Hot Coffee Iced Santa (Roasted Love Cozy 2)

invest his money. I also think Jared handled his account. The question is what happened that made Jared turn on him."

"I don't know why," said Donald. "We have to find out the reason, if that is indeed what happened. And we have to find out how Frank had money to invest in the first place."

"If Jared was paying him off, Frank must have known something that would get Jared into a lot of trouble," I said. "I don't know much about the inside workings of investments, but whatever was going on, Frank had plenty of cash in his closet."

"We know now that Frank worked at that bank as a teller at one time," said Donald. "He was accused of misappropriation or something and was fired. It was before I came to West River. I would have to look at that case again to get details."

"Blackmailing must have been going on," I said. "It wasn't beyond Frank to blackmail. It was another way for him to make easy money." I told him about Frank's demands for Cassie's tips. "The more I think about it, Frank Duvall was pretty smart."

"He was, but not smart enough to stay alive," said Chief Hayes.

We both looked at the door when Officer Stanton appeared. He told Donald the news of Jared's arrival. The Chief briefed him on known facts. They had their questioning strategy ready.

I went to stand behind the one-way glass. The investor looked down and I could see small beads of moisture dotted his forehead His arrogance seemed to be missing for the moment. The Chief began by asking Jared if he had been a friend of Frank's.

"Frank was a nice guy," he said. "I didn't know him well but what little I did know he seemed to be an all around good person."

"You are the first person we've talked to who thinks he was an upstanding citizen," said Donald. "We have found that he had more enemies than friends. Was he investing any money?"

Jared shifted in the chair. "He invested a little now and then."

Donald laid it all out to Jared. He pointed out that Frank's bank account was a hefty one. "I don't know of any dishwashers who have lucrative bank accounts like his."

"Was he blackmailing you for something?" asked Officer Stanton.

Jared's head jerked up and then back down again. He knew the two officers in front of him knew more than he cared to admit. If he thought about asking for a lawyer to let him handle the harassment going on, he didn't indicate that.

Chief Hayes pushed bank statements across the table. They had Jared Freedman's name and account number on them. "It's more than interesting to us that you withdrew the exact same amount of money on a monthly basis that Frank Duvall deposited the first of every month. Can you see any correlation here?"

Jared shook his head no. "I don't know what it means."

Dan Stanton then pushed a blank piece of paper toward the investor and placed a ballpoint pen next to it. "I want you to write your name on this paper as well as the words West River Bank."

Jared complied. His hand shook a little, but he mastered it. "Now, write restaurant on the paper." The Officer then asked for numbers one to twelve.

Satisfied, he stood up and walked out with the paper in his hand. I saw him hand it to another cop. "Get someone to take a look at the handwriting on this right away. Compare it to the note found at Frank's house." He then returned to his suspect.

"I believe you dealt closer with Frank Duvall than you have tried to lead us to believe," Chief Hayes was saying when Officer Stanton came back in and sat down.

If Jared's hands had been free, I knew they wouldn't be lying still. Suddenly, he looked up at the Chief. "All right!" he shouted. "Frank was one of my investors. We stayed connected after he was fired from the bank. Is that what you want to know? Since when is it a crime to invest?"

The Chief tapped Officer Stanton's shoulder. Both stood and left Jared. The investor's blank stare when they walked out proved he was confused with their behavior. We all stood at the two-way mirror and watched him.

"What are you thinking, Laila?" asked Donald.

"I'm thinking I was right about Frank blackmailing Jared. Are you going to give him too much time to think in there? He could be thinking up explanations and excuses."

"I'm just letting him stew a little. He's probably wondering why he said what he did, but he can't take it back now."

Chief Hayes chuckled. He was thoroughly enjoying making his suspect squirm a little. He turned to go back into the interrogation room. Jared glanced up and watched Donald sit down in leisurely fashion across from him. Officer Dan Stanton followed him in. He stood and leaned against the wall to Jared's left.

Chapter Twenty Three

I walked down the hallway and hit speed dial that held Daniel's number. When he answered, I brought him up to date. "Hey, I just wanted to let you know that the police are interrogating the investor right now. It seems that Frank may have been blackmailing him, too. It's hard to say for sure, yet, but I just wanted to let you know. I don't want to miss anything else so I'll hang up and call you later," I said.

"Don't leave anything out," said Daniel. "Hopefully you've got the right person, Laila."

"I hope so. Right now things are starting to look interesting, for sure," I said.