Alice was pretending to work in Bennie’s office, with the door closed. She tore open the USABank envelope, skimmed the instructions from Marla, then took out the signature cards. She opened the desk drawer, found Bennie’s checkbook, then set the register on the desk as a handwriting sample. She forged Bennie’s name on the signature card, then did the six others.
She signed the paperwork, scanned it in her desk scanner, and emailed it to Marla at USABank. She found the DHL envelope, put the cards inside, and sealed the envelope. She bent the envelope in half and stuffed it in Bennie’s purse, which was sitting on the floor, in front of the locked drawer that held the money bag. Then she called USABank.
“Marla?” she said, when the call picked up. “It’s Bennie Rosato. How are you today?”
“Just fine. Did you get the signature cards?”
“Yes, thanks, I’m done. I scanned and emailed them to you and put the hard copies in the DHL envelope. I’d like you to wire the money to BSB right away.”
“I will. Wait a minute, I see your scanner copies coming into my email, right now. After I wire the funds, your account will be open at BSB, but you can’t use or withdraw any of the money until tomorrow, when they get the original signatures.”
“Understood. Please make the transfer after we hang up. My sister has already begun impersonating me.” Alice filled her in quickly on the details. “And now I have a restraining order against her. I think it’s prudent to expedite things.”
“Of course, I’ll make the wire transfer as soon as we hang up. Thanks so much for entrusting your business to USABank and its partners, in such a difficult time. You know how much we value our relationship.”
“I do, thanks.” Alice hung up, then pressed information, got the number of the TV station, and waited until the call connected. It was a little risky to call the media, but she had to preempt Bennie, who might go there in desperation. Alice had to keep the upper hand, especially now that Bennie was on the loose.
When the phone was answered, Alice asked, “May I speak to Emily Barry, please? Tell her it’s Bennie Rosato.”
“Yes, please hold.”
Alice didn’t have to wait long.
“Bennie!” Emily said, picking up. “It’s great to hear from you. We haven’t spoken since the Connelly trial.”
“Thanks for taking my call. You did some of the best reporting on that case, so you were my first choice of reporters.” Alice paused for effect. “I’d like to give you some information, but it has to be off the record. You can’t attribute it to me.”
“You have my word.”
“I have reason to believe that Connelly is up to her old tricks.”
“Like what?” Emily sounded excited. “Sleeping with crooked cops, or otherwise whoring it up?”
Jealous, much? “No, impersonating me. We had one incident over the weekend, and I can’t tell how far she’ll go.”
“How can I corroborate? You know I need a second source.”
“We filed a police complaint and just got a restraining order.”
“Perfect. That’s public record.” Emily started taking notes, the keyboard clacking away. “But why are you telling me this? You never leak. I used to have to pull teeth to get you to talk.”
“Honestly, I’m afraid of her.” Alice went to victim mode. “I’m doing everything I can to protect myself from her, just in case she comes to the office and tries something. But I need more help. If you run the story, everybody in the tri-state area will be looking for Alice, and I’ll be a lot safer. After all, she’s not hard to spot. She looks exactly like me.”
“I get it. Very smart.”
“Thanks. Gotta go,” Alice said hastily, because her doorknob was twisting. Someone was coming into her office, and she hung up and put the checkbooks away just as the door opened.
A woman was standing in the threshold, and Alice had no idea if she was another lawyer, a client, or an old friend, so she plastered on a fake Bennie-smile.
“Hello!” Alice said, rising. “Great to see you!”
“Really?” asked the woman, arching an eyebrow.