like it,” Mike agreed. “Was that Ross’s favorite football team?”
“Ross didn’t like football,” Hannah told him. “He said that he’d never been big on sports, and the only thing he ever watched was college basketball.”
“Looks like he had this all figured out,” Mike said. “And since he changed his image, he was probably planning to use a fake name, too.”
“Open the third suitcase, Mike,” Hannah urged him. “I want to see what else he was planning to take with him.”
Hannah and Norman stood outside while Mike opened the last suitcase. He gave a low whistle and they hurried back inside.
“I’d say he was definitely preparing to run,” Mike commented, pointing to the array of ID cards, business cards, driver’s licenses, and passports that were packed inside.
“Did he buy all those?” Norman asked, noticing that the driver’s license on top had Ross’s photo. “I know you can buy fake identification if you’re willing to spend some money.”
Mike picked up the license and glanced down at the name. “Rusty Bergen,” he read aloud. “Ross could have bought this, but he also could have made it himself.” He turned to Hannah. “He was a photography major in college, wasn’t he?”
“Yes, still photography and video.”
“And Ross had plenty of money when he was a student?”
“He was always treating us to dinner, or breakfast,” Hannah said. “And he bought Lynne some beautiful jewelry.”
“Then my guess is that forging fake identification cards paid for most of that. He didn’t work, did he?”
“Not that I know of, but you can ask Lynne. She’d know.” Hannah was silent for a moment, thinking about how drastically she’d misjudged the man she’d loved, and then she glanced at the ID card that Mike was holding. “Did Ross use his real name on that?”
“No.”
“Which name did he use?” Norman asked.
“Roy Benson,” Mike began to frown. “And that’s unusual.”
“Why?” Hannah asked him.
“Because one of the big mistakes that most criminals make is that they keep their initials.”
“I think I know why he kept his initials,” Hannah told them. “Ross really loved to change into his design sweat suits when he came home from work. They were made of velour, and he had a whole wardrobe of them. His initials were embroidered on the jackets in gold thread.”
“So every jacket had the initials R.B. on the front?” Norman asked her.
“Yes, he told me he never went anywhere without them, and he even wore them to work sometimes.”
“You could be right,” Mike said, pulling the suitcase with the clothing over to him and going through the garments inside. He checked the stacks of shirts, pants, and jackets, and gave an affirmative nod. “He’s got four colors of velour sweatshirts, pants, and jackets. And all of the jackets have R.B. embroidered on the front.”
“Which other names did he use?” Norman asked.
Mike pulled the suitcase with the forged identification cards closer and picked up a stack of passports. “Ralph Black, Rudy Blaine, Roman Booker, Ronnie Barnes, and Robert Brown. There are some other names here with photos of other men.”
“You mean they don’t all have photos of Ross?” Hannah asked.
“No, and that makes me even more convinced that part of the money Ross made came from forging pieces of identification.”
Hannah swallowed with difficulty. “That . . . that does make sense, I guess.”
“I’m going to call Bill when we’re through here, and have him pick up these suitcases. I want him to take them down to the station and put them in the evidence locker.”
“But . . . why?” Hannah asked him.
“They could contain important evidence in several pending fraud cases. Do you mind if I do that, Hannah?”
“I . . . I . . . no, I don’t mind,” Hannah said, struggling to keep her equilibrium.
Norman reached out to take her arm. “I’m going to take you back to my car, Hannah. Just sit there for a while and try to relax. Mike and I will store your things in the locker.”
“Right,” Mike agreed immediately. “Drive Hannah back to The Cookie Jar, Norman. Just drive the trailer down here and unhook it. When Bill gets here, we’ll take care of the unloading, and we’ll lock up the storage unit before we leave.”
“But how about Lonnie’s trailer?” Hannah asked.
“I’ve got a trailer hitch and I’ll take the trailer back to Cyril’s garage. That’s where Lonnie got it. Just take care of Hannah, okay? It’s been a rough day for her so far.”
Chapter Twenty-one
“Thanks for asking me to come along, Hannah.” Andrea was all smiles as they