The Investigators (Badge of Honor 7)

“Did he tell you why he didn’t want to give his name, fill out the application, and pay rent?”

“Oh, I didn’t understand what you were asking,” Adelaide Worner said. “He said, or maybe it was Vincent who said . . . One or the other of them, anyway, said that Monica had gotten in an automobile accident in Philadelphia, and that they were going to be sued, and were probably going to lose, and if they lost, they were going to take everything they owned, because they hadn’t been able to afford insurance, you see, unless they could put a little bit away somewhere where the lawyers couldn’t find it.”

“Money, you mean?”

“Money and some jewelry Monica inherited from her grandmother.”

“Let me see if I have that straight, Mrs. Worner. You were told that Mrs. Calhoun was about to be sued because she had been involved in an automobile accident; that the Calhouns did not have insurance; and that if they lost the lawsuit, the lawyers were going to take everything they owned?”

“That’s what they told me. Vincent first, and then Timmy and Monica, later.”

“So you helped them hide money, and jewelry, by making a safe-deposit box available to Officer Calhoun?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Just Officer Calhoun? Did Mrs. Calhoun ever use the box?”

“Yes, she did.”

“And Mr. Holmes? Did he ever go into the box?”

“Yes, he did. Both of them did.”

“Did you ever see what Officer Calhoun, Mrs. Calhoun, or Mr. Holmes put into the safe-deposit box, or took out of it? Did you ever see any of the money, or the jewelry Mrs. Calhoun inherited from her grandmother?”

“No, sir.”

“Can you explain that to me, please? Why not?”

“Because, except for not making a record that they had rented a box, I treated them like any other customer. They came to my desk, I went with them to the box with my—the bank’s—key and unlocked the bank’s lock. They unlocked their lock—you understand there’s two locks on every box?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And then they took the box into one of the little rooms, closed the door for privacy, and then either put things into it, or took things out of it.”

“So you have no personal knowledge of what went into the box we’re talking about?”

“No, sir.”

“Did it occur to you, Mrs. Worner, that what you were doing might be illegal?”

“Yes, sir, it did. I realized I was cheating the bank.”

“Out of the box rent, you mean.”

“Yes, sir, that’s what I mean. That bothered me.”

“Mrs. Worner, did you have any idea that Officer Calhoun might be engaged in an illegal activity besides concealing his assets?”

“I knew he was a policeman. I didn’t even think of anything like that. I knew his wife had stubbed her toe.”

“Excuse me?”

“That she’d had a couple of drinks in her when she’d had the accident. That was why—even though the accident wasn’t really her fault—they were going to lose in court.”

“But aside from Mrs. Calhoun’s drunken driving, and the Calhouns’ desire to conceal their assets from the court, you had no knowledge or suspicion of any other criminal activity on the part of Officer Calhoun?”

“Not until this morning,” Adelaide said.