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Charleston Police Department Sergeant Danielle Young was called to the stand as the prosecution’s first witness.

She presented herself as a strong and intelligent woman. She wore a brown jacket, white shirt, and brown skirt. Her black heels were minimally high, and her brunette hair was tied back. Over the course of her career, she had built a reputation as a no-nonsense investigator, someone who took their job seriously and had no time to play office politics. Her commitment was to the city and to the community, and nobody could convince her otherwise.

Flanked by two junior lawyers, Garrett typed into his laptop, read over the lines and lines of notes, and then greeted his first witness.

“Sergeant Young, thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule.”

Garrett began. He stood at the lectern at the side of the room, one hand resting on the file while the other moved with purpose, punctuating his words and giving his speech an air of conviction. “Can you please tell the court your profession and connection to this case?”

“My name is Sergeant Danielle Young, and I’ve been proudly employed by the Charleston Police Department for over ten years. In my current role, I lead the White Collar Crime Unit in the Central Investigative Division, and I’ve served in this role for more than ten years. I believe it’s a great honor to serve your community, and I’m proud to expose people who fraudulently use the system for personal gain.”

Young rested her hands on her thighs. “And I was the lead detective in the investigation into Mr. Palin’s activities with the Wolfgang Berger Foundation.”

“Thank you, Sergeant Young. Have you previously led investigations into fraudulent activity?”

“I’ve led many investigations into fraud and its associated activities. In fact, I’ve been involved in hundreds of investigations into fraudulent behavior, although I must say I’ve never been involved in a case where someone has taken money from a charitable foundation.”

“Is it rare to find someone stealing money from a charitable foundation?”

“Extremely. I’ve never seen it, and I can’t recall a case within our county that has involved a charity foundation, especially not a children’s charity foundation. As a society, we respect charities and what they provide to vulnerable people.”

“Can you explain why the Charleston Police Department’s White Collar Crime Unit opened an investigation into Palin Accounting?”

“We received information from a former client of Palin Accounting. This tip-off came from retired Judge Clarence Berkley. Judge Berkley stated there was evidence that Palin Accounting was embezzling money from the Wolfgang Berger Foundation and transferring it into a personal bank account. Judge Berkley informed us that Mr. Palin had approached him and asked for legal advice about his financial situation. Mr. Palin explained to Judge Berkley that he was about to withdraw the money from the account and fly to Costa Rica to retire.”

“And how was this tip-off delivered?”

“In person. Judge Berkley arrived at our office and asked to speak with me on the condition of anonymity.”

“And were you able to provide anonymity to Judge Berkley?”

“I explained that if we found evidence that what he claimed was true, we could apply to the courts to have the witness names redacted, however, if it made it to trial, then legally, the accused has the right to confront the accuser. I explained that Judge Berkley would need to be prepared to testify if the case came to trial. He stated that, as a former judge, he understood this and thanked us for keeping him safe until he could testify.”

“And what made you think this tip-off was legitimate?”

“We trusted the tip-off because it came from a source close to Mr. Palin. Judge Berkley had explained that Mr. Palin had left a copy of a bank statement at Judge Berkley’s home, and he bought this to us as the piece of evidence.”

“Is this a copy of that statement?”

Garrett introduced the bank statement as evidence to the court.

“It is,”

Young confirmed. “Palin had shown the bank statement to Judge Berkley to confirm he had the funds. Mr. Palin wanted to show the judge he had the money, and the bank account statement was to convince him the money was available.”

Garrett studied the paper in front of him before he asked the next question. “Sergeant Young, do you have a transcript of this tip-off?”

“Not a transcript, but we have a report that was filed.”

“And is this the report here?”

Garrett handed a piece of paper to the bailiff, who then handed it to the witness.

“It is,”

Young confirmed.

“And did Judge Berkley explain why Mr. Palin came to him?”

“Judge Berkley explained that Mr. Palin came to him for legal advice and assistance in purchasing a property in Costa Rica. Judge Berkley had contacts in Costa Rica and traveled there often. Mr. Palin wished to leverage those contacts.”

“Interesting,”

Garrett noted. “Can you please describe the investigation process that occurred after the tip-off?”

“After confirming the information was legitimate, we issued warrants to the five banks used by Palin Accounting, requesting financial documents for all his accounts. We also requested the financial documents kept by the Wolfgang Berger Foundation. We warned the members of the Foundation not to request the documents from Palin Accounting because we didn’t want to alert Mr. Palin of the investigation. Once we received the documents from both sources, we studied the incomings and outgoings from the bank accounts and compared that against the information from the Foundation. We confirmed that Mr. Palin was transferring money from the Foundation into a different account than intended. The documentation from the Foundation showed two annual payments of $200,000 each to the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital, a practice in place since the hospital opened five years earlier. However, the hospital received only one of these annual $200,000 payments because the second $200,000 payment was transferred to an account with Palin Accounting. In our initial investigation, we tracked five different payments made over the past five years, and they were all transferred into an account that belonged to Palin Accounting.”

“What happened next?”

“We approached a judge, and they issued an order to the financial institutions to freeze all his assets. The judge issued a broad asset freeze to prevent Mr. Palin from fleeing the country. At the same time his assets were being frozen, we went to his home and arrested Mr. Palin.”

“And during your investigation, did you understand how Mr. Palin could make those payments undetected?”

“The Wolfgang Berger Foundation made two annual donations of $200,000 each to the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital. The first was to support education for sick children within the hospital, and the second was to support the purchase of new equipment for the hospital. Mr. Palin transferred one of the payments to the hospital; however, he doctored the invoice for the second payment. The second payment was transferred into an account that was opened by Palin Accounting. Because there were still payments being received by the hospital, nobody within the Foundation suspected anything was wrong.”

“Did Mr. Palin doctor the financial records of the Wolfgang Berger Foundation to show the payments were being transferred to the hospital?”

“That’s correct, yes. Although the Foundation’s records show both amounts of money going to the hospital, the second amount was never received.”

“When did you make the arrest?”

“Although the money hadn’t yet been withdrawn, we believed Mr. Palin was preparing to access the funds and flee the country. Numerous crimes had been committed, and we were concerned that Mr. Palin was winding down his business activities and considering moving to Costa Rica to retire. We couldn’t wait for Mr. Palin to withdraw the money, so we requested a judge to issue a freeze order to his bank accounts and made the arrest while the order was being applied to his financial institutions.”

“And where did you arrest Mr. Palin?”

“At his home in the neighborhood of South of Broad.”

“What was the state of his home when you arrived?”

“Everything was packed up inside. All his belongings were in boxes, all his clothes were packed, and there was minimal food in his cupboards. We believed he was going to leave within the following week.”

“His house appeared like he was leaving?”

“Objection,”

Hennessy called out. “Leading the witness, and the question is based on speculation.”

“Sustained,”

Judge Clayton responded.

The objection didn’t faze Garrett. He rephrased the question and received the answer he needed.

For the next five hours, Sergeant Young painfully walked the court through step after step of the case—how they investigated it, how they monitored the accounts, and how they ensured they had the right person. Hennessy lost focus at times, as he was sure the jury would, and when Judge Clayton called out to him to begin cross-examination, he wasn’t sure what the last question from the prosecutor was.

“Mr. Hennessy?”

Judge Clayton asked. “Would you like to question the witness?”

“Certainly, Your Honor.”

Hennessy stood to begin questioning. “Sergeant Young, would you say the tip-off was essential to this case?”

“It was the starting point for our investigation, yes.”

“And did Judge Berkley tell you how he was involved with Mr. Palin?”

“As I explained earlier, Mr. Palin approached Judge Berkley to provide legal advice about his illegal activities. Mr. Palin also requested Judge Berkley’s help purchasing a property in Costa Rica, but in both cases, Judge Berkley declined to assist him.”

“Why would Judge Berkley be approached to be involved?”

“They were friends and Mr. Palin thought Judge Berkley could help. As Judge Berkley explained, he had many connections to help transfer the funds to Costa Rica, and Mr. Palin wanted to do that without raising any alarms.”

Hennessy nodded, leaving a long pause between questions. He knew the power of a well-timed pause, how it forced people to lean in, to fill the void with their own thoughts. He watched the jurors, waiting for the exact moment when their gaze locked with his. When he was sure he had the jury’s full attention, he continued. “During your investigation, did you find out who else had access to the bank account where the money was transferred?”

“We did. The accounts were registered by Palin Accounting.”

“That’s not what I asked. I asked who else had access to those accounts?”

“Nobody else had withdrawn money from that account.”

Hennessy paused and looked at Judge Clayton. “Your Honor, can you please instruct the witness to answer the question? The witness is deliberately not answering the question.”

Judge Clayton leaned closer to the witness. “Sergeant Young, please answer the question put to you. I know this isn’t your first time in court, and I would hate to hold you in contempt.”

Young grunted. “What was the question again?”

“How many people had access to the bank account to which the money was transferred?”

“Two.”

“And the names of those two people?”

“Mr. Palin.”

She paused for a long moment, clenched her jaw, and continued. “And Mr. John Tilly.”

“Did you investigate Mr. Tilly as a suspect?”

“We talked to him, yes. We had extensive interviews with him. In fact, we spent over two hours interviewing Mr. Tilly.”

“Was he considered a suspect at any point?”

“No.”

“Are you aware that Mr. Tilly and fellow senior employee Mrs. Fisher were having an extra-marital affair?”

Again, another long pause. “Yes.”

“Were you aware that Mrs. Fisher had access to the reports that were changed?”

“Yes.”

“And were you aware they had been in that extra-marital relationship for five years?”

“Yes.”

“Did you interview Mrs. Fisher?”

“Yes. We interviewed her for more than two and a half hours.”

“Did you question either Mr. Tilly or Mrs. Fisher about that relationship?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because at the time we were questioning them, we were not aware that they were having an affair.”

“During your extensive police interviews, over many hours, neither Mr. Tilly nor Mrs. Fisher told you they had been in an extra-marital affair together over the past five years?”

“They did not, but an affair is not something that people talk freely about. As far as I’m aware, not many people knew they were having an affair at the time.”

“How about later? Did you question them about the affair once you found out about it?”

“No.”

“Can you please tell the court why you didn’t question them?”

She looked at Judge Clayton. The judge nodded, indicating she should continue. “Because their respective spouses reported them as missing persons.”

“When were they reported as missing?”

“Several weeks ago.”

“Interesting. When was the account in question opened?”

“Just over five years ago.”

“And when did the funds start to be transferred into the account in question?”

“As I’ve said earlier, it was five years ago.”

“And how long had Mr. Tilly and Mrs. Fisher been having an extra-marital affair?”

Young’s jaw clenched again. “As far as we know, they’ve been in a relationship for five years.”

A ripple of unease passed through the jury box. One juror leaned forward, furrowing their brow, while another shifted uncomfortably in their seat. Hennessy’s line of questioning was striking a nerve.

“Sergeant Young, are you telling the court that two people—who were having an affair, worked for Palin Accounting, had access to the account in question, and disappeared just before this trial—were never considered suspects?”

“That’s correct.”

“And even though they didn’t tell you the truth during the police interviews, you still didn’t consider them as suspects?”

“We didn’t because the tip-off was regarding Mr. Palin. The tip-off came from a retired judge, and we believed the information he provided to us. And it must be said the information he provided was correct. Without his tip-off, nobody would’ve noticed the money was missing.”

Hennessy exaggerated his surprised expression for the benefit of the jury. One nodded in return. “No further questions.”