Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

were engaged. So maybe being an Internet sensation bodes well .
    ‘ Back to Shannon Ellis . . .’ Joseph said.
    ‘Shannon was scared,’ Daphne said. ‘She’s the wife of the guy who represented the monster who’d just stabbed a deputy while trying to escape. The monster whose girlfriend killed a cop, then injured a detective and a civilian. Shannon sat in the ER for two hours, and while her medical needs were met quickly, not one cop came to take her statement. They took everyone else’s, but not hers.’
    ‘So she came to us,’ Paige said. ‘She’s got three children and she is terrified the Millhouses will blame Ellis for losing the case and want revenge. I think she figured that any information she gave to me would be passed to Daphne, who’d square things for her with the cops. Then the police would actually come if the Millhouses made trouble and she had to call 911 in the night.’
    ‘She shouldn’t have to worry about that,’ Bo said with a frown.
    ‘You’re right,’ Paige said. ‘But cops will blame the Millhouses and anyone that helped them. Defense attorneys are up there on the cops’ shit list.’
    ‘Shannon didn’t want her husband to take Reggie’s case,’ Daphne said. ‘She begged him not to. But they needed the money.’
    ‘We’re back to the money,’ Joseph said. ‘If Bill never paid Reggie’s attorney, what has he done with the money people donated for Reggie’s defense?’
    ‘That’s what we wanted to know,’ Daphne said. ‘I knew Bill filed a certificate of incorporation for a new non-profit organization four months ago. That’s where all the donations are going. This is the good part. Richard Odum, one of the non-profit’s board of directors, recently bought several bank-owned homes that had been foreclosed on. But in his own name, not in the name of the non-profit.’
    ‘Odum has his own plumbing business,’ Paige elaborated. ‘He’s not poor, but he shouldn’t be able to afford three investment properties. We sent you the addresses of the houses and the board of directors list.’
    Joseph looked at Grayson. ‘Can we get warrants for the houses Odum bought?’
    ‘Eventually. But not just for being on Millhouse’s board and buying property. I’d have to show that he didn’t have the personal funds to buy the property and that would require a warrant into his bank records. I could get you one in five minutes if you can get one of the Millhouses to confirm he’s taking non-profit funds.’
    Which was what Joseph had expected him to say. He sat back, thinking. ‘This Richard Odum . . . has he been giving interviews today?’
    ‘Yes,’ Daphne said. ‘Hector and I checked while Paige was talking to Shannon Ellis. There’s a lot of money at stake here, and now, with all the Millhouses being in prison, a power vacuum. Conditions are ripe for a coup. Anybody who knows enough to take control may also know where Bill Millhouse is hiding Ford.’
    Again Joseph was impressed with her quick thinking. But she was missing a puzzle piece. ‘I’m not sure that Bill Millhouse was involved in Ford’s abduction,’ he said, drawing protests from the other side of the phone. ‘Hear me out. When I mentioned Reggie’s stabbing of the deputy, Bill smirked. When I mentioned Marina shooting people, his smirk grew. When I gave him the opportunity to smirk about murdering Zacharias and abducting Ford, he didn’t react. He didn’t know what I was talking about. I’m wondering if someone else in his organization kidnapped Ford.’
    ‘Like Richard Odum,’ Bo said thoughtfully.
    ‘Possible,’ Grayson allowed. ‘Still need more than you have to get a warrant.’
    Again, Joseph was not surprised. ‘We need one of the Millhouses to link Richard Odum’s spending to the defense fund. Who would you start with, Daphne?’
    ‘Cindy,’ she said. ‘She’s the most volatile. But you’ll have to get her mad enough to betray Bill. I saw the way Bill treated Marina during the trial – like she was spun glass. Cindy wasn’t so keen on the girl. If Cindy felt threatened, I don’t know, because maybe she believed that the father of Marina’s baby was Bill and not Reggie . . . That would ignite her temper. Especially since Cindy sacrificed her freedom for Bill’s scheme.’
    Bo nodded. ‘If it doesn’t work with Cindy, we can try it on Reggie. To think his dad’s been poaching on his territory might make him even madder than Cindy.’
    ‘I’ll prepare