“Yes, but there’s nothing of Jonathan’s clone left on either. As far as I’m aware, no one can prove Jonathan Finch was ever tied to the Parker money. Things lead no further than the counterfeit scam, and, as Mancini said, it’s a tidy case better closed than left open.”

“Good. Then get Jonathan’s stuff out of my car as soon as Pete and Curt bring it. But hold on to it, don’t destroy it.”

Jesse edged closer to the bed. “Ethel, between us, what do you think happened?”

She rolled on her side to get closer to him. “I think Parker knew the jig was up and killed himself. Jonathan found his computer, his KryptoFold device, and either a written private key or used Parker’s finger to access his crypto wallet. You know better than I do what he could have done, but I think he moved that money to a wallet of his own and then destroyed Parker’s drive, claiming Parker had done so before his suicide.”

“So, the KryptoFold hidden in the LEGO model was Jonathan’s?”

“We’ll never know for sure since both he and Parker are dead, but once Jonathan had transferred the money to his own wallet, he could have purchased and programmed his own device.”

“Why did he create two wallets?” Jesse asked.

“In setting up the cash-for-Bitcoin exchange, isn’t it likely Jonathan would have had to show them he had the necessary Bitcoin balance?”

Jesse nodded. “You’re right. And he would have only wanted to reveal the half a million dollars, not the twenty million. But when they stole his computer, they discovered the real fortune. Do you think Jonathan was trying to sell all the coins?”

“Jonathan knew he was dying. I think he was selling a small part to leave for his family. Twenty million was just too much to deal with and would have put his wife in the terrible position of knowing his crime. He could have arranged for some trust to be activated after his death without involving Susan in the details. I doubt if she’d turn down the income.”

“And the rest of the money?”

Ethel shrugged. “With no private key, it would sit there for eternity, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah, like millions of dollars’ worth of other lost coins.”

“But his illicit attempt to provide for his family intersected with our unholy trio who were selling and then recapturing counterfeit currency. One person motivated by need, the others by greed. Then they got hold of Jonathan’s computer, discovered the source of his funds, and the search for the twenty million began. I suspect Lisa Draper was the driving force. Men might be cunning, but women are ruthless. She probably would have shot her pilot once he delivered her to her final destination. An offshore account and access to her globally available cryptocurrency would have enabled her to disappear completely. Am I right?”