Ring of Lies (80 page)

Jack and Grace followed her along the corridor
into the
office. Two filing cabinets stood on the back wall opposite
the
large
window
that overlooked
the bayou
and Charlotte Harbor
.

Jack tested the handle of the uppermost drawer.
‘
Locked.
Can you get me
the
key?
’

Mercy
nodded and
opened the top drawer of
an old, battered
desk and
handed him a small
key ring
.
‘
The chrome
key
opens both cabinets. The brass
one
is for the safe
,
but
there’s nothing in
there
.
’

‘
Thanks, Mercy. We’ll take it from here. If we
need anything more
we’ll come and find you.
’
She nodded and shuffled away, eyes cast down.

The drawers were full of loose papers.
‘
Mercy was right
about the filing system
.
It looks as if Jacobs just
tossed
everything
in.
’
He pulled out a sheaf of papers and spread them over the desk.
‘
See if you can find
anything
that
mentions or corresponds to
Elliott’s visits to Sand Dollars.
’
He dumped the contents of the second drawer on the floor and
crouched down,
sifting through the
documents
.

‘
Do you really think Jacobs kept a record of the times he flew Daniel down to
the
island?
’
Grace
aske
d.

Jack thought for a moment.
‘
T
he FAA requires all planes to file a flight plan. Jacobs had to comply otherwise he’d lose his pilot’s licence.
’

‘
Oh, I see,
’
said
Grace
. She
started sorting papers into piles.
‘
These all seem to be credit card r
eceipts
going back for years
,
mainly for
AvGas
purchased at the marina
and spare parts for the plane
. Don’t you think that’s strange?
’

‘
How
?
’
Jack asked.

‘
Well most business
es
set up an account for
such thing as gas and servicing
. You fill up at the pump, sign the receipt and then settle the account at the end of the month.
’

‘
Jacobs
clearly
had
bad credit
.
Th
at
being the case, I don’t think he did any end-of-the-month account settling
.
’

‘
There’s no excuse for how he kept his books.
’

‘
You see, Grace. You’re more talented than you know. You’ve got business sense.
’

‘
I never thought about it before
.
’

‘
Well, start thinking about it,
’
he grinned.
‘
Your future will be whatever you make of it.
’

After they’d finished going through the first cabinet, Jack leaned back and scowled.
‘
There’s nothing here but letters from Jacobs’ bank threatening foreclosure on his home and
nastygrams
from
the state of Florida
for
failure
to pay
alimony
and child support
.
So far he sounds like a prince. What have you got
?
’

‘
I’ve found the statement
letter from his credit card company
.
He
owed
more than
$15
0
,000 and had
exceeded
his credit limit
.
’

Jack let out a long whistle.
‘
Sounds like he
was
ten minutes
away
from
bankrupt
cy
. Why don’t you go and see if you can talk Mercy into making us a pot of coffee while
I
try to put this shit away
?
’

Jack picked up stacks of paper and files and eased himself off the floor. As he began to shove the mess back into the cabinet drawer, he saw
what he’d been looking for.

Grace
set
a
chipped
mug of coffee
on the desk
and looked enquiringly at him.

‘
What did you find?
’

‘
It’s Jacobs’ logbook.
His real accounting system
. T
ake a look at these entries.
’

Grace rested a hand on Jack’s shoulder.
‘
Why, those dates
match
two of Daniel’s visits
to Sand Dollars.
’

‘
Yeah. And
what’s more
,
t
he destination is
shown
as Marathon Key
. And there were two passengers
.
’

‘
Which means you were right
;
Daniel
didn’t travel
alone
.
’

Jack thumbed through the logbook. There were a lot of empty gaps were Jacobs had either forgotten or been too lazy to fill it in.

‘
Look at this.
’
He held up a newspaper cutting.

‘
Oh, my God!
’
Grace paled.
‘
That’s Daniel! And the
guy
standing next to him holding the fish is
Parous
.
’

‘
Do you recognize the third man?
’

She
took the cutting from him and carried it to the window.
‘
I’m not sure. His face is turned away from the camera, but he looks like the man from the graveyard.
I wonder which newspaper it’s from.
’

‘
Let’s see if Mercy knows.
’

Grace handed Jack the
clipp
ing
and followed him through to the front office.

Mercy sat at the reception desk nervously fidgeting with the telephone cord.

‘
Y
ou could ask at the local paper. There’s an office in town.
’

‘
What about this
guy
,
’
Jack asked,
‘
the one turned sideways to the camera
?
Do you recognize him
?
’

Mercy shook her head.
‘
I’m sorry,
Mr
.
West. As
I
told
you
, I haven’t worked here very long.
’

‘
Never
mind, Mercy. Thanks for trying.
’

They
both
shook
her hand
and left.

T
he
office of the
local
news
paper was
situated up a narrow flight of
stairs above
a clothes store and
staffed by one reporter and a receptionist.
Jack strode up to the desk and showed his ID
to the young woman with short, curly blonde hair
.

‘
I’m trying to identify the man in this picture and I wondered i
f it was
taken by your staff photographer and
published by your newspaper.
’