“Science. Mathematics. Architecture. I saw Davie’s room; you didn’t. He builds molecules with Tinkertoys, and there was a shelf filled with LEGO constructions. I think right now his mother homeschools him. He’s been in and out of special-ed programs and has trouble relating to other children.” Ethel shook her head. “But nothing Jonathan told me sheds any light on why he would have the currency.”

Jesse hesitated and then spoke out. “Maybe he hadn’t wrapped up the previous case as completely as he wanted to.”

All eyes turned to him.

Lisa Draper, seated in the chair beside him, leaned close. “What case?”

Jesse glanced at Ethel. She stared at him with the same curiosity as everyone else.

“The Dwayne Parker suicide. The KryptoFold executive.”

“He talked to you about that?” Lisa asked.

“No. I read about it this afternoon. When I was resting.”

Bradshaw nodded. “That was a joint operation with the FBI. Were you involved, Lisa?”

“Only with the forensic accounting. Once we uncovered the missing funds and saw the bank trail end in offshore wires, Secret Service took over the cybercrime aspect. That’s where everyone thought the money wound up—cryptocurrency. I believe the surveillance on Parker continued in an effort to locate the Bitcoin, Ethereum, or whatever digital currency held the embezzled funds.”

Bradshaw nodded. “If you worked the case, did you discuss it with Finch?”

“Briefly. When we first met. I knew Jonathan had discovered Parker’s body, and I asked if he thought the funds would ever be recovered. He told me that without the wallet addresses and, more important, the private keys to any accounts, the coins would never surface. He said there are millions of dollars’ worth of coins sitting in virtual wallets because the owners lost their private keys. He compared it to having your life’s savings in an impenetrable glass box. You can see it, but you can’t touch it.”

Mancini brushed cookie crumbs from his lap. “Okay, I get that, but how does cryptocurrency connect to those counterfeit hundreds stolen from your evidence room, Cory? That’s what’s directly tied to Finch’s murder and the attack on Jesse.”

“First step is to identify who was on that case,” Bradshaw said.

Douglas cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. “Sir, I was on that case. We got a tip on ink and paper suppliers. It was a New York mob operation, but the production was upstate near Saratoga. A few notes had been floated in the area, either to test their ability to pass as genuine, or someone in the operation was greedy and ran extras for his own use. Those bills caught our attention and led to the arrests.”

“Remind me,” Bradshaw said, “was this before they went into mass circulation?”

“Yes. We obtained some confessions before trial. The consistent story was the money was headed out of the states for foreign distribution where the bills face less scrutiny.”