“Now I’m really pissed,” she said, crossing her arms.
“They are getting sloppy,” Rory said.
“Or desperate,” Clay said. “And desperate people do even crazier shit.”
“Let’s just regroup with what we’ve got so far. Clay, Ford said you had something earlier. What is it?”
“Scott Denning’s retirement home is being paid for by kickbacks from the McGregors.”
“You know this for sure?” Rory asked.
“They aren’t making the payments directly, but I talked to Scott’s son and was told that his father’s bank account gets regular deposits and has been for years,” Ford said. “He allowed me access to the account.”
“I had it traced from a buddy of mine. It’s a holding account that ties back to the McGregors but took a few layers to get to. Lots of money coming out of it going places. Ford, you can have a field day with it when the time is right.”
“Oh, I will. Daniel is going to know that too.”
“I would have thought he’d be smarter than that,” Gale said, shaking her head.
“Me too,” he said.
“Maybe they thought no one would look into it,” Ford said. “The holding company is a financial group and Scott’s son said that he just assumed it was investment payouts for his father’s care.”
“Did you tell him what it was?” she asked.
“No. I told him as little as I could, and because his son is out of town and doesn’t seem to have that great of a relationship with his dad, I was able to move forward saying it was part of an ongoing investigation. So going on that information and what Scott said on Tuesday.”
“Which is meaningless,” she said. “He’s got dementia.”
“All true,” Rory said. “But we are trying to tie things in a bow. Daniel definitely had people inside the Sheriff’s Department. Sounds like it was to cover Kane’s ass.”
“Kane was always getting into trouble back then,” Clay said. “He’s got a temper and likes what he likes and doesn’t take no for an answer. Dickhead.”
“Do you think he’s capable of this?” she asked. “Seriously, could he murder someone with his own hands and go about his life as if nothing happened? That’s a whole different level of cold.”
“Anyone can do anything if backed in a corner,” Rory said.
“Second that,” Clay said. “But I’m more inclined to think Daniel or Kane paid someone to do it. The question is the person they paid, are they nervous? Maybe afraid someone isn’t going to cover for them?”
“I’m sorry,” Rory said. “People like that don’t leave trails.”
“Which brings me to John Abdell,” Ford said.
“The guy who owned the old rundown cabin that Rene was drawing?” she asked.
“Yep. I looked into that more. He’d sold the land to Daniel around two years later for well over the appraisal value.”
“Interesting,” she said. “But Daniel had been trying to buy land for a while by the sounds of it. Maybe he felt if he could get enough people to do it, then the rest would fall at under value. It’s a common enough practice.”
“It is,” he said. “But there could be more to it. John moved to an apartment and died there, right? A fall down the stairs?”
“Yes. Another resident found him. The coroner ruled it as accidental.”
“Do you believe that?” she asked.
“I’ve got no reason to doubt it. There was no foul play, but the body was cremated so nothing we can do now. The thing is, McGregors own the apartments.”
“They are worse than shit stains on dirty underwear,” she said. “Can’t get rid of them and even if you throw them out, they are going to show up again on a fresh pair.”
