Crime Scene -

A couple of things that are bothering me....

1. Did anyone else notice that according to Nathan Mistillis, Elliot handles the Pearce agencies computers as well as Harte's? Doesn't this seem odd that he was helping investigate a mole from a company that he also worked for? And that he claims he didn't know who the mole was even though he has that level of access to both sets of computers?

2. Again with Elliott. He claims that he'd been working late nights with Annette and Saturday afternoons. The last late night was the Friday before the murder. He also claims to have gotten an email telling him that he didn't need to come in that Saturday from Annette at 11pm or so.

3. According to neighbors, Annette left her home Saturday morning around 7:30 and didn't show up at the Harte Agency until 6:30 (Jeff's interview, alibi statements). Where was she? Why did she have that much cash on her? Was she getting cash or giving it?

4. Jeff and Elliot both mention that nobody else knew anything about the "secret' investigation into the "mole." But that's obviously not true, since at least 2 other witnesses claimed to know about it (Meg and Kurt). How did they find out? Other people in Annette's life (Naomi and Darren) claim they didn't know about it, so if she was prone to talking about it, why tell coworkers and not personal friends? This leaves Elliott, Jeff, or potentially the "mole" as the leak, or someone snooping (Meg?).

5. Joanna and Annette both had scratches on their arms. Joanna's explanation seemed "off."

6. Annette's keys were missing from the evidence inventory. Where are they?

After re-reading this... I'm wondering if Elliott is the killer. What if he was the mole and was suspicious that she'd found him out after Annette told him not to come in? I'm not sure if this fits in with the other evidence, however...

I certainly need a couple more pieces to the puzzle but in my opinion:
1) Annette was the mole and Jeff suspected as much. Otherwise why would he hire Elliot to work with her instead of working on his own. Less suspicious if he had Elliot working with her. No one said that Elliot wasn't keeping Jeff posted on their progress.Darren taught Annette enough about computers that she could go in and change some things that Elliot had done on the computers. The email telling Elliot not to come in did not come from Annette.
2) Annette wasn't killed because of the leak. That's not really worth killing her for, although I admit people have killed for less. She was killed for what is on that missing SD card from the hidden camera in the clock. I think the reason it's missing is because Annette took it with her to use against someone as leverage. Remember, her bio described her as "calculating".
3) I think Jeff was who was on that SD card. And I think Jeff is the one who killed her.
I can't explain all of my theory right now but Jeff was at the office already and when questioning Tom Banks, whose store is next door, he said he saw Jeff's car but not Jeff going in or going out. and his store closes before Jeff said he left. Jeff went in to Gin's store on the supposition that he was buying something for his wife. Naturally, he had to make a scene so Gin would would be sure to remember him and what time it was. Then, since the office was then closed and he had sent Elliot an email not to come in, all he had to do to finish his alibi was to go home to a pregnant wife.

Yes, I did note that Elliot worked for the Pearce Brokers also. That didn't throw me off. Working for different people is normal business. But it was to Jeff's advantage because Elliot could then connect emails to Pearce and see if any files were transferred as well. Then he could access Pearce's computers to see who was getting the information from Harte Agency.
The amount of money certainly isn't enough to bribe someone so I had to really think about that one. The only reasonable thing I came up with was that Annette was so involved with all the events going on in Oxford. Could be money she was planning to donate, or money she had collected for an event from other people. A raffle type thing, maybe.
Keep ideas coming. Talking things out helps a lot.

You guys have a great discussion going on here.
Very interesting. I wish I could join you, but I can't talk about the cases, but I can still read and enjoy what your thoughts and ideas are.

Keep it up.

1) If Annette was the mole, why bother making it seem like she's investigating it? Wouldn't that tip her off? And why would Annette have said that she'd reveal the results on Monday? Annette was Jeff's most loyal worker, perhaps he genuinely thought she was the best person to investigate the leak since she was his first employee.

2) I agree that this is probably not why she was killed. I agree with the SD card theory, too. However, I'm not sure if Annette was the one who put the clock there and has the card. I had wondered if Darren put it there to spy on Annette because he had been hearing about her with other men. He got really hot under the collar at even the suggestion of her seeing anyone else.

3. That's an interesting idea about Jeff, but I don't see where anyone named Banks mentioned something about Jeff's car. All the interviews I see under "Crime Scene Canvasses" don't mention Jeff at all except for Gin Tessi. Although, you do have me thinking that all know about Jeff's timeline that afternoon is what he told us. I still think it looks a little too obvious, though. I will check the new information and ponder some more.

Hiring Elliot to work with Annette would ensure that she wouldn't suspect that he thought it was her. It shouldn't have taken weeks to discover who was doing it. Elliot is a computer genius. There is no way he wouldn't know. He could have been feeding Jeff information all along about whether she was covering things up. Darren was a computer geek also so he probably taught her a few tricks and she was busy trying to set someone else up. Most likely Sophia since she was a former Pearce Broker employee. If she was the mole, one of two things would happen: One, she would leave and go to work for his biggest competitor which would cost him a lot of money from loss of sales, and two, he had the option of finally making her a partner, which he hadn't wanted to do.
I don't see Darren having given Annette the clock. That is more of a thing you would give to a family member rather than a girlfriend. Darren does have a temper and if we are to believe his story, Annette didn't show up for her date at 8:45 and didn't answer her phone. We know she was alive at 6:00 according to her friend, Naomi. That indicates she was dead between 6:00 and 8:00.
According to what I read on the internet, rigor mortis usually starts to set in within 3-4 hours and is complete within 12 hours. That would indicate that between 6:00 and 8:00 would be too early since she was found at 1:00 on Sunday afternoon. So this means more digging and looking into Joanna more closely.
One of the Grubman's leaving their house around 11:00 p.m.Both of them didn't like Annette, but I would lean more towards Joanna rather than Kurt.
I can't see Meg killing her. What would she have to gain? It's not likely that she would become and agent.
We only have Darren's word that he didn't see her. He left his apartment to go to a bar that no one really knew him. Said he drove by Annette's house and that would be 10:00 or later. Would he kill the woman he wanted to marry? If he saw the pregnancy test and he didn't think it was his baby, he might due to his temper. He couldn't stand the thought of her being with anyone else.
Really, it's anyone's game. Too many unconfirmed alibis. Back to the hunt! The answer is there! I've had other theories working as well as Jeff, so now it's time to work a little more on them.
The part where Tom Banks shows up is in Jeff Harte alibi. He owns the store next door to Harte Agency.