Felicity ended the call and turned to Cooper, who had just returned. “Apparently, aside from hiding $1.4 million, your boss and his charity are squeaky-clean.”
“Told you,” Cooper said. “Well, except for the first part. That still stumps me.”
“How are we going to get access to Living Ruff’s more recent financials if Mrs. Brooks won’t help?”
“No clue. And don’t ask me to go all Mission Impossible for you and try to figure out her computer data or filing system to get that information. You know I can’t even figure out my own.”
“Oh, I’m well aware. I’ve seen your home office in its natural state, remember. I’m surprised I didn’t unearth an ancient burial site or something prehistoric.”
“Hey, I’m not that bad.”
“No? Who filed all their takeout menus from ten years ago under H? I assume for Hungry?”
“It makes perfect sense, if you’re me.” Cooper folded her arms.
“You couldn’t just stick them on the fridge,” Felicity asked, “like regular people?”
“I could…but then where would be the challenge for you?”
“You didn’t know they were there, did you?” Felicity guessed—accurately, if Cooper’s suddenly sheepish expression was any clue. “By the way, not a single one of those restaurants is still in business. I researched them thoroughly before tossing out the menus.”
“Of course you did. You know,” Cooper said in appreciation, “I think you might be one of those rarely seen purebred type-As.”
“Could be. I like the sound of that,” Felicity said with satisfaction. Her phone alerted her to a new email. Felicity’s eyes widened as she scanned it. “Maybe I do have a bit of luck of my own.” She turned her phone to Cooper.
Cooper read the words. “Sender Anony12731@gmail.com? Okay, what am I looking at?”
“Keep reading.”
“Um, it says: ‘In case this is useful.’ There’s an attachment called ‘990PF-LivingRuff-next-financial-year.pdf.’” Cooper looked up again. “Isn’t that what you asked Mrs. Brooks to email you?”
“Yes.” Felicity tapped the attachment to open it. “I wonder why she changed her mind.”
“She probably wanted to prove us wrong,” Cooper said. “So…does it?”
Felicity frowned at the screen. “Give me a minute.” She flicked through page after page. After a few minutes, she stopped. “Okay, so it seems Harvey did spend Elena’s money. The expenses section lists ‘Merchandise, Shenzhen Industries.’” She looked up.
“Seriously?” Cooper squinted at her.
“You said when we were having coffee this morning that Harvey wanted to have a Living Ruff toy line. Tell me what happened.”
Cooper frowned. “Oh, it was nothing. It’s so dumb. You know that orange mascot dog on his desk? We all teased him that he might get some toys made of it to sell. And he kept saying he might do that. I thought he was kidding.”
“But the dog’s so ugly!” Felicity gasped.
“Right?” Cooper rolled her eyes. “I mean that was the joke. It’s a good thing he never went through with it or we’d have boxes of ugly unsellable toys.” She froze. “Tell me he did not order over a million bucks worth of ugly dogs.”
Felicity inhaled. “I don’t know. Maybe?”
“Shit.” Cooper winced.
Felicity scowled at the expenses line on her screen, willing it to make sense. “And if he did, where are they?” None of this seemed to line up with a man that Thomas pointed out was so frugal with charity money it was suspicious in itself. “Harvey’s naturally cautious, isn’t he? I mean, normally, right?”
“Yes.” Cooper regarded her. “Very.”
“So this big order looks out of character. Sudden?”
“Well, maybe not, if he really has been thinking about his mascot dog idea all these years. But he’s usually cautious, absolutely.”
“Hmm.” Felicity tapped her screen and began following a squirrelly thought.
“I wish we knew exactly what he ordered,” Cooper said. “Pity that secret’s between him and a factory all the way over in China.”
“Not…necessarily,” Felicity said with satisfaction as that squirrelly thought paid dividends. “I’m guessing Harvey’s brother-in-law, Charles, knows exactly what Harvey ordered.”
“What? Why?”
Felicity turned her phone screen back around to face Cooper.
The webpage on it read:
Welcome to Shenzhen Industries, makers of world-class, high-quality collectibles. We create accurate-looking sports stars, celebrities, TV and movie characters, and other items to order, all customized to your corporate needs.
“I don’t follow,” Cooper said.
“What is a tiny charity like Living Ruff doing connecting with a top-range, high-class collectibles factory in China in the first place? How on earth would those two organizations have found each other? You’d have expected Living Ruff to get their bulk merchandise cheap from Alibaba like everyone else.”
“I’ll take your word for that. I’m clueless as to where anyone shops around for their made-in-China merch.”
“Trust me, it’s weird. Thomas just told me that Charles Stone runs a sporting goods store, and he’s known for high-quality collectibles of baseball players.”
“You think he buys his stuff from Shenzhen Industries, too?”
“I do. Think about it: Harvey’s a cautious, conservative guy with a vague dream to do merchandising for Living Ruff. Suddenly, thanks to Elena’s donation, he has the means to go for it. So who would he turn to for advice? The person he knows already selling collectibles. I’m betting Charles is who connected Harvey with Shenzhen Industries. Probably helped him place his order, too.”
“Makes sense.”
“I’ll pay Charles a visit tomorrow and see if I’m right.”
“That might be interesting. I’ve met him. He’s quite the character.”
“How so?” Felicity asked.
“He’s as memorable as his sister but in a very different way. He’s got this whole laid-back, charming rogue thing going on. He loves hanging out at fancy clubs and making a splash. Like one New Year’s Eve, he bought drinks for five hundred women—who had to kiss him on the cheek to get their drink. It was so out there, it made the papers.”
