asked me to do this for her, and it was a bunch of free vacations. It never occurred to me why she was really sending me there. I didn’t know the Caymans were a tax shelter until you told me that.”
Sam wondered if she’d ever been as stupid or naïve as this young woman. No, she’d been born smarter than Mandi McLeod would ever be. “Do you know the account numbers?”
She hesitated before she nodded. “She made me memorize them so there wouldn’t be a paper trail.”
Too bad Ginny hadn’t also told her to stay off social media while she was “on vacation” in the Caymans. Her Finsta posts had been her undoing—whatever Finsta was. Sam was clueless about such things. Thankfully, Cameron was hip to it all. “Write them down.”
Sam waited, feeling breathless with victory, as Mandi wrote down the account info. Between that and the money associated with the Delaware corporation, they’d found most of what’d gone missing. After Mandi pushed the notebook back across the table, Sam said, “Stay put. We’ll be back.”
“But…”
Sam sent her a quelling look that had her thinking better of what she’d been about to say. With Green in tow, she left interview one and went into interview two, startling Mr. McLeod. That too was satisfying. “You’ve been apprised of your right to an attorney, Mr. McLeod?”
“I have. I don’t need one. I haven’t done anything.”
“Detective Green, please record this interview.”
He shifted on the recorder and noted who was present in the room.
“Mr. McLeod,” Sam said, “have you waived your right to an attorney?”
“I have because I haven’t done anything that would require the services of an attorney.”
Stupidity apparently comes naturally to Mandi McLeod, Sam thought. “Mr. McLeod, you’re being charged with the murder of your wife, Virginia, as well as numerous other obstruction charges resulting from the lies you told me and other officers during our investigation.”
For a second, his arrogant demeanor slipped, but then he recovered himself. “I didn’t kill her.”
“We can put you at the house at her time of death.”
“No, you can’t. I was playing golf with three of my friends—the only friends I had left, because they didn’t have anything for my wife to steal.”
“They’re being arrested as we speak for lying to us and obstructing a homicide investigation.”
Another chink appeared in his armor. “They didn’t lie.”
“Yes, they did. They lied when they failed to tell us about the nearly forty minutes you were gone from the course during your round of golf.”
“I went to use the bathroom.”
“At home?”
“No, at the clubhouse.”
Sam put the cell phone report down in front of him. “Funny, but the location of your phone tells a different story.”
“What?”
She pointed. “See that right there? That’s you and your cell phone at your house at the time of your wife’s death.”
“I didn’t take my phone to the club with me that day. I always leave it at home when I’m playing golf so I won’t be disturbed.”
“That too is a lie.” Sam pointed to three lines on the report. “That’s you at the golf course, that’s you at home, and that’s you back on the course after you killed your wife. The pings don’t lie, Mr. McLeod. You’re under arrest for the murder of Virginia McLeod. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney—”
“I’d like to call my attorney,” he said, looking scared now, which was thrilling to Sam. The most pompous people were always the most fun to take down.
“Write down the name and number, and I’ll reach out.”
“I, um, I no longer have a personal attorney.”
“Shall I call the public defender’s office?”
He blanched at that. “Absolutely not.”
“You should know Detective Green here has also managed to track Mandi to the Cayman Islands, where she helped your wife stash money, and he also uncovered the VMcL Corporation in Delaware. We’ll be turning that info over to the Feds, along with the account numbers in the Caymans that Mandi gave us.”
Cameron smiled and waved at Mr. McLeod.
She loved to see him enjoying this victory.
McLeod’s mouth fell open in disbelief. “Mandi wouldn’t dare.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong, Mr. McLeod. When faced with a long prison sentence or doing the right thing, your daughter chose the right thing. It’s a lesson she somehow managed to learn while growing up with you and your wife as her role models. Congratulations on raising a daughter with a conscience.