LITMIR.BIZ

      Working through the lunch hour on Travis Morton’s account, Logan’s alarm increased with each transaction scrutinized. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that the amount of money missing from the account could only be traced to Mr. Turner, checks to cover medical bills, household expenses, and some written for cash. The difference in the balance came to approximately $50,000 even though the monthly statements seemed to be in order. Apparently no one else had been checking the account the last few months.

      “Why would a lawyer need that kind of money?” Logan whispered to herself, now wondering if Jake Turner’s name appeared on any other accounts.

      Her fingers flying, she looked for other accounts where his name appeared as a co-signer.

      “Hello”, gasping as the computer lit up with several other names.

      The details of each account flashed across the screen. Noting a pattern, Logan saw several large checks he had written over the last few years. All accounts were in the names of elderly patrons who rarely came into the bank or called.

      “It wouldn’t surprise me if they’re missing money too!”

      She spent the next two hours calling some of the owners of the accounts or their caregivers. In every case, Mr. Turner was acknowledged as the person responsible for paying the bills from their accounts. When asked to give their balance, Logan noted huge discrepancies. Questioned about monthly statements, they explained that Mr. Turner received those and sent them duplicate copies.

      She wondered if he doctored monthly statements to cover up his thefts?

      Not wanting to alarm anyone, she explained that she was confirming the balance as part of an internal audit. Everyone she spoke with was very cooperative, and by the time she completed the last phone call, Logan ascertained that approximately $225,000 was missing from eleven different bank accounts. Mr. Morton suffered the largest loss.

      I guess he figured he could take advantage of a sick, old man who didn’t have long to live, she thought. All of the victims were wealthy senior citizens who had entrusted Jake Turner with their life savings.

      “The man has a lot of explaining to do,” she fumed, “and I plan to nail him!”

      Quickly, she walked over to see Bill Jensen, the bank manager. Peering through the glass, she saw him talking on the phone and gently tapped to get his attention.

      He motioned for her to come in, mouthing that he would not be long.

      She plopped down in the chair and waited patiently.

      Bill noticed the worried look on her face and quickly made up an excuse to end his phone conversation.

      “Hey, don’t look so serious kid. What’s up?”

      Exhaling, “I think I have a problem and I need your help.”

      His tone turned cautious. “What’s wrong?”

      When she summarized the events of the afternoon, his brow creased and he started to rub his chin with his hand, a habit he had, stroking his beard.

      The only problem was he had shaved off his beard last year when his wife, Alice, declared that either the beard went or she did! She was finally fed up with ‘the scratchy old thing’. When it came to his wife, Bill was a pussycat. He shaved off the beard but never shook the habit of stroking his chin like it was still there.

      As Logan watched this unconscious movement, she was reminded of the attention they had given her since she started working at the bank three years ago. Calling her “kid” was not derogatory at all. In fact, he used the term affectionately as her parents would have.

      When Bill and Alice found out her parents had died in a tragic car accident when she was in college, they welcomed her into their home as they would a daughter. She was always with them for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all the other holidays. For the first time since her parents’ accident, Logan felt a true sense of family with Bill and Alice, who had no children themselves and looked upon Logan as their daughter.

      Now he listened intently, concern mounting as he considered the ramifications of what she was telling him.

      “I don’t like this, Bill. I think we might want to pull in one of our auditors to look at it.”

      He stared out the window, pondering the sticky situation and the action to take. He had never regretted the day he hired Logan. She waltzed into his office three years ago with an air of confidence about her that did not travel far from the surface.

      He recognized her brash ‘can do’ attitude was tied more to a lack of self-esteem than arrogance. So, he went about nurturing her enthusiasm and channeling it deeper and deeper until inherent charm and creativity slowly emerged, confirming his faith.

      Just a few months ago, Logan was promoted to assistant branch manager, her gratitude only matched by his pride in her accomplishments. He trusted her suspicions and recognized her genuine concern.

      After several minutes of silence, he swiveled his chair around to face her. “Okay. I want you to handle this. Call Scott and ask him to take a look. Can you free your schedule so you can work with him?”

      Logan nodded affirmatively.

      “If this turns out to be what we think it is, Jake Turner could be in big trouble. I mean this is a criminal offense.”

      “I know”, Logan said

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