They spent another fifteen minutes working through the files, taking extensive notes and making copies of key documents. By the time they finished, Kate's phone was full of photos, and Sloane had downloaded dozens of files to her laptop.
Paula walked them to the front door when they were ready to leave. Crawford appeared one more time to shake their hands and remind them to call if they needed anything else. Kate watched him closely, looking for any other cracks in his façade.
"We'll be in touch if we need anything else," Kate said.
Crawford only smiled and nodded, watching as they made their way back outside. Back on the street, the afternoon had turned warm. Kate and Sloane walked to their car in silence, processing all they’d seen and heard.
"He's definitely hidingsomething," Sloane said when they reached the vehicles.
"Yes," Kate agreed. "But what?"
"I don't know. But I think we're going to need to talk to him again."
Kate looked back at the building, at the professional signage and the well-maintained exterior. Second Act Success presented itself as a place of opportunity and transformation. But underneath that polished surface, something else was going on. Something Crawford didn't want them to see.
"Agreed," Kate said. "But with all of the information we have to put together, maybe next time we’ll know the right questions to ask."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Sloane parked the car in the parking garage beneath the field office, and let out a sigh. She looked over to Kate before they got out of the car, a slightly bothered expression on her face. “Crawfordwasacting strange the whole time, right?" Sloane said.
“I think he just got very defensive. An organization like his… I don’t think they’re often accused of shady business. On the other hand, most people have something to hide. Or they're guilty of something, even if it has nothing to do with the case we're working."
Sloane tilted her head slightly, considering this. "I picked up on some of that during my undercover work in Chicago. You learn to read when people are hiding things, even if you don't know exactly what."
"It's one of those realities of the job that they don't really prepare you for in training," Kate said. "Sometimes you have to decide whether what someone's hiding matters to your case or not."
" But you said you don’t think Crawford is our killer?"
"No," Kate said. "I don't. But if you had to guess what he's hiding, what would you say?"
Sloane was quiet for a moment, her eyes still on the building. "If I had to guess? I think he wants to appear cooperative so that the FBI doesn't look closer at his ledgers or accounts. In my experience, men like him are usually committing some type of fraud or embezzlement. The way he emphasized how organized his records are, how thorough his documentation is, that all felt like someone who's worried about scrutiny. Did you see how full of himself he looked when you complimented him on how orderly the files were?”
"I did. And that's good instinct," Kate said. "And you're probably right."
"Does that bother you?" Sloane asked. "Letting him go for now, I mean."
Kate understood what she was really asking. She wondered what sort of breaches of the law and of the justice system Sloane had encountered during her stint in Chicago. Learning that sometimes they had to let smaller fish swim away to catch bigger ones wasn't going to help with that, if that was the case.
"It used to bother me more than it does now," Kate admitted. "You learn to prioritize. We're here because two women were murdered. If Crawford is skimming money from his program or inflating his success rates for investors, that's a problem for someone else to solve. Our job is to find whoever killed Rachel and Patricia."
Sloane nodded slowly. "I get it. It just feels wrong sometimes."
"It does," Kate agreed. "But if we try to solve every problem we encounter, we'll never solve the one we're supposed to be working on."
"Yeah, I know, I know," Sloane said with a sigh. "So we move on. Talk to program participants instead."
Kate glanced at her phone. The screen showed 6:28 PM. The day had gotten away from her, and she knew Allen would be wondering when she'd be home. Michael would probably be getting ready for bed soon, and she wanted to see him before he went to sleep.
"I need to head home," Kate said. "But I'll be looking into the records tonight to come up with a few members of the Second Act program who would be worth speaking to tomorrow. Can you do the same?"
"Sure," Sloane said. "I'll go through the digital files Paula sent over. We can compare notes in the morning."
"Good. Let's plan to meet at the field office around eight?"
"Works for me."
Kate gave a quick nod and stepped out of the car. She walked over to hers, just three spots away, and started the engine. Sloane did the same, and they pulled out of the parking lot together. The sun was lower now, dusk beginning to settle over Richmond. Kate pulled out of the garage just as the sky was shifting from blue to purple to orange along the horizon.
