Chapter 7 - The Account in Her Name.
Daniel removed his overcoat and draped it across a chair with deliberate calm.
“You’re making a theatrical accusation from a blurry phone video.”
Adrian did not answer.
He was watching Victor.
Victor would not look at Daniel anymore.
The officers separated the witnesses and began taking statements.
Elena sat at a corner table with her canvas bag in her lap and the baby bottle beside her water glass.
Adrian joined her after giving his own account.
“You should call someone you trust.”
“I already did.”
“Your husband?”
She looked down.
“My husband died last year.”
Adrian regretted the question immediately.
“I’m sorry.”
“His name was Owen.”
She rubbed the frayed strap of the bag.
“He bought this bag when Noah was born because he said diaper bags looked like luggage for tiny dictators.”
For the first time that night, she almost smiled.
Then her phone vibrated.
The smile disappeared.
It was the bank’s fraud department returning her earlier call.
Elena put the call on speaker with the officer’s permission.
The representative could not disclose everything without a formal investigation, but she confirmed that the fraudulent account had been opened using Elena’s identity and a verification phone number ending in 1149.
Elena shook her head.
“That isn’t my number.”
Adrian turned toward the office.
Victor had listed an office mobile number on several management reports.
He checked an old email.
The number ended in 1149.
The officer asked Victor to produce the phone.
Victor said it had been lost months ago.
Maribel spoke from the doorway.
“No, it hasn’t.”
Victor glared at her.
“You use it every night to call deliveries.”
The officer asked again.
Victor reached into a desk cabinet and produced a cheap black phone.
The bank representative sent a one-time verification code to the number associated with the fraudulent account.
The cheap phone buzzed in the officer’s hand.
Elena stared at it.
Victor’s knees seemed to weaken.
Daniel finally lost his composure.
“That proves Victor’s device was used.”
Victor looked at him in disbelief.
Daniel continued.
“It does not implicate anyone else.”
Victor’s face changed as he understood the sacrifice being prepared for him.
“You told me that number was for accounting verification.”
Daniel’s eyes sharpened.
“Be very careful.”
Victor laughed once.
It sounded close to panic.
Adrian leaned forward.
“What accounting verification?”
Victor said nothing.
The officer placed the black phone into an evidence pouch.
Elena looked at Adrian.
“So he opened the account?”
“Someone used his phone to verify it.”
Adrian’s voice stayed measured.
“That is not the same as proving who did everything.”
Elena nodded slowly.
She appreciated that he did not pretend certainty.
Then the bank representative added one more detail.
The account had received three relief-fund deposits, not one.
The total was forty thousand three hundred dollars.
Elena closed her eyes.
“That burned paper had the same three amounts.”
Adrian nodded.
The representative continued.
All three transfers had been swept into the same business account within minutes.
She could provide the receiving institution’s name to investigators.
But the recipient shown on Elena’s archived notice was enough.
Rook Dining Consulting LLC.
Adrian knew the company.
Mercer Hospitality paid it hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for “operational strategy.”
May you like
He had never met anyone who worked there.
Daniel had personally recommended the vendor.
