American Fairy by John Osborne

Author:John Osborne [Osborne, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 9781470143107
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2012-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

For the next two hours, Willow immersed herself in snooping and Noah and Rowan packed some of Rowan’s more valuable items. Noah’s main task was to retrieve boxes and cases from the attic. Gertie sat on her perch throughout the commotion, content to sleep through it all. They packed the musical instruments first, handling the recorder with reverence.

Just after eleven, Willow let out a long sigh and pushed her chair back. “Well, I think I found something. Come take a look.”

Rowan and Noah slid chairs over and sat on either side of Willow. She pointed at the screen. “Fortunately, the Booster Club’s bank has a good online banking system, with document images and the works. Nice for the customers, but easy to hack.”

Noah examined the screen. One window appeared to be an electronic bank statement, while a second was a spreadsheet filled with calculations.

“So what did you find?” Rowan asked.

“Some interesting things.” She reached for the mouse and scrolled up the bank statement. “There are lots of transactions, both deposits and checks. Mostly routine stuff you’d expect to see. Gifts coming in from local businesses and individuals, checks going out to buy uniforms or athletic equipment. Until about four months ago.” She stopped the mouse on a line with a September date. “Here’s a check for three thousand dollars, made out to Edward Blake.”

Rowan frowned. “Juanita’s husband? Why write a check to him?”

“The note on the check says ‘Cleaning band instruments.’”

“Huh?”

“They must get dirty fast, because there’s another check just three weeks later for the same thing, this time to James Levine, for four thousand.”

“These guys weren’t doing any cleaning,” Noah said. “What were they up to?”

“I would say stealing money,” Willow said. “There are a lot of checks like these over the last four months, to all the Booster Club men and to Edward Blake, but none to Juanita. Some for cleaning, some for consulting services, that sort of thing.”

“How much is gone?” Rowan asked.

“There’s been money coming in at a steady pace for the last year. At the end of August the balance was one hundred eighty thousand dollars.”

Noah whistled. “Rich little club.”

“Yes,” Rowan said. “They pay for all the athletic and band equipment for every sport. And they bus the fans to the away games. Lately, they’ve been raising money for a band trip to a bowl game next year.”

“They won’t be going next year. The current balance is seventy thousand, and that’s after further gifts of about forty thousand since August.”

Noah did the math in his head. “So they’ve spent a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. On cleaning?”

“And other things,” Willow said. “About half the expenses seem legitimate, checks made out to local companies or manufacturers for band equipment or football helmets. But there’s eighty thousand dollars worth of checks to the Booster Club men.”

“Wouldn’t an auditor catch that?” Noah asked.

“Perhaps,” Willow said. “But it’s a private fund, with no oversight except the committee. They may not have an audit done.”

“Maybe that’s just how they do things down here,” Rowan said.

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