Identity Crisis (Sam McRae Mystery 1)

“And coffee,” I said. “If it’s OK with the guest of honor?”

I looked at Melanie. She grinned back. It was the first time I’d seen her look really happy.

“Whatever you guys want is OK with me,” Donna said. “I’m just glad the bank is settling, and we can forget about all this.”

“And I’m glad I have my job and my life back.” Melanie sighed. “I have one more year to go at Maryland, and I can move on and do something.”

I had something to celebrate, too. My credit report had come out clean. I guess Tom died before he had a chance to fully exploit my personal info.

Melanie looked at Donna. “I’ve made so many mistakes. And you’ve been good enough to help me out. I won’t let you down again.”

Donna shook her head. “You didn’t let me down.”

“Well, before we do anything else,” Melanie said, standing up with a slight wobble. “I’m going to find the ladies room. Excuse me.”

Donna watched as she ambled off. “I’m so glad it worked out,” she said. She looked at me and added, “Thanks, Sam. Thanks for everything.”

“Donna, there’s something I’m curious about.”

“What’s that?”

I paused. “Back when Melanie was arrested, I was told that she had a record for shoplifting. I wondered how she could get a job with a bank?”

“I helped her, but she deserved a break. I knew she could be trusted, so I approved the hire.”

“Do you do background checks on all the hires?”

“Sure.”

“When you did a background check on Tom Garvey, what did you find?”

“The usual things.” She began smoothing the unwrinkled tablecloth. “What do you mean?”

“Was there anything peculiar?”

She shrugged. “Uh ... no. I mean, he didn’t have a record and that’s mainly—”

“Did you notice he was seventy-six years old?”

Donna stopped working the cloth. Her shoulders slumped. Slowly, her gaze drifted up to meet mine.

“A private investigator, working in that civil case against Melanie,” I said, answering her unstated question. “He found out Knudsen got the information he needed to assume Tom Garvey’s identity from his death record. Maybe he was in a rush or maybe he just didn’t think about using someone closer to his age.”

Donna leaned back and watched a bus boy clean a nearby table. She looked like she’d rather be doing that. “I have no excuses. I could tell you I was busy, that there was pressure on me to bring our system up to speed. It doesn’t matter. I should have been more careful, but I didn’t even look at his age. Such a simple thing, and I overlooked it.”

“You approved his hiring?”

She nodded, a lifeless, puppet-like movement. “God.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “If I had only been more careful, the whole thing wouldn’t have happened. He wouldn’t have gotten into our system, he wouldn’t have met Melanie, and she’d never have gone through all this.” Her voice cracked on the last words.

“That’s why you wanted to pay for Melanie’s representation,” I said. “You felt responsible.”

“I’ve always cared about Melanie. More so since she and her parents ... I didn’t realize my mistake until after the bank was sued. When I went back and checked more thoroughly, I couldn’t believe what I’d done.”

Donna put her hand on my wrist. “Please, just don’t tell her, Sam. Don’t tell her how I was the one who screwed up. It’s bad enough I could have lost my job, but ... I don’t want to lose her.” Her eyes were bright with tears. “She’s like a daughter to me.”

I patted her hand. “Your secret is safe with me.”

Duvall had also said he wouldn’t say anything. Leave well enough alone, I thought. Knudsen and Schaeffer were dead, their killer caught. I had served my client well and, in its own way, justice had been done. Leave well enough alone.