“Yes, and I appreciate all of you seeing me on such short notice.”
Brandy Booker had been a young and vibrant administrative assistant in the executive department, whose suicide several weeks ago had shocked the entire company. What was disturbing was that after reading the suicide note, her mother felt Brandy had been forced to write it and that she’d not taken her own life but had been murdered. However, there was no evidence to support the mother’s claim, and the authorities were still ruling the death a suicide. What was even more disturbing was that right before Brandy’s death, she was caught on a Granger Aeronautics security camera on more than one occasion going through Dalton’s office as if she were searching for something. Jace and the Granger Aeronautics security team had been scheduled to meet with her and question her about it on the same day they’d learned of her death.
Marcel, who had worked to expose trade-secret violators at the company a few months earlier, had been apprised of the suspicions surrounding both Brandy’s death and her possible connection to the trade-secrets corruption. Bruce Townsend, who was a computer whiz and worked on occasion for Shana and Jules, was having Brandy’s work computer analyzed to see if it had been wiped clean from some remote location.
Marcel glanced over at Shana. “Did you ever discover why Brandy’s father’s employment with Granger was terminated?”
It had been discovered that both Brandy parents had worked for the company, although Brandy didn’t reveal that on her employment application. Her parents divorced and her mother had left the company to pursue a career in nursing, but her father had gotten fired a year later.
“Yes. Neil Booker was fired when he assaulted a female employee in one of the break rooms when she ended their affair. I guess he wasn’t too happy about her dropping him,” Shana said.
“Apparently,” Marcel said, shaking his head. “We were able to search Brandy’s apartment and didn’t find anything but this,” he added, placing what looked like an office key in the middle of the table. “Does it look familiar?”
Jace frowned as he picked up the key and studied it. “No, it doesn’t.”
“Well, we ran it through your security team and discovered it’s a key to Dalton’s office.”
“A duplicate key?” Shana asked, leaning forward to stare down at the key. “So that’s how Brandy got into Dalton’s office when he swore he locked the door before leaving every day.”
Marcel nodded. “Yes, and the big question is how she got hold of this copy.”
Caden leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “If you’re thinking that maybe she and Dalton had an affair and she lifted it off him without his knowing it, then don’t fall for that assumption, Marcel. Dalton said he’s never been involved with Brandy, and I believe him. Trust me. If Dalton is ever involved with any woman, he has no problem admitting it.”
“I believe him, as well,” Marcel said, “but that’s not what concerns me. I want you all to notice the age of the key. It’s well worn and looks nothing like the ones you’re using now. It’s an entirely different brand.”
Jace stood and pulled out his key ring. Caden did the same. Their keys were a shiny bronze color, and the one that had been in Brandy’s possession was a tarnished silver.
“True, so what does this mean?” Jace asked with concern on his face. “Why would Brandy have an old office key in her possession?”
“One that obviously still works,” Shana pointed out.
“Yes, one that still works.” Marcel looked at Jace and asked, “Did you ever find out the names of any employees who occupied Dalton’s office before he did?”
Jace hesitated before answering. “Yes. According to what I’ve been told, the only other person who occupied that particular office was my mom. After her death, it was closed up until Dalton began using it a few months ago.”