Page 9 of Deception

For a few minutes the supervisor and Hugh talked about March Madness and which team would win the college basketball championship. Then the FBI agent included Madison in the conversation. “Did you ever see Paul play pro football?”

“No, but I think I recall seeing him play for the University of Kentucky,” she said. Madison had always preferred college games over pro.

“Those were fun times.” Davidson stood when three raps sounded at the side door. “That should be Deon.”

He opened the door, and a wiry man a couple of inches taller than Madison’s five six entered the room. He quickly removed his green park service cap and ran his hand over his close-cropped hair. “Sorry I’m late, but we had trouble with one of the machines this morning.”

After the introductions were made, the soft-spoken maintenance supervisor grabbed a cup of coffee and took a chair. “You always have good coffee,” he said, turning to Paul. “Appreciate you letting us meet here. Wouldn’t be any way to get you three into my office at maintenance headquarters without someone wanting to know why you were there.”

Paul nodded. “Although I’ve found Vivian to be very closemouthed, I still told her that Hugh and Madison are here to pitch a new county insurance proposal. Shall we get down to business?”

Hugh nodded for Madison to take lead, and she took out a notebook. Some agents used a tablet, but she liked being able to write all over the page. She turned to the park service worker first. “On the phone, you mentioned equipment was missing.”

Deon nodded. “Just last month we lost three commercial string trimmers and three power saws. Two of the power saws had never been cranked.”

She turned to Paul. “And you?”

“Basically the same thing, but we have different types of equipment missing, and we may be dealing with kickbacks.”

“Kickbacks?” Hugh uncrossed his legs and leaned forward.

Paul nodded. “I campaigned on transparency, so no vendor has approached me directly. However, I happened to be at the yard when a vendor brought in a load of bridge lumber. The invoice didn’t match the board footage on the load. When I figured it up, a quarter of the lumber was missing, but 100 percent had been billed for. I figure the vendor slipped someone part of that 25 percent in cash.”

“Any idea who?”

The two supervisors exchanged glances. Deon spoke first. “That’s just it. We haven’t caught anyone actually stealing—the equipment just goes missing. I think the kickbacks involve someone higher up, but we both feel they are part of the theft ring.”

“Our records show a purchase order, the company that ordered, and the amount delivered, whether it’s equipment, lumber, or gravel,” Paul said.

“Gravel?” Madison raised her eyebrows.

“That’s the easiest item to steal,” Deon said. “It’s easy enough to short a load or put down two loads of rock or gravel when only one was delivered.”

“And when I questioned the guy at the yard about the lumber discrepancy,” Paul said, “he indicated he’d questioned a supervisor once and was told the question was above his pay grade.”

Madison raised her eyebrows. “In other words, don’t ask questions.”

Both men bobbed their heads.

“Did he say who the supervisor was?”

Another nod. “The one I just replaced.”

Paul Davidson had only recently won a special election after George Spencer, the supervisor from the fifth district, died in an automobile accident after his brakes failed.

“So far no one has proven George’s brake line was loosened, but I’m being extra careful before I accuse someone of accepting kickbacks or stealing,” Paul said somberly. “And you better do the same in your investigation.”

6

Hugh carried the files out to Madison’s Impala and stored them in her trunk. “Want to grab a bite to eat?”

“No, thanks. I want to unload my things at my grandfather’s house and get started on these files.”

“I understand. What do you think about the case?”

“I think it’ll be easy enough to see if the requisitions and invoices match up. I assume you’ll dig into who’s stealing the equipment.”

“Sounds good. I’ll check in with you later today.” Hugh climbed into his car.

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