"Yes."
"Did Ryan use it too?
"Only once or twice."
"What do you use it for?"
Her mouth turned down in a frown. "I don't think that's any of your business."
"Mrs. Conners, I'm making it my business and even if you don't want to tell me, I'm going to find out anyway."
She threw her head back, turned abruptly on her heel and left the room.
Tom went to the computer and flipped it on. Several unnamed folders popped up on the desktop. He clicked on them several times, but none opened. The hard drive also contained several locked folders. It reminded him of Bud's computer. He stuck his head out the door and called, "Cliff, come here."
Cliff studied the screen and tried his hand at opening the files. When he didn't succeed, he called for Mrs. Conners. "Would you open these folders for us?"
She shook her head. "Certainly not, those are my personal files."
Cliff shrugged. "Okay, guess we'll have to confiscate this computer." He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and called for the police van.
Autumn Conners' eyes narrowed to slits. "How dare you. My computer has nothing to do with your murder investigation. I'm trying to get a job and you'll ruin my chances if you take it."
"Then make it easy for both of us." Cliff pointed at the screen. "Open them."
She made a motion as if spitting at Cliff. "Go to hell." With that, she took her two children and went outside. He ambled into the living room and watched through the window as she sped down the street in her new BMW. The man tailing her pulled out from an alley half-way down the block.
Cliff went back into the computer room, removed his hat to scratch his head, then slapped it back on his head. "Man, if looks could kill, I'd be dead. That is one mean woman."
While Tom removed the plugs from the back of the computer, Cliff searched the cabinets and packed any disks he found into a box. "Well, well, well, look what we have here."
Tom stopped and glanced down at the tissue-size box Cliff pointed to. "What's that?"
"Micro X-AM, unisize (6-8 1/2)"
"What the hell is that?"
"Latex Examination Gloves, Style 888."
Cliff pulled a clean plastic bag from his pocket and knelt down in front of the cabinet, carefully pushing the box with a pencil until it slid off the shelf into the bag. "She sure as hell didn't use these for cleaning purposes."
Tom smirked. "Yeah, that's damned obvious."
When the van arrived, the detectives put the officers to work, loading the computer and paraphernalia into the van while they completed their search of the house.
Cliff finished going through the kitchen and walked back to the master bathroom where he found Tom, wearing latex gloves, examining containers in the opened medicine cabinet. His expression grim, he seemed to be studying one large bottle for several seconds.
"What is it?" Cliff said, squinting to read the label.
"Phenobarbital."
Cliff raised his brows. "Who's the prescription for?"
"Season Conners. I'm assuming that's one of the little girls. She might have a seizure problem."
"Damn," Cliff said. "I wonder if those kids are quiet because of medication. The bottle's almost empty. When was it prescribed?"
Tom gave him a knowing look. "The day before Bud died." He removed a plastic bag from his pocket and carefully placed the bottle inside.
Cliff took the bag and held it up. "Let's hope the goddamn bottle is covered with fingerprints."
*****
Sandy lay on the couch with her eyes half-closed. The women had taken turns going through the files, jotting down entries that looked suspicious so they could have Tom, Cliff or the auditor decipher their meanings.
Suddenly, Angie shouted. "Sandy, I think I've found something!"
*****
Autumn slowed down as she came to a stop sign. Her insides trembled with anger. But she mustn't lose control. Keep cool. A bunch of dummy cops invading her privacy. Did they think for one minute they'd be able to open her files on the computer? In college she'd stunned them all with her knowledge of the technology. Even Bud Nevers had taken her idea and used it. But he never paid her enough for its worth. Big deal, a little check each month for whatever they sold. She'd tried to tell him she could work at home and do lots of things for them on the computer, but he vetoed that idea. He wanted his employees at the big building. Said it helped morale and made for one big happy family.
What the hell did he know about family? His prissy little wife in a big mansion, surrounded by a big wall and guarded gate. Housekeepers and garden muckers to keep the place nice. Well, what they needed were a couple of kids to drive them nuts.
She glanced in the rear-view mirror at her two little girls in their car seats. "Ain't that right, my little ragamuffins?" Both girls nodded and laughed. "Well, you just wait, Mama's going to see to it that we don't live like scum forever. I've got it all planned and no one's getting in our way. Your dad was a chicken, but we didn't need him anyway. Mr. Weber will help us out." A sly grin curled the edges of her mouth. She glanced back into the mirror again. "Do you little munchkins like our new car?"
"Yeah, mommy, it's really pretty," they said in unison.
Suddenly, she noticed the car behind her. Her eyes narrowed. "Damn tail. Hope he enjoys going to McDonald's for breakfast."
Chapter Thirty
Cliff followed Tom into his office. "Think you can get that computer whiz to help us again?"
Tom nodded as he picked up his messages. "No problem. I'll get right on it. But first," he waved one of the slips of paper, "I want to return John Graves' call."
"I'll be right back." Cliff headed down the hall to the men's room. When he returned, Tom had just hung up. Cliff closed the door and pulled a chair up to the desk. "So what'd he want?"
"To let me know that the company would be willing to take on the Nevers auditing case for twenty-five thousand dollars."
Cliff raised his brows and let out a whistle. "What are they going to do, use gold pens?"
Tom grinned. "No, but it would involve Holmes & Goode going to each of the companies that did business with Nevers and collecting their invoices so they could compare them to the entries in the records. Very time consuming and costly."
"Yeah, that would definitely take time." Cliff stuck his little finger in his ear and wiggled it. "But you know what still bothers me?"
"No, what?"
"How the hell did Bud's computer get changed? Did Weber know his didn't have the original records in it? Both those guys had separate lines into their offices. Whoever changed them had to know something about computers and how to get into them."
"Good question. Bud's could have been changed the night he was murdered. Think I'll give Ken a call." Suddenly, Tom got up and went to a file where he pulled out a long white envelope.
"Something clicked, huh?" Cliff said, his mouth twitching.
Tom pulled out what looked like six credit cards. "Found these in Ryan's desk drawer. I just figured they were keys to his office and they change the code on them about every six months. I didn't think a lot about it until just now. Bet a couple of these would fit Bud's and Ken's office doors."