Chapter Twenty One
"Jo, if you want me to throw the ball again you are going to have to bring it back to me. As much love as I have for you, I am not the one who will fetch it," Jane said trying to rationally discuss the fundamentals of fetch with the dog.
"I don't get it Bass," Jane said turning to complain to the tortoise who seemed to have taken up permanent residence next to Jane on the deck. "Sometimes your sister understands the whole fetch concept and sometimes she just acts as if she's never played the game before."
Bass turned his head and seemed to think about what it was Jane was saying. And, apparently, he didn't have too much insight to offer her as he simply returned to consuming some of the spinach leaves she had brought out for him.
Jane knew she was spoiling him with all the extra food he was getting to eat but she was still feeling guilty that he was stuck up on the deck during morning playtime and she had found she felt less guilty when he got to at least eat when he was hanging out with her. Over the weekend Maura had been able to carry Bass down the steps so he could play in the yard. Jane didn't even tell on him when he started digging near the fence line. In fact, she had been able to keep Maura from noticing Bass' digging efforts. Again, she felt guilty he was kept from the yard during the week.
"Tomorrow I should at least get paroled from this sling," she continued her chat with the tortoise. Jo picked that moment to finally decide she knew how to play fetch as she came bounding back to Jane with the ball in tow. Dropping it by Jane's feet she backed up impatiently waiting for Jane to throw it across the yard. Jane pumped faked once just to get the dog all wound up but then finally released the ball and had to laugh as Jo went barrelling after it.
"Like I was saying, tomorrow I should get out of the sling. I may not be quite up to picking you up for a few more days but I'm getting closer. I'll have to remember to ask the physical therapist how long it will be before I can lift you up and down the stairs."
Jane turned to see what Jo had found to occupy herself and snickered as she found the dog laid out in the grass just chewing on a rawhide bone she had come across. Turning back towards Bass this time it was her phone she concentrated on. She looked at the screen and still nothing. The waiting was driving her crazy.
Jane had called Frost first thing that morning to let him know about finding the name of Amanda Price. He promised to run Price through the system to see if he could confirm her identify and maybe find an address for her. With nothing else to go on, Jane was stuck waiting for Frost to call or text her any results from the search.
This was where being on a leave was starting to drive her crazy. She desperately had wanted to run the information herself but she couldn't. They were still hiding her involvement in all of this from Cavanaugh. And since all the database access Jane had was only accessible from the station, she was at the mercy of Frost getting back what, if any, information he could find.
She had called him at 7 that morning. It was now 9 and the waiting was starting to get to her. She was not a very patient person.
"Bass, your Uncle Frost needs to call me back," she sighed in frustration.
Just then, her phone buzzed an alert of an incoming text message.
1835 Sheafe St #317
The text was from Frost and Jane recognized the address. Her phone rang in her hand as she stared at the address. "She lives in the same building as him?" Jane asked into the phone without even bothering to say hello to Frost.
"From what I can tell, yes," came Frost's answer. "Sorry for the delay but I wanted to try to verify the address before sending you out on a wild goose chase. It looks like Price moved into that building around the same time as Lansing."
"That's certainly not a coincidence," Jane noted. "I'll see if I can try to find her. How's it going with the new case?" she asked.
"Alright," he offered. It was and things were just fine between him and Korsak. But he missed Jane and wanted to be working the case with her. "I'm on my way down to get the autopsy results from Maura."
Jane smiled. "Do me a favor?" she asked.
"I'll let her explain everything in the file to me," he offered up to Jane before she had to ask.
Jane snickered. "Thanks." Jane was worried that Maura was getting lonely at work without her being there. Maura interacted with the guys but Jane knew she talked more when Jane was around. Frost letting Maura explain all the reports in detail was just a way of ensuring Maura had some quality time with people who cared about her.
"And Korsak already had her walk through two different toxicology reports for him this morning," he offered up. They both knew Jane was worried that Maura was getting lonely down in the lab by herself all day.
"Do you two have a schedule for this or are you just playing it by ear?" Jane asked playfully. She was grateful for both men in her life for all they did to help Maura. And her.
"No set schedule yet but we have found tag teaming her has been pretty effective so far," he answered.
"I owe you," Jane said and meant it.
"I'll collect," he fired back. "Jane, if you need us, just call us." They both knew Jane had promised Maura if she got into something more than she should be dealing with she would call them in. Maura had made them both promise they would drop everything if Jane did request the help. Not that they wouldn't have without promising Maura. All three of them had wanted Jane safe and out of trouble.
"I will," she answered. Standing up she finished the call. "I'll let you know if I find Price. Thanks."
Disconnecting the call she turned towards the yard. "Come on Jo, time to head in." Looking down at Bass she commented, "You too. I should have told you to head in while I was on the phone with Frost. Shake a leg big guy, I've got somewhere I need to be." Jane walked into the house to change leaving the door open for Bass as he started to make his way back inside.
R&I
Jane knew there was only about a fifty-fifty chance that Amanda Price would be home when she knocked on the door. Truthfully, she calculated the odds to be even less than that considering they had absolutely no luck on this case to date. So, she was more than a little surprised when she heard movement and noise after she knocked on apartment 317. She was even more surprised when the door opened and a woman stood in the doorway.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
Jane took in her features for a moment and knew she had seen the woman before. Not in person but in a photograph. On the Phoenix Foundation's website. Only the caption under that photograph did not identify her as Amanda Price.
"Amanda Price?" Jane asked as she flashed her badge to the woman and waited for a response.
"Yeah?" she confirmed now looking a little startled. Jane wasn't sure if that was because of the badge or another reason.
"I'm Detective Rizzoli," Jane announced. "I need to speak with you for a few minutes." Jane had learned long ago never to actually ask a person 'if' they could speak. It was better to 'tell' the person that they were going to talk. She found much less resistance with that method.
Amanda looked at Jane and down at the badge and then back up to Jane again. After a few moments she stepped aside and let Jane into her apartment. Once the door was closed she asked. "What's this about?"
Jane moved a little further into the apartment but not too far. It wasn't right to simply barge all the way into someone's personal space. Jane didn't intrude. She inched, ever so slowly while talking, further and further into an apartment or home if she wanted to have a long conversation.
"For starters," Jane decided to throw out simply because she wanted to get a read on Price, "we need to discuss why you are pictured as 'Ashley Knight' on the Phoenix Foundation's Board of Trustees website."
It was a good move to throw out a warning shot to an interview subject that there were things she already knew. Never the big things. It was a bad move to lead with the biggest thing you knew. It was best to start with something small. Something only mildly connected to what you really wanted to discuss. But just enough to set a tone. And the tone Jane was setting with Amanda Price that she wasn't playing around.
They stood staring at each other for a moment. Jane was the master of the stare down. Her first challenge had been thrown out and she was just waiting to see just how unsettled it made Price.
Very was the answer to that.
It didn't take long before Jane got her first read on Price. Her shoulders immediately slumped and she dropped her eye contact with Jane.
"How much do you know?" Price asked.
"Enough," Jane pushed back. She wasn't ready to share all her information yet. "I'd like to understand your role in all of this."
Price released a sigh and seemed to be debating what her next move should be. This was usually a critical moment in an interview. If Jane pushed too hard Amanda would clam up and could even lawyer up. If she didn't push enough, Amanda could believe Jane was bluffing and not offer up any information. It was a fine line to walk but Jane walked it well.
Jane sensed she just needed one more push to get Amanda to start talking. She she gave it her best shot. "Amanda, I know you aren't the mastermind behind the con. I want to believe you just handled the money and you weren't involved in all of the rest of it but I'm going to need you to really talk to me about what has happened." Again, just enough of a nudge to let Amanda know she wasn't bluffing but without any detail to tip her hand on what details she did or didn't know.
"I swear, I just handled the money," she said.
And just like that, Jane had her.
"Ok, let's sit down," Jane said nodding towards chairs in the dining area. Amanda nodded and moved towards a chair sitting before Jane sat down. "Let's start from the beginning. How did you get involved in all of this?"
Open-ended, vague questions. Jane needed Amanda to fill in a lot of blanks for her.
"Kevin," she answered. Jane stayed quiet as her hint that more detail was needed. "Kevin and I dated all through college. The relationship ended but we remained friends. I was an accounting major and he was a business communications major. About three months after we graduated I still hadn't found a job. Kevin came to see me and said he had an opportunity for me."
Jane nodded understandingly. "Did you know from the beginning that things were fraudulent?"
Amanda sighed and nodded her head. "Kevin was upfront with me. He told me about Jacob and how he was recruited. We were both in the same boat. Deep in debt and desperate. Kevin promised a lot of money and all I needed to do was handle the books, spread out the money to keep it from being traced back to Jacob and just keep my mouth shut."
So Denton recruited Lansing Jane made as a mental note. That answered one of her many questions. Now she needed to try to extract some details about how the cons worked.
"Was the con always the same or did it change over time?" she asked. Again, she was looking for some details.
"It changed to suit the target," she answered. "Once Jacob would identify the target he would figure out the best charity or nonprofit angle to play and design everything based on that. Once he got the shell in place it was up to Kevin to run the con," she said looking at Jane.
Again, another question answered for Jane. Now she wanted confirmation of something else. "So this version of the Phoenix Foundation claimed a specialization for kids experiencing significant loss. That was as a specific response to Gina Franklin being Denton's target?"
"Yes," Amanda answered. "Jacob felt portraying the foundation as a nonprofit grief and support organization would appeal to Gina given her close relationship with Eric."
"Did Kevin always use the relationship angle during his cons?" Jane asked. Clearly if they had targeted Gina from the outset his 'relationship' with her was part of the con.
"Not always. But more often than not that was his way in with the target. There were times that the age difference between them would be too big so he would have to try to get close in a different way or play off the philanthropical needs of the non-profit shell. But the casanova play was his best move. Kevin was a good looking guy and he could be quite the charmer when he wanted to be. He never had any issues with getting his targets to trust him. Several even fell in love with him."
"Did you ever participate in any aspect of the cons outside of handling the money?" Jane was curious.
"No," she answered. "I laundered the money. That's all. I kept the money moving around and off the government's radar and as hidden as I could make it."
"Did you handle the website or the newsletters or anything to do with securing office space at all?" she asked wondering who exactly managed that part of the con.
"No, that was all Jacob. He designed the websites. He created the flyers and blog posts. He handled the office space and hiring the temp answering service. It didn't happen often but if actors were needed to assist in hooking the target Jacob handled all of that."
"How did Denton select his targets?" she asked.
"I don't know," Amanda answered. "Kevin told me once he had some sort of access to trust fund information but what or how neither one of us seemed to know."
Jane shifted in her chair as she now needed to shift the conversation to Gina's murder. As interested as she was about the foundation and the fraud her bigger concern was Gina and what happened to her and if it was tied to just Lansing or was Denton involved.
"Amanda, what do you know about what happened to Gina?" she asked.
"Only what has been reported in the papers. That you think Kevin shot her. That you found the gun upstairs in his apartment," she said.
"Do you think Kevin shot Gina?" Jane asked.
"No," Amanda answered emphatically. "I've known Kevin for over five years. He's never been violent and he has never owned a gun. Kevin's best weapon was his charm. He may have been dishonest and he was a thief but he's no killer."
"Where were you…" Jane started but was interrupted by Amanda.
"I was in California when Gina, Eric and Kevin were all killed. It was my mother's birthday and I had flown home to see her. I didn't return until three days after all of that happened. By then, Jacob was already working on dismantling the office and was shutting down the operation."
Jane knew she could verify Amanda's flight information so she focused in on Denton. "You say he was dismantling the operation. What does that mean?"
"As soon as I returned from California he had me set up two new accounts with money transfers from several of the existing accounts. He was consolidating the money. I know he shredded any of the hard copies of flyers or portfolios for the Phoenix Foundation. He was informed the landlord the space would be available at the end of the month. And he was making inquiries into properties in Florida. Plus, I was released from my duties after I handled the last of the money transfers."
"Do you know where Denton is right now?" Jane asked.
Amanda shook her head. "No. I haven't seen him since he let me go which was four days ago. The cell phone number I had for him is no longer in service. I'm pretty certain he isn't in Boston anymore."
"Do you think Denton had anything to do with Gina's death?" Jane asked.
"It's possible. I have no real idea but Jacob is capable of something like that," she answered.
"Why do you say that?" she asked.
"Because he has a temper. That, I've seen first hand. When Jacob gets mad he gets violent. He's hit me twice," she said as she dropped her eyes from Jane when she admitted that. "Slaps across the face. I've seen him push Kevin a few times. And Kevin told me that Jacob hit Gina once too."
"Do you know when that happened?" Jane asked somewhat surprised to hear that.
"About two weeks before she was shot. Kevin told me she was having second thoughts about giving Jacob access to her trust accounts. Kevin felt like it was just nerves and he thought he could still handle her but Jacob found out she was reconsidering the changes and he lost his temper. Kevin said he slapped her but I don't know if he did more than that."
Jane shifted her conversation with Amanda back to her role with handling the money. She asked several questions about the ledgers she found on Kevin's PC and Amanda walked Jane through her process of moving the money around. Finally, Jane felt she had gotten as much detail from Amanda as she could.
Jane was not technically at Amanda's apartment in an official capacity. Considering she was on a leave, she could not bring Amanda into the station. Nor was fraud really anything that she had a responsibilty for investigating. It was clear to her that the fraud part of this investigation would need to be turned over to the white collar crime division. Given the nature of the fraud it could most likely end up becoming a federal investigation.
"Amanda, I appreciate your candor," Jane started indicating that she had asked everything she planned on asking.
"What happens now?" Amanda asked.
"Now, you will be considered a person of interest in an ongoing investigation," Jane answered. Seeing the confused look on Amanda's face Jane explained. "The scope of this investigation has not been completely defined. At this time, you are not being arrested. However, being designated a person of interest means that you can expect further inquiries from Boston PD and the District Attorney's office.
"The District Attorney's office will be in touch with you as investigation continues. Our requests of you is that you do not discuss this investigation with anyone and that you do not leave town without informing the DA's office of your intent to do so." Both requests were slightly a bluff. Jane had no arrest warrant and this was an unofficial investigation. The best she could do was try to scare Price into not skipping town.
Amanda simply nodded her head. Jane stood up and headed for the door. Before she left she pulled out her card and handed it over to Amanda. "If Denton happens to contact you, please let me know." Amanda took Jane's card and nodded again.
"Detective," Amanda said before Jane left. "I understand that what I was a part of was wrong. I know there's a price I will need to pay for that. But," she said and paused for a minute, "Kevin's not a killer. He was wrong in what he did but I knew him. He wasn't capable of killing anyone."
Jane just nodded and left the apartment. Jane got into her car and grabbed her phone.
Found Price. Lunch at the Robber? -J
She waited a few minutes until her phone buzzed. Frost was the one to reply which didn't surprised Jane since Vince generally hated texting.
We can get away in 20. See you there. -F