| |
The next morning, I resisted the urge to hit my snooze alarm. I was showered, dressed, and in the cafe before 8:00. "Morning, Rick. How are things going?"
"Good, Everly. Did you need something?"
"Can I get a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast, please?" I'll be in the office."
I plugged in my laptop and pulled out my lists. My top priority for the day was to confirm that Uncle Harry received payments from the government as his letter said. I couldn't see any reason he'd lie about something like that, but Chance and I had both agreed to look into the details. When Rick brought in my breakfast, I asked, "Rick, who does the accounting for the cafe? Did Harry do that himself?"
Rick chuckled. "No. That would have been a disaster. I like getting my paycheck on time. Murial does the accounting. She's local. She does the books for most of the businesses in town. You probably should give her a call. He opened the top file cabinet draw and pulled out a folder. "Her number’s in there."
I looked through the folder. The contract with Murial's Accounting was pretty standard stuff. She filed quarterly and annual income taxes for Hairy's, along with handling payroll. I picked up the phone and dialed the number written on the inside of the folder.
"Hi. Can I speak with Murial?"
"This is, Murial."
I explained that I was the new owner of Hairy's and wanted to talk with her about the business finances. She agreed to come in before lunch. With that out of the way, I pulled up the draft menu I'd been working on. I made some tweaks and took a few minutes to write out specific questions I had for Muriel.
Rita showed Muriel to my office when she arrived. "I'm Everly Mason, the new owner and Harry's niece," I said, holding out my hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Everly. I'm Murial Munroe."
After she was seated in my office, I got tea for both of us, and made my way back behind my desk. "Thanks, for coming, Ms. Munroe. I took a quick look at the books when I arrived in Wilkins’ Gap and should have gotten with you sooner, but things have been a bit hectic for me the last few weeks."
"I know dear. I thought I knew your uncle well, but I'm not sure I understand why he's making you and Chance jump through these hoops."
We talked about the business in general financial terms and then I got down to my list of questions. Muriel explained that Uncle Harry used to draw a salary from the cafe accounts as part of payroll, just like Rick, Rita, and Sally. A few years ago, he told her to stop paying him. He said he had other sources of income and wanted to leave as much money in the business as he could.
"If you want me to add you to payroll, we can take care of that. Just tell me your salary and fill out the deduction and electronic deposit forms."
I asked her to provide me with some regular reports so I always knew the financial health of the cafe, and we concluded our business. As I walked her out through the restaurant, she asked, "Are you going to the convention with Chance?"
"I'm leaning that way, but how did you know about that?"
"I'm sorry, dear. I'm Chance's mother. My husband, God rest his soul, was your uncle's hunting partner."
"I don't know why I didn't make the connection. It was nice to meet you, Muriel."
"Everything OK, Boss?" Rita said.
"Why didn't you mention that Muriel was Chance's mother?"
"Sorry. Sometimes we forget that if you're new in town, you might not know those things."
I went back to my office and called Jim.
"Hi, Em. How are you?"
"OK. I told you guys that I wanted to check out the story about the government payments. I checked with Muriel who does Hairy's accounting. She said a few years ago Harry stopped drawing a salary from the cafe. He told her he had other sources of income. I ask her to confirm the date that change was made, but I suspect he was having the payments go to a personal account to protect the business."
"Makes sense. Did you check his personal account?"
"No. I haven't done anything with that."
"He had your name added to the account, so you don't have to do anything to access the funds. The bank account number was in the information I gave you in our first meeting."
"Can you recommend someone at the bank that I can talk to?"
"Sure. Ask for Karen. She'll help you."
"Thanks, Jim."
"Before you hang up, I know you wanted some time to yourself, but I'd like to take you to dinner Friday night. Is that OK?"
"That would be great, Jim. Text me the details."
I ended the call, closed my laptop, and headed to the bank.
XXX
I walked up to the counter and asked for Karen. The teller made a call and said for me to wait in a small seating area at the side of the lobby. "Ms. Mason, I'm Karen Smith. How can I help you today?"
I explained, and Karen took me to a small office. I arranged for a debit card and found out that Harry had both a checking and a savings account with the bank. She printed out the current balance for each.
"Thanks, Karen. This is great, but I need your help tracing a payment my Uncle was receiving regularly." I thought I'd come up with a plausible reason to explain my interest. "It was a monthly payment. It stopped when he passed," I said. "He told me about it once. It was some kind of government sponsored insurance or something that paid him a dividend. I'm not sure I understand, but I want to contact them to make sure his policy gets closed out correctly."
Karen seemed to believe my explanation. I told her the month and year that I thought the payments had started, and she pulled up the records for Harry's accounts. It took her only a few minutes to confirm. She printed out a copy of the last three EFT's that had been made.
"Let me know if they require any other paperwork from us," she said. "This isn't a government program I'm familiar with."
I walked around the corner from the bank to Jim's office. He was just showing an elderly gentleman out when I walked up the front steps. After waving goodbye to his client, Jim pulled me in for a hug and a kiss. "Hi. What a nice surprise."
"Do you have a couple of minutes?"
"Come on in. I have an appointment later, but I've got time. What's up?"
Jim led me to his office and motioned toward the chair in front of his desk. "Would you like a cup of Earl Grey?" he asked, holding up a tin of the brand I prefer.
"That sounds great. I don't remember you having that when I was here before."
"Just trying to keep my most demanding client happy," he said with a smile. We made small talk as he fixed tea for me and refilled his cup of coffee from the pot.
I took a sip. "Thanks. This is nice. I'm sorry to interrupt your day, but I went to the bank and got information about the payments." I pulled out the folder of copies Karen had given me, flipped through and pulled out one of the copies of a government check, and handed it across the desk to him.
He looked it over. "Do you mind if I make a copy?"
"No, go right ahead." I followed him into a small room next to his office where his copy machine, printer, and other office equipment was. "Karen confirmed that the payments started just after the date in Harry's journal and none have been received since his death. There's no denying it's a US government check." I leaned over and pointed to one line. "I'm not sure what this is. If it's an acronym for the agency involved, it's not one I've ever heard of." I realized my cheek was right next to his. He laid the paper down on the copier and turned to kiss me. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it only added to my confusion. I could easily see myself with Jim and that scared me a little.