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Authors: C.G. Prado
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DeVries.
The seminar went well and absorbed Charlie’s attention. He was a bit late getting back to his office because of a discussion with one of the students, and was hurrying to get to lunch when his phone rang. It turned out to be DeVries.
“Charlie; I hoped I’d get you before you went to lunch. I’ll just be a minute but thought I should pass this on in the hopes you might speak to your computing colleague again. I think her name was Sommers?”
“Yes; what’s up?”
“Well, it’s rather odd. The techie that did most of the decrypting of the drive we found in McDermott’s apartment came up with something strange. It seems that while the files of McDermott’s e-statements from Raymond, Teller were his own, the files with the mysterious sets of numbers weren’t his. Kelsey originated the files. They’re Word files and have details about their originator and date first opened.”
“That’s surprising. Could Kelsey have been cheating McDermott and not the other way around? We may have been wrong about McDermott being the dominant figure, though he certainly sounded like it. I don’t know how this fits what I wanted to tell you, but Kate and I think it’s just possible that Kim Berger, the woman working at Raymond, Teller who told me about McDermott’s account, might have been involved in the scam. Her position makes that somewhat likely. Kate thinks she might have told about McDermott’s account to look innocent. It may be a stretch, but there could be something to it.”
“So Berger could be the third party?”
“One thing that fits is that if she shot McDermott, she wouldn’t have been able to lift him into that dumpster.”
“That’s a point, Charlie. As for the account, we would have found out about it, so mentioning it wouldn’t have been much of a risk and it would look like an innocent slip. Interesting. I’m going to have to have a closer look at Berger. In any case, could you see if you can get any more from Sommers or perhaps someone else?”
After finishing with DeVries Charlie wasted no time.
“Janice Sommers.”
“Hello. This is Charlie. Glad I caught you. Is it too late too invite you to lunch at the Club?”
“Decidedly not. I was just sitting here staring at an uninviting tuna sandwich. See you there in about three minutes.”
Seated at a table for two, Charlie ordered wine for them both and began by filling in Sommers on what he’d learned so far, leaving out references to Berger for the moment.
“Sounds like you’ve made some headway. Oh, yes, Kim Berger called me in the afternoon wanting to know if you’d learned anything more about the case.”
“Did she now. I know she told us McDermott had an account with Raymond, Teller, but do you know if Berger knew him beyond handling his trades?”
“Well, my impression is that she oversees a lot of trades for a lot of people, but that doesn’t involve direct contact with clients aside from messages like alerts or warnings. If McDermott was a day-trader, he almost certainly did his own trades online. Someone has to oversee online trades, and since that’s what Kim mainly does, she most probably did deal with some or a lot of his trades. That’s a ways from actually talking to McDermott on the phone, and a much longer way from seeing him at the brokerage. I rather doubt she knew him personally, at least not in connection with his trades. She certainly hasn’t mentioned knowing him to me.”
“Okay, but on another matter, I recall what you said to me about Kelsey, that he never looked you in the eye. A student said the same thing, and another student thought him furtive. I attributed all that to his being shy or unsure of himself, especially since some people described him as being something of a nonentity in comparison to McDermott. Do you think it might have been arrogance? One of the students thought so.”
“That’s an interesting idea, Charlie, and I think it may be right. I know what you mean about
The seminar went well and absorbed Charlie’s attention. He was a bit late getting back to his office because of a discussion with one of the students, and was hurrying to get to lunch when his phone rang. It turned out to be DeVries.
“Charlie; I hoped I’d get you before you went to lunch. I’ll just be a minute but thought I should pass this on in the hopes you might speak to your computing colleague again. I think her name was Sommers?”
“Yes; what’s up?”
“Well, it’s rather odd. The techie that did most of the decrypting of the drive we found in McDermott’s apartment came up with something strange. It seems that while the files of McDermott’s e-statements from Raymond, Teller were his own, the files with the mysterious sets of numbers weren’t his. Kelsey originated the files. They’re Word files and have details about their originator and date first opened.”
“That’s surprising. Could Kelsey have been cheating McDermott and not the other way around? We may have been wrong about McDermott being the dominant figure, though he certainly sounded like it. I don’t know how this fits what I wanted to tell you, but Kate and I think it’s just possible that Kim Berger, the woman working at Raymond, Teller who told me about McDermott’s account, might have been involved in the scam. Her position makes that somewhat likely. Kate thinks she might have told about McDermott’s account to look innocent. It may be a stretch, but there could be something to it.”
“So Berger could be the third party?”
“One thing that fits is that if she shot McDermott, she wouldn’t have been able to lift him into that dumpster.”
“That’s a point, Charlie. As for the account, we would have found out about it, so mentioning it wouldn’t have been much of a risk and it would look like an innocent slip. Interesting. I’m going to have to have a closer look at Berger. In any case, could you see if you can get any more from Sommers or perhaps someone else?”
After finishing with DeVries Charlie wasted no time.
“Janice Sommers.”
“Hello. This is Charlie. Glad I caught you. Is it too late too invite you to lunch at the Club?”
“Decidedly not. I was just sitting here staring at an uninviting tuna sandwich. See you there in about three minutes.”
Seated at a table for two, Charlie ordered wine for them both and began by filling in Sommers on what he’d learned so far, leaving out references to Berger for the moment.
“Sounds like you’ve made some headway. Oh, yes, Kim Berger called me in the afternoon wanting to know if you’d learned anything more about the case.”
“Did she now. I know she told us McDermott had an account with Raymond, Teller, but do you know if Berger knew him beyond handling his trades?”
“Well, my impression is that she oversees a lot of trades for a lot of people, but that doesn’t involve direct contact with clients aside from messages like alerts or warnings. If McDermott was a day-trader, he almost certainly did his own trades online. Someone has to oversee online trades, and since that’s what Kim mainly does, she most probably did deal with some or a lot of his trades. That’s a ways from actually talking to McDermott on the phone, and a much longer way from seeing him at the brokerage. I rather doubt she knew him personally, at least not in connection with his trades. She certainly hasn’t mentioned knowing him to me.”
“Okay, but on another matter, I recall what you said to me about Kelsey, that he never looked you in the eye. A student said the same thing, and another student thought him furtive. I attributed all that to his being shy or unsure of himself, especially since some people described him as being something of a nonentity in comparison to McDermott. Do you think it might have been arrogance? One of the students thought so.”
“That’s an interesting idea, Charlie, and I think it may be right. I know what you mean about
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