“Jack couldn’t be more right,” Abner Tookus said. “Y’all want me to hack into Miz Petrie’s financials?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Annie drawled. “Do it!”

“What’s our next move?” Nikki asked.

Charles cleared his throat. “I just made our next move. I sent Avery Snowden a text telling him to pick up Jane Petrie. Do not be surprised if she’s gone and disappeared.”

“Oh! A snatch and grab!” Dennis said, his eyes sparking with excitement.

“It’s only a snatch and grab when you manage the grab part, kid,” Ted said.

“Does that mean Petrie is in danger?” Dennis asked. No one answered him.

“I hope it does!” Pearl Barnes said spitefully. “I hope if she’s guilty, she pays forever for what she’s done. And all for money, so she can drive a Corvette and go to Europe twice a year! I’d like to see her tarred and feathered. Think!” she screeched. “Who else has she scammed or blackmailed? How many poor souls out there were at her mercy? She’s a damn nurse!” This last was said as though that was the beginning and end of it all. Then Pearl shook her head and mumbled an apology everyone knew she didn’t mean.

“Okayyyy, moving right along here, people. What’s our next move?” Kathryn asked.

“I think we need to figure that one out. We are open to ideas, suggestions, and plans,” Charles said. “The floor is open, people!”

Chapter 4

The gang broke for lunch at one o’clock. Charles left the group to their haggling and plotting to go, as he referred to it, topside to prepare a luncheon they could eat outdoors on the terrace. Fergus went along to help.

Left to their own devices, the group listened in awe as Abner rattled on about Jane Petrie’s financial status.

“That was pretty quick, Abner,” Ted said.

Abner beamed. “What can I tell you. When you’re good, you’re good, and I am good. The only thing I haven’t done yet is to get her IRS file. The young lady is pretty much an open book. Doesn’t appear to be hiding anything. So, sit back and listen up. Right now, as of today, Miss Petrie has thirty-eight hundred dollars in her personal checking account. Out of this account she pays a hefty mortgage of seventeen hundred dollars a month. She pays her utilities, cell phone, water, insurance, and a car payment that is $982 a month. Plus her credit cards. She has two, a Visa and an American Express that she pays off in full every month. Some months she takes it right down to the wire with an ending balance of five dollars. She deposits checks every three or four days. I assume paychecks from private clients plus checks from the Around the Clock Medical Registry. They usually run around seven to eight thousand a month. All of that in and of itself is not something out of the ordinary. What is out of the ordinary is her brokerage account, which is quite robust. She opened it three years ago with a deposit of thirty-three thousand dollars. All told, since she opened the account, she has made twenty-seven deposits, and the lowest deposit was for five thousand dollars. The highest was sixty-two thousand dollars, which was made ten days ago. Unusual amounts, to be sure, and all even amounts. Twice a year she takes out between five and seven thousand dollars, which coincide with her trips to Europe. She transfers the money to her regular account, then does the trip on her credit cards so she can rack up frequent flyer miles. On her return, she pays it all off. Right now, as of today, the lady has $387,444.12 in her brokerage account. Not bad for a single, twenty-eight-year-old nurse.