Chapter 3 The Discrepancy

Rush hour had already swallowed the city by the time Adrian pulled into the parking lot of Halcyon Financial.

The twelve-storey glass building looked exactly as he expected. Employees hurried through the revolving doors with coffee in one hand and phones in the other, too busy to notice the detective stepping out of his car.

Life had moved on for everyone except Daniel Mercer.

Inside the lobby, a receptionist greeted him with a practiced smile.

"Good morning. How may I help you?"

Adrian placed his badge on the counter.

"I'm Detective Adrian Cross. I'm here about Daniel Mercer."

The smile disappeared.

"I'm... sorry. We only heard the news an hour ago."

"I'd like to speak with his manager."

"Of course."

She picked up the phone and quietly made the call.

While he waited, Adrian looked around.

The lobby was spotless. Employees crossed from one side to the other, speaking in hushed voices. A television mounted on the wall streamed financial news with the volume turned low.

Nobody looked frightened.

Nobody looked guilty.

That meant nothing.

A man in his fifties stepped out of the elevator and walked over.

"I'm Victor Hayes. Daniel reported directly to me."

They shook hands.

"I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances," Victor said.

"So am I."

Victor led Adrian upstairs.

Daniel's desk sat near a window overlooking the city.

Someone had already placed a small bouquet of white lilies beside his monitor.

His coffee mug was still half full.

A jacket hung neatly over the back of his chair.

It looked as though he had simply stepped away for lunch.

"When was the last time anyone here saw Daniel?" Adrian asked.

"Yesterday afternoon," Victor replied. "He left just after five."

"Was anything unusual about his day?"

Victor thought for a moment.

"No. He attended meetings, answered emails and complained about the coffee, like everyone else."

Adrian smiled faintly.

"So he was himself."

"As far as I could tell."

Adrian's eyes wandered across the desk.

Everything was tidy.

Pens aligned.

Documents stacked neatly.

A family photograph stood beside the keyboard.

Daniel, his wife and their son smiled back at him.

Nothing suggested a man who expected to die that evening.

"Did he have enemies at work?"

Victor shook his head.

"Daniel avoided office politics. He was good at his job and went home when the day ended."

Adrian nodded.

"May I look through his workspace?"

"Take all the time you need."

Victor stepped aside, leaving Adrian alone.

He opened his drawera.

Stationery.

Receipts.

A packet of mints.

Project files and client reports.

Nothing unusual.

Victor Hayes remained beside Daniel's desk while Adrian finished looking over the workspace.

"There isn't much here," Adrian said.

Victor nodded.

"Daniel wasn't the type to decorate his desk. He liked keeping things simple."

Adrian closed the last folder and returned it to its place.

"I'd like to speak with the people who worked closest to him."

"Of course."

A few minutes later, they stepped into a small conference room.

Three employees were already waiting.

Victor made the introductions.

"This is Emily Carter. She worked with Daniel on client accounts."

Emily offered a quiet nod.

"And this is Ryan Foster."

Ryan looked exhausted. His eyes were red, as though he hadn't slept.

"The last is Melissa Grant from compliance."

Adrian thanked them for taking the time to speak with him.

"I know this has been a difficult morning. I'll keep this brief."

Nobody spoke.

Adrian opened his notebook.

"When did each of you last see Daniel?"

The answers were almost identical.

Talking about finally getting some rest after finishing a project. Nothing unusual.

Adrian listened more than he spoke.

People often revealed the most when they weren't interrupted.

After several minutes, he closed his notebook.

"If you had to describe Daniel in one sentence, what would you say?"

Emily answered first.

"He was dependable."

Ryan shrugged.

"He was the kind of person everyone liked but nobody really noticed."

Melissa smiled sadly.

"He remembered everyone's birthday."

The room fell quiet again.

None of them described a man who had enemies.

Adrian thanked them before standing.

As he reached the door, Ryan cleared his throat.

"There is one thing."

Adrian turned.

Ryan looked uncertain.

"I don't know if it matters."

"Tell me anyway."

Ryan glanced at Victor before continuing.

"About two weeks ago, Daniel started asking strange questions."

"What kind of questions?"

"He wanted access to archived financial records."

Victor frowned.

"I approved that request."

Ryan looked surprised.

"I thought you denied it."

"I almost did," Victor replied. "He said he needed them to verify a discrepancy in one of our older accounts."

Adrian spoke for the first time in almost a minute.

"How old were these records?"

Victor thought for a moment.

"Seven years, maybe a little more."

Adrian wrote the number down.

"What kind of discrepancy?"

Victor shook his head.

"I honestly don't know. Daniel said he wanted to make sure it wasn't a clerical error before bringing it to me."

"Did he ever mention what he found?"

"No."

Ryan leaned forward.

"I asked him once."

"What did he say?"

Ryan let out a nervous laugh.

"He said the numbers weren't what bothered him."

Adrian looked up.

"What bothered him?"

Ryan repeated Daniel's words as best as he could remember.

" 'Money doesn't disappear on its own. Somebody always decides where it goes.' "

The room became quiet again.

Adrian let the words settle in his mind. They didn't sound like the conclusion of an accountant trying to balance figures. They sounded like the beginning of a man who had followed a trail further than he was supposed to.

Victor folded his arms.

"I assumed he was talking about accounting."

"So did I," Ryan admitted.

Adrian slipped his notebook into his coat pocket.

"Where are those archived records kept?"

"In our records department," Victor answered. "Nothing leaves without being logged."

"Good."

Victor looked at him.

"You think this has something to do with Daniel's death?"

Adrian didn't answer immediately.

He looked through the conference room window at the rows of employees quietly returning to work.

He believed Daniel had died because someone wanted him dead.

Adrian wasn't so sure anymore.

"Mr. Hayes," Adrian said, meeting the manager's eyes.

"I'd like to see every file Daniel requested during the last month."

Victor nodded once.

"I'll take you there."

As they left the conference room, Adrian felt the investigation shift beneath his feet.

He had walked into Halcyon Financial searching for a murderer.

He was walking out of that room following money.

And money had a habit of leading to places people spent fortunes trying to keep hidden.