“Hold on.” He pulled up some sort of office directory on his phone. His brow furrowed. “That’s Bill Warren’s extension.”
I released a relieved breath. “So it is someone who works here. But why would this Bill person pretend to be you?”
“That’s a very good question.” He studied me for a moment. “I’m surprised you’ve never heard of Bill Warren.”
“Why?”
“Ali never mentioned him to you?”
“Not that I can recall. Ali did talk about a few of his coworkers that he was close to, like you. But he never brought up Bill Warren.”
“Hmm. I assumed Ali was pretty close to Warren. He fought hard to get him a job here. Ali vouched for him. The firm took a chance on Warren because they respected Ali’s opinion.”
“He must be very good at his job for Ali to recommend him so highly.”
Jake didn’t respond, but the way he twisted his mouth spoke volumes.
“What’s wrong with him? I mean, aside from pretending to be someone he’s not.”
“I really shouldn’t discuss firm business. But, just between us, Warren’s a nice enough guy, but he’s not a very good accountant.”
“Ali took pride in his work,” I protested. “He would never champion someone who was incompetent.”
“That’s exactly why I assumed they were close. Ali acknowledged there were problems with Warren’s work but agreed to take Warren onto his team to bring him up to speed. He said he and Warren went way back.”
If Bill Warren was a longtime friend, why had Ali never mentioned him to me, even in passing? It didn’t make any sense. “Ali told you that he and Warren were old friends?”
“He didn’t say how close they were. Just that he’d known the man since college.”
“Where is Bill Warren now? Can we bring him in here and get to the bottom of why he pretended to be you?”
“I wish we could, but he’s on vacation with his family in Mexico right now.”
“He has a family?”
Jake nodded. “He’s married with four kids.”
“Oh.” Someone who had a family seemed less scary than a loner who lived in his mother’s basement.
“When Bill gets back, you can be sure that I will talk to him.”
I exhaled. “So many things have happened since Ali died that don’t add up.”
He paused. “I was shocked when I heard Ali had another house,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “Everyone here thought he was a devoted family man. For what it’s worth, I find it hard to believe that Ali led any kind of double life.”
I smiled gratefully. “I hope that’s true. Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Did you ever go on a golfing weekend to North Carolina with Ali?”
“Once. About eight years ago. We had a great time.”
The tension between my shoulder blades loosened a little. At least Ali hadn’t lied about going golfing on the weekend we should have celebrated our anniversary.
Jake cleared his throat. “Do you mind if I ask why you came to see Bill Warren today?”
“I wanted to know when Ali would have worked on the Comstock account. Can you tell me?”
