Free The Secret (Seacliff High Mystery Book 1) by Kathi Daley Page B

local account since he died.”
    “So where’s the money going?” Trevor picked up a potato chip and plopped it into his mouth. “Sounds like someone might be getting rich off of old Barkley’s money. Seems to me that might be a pretty good reason for someone not to want a legitimate heir to be found.”
    “We didn’t get that far, but Eli’s dad is gone all week, so we have time to work on it. We could look into the transaction from Barkley’s account into Mary’s at the same time.”
    “I can check with some of my cyber buddies to see if any of them can give us additional ideas of things to try.” Eli took the first bite of his ham sandwich.
    “We don’t want anyone else to know what we’re doing,” Alyson cautioned.
    “Don’t worry; I’ll pose the question in a roundabout way without including any specifics. Besides, no one in my chat room knows who anyone else really is. We all have screen names and made-up identities.”
    “Still,” Alyson said, “it seems chat buddies with the level of expertise we’re talking about probably have a way of getting around the whole secret screen name thing. There must be a way to trace an online identity to its owner if you know what you’re doing.”
    “I’m sure there probably is, but the computers in our house are equipped with state-of-the-art security software that hasn’t even hit the market yet. No one’s getting past my dad’s security system, I promise.”
    “Okay.” Alyson relaxed. “So let’s review our strategy. Mac is going to follow up on the bank accounts to see if she can identify the source and destination of any transactions related to Mary or Barkley’s account in general. It would be interesting to know who originally set up the trust and who’s been controlling it since Barkley died. Someone or some institution must have become the appointed executor in the absence of any known heirs.”
    “And what about Barkley’s local account?” Eli inquired. “If ten thousand dollars a month was deposited into it for let’s say eighty years, there must be a huge balance. It seems he lived fairly frugally.”
    “That’s true.” Alyson hadn’t considered that. “The bank ledger I found listed a series of transactions, but no beginning or ending balances. I didn’t have time to do a thorough search, but the only deductions I came across, other than a few hundred dollars a month for utilities and supplies from the market, were the deposits into Mary’s account, and those only lasted for thirteen years. I’ll check further tonight.”
    “I can search the archives of the local newspaper to see if I can come up with any old articles relating to Mary,” Eli volunteered. “Even if there isn’t a birth announcement, there might be an obituary. Do you want to come by later to help out?” Eli asked Trevor. 
    “Actually, I may have found Alyson a puppy. How about it, Aly? Want to go check him out this afternoon?”
    “Really? What kind of puppy?”
    “He’s a ten-month-old champion-bred German shepherd. The family of a guy in my history class breeds them. They have a pup they were holding for someone on the East Coast, but the deal fell through for some reason, and the dog’s available. He’s already been house and basic obedience trained, which is a bonus. He’s also going to be huge, and his father is a working police dog, so hopefully the pup will have inherited his daddy’s protective instincts. After last night I’ll feel a lot better if you have a big ferocious dog in the house. I can take you over to see him after school if you want.”
    “I’d love to. Do you want to come along, Mac?”
    “Why not? It’ll be fun. Who doesn’t welcome a chance to play with puppies?”
    Alyson called her mom before going to PE to confirm that it was still okay if she got a puppy. After getting her mom’s approval she arranged to meet Trevor in the parking lot after computer class because Trevor didn’t have football practice that day.