Page 61 of Burning Caine
Yesterday morning, I would have agreed with her. Instead, I regretted promising to get a status update for David. I wasn’t ready to see him again.
Chapter 25
Samantha
“Sam,Lucy,”saidHarryBell as we walked into the Special Investigations Unit’s cubicle office. “What can we do for you this afternoon?”
I sat in a chair at their large table, putting the police file down. “It’s the Scott claim again. We’ve learned a few more things I wanted to review with you. I spoke with a police officer with suspicions about the whole event.”
Harry sat forward, a gleam in his eye. “Summary.”
“First and foremost, Harry. Your friend was right about the police closing this case fast. It was wrapped up yesterday.” I tapped the folder in front of me.
I updated them on the salient points of the case, including the police ruling it an accident, everything we’d discovered through Antonio’s work, and my suspicions the painting was a fake. Lucy added a few colorful details but mostly listened, and Quinn flipped through the police report while I spoke. Once I was done, Harry reached for a piece of paper and placed it on the table.
“What do you have planned so far?” he asked.
I counted interviews on my fingers, and he wrote as I spoke. “I’ve scheduled with the neighbor who reported the fire, the security system installer, and the painter.”
“What about the insured?”
“I just talked to her, so I think we’re good there. Mike relied on the police report instead of interviewing the other parties, so I’ll make sure someone from Foster talks to everyone involved.”
“Circle back to the insured after you’ve got all your other information in hand. What else?”
He was leading me somewhere. I didn’t have anything else planned, but he was patient, pen hovering over the paper while he waited. I rubbed a hand over my face. “If the painting’s a fake, we need to prove it. I’m pretty sure it is, but that’s primarily in Antonio’s hands right now.”
“How’s that going for you?” Quinn raised an eyebrow.
Lucy giggled, until I nudged her under the table.
“Quinn, stop,” interrupted Harry, pen still hovering.
I did my best to ignore them while trying to figure it out. “So, I need to find…intent to defraud? If any of the surviving insureds knew the painting was a fake, they should have alerted us of the change in value. I need to find out if anyone knew.”
“Exactly.” Harry wrote a few more things on the sheet. “If it’s a fake, we don’t pay. If the insured didn’t know, then they’re not at fault, and we potentially have a theft claim to deal with instead. If they did know, though…”
Quinn picked up his line of thought. “There are a lot of other places this investigation can go. For now, focus on the intent to defraud, but keep an eye out for anything else. If you find something material, the police will reopen the case and investigate the rest. Don’t get too far in over your head.”
Harry asked, “What happened with Ferraro’s? Did they try anything fishy with the one-month contract?”
“Yes and no. Dominico left town last Friday, when I was supposed to bring it in—”
“What’s that?” asked Quinn. “He left town the day you were bringing in a million-dollar painting you suspect may have been either stolen or forged?”
Harry eyed her. “Our town’s foremost expert…”
My first instinct was to defend Antonio’s family. They wouldn’t be involved in this, would they? My second instinct was to listen to Harry’s advice. Don’t trust anyone.
“They’re down a resource. Antonio is working overtime to clean and authenticate this one.”
Quinn and Lucy shared a glance, overselling it to be sure I noticed.
“Is it possible,” interjected Harry, “the fraud was on the underwriting side? A lie or fraudulent documents when they added the coverage for the painting?”
“No.” I looked back at them, finally having a question I knew the answer to. “Their supporting evidence was impeccable. I believe the painting was replaced sometime between 2015 and now.”
“Could they be keeping the original in a safe?” asked Harry.