Page 42 of Innocent Intent

“Doesn’t make it hurt any less, Detective. But at least I can appreciate that he won’t do this to anyone else because he can’t.”

They shared a look, and Cassidy’s expression had Davis’s mind wondering again. Who is this woman, and is she capable of such a heinous crime?

14.

“Ms. Evans, I apologize for the wait. What can I do for you?”

“I was wondering if you could tell me about these.” Cassidy reached into her purse and removed the statements that showed the wire transfers.

The bank associate shuffled through the paperwork, then lifted her eyes to Cassidy. “What about these?”

Cassidy pointed to them. “There’s a wire transfer each month for twenty thousand dollars. How is this possible?”

The woman’s face flushed with concern. “I assume you’re asking because you didn’t approve the transfers.”

“No, I did not. I’ve had this account for over twenty years. I purposely set things up as an interest-bearing savings account because I had no intention of using the money I keep here. I would not have approved these transfers. I didn’t approve these transfers.”

“Would there be anyone—”

“No. No one else has access to this account,” Cassidy stated with finality, which had the associate placing the statements on her desk and waking her computer screen.

“Let me take a look because wires of that amount would require approval, considering the type of account this is. I’ll see what I can find.”

Time passed by agonizingly slowly while Cassidy listened to the clicking of a mouse and rhythmic pecking of the keyboard. Eventually, the associate peeked at Cassidy with an anxious look.

“I see where the first transfer happened. It was on April nineteenth of this year. And I also see it noted in the account that the transfer was flagged as suspicious activity, and we immediately reached out to ensure the request was valid.”

“Reached out how?”

“A call was initiated where we reached you, Ms. Evans.”

“You absolutely did not. I never talked to anyone about transfers from this account.”

“It’s right here that one of our associates initiated a call, noted that they spoke to you, and that you mentioned several transfers would be coming through. One a month. To avoid them getting hung up, you demanded that it be noted in the account that you approved all future transfers to Mr. Williams’s account.”

“That’s impossible. I never spoke to anyone about this. Never. I also wouldn’t have ever approved transfers from that account.” She pointed to the statements but kept her eyes on the associate. “What number do you have? What number did they call?”

The associate clicked her mouse several more times and rattled off an area code followed by seven digits: Cassidy’s number. “The call was initiated immediately after the request came through on April nineteenth at three p.m.”

Cassidy shook her head slightly. “How is this possible?”

“I’m not sure. We take such matters as this seriously. The integrity of our customers’ accounts is our top priority. Would you like to speak with the bank manager or our fraud department?”

“I’m sure there’s not much more your bank manager can do than you’ve already done. Do you mind giving me the number to your fraud department? I’ll reach out to them to see if they can help.”

“Sure, no problem. I’m sorry this happened. I’m sure it’s frustrating, but if we can resolve the matter, we will certainly put forth our best efforts.”

“I’m sure you will. Thank you,” Cassidy muttered after accepting the number and the statements she’d handed the associate. She left the bank with no more information than she’d arrived with, which was frustrating.

Once Cassidy was in her car, she pulled up her schedule and traveled back six months to the date of the first transfer. She realized at that moment there was no way possible the bank could have contacted her.

On the day in question, she had a speaking engagement at Duke. The session was from two in the afternoon until five that evening. Tia had been with her up front as a focal point for Cassidy, who struggled with speaking to mass audiences. Cassidy also always kept her phone positioned on the podium with notes as a way to stay on topic. Had the bank called, she would have known. Unless their records were wrong or the associate was lying, they had to have dialed someone else to approve those transfers, but the question was . . . who?

Frustrated that as each day passed since Niles had been murdered, her life was unraveling more and more with no reprieve or recourse, Cassidy tossed her phone into the passenger seat and begrudgingly made the drive home.

“So, how are things? I’ve been meaning to reach out.”

She’d gotten another random visit from a detective. However, she couldn’t curb the disappointment that today’s visit wasn’t from Davis but instead, from her old colleague and friend, Gregory Harper. Cassidy sat across from Harper, brushing her fingers over a fray in her jeans.

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