Dawn Stewardson - Unexpected Outcome

She considered that for a moment, then decided the problem was more likely that she’d become overly suspicious. It routinely happened to cops and P.I.s.

Still, whether it was common or not, suspecting her own father wasn’t simply curious about her work… Lord, that had to be really paranoid.

Forcing away her concern, she continued her summary of what had been happening at Four Corners.

Jack listened in silence—until she got to the part about the two shipping containers that had gone astray. When she said that their contents had been worth half a million dollars, he gave a low whistle.

It made her smile. “I told you they deal in quality stuff. At any rate, I have a call in to the police detective who caught the case. But I haven’t heard back from him yet.”

She returned to the details, finishing up by saying, “Larry Benzer’s money is on one or more of the warehouse people. Because between the arson and those containers disappearing they’re such obvious possibilities.”

“The arson was definitely an inside job?”

“That’s what the fire marshal decided. According to his report there was no sign of forced entry. So someone apparently had a key.”

“Then you’re probably looking at either a current or ex-employee.”

“Exactly. And since all three of the full-time warehouse staff have been there for years, there’s no disgruntled ex running around. So current would be the likely bet. But Robert Haine isn’t convinced it was any of the warehouse guys.”

“Oh? What does he think?”

“That their theory about a plot to drive down the share price is right. And he says none of the warehouse fellows is sophisticated enough to mastermind anything like that.”

“Have they both ruled out the idea that a competitor might be behind things?”

“I don’t think so. At least not entirely. Someone could be paying off one of their employees. Or more than one. Or maybe both their theories are all wet.”

Her father nodded. “Sounds like a case that might take a while to get a good feel for.”

“That’s for sure. By the time they finished discussing everyone they thought the perp could be… Well, I was left thinking it might be almost anyone. I haven’t even ruled out Robert’s nephew.”

“The director of finance.”

She nodded.

“He a typical accountant type?”

When she couldn’t help smiling, her father said, “What’s that about?”

“Nothing, really. Just that he’s not exactly a typical accountant.”

Resisting the temptation to add that he wouldn’t be even if someone forced him to wear wire-rimmed glasses and a pocket protector, she merely waited—fully expecting another question about Noah Haine.

Her mother would certainly have asked one. Her father, however, got straight back to business, saying “What about those invoices that went missing? Any possibility of tying them to someone from the warehouse?”

“Surprisingly, yes. The best guess is that someone lifted them while they were waiting to go out in the mail. And on paydays, one or another of the warehouse fellows stops by to pick up their checks.

“So it’s conceivable one of them could have been responsible. Not likely, but conceivable.”

Jack Morancy was silent for a minute, then said, “You didn’t mention how these Four Corners people heard about you.”

“You mean you don’t think everyone’s heard I’m the best P.I. in New York?”

He grinned. “Of course. Dumb of me to ask.”

“Actually, someone on the force recommended me. But since Robert didn’t do the checking around himself, he didn’t know who.”

That seemed to bring the conversation to an end, so she opened the fridge again and took out a pitcher of lemonade, saying, “Want to sit on the porch for a while?”

“Sure,” her father told her. Then he smiled, but it wasn’t his normal smile.

“Dad…is something bothering you?”

“Bothering me? No. Why?”

“I just thought…” She shrugged. “I guess I just thought wrong.”

She hadn’t, though. She was deep-down certain she hadn’t.

DANA AND JACK MORANCY weren’t quite finished dinner when her cell phone rang. Ted Tanaka, the NYPD detective investigating the container theft, was finally getting back to her.

As it turned out, the investigation had stalled and he couldn’t add much to what she already knew. But since she’d only given her father the bare bones of that—and since he sat watching her expectantly after she clicked off—she figured she’d better recap the conversation.

“He basically just repeated what Robert and Larry told me,” she began. “What I was telling you earlier.

“Four Corners had six containers coming in on a cargo ship. It was Friday, the ship was late arriving and Stu Refkin, the warehouse manager, had plans for right after work. So he took off before the crew unloaded the shipment and left his two men to deal with it.”

“By deal with it you mean…?”

“Move the containers from the pier into the warehouse.”

“That only takes two people?”

“Two people and a lift truck. Anyway, they did that, then locked up and went home. But according to them, there were just four containers.”

“Why wouldn’t they know there were supposed to be six?”

She shrugged. “Stu says he thinks he mentioned the number—that he meant to but isn’t entirely sure he did. They claim that, if so, they didn’t hear him. And the one who signed the ship’s delivery form barely looked at it. Didn’t check how many it specified.”

“Pretty sloppy.”

“Yes, but I guess it’s the sort of thing that becomes so routine…”

“Honey, nothing should ever be routine when you’re talking half a million bucks. I’m surprised that guy still has his job.”

“Well, the insurance company will pick up most of the loss. And I gather it was the first time anything like that ever happened.

“But I’m getting off track,” she continued. “The important thing is that the company’s men say there were only four containers while the ship’s captain swears his crew unloaded six.”

“So either he’s lying or the warehouse guys are,” her father said.

“Uh-huh. And the ship has a foreign registry and is long gone by now, which means Tanaka probably has all he’s going to get from that end.”

“This happened on a Friday,” Jack said slowly.

“Yes. Then, come Monday, Stu Refkin arrived at work and discovered…Well, he got on the phone to Larry Benzer and Larry called the police.”

Her father nodded. “In the meantime, if you assume all six containers were unloaded, the two warehouse guys would have had the entire weekend to dispose of them. And even a fence would have paid…

“But did this Tanaka tell you what he figures happened?”

“He thinks only four of them made it off the ship. A security guard patrols the piers, and moving containers out of the warehouse on a weekend would be unusual. So if he saw it happening he’d probably have questioned it. At the very least, he’d have made a note in his log.

“All in all, disposing of them would have been risky. So Tanaka’s best guess is that the ship’s captain intentionally shorted the delivery. But he also thinks the captain was in cahoots with someone at Four Corners.”

“Someone like…?”

“Take your pick. Stu Refkin checked out and left the others in charge. And he’d probably know if they don’t normally pay much attention when they sign receiving forms.”

“Yeah, so the ship could have been intentionally late, letting this Refkin remove himself from the picture and…”

“But he’s not our only contender. Tony Zicco, the guy who signed the delivery slip, hasn’t always been Mr. Straight-and-Narrow.