Laura frowned. “I didn’t make that up. We had the photo. It should be here.”

“It was their vehicle, but they weren’t driving—that’s our theory. Based on our interviews and the timeline, it simply isn’t plausible that they left and returned a week later. Possible, but unlikely. Their vehicle was found dismantled in Mexico, so they’d have to find other transportation—they couldn’t fly because their passports were flagged. So Nate and I think they were killed the day they disappeared. Buried, and someone tried to make us think they left the country.”

“That’s awful,” Laura said. “Give me graft and corruption any day over mass murder.”

“What we’re looking at now are Albright’s clients. We have a list of them here, and your notes. No one, other than Kiefer, had lost any money.”

“Correct. We interviewed everyone she worked for based on her files and calendar. We compared that information to her most recent tax returns, which were honestly the most flawless set of tax returns I’ve ever seen. The individuals involved all had independent auditors review their accounts. I followed up a year later—called everyone, reviewed the file, confirmed that they were still considered at large. No one was missing funds.” She sorted through a stack of files, looking for something specific, then pulled it out. “On the Kiefer funds, she committed fraud—by forging Kiefer’s signature to transfer the money to a separate holding account which she controlled, and then she transferred those funds to a shell corp that was closed down a day later. The money rolled through multiple shells for a week before it disappeared.”

“Money doesn’t just disappear,” Nate said.

“On paper it does. We have the last withdrawal—on Friday, September 28. But we don’t know where the money went. It was transferred to a numbered account overseas, which has since been closed.”

“What day did she actually embezzle the money?” Lucy asked.

“Friday, September 21.”

“The day they went missing,” Lucy said. “The day she was told of the independent audit. Why would she take the money then if she knew there would be an audit? Why not wait a week?”

“I can’t answer that, I can only tell you the facts. We interviewed the bank manager. The transfer was made online, but that morning she went into the bank to change the authorization signatures and codes. This wasn’t unusual, because many companies make changes as people come and go and the bank manager knew Denise because she was a longtime customer.”

“But she didn’t actually withdraw the money then.”

“No, and the bank wouldn’t have just let her walk with three million. Every transfer was done electronically.”

“And nothing was flagged?”