Could it be a coincidence that was around the same time Dominique showed interest in buying the company? “Tell me we have a name tied to this.” Amanda sat up straighter, seeing a motive for murder in this find.
“We do. Harris Finch.”
“And Finch wasconvenientlyout of the office when we went yesterday.” They were told he was in court, but Amanda didn’t trust a word of that right now. “Is there anything else we should know before we move in?”
“That’s it for now.”
“Could you send us those twenty company names you checked into?” she requested.
“I will.”
“Thank you.” Amanda ended the call and faced Trent. “We could have motive.”
“Yep. Though I can’t quite understand his standpoint. Sure, the sale was moving ahead. The books would be looked at. Did he think he could cover up the money he siphoned out by feeding it back in? And why do any of this under his own name?”
“There’s no explaining some people. Maybe his anxiety got the best of him. As you said, the sale was going through. He’d know that would mean Dominique would get the financials, and she’d do her due diligence with them.”
“So he’d want to kill her to prevent being exposed for fraud.”
Amanda stood. “We’ve got to talk with Finch. You drive, and I’ll call Malone from the road.”
FORTY-ONE
The only delay in getting on the road was Amanda looking up Harris Finch. His license photo showed a handsome man with gray hair. His details said he was five-foot-ten, didn’t need corrective lenses, and was sixty-four. Otherwise, his background itself didn’t flag at all.
Amanda called Malone from the road and told him that the latest break in the case was taking them back to Washington, DC.
When she finished, he said, “Sounds like it’s quite plausible this Finch guy hired the woman. I’m thinking we should bring the Metropolitan PD in on this, just to let them know we’re in their territory. I mean based on what you got from Detective Lopez, this is more than a chitchat you’re going to have with this guy. You’ll be bringing him in?”
“That’s how I see it at this point. MPD was going to be my next call. But they can’t be moving in ahead of us. I want our showing up at that firm to catch everyone there by surprise,” she told him.
“Which I understand. Keep me posted.” He ended the call, and Amanda looked up the number for the MPD.
When she finished talking to the uniformed sergeant on duty, she turned to Trent. “They’ll be sending out a couple of uniforms as backup should we need them.”
“Let’s hope we don’t.”
The forty-five minutes to DC flew by, and Trent was soon parking in the firm’s lot.
The midmorning sun glistened off the glass of the building, making for a beautiful picture, but what they had to do wasn’t going to be pretty at all.
There was only one woman at the front desk today when they turned up and asked for Harris Finch.
“He’s in a meeting with a client at the moment,” the woman said.
At least he’s in…“We need to ask that you interrupt it. This is an urgent police matter.” She and Trent had shown their badges when they’d first arrived, but a reminder of their position in law enforcement couldn’t hurt things.
“I’m sorry, but unless you have a warrant?—”
“Mr. Finch is the prime suspect in a police investigation.” Amanda grounded her stance, prepared to stand there, hovering over the woman for as long as it took.
“I could have you removed by the MPD,” the woman said, reading Amanda’s energy.
“They came with us, but if you need me to get one of them, I can.” She jacked a thumb over her shoulder where the timing of two uniformed MPD cops coming through the door couldn’t have been better.
The woman sighed. “Fine, I’ll see if I can reach Mr. Finch.” She picked up the phone on her desk and pushed a few numbers.
“Thank you.” Amanda pressed on a tight smile.
