Page 8 of All The Wrong Notes

But Kevin clucked sadly. “He’s got no morals, but he’s also very smart. I don’t know how he did it. He didn’t leave his fingerprints anywhere. There was nothing to hang him with.”

“But how do you know this, if there wasn’t evidence? There must have been a forensic audit.”

“I saw the day-to-day operations. I could see what was going on with the banking software, even if there wasn’t anything official to complain about. It was… it was all cleverly done. But I lost my job, and I’ve had trouble keeping anything permanent since then. I tell them I was at Pemberton when it shut its doors, and everyone looks at me like I’m poison. It’s really wrecked my career.”

The brownie didn’t look so appetising now. “And there’s still nothing to go to the authorities with?”

“No.” He took a drink from his cup. “Not a thing.”

CHAPTER 4

THE COTTAGE

If one positive thing had come out of Elise’s coffee with Kevin, it was that she got another volunteer. He had been lamenting the loss of funding for the kids’ charities in Montreal, and when Elise mentioned that her arts centre focused on exactly that, his eyes lit up. And when she mentioned they relied on volunteers for so much of their operations, he almost jumped in his chair. The next thing Elise knew, Kevin had offered to take care of the day-to-day books and help with fundraising for the organisation. It was his way of atoning, he explained, for having lost the charities in Montreal. It hadn’t been his fault, but it was on his watch, and he had never been happy with himself since.

His first big project would be to organise and manage ticket sales for a concert the kids were to perform in the spring. It would be a group effort, with the orchestra, band, choir, and some rock ensembles all performing, alongside a gallery of artworks outside for the audience to admire. This annual event was the main fundraiser that kept the centre going, and it was great publicity as well. With a certified accountant at the helm, and one with the project management experience Kevin explained he had, the fundraiser was sure to be a great success.

He also offered to get involved with the promised donation of a piece of land outside of the city. A generous donor had offered the land with the hope of it eventually being used for summer camps and shorter residential programs, and only the paperwork still waited. Again, with his accounting experience, Kevin was perfect to be involved with the details.

With those huge projects taken care of, a load of work was taken off Elise’s shoulders. And as the fall programming at the centre got settled, her evenings cleared up even more, until she could take some time every now and then to meet with a friend, or go out for coffee with The Gang after choir.

And so, after the third rehearsal, Elise and a small group wended their way to a local pub for a drink and a chat. They found a table large enough for their party and put in their orders. Janet was there, joined at the hip with Carlos, who by now had everyone eating out of his hands. He was as friendly with the group as he had been to Elise when they’d first met, and his lovely, smooth voice was a perfect complement for the choir. Since everyone loved Janet, and since she was as happy as anyone had ever seen her, they welcomed Carlos into the fold with open arms.

Masako, a tiny Japanese woman with a surprisingly deep alto voice, had joined them for a few minutes, since Thursday was her night off from her family of four adorable but very busy young kids, as had Jasmine Smith, who took Thursdays off from her violin students to sing with the choir. Randall and Taylor had come along as well, making it a gathering of seven, small enough for conversation, but large enough to make it a bit of a party. With various drinks, from beer to wine to decaf, in front of them, and two large plates of fries and nachos waiting to be shared, the group nattered happily about the concert season.

The first concert was almost all choral, with a new suite of songs by local composer Anne Elliot, and some lovely settings of folk songs from around the world. A small chamber orchestra would join them for the Elliot, but the rest would a cappella or with piano accompaniment. At Christmas, they would do two concerts, both with music they knew. One of these was a concert of carols and seasonal songs, and the other was an out-of-town performance of ‘Messiah’ with full orchestra and some excellent soloists, to be repeated the next night in the city.

The big concert of the year, with the forces of an excellent local orchestra, was to be a performance of Mozart’s ‘Coronation Mass’ in the spring. Elise was particularly excited about this one. She had sung it years ago with the university choir and had loved every note. The final concert was scheduled for June, with the program still undecided. Randall hoped to do a summer tour and would wait to see if it was a possibility and where they might go.

It wasn’t terribly late when the group broke up, but when Carlos and Janet offered her a ride home, Elise gladly accepted. It seemed Janet was spending more time at Carlos’ place than at her own condo these days, and Elise’s apartment was on the way.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Carlos said as he guided his car through the busy streets. Even now, people were still out and about, and while not as crazy as during the day, there was a lot of traffic on the roads. “We’re going up to the cottage over Thanksgiving, and hoped you’d come along.”

Elise slipped her phone out of a pocket and checked the calendar. “That’s two weeks’ time.”

Early October was a very sensible time for Thanksgiving, she considered. By the time the Americans held their holiday in late November, the harvest had been taken in here, or had frozen to the ground. Early October was a lovely time of year, sometimes rainy, but often perfect for going apple picking or taking long walks through the kaleidoscope of autumn-hued trees.

“But surely you two don’t want me hanging on like a third wheel.”

“Oh, it’s not our cottage,” Janet returned, a smile in her voice.

Our cottage? Was there something she hadn’t told Elise yet? Elise was about to ask when Janet continued.

“It’s Will’s family cottage. Well, more a house on a lake, from what I’ve heard. It might be nice to make it a foursome, rather than just Carlos and me going up.”

Will? Oh no. She had disliked him before Kevin’s information. She hated him now. Stealing food from children! What sort of evil creature did that?

“I don’t think that would be a great idea,” Elise sighed. The idea of spending a few days up on a lake was lovely, but the price was a bit too high. “Will and I don’t exactly get along.”

Could she tell them what Kevin had confided to her? No. He had asked for her discretion, especially as there was no proof of Will’s misdeeds. She had to hedge a bit. “I don’t think he likes me very much.”

Carlos made an odd noise. “Where did you get that idea? I think he likes you just fine. But he’s going to be busy a lot of the time. He stays up there and works remotely, and he said he’s got quite a lot to do that weekend. Some sort of deal that needs to be completed by the Monday. So you’d be making a fourth only some of the time, and keeping us company while he’s squirrelling away at whatever it is he does.”

Like making evil plans to steal candy from babies and throw newly arrived refugees out of work?

“Please?” Janet cajoled. “This way, if the guys go and do guy stuff, whatever that is—”

“—watching football and cursing badly, I think,” Carlos joked.