The Wrong Man

"Did any of those transfers go to foreign banks?"

"One, it went to an account in France. Some rich kid studying in Paris and his father sent money for his tuition, room and board."

Karin seemed to think for a few seconds, the line was quiet; then she started to tell me what she learned so far.

"I spent the morning digging up some dirt on our friend. For one thing, the guy had issues in college, I haven't been able to track them down yet, but it was bad enough that his family basically disowned him. He moved to New York to get away from whatever happened out west.

"Then I talked to a friend in the NYPD. It seems last year a college buddy of Martin's was staying with him over a long weekend. This buddy, Dennis Riley, picked up a young lady at a bar and brought her back to Martin's condo. The young lady had a little too much to drink and asked Riley to call her a cab; Riley refused and proceeded to force himself on the woman. When Riley fell asleep, this woman leaves the condo and goes straight to the local precinct, files a rape charge against Riley. The police investigate, but Riley claims it was consensual, Martin backs up Riley; Martin signs a statement accusing the woman of instigating the intercourse. Martin even goes so far as to claim the woman came on to him after Riley went to sleep; he said that's why she got so pissed and yelled 'rape', that she was doing it to spite them.

"With two against one, the DA refuses to bring charges against Riley, even though there was some evidence of force involved. The cops wanted to charge the son-of-a-bitch, but the DA said it would be a waste of time and money."

"So, this guy gets away with rape because Martin backs up his version of events?"

"That's about it."

I pulled up the email from Grant to Dennis and read the first sentence to Karin.

Karin paused for a second before replying. "Sounds like Riley owes Martin big time for lying. How would you like to put some hurt on these two assholes?"

"Someone who rapes a woman; and someone that lies to let him get away with it? Without a doubt. What do you have in mind?"

"You told me last night how you're able to take over Martin's computer. Just how good are you? I mean, do you think you can open foreign accounts using his identity? Given his position at the bank; do you think you can transfer funds from his clients?"

"I have the computer/technical know-how; but not the knowledge of how to open an account. And just how illegal are you proposing we go with this? I don't want to be a part of any theft of funds."

"If we do it right, no one loses money. I'm thinking we can wrap this boy up tight; but this is something we should discuss in person. Can you meet tomorrow evening? I'd like to bring a friend along as well."

"Karin, sorry, but I have to ask. Why would you do this without any monetary gain? I only agreed to pay you a few thousand to watch Emma Saturday night and to dig some dirt on Grant Martin. Now we're suddenly opening accounts, transferring money and whatever. What do you get out of this? Because I can't afford to pay you much more and I certainly can't afford to get caught or go to prison."

"It's personal, Jeff. I was raped in college. Some asshole gave me a drink with something in it, then took advantage of me. I was too ashamed when I woke up to call the police or go to the hospital to get a drug test. When my roommate returned from a visit home that weekend, she found me crying in our room without any lights on. She convinced me to go to the hospital and the police.

"Unfortunately, by the time they tested me, there wasn't any evidence of drugs in my system. This was years ago, now they have better tests. I still filed a complaint against the boy, but it was "he said, she said" and nothing came of it.

"So, to answer your question - I'm doing this for that young woman who Dennis Riley raped. She deserves to know that not every asshole gets away with rape, and Grant Martin is going down for enabling Riley. They're both scum."

Karin's voice changed as she related her story; it obviously remained an emotional heartbreak for her. I'd only known Karin for a few days, having spent less than three hours with her Saturday night and on the phone, but I already knew I would help her bring these "scum" to justice.

As my grandma used to say, "Sometimes putting yourself on the line, even if you break the law, is the right thing to do."

Before we hung up, Karin told me to send everything I dug up from Martin's computer. Bank accounts, loans, mortgages, etc. I told her she'd have it all in the evening. We settled on a time and place for our Tuesday night rendezvous.

I made up some excuse about working late to Emma, not that it mattered since we were dancing around each other, barely speaking and sleeping in separate bedrooms. I met Karin at a quiet pub Tuesday night. As promised, there was a 'friend' with her. Karin only introduced him as 'Hank'. If I had to guess, 'Hank' was a former employee of one of the Alphabet agencies, most likely the one from Langley. After I told Hank how I now had access to Grant Martin's computer and access to his personal and professional bank systems, he and Karin filled me in on their plan.

"First, we buy an airline ticket to Dubai for Martin using his credit card. Second, set up an account in Dubai for Martin; I'll give you the instructions, Dubai is one of the more 'friendly' havens for illicit funds ever since the Swiss took so much heat from the US Treasury. Third, set up wire transfers for a few million to go to the Dubai accounts, scheduled to go at opening of business."

I interrupted Hank here and addressed Karin. "Wait, I said no stealing."

Hank answered for Karin. "We'll make certain none of the funds leave the country. You'll make one very minor error in the wire transfer instructions. That error will delay the transfer and it will only appear that Martin made the attempt to steal, but fucked up. OK?"

I thought about this, then decided. "All right. Then what?"

"According to what you found, Martin has a home equity line of credit on his condo that has over a hundred thousand unused line; he also has another sixty grand in a brokerage account. Both of those accounts will get tapped. Two wire transfers to the Dubai account, but these will go through without errors. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, not if it's his money going overseas."

"Good, his getting bled dry on this side of the Atlantic will mess up his ability to get decent representation; which goes a long way to our getting a net over his asshole buddy, Dennis Riley."

Karin took this opportunity to add the next step. "Which brings up the final step. You send an email from Grant to Dennis. Here, read this." Karin handed me the proposed email.

Dennis

Forget about the rich old broad, I've got a bigger fish frying. By tomorrow I'll be rich enough to last for a long time, at least until I find another old broad with more money than brains. It means leaving the country, but there's nothing here worth sticking around for.

In some ways I have you to blame - or thank - depending on how this works out. I received a call today from some investigator asking questions about your little misadventure last year. You should have learned your lesson at USC like I did. Actually get the slit's approval before tapping that shit because I won't be there to lie my ass off for you next time.

I'll get ahold of you and let you know where I land, pretty certain the Feds will be monitoring this email after tomorrow, so don't bother replying. I'm deleting this as soon as it's sent - I advise you do the same.

Your brother TKE,

Grant

I finished reading and looked up smiling. "From what I read of his emails to his friends, you've captured his style; especially his use misogynistic language. What's this about USC?"

Karin answered. "I found out why Martin's family disowned him today. Seems there was a gangbang in college our two assholes were a part of. The girl wasn't drugged, but she did have a few drinks at a party. She had a reputation as being easy, but not a whore. The girl committed suicide a week after the event. The Martin's paid the young woman's family a quarter-million dollars to hush it up, but turned around and disowned Grant for his involvement. Rumor has it that it wasn't the first time they kept junior out of trouble with their money."

Karin's story hardened my resolve to put Martin and Riley away.

"All right, with Hank's instructions, I can do all this, but we need to make certain Grant is in his apartment and not on his computer when this all goes down. How do we do that?"

"Grant will be pre-occupied. Leave that to us. Can you do it tomorrow night?"

"Not a problem. What happens Thursday?"

"We make certain Grant is arrested early morning Thursday. Before he has a chance to look like he's going to work. It has to appear he just as easily might be catching a plane that morning."

It's nice working with professionals; and both Karin and Hank were consummate professionals. Hank's directions for each step produced the desired results. Grant had a new Dubai account and his credit card bought first-class tickets for the late morning flight to Dubai, his line of credit was tapped as was his brokerage account. The wires would go out Thursday morning. I picked one of Grant's wealthiest clients and arranged to have a five-million dollar transfer ready for Thursday morning, but this wire contained one simple error; the wire would never go out.

How did they ensure Martin would be in his apartment and pre-occupied all night? That was accomplished with the help of a high priced escort that I assume Hank used in his previous life working for Langley (or whoever). This beautiful woman managed to accidentally bump into Grant as he left work, convinced him she should buy him a drink "to apologize for being so clumsy". Grant, being the self-centered egotist that he is, assumed it was his charming personality and great looks that convinced this young hottie to have 'one more drink' at his condo. Here's where experience in subterfuge shows its value - the woman claimed that once before she was roughed up by a guy who started out seemingly nice. She swore it would never happen again and wanted to see some ID. Grant figured, 'what the hell' and pulled out his driver's license.

"Everybody knows a driver's license is bullshit, half the people in this city carries a phony, just in case; show me your passport."

Now, if Grant was thinking with anything other than his small head he would have questioned the lady's logic. But once again he figured, 'what the hell' and walked into his study, unlocked his desk, grabbed the passport and handed it to her. She made a show of looking at it, even leafing through the stamped pages, making cute comments ("oh, Spain - how fun! I just looove Ibiza."). She closed the book, set it down on the hall table, grabbed Grant's tie and took him to bed where she fucked his brains out until she left at six Thursday morning and virtually disappeared.

Grant Martin answered his door at eight AM Thursday morning to find two of New York's finest detectives on the other side. Despite his protests of innocence, he was figuratively tied in a little bow. It didn't help both detectives noticed Grant's passport sitting on the hallway table.

"Going somewhere, Mr. Martin?" asked the detective as he placed cuffs on Grant.

Of course, Grant knew he had been set-up; he just didn't know by who or how. None of the guys he had ever fucked over had the knowledge to do this, at least that he could find out. All traces of the viruses on his and Lois' computer were removed from their systems. In fact, just to make certain, I sent a command to erase his hard drive prior to the police showing up that fateful morning. It looked as if Grant had done it himself to erase all tracks of his crimes. The police ended up going through Grant's ISP to get copies of his emails, that's where they found the email to Dennis admitting to giving the cops a false statement and the (phony - we know) email to Riley explaining his plans to leave the country with his ill-begotten gains.

Karin's contacts at the PD were quite accommodating. They offered to drop the charges relating to his previous false statement if Grant testified against Dennis. Like the scumbag that he is, Grant made the deal and Dennis Riley was extradited back to New York to face rape charges. Of course, when Dennis found out about Grant's betrayal the two jackals turned on one another and it was a thing of beauty to hear how they shred each other to ribbons.

Grant Martin received no support from his family. It's funny really, his mother and father spent so much money getting him out of the jams when he was guilty, but didn't lift a finger when he was actually innocent of the crime. No matter how much he protested his innocence, he was found guilty of theft and various other related charges. Grant Martin would be spending at least the next four years in prison.

With the help of Grant's testimony, Dennis Riley was sentenced to ten years for rape. By the time Grant testified, he and Riley hated each other so much that Grant was especially forthright in describing the brutality of the rape. Grant's refusal to help, despite the woman's cries, didn't reflect well on Grant, but the damage to Dennis Riley's defense was done.

All this took place over the course of the next year. While these events were playing out, I had more personal issues to resolve. First was to burn that bitch of a mother-in-law.

The afternoon of Grant Martin's arrest, I made an appointment to see my father-in-law.

"Mr. Taylor, I have things I need to show you. Some will hurt Emma if I give them to her, if she believes me. Some may hurt you; I don't know you well enough to know, but I'm certain you don't want your daughter hurt. So, I'm giving these to you to do as you deem fit.

"I hired a private detective to find out why my marriage has recently started to deteriorate. I have no idea how he obtained this material, but I hope you're as shocked as I am at the contents."

(I purposely only used the emails from Lois' account, not wanting anyone to know I had access to Martin's computer, since he would be claiming he was framed. Why add credence to his claims?)

Jonathan Taylor tentatively took the folder of emails from Lois to Grant from my hand. He sat back in his chair and read for the next fifteen minutes, only interrupting his reading to pour us both a cup of coffee from the carafe behind his desk. Maybe it's my working-class snobbery showing through, but I was impressed he actually poured the coffee himself and hadn't rung some secret buzzer to have a maid come in and do it. It wouldn't be the first time he would surprise me that afternoon. I think he did this to collect himself, he seemed especially grim.

When he finished the last page, he put the folder down and stared at me.

"I thought I asked you not to hurt my little girl; knowing her mother was using her this way is going to hurt Emma."

"Sorry, sir. In that case, don't show it. I promise not to bring any of this up during our divorce."

"So, you plan to divorce Emma? That's going to hurt her, too."

"Not my option, sir. Your wife seems hellbent on ending my marriage to Emma and right now she seems to have Emma convinced it's the right thing to do."

"First, can we stop with the 'sir'? My name is Jonathan and my friends call me Jack. I'm going to assume you don't want to call me 'dad', so can you please start calling me 'Jack'?"

I was stunned, but old habits die hard, "Yes, sir."

He looked at me and smiled for just a second, then asked. "Tell me more because I can't figure out how Lois suddenly has this control over Emma. What happened?"

I told Jack what I had learned over the past two weeks. "Lois told Emma that she gave up her career for Emma. That she was too young when she married and had Emma and that you forbade her from being a career woman. She laid a big, fat guilt trip on Emma."

I had Jack's attention and decided to lay it all out.

"Sorry, but the next part might seem blunt. Emma feels she didn't have a relationship with either you or her mother. When she saw how my family interacted, she felt like something was missing. All the trappings of wealth: riding lessons, schools in Europe, whatever, didn't make up for it. When her mother started to pay attention to her, Emma jumped at the chance to have that relationship."

I didn't know if I had stepped over the line, Jack was hard to read, but I guess that's what makes him a successful businessman. He picked up the folder from his desk and suddenly turned into a real person.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to turn sixty and find your life is crap? No, of course not, right now I'm just ranting.

"Emma's mother gave up her career? What a joke; only if they have job openings for getting one's nails done and spa treatments. For years I've had to listen to her tell everyone about her dream as a young girl of playing women's pro tennis. You actually have to be good at tennis to make a living from it, and after forty-five years of lessons, Lois still can't hit a backhand.

"For my entire adult life, I spent ninety percent of my time working for this bank, doing all I could to make it the most successful, trusted bank of its kind in the Northeast. That's the way I was raised, we were a different generation from yours. Few of us are our wife's best friend. When we have time off, it's off to the golf course to make connections to help the business. I spent more time with my golfing foursome than I did with my wife or daughter.

"And you know what? My wife wanted it that way. She had no interest when I suggested she take golf lessons. She discouraged me when I suggested that I'd take up tennis. Actually said it would cramp her ability to improve. Deep down, I thought maybe it would cramp her ability to fuck one of her tennis partners, but never had any real proof of adultery until today. I was blissfully ignorant."

Jonathan's candor shocked me, all I could say was, "I'm sorry I'm the one to bring it to your attention."

"No, Jeff. I thank you for giving me this. It's one thing to get a little sex on the side. It's another to be so devious that she is willing to sacrifice Emma's happiness so she can keep her lover close by. And with one of my employees! Talk about getting the horns hung. Every day that little shit walked past me knowing he's banging my wife.

"Well, he won't be banging my wife for a while because he was arrested this morning for stealing from one of our clients and giving false information in a rape case. If everything we heard from the police this morning is true, Grant Martin is going away for a while."

"And Lois?"

"Well, unfortunately Lois has her own trust fund worth millions, which actually works to my advantage in a divorce. She'll park her ass at the spa or the tennis court crying crocodile tears. Some lothario will pick her up and I'll be easily replaced. She'll lose a little bit of social status, some of the other wives will be avoiding her because they'll be protecting their own turf. It's a dog eat dog world we live in.

"She'll also lose her relationship with her daughter, but from what I read in here," Jack picked up the file, "she probably doesn't much care."

"And Emma?"

"I wonder if it's too late to have a relationship with my daughter? I love her, I really do, but I let her mother control our relationship. Another thing I owe Lois for. By god, I've got to figure some way to make Lois pay for all this pain she's caused. Maybe not right away, but somehow.

"In the meantime, Jeff, I'm going to ask for your help. You say you love Emma, if you can look past this, do you think you can re-build your marriage?"