Read Online No Honor Among Thieves: An Ali Reynolds Novella (Kindle Single) by J.A. Jance - Free Book Online Page A

concerned—they never existed in the first place.”
    “Sounds feasible,” B. said before adding, “Oops, getting a call back. Bye.”
    By the time Ali was off the phone, Cami was already returning the damaged cell phone to the evidence bag. “It’s a burner,” she said in answer to Ali’s unasked question. “I sent Stu the model info so he can start looking for point of purchase, but given the circumstances I’m not going to attempt to get inside it without better equipment and a search warrant.”
    Ali nodded. “Right,” she said.
    After all, High Noon’s responsibility was to their client. Sheriff Brady had a homicide to solve. In order for the information on the phone to be usable in court, it had to be legally obtained with a properly filed search warrant.
    Cami’s iPad and Ali’s phone both began pinging with incoming messages as Stu’s data-mining efforts yielded results. Glancing through them, Ali saw Hans Holzmann’s home address for two separate residences, several phone numbers and e-mail addresses, as well as the license information on four different vehicles, one of which Ali recognized as a very pricey Mercedes, along with an equally pricey Range Rover.
    Ali glanced at Cami. “U.S. Customs must be paying their employees very well these days.”
    Cami nodded. “Look at these property tax records. There are two separate houses, one in Palm Desert and another in Rolling Hills, California. The taxes on either one of those are more than I make in a year. How big do you suppose the mortgages are?”
    “More than Mr. Holzmann could handle with his government salary alone,” Ali suggested. “And if he already has a ‘retirement’ home in Palm Desert, why would he want to use shipping containers to construct another one on his father’s property here in Arizona?”
    “Good question,” Cami said.
    Stu’s information continued to pour in at breathtaking speed. Hans Holzmann had been arrested once for DUI in his early twenties. His transcripts from Cochise College and Arizona State University showed up, as did his discharge papers from the U.S. Army, in which he had served with honor during Desert Storm. He was married with two children, one of whom had graduated from college, and the other was currently enrolled as an honors student at UCLA.
    “What we have here is a crook who is evidently a decent husband and father,” Ali observed. “Go figure.”
    Sheriff Brady returned to the room. “What’s happening?” she asked.
    “We’re getting a ton of information on Hans Holzmann, but so far nothing particularly useful.”
    “And the phone?”
    “Cami looked at it but didn’t try to get inside. You’ll need a warrant,” Ali answered.
    “We’ll have one,” Joanna answered. “Did you hear anything back on the satellite—”
    Sheriff Brady’s question was interrupted by the ringing of Ali’s phone. Ali listened for a moment. “Okay,” she said. “Send it to me and to Cami, but let me get Sheriff Brady’s e-mail address for you so she can have it, too.”
    Joanna reeled off her e-mail address and then hurried over to the oversized computer monitor on Dave Hollicker’s desktop. By the time Ali’s e-mail account alerted her to a new message, Joanna had opened a mail screen on Dave’s computer. Moments later the same image appeared on the screens of all three devices: Ali’s phone, Cami’s iPad, and Dave’s desktop. At first only a grid pattern was visible, but gradually pieces of brownish desert landscape appeared in an out-of-focus haze before changing into something more understandable. Once the image finished resolving itself, the clarity was amazing. Ali saw a house with what appeared to be a tin roof. Nearby were two more structures. One looked like a barn with a corral out back. The other appeared to be a tin-roofed two-car garage.
    “Stu says we need to scroll over north and east from the house,” Cami said, “closer to the base of the mountains.”
    Joanna found the