Cavin wiped his eyes overlooking the comment.“I think I discovered something we need to look into before you make a decision.”
“Okay,” she accepted appreciatively, remembering the time on the clock after he kissed her goodnight and realizing he must have barely slept.“What did you find?”she wanted to know.
“Well, I prefer not to get your hopes up, so I need to ask you a few questions and look at some other legal documents and financial statements with your permission,” Cavin stated.
“I don’t understand.The offers are what the offers are, right?I mean, what else is there to consider?”Noel questioned.
“I need you to trust me,” Cavin insisted.“I also need the day off, please,” he requested knowing it would take time to dig into the particulars.
“Sure,” Noel agreed, assuming she had little to lose at this point.
“I need to see your corporate tax reports from last year and your quarterly reports from this year,” Cavin requested.
Noel’s face suddenly displayed confusion.“Walter has all of those documents,” she explained.“I simply meet him at his office to go through the numbers and then sign the paperwork and write the checks.”
“I thought you might say that,” Cavin responded.“So, he does not provide copies for your records?”
“No, he says with everything being electronic there is no need for printed copies.Also, he knows how confusing all the business accounting is to me.Dad used to handle all the taxes, so ever since he passed away, Walter took the reins.”
A lightbulb began to glow so brightly in Cavin’s head that he wondered if golden rays flowed from his ears.“How long has Walter been handling the Beaufort Candy Company’s taxes?”
“Well, you see Walter’s father passed not long before my family’s accident.At the time Walter was working for a large firm in Virginia, but his dad willed the local accounting practice to him, so Walter moved back here to run the business and manage his family’s properties.”
“That is interesting,” Cavin replied, not sure what to think of this news.“Did your dad like Walter?”he asked.
Noel snickered.“Not at all.He loved his dad, but Walter is greedy.Dad talked about switching accountants after Walter took over the company, but he said he had some unfinished business to handle with Walter.”
The light in Cavin’s head grew even brighter.“Things are starting to make sense,” he stated.
“How come?”
“I think I am onto something, but again I want to wait to explain my theory because I could be wrong, and it would take a lot of time which is one thing we do not have.There is a lot going on here, and I am trying to understand all the motives.”
Noel wondered what that meant, but like Cavin said it seemed to make sense to wait.“Dad always said Walter seemed more interested in buying his client’s buildings than helping them build their businesses,” she mentioned.“His family owns a lot of property in town.”
“Your dad was a smart man,” Cavin concluded.“Do you think Walt will let me look at the tax records?”
Noel shrugged.“I guess if I were with you, he might,” she said as she glanced at her watch.“But I have to open the store, and without you here to help in the kitchen, I’ll have to spend a little more time prepping today.”
“Right, sorry about that,” Cavin apologized genuinely.
“I can call Walter and tell him I gave you permission to look at the company’s taxes,” Noel suggested.
While that sounded like a good idea, Cavin decided he didn’t want Walt to see this coming.Cavin already saw how territorial the guy seemed, and if Walt was capable of what he suspected, Cavin didn’t want to give the man and his lawyer friend, Georgia, any extra time to cover up the evidence.
“Actually, I have another idea that will give me access to some of the data needed,” Cavin mentioned.“You have point of sale software here at the store, correct?With the capability to look at daily, monthly, and yearly sales?”he checked.
“Yes, we do,” Noel reported.“I look at it every day.Walter also gives me a document with daily, monthly, and yearly sales goals we need to reach to cover all the expenses.”
Cavin furrowed his brow.“Oh, really?”So, he gave Noel access to that printed document but not her tax records.Cavin held his finger to his chin for a moment as the wheels in his mind churned.“Do you ever meet those goals?”
“Rarely,” Noel confessed although embarrassed.“That’s why I have to sell the building and my equipment so that I don’t lose everything.”
“Do you know the individual amounts of your expenses?”
Noel shook her head side to side.“No, I place all the orders, and Walter handles the invoices.Everything goes straight to him to save me time.Even though I don’t care for him, that’s one thing I have been thankful not to have to deal with, and he hasn’t gone up on the accounting rates, at least not yet.”
Cavin felt all jittery inside, and he hoped that after he cracked this case, Noel’s brother would change his mind about his investigative abilities.Something fishy was transpiring here, and Cavin was going to get to the bottom of this murky water.
