante voice Mimi could so easily pull off or he simply didn’t care.
“But we need to approve the budget first,” Mimi added trying to keep Larry on task.
“I don’t mind if we discuss Nora’s offer before we go over the budget,” Jenna said. It didn’t hurt to make the old curmudgeon think he’d gotten the upper hand. Besides, she needed the council’s complete attention when she discussed the budget. If Larry was distracted by Nora’s offer, then it was best to get that out of the way.
“All right,” Mimi said. “Why don’t we let our attorney fill us in on what’s going on with the Earl Handy estate.”
Pilar handed out copies of the motion Ben had filed on behalf of his clients as well as their formal offer. “I’ve already sent each of you an electronic copy of this via email but I thought it would be nice to have it in front of us on paper to discuss the pros and cons. And please remember, the city is now involved in a legal action. Everything about this case should be considered sensitive and highly confidential.”
“We don’t need to discuss anything,” Larry said. “I say we vote, and my vote is yes.”
Gus cut Larry a steely gaze. “Not so fast, Jefferson. Don’t you even want to talk about it?”
“What’s there to talk about? I’ve looked up this Ben Harrison fellow and his fancy law firm. They aren’t going to stop until they bleed us dry. I say, let’s get it over with and accept the inevitable. This compromise still gives us lots of beach left. Let Nora have the rest. It’s what her daddy wanted, isn’t it?”
“We aren’t exactly sure about that,” Jenna said cautiously.
“But I thought that was what Doug said Old Earl wanted.” Denise looked around the room in confusion. “Or did I read it wrong?”
“It’s what he’s claiming Earl wanted,” Jenna said. “But how can we really be sure when all we have is the word of a known thief?”