Doubt (Caroline Auden #1) - C. E. Tobisman Page 0,120

what you are. I think he suspects how Dr. Heller died. But he couldn’t prove anything. Plus, he had an ethical obligation to his client, so he couldn’t say anything to me . . .”

She considered Kennedy’s persistent offers of employment in a new light. Perhaps he’d been trying to save her, in his own way. “I think he was just a regular guy caught in a really horrible situation,” she concluded.

Caroline walked to the antique chess set sitting on the small table by the window. Turning her back on the view, she continued to hold Louis’s gaze. “You said long ago that a fixer leaves no fingerprints. That may be true most of the time, but it wasn’t true this time.”

Louis’s eyes widened slightly.

“Did you know Sotheby’s keeps excellent computer records?” she continued. “Well, they do. Like you said, pedigree is everything. Especially for the top-shelf pieces. Like that Picasso. Imagine my surprise when I learned you weren’t the purchaser of that painting. A holding company for Med-Gen won the auction then donated the painting to your private collection. And the timing was fascinating. Med-Gen transferred ownership to you the same week you called Dale to offer your services on this case.”

Louis’s face drained of all color.

“That coincidence got me thinking. What stories did the other paintings in your collection have to tell? Your curator uses a program called Art-Track to track all purchases made on behalf of its clients. All that information. Up in the Cloud. So easily accessed.” Caroline tapped her lip with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. Hacking into Art-Track had been ridiculously easy. Art curators had no reason to erect complex security walls, apparently.

Louis opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

“Guess what I found out?” she asked. “The dates when you got your paintings corresponded to pivotal developments in your cases. The disappearance of key witnesses. Impossible settlements. Data dumps of incriminating evidence. And the way those paintings were purchased is fascinating, too. Cayman Island trusts. The private accounts of drug lords and fraudsters. It’s all an intriguing web, and I’m sure the police will have fun untangling it.”

Caroline thought about the many pictures that hung on the walls of the firm. All trophies of other Franklin Hellers. Other innocent people whose lives Louis had destroyed.

“But the best part of all is the link to your home computer,” Caroline said, knowing she still had one more ace to play. “I won’t bore you with the details, since we both know you’re not a tech guy, but getting inside wasn’t hard. Your wife gave the firm’s IT guy access to remotely troubleshoot your home computer. Getting into the IT system and then accessing your home computer was a cakewalk. Keeping all that info on the firm server probably wasn’t for you. In retrospect.”

“But that’s illegal,” Louis said.

Caroline ignored the weak protest. While her hacking was certainly illegal, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“Unlike you, I’ve covered my tracks,” Caroline said. “When the data flows to the police, no one will know I sent it. It will show up at their doorstep wrapped up with a bow and a tag from ‘ANONYMOUS.’”

Caroline monitored Louis’s face for his reaction. For his devastation.

But instead, his expression calmed. He leaned back in his chair, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Caroline’s stomach sank at the self-assurance in his eyes. He, too, had another card to play, it seemed.

“Before you continue on this course you seem to have set out for yourself,” he began, “I’d like you to consider a proposal that I had hoped to wait to make to you until you were more seasoned.” Louis paused and folded his hands on his ink blotter. “I know some of my techniques are a bit outdated. The rudiments of helping my clients never change, but I will readily concede that your knowledge of technology is useful. It’s why I hired you, after all.”

He held her eyes.

Caroline’s throat clenched at the implications of his words. He knew about her hacking background. He’d been testing her. He didn’t like relying on outsiders to do his work. He wanted someone in-house. And he’d picked her. It was a dark compliment indeed.

“You’ve shown yourself willing to bend the rules to win,” Louis said. “In fact, you’ve proven far more talented in that regard than anyone I’ve ever seen. Hacking. False identities. Trickery. You’re good at this, Caroline.”

Caroline’s cheeks burned at the truth in his words.

“I know that money doesn’t drive

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