He knew who needed coffee before they asked.
And someone had apparently been using his kindness against him.
Claire looked down.
“I need to see something.”
“What?”
“The register.”
Elijah looked at her.
“Why?”
“If the transaction was made here, there should be a record.”
“There is.”
“Then let's compare it with your bank statement.”
They walked behind the counter.
Claire examined the register.
She was good at numbers.
Very good.
Within minutes, she found something strange.
“Here.”
She pointed.
“What?”
“The transaction time.”
Elijah looked.
“9:42.”
Claire shook her head.
“You told me you paid at 9:42.”
“Yes.”
“But the second transaction happened at 9:44.”
Elijah frowned.
“Two minutes later.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel leaned over the counter.
“Could the register have processed it twice?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the second transaction wasn't processed through the diner.”
She pointed at the reference number.
“It came from an external payment processor.”
Elijah stared at her.
“Can you tell where?”
“Not yet.”
“Can you find out?”
Claire smiled.
“Yes.”
For the first time since entering the diner, she looked confident.
She pulled out her laptop.
Within twenty minutes, she had connected the transaction to a payment gateway.
But the information was incomplete.
The sender was hidden behind an intermediary account.
Claire stared at the screen.
“This is sophisticated.”
Daniel looked over her shoulder.
“Can you trace it?”
“Maybe.”
“How?”
“I need access to the original transaction data.”
“Can the bank provide it?”
“Yes.”
“But they won't give it to us.”
Claire looked at him.
“They will if I ask the right person.”
“Who?”
“My father.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
“What does your father do?”
“He owns a regional bank.”
The old diner went silent.
Elijah looked at her.
“You never mentioned that.”
“You never asked.”
Daniel smiled.
“Fair enough.”
Claire called her father.
He answered after two rings.
“Claire?”
“Dad, I need a favor.”
“What kind?”
“I have a transaction I need traced.”
“Personal?”
“No.”
“Then why do you care?”
“Because someone may be using a small business to launder money.”
There was silence.
Her father's voice became serious.
“Where are you?”
“At a diner in town.”
“Send me the transaction.”
She did.
A minute later, her father's voice changed.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“Where did you get this?”
“Why?”
“Because this reference code belongs to an investigation we closed six months ago.”
Claire's heart skipped.
“What investigation?”
“Unauthorized micro-transfers.”
“Same amount?”
“Not always.”
“Where did the money go?”
“That's the problem.”
“Where?”
“Various accounts.”
“Whose?”
“People with no obvious connection.”
Claire looked at Elijah.
“Do you recognize the name Brooks?”
Her father paused.
“Yes.”
Claire's eyes widened.
“Why?”
“Because his account appeared in the investigation.”
Elijah stared.
“What?”
Claire put the phone on speaker.
Her father's voice filled the diner.
“Mr. Brooks?”
“Yes.”
“Did you receive unexplained payments?”
Elijah nodded.
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Three.”
“Did you return them?”
“Yes.”
Her father became silent.
Then he said,
“That may be why they targeted you.”
Claire asked,
“Why?”
“Because returning the money triggered an alert.”
Daniel looked at Elijah.
“What kind of alert?”
Her father explained.
“The system was designed to identify accounts that rejected suspicious transfers.”
Claire frowned.
“Why?”
“To find people who might discover the network.”
Elijah's face became pale.
“So the transfers weren't mistakes.”
“No.”
“They were tests.”
“Yes.”
Claire looked around the diner.
“Dad, what happens to people who trigger the alert?”
Another pause.
“They get investigated.”
“By whom?”
“We never found out.”
Claire's voice became quiet.
“Did anyone disappear?”
Her father sighed.
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Seven.”
The diner fell silent.
Claire looked at Elijah.
The old man stared at the floor.
Then Daniel said,
“We need to leave.”
Claire looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because if they are watching this account, they know we're here.”