Chapter Twelve --

 

Two hours later, we were sitting in the living room of Bosco’s apartment, sprawled on the sofa. I was filling in the details of the phony websites. We activated the new phones, recorded voicemail messages in our altered voices, and then I added the phone numbers to the blog sites. I concentrated on loading stock photos and doing some graphics, to jazz up the visual appeal, and then I designed logos for the non-existent companies and added them. Bosco was reviewing credit reports on Ralph and on Gloria.

“Did you know that Dynamic Realty Trust owns Gloria’s condo?”

“As in Ralph bought the place for her?”

“Exactly.”

“When?” I wanted to know how long the two of them were shacking up.

“Six years ago,” was his reply. “She was still working at Temps, Inc. then. What I don’t understand is where she got the money for her boat.”

“Gloria has a boat?”

“She does. It’s a 24’ Tige RZ4 model, year 2008. She paid just over $62,000 in cash for it, and she’s the registered owner. Her salary from Dynamic Productions is just under $28,000. She’s got no other income, according to her credit reports.”

“How could she afford a boat like that?” I wondered.

“How indeed,” Bosco agreed. “It looks like Ralph and Gloria have been living the high life for quite some time. You should see his charges for entertaining clients. Apparently, he’s been meeting them at the casinos or racetracks. All the hotels are within a mile or two of Atlantic City, Ledyard, Montville, Sarasota, Queens, and Niagra Falls. Or should I say Viagra Falls, in Ralph’s honor?”

“So, Ralph’s been playing and we’ve been paying?”

“Pretty much. You know, I went over that financial report he gave us before we gave him the $25,000 to expand. It looked legitimate, right down to his bank statements. On closer examination, it looks like he Photoshopped the documents. They’re all forged. I can’t believe he fooled us this way. I can’t believe I was this dumb.”

“How do you think I feel?” I shook my head. “I went to work every day. I sat in the room next to him. I let Gloria get me a cup of coffee and it never occurred to me the two of them were robbing us blind.”

“More importantly,” Bosco pointed out, “they brought the Winks on board. That explosion was no accident.”

“But why blow up the house? That’s the part I don’t understand.”

“They always planned to blame you, Dori. They need you to look guilty. If Tony is telling you that Ralph says you’re having a mental breakdown, we need to bring the cops up to speed now. We have to show them these credit reports. We have to show them we’re legitimate partners in Dynamic Productions. And we have to tell them about the Winks.”

“In other words, everyone is going to know what a fool I’ve been?”

“No, babe. Everyone is going to see that you came to your sense and took back your life. No more Ms. Nice Girl, vulnerable to predators. You’ve grown a set of cajones. It’s time to use them.”

“We need to find that missing equipment, too, before I get blamed for that.”

We spent the rest of the evening writing up a timeline, documenting the missing money and equipment, as well as the padding of bills. We worked side by side, in companionable silence, broken by occasional commentary. Finally reaching the end of the time line, I put my tablet on the coffee table.

“Bosco, you know what I really need?”

“What’s that?” He barely looked up from his clipboard, not even bothering to stop writing.

“I need the serial numbers of the missing equipment if we’re going to track that stuff down. I’ll have to go in tomorrow and go through the files.”

“Why wait till tomorrow?” he said, looking at me through his glasses. Let’s go take a look now.”

“But it’s almost ten,” I pointed out.

“What happened to the new Dori? Look, kid. If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a forensic accountant, it’s that you secure the evidence as soon as you become aware of its existence. You never let the bad guys get the jump on you by giving them time to destroy documents. Let’s rock and roll. Let me just forward these files to Honshield Walker and we’re out of here.”

Twenty minutes later, we were about to pull into the parking lot for Dynamic Productions.

“Don’t pull in!” I cried out loud. “Drive by!”

“Is that Ralph’s van?” Bosco asked. There were lights on in the building.

“Yes. What do you suppose he’s doing in there at this time of night?”

“Something he doesn’t want anyone else to know,” Bosco decided. “Come on. Let’s check it out on foot.”

We left the car down the road, at the Tastee Freez parking lot. I grabbed my purse and got out, joining Bosco as we made our way back to Dynamic Productions. We ran quickly, hugging the tree line, away from the street traffic. The lights were on in the outer office, but the blinds were closed.

“Can you see anything?” I whispered to Bosco as he pressed his nose up against the glass.

“Nope. Any other way into the building?”

“Back door.”

“Got a key?”

“Yes.” I dug through my purse for my key ring. “Follow me.”

Two minutes later, we were through the back door, making our way across the soundstage, towards the front of the building. I could hear Ralph moving things around in the distance. Bosco grabbed my hand and pulled me close, putting his lips by my ear.

“We’re going to take a quick look-see, and then we’re calling the cops. I want to catch him in the act.”

“Hold on,” I whispered back. I dug into my purse and took out my flip camera.

“Brilliant!” Bosco grinned and gave me a long, deep, wet kiss in the darkness.

We crept forward, moving slowly, listening for any sounds to suggest Ralph was headed our way. We could see him carrying boxes of files, dumping them in the center of the room.

“We have to get down the hall without him seeing us,” Bosco told me softly. “Can we park ourselves in your office? Is the door locked?”

“I left it open,” I responded. “If we can get to the production booth, that’s halfway down the hall.”

The minute Ralph emptied the carton he carried in his hands and turned, we ran the twenty feet to the tiny soundproofed room. Watching from behind the door, we waited again for him to drop the next batch of files on the pile. As he again turned away, we crossed to my office and tucked ourselves into the shadows. When I saw the cans of acetone lined up on the counter, I took out the camera and pressed the record button.

“I’m going to go call the cops and the fire department. Can you stay out of sight and keep filming?” Bosco spoke into my ear. I nodded. “I’ll just be right outside. Holler if you need me.”

As soon as I saw he made it back to the rear of the building, I aimed the camera in Ralph’s direction, thanking God that the last time I used the camera, I had deleted unnecessary files and recharged the battery. I had a good twenty-five-minute recording time. Hopefully, Ralph would incriminate himself before the camera shut off.

The front office door burst open unexpectedly, and Gloria appeared, her arms full of jugs of what looked like more acetone.

“Aren’t you done yet?” she demanded.

“Just a couple more boxes. I want to make sure that I get it all.”

“I had to go to two different Home Depots to get all this. I have more in the car. Come help me carry it in.” Ralph followed her outside. As the door opened, I could see them lifting the containers from the lit trunk of Gloria’s car, so I risked being seen and stepped forward for a good ten seconds’ worth of filming. Just as quickly, I retreated into the shadows, in anticipation of their return. By the time they came through the door with accelerant-laden arms, I had a good angle to capture them in action. They were bickering as they hurried to get everything set up.

“Did you get the cameras out of the equipment room yet?” Gloria asked.

“I haven’t had time.” Ralph was frustrated, trying to open the cans. “Do we have a screwdriver?”

“In my top desk drawer,” she replied, heading my way. I ducked behind the door, hoping Bosco had the good sense to hide, wherever he was. He had been gone at least six minutes. To my horror, Gloria flipped on the hallway lights and I had barely enough time to move my pocketbook out of sight. I could hear her taking cases off the shelf and putting them down on the floor. A moment later, she emerged from the storage room, arms full. By then, I had positioned the flip phone on top of the frameless box canvas print of Lamson Woods hanging outside my office door. Gloria probably didn’t realize she just helped me obtain the evidence of their criminal conspiracy. Now that the hallway was lit, the camera would produce a beautiful HD recording of their activities. Positioned towards the front office, it captured the action as I hid in the dark. She came back twice more. As they worked, they carried on a conversation that was damning.

“Where are you going to start the fire?” Gloria asked her accomplice.

“I’m setting the smallest fire on the soundstage, and then I’m going to set Dori’s office on fire, so it looks like she tried to destroy evidence. I’ll set this one when I’m ready to leave.”

“Why not start here, so we’re sure all the files are destroyed?”

“Too dangerous,” he insisted. “We could get trapped.”

“It’s too dangerous if the files don’t burn completely, or if somebody sees the smoke before the papers all burn and the computer is fried. Did you scrub the hard drive?”

As they talked on, I tried to figure out how I would get out of my windowless office without discovery. Short of running down the well-lit hallway, I didn’t seem to have a lot of options. Just then, the phone rang, and I heard Gloria gasp.

“Who could that be?” Ralph wondered. “Were we seen?”

“Answer it. Just play it cool.”

“Hello? Who is this? No, ou cannot have the number five with fried rice!”That sounded like Bosco’s handiwork. I could see them huddled around the phone on Gloria’s desk, so I slipped out from behind my office door and tore down the hallway, my purse flying behind me. As soon as I was through the doorway, Bosco grabbed me and pulled me to the wall.

“The cops are on their way, the fire department will be standing by on the street. We have to get out of here.”

“My camera’s in the hall,” I whispered. It’s still rolling.”

“It’s okay,” he insisted, pulling me towards the back door. Outside, in the moonless night, we hurried down the alley. When we reached the complex driveway, we headed down the street. Three police cars, a couple of fire engines, and a slew of emergency vehicles were already waiting, out of sight.

The commander of the police unit peppered me with questions as we stood there. I explained about my camera in the hallway, Ralph’s plan of action, and the fact that they had already loaded equipment into Gloria’s car. Several police officers were deployed with my key to cover the back of the building. As soon as Ralph turned on the light in the soundstage, it would be the cue for the rest of the cops to go through the front office door. On the off-chance that Gloria and Ralph had locked the front door, I supplied my key for that, too. One officer was to grab the camera as evidence, just to make sure it wasn’t destroyed. I drew a quick sketch of the inside of the building, so they had an idea of what to expect. As I did, another police vehicle pulled up and the deputy chief stepped out.

“Okay, tell me what you’ve got,” he directed his second-in-command on the scene. As they were talking, the fire chief approached.

“What do they have inside? Tell me the set up, so we can figure out how we’re going to fight it if it burns. We’ve got chemicals, so get ready, people. Masks on, foam ready, and we need to contain the water we use, because we’re fighting a hazardous chemical fire.”

Ten minutes later, the radios began to crackle and the officers left behind were monitoring the communications.

“We’re ready, boss. He’s in the back of the building.”

“Where’s the woman?”

“We’re not sure. She might be in the other office.”

“Tell the guys to peek inside. We don’t want her locking herself in that room, especially if she’s dumb enough or crazy enough to light a match.” The fire engines were ready to roll, the firefighters in their gear. They had already hooked the hose up to the hydrant on the street and were ready to turn on the water. We all began moving up the street to get a better view of the finale. One moment, all was quiet. The next, chaos reigned. A loud explosion blew out the windows of Dynamic Productions. The big bang reverberated for several seconds as we watched emergency responders with their tanks of foam pour through the doorway as flames shot out into the night. Even from a distance, we could hear the tinkle of broken glass bouncing on the pavement.