Chapter Three

"What do you think ?" Megan looked at Don as they entered the FBI building.

"I think the guy's an ass, The wife, she's definitely hiding something. Did you see the way he looked at her when we came back outside?"

"Oh yeah, wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that look. I'm just glad there's a unit still there going through the house. Will buy Molly some time."

"I've got Colby checking through to see if any domestic abuses have been reported at that address"

"I don't think he'd hit his wife Don, with a man like that it's all about the look and the status. He silenced her with one glance. Men like that live off of the power of the threat, my guess is that he's holding the security and the money against her. Probably telling her how she'd be nothing if she left him."

"Boy is she buying into that then"

"Definitely , I'm going to run down another lead. She said something about him wanting a boy and her birth being difficult."

"You think there's something in that"

"Give me half an hour and I'll find out"

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Charlie walked around the table , and pointed to the screen.

"If you look here Don you can see the money being transferred to the other account, it's very clever how they've done it. Covered their tracks pretty well actually."

Don nodded to his brother, he'd brought him in to check through the fraud investigation against Bill Sanderson that had began the year before. The original case had hit a dead end and been put on hold , awaiting new evidence. It seemed his little brother may have found the missing piece of the puzzle.

"These account numbers don't match the ones on the previous ledger. There's digits missing. Just one here and there but enough to throw off a search if it was done on a computer."

"So you're saying he was moving money out of the investors accounts"

"Most definitely, and by the looks of it he was trying to do it to save the company, they're almost bankrupt from the look of these accounts"

"You wouldn't tell that from his house"

"I can tell it from the numbers though"

Charlie sat next to his brother with a triumphant smile on his face, Don was smiling back at him.

"Trust you to spot a one number difference in seventeen bank account's"

"It's not how I do it, but the way I do it"

Don nudged his brother with his shoulder.

"It's all in the style Don, you could learn so much from me"

"Yeah alright superstar, can you explain all this to our accountants?"

"Sure, does it help with your case at all?"

"Well if we know this guy was stealing money from his investors that's a main place to start. Especially seeing as the company is in trouble. They knew, they just couldn't prove it. Might make a person seek some revenge"

"By kidnapping his daughter?"

"Yeah"

"Don?" Megan strode into the office and stood in front of the brothers.

"I checked with the hospital, the records show that Molly Sanderson almost died during the birth of her daughter. The trauma was so much that her body was irreversibly damaged and she's now unable to have any more children . The nurse I spoke to remembers the couple"

"Really?" Don and Charlie asked simultaneously .

"She said that the husband stuck in her mind. As soon as the sex of the baby was announced he screamed at his wife and stormed out of the room. She barely had time to react before the complications set in. They had to rush her to the OR before she bled to death. The husband didn't return until the next day and even then he barely looked at the child."

"Would explain why the nurse remembered them"

"I think he's involved in this. Not only is his company in financial crisis but he's had to endure a child he never wanted"

"Surely he's grown to love his daughter" Charlie looked from Megan to Don.

"I don't know Charlie, he didn't seem overly emotional and the house didn't seem like a child lived there"

"Don, I want to look into his background further, Molly said he wanted to cancel the police, makes me all kind's of suspicious"

"Ok , let me know what you find"

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Bill Sanderson opened the door to find Don and another Agent staring back at him.

"You people have only just left, there's nothing more I can tell you"

"I thought your first question would be have we found your daughter?"

Sanderson glared at Don. Colby moved into the house and stood behind him.

"Please put your hands behind your back Sir"

"What's going on?" Molly came running in from the kitchen .

"Mrs Sanderson, I'm going to need you to come with us also, but I want you to go with the other Agent out there next to the grey car. Ok?"

"Please , what's going on? Have you found Kaylee?"

"Not yet, no. We'll explain back at our office, please go with the Agent ma'am"

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Don walked around Bill Sanderson in the interrogation room. The evidence Charlie had uncovered had enabled them to arrest him for the fraud. They just needed him to give them the kidnapping. They were convinced he was apart of it, they just needed him to slip up enough.

Megan had checked through the records held on Bill Sanderson, he dealt with some pretty heavy hitters in his business. He may have currently been trying to save a shipping business but before that he'd had several others, all had failed under suspicious circumstances. It was a wonder this man had still managed to gain clients. The reputation of his father and grandfather had kept the companies afloat for much longer than they had any right to be. Bill Sanderson was the disappointment of the family. Disowned by his father when the promise of a grandchild to carry on the family name had evaporated. Divorce was out of the question. No Sanderson had ever failed in anything and Bill refused to fail at marriage as well as business.

David had uncovered large amounts of cash taken from his bank account on four separate occasions over the course of the past month. The man had tried to claim that these were for advances on business deals. David had dug deeper. Calling known business associates it seemed none would have anything further to do with Sanderson Shipping anymore.

"You want to tell us what the money was for?"

"I have nothing to say to you"

"You don't seem overly concerned for your daughter Bill. Your wife is close to hysteria , but you? You don't seem bothered."

David handed the bank account statements to Don. Megan and Charlie watched the questioning unfold in the observation room.

"You want to tell me what the money is for? I'm your only hope here, daddy's not coming to bail you out of this one"

Bill Sanderson noticeably flinched. Megan smiled.

"What?" asked Charlie

"The father is his weakness. I told Don to push those buttons, you push the right buttons and the suspect will say the wrong thing."

"Daddy disappointed in you?" David moved to sit behind the desk. Don was perched on the edge.

"I don't know why you think I had anything to do with this"

"Well you're not giving us any reason to think otherwise, maybe we should just talk to your wife some more"

"Really?" Bill laughed at Don , "you think she has anything to say? She doesn't say anything worth listening to , most of the time you won't know she's even there"

"She seemed to have quite a bit to say earlier Bill , do me a favour and tell my boss what he needs to know so that we can be rid of you"

Don hid his grin. The look on Sanderson's face was a picture. This man was obviously not used to being spoken to that way, and by a black man no less. The man was clearly fuming. A couple more buttons and they'd have him.

"Mr Sanderson , I'm the one that can keep you in a nice , comfortable jail instead of with all the other criminals."

Bill Sanderson eyed Don carefully. He hadn't thought of jail. They clearly had more on him than they'd let on. Could he really be in this much trouble? It was all supposed to go so easily. A call for money, a ransom drop. Explaining how it had all gone wrong. No body to be found, with luck as a bonus Molly would have fallen further into her valium and another of his problems would have been eliminated. No divorce there father, a remarry by a widower but no divorce. Yet Molly had called the police before consulting him.

She'd never done that before, never done something without his approval. He hadn't counted on that.

"You have no reason to keep me here Agent Eppes, I'd thank you to let me go unless you have some evidence of some kind that you're willing to divulge."

David handed a file over to Bill. He watched as the colour drained from the mans face.

"As you can see, we have you for fraud, we know your company is going under. We have entries from your bank account that you don't seem able to explain. Either way you'll be a guest of the state for at least a couple of years. Maybe more if the judge happens to take a dislike to you"

Again Don had to suppress a smile.

"And if I cooperate?"

Here we go, Don stood up and walked around to David's side of the desk.

"We'll make sure that the prosecutor knows you did everything in you power to assist with the investigation."

"They took my daughter, said that I owed them for the money I stole."

"Who?"

"I took money from one account without realising it was Joseph Bruton's , he used our shipping company for many of his goods."

"Joseph Bruton? The guy who runs the Devils Street Gang ?"

"It was stupid"

"You can say that again" Don moved back round and knelt next to Bill Sanderson. The mans cool exterior was slowly cracking. He was sweating and his breathing had become more erratic .

"Where did they take her?"

"They said that once I had the money that I could pick her up at the warehouse they have by the docks"

"Give me the address"