Thursday Oct 18

Bobbie got up at 07:30, which was late for her and checked her email, the house cleaners were coming at 09:30. Her mom was already in the kitchen and had made coffee. Bobbie grabbed a cup.

“Trixie arranged to have her cleaners over to clean the house today and I have some errands to run. Will you be OK Mom?”

“Sure, I’ll be fine but how are you feeling? Has reality set in yet?”

“I don’t know Mom, it’s over and we’ve said goodbye but sometimes I forget and still expect to see him around every corner. It’s like a little shot to my heart every time I realize he’s not there. I’m glad you are staying with me Mom. Is sleeping in my room a problem?”

“Not a problem dear we, can listen to each other tossing and turning.”, she joked.

Bobbie got into her car with several empty boxes and her briefcase. She was headed to ComCan’s HQ to pack up her husbands office. On a whim she called the detective. “Good morning Detective Rogers, I have a few things I would like to discuss. Can we meet for coffee?”

“Please call me Harry and I’m actually in the neighbourhood, I can meet you in 10 minutes.” He was there when Bobbie arrived and she noticed he bought her a coffee.

Bobbie sat down. “Thank you for the coffee,” and took a sip. “I like it black.” Bobbie reached in her briefcase and pulled out the document and handed to Rogers.

He read it and said “What do you think is wrong with this?”

“Well,” said Bobbie, “when Alex’s body was found, his partner, Alan, said that Alex was about to sign a bill of sale for his shares in ComCan but he died just before he signed. At the funeral the next day, he changed his story and said that Alex had released the shares back to the company a week before. I’m not sure what is true but Alex and I had plans for the money. Why would he have given his shares away without telling me about it.”

“Why indeed?” mused Harry. He looked at her, smiled and said, “It does sound a little fishy, I’m going to check if we have any photos of the scene that might tell exactly what document your husband was going to sign. We my even have the papers in evidence though we hadn’t suspected a crime so had no reason to take them.”

“Well I’m glad you understand. Can I come with you? I have to go to their office to pack up Alex’s stuff and I’d like to know what I’m dealing with. I’m not sure I want to go alone. I can’t imagine this is a case of murder or anything, maybe it’s just garden variety fraud. Even a company like ComCan might go to some extraordinary lengths to save almost 14 million.”

Detective Rogers smiled ruefully, “Yup, 14 million is motive. I’ll meet you at the station.”

There were no documents logged as evidence but they did find a picture that showed a pen on a paper and Alex’s hand. Bobbie gasped, it was odd knowing he was already gone when the photo was taken but she forced herself to look closer. It did look like a document to cash in their shares but it was hard to tell for sure. “We might be able to see more with the digital image but really can’t do much without more proof. We should go to ComCan together and see if we can shake a few trees there.”

Bobbie said “I’d like to shake a few trees for sure.”

She parked in Alex’s spot and met the detective at the front entrance. Bobbie smiled at the security guard.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Orlov, I’ve been asked not to let you in the building.”

Bobbie was even more suspicious now. “I just came to clear out Alex’s office.”

“I’m sorry for you loss ma’am we’ll all miss him, but Mr. Rickman said he’s having the office packed up and for you not to worry.”

“Is Mr. Rickman here today?”

“I’m not supposed to say, but yes.”

“Can you tell him Detective Harry Rogers is here and would like to ask a few questions?” Harry flashed his badge.

“Yes sir.” A few moments later Alan appeared with the ComCan Lawyer in tow.

“When did you become such a sleaze bag? You were our friend!“, thought Bobbie.

“Gentlemen do you have a room where we can talk?”

Allan indicated a small board room near the entrance. They all sat down and Detective Rogers began questioning Alan about the document that Alex was about to sign, when he was found dead. Alan actually stuttered and said he wasn’t sure.

“Mrs. Orlov indicated that you told her Alex was trying to sell his shares when he passed.”

“I may have.” said Alan, “That’s what I thought before I found out that Alex had already donated his shares.”

“Can you tell me what document is seen in this picture?”

“My God!”, said Alan. “Is that Alex’s hand? It looks like he was going to sell shares but I can’t be sure.”

“Who gave you the document signed on October 5th?”

Alan looked uncomfortable and looked at his lawyer.

The lawyer piped up and said “Thank you, I think Mr. Rickman has answered enough questions.”

“No, thank you gentlemen, I’ll give you my card. If you have anything to tell me do not hesitate to call me. I may return with a warrant to see the original document and I will have to talk your board members but that is all for now.”

It was 2:00 by the time they were finished and Bobby was anxious to get home. But she wanted to hear what Detective Rogers thought.

Harry said “I sensed some discomfort in Alan and the lawyer and probably do have enough to get a warrant but I fear they were circling the wagons.”

“Thanks so much Harry. If there was a crime, I hope you get to the bottom of it but I can’t think about this anymore. I really have to move on with life.” She said goodbye and started for home.

She told her mother the whole story when she got home and Florence shook her head and said “Alex Orlov loved his family and would put you ahead of his company. It’s a shame that someone dishonest has done this to you but you are right to not let it consume you. We have to trust the system. Its a hard thing to accept that friends can turn into villains when it comes to money and we must pity them.”

“I do pity Alan,” said Bobbie, “he must feel awful but I can’t forgive him right now. He betrayed Alex more than me. I have to get away from this house and all this ComCan bull!”

On a brighter note, the cleaners were done and everything was clean and organized. To tell the truth she wasn’t that great a house keeper. If mess stuck around for a while, she got used to it. She was quite hungry and almost felt good after a cup of tea and some leftover sandwiches. “Mom, I started to clean out Alex’s closet but can you help me finish?”

“Sure dear, it’s nice that Charlie and Eddy already got something of their father’s.”

They played ‘Marie Kondo’ with the items left. In the end Bobbie had 2 jackets of Alex’s that she was going to have tailored to fit herself and 8 cashmere sweaters she was going to unravel. She was planning to knit sweaters and mitts and hats out of the harvested yarn.

“I don’t know why you pull apart those sweaters instead of buying new yarn?”

“Well Mom, I feel like I can be more creative, combining the colours and dying the yarn sometimes. Besides, don’t you think Charlie and Eddy would like to have hats made from yarn that came from their Dad’s sweaters?”

“When you put it that way maybe I should get you to help me unravel one of Walt’s sweaters so I can make a hat for me.”

Bobbie took out a couple of coats for her sons and a couple of nice sweaters for them to wear but sadly didn’t know anyone that needed shoes. So they were put in donation bags. The carried all the bags downstairs and put them in the garage. “I have a feeling I’ll have a lot more to donate but I’m glad this is done, I already went though my closet when I was preparing for retirement.”

Her Mom looked at her shaking her head,“I never emptied out Walter’s closet.”

“Oh Mom, we all cope differently.” sympathized Bobbie. They heated up leftovers (yet again), tidied up, threw some ice packs in the freezer and went to bed early. Bobbie actually slept.