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Inside the Robbery/Homicide Unit’s conference room, Stacy leaned back in the chair and grimaced.
On the television screen was a WEWS-TV news reporter, standing in the back of the police department briefing room recounting the Monica DeVito meltdown that had occurred earlier. The cameraman managed to zoom the camera past the reporter and onto the stage, capturing the screaming insults being slung by Monica. The press conference was the lead story on the noon newscast.
A rush of air pushed in behind her.
“What in God’s name happened down there?”
Stacy ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know, but it made for some damn good television.”
The captain walked over to the computer and turned off the tower unit.
Diana whipped around, hands on her hips.
“Were they briefed?”
Stacy felt slightly insulted by the question. “Yes, several times. We went over the protocol five minutes before they came into the room.”
Diana huffed. “That was a complete mess.”
Stacy thought for a moment and pursed her lips. “Not completely. Monica DeVito came across as a grieving mother, slightly unhinged but grieving. I think she and George feel the same way about Colton. I think they both miss him and for the same reasons.”
Diana arched an eyebrow. “Excuse me? I thought Monica DeVito was a person of interest.”
“Oh, she still is. But the fact that her husband wasn’t involved until today is puzzling. He didn’t come with Monica to the coffee shop to talk to me, and he let his wife be interrogated in a police station by herself.”
Diana waved away the comment. “Still doesn’t get us any closer to finding Colton or whoever else might have killed Brooke Crawford.”
Diana looked to the door. Austin came in.
“I heard the press conference went well,” he scoffed.
Diana groaned, and Stacy spun around in her seat as Austin clutched a folder in his hand.
“Tell me that’s good news.”
“Oh, it is.”
Austin pulled open the folder and flattened its spine. Stacy looked at a set of numbers put into a spreadsheet, different blocks highlighted in different colors. One of Austin’s great skills as a detective was looking at numbers and quickly finding trends and patterns. He loved doing it, and Stacy was thankful for his passion.
Stacy honed in on the red-colored blocks first. “What are these?” she said, dragging a fingernail over the blocks.
“Those blocks in red are all of the calls from Colton DeVito’s cell phone for the last three months. Those calls that he made and received were from numbers that have been disconnected or are no longer in service.”
Diana walked over. “Burner phones?”
“Most likely. None of them are active numbers. Even the last number that Colton called a week ago is no longer active.”
Stacy studied the numbers. She noticed that several phone calls were made to and from Colton’s cell phone within minutes of each other, several times a day, over the last three months. The rest of the calls were spaced out and random.
Austin leaned over Stacy’s shoulder. He smelled fresh and clean. “None of these calls to Colton’s phone came from Monica or George DeVito, and he didn’t try to call them.”
Stacy felt a dull ache rise behind her eyes. “So, they aren’t as close as George proclaimed at the press conference.”
Stacy blew some air through her lips. Turning her attention to the other side of the page, Stacy noticed longer rows of numbers framed in the spreadsheet. Several blocks had been circled in green.
“These are the bank records.”
“What is this ‘60,000’ number circled in green?”
“That’s the amount of money in the account.”
Stacy’s mouth was agape. “Colton DeVito has sixty thousand dollars in his account?”
“More or less.”
Diana moved around the table until she stood behind Austin, peering over his shoulder.
“Several electronic transfers of money have been made over the last several months to Colton DeVito’s Wells Fargo Bank account.”
Diana leaned closer. “From whom?”
“All of the transactions came from George and Monica DeVito’s account. See the dates and times on the right, and the two withdrawals made almost within minutes of the transfers?”
Stacy’s eyes scanned over the numbers. “Sixty thousand dollars is certainly a motive for murder.”
“I checked with FEMA and AEP. Since Colton was doing hurricane recovery cleanup, FEMA pays for his food and lodging if he’s working on behalf of the government.”
Stacy and Diana exchanged looks. “Which means he can take any other monies he earns from those purposes and just save it.” Stacy smacked her lips. “Keep going.”
Austin pointed to a set of numbers crammed on the far right side of the page. “I checked with Wells Fargo. Someone made withdrawals from the account here in Cleveland and some in Houston.”
Stacy froze. “Colton couldn’t be in two cities at once.”
Diana straightened her posture. “Which means if he was withdrawing money in Houston, someone was withdrawing money from his account in Cleveland.”
“Here’s something else,” Austin added. “The withdrawals made in Cleveland were all done at the Wells Fargo ATM downtown and not at any branch bank location.”
Stacy stood up and faced her partner and captain. “But that doesn’t make sense. It wouldn’t be his parents withdrawing the money. Why would they transfer it to his account only to go down to the bank and take it out?”
Stacy let the comment hang in the air for a moment. She tapped a finger on the table. “Someone else has been withdrawing the money. We need to find out who that is. That could be the person that leads us to Colton.”
Diana stepped between the two detectives. “Let’s split up on this. Cerrera, go downtown to Wells Fargo and find out if they’ve got any security footage we can see. Let’s try and put a face and name with these withdrawals.”
Stacy was already out the door. She spun on a heel and called back. “I’m going to see the DeVitos. And I’m going to take some more muscle with me.”
Diana nodded. “Good idea.”