Long Shadows (Amos Decker, #7)(81)

“She was wealthy. People are unscrupulous. That makes her a target.”

“So you need to know if she made any large or irregular withdrawals or payments?”

“Yes.”

Jones turned to a computer on his desk and started typing. “I would meet with her every quarter to go over her accounts. She was a very excellent investor and client. Her net worth was growing by leaps and bounds. It was so exciting.”

“Yeah, I’m getting all tingly just hearing you talk about it,” said White, the comment drawing a rare smile from Decker.

Jones continued, “For any truly large transfers she would have had to get on the recorded line and authorize it. That ensures there are no mistakes and the client intends for the transfer to happen.”

“And that covers your end, too,” said Decker. “No liability.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“So you would know if she made any large transfers,” said Decker.

“Yes, but she could have done it through her checking account. I don’t monitor that as regularly. And after all, it is her money.”

He scrolled through some screens and shook his head. “I see nothing out of the ordinary. And I’ve gone back six months.”

“All right,” said Decker. “Are there any transfers of monies or checks written to Alice Lancer, Alan Draymont, or Gamma Protection Services?”

Jones typed a search request in and waited a few moments. “No, nothing under those names.”

“And no large cash withdrawals?”

“No. Those would have been flagged. So, it doesn’t look like she was being blackmailed,” said Jones.

“Well, blackmail doesn’t always involve payments of money,” noted White.

“Right, yes.” Jones suddenly looked alarmed. “Oh my God, right. Oh, I hope that Julia…I mean…”

“Thank you for your help,” said Decker.

Outside, White said, “Well, that was a dead end.”

“No, it checked a box.”

“So if they weren’t blackmailing her, how did Cummins and Draymont hook up?”

“I think you already gave the answer to that. We just came here to rule out the blackmail piece.”

White looked surprised. “I already gave the answer?”

“I think Draymont caught Cummins’s eye. You used the phrase to explain how Lancer and Draymont hooked up on Capitol Hill.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Young and handsome. It happens. But with Cummins?”

“Gamma worked protection in her neighborhood for other clients, including the Perlmans right next door. They recommended Gamma to Cummins when she asked about getting security protection. And we’ve confirmed that Draymont was part of her security rotation. Maybe Cummins simply saw him and became infatuated. And from what I’ve heard of Draymont, he could be very charismatic, and the man would not hesitate to jump into bed with a rich, lovely woman like Cummins.”

“Okay, but then why the whole rigmarole about her needing protection because of threats? I know we went over this before, but it still seems a muddle.”

“She really didn’t want someone to know she was dating or sleeping with other men. Look at the precautions she took with Dennis Langley. They drove all the way to Miami to have sex in a hotel. He was never invited over to her house. But the only way she could get Draymont into her house was by pretending he was protecting her. That was probably another appeal for her to latch on to Draymont. He had that cover built right into his job.”

“Decker, she must have really been afraid of someone to go to all those lengths.”

“Well, as it turned out, she was right to be afraid, wasn’t she?”

“You still think it was her husband, don’t you?”

“He’s the most obvious choice. But he couldn’t have done it personally. With the Zoom calls and Tyler’s alibi for him. But he could have hired someone. Only we had his financial records pulled and they don’t show any weird payments at all. I was thinking maybe crypto, but I have no idea how that even works. But he did use the term ‘butchered.’”

“Maybe he had a friend kill his wife for free. That would explain the absence of payment.”

“I don’t think anybody has friends that good,” observed Decker.





Chapter 59



DECKER DROVE THEM BACK TO Cummins’s neighborhood. They passed through the security gate and he stopped in front of Cummins’s house.

“We going over the crime scene again?” asked White. “Because I do not want to find another body.”

“No, this trip is a recon of the neighbors.”

He led her up to the Perlmans’ door and knocked. Trevor Perlman answered the door dressed in beige golf shorts and a white polo shirt.

“Any news on what happened with Julia?” he said.

“Still working on it.”

“Where is the other agent?”

“In the hospital.”

“Did he have an accident?”

“There was nothing accidental about it. Do you have some time for a few questions?”

“Actually, I don’t. I’m about to join a golf foursome.”

“Is your wife here?”