I kept digging. It was close to midnight when I noticed the pattern we should have seen all along.
I'm not sure how many times my phone rang before it broke through my concentration. I picked up without identifying the caller, but my focus was still on Dorsey and Candice.
"Teela?"
"Teela?"
"Tee, can you hear me?"
"Um," I responded.
"Hun, I need more than that. Give me at least three words," Alec said.
"I'm alright. Bye."
I hung up. The Schumakers had income coming in from a side source. Each month, an additional payment hit the account, which was the exact amount of one of Candice's paychecks. It was spaced out, so the extra payment landed right about the same time as the rent payment while still being spaced out from her bi-monthly wages from her teaching job. That kept the account from spiking an unusually high, at least high, bank balance for the Schumakers.
The phone rang again.