Chapter 9 - The Second Account
The forensic accountant discovered the second account in the fifth week.
Not Claire’s.
Brian’s.
It had received deposits from a side business called Northline Project Consulting.
At first the company appeared legitimate.
Then invoices were compared.
Northline had billed Hayes Renovation Group for “project coordination” and “lead-generation services.”
No staff.
No office.
No meaningful work product.
The owner was Brian’s longtime friend, Eric Dawson.
Walter recognized the name immediately.
Eric had been Brian’s roommate in college.
Best man at his wedding.
Fishing partner.
The account seemed to cycle money.
Hayes Renovation paid Northline.
Northline transferred portions to Brian.
Brian used the money partly for gambling and partly for personal expenses.
That raised a new question.
Why create an extra layer when Brian already controlled his business?
Victor, the forensic accountant, offered a cautious answer.
“To make company withdrawals look like vendor expenses.”
The amounts began before the fraudulent trust reimbursements.
That mattered.
Brian’s financial misconduct predated Claire’s participation.
Three clues suddenly aligned.
The company’s unexplained cash shortages.
Brian’s pressure for fake medical reimbursements.
Claire’s claim that she discovered something worse while preparing to leave.
But then Victor showed Walter one transaction that did not fit.
A $28,000 payment from Northline went to an account associated with Claire.
Walter stiffened.
“She said she only moved trust money later.”
Victor nodded.
“This isn’t trust money.”
“When?”
“Seventeen months ago.”
Early.
Very early.
Walter felt the simple victim-and-controller story fracture again.
Claire had claimed Brian pulled her gradually into wrongdoing.
Maybe true.
But she had received hidden money long before she said she began planning an escape.
Her attorney was asked for an explanation.
Claire provided one.
The account had been used to pay down her private student loans.
Brian told her the money was a bonus from a successful commercial project.
She claimed she did not know it passed through Northline.
Records partly supported her.
But not completely.
One email showed Claire asking:
Is this clean?
Brian replied:
Cleaner than leaving it in Hayes.
Claire responded:
Fine. Just don’t make me explain it to Walter.
Walter stared at that sentence.
She knew enough to know secrecy mattered.
Maybe not every detail.
Enough.
Then another fact emerged.
Mason had not accidentally walked into the office at 2:00 a.m.
He had been awake because he heard his parents fighting.
The subject of the argument:
Northline.
And according to Mason, Claire screamed one sentence before Brian left the house.
“I covered for you because you promised this was the last account.”
Walter felt the investigation turning again.
May you like
The fake medical bills had not been the beginning.
They were the middle.
Related Stories
