Cut and Run (Lucy Kincaid #16) - Allison Brennan Page 0,98
mean, I guess it might not be her, but it looks just like her.”
“Would you mistake her for Denise Albright?”
She frowned, stared at the picture. “Maybe? Mrs. Albright was a little thinner, I think. But they both have light-brown hair and I guess are the same size. But I don’t think I ever saw Mrs. Albright in anything but slacks and a blouse. She dressed very elegant but simple, if that makes sense. Classy. I love Ms. Fitzpatrick’s flowers, and she always dresses like that. She’s a regular, comes in every week. Refuses to use an ATM.”
“Thank you.”
They waited for Stephanie to leave, and Lucy said, “We need to talk to Kitty Fitzpatrick, just to cover bases, but I don’t think that she was involved. I think he found an image of someone who could pass for Denise Albright and that’s what he gave to us.”
“So we’re looking at major theft,” Adam said. “He’s the one who stole the three million.”
“Perhaps, but he didn’t orchestrate this scheme. He was party to it, but not the instigator, which is why he left. If we don’t find him before that person, he’ll be dead. These aren’t people who leave witnesses alive.”
Adam said, “You and Laura go to his house, then to Fitzpatrick. I’ll talk to the president about auditing their records. I’ll call you if anything pops.”
Because Laura had driven to Kerr County with her boss, Lucy took her to Frank Pollero’s home in Kerrville. He lived only two miles from the bank, in a quaint neighborhood that Lucy would have loved it if weren’t so far from San Antonio.
Lucy didn’t have any information on Mrs. Pollero, only the address. She drove up to the tasteful house. Nothing fancy or too simple, it fit in with the neighbors.
It would have helped if Lucy had more information about the Pollero family, but they didn’t have time to research and they only had a warrant for banking related to Denise Albright.
She knocked on the door. A few moments later, a much older woman answered the door. Frank was in his early fifties, but this woman was in her seventies.
“Mrs. Pollero?” Lucy asked.
“No, honey, Edith Walker.”
“Is Mr. Pollero home?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, who are you?”
Lucy showed her badge. “Special Agent Lucy Kincaid with the FBI. We’re looking to talk to Mr. Pollero regarding a matter at the bank. He’s not here?”
“No, he left early for work. He usually leaves at eight, but today he left before I even woke up.”
“And you’re his wife?”
“Oh no, honey. His mother-in-law. He graciously let me move in when I lost my home in Harvey. I wanted to rebuild, but he said I should stay here, be with family.”
“We’d like to talk to his wife.”
“My daughter died nearly four years ago. Breast cancer. It tore poor Frank up. His world revolved around Christina and their daughter, Penny. You can find Frank at the bank. Is everything okay? There wasn’t a bank robbery, was there? Six or seven years ago there was a robbery, and it was awful. One of the tellers was shot—she survived, thank the lord, but it was terrifying.”
“He didn’t show up for work today.”
“And they called the FBI? What’s wrong?”
“We just need to talk to him about one of his customers.”
“Well, I don’t know where he would be. Maybe he had a meeting at corporate headquarters.”
“Would you mind if we came in and looked around?”
“Oh, I don’t know. This isn’t my house, and I’m sure he’ll be home tonight.”
It was worth a try. Lucy handed Mrs. Walker her card. “If you talk to him, have him call me, okay? I spoke with him yesterday, he’ll know what it’s about. Do you know how to reach your granddaughter?”
“Yes, would you like to talk to her?”
“If that’s possible.”
“She lives outside San Antonio, in Boerne. Her husband is a doctor, isn’t that nice?”
The woman reached inside her sweater pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She put on the reading glasses that hung around her neck and then scrolled through her contacts. “Here’s her number.” She read it off for Lucy, who wrote it down.
“And her full name?”
“Penny Lopez. Penny, not Penelope. Her husband is Joshua. Dr. Joshua Lopez, isn’t that nice? He’s very respected. They have the most precious baby girl. Gracie. Isn’t that a cute name?”
“Thank you, Mrs. Walker.”
Lucy and Laura walked back to the car. Lucy dialed Penny’s number while Laura drove.