Page 66

Cedar Creek, Nevada

Sunday, July 2, 1995 2 Days Prior . . .

SANDY ASSUMED TWO THINGS WHEN HE CONCOCTED HIS PLAN TO ENLIST the help of Preston Margolis. The first was that Preston had nothing to do with the murder of Baker Jauncey and would do everything possible to protect Annabelle. The second was that, as an attorney at Margolis Margolis, Preston had unprecedented access to files and information that could help Sandy figure out who Guy Menendez was.

“Can I get you a beer?” Sandy asked as they walked into the cabin.

“Maybe a whiskey, instead? It’s not every day that I have a gun pointed at me.”

Sandy motioned to the kitchen island and for Preston to take a seat. He poured two fingers of Jameson into a tumbler and grabbed a beer from the fridge. Sandy took a stool next to Preston and pushed the whiskey over to him.

Preston took a long sip.

“Okay, Sheriff. Start from the beginning.”

“Someone at Margolis and Margolis killed Baker Jauncey,” Sandy said, taking a sip of beer.

“What?”

Sandy nodded. “Marvin Mann, Baker’s investigator, tracked me down a few days ago to tell me an interesting story. Baker had stumbled across evidence of financial fraud inside your law firm— money laundering, embezzlement, misappropriation of funds, and more. Baker enlisted his trusted investigator to help him figure out who was involved, and gave Marvin a stack of documents he took from the firm. The next day Baker was dead—the victim of an apparent hit-and-run. Marvin Mann came to me with his suspicions that Baker’s death was no accident. He handed over all the documents Baker had given him, and I asked my accountant to take a look at them. The bottom line is that some very shady things are going on at your law firm. Baker Jauncey caught wind of them and was killed because of it.”

“Who?” Preston asked. “Who’s involved in this fraud?”

“That’s why I asked you out here. I don’t know who’s involved. But I’m hoping if I share what I know, that you’ll be able to figure it out since you have easy access to Margolis and Margolis files.”

“What did you learn?”

Sandy walked over to a cabinet above the refrigerator and removed a few pages of the files Marvin Mann had given him. These were copies; the originals were still stashed in the Reno safe deposit box.

“This is some of what Baker found at the firm. It’s just a taste of what he gave Marvin Mann.”

Preston skimmed the pages.

“If this is just some of what Baker found, where’s the rest of it?”

“Tucked away somewhere safe for now. And that’s all I’ll say until I know if you’re going to help me.”

“Take me through what your accountant found,” Preston said.

For fifteen minutes Sandy laid out the complicated puzzle of the fraud taking place inside Margolis Margolis.

Preston paged back through the documents.

“There’re no names on any of these pages. They’re all anonymous shell companies and numbered accounts.”

“There’s only one name in any of the documents. Guy Menendez.”

“Who?”

“Guy Menendez.”

“There’s no one by that name at Margolis and Margolis.”

Sandy nodded. “I figured that much already.”

“Tell me what this has to do with my wife.”

Sandy took a sip of beer. “It was a setup, Preston. Someone killed Baker and then made it look like he was hit by Annabelle’s car.”

“Why?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. But here’s what I’m stuck on. Your family has influence just about everywhere in Harrison County and much of Nevada. The Harrison County coroner’s office is under your family’s authority, and the coroner’s office literally stole Baker’s body from Reno in the dead of night and did their own autopsy. The only way that happens is if someone decided to meddle in the case. And when meddling happens around these parts, it usually has Margolis fingerprints on it.”

Preston opened his palms. “It obviously didn’t come from me.”

“That’s why you’re sitting here, counselor. I need you to help me figure out what’s going on. The Reno Medical Examiner’s Office came to a wholly different conclusion about how Baker Jauncey died than did the Harrison County coroner. According to the coroner, the official cause of death was head trauma sustained during the hit-and-run. Reno says Baker was hit by a baseball bat. So, best I can tell, someone didn’t like the idea that Baker’s death was going to be blamed on him being cracked by a baseball bat, and much preferred the official line stating that he died from being run over by Annabelle’s car.”

“So just to be clear, my wife is no longer a suspect in Baker’s death?”

“Not so long as I’m running the investigation.”

“What do you need from me?”

“I need you to figure out who’s behind the fraud at Margolis and Margolis.”

“And you think the answer lies somewhere in the files inside my law firm?”

“I do.”

Preston pushed the whiskey away and stood up. “Then I’ll go look.”

“When?”

“Right now.”