Lisa filled the silence. “You know Jonathan and I talked about the case a little. He suspected Parker had hidden his millions in cryptocurrency, but no one ever found a web address or private key.”

“How thorough was the search?”

“Down to pulling out the inserts of his shoes to see if anything was written under them.”

“What about a computer or a laptop?” Ethel asked.

“As far as I know, Parker had a laptop but the hard drive had been completely scrubbed by some destructive program. Maybe he had the necessary information stored somewhere we can’t trace.”

“So, what do you think happened?”

Lisa finished the banana and folded the peel in her hand. “I think he converted the embezzled money into cryptocurrency and probably moved it through multiple coins—Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, XRP, Ethereum—and then maybe back to Bitcoin because it’s the most widely circulated. From there it could have gone to an offshore or Swiss account after creating a convoluted crypto trail impossible to follow. Parker may have arranged to have the codes physically stashed in a safe deposit box in some bank out of the country.”

“So, whether in a bank account or virtual wallet, that money is lost?”

Lisa hopped off the stool and dropped the banana peel into the trash. “That’s where I see this ending up.” She turned on the sink faucet and washed the residue from her hands. She dried them on a paper towel. “Do you think there’s any connection?”

“To what?”

“To the Parker case and Jonathan’s murder.”

“I don’t know. What do you think?”

Lisa thought a moment. “I think Jonathan suspected something wasn’t kosher in the counterfeiting division but didn’t want to say anything till he had some proof.”

“I wonder what tipped him off?”

“Somebody must have said something that made him suspicious. That’s my guess.”

Ethel picked up a banana slice and then put it down. “Douglas was on that team that busted the New York ring, the one where the bogus money came from.”

Lisa’s eyes widened. “But you don’t think Douglas was involved, do you?”

“No,” Ethel quickly answered. “Of course not. I’m confident he won’t be a match.”

“A match for what?”

“The shooter’s DNA from the blood in Jonathan’s SUV.” Ethel put a finger to her lips and peered down the back hallway as if she thought someone might be listening. Then she whispered, “Bradshaw’s going to require everyone on that team to give a DNA sample. He wants to rule out an inside job.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but don’t say anything. I shouldn’t have told you.”

Lisa stood quietly for a second.

“What?” Ethel asked.

“You really are amazing. I can’t tell you what an inspiration you are to me and so many other women in the Bureau. The trails you blazed for us.”