Ashley pushed a strand of black synthetic hair off her face. “I don’t think so, but the people I’m looking for will be in trouble.”
“That’s good enough for me. What are their names?”
She wrote them down and gave them to her friend.
“A congressman? No wonder you’re worried.” Erin added the names of the three business owners Ashley had already found. “I’ll go to my desk and start looking for any link between these people. Do you want to have lunch together in an hour?”
Ashley glanced at the time. “That would be great. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Happy hunting.”
“You, too.” She gave Erin another hug, then returned to her search results. If there was ever a time when she felt like she was looking for a needle in a haystack, this was it.
She just hoped Erin had better luck than she’d had.
***
An hour later, Ashley and Erin sat at a table at the back of the Lindley Perk Coffee Shop.
“Did you find anything?” Erin asked.
“Not much. Congressman Welsh’s public Facebook page is filled with comments. He has a few regular contributors, but none of those people appear on the Facebook pages of the other people. What about you?”
Erin smiled.
“What did you find?”
“One of the people on the list is Congressman Welsh’s brother-in-law.”
Ashley looked at the piece of paper Erin handed her. “That’s the owner of one of the companies we can’t contact.”
“When I found that connection, I did some research on Congressman Welsh’s family. He has four brothers and two sisters. The man who owns Bryant Construction lives in San Diego, but his construction company’s address is in New York. I wrote down his home address and phone number in case you want to call him.”
“Who are the other people on your list?”
“The names that are underlined are Congressman Welsh’s brothers and sisters. The names directly under them are their partners. Their children are under that.”
Ashley was impressed. “You did all of this in an hour?”
“I’ve been helping people research their family history for years. It’s a lot easier finding someone who’s alive than if they’ve been dead for more than a century.”
Ashley scanned the list. “Is there a way of checking whether the other people on the list have anything to do with the businesses we can’t find?”
“Unless they’re listed on company registration or tax forms, I don’t think so.”
“Wait a minute.” Ashley opened one of the folders she’d brought with her. “These are copies of the news stories I found on the Internet.” She looked through the papers. “This photo was taken at a rally Congressman Welsh attended before the election.” She frowned at one of the pictures. “That can’t be right.”
Erin moved out of the way while a waitress placed their lunch order on the table. After the waitress had left, she leaned forward. “What’s not right?”
Ashley showed her. “Congressman Welsh’s nephew is only fifteen years old. He was listed as the owner of one of the private companies.”
“That sounds incredibly illegal. What’s going on?”
“I can’t tell you.”
Erin frowned. “Why not?”
“The fewer people know about what I’m doing, the better off everyone will be. I’m sorry I can’t tell you.”
