PART 9
Three months into the investigation, Detective Keene called.
“We found why he went there that night.”
I sat down.
“Tell me.”
“Your mother had called the bank.”
“I know.”
“The bank placed a temporary fraud hold.”
“Okay.”
“That hold blocked a transfer scheduled for the next morning.”
“How much?”
“Sixty-five thousand.”
My stomach tightened.
“Destination?”
“Harbor Ridge.”
Of course.
“The bank sent an automated email notifying the account administrator.”
“Julian?”
“Yes.”
“So he knew she discovered it.”
“Yes.”
“And he went there to stop her.”
“That appears to be the sequence.”
I closed my eyes.
“Did he intend to hurt her?”
“We can’t know intent before the encounter.”
“But we know he went there after the fraud alert.”
“And the messages to Marcus Dell confirm he considered it urgent.”
“Who is Marcus?”
“A bookkeeper connected to Harbor Ridge.”
“Was he involved?”
“Possibly.”
Later, Marcus cooperated.
He became one of the most important witnesses.
According to him, Julian had been moving money for years.
At first, Marcus believed the transfers were legitimate consulting fees.
Then he noticed account names.
Elderly individuals.
Family accounts.
Personal assets.
He questioned Julian.
Julian told him everything was authorized.
Marcus kept working.
That was his mistake.
Then the amounts grew.
By the time Marcus realized something was wrong, he was already implicated.
He saved messages.
Lots of them.
One from Julian six months earlier read.
Mom-in-law account is easy.
She never checks.
Another.
Valerie trusts me completely.
That sentence hurt more than the affair.
Because it was true.
I had trusted him completely.
He knew it.
He had monetized it.
