Move to Strike (27 page)

But then Logan was interrupted by a tour group of middle-aged women from Kansas City who approached him, and fawned over him, and sympathised with him, and said they were behind him
‘one thousand per cent
'. He smiled and posed for photos, before long triggering a similar reaction from scores of other fans who seemed to flock towards him like moths drawn to the brightness of his now irresistible flame.

And in that moment Sara knew exactly what Logan had been trying to tell her. And his eyes . . . his deep brown eyes, flicked towards her with such penetration, such
power
, that she could swear he was reading her
mind. He smiled, and despite herself, Sara felt the contents of her stomach rise swiftly in her throat. She grabbed her bag and ran from the table, determined to find the closest restroom before she vomited in full view of Doctor Jeff and his ever-multiplying following of starry-eyed, faithful devotees.

T
ony Bishop was sitting two feet away from Amanda Carmichael in the meeting area of his expansive harbour-view office. She was reading, her white-blonde hair tied back in a low bun, her glasses on the end of her long narrow nose, her concentration intense. Tony, Amanda and Harry Harrison had spent the better part of the past hour listening to Stephanie Tyler's controversial phone message – the voice mail being short but to the point. Stephanie had directed Harrison to remove her husband from her will completely, leaving her two children as the sole beneficiaries. She requested that in the event of her death all of her assets and monies, including her stake in the family's Rockwell Wineries fortune which had an estimated worth of $200 million, be held in a trust and managed by her attorneys until the children reached the age of twenty-one. After which they could invest it as they pleased.

Then they had been joined by another visitor, a man named Shane O'Rourke from a company known as APS Insurance. Tony disliked the man from the get-go, his entire demeanour screaming smarmy insurance salesman – striped suit, garish tie and slick brown hair framing a too-tanned face.

The room was unsettlingly quiet as Amanda sat on one of two burgundy silk upholstered chairs, reading a print-out of an email sent almost two
weeks ago. It was accompanied by a copy of another email of confirmation from the receiver of original said email – two pieces of correspondence that would set the whole Logan situation on fire and, as Tony knew, cause a national media frenzy in the process.

 

From: Stephanie Tyler Logan ([email protected])
To: Shane O'Rourke ([email protected])
Sent: Fri 4 May 9.56am
CC:
Subject: Life insurance adjustments

Dear Mr O'Rourke

Thank you for sending me the recent brochure on your various levels of life insurance cover. The information was incredibly helpful and has assisted me in deciding how best to adjust my current cover to meet my family's on-going needs.

I have read the information in detail and have thus decided to make the following changes to my existing policy effective immediately. From what your documentation advises, there is no waiting period for any increases nor any of the ‘riders' I have chosen below and as such would appreciate it if these changes could be made as per the date at the top of this email. The changes are as follows:

I have, as of this morning, electronically transferred a sum of $10,799.50 to my policy account as a first payment to what will be the adjusted policy effective today. This sum should cover me for the next six months after which additional premiums can be direct debited from my account as was done previously.

Thank you so much for your assistance in this matter. I would appreciate it if a return email to the above email address could confirm your receipt of this request and activation of its recommendations.

Yours sincerely,

Stephanie Tyler.

The return email read:

 

From: Shane O'Rourke ([email protected])
To: Stephanie Tyler Logan ([email protected])
Sent: Mon, 7 May 10.47am
CC:
Subject: Re: Life insurance adjustments

Dear Ms Tyler,

Thank you for your recent email regarding the requested adjustments to your APS Life Insurance Policy.

    We are happy to advise you that your existing policy shall be amended and entered into our system by early next week. The new policy, titled Premium Life Plus (PLP), shall be backdated to be effective as per the date of your original email being Friday 4 May.

    As soon as the paperwork is completed our accounts department, which received your initial transfer relating to the increased premium, will send you a follow-up letter to confirm the new premium (direct debit) amount with an accompanying booklet on all policy details.

    I would like to thank you for continuing to choose APS as your
preferred life insurance provider. Please feel free to contact me if there is anything else you need.

    Kindest regards,

    Shane O'Rourke

    Client Services Manager

    APS Security

Amanda's head was down, those petite designer glasses now concealing her expression. She had finished reading, Tony was sure of it, but he sensed she was allowing herself a few seconds of adulation, perhaps even swallowing a smile before she looked up at the other two men sitting on the couch on the other side of the antique walnut coffee table – a still nervous-looking Harry Harrison and a smug-faced Shane O'Rourke who, Tony noticed, had not taken his eyes off Amanda's sheer-stockinged legs since she had entered the room.

‘Mr O'Rourke,' said Amanda, breaking the silence. ‘Did you have any verbal correspondence with Ms Tyler before or following the sending of these emails?'

‘No,' said O'Rourke, now uncrossing his own legs and resetting his expression to read:
‘I am a man of great intelligence who will patiently explain to you how I go about my daily business as insurance expert extraordinaire.'

‘Eighty per cent of our correspondence is now done by email – largely at our policyholder's request. The email came from Ms Tyler's home address, the money came from her account. We had done an extensive search on her assets and so forth when Ms Tyler set up her policy a number of years ago and so did not feel it necessary to do so again.'

Amanda nodded. ‘And this original brochure she mentioned receiving in her email, how did she request it and how was it sent to her?'

‘Both via email. Ms Tyler wrote requesting the information from the same home email address on Monday, the thirtieth of April and I emailed her the brochure forthwith. I have a copy of her original request here also – a simple two-sentence request for the information.'

O'Rourke leaned across the coffee table to hand Amanda the email and Tony noticed his fingers extending slightly so that they might brush against hers. ‘The brochure was sent by attachment, which she would have downloaded and read.'

‘So no paper trail,' said Amanda.

‘None,' said O'Rourke. ‘Which, I might add, goes hand in hand with our company's Reduce Waste with Haste program. We are extremely sensitive to the current environmental issues facing our planet, Ms Carmichael. We want our trees – and our policyholders – to live as long and as healthily as possible.'

Of course you do, you pompous twit
, thought Tony.
The longer they live, the more premiums you pocket and the less you have to pay out. Smart-ass son-of-a-bitch
.

‘Did you get any further emails from Ms Tyler following the correspondence you have provided here?' Amanda asked, interrupting Tony's thoughts.

‘No, that was it,' said O'Rourke. ‘But as you can see, we dealt with her request swiftly and efficiently so no further correspondence was necessary.'

‘And so tell me, Mr O'Rourke,' said Amanda, her face all stony seriousness, ‘why don't the police have this new information? I am sure the homicide detectives on the case would have requested information on Ms Tyler's life insurance status. It is part of procedure in any homicide investigation.'

‘Yes,' said O'Rourke, obviously worried he was going to have his knuckles rapped. ‘The problem lay in the timing. As I mentioned in my email to Ms Tyler, while the new policy became effective immediately, the paperwork took some time.'

‘Paperwork?' interrupted Tony, unable to stop himself. ‘I thought you guys didn't use any . . .'

‘No . . . I mean, that's right,' said a now flustered O'Rourke. ‘No paper, that is just a general term referring to the computer input. That will be completed today.'

‘So the police got the original policy details, the ones in place prior to Ms Tyler's recent request for adjustments.'

‘Yes.' O'Rourke was shaking his head. ‘The policy control officer the detectives spoke to was not yet aware of the changes as they had not been put onto the system. He would have printed out the original information and given it to the police.'

‘And you didn't think to holler when you heard of Ms Tyler's death?'
asked Amanda, tilting her head to the left in a gesture that said ‘
please explain
'.

‘I . . . ah . . .' And that was when Tony realised exactly what had gone down after Stephanie had died, and he could see the look on Amanda's face, that she had got it too.

‘I was not across that transferral of information,' said O'Rourke.

‘And there would be no way that you would have deliberately failed to make information of this new policy available, Mr O'Rourke?' asked Amanda, removing her glasses to stare the reclining O'Rourke squarely in the eye. ‘I mean, in your email you said the paperwork would be completed in a week, not . . .' Amanda looked at her watch, ‘. . . twelve days after Ms Tyler's request, which is exactly what today is.

‘You seem like a man dedicated to helping your policyholders, Mr O'Rourke, so I am sure you would not bury a new policy so that the company might not have to pay out what would now be an extremely substantial benefit. A benefit worth . . . what?' Amanda lifted her eyes upwards as if calculating the amount. ‘Well over fifty million dollars?'

‘Of course not,' said O'Rourke, now squirming in his seat and looking suitably offended by the suggestion. ‘As soon as Mr Harrison here called and requested the policy information I forwarded it immediately.'

‘And the fact that Mr Harrison was an attorney who asked specifically if there had been any recent changes to the policy didn't sway your decision at all?' asked Tony.

‘Certainly not,' said O'Rourke. ‘I'm here, aren't I?'

‘Yes, you are.' Amanda smiled at last, before turning to Harrison. ‘It was very astute of you to call Mr O'Rourke and investigate the matter, Mr Harrison,' she said, and Tony could have sworn Harrison blushed.

‘My experience tells me that people often change their wills and life insurance policies at the same time,' piped up Harrison. ‘It's a matter of “cleaning out the cupboards”. Nine times out of ten, people make these decisions and take action across the board – wills, life insurance, health checks and so forth.'

For some reason Tony found himself making a mental note on the health check thing.

‘Well, thank you, Mr Harrison,' said Amanda, rising to her feet. ‘I will get back to you if there is anything else we need.'

Harrison rose to shake her hand.

‘Mr O'Rourke,' she said, extending her hand but then withdrawing it as if needing to stifle a cough, leaving an open-palmed O'Rourke with nowhere left to go. ‘Thank you for your time,' she said, walking the two men towards the door. ‘We'll be in touch.'

And then, she and Tony were alone.

She turned to look at him, and he looked back, neither of them moving as if there was so much to talk about and nothing left to say.

‘So what are you going to do?' he said at last.

‘What do you think I am going to do?' she said, as if ready for his disapproval. ‘I am going to do my job.'

‘Your job involves an obligation to provide the defence with all information relevant to the outcome of the impending trial – and includes voice recordings, relevant documentation. You have a responsibility to disclose.'

‘Tony, you're jumping the gun. The case against your friend's client may not even go to trial. I have only just received the forensics reports. I am not before the grand jury until later today and . . .'

‘Then you have to provide this new information to the grand jury.'

‘I have to do no such thing,' she argued. ‘This information remains in this room until I confirm the voice on that message belonged to Stephanie Tyler – until I confirm who sent those insurance emails from the Logans' home email address.'

‘Oh, come on,' said Tony. ‘The increased insurance request originating from the Logan home computer, the request to have the husband cut from the will? You're taking another shot at the father and you know it.'