“No, Mr. Wissinski is fine.”
“Good. I don’t mind if he’s murdered, but not before he gives me back my money.”
Scarlett picked up the phone and moments later was in a brief conference with her employer. And even though Omar had only recently inquired if new customers had paid a visit to their offices, clearly he wasn’t as eager as he could have been to see Mrs. Stooge.
“He’ll be with you shortly,” said Scarlett, as she gestured to the waiting area and offered Mrs. Stooge a cup of coffee or tea while she waited.
The woman didn’t seem predisposed either to waiting or to cups of tea or coffee, but she decided to do as she was told, and took a seat next to a potted plant, then picked up a copy ofInsurers Weekly from the table in the waiting area and started leafing through it.
Finally Omar managed to screw up his nerve and the door to his office opened once more.“Mrs. Stooge? I can see you now, if you please.”
The older lady, head held high, stalked past the man and straight into his office.
“Please hold my calls, Miss Canyon,” said Omar, looking a little feverish all of a sudden.
“Let’s go!” Harriet said, and hurried over to the man’s door, Scarlett and Brutus right behind her.
“I know my son came in here yesterday,” they heard Mrs. Stooge declare, “and I know you gave him some kind of runaround. You won’t do the same with me, Mr. Wissinski. I want my money back and I want it now!”
“See, the problem is that we were robbed, Mrs. Stooge,” said Omar. “And I explained all this to Gene yesterday. Our safe was emptied out, as in everything was taken.”
“But surely you have money in your account?”
“I’m afraid we hadn’t yet transferred the money you gave me to the bank.”
“So my money was in your safe?”
“Yes, it was. And it’s all gone now.”
“But aren’t you insured against this sort of thing? I mean, you are an insurance agent, aren’t you? Insuring stuff is what you do.”
They heard Omar heave a loud sigh.“The problem is, Mrs. Stooge, and I’m very sorry to have to inform you of this, that it now looks as if my partner was engaged in activities that weren’t exactly above board.”
“You mean he was cheating?”
“We’re still trying to figure out what Jona was up to, but as far as I can figure out, he used the money that you and some other people invested in our bitcoin fund to finance his own extracurricular activities. In other words, all the money that was received was received off the books.”
“Under the table.”
“So it would seem.”
“And you’re telling me you weren’t aware of this?”
“No, I wasn’t. It’s only after what happened yesterday that I discovered certain irregularities in the accounts. You see, Jona was in charge of our investments while I took care of the insurance policies.”
“But you sold me on your bitcoin fund! Said I was going to triple my investment!”
“That was Jona’s project, too. I was just the middleman. The salesperson, if you will.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
“I’m very sorry, Mrs. Stooge. But with the robbery, all this has now come to light, and a very thorough investigation is being carried out. I’ve requested an extensive audit of our books, and hopefully we’ll get to the bottom of this mess very quickly.”
“So Jona was a crook, was he?”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to—”
“Well, I will. The man was a thief!”
“The investigation will have to bear that out.”
“Do you think that’s why he was killed? For getting involved with the wrong people?”
“It’s possible. I have no idea what he used the money for, but I have heard rumors that Jona had a gambling problem and may have had trouble paying back some of the people he borrowed money from. Now the police have been informed, and so it’s only a matter of time before the people who did this to him are caught.”
“Hopefully they haven’t spent my money yet,” Mrs. Stooge grumbled.
“We’ll just have to wait and see, I’m afraid.”
“Well, this is a fine mess you put me in, young man.”
“And I’m very, very sorry, Mrs. Stooge. This is not the way to treat a loyal and treasured client like yourself, but if you give me some time, I hope to get this all sorted out soon.”
“Fine,” said Mrs. Stooge, and Harriet heard the telltale sound of a chair being scraped back.
“Move out!” she loud-whispered, and she and her co-conspirators quickly resumed their position at Scarlett’s desk.
They were getting the hang of this, since moments later the door to Omar’s office opened, and Mrs. Stooge came charging through the office, like a galleon under steam.
“If she comes back,” said Omar, who looked a little soluble after his conference with the irate older lady, “tell her I’m out, will you?” He let out a long sigh. “A couple more of these and I’m going to wish someone dropped a car on top of my head, too.”
And he would probably have said more, but his phone chimed and he picked it out of his pocket, glanced at the screen, then picked up with a grunted,“What do you want?!” He listened for a moment, then his eyes went a little wide and he clasped at his hair. “What?! Have you gone completely mad!” He disconnected, charged into his office, grabbed his coat, and charged past Scarlett’s desk. “Mind the shop. I’ll be back in half an hour.”
And without further explanation, he was gone.
“Phew,” said Scarlett, sagging a little in her chair. “Now isn’t this fun?” She picked up her own phone, and said, “He’s gone, Vesta. Yeah, the coast is clear!”
Moments later there was a knock at the door, and since it was a glass door, Harriet could see that it was Gran. The old lady came in looking excited, and immediately took a seat in front of Scarlett’s desk. “And? What did you find out so far?”
“A lot!” said Scarlett, equally excited. “Omar is having a fight with his dad over something, and a Mrs. Stooge came in here, and Omar revealed to her that Jona was actually a secret gambler and owed a lot of money to the wrong people. Which might explain why he was murdered!”
Gran narrowed her eyes.“So you think his murder had nothing to do with the Careens?”
“Well, it’s possible, isn’t it? Apparently Jona was collecting money from pensioners to invest in his bitcoin fund, but it was all kept off the books. Cash payments only, and the money kept in the safe.”
“Which was emptied out yesterday. It’s possible, of course. Those loan sharks don’t mess around. If you don’t pay up, you will pay the price.”
“But why kill him?” asked Harriet. “Wouldn’t they want Jona alive, so he can pay back his loan?”
“Sometimes these people like to set an example,” said Gran. “So they kill someone in such a gruesome way that it sends a message to anyone else who owes them money: better pay up quick, or end up like this guy.”
“It’s a plausible theory,” said Scarlett, nodding. “So where did you set up shop?”
“In the food court,” said Gran. “It’s nice and cozy there, and I’m surrounded by plenty of people my age, so I don’t stick out. And the best thing: they don’t pressure you into leaving if you’re not prepared to drink your body weight in coffee.”
“Good. I’ll join you there for lunch,” said Scarlett, “and I’ll tell you everything!”
“Ooh, there’s more?”
“By the time my lunch break rolls around, I definitely hope so!”
Harriet shared a smile with Brutus. Clearly the two ladies were having a ball. Max was right. This job was right up their alley. And it was right up hers and Brutus’s, too.
“I like this spy business,” her mate intimated.
“Yeah, me too,” said Harriet.
“So have you given any more thought to the bitcoin thing?”
“I have, but we’re going to need a programmer to set up the website.” And they both looked up to Scarlett, whose grandnephew was some kind of computer whizz.