when, and how to get away with it, under the radar. And if it makes you feel any better, in most cases it’s the person you trust most, who has been there the longest time. If it were obvious, they’d get caught the first day. And usually schemes like this go on for a long, long time,” he said to reassure her.
“Maybe it’s my accountant. If it isn’t, he should have figured it out.”
“If he didn’t do it, then whoever did knew how to get by him too. Believe me, this is the kind of thing we see every day. But I’ll talk to your accountant too, and we’ll get you forensic accountants to look at your books and your general ledger. We’ll do an investigation on the accountant and your assistant, and the man you were living with.” Tallie nodded. They were the only three people who could have been ripping her off, and she really didn’t think it was Hunt. She said as much to Jim.
“Meg Simpson said that too. Your assistant actually fits the profile of the most likely suspect,” he said calmly.
“Why?” Tallie was puzzled by what he said.
“Because you trust her implicitly. That gives someone a lot of leeway if they’re dishonest, and she’s already lied to you once that you know of.” They both knew about what, and didn’t need to go into detail, much to Tallie’s relief.
“I’m going to fire her tomorrow,” Tallie said sadly. She had thought about it all night, and decided when she got up that morning. She couldn’t keep her after what she’d done.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Jim said quietly, and Tallie was surprised. She thought the FBI would expect her to move quickly, although Meg had told her to be cautious too.
“Why not?”
“Because if she’s a serious suspect, I’d rather she not realize that we’re suspicious of her, and see what she does. Have you confronted her about the money yet?”
“No. I asked her, and she told me it was Hunt, and I believed her.”
“Have you spoken to her since you got the report from Meg?”
“No, she doesn’t know about that. And I just got it Friday.”
“If you think you can pull it off, I’d rather you not tell her anything you heard from Meg. Your assistant told you about your boyfriend’s other woman. You could tell her that you broke up over that, without telling her you know the rest. And you can tell her you’re suspicious of him and your accountant about the money. If you can deal with it, I’d like to give her some room, and see what she does, although she can’t blame the ex-boyfriend for money that disappears now, so she might be more careful for a while. But it gives us a big advantage if she doesn’t know we suspect her. She’ll relax. If we find strong evidence that it’s her, you can fire her then. Right now we’re not sure, and what we need is time.”
“How much time?” Tallie didn’t look enthused about his plan. It also meant that she couldn’t confront her over Hunt. As far as Brigitte knew right now, Tallie was upset that she hadn’t exposed Hunt’s crimes earlier, but Tallie had never suspected her of taking the money, she had only asked, not accused her of it, and Brigitte had no idea at all that Tallie knew about her and Hunt, and their affair of three years. All of that was new.
“It could take us a month or two to get what we need, or longer. I actually think we might know in a month. We can reassess the situation then. But until then I’d like you to give her the impression that you’ve forgiven her, and let’s give her enough rope to hang herself, while we conduct the investigation. We can keep an eye on her, and your money going in and out, and we can interview your accountant and Mr. Lloyd to see if they are viable suspects or not. I’d like to save the most likely one for last, if you agree.” Tallie nodded her head slowly. What he was asking of her sounded difficult and uncomfortable, and it would be unpleasant to keep an enemy close to her for that much longer. But it made perfect sense too. “Do you think you can pull it off?” he asked with a look of concern, and she smiled ruefully.
“Yes. I was an actress before I was a director. I can do it. It just sounds unpleasant to have to act like everything is fine.”
“It might give us the best results in the long run. And I don’t want you to tell her you’ve contacted the FBI about the money nor went to a PI.” He warned her then that they might have to turn it over to the police in the end, if there was no wire fraud or bank fraud committed and no federal offenses, but they could assess that later on. He sounded infinitely professional and interested in her case. She was glad that he’d come to talk to her, and so was he. Tallie felt somewhat reassured that she was in good hands, and he thought the case was worth pursuing. She had been betrayed by two people she loved and trusted, and he wanted to figure out who was stealing money from her.
“Thank you, Special Agent Kingston,” she said with a look of relief. She felt safe with him handling the case. He had a very sympathetic, comforting style about him, which put her at ease.
“Jim. Please. If you’re patient with us, we’ll solve the problem. Sometimes these things move slower than the victim likes.” She winced at the word.
“I hate to think of myself as a ‘victim.’ It sounds so awful.”
“It is awful. But you’ve been the victim of a crime, and sadly often people in your position are a very appealing target.”
“Yeah, I’ve always relied on her so much. And after all this time, I don’t question what she does. I trust her totally.”
“And she, or someone else, has taken full advantage of that. If this goes to trial and she’s convicted, her sentence will be increased because of the abuse of trust. Judges take a dim view of that in situations like this. Abuse of trust is a serious offense.” She thought wistfully that that applied to Hunt too, and he hadn’t committed a crime. Just breach of promise, and trust, and all her faith in him. “I’ll get the investigation started tomorrow.” She gave him Hunt’s and Victor’s contact information, and he was planning to ask for interviews with both of them. He was going to leave Brigitte alone for a while, to see what she did, and if Tallie lost money at the same rate. She’d have to be more careful now that Hunt was gone, and she could no longer blame him. She’d have to be even more cunning, if it was her. If it was Hunt, it would stop entirely now that he was gone. And if it was Victor, it might continue at the same rate, though in different ways.
Jim Kingston stayed for an hour and a half, and then he stood up, and she thanked him again for coming.
“I’m sorry to eat into your Sunday,” she said apologetically, and he smiled.
“It’s fine. I had nothing else to do. I spend Sundays with my fifteen-year-old son, and he had better things to do today than hang out with his dad. That seems to be happening a lot these days.” He smiled ruefully as he said it.
“My daughter’s eighteen, in college in New York, and it’s pretty much that way with her now too. When she’s home, she’d rather be out with her friends.” Tallie smiled as they chatted about their kids. It established a friendly link between them, which was his style.
“I have a son at Michigan State too,” he added. “Once they’re gone, they don’t belong to us anymore. I’m hanging on to my fifteen-year-old for dear life,” he confessed, and they both laughed. She wondered if he was divorced. He somehow made it sound like he didn’t have a wife, just his kids, or maybe she was wrong. He seemed like a pleasant man to her. He was wholesome, intelligent, and clean-cut. She felt like her case was in good hands. He seemed mildly impressed with her Hollywood status, but not overly so. He referred to it but didn’t have stars in his eyes. And he apologized again for not knowing who she was when she called.
“I don’t mind at all,” she assured him. “It’s a lot better that way.” She looked as though she meant it, which he found refreshing. There was nothing pretentious or Hollywood about her despite how famous she was.
“I’ll give you a call this week if I have any other questions or if something comes up that you should know,” he said as they walked to the door. And after they shook hands and he left, she watched him as he drove away. She was glad she’d called, although she wasn’t thrilled about not being able to fire Brigitte yet. It was going to be uncomfortable playing a game for the next month or two. That sounded like a very long time. He had also explained to her that it would take them a while to get bank records that would allow them to assess the suspect’s financial activity. He promised that they would move as fast as they could, but banks moved slowly, and everything took time.
Her father called an hour later when she was in the midst of packing Hunt’s things again.
“How did it go with the FBI?” Sam asked, anxious to hear what they’d said.
“They said they’re going to check it out, and I can’t fire Brigitte yet. They want me to buy time, and not let on that we suspect. They want to see what she does.”
“Clever tactic, though hard on you, given what she did with Hunt.”
