My Spy 3: Murder Mayhem

Warrant

As soon as I arrive at the police station, I am whisked upstairs into Ryan's office. He immediately shuts the door as I settle into the plush chair. After he drops into his chair opposite me, he looks to me and says, "Sawyer, what we are about to discuss cannot leave this room."

I nod.

"Okay."

I watch as he hesitates for a moment and his eyes narrow as he looks to me. He licks his lips before he says, "When y'all have gotten together for your Historical Society meetings, has Arthur Huxley ever had anything with him? A notebook, binder, folder anything?"

I look to his stacks for folders as I think back to our handful of meetings. I shake my head.

"He always had some kind of paper with him because he was always taking notes. I couldn't tell you anything more specific than that."

I watch Ryan frown as he says, "It doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't?" I ask him and he flits his eyes back to me. He raps his knuckles on his desk and then says, "We searched Arthur's house yesterday. Ransacked the place but we did not find a single paper or file on his accounting for the society."

Once again, that does not add up with the job description of Treasurer. He has to have the information somewhere.

"He deposits checks, how does he not have any kind of paper trail?" I ask.

Ryan looks to me and says, "We found deposit slips. But there's nothing to show what was supposed to be deposited versus what actually was deposited. There wasn't anything at his place to prove he was making accounting errors or embezzling."

"Well, what did you find to issue the warrant?" I ask.

"Arthur was the closing golf pro on the night Poppy died. The timesheets for that day were missing but luckily, we were able to secure the security footage of Arthur locking up the club's door at closing."

I smile, "So my tip helped!"

He nods but gives me a don't-get-to-excited-look.

"Yeah, well after we discovered that, I combed back through Poppy's files and added up what she saw in the accounting discrepancies. According to the past eight years of Poppy's research, Arthur could have embezzled around sixty-thousand dollars from the charity."

I can feel my jaw drop and my mind explode. I had no idea that big of an amount could disappear from a charity. I try and wrap my head around everything and then look back to Ryan.

"Why are you telling me this now? Earlier this week you told me I needed to stay out of it."

He runs his hands down his face and then says, "Mason and I feel you might be an asset to us. We are afraid that we spooked Arthur and he may hide or destroy any evidence he may have had proving that he was pocketing funds. We thought maybe you could help us in finding where he is hiding the paper trail."

"And how would I do that?" I ask.

"We need you to get some more checks from him," he says plainly. I raise my eyebrow and he continues, "When we accessed the charities funds we discovered there are three accounts set up for the society. Now all three of them are frequently accessed and there is constantly money being moved around in between the accounts. We can't tell what account is used for what, but it does make our job harder to keep track of what withdrawal went with what expense."

I shake my head as I try and keep everything straight.

"What now?"

Ryan plants his elbows on his desk and rocks forward as he says, "If Arthur is embezzling, he is doing a good job covering how much he's taken. He's made the accounts extremely confusing to follow. We hope if you get a check from him, we can see what account it comes out of and start trying to find a pattern."

"Okay, seems easy enough. I do have more things to buy, so I'll ask for a check right away."

"Now, Arthur thinks we ransacked his place searching for the golf club that was used to kill Poppy. He thinks he is a suspect because he was the last to leave the club that night. He cannot get a whiff of us sneaking into the society's accounts because he might not slip if he thinks we are on to him."

"He has no idea that you've put anything together?" I ask and Ryan shakes his head.

"No, and we want to keep it that way. Arthur thinks he is in the clear. We made it seem that he was a dead end and that we have a more suspicious person we are monitoring. We are hoping if he thinks we aren't looking into him anymore, he'll try and make a move."

I lean back into my chair and am in disbelief that someone I know can be a murderer. Although, Arthur is a grouchy, older recluse so I guess it's not all that shocking that he has skeletons in his closet.

I glance back to Ryan who is studying my face and I say, "I'll help in any way I can."

"I would never put you in danger, Sawyer. So, if a single thing seems off or suspicious to you, stand down. Do not let him suspect you in any way," he says sternly.

"I won't," I tell him confidently. "Now, let me call him right quick and see if I can get a check from him," I say. I pull out my phone and quickly scroll to his number. Ryan and I wait patiently as the phone rings and Arthur harshly answers, "I'm busy here Mrs. Sweeney what do you want?"

I draw my head back at his curt tone and then glance to Ryan.

"Didn't mean to bother you, I just need another check from you."

"For what?" He snaps.

"For the invitations I purchased and I need to put a deposit down for the flowers. I also need to buy the decor," I explain and I hear him huff in response. I quickly add, "Mr. Huxley if you are too busy, I could just get the checkbook from you instead of you having to write one out every time I need one."

"Absolutely not. I will write them out for you so I can assure everyone else that we are on budget."

I glance to Ryan before saying, "Speaking of budget, I don't think I will be able to throw the party with only three thousand dollars. It's costing us almost that much in rentals and catering alone."

"There is not a single dollar to spare, Mrs. Sweeney. I already explained this to you. We did not raise enough to add more to the party planning budget. So as the planner, you need to make cuts somewhere or pay for your ideas out of your own pocket," he snaps. I shake my head knowing there is a cushion he's adamantly denying doesn't exist. I roll my eyes and then reply, "Okay well, either way, I still need to get checks from you. Where is the best place to meet you?"

I hear him huff again before he says, "I have to go pay the landscapers down at the Wellington House this afternoon. You can meet me there."

"Great. What time?" I ask.

"Two," he says flatly and then the line goes dead. I look to Ryan and shrug.

"He's shady. Even if he didn't kill Poppy, something is off about him."

Ryan nods his head slowly. He looks to me and then says, "Call me right after you get the checks from him."

I glance to the clock above Ryan's head and see I have two hours before I have to be at the Wellington House. I catch Ryan's gaze and say, "If I am going to help you out in a big investigation, the least you can do is buy me lunch."

I wink to him and he smiles. He stands from his chair and I grab his hand before heading out of his office.