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Her parents had not been wealthy. At least, not openly. They lived in a modest home, and Alex and her brother had attended public school. Family vacations were never more extravagant than a week in Florida. Although her parents were business owners, theirs was a two-man tax and accounting firm—Dennis and Helen Quinlan were the accountants, the managers, and the janitors. So how was it, Alex wondered since that hot night in August just a month earlier, that she had found a box in the attic stuffed with statements for an account from this Zürich bank worth $5 million? She was convinced the answer to that question would lead to her family’s killer.
She waited five minutes until a young man in a suit and squarely knotted tie approached her. He couldn’t have been much older than she, Alex thought as she looked him up and down.
“Ms. Quinlan?” the young man said, extending his hand. “Drew Estes. I’m Mr. McEwen’s assistant. He’ll be with you in a moment. If you come with me, I’ll show you to his office.”
After more than a year in Cambridge, Alex had become proficient at breaking through dialects and accents to understand the English underneath. But she had learned during this trip across Europe that the English dialects varied, not just from country to country, but throughout different regions of each country. Here in Switzerland, English-speaking Swiss carried heavy tones of either French or German. Drew Estes’s accent was thick German with British undertones, which took Alex a moment to decipher.
“Thank you,” Alex said, standing and shaking his hand.
As he held her hand, Alex noticed Drew Estes stare at her for a second too long before squinting his eyes and tilting his head.
“Have we met before?” he asked.
“No,” Alex said.
“Are you sure? You look familiar.”
Alex smiled. “I’m sure. This is my first time in Switzerland.”
It had happened a few times in the streets of Cambridge, and once or twice on campus. Someone she met asked if they knew her from some other place or time. Not even an ocean could fully separate Alex from infamy. But as the months passed and her freshman year concluded, her notoriety faded and no one looked twice at her again. Until now. Until Drew Estes stared at Alex with a probing glare that made her skin crawl.
“How long did you say Mr. McEwen would be?” Alex finally asked.
“Oh,” Drew said. “I’m sorry. I’m staring at you like I have my ass in hat. Not long. He’s finishing a meeting. I’ll show you to his office.”
A minute later, the young man showed Alex into an elaborate office.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked from the doorway. “Coffee or water?”
“No thanks,” Alex said.
“Thank you, Drew,” a man said as he walked into the office. “I’m Samuel McEwen. We spoke on the phone.”
Alex smiled and shook his hand, relieved to be away from the attention of Drew Estes.
“Alex Quinlan.”
McEwen smiled and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I was expecting someone older.”
“Nope. Just me.”
“Right, then. Have a seat.”
McEwen motioned to a chair in front of his desk.
“Thanks, Drew. I’ll call if I need anything.”
Drew Estes smiled from the doorway. Alex felt his stare linger for another moment before he left. Samuel McEwen sat behind his desk and tapped the keyboard.
“So you’re interested in making a transfer of funds from an American bank into ours, is that correct?”
“Yes,” Alex said.
McEwen continued to read from the screen. “I see you’ve already completed the paperwork. We’ll have just a few more documents today. And what is the amount of the transfer?”
“One million dollars,” Alex said.
McEwen looked up from his computer, paused a moment, and then nodded. Alex could sense his desire to ask how a twenty-year-old kid had gotten her hands on a million bucks. He likely suspected that she was a snot-nosed trust fund baby, and Alex wished that were the case. The media scrutiny in America, which had reached fever pitch during her trial against the state of Virginia, had transitioned into a buzzing fervor when the trial concluded with a verdict that awarded Alex $16 million in damages, reduced by the judge to just over eight. Other than purchasing her family’s home out of foreclosure, and normal living expenses, Alex hadn’t touched any of the money. Today would be the first time she’d put any of it to use. Today, she would use it for leverage.
