She watched Gary struggling with a box cutter, then using it to slice through another carton.
“What are you doing? None of these others have been put together yet,” she said, waving her hand at two stacks of furniture parts and hardware.
“I thought I’d open all the boxes first, and then we could get rid of the trash and cardboard. That way we’d have more room.”
For someone so brilliant with numbers and facts, Gary could sometimes miss the obvious. “Um, that’s a bad idea. Once you start pulling all that stuff out, things are bound to get mixed up. I think you should do them one at a time.”
“That’s what I thought too, but you know how it is—the boss is always right,” Vera chirped, “so I kept my mouth shut.”
Deena put her hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Feel free to save him from himself whenever necessary.”
Right then a phone rang. A real telephone, not a cell phone. They all scrambled to find it under the mess.
“Found it,” Deena said and pointed to the multi-buttoned contraption.
“Let me get it,” Vera said. She picked up the receiver and said in a silky smooth voice, “Sharpe and Myers Financial Services, your money is our business. May I help you?” She winked at Gary and Scott and gave them a thumbs-up. After a moment she said, “And who shall I say is calling?” Then, “One moment, please.” Mashing a button, she turned to Gary. “It’s Marcie Phillips from the bank calling for Mr. Sharpe.”
Gary reached for the receiver.
Vera pulled it away. “I’ll send it to your office where you have paper and pen.”
“Good idea,” Gary said and made a beeline to the hallway.
Vera pushed another button and they watched it blink a few times and waited. Then, the red light stayed on. Gary had picked up.
The three of them looked at each other as though they’d just successfully landed a man on the moon.
“Our first real call!” Vera clapped her hands. “We should celebrate.”
Scott’s eyes widened as he used his dad-voice. “Uh, no more margaritas for you, young lady. I still can’t get your rendition of ‘La Bamba’ out of my head.”
At nearly sixty, Vera was old enough to be flattered by the young lady comment. She and her husband had three kids and four grandchildren. She shook her head. “Don’t worry. When I worked at the vineyard, we all drank wine like water. I got used to it. But that tequila . . .” She rubbed her forehead. “I had to lie down and take a nap. Almost missed my hair appointment.”
Gary walked back in, and they stared at him expectantly.
Scott broke the silence. “Well, what did she say?”
“She apologized for barging in on our meeting at the bank yesterday and making a scene. Said she was going to call you too, but I promised her I would relay the message.”
“That’s odd,” Deena said. “If she quit her job, why would she care what you guys thought about it?”
Gary folded his arms and grinned. “That’s just it. She said she was back working at the bank and looked forward to continuing to serve us in the accounts department. Blah, blah, blah. It was like she was reading from a script.”
“Ouch,” Vera said. “Sounds like she made a mistake and had to beg for her job back. Apologizing was probably one of the stipulations.”
Gary clapped his hands together. “Well, this furniture isn’t going to assemble itself. Let’s get back to work.”
Deena looked around and then had an idea. When there was a big job to do, you needed just the right person to do it. Stepping outside, she pulled out her cell phone and called her brother, Russell. The man was an absolute genius when it came to anything involving tools. After she explained the situation, he said he’d be more than happy to come over. He said he’d even get his buddy Cliff to help. Deena thanked him profusely and hung up.
Calling in two able-bodied men to assist, as well as Liz being a no-show, was her ticket out of there. She went inside and announced the good news.
“Great,” Gary said. “We can use all hands on deck.”
That’s when she broke it to him that she would be leaving.
He made a pouty face. “What? I thought you wanted to help.”
“I do,” she lied. “It’s just that I’m feeling stressed about the story. Let me follow up on a few leads, and I’ll be back in a jiffy. Okay?”
He nodded and picked up an instruction booklet.
“Save me some pizza if you order in for lunch.” With that she made her escape.
And she knew exactly where her first stop would be—to see Marcie Phillips at the bank. Now that the woman owed Gary a favor, maybe she would tell Deena something about the withdrawal Edwin had made last week.
Whenever there’s a mystery, you’ve got to follow the money.
Chapter 10
Big-city folks might not recognize a small-town bank. There were no security guards, no stuffy receptionist, and only one drive-thru window. Most people preferred to take care of their banking business in person instead of through an impersonal metal speaker.
Deena went inside and bypassed the help-yourself coffee station even though there were still a half-dozen doughnuts left. She went straight to the customer service desk to see Judy Fritz, whose son had been in Deena’s journalism class two years in a row.
“Hi, Mrs. Sharpe. Good to see you again. Are you here to see Jake about your husband’s new business loan? I bet you’re so excited for him.”
“I am. Excited, I mean. I’m actually here to see Marcie Phillips. Is she available?”
Judy snickered. “She will be for you, that’s for sure.”
Deena had a hunch but asked anyway. “What do you mean?”
“After making such a fool of herself in front of your husband and Mr. Myers yesterday, I’m surprised they let her come back to work. Let me call her.”
Judy spoke to Marcie and told her that Deena was there to see her. Almost before Judy could hang up the phone, Marcie came running out of her office to greet Deena. One of the chopsticks nearly fell from her graying bun. She was pretty nimble for being fifty-something.
“Mrs. Sharpe! So glad to see you.” They shook hands. “Won’t you come to my office? Did you want some coffee or a doughnut? I could get you a soda.”
“I’m fine,” Deena said and walked past the tellers and their curious stares. They must have thought Deena was there to chew out Marcie for her bad behavior.
Marcie closed the door and stood behind her desk waiting for Deena to sit first. “About yesterday, I am so sorry for bursting in like that. I’m sure your husband told you. It wasn’t like me, really.”
Deena just stared at the woman, letting her kowtow all she wanted in order to give Deena the upper hand in their upcoming conversation.
Marcie continued. “I hope you don’t take it out on the bank. I even called your husband a while ago to apologize.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what else to say.”
Deena felt a little guilty for making the woman squirm. “No worries and no hard feelings.”
Marcie looked as though she were about to cry. “Oh, thank you, Mrs. Sharpe. Bless your heart. I owe you a kidney.”
“That won’t be necessary, I hope, but I do have a favor to ask.”
“Anything,” Marcie said and picked up a pen.
“It’s about my neighbor,” Deena said. “He’s getting up there in years and having some problems with his memory. He apparently came to the bank last week and made a larger than usual transaction. It’s really got him in a tizzy, and I thought maybe you could give me some information about it.”
Marcie’s smile dropped off her face as she replied slowly and gently, “I’m really sorry, Mrs. Sharpe, but it is against bank policy to give out private information to another client, unless you are listed on his account. Are you?”
Deena knew she wasn’t, but she wondered if anyone else might be. That could explain things if someone came to the bank on his behalf. She stared up at the ceiling and tappe
d her chin. “Let me think. Oh, honestly, I can’t remember. Could you look it up?”
“I’d be happy to. What’s the name?”
“Edwin Cooper.”
Marcie’s mouth dropped open and the color drained from her face. She looked like a stunned geisha.
Deena realized the cause of her extreme reaction. “Don’t worry, Edwin is fine. You must have read in the newspaper yesterday that he had died. We corrected it in today’s edition. It was all a big mix-up.”
Marcie closed her mouth and offered a faint smile. “That’s a relief. I wasn’t sure what to think for a moment.” She typed into her computer, hit some buttons, and typed some more. The frown returned. “I’m sorry. You’re not listed here.”
“Is anyone else? His son or granddaughter perhaps?”
Marcie flinched a little but then said, “No. There is no one else on his account. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to be able to help you.”
Deena had fully anticipated this response. She made a show of picking up her handbag and putting it on her shoulder, then stood up. “That’s okay. Thanks for trying. I’ll just ask Mr. Rusk if he can—”
“No, wait,” Marcie said, her breath coming out in short spurts. “Tell me exactly what you need, and I’ll see what I can do.”
Deena sat back down and looked at the nervous woman gratefully. “You’re a doll, Marcie. All we want to know is if my neighbor actually came to the bank by himself or with someone else. Also, we want to know if there was anything unusual about the way he was behaving that day.”
The woman’s face brightened. “That doesn’t seem too personal. I’m sure I can do that.” She picked up her pen again. “What day was it?”
“It was last Thursday.”
Her color began to return. “Did you say ‘we’? Do you work for the newspaper?”
That had been a mistake. Deena forgot a lot of people knew her because of her bylines. She didn’t want to put the woman off by making her think she was only interested in the information for a story. “Actually, I am a reporter, but Edwin lives next door to me.”
“Okay, last Thursday. Let me go ask the tellers.” She stood up.
“Oh, and one more thing. On the bank slip, there was a note written at the bottom. It said box one ninety-two, if that helps.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Really? That’s a safe deposit box. I’m the only one who can authorize going into the boxes, unless I wasn’t here, and I haven’t had a day off since . . . well, forever.”
Until yesterday, that is. “It had some initials next to it. Let me think.” Deena racked her brain. Even though she had taught school for more than thirty years, she had never been good with names. She chided herself for not writing it down, then put her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes. She remembered it was swoopy. “L something.” She tried to picture it. “It was L and D. No, B. I think it was LB.”
Marcie made a note and stood up. She pulled down forcefully on the hem of her blazer as if it had angered her in some way. “I’ll be right back.”
Yikes. Someone was about to be in trouble.
Deena looked around the stark office. There were no photographs of children or a husband, and Deena had noticed the woman didn’t wear a wedding ring. There weren’t any pictures of Marcie on a cruise or standing shoulder to shoulder with friends or family.
The woman was either very private or led a very boring life. Deena had a feeling it was the latter. The only décor was one of those cheesy inspirational posters of a man on a rope trying to get to the top of a mountain, with the word determination written in large, bold letters.
Deena pulled out her phone and saw a message from Dan. He wanted her to call him. It would have to wait. Marcie was back with another woman reluctantly on her heels.
The girl looked to be in her early thirties. There was a hole on the side of her nose where she must have worn a piercing. Deena could see just the bottom edge of a tattoo peeking out from the cuff of her long-sleeved shirt. She stopped in the doorway, as though entering the office was like taking a step off the edge of a cliff.
“Get in here and shut the door,” Marcie said as she sat down behind her desk. “Mrs. Sharpe, this is Leslie Babcock. Take a seat, Leslie.”
“Hi,” Deena said and moved over to the next chair.
Marcie kept her voice even, although she seemed to be gritting her teeth. “Leslie just started working here about three weeks ago, replacing Allison Granger.”
“Nice to meet you, Leslie.” Deena hoped her friendly smile would comfort the poor girl.
“Tell Mrs. Sharpe what you told me,” Marcie said. “It’s okay.”
The girl looked at her hands in her lap, clearly nervous. “Mr. Cooper came to the bank on Thursday to make a withdrawal and get some stuff out of his safe deposit box. I knew I wasn’t supposed to open the box, but Ms. Phillips was at lunch, and I didn’t want to make him come back. I thought I was being a helpful bank bee.” She cocked her head and raised her eyes at Marcie.
“Um, that is just an employee motivational tactic,” Marcie explained, “to encourage employees to always act like ‘busy bees’ to help our customers as quickly and efficiently as possible. It is not an excuse to break company policy.”
Deena felt bad for the girl. “I appreciate your effort, Leslie. Anyway, when you spoke with Mr. Cooper, was he acting unusual at all?”
“No.”
“He didn’t seem dizzy or forgetful?”
“No.”
“Was he alone?”
The girl hesitated long enough to give herself away. She mumbled something under her breath.
Marcie was obviously losing her patience. “Speak up! Mrs. Sharpe wants to know about Mr. Cooper. Did he walk in with anyone else or not?”
“No, he didn’t walk in with another person.” Leslie held her head up in defiance.
“Okay, that wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Marcie’s tone was snippier now.
Deena sensed the girl was hiding something. “Why did you say you didn’t want to make him come back?”
“Because he didn’t feel well, that’s why.” She folded her arms across her chest.
“But you just said he was acting normally.” Deena twisted in the chair to face the girl directly. “How do you know he wasn’t feeling well?”
The girl diverted her eyes and seemed to search the top of Marcie’s desk for an answer. Finally, she said, “Because he stayed in his car and his granddaughter came inside.”
Marcie, clearly embarrassed by the new employee’s lack of transparency, stood up. “Mrs. Sharpe, will you excuse Leslie and me for a few moments. I think we need to talk in private.”
“So do I. But I’m asking you to excuse yourself so I can talk to Leslie alone.”
Marcie started to respond, but Deena interrupted. “Do we need to call in Mr. Rusk? Give me five minutes and hopefully this will all be behind us.”
Marcie appeared to realize that Deena had her over a barrel. She picked up her purse. “Five minutes. I’ll be in the ladies’ room.” She walked out and closed the door behind her.
Deena scooted her chair away from Leslie to give the girl some breathing room. “It sounds like you’re hiding something. Please just tell me what happened.”
“I was telling the truth when I said Mr. Cooper didn’t come in with anyone else because technically, he didn’t come inside.” She locked eyes on Deena but was the first to blink. “Oh. All right. Kitty Cooper came in and asked to withdraw money from her grandfather’s account. She had his driver’s license. I told her that was against bank policy.”
“Good, so what happened then?”
“She said her grandfather was in the car and didn’t feel well and couldn’t come inside. That’s when I suggested she use the drive-thru. That way we could speak to her grandfather through the window.”
“Makes sense.”
“But then she said she needed to get something out of his safe deposit box. That it was urgent. She may have said she w
as taking him to the hospital. Anyway, I knew Marcie was at lunch, so I just did it. I gave her the money she asked for and let her into his box. She even had the key.”
“Are you saying you never actually saw him?” That might explain his lack of remembering the trip.
“Oh, I saw him—”
Deena waited. “When? You said he stayed in the car.”
“When Miss Cooper left, I walked to the door and waved at Mr. Cooper.”
“Was anyone else inside the car?”
“Um, I didn’t notice anyone else.”
Deena wondered why Edwin would have stayed in the car unless he really had been feeling bad. “And you are sure it was Mr. Cooper?”
Leslie shook her head. “I couldn’t say for sure, but he was old.”
Deena didn’t want to believe that Kitty had taken advantage of her grandfather, but that seemed like the only explanation. She sighed heavily. “You know, there are rules for a reason.” She went into full-on teacher mode. “Mr. Cooper had no memory of the visit to the bank and he is upset about it. He also lost that bank slip and his driver’s license after leaving the bank. I know that’s not your fault, but it just shows you why there are checks and balances in place.” Deena hoped she’d remember the pun she’d just made so she could tell Gary later. He’d think it was funny.
“I know. You’re right.” A hand flew to her face. “I just hope I don’t get fired. This is the best job I’ve ever had. I go home every day with clean clothes and finally can save up money to get my own place.”
Deena reached out and patted the girl’s arm. “I’ll put in a good word for you with Marcie. I think that will help.”
When they stood, Leslie made a beeline back to the tellers’ windows. Deena waited in the office for Marcie. When she came in, she seemed surprised to see Deena alone. “Where’s Leslie?”
“I think she’s learned her lesson,” Deena said. “Give her a chance and I think she’ll make a great worker bee. Besides, we all have bad days, right?”
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