The Insider Read Free

a dryer.
    Will had used the card that morning, swiping it on the pad at the front desk in the building’s lobby. How could Ben have gotten it?
    Then Will remembered that when he had gone to the library, he had left the card in the pocket of his suit jacket, hanging over a chair in his office. The blue and green cord had been dangling from the pocket.
    As he stared at the access card, the full implications of what he was seeing came to him. Each access card was registered to an employee and created a record of where workers went in the building. Sooner or later, the police would figure out that Ben was using Will’s access card as they attempted to track Ben’s movements before his death. Will had clearly used that access card when he entered the building at six thirty—the guard at the front desk would verify that. Given those facts, anyone would assume that Will and Ben had met that morning in the office. If Will told the truth, that he had never seen Ben, no one would believe him. His story would seem even more implausible when the police learned that Ben had placed two calls to Will’s office in the half hour before his death.
    It dawned on Will that Ben’s death might be a murder, not a suicide. Worse yet, someone seemed to be trying to cast suspicion on him.
    As Will reached into his pants pocket, he already knew what he was going to find there. He removed the white plastic access card that he had used in his hurried exit from the building. There was no doubt in his mind that it had belonged to Ben Fisher.

TWO
    When he returned to his office, Will placed a phone call to the police to report the switched access cards. The officer taking the call seemed distracted at first, but was quite attentive by the time Will had finished his story. “We’ll send someone to your office to take your statement,” the officer said. “Don’t go anywhere.”
    Part of him had wanted to keep quiet because he knew that the police would immediately view him as a suspect. But he figured that they would eventually figure it out anyway, and, after all, he had done nothing wrong. While waiting for the police to arrive, Will tried to resume his work, hoping to put some psychic distance between himself and the events of the morning.
    Within three hours of Ben’s death, an e-mail appeared in his inbox from Don Rubinowski, the firm’s managing partner:
    Will—
    Â 
    What happened today with Ben was a terrible tragedy, and we all need time to grieve and mourn. But, unfortunately, there are matters that Ben was handling that will not wait. Ben was lead attorney on the Jupiter Software/ Pearl Systems merger, which must close very soon. I know I don’t need to emphasize that this is a major transaction. Negotiations are at a particularly critical stage, and we need you to take the lead on this, effective immediately. You’ll be receiving the files shortly. Claire Rowland will get you up to speed on the due diligence.
    Â 
    Â 
    Don
    Will replied that he would begin reviewing the files immediately. He was not about to say no to the managing partner when he was on the brink of partnership, especially not on a deal like this one. Jupiter Software was the world’s leading encryption software company, and it was being acquired by Pearl Systems, the top maker of desktop computers, in a transaction that would change the landscape of the technology industry. It was the sort of deal that could make or break an attorney’s career.
    Around two P.M., he looked up from a conference call to see a tall man in a baggy blue-black sport coat standing in the doorway to his office. With a quizzical expression and a bit of sign language, the man asked if he could enter. Will nodded, and the visitor took a seat in front of his desk. Will gestured to indicate that the call was winding up.
    If this was what a police detective looked like, it was not quite what he had been expecting. The stranger had a