The high-pitched trill quickly faded as Ethel removed the kettle from the stove’s burner. She poured the steaming water into a teapot where two bags dangled inside. She set the full pot on the kitchen island alongside two mugs, a small pitcher of chilled cream, and a bowl of sugar cubes. “I’ll let it steep a few minutes. Do you still take tea with cream and a single cube?”

Mancini nodded and slid onto the kitchen barstool in the same spot he’d sat nearly ten hours earlier. “You found that money under Finch’s bed, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I considered the possibility Jonathan had it as evidence in a case. It was in a gym bag similar to what Jesse witnessed one of the killers carrying. When I discovered most of the bills had the same serial number, I believed he must have penetrated a counterfeiting ring.”

“And you wanted to keep me in the dark.”

“I wanted to keep the investigation within the proper jurisdiction.”

“So you told Cory. Why didn’t he take it?”

Ethel lifted the teapot and began pouring. “I haven’t told him.”

Mancini’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I wanted to learn what I could before Cory took possession. So I gave a confidential source in the agency the serial numbers. On the way back from Richmond, I got confirmation the bills were evidence in an upstate New York bust.”

“Then these were still going into distribution,” Mancini concluded.

“No, these were the confiscated bills. They’re missing from the Secret Service’s secure evidence storage.” She pushed a mug, the cream pitcher, and sugar bowl across the counter.

Mancini ignored them. “Someone from the inside?”

Ethel shrugged and sipped her tea.

Mancini pointed to the bin with the phony bills. “Cory’s got a rat in his own house. He’ll be apoplectic. Those Secret Service teams are tighter than a bloated tick on a hound dog. Tighter than the FBI.”

“I won’t argue,” Ethel said. “But you know what that means?”

“It means he should bring in outside investigators. Something he’ll be loath to do.”

“No. It means he’s got rats plural. This wasn’t a solo operation. There was a team in place. I believe several corrupt agents found each other. I’m not sure how Jonathan stumbled across them. Or why he set up a rendezvous like he did. Maybe he didn’t know whom to trust. But once he got the bills, they went all out to recover them because the bills are the link to an inside conspiracy. I blame myself for not realizing that. For leaving Jesse alone.”

Mancini softened his voice. “But you didn’t know about the connection to the missing evidence until heading back from Richmond. Jesse had already been attacked. So don’t beat yourself up.”