The Shadow Hunter

financial records can tell us only so much.”
    “Seems like they’re already telling us quite a lot.” Abby thought for a moment. “Was the Culver City house deeded to Howard alone?”
    “Yes.”
    “So even when he owned it openly, Kris may not have known the house existed?”
    “Right.”
    “I see.” She rubbed her forehead wearily.
    “You get it, don’t you?”
    “You don’t have to hit me over the head with a two-by-four. When a guy owns a residence his wife doesn’t know about and goes to considerable lengths to keep it a secret, there’s usually only one reason. Howard is cheating on his wife. He uses the house for the occasional secret rendezvous. He intends to get a divorce. He’s going to say good-bye to Kris.”
    Travis nodded. “But California is a community property state…”
    Abby untucked her legs and got off the bed. “Which means the Barwoods’ assets will be divided down the middle. And that’s a problem for Howard, because while his wife is extremely well off, he’s worth much more than she is. He doesn’t want to surrender half his wealth. To shield as much of it as he can, he’s secretly transferring their assets overseas, hiding them under the umbrella of a shell company incorporated in a jurisdiction with extremely tight banking secrecy laws. That way, when the assets are divided, there’ll be less to divide.”
    “All of which is perfectly legal,” Travis said, “as long as he paid his US taxes. There’s no law against moving money overseas, even if the intent is to shield it from a claimant in a lawsuit or a divorce.” He ejected the CD.
    Abby shook her head. “You haven’t told Kris?”
    “Not a word. I’m fairly sure Howard’s stealing her blind, but how can I say anything without revealing the background checks we’ve carried out?”
    “Under the circumstances I hardly think she’d blame you for it.”
    “She would if it turns out I’m wrong. Most of this is supposition, remember. We don’t know for sure that Howard owns Trendline or that he’s conducting these transactions without Kris’s knowledge. Possibly the two of them planned the asset diversion together. It could be some complicated tax shelter, only borderline legal. If it is, and I start asking about it…”
    “You say good-bye to another client.”
    “Right. The one I can least afford to lose.” Travis slipped the CD back into its plastic sleeve. “Besides, our job is to safeguard Kris’s life, not her finances.”
    “It’s her life I’m worried about,” Abby said slowly. “If Howard is fooling around and wants a divorce, and if he’s so desperate to keep his hands on his money—”
    “Then he might have a motive to get rid of his wife in a more expeditious fashion.”
    “By providing inside information to the psycho who’s stalking her. You think he would do that? Sell out Kris to her would-be assassin to get her out of the way?”
    “It’s cold, I grant you. But LA’s not exactly a town known for its warmth and humanity.”
    “And if all this is true, then Howard might be my mystery assailant from the other night. He knew I was on the case. He might’ve been afraid I’d find out too much. If he was watching Hickle’s building and saw me in the hot tub—”
    “He could have decided it was a golden opportunity to get rid of you.”
    Abby frowned. “I knew I didn’t like the guy. Is there any way we can discreetly find out if he’s alibied for that night?”
    “Sure. The security officers stationed at the guest cottage keep a log of all comings and goings. I can find out if Howard was out that night. Odds are, he was.”
    “What makes you say that?”
    “He goes out nearly every night. Breaking in his new car, he claims.”
    “Or visiting his house in Culver City and whoever he’s seeing there. And on the way home, maybe stopping at Hickle’s apartment building to do a little mischief. It’s all possible, but we have to nail it down.”
    Travis nodded. “We will. If Howard has set up one dummy corporation, there could be more, and one of them might be Western Regional Resources—in which case, Western Regional is probably incorporated in the Netherlands Antilles like Trendline. It might even be connected with Trendline. A shell within a shell, that kind of thing. I’ll have my staff get on it right away.”
    “If they can establish a connection between Howard and Western Regional, we’ll have to tell Kris.”
    “I know.”
    “And the