She brought up that account and we studied it on the screen. The balance was over a million dollars, and a long list of transfers had been made into it in the last two hours.

“I don’t get this at all,” Yolanda said, watching the screen, chewing her bottom lip. “That’s Alan’s code number, but I don’t know why he’s doing things this way. I got a big check out on one of those other accounts that I know isn’t gonna clear if he doesn’t put that money back where he found it.”

I sat up straight, my heart pounding.

“Yolanda,” Harriet said. “Can Alan access the online banking system from outside the office?”

“Sure, as long as he logs on.”

“Unbelievable.”

I reached for Yolanda’s phone and dialed the number for Detectives Sollie and Keegan. Though I told the operator it was an emergency, she still put me on hold—and a few seconds of that felt like an eternity. I was still waiting, the phone pressed to my ear, when I heard a disturbance from the front of the Smythe building.

“I’m telling you, he’s not here!” a man said loudly. The three of us got up to see what was going on, and much to my surprise Detectives Sollie and Keegan, along with several uniformed police officers, were marching briskly down the hall. I hung up the phone, wondering if they were coming to get me. I pulled off my scarf and jacket, willing to turn myself in as long as they would look at what we had discovered.

They passed me by, however, so I followed them until they reached the end of the hall and Alan Bennet’s office, which was dark and empty.

“If you’re looking for Alan Bennet, he’s not here,” I said. Keegan glared at me, anger on his face.

“And where the heck have you been?” he demanded. “I got a room full of people who need to talk to you.”

By now we had drawn a small crowd. As I opened my mouth to reply, I heard one of the policemen say to another, “He’s not here and not at his apartment. Where does that leave us?”

“Are you here for Alan Bennet?” I asked. “Because I don’t know where he is, but I sure know what he’s doing. I was just trying to call you.”

Keegan raised one eyebrow.

“Follow me. Quickly.”

I led them back to Yolanda’s office, and they crowded around behind her terminal.

“Alan’s had a busy day,” I said softly, waiting until the police had ushered away the curious onlookers. “In the last two hours, he’s transferred over a million dollars into this one account.”

“Is he at the bank?”

“No. He’s doing it over the internet. He could be anywhere.”