Chapter 10 - Richard’s financial problem
Richard was not stealing $186,000 for himself.
That was the first major correction.
He had approved payments.
But the money primarily went to Northcross, which performed some legitimate work.
About $92,000 could be matched to actual property-maintenance services.
Another $38,000 reflected inflated invoices.
Approximately $56,000 remained unsupported.
Of that, roughly $21,000 flowed indirectly toward an investment account controlled by a longtime friend of Richard.
Then $14,000 came back to Richard through what he labeled loan repayment.
Messy.
Suspicious.
Not a grand criminal empire.
Richard’s deeper fear was not necessarily prison.
It was exposure.
Job.
Marriage.
Reputation.
And one other thing investigators had not yet understood.
Northcross’s former office manager disappeared five months earlier.
Her name was Natalie Price.
Thirty-nine.
May you like
No confirmed connection yet to the basement.
But Ortiz noticed.
