CHAPTER 21

“He played you?”

Barry Lockett sat at the head of the boardroom table, staring at the whiteboard. The name ‘Clarence Berkley’ had been circled and underlined in red.

Hennessy stood, pacing the room as he rubbed his brow. “Berkley played us all, but most of all, he played Palin. Berkley set this whole thing up.”

The boardroom table was covered in documents, the whiteboard was covered in scribbles, and boxes of files were pushed into the corner of the room. Evidence was piling up, and a week out from the trial, they had been thrown a curveball.

“Berkley was the man who provided the tip-off and instigated all this,”

Jacinta said. “He set up Palin from the start. He’s the one that called the police and he’s the one that supplied all the information. It wasn’t another staff member of Palin Accounting that provided the tip-off—it was Berkley.”

“What’s the motivation to do that?”

“Because Berkley had had enough of Palin. Palin had been blackmailing Berkley for years and pushed him too far. Berkley hated Palin.”

Hennessy grunted. “Palin kept harassing Berkley for help, and Berkley had enough of him. He wanted Palin out of the picture and saw this as the perfect opportunity to do so. We’ve been given the full witness statement, and in the previously redacted section, Berkley states Palin went to him for help to transfer the embezzled money to Costa Rica. Berkley stepped him through it, and then called the police.”

“And Palin had no idea it was Berkley that set him up?”

“None. He was sure that Berkley was on his side. He even told me I should go to Berkley for help.”

“And the new bank statement?”

“Palin gave Berkley a copy of the bank statement of the account to show that he had more than a million dollars in there. He tried convincing Berkley to help him and showed him the statement to prove he could pay Berkley and set up a property in Costa Rica. It’s a piece of evidence that shows Palin was aware of the money and the account and was planning to withdraw it. Palin left the bank statement at Berkley’s house to convince him, but Berkley took it to the police.”

“Will you apply to the court for a continuance?”

“No,”

Hennessy shook his head. “That’s what the prosecution wants. They want us to push the trial date back so they have more time to find Tilly and Fisher. But our case looks stronger without them testifying. We need to push ahead with the current trial date.”

The pause sat over the room for a while. “What about the other redacted witnesses?”

“Witnesses Two and Three were who we thought they were—John Tilly and Debra Fisher,”

Jacinta confirmed. “They hadn’t been sighted since they were reported missing weeks ago.”

“Any indication it was foul play?”

“Not yet, but the police haven’t ruled it out,”

Hennessy said. “The Rebel Sons need to protect Palin, and if they can prevent the people talking about their connection with Stanwell Construction, they’ll do what it takes.”

“Is the PD taking the missing person’s report seriously?”

“They’re attempting to contact them, but there doesn’t appear to be any urgency to it.”

Jacinta flicked a page in her notepad. “It’s a missing person’s report and nothing more. Any luck on your end?”

“One police contact said that Tilly accessed his bank account in Alabama,”

Lockett responded. “That information will be added to the missing persons report next week when the officers in that section get around to it. You’ll have that information before the trial starts.”

“Are they following up the lead?”

“No,”

Lockett shook his head. “My contact said that the missing persons officers would review the footage from the ATM but wouldn’t make any great effort to find them. They’re both consenting adults who chose to leave the state, and there’s no evidence of foul play or witness tampering. They need to have a reason before they put hours into the case.”

“They’ve been subpoenaed to testify.”

“And they haven’t missed that date yet,”

Lockett shrugged. “And until they do, the police won’t do anything.”

“Are we still going to use them as the third-party culpability targets?”

Jacinta questioned. “We still have Maxine and Melissa?”

“Who are both squeaky clean.”

Hennessy tapped his hand on the whiteboard. “Tilly and Fisher need to remain our targets. Tilly had access to the bank account, they both had access to the accounting reports and most importantly, they had the motive. Whether or not they testify, our case against them is strong. It’s enough to raise a reasonable doubt about Palin’s guilt if we play our cards right.”

“I’ll keep an ear out and let you know if there’s any more leads.”

Lockett nodded. “And the other witnesses?”

“Witness Four was a business owner Palin ripped off, and Witness Five is another former employee,”

Hennessy noted. “Berkley is our main problem. His testimony just about convicts Palin. And considering he’s a former judge, the jury will think he’s a trustworthy authority figure, no matter how untrue that is.”

“Palin won’t have liked that,”

Barry said, then tilted his head to look at Hennessy. “How did Palin react when you told him?”

Hennessy didn’t respond, keeping his eyes on the whiteboard.

“You haven’t told Palin that Berkley is Witness One?”

Lockett pressed.

“We only received this information this morning,”

Hennessy said. He exhaled loudly and picked up his cell phone. He turned on the speakerphone and placed it on the table.

After the fifth ring, Palin answered. “Tell me this is all sorted, and the charges have been dropped.”

“No such luck,”

Hennessy responded. “There’s been a development.”

“What is it?”

“Witness One, the person who made the tip-off, was Clarence Berkley.”

The other end of the line was silent.

“Are you still there?”

“I am,”

Palin stated. “Are you sure it was Berkley?”

“I’m looking at the witness statements provided by the prosecution, and it has his name on top of it. The first two pages of the witness statement were redacted; however, it’s now been released. That section states you went to talk to Berkley about your plans to move the money to Costa Rica to fund your retirement. The section even mentions that you’ve put an offer down to buy a waterfront home in Costa Rica.”

“Have you talked to him since you found out?”

“I tried to call him this morning. The nurse for his wife answered and said that he’d left town for a week and was uncontactable.”

Hennessy heard the phone being placed down, and then Palin let out a few swear words, yelling into nothing. When he had finished yelling, he picked the phone back up.

“And you’re sure it was Berkley?”

“We are. He’s named in all the unredacted statements.”

“Then I need to talk with him.”

“He’s a witness, which means he’s protected, Palin.”

“Nobody is that protected.”

Palin’s anger seeped through the phone. “I’ll find that lying scumbag.”

Palin ended the call without another word.

Hennessy looked at his colleagues. They were all thinking the same thing—Berkley might not make it to the stand to testify.