The Love Of Money - S02 E154

Story 3 months ago

The Love Of Money - S02 E154

Read Story: SEASON 2 EPISODE 154

Chandler shrugged. “Not particularly. Many investment firms take an interest in successful companies and look for any opportunity to buy more. They’re not the only ones. Tanaka bought out someone from Mexico, and the twins managed to double their shares.”

I nodded, not completely convinced, but something else was bothering me— bringing up Amber’s name had sparked another thought. “Chandler, do you know a… Phillip…”

I couldn’t remember the entire name and looked to Erin and Chloe for help.

“Phillip Castor,” Erin said, pulling the name from her perfect memory.

“That’s the one.” I glanced back at Chandler.

Chandler’s expression grew thoughtful as he mused over the name. “Phillip Castor…”

He walked over to his computer and began tapping away.

“Who’s Phillip Castor?” Vikram asked.

“A guy murdered last month in a minimum-security prison,” I said.

Vikram’s brow furrowed. “What does that have—”

“Ah!” Chandler looked at me over the spectacles he’d donned while searching his computer. “There was an accounting contractor by the name of Phillip Castor working for Gerrard Holdings for a few years!”

My heart skipped a beat, and I jumped to my feet.

Some goddamn fucking answers…

“What does Phillip Castor have to do with anything?” I finished Vikram’s question. “A hell of a lot, considering Amber Bell killed him.”

“Excuse me?” Chandler asked, bewildered.

“We can’t know that for sure,” Chloe said.

The touch of exasperation in her voice irritated me. “She fucking kidnapped and interrogated me, so I know what she’s capable of. She was identified at the prison where Castor died… on the day he died. Of course she did it!”

Chloe shrugged. I wanted to hurl that phonebook-like folder at her. Instead, I turned my attention back to Chandler.

“What are the odds that something was on that drive she wanted—the one they kidnapped from the Catskills home. Like… shadow records or something?”

Chandler eyed me skeptically. “Shadow records? As in, a secret ledger?”

I looked at him expectantly.

“I mean, it’s possible that a secret ledger was stored on a flash drive. I’m not very knowledgeable regarding encryption or cyber security, but I also recall using flash drives as a kind of key for accessing secure computers.”

“Okay,” I said, “So… recap. Kelly works with Logan to get rich by taking advantage of the company’s size. She uses her closeness to Colin and his trust in Logan to enrich herself. There’s some kind of paper trail. Colin figures out what’s going on and fires Kelly.”

I looked to Chandler. He nodded.

“Okay, so Kelly gets fired and Michael Haley is hired in her place because of his track record?”

“Yes. Logan was considered, but Michael had years of experience, and I believe Colin had learned his lesson regarding hiring based on feelings over actual qualifications.”

“So,” Erin said, “Haley gets Kelly’s old position and notices something is going on… he does some digging, finds more stuff he doesn’t like—”

“Michael and Colin did have some heated arguments,” Chandler said. “He was famously one of the only ones who could successfully stand up to the old man.”

“Disputes over what?” I asked.

Chandler shook his head. “It was rare to know the details. Colin’s pride kept their conversations quiet. They may have had their disagreements at times, but Colin had a lot of respect for Michael, and Michael returned it. Outside of those private moments, they kept a united front.”

“Okay,” I said. “Michael finds more evidence, possibly implicating Logan, and Colin doesn’t want to hear it. Michael is eventually murdered…” I looked toward Chandler.

“Only a few months after filling Kelly’s position,” Chandler answered.

“Wow… okay. He’s killed, and Logan ends up in prison. Do you know what the evidence was that tied Logan to the death?”

Chandler shook his head. “I’m afraid not—Colin and his pride.”

I glanced at Vikram, who gave me a vacant look.

“Oh, I wouldn’t bother,” Chandler said, aware that I was considering whether YVP could provide any answers.

I felt my shoulders slump. “Colin didn’t use his regular lawyers for all this, did he?”

Chandler simply sighed.

“Jesus Christ, Colin Gerrard,” I muttered. “So, why was Castor in prison?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” Chandler admitted. “Until a few minutes ago, I was unaware of his existence.”

I huffed, unsatisfied with the answers I had. Granted, it was more than when I first walked through these doors this morning, but still… for a guy with an entire staff working for him, Colin Gerrard managed to keep so many secrets.

“What about Nina?” I asked.

“Oh,” Chandler said. “I never really spoke to her about any of it. Not really my place. I do know her grief was tempered by anger at her husband, considering his corpse was located in bed with another woman.”

I made a mental note to try to talk to Nina. She hadn’t shown me any warmth when we met, so I didn’t bother. However, if I were trying to get to the bottom of her husband’s death, then perhaps I could find an ally… no matter how upset she was with the man. It wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“What about Tyler?” I asked.

Chandler’s eyebrows climbed high. “As in, your brother? I’m afraid there isn’t much to say about him… or your sister, for that matter. They were never part of the company. Your grandfather always took care of them after your father’s death, but they were quite spoiled. Colin wouldn’t let them anywhere near the estate. Especially after everything that happened with Kelly.”

“Oh yeah… I forgot she had a twin sister,” I mused.

I recalled ‘the twins’ having a lawyer represent them at the vote for CEO instead of attending the meeting themselves. I’d meant to follow up on that, but kicking Tyler in the nuts before flying off to Europe had kept me occupied. “Where is she?”

“Last I heard, Allie was in Spain,” Chandler said. “She and Tyler had some kind of falling out, and she wanted nothing to do with the family after that. That was… three years ago, I believe?”

“And their mom?”

“Connecticut,” Chandler said. “She’s married to a surgeon and has little to do with the Gerrards since the death of your father.”

“Hey, Erin?” I said.

“Got it, boss,” Erin said without looking up from her keyboard. We’d been together long enough now that I knew she was creating a task list that included trying to hunt down Tyler’s twin sister, their mom, and Nina Gerrard, so I could try to meet them. Now that I was running into dead ends with Chandler, I hoped that they could provide more.

“So,” I said, looking around the room, “I have three burning questions.”

“Only three?” Vikram asked.

I glanced around the room at the myriad of papers and computers representing decades of Gerrard bookkeeping, “Well, more than three, but three big ones. I want to know what’s on that flash drive. I also want to know who has it, because I’d bet a hell of a lot of money that it’s how we make sense of all this.” I waved my hands at the paper-strewn desk.

There was only one person I could think of—Amber. That bitch had to have it.

“And the other question?” Erin asked.

“Why did Amber Bell murder Phillip Castor?”

No one spoke, and I couldn’t blame them. There were plenty of guesses—he was an accountant, so it’s possible he had some kind of dirt on Kelly… or maybe Logan.

But if that was the case, then why was he in prison? Protection from Kelly, maybe? Had he been helping Kelly? Was the murder because Castor had actually been helping make backroom deals?

My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out to take a look.

And then I froze.

Hiro Tanaka’s number was on the screen.

It buzzed again, and I looked up at Erin, who had started to say something about Castor, but grew concerned the moment she saw my face.

“What’s the matter, boss?”

It buzzed a third time and then went dead.

I gripped my phone and turned toward the door. I didn’t want several sets of eyes watching me while I talked to Hiro Tanaka.

“Where are you going?” Chandler asked, suddenly appearing agitated.

I glanced around the room. “Me being here is pointless. Keep these guys working on this. I want every single answer I can find. Meanwhile, Tanaka just called me. I’m gonna call him back.”

“What?” Chloe’s tone was sharp.

“Is that a good idea?” Vikram said.

“Why?” Erin asked.

“Because it’s the polite thing to do!” I said and reached for the doorknob.

“Erm,” Chandler said, “When were you planning on talking to Mrs. Tanaka?”

I looked toward the ceiling and groaned. I’d forgotten that I’d promised Chandler that I would talk to Carla and try to move her out of VistaVision. Chandler was a good guy, and I didn’t want to reward his hard work and loyalty by plaguing him with someone like Carla.