Page 62 of Mission: Possible

"What are we talking about? A thousand bucks? Ten thousand?"

"Try ten times that." I positioned the half full plate on my lap before reaching down and pulling the wad from my purse. We all gazed at it.

Maddox whistled. "Is this connected to a case?"

"Yes."

"The bank robbery?"

"Oh, no. A different case."

"How do you know it's real?" he asked.

"I checked the serial numbers. They're all random and different."

"May I?" Maddox reached for it and thumbed through. "It's real, all right," he decided. "All the watermarks and serial numbers are present. It looks like a fresh minting though. That's unusual."

"How is it unusual?" asked Lily. "Because there’s no cocaine dusting the bills?"

"I'm not even going to answer or discuss how you would know that."

"It's a well-known fact and I am a respectable mother and business owner," said Lily.

"I knew you before all that," said Maddox. "I've seen you in action at that weird club where you used to work. Onto your question. The unusual bit is because I would only expect to see cash this pristine if it's literally just been delivered to the bank. See? No smudges, rips, or torn edges. No one's written anything on any of the bills, no pen marks. It's like the cash has never been circulated." He pulled out a few bills, examining them and passing them to us.

"That is strange," I said.

"I can run the serial numbers if you like?"

I brightened. "That would be helpful, thank you."

"Leave it with me and I'll get back to you."

I waved for Maddox to take the cash and he tucked it inside his pants pocket.

"Ten bucks says we never see him again now he that he has his early pension money," said Lily.

"Unlikely," laughed Maddox. "It'll take a lot more cash than that to see the backside of me. You two got that kind of dough?"

I smiled. "Nope."

Chapter Thirteen

With Maddox tracing down the cash, and Solomon still looking into Mackleton's background and associates, I could turn my attention fully back onto my investigation into Sophie Takahashi. Before going to sleep, I puzzled again over her sudden manifestation from nowhere three years ago, and that was still on my mind as I walked into the agency. What did I miss?

I spent a few minutes idly searching for any recent records of a Sophie Gallo anywhere in Wisconsin but to no avail. As I leaned back in my chair, I briefly contemplated how annoying it was to try to track down people without any kind of social media presence. Even now, Sophie shied away from the limelight, just as her husband did. I wondered if that was part of what attracted Austen to her? A wife that wasn't prone to “conspicuous consumption” would naturally be desirable to someone as low-key as Austen.

Since her past was proving more difficult to trace, I needed to talk to the people in Sophie's life now. On the paperwork Austen completed, I knew Sophie worked in a museum gift shop when they first met. Montgomery wasn't overrun with museums; if people sought culture, they could easily head into Boston for the day. We had a big museum in the center of the city that was reserved for traveling collections when they rotated through the city on national tours. In addition, there were several other smaller museums; one was dedicated to the city history and another kept a charming collection of clocks and other rare timepieces in a townhouse. There was a contemporary art gallery that had a particularly nice gift shop, and several smaller private galleries. Unfortunately, after consulting my notes I had no clue which one previously employed Sophie.

I called Austen. "Any news?" he asked.

"I have an FBI contact looking into the cash," I replied, "but no news yet."

"The FBI? Is that a good thing? I mean, what if..."

"I understand your concern but you asked me to find out what's going on no matter what." I stopped, realizing how harsh that must sound to a worried man. Softening my voice, I tried to be more reassuring. "My contact is discreet. If he finds anything that raises a red flag, I assure you, he'll tell me first."

"That's what I'm afraid of. Raising red flags."

---