Read Online The Fregoli Delusion by Michael J. McCann - Free Book Online

opportunity. I guess it didn’t
occur to him until it was too late that it meant when Mr. Jarrett wanted to
override his procedures, he had no choice but to sit there and take it.”
    “So he played Drussler like a fish,”
Karen said, sitting down.
    “Pretty much.”
    “And Drussler was too interested
in climbing the ladder to figure it out until it was too late.”
    “I suppose you could say that.”
    “And it pissed him off afterwards?
Made him resentful?”
    “No. What you need to understand
is that Craig’s a very decent person underneath it all. It’s true in hindsight
he clearly regretted his decision to sell his company to Mr. Jarrett, but it
made him very, very comfortable financially, and eventually he seemed to come
to terms with the compromise. His girls attend the best private school in the
city, and I’ve seen pictures of his condo in the Bahamas. It’s beautiful. He’s
very devoted to his family, he’s faithful to his wife—we checked—and he’d do
anything for his friends. He’s a reasonably nice guy who’s reached his ceiling.
Was he resentful that Mr. Jarrett made a shambles of his protection protocols?
No. Was he frustrated? Oh, yes. I spent twenty minutes with him this morning,
Detective, after we heard the news. He’s devastated. He was in tears,
literally. He knows his reputation’s been destroyed, and he’s taking it very
personally. He was loyal to Mr. Jarrett the way we all were.”
    “Okay.” Karen leaned back in her
chair, watching Kelly. “Tell us about Walter Parris. What does he do around
here?”
    “Walter’s the chief financial
officer for the corporation, which means he’s responsible to the board for all
financial and accounting matters.”
    “He’s the numbers guy. The money
guy.”
    “Yes. He controls cash flow, he
monitors our financial performance, manages the budget, works with our bankers
and other investors, all that sort of thing.”
    “Makes him a pretty important guy
around here.”
    “Very. Especially now, since he’s
going to be interim president and CEO.”
    “There’s that. How’d he take the
news that Jarrett was stepping down and his daughter was taking over?”
    “For the first few days none of us
took it very well, but Walter adjusted very quickly. He’s a key figure in all
this because he decides what Mr. Jarrett’s holdings are actually worth and what
Diane would have to pay in order to acquire them. Both sides questioned his
numbers very vigorously, but that’s par for the course. He must have had a few
personal talks with Mr. Jarrett because Walter never questioned Mr. Jarrett’s
decision to retire.”
    “Bottom line, do you think he had
anything to do with his boss’s murder?”
    “No. Not in a million years.”
    “What do you know about his son?”
    “Brett?” Kelly’s expression
softened. “Oh, dear. Such a handful for Walter and Lisa. A very confused young
man.”
    “Ever seen him worked up, out of
control, or violent?”
    Kelly shook her head. “Walter
doesn’t talk about it, but I understand it’s schizophrenia. Mr. Jarrett
preferred that we give Walter some space in that regard. I’m not really
qualified to talk about it. There was an incident at a Christmas party one
time, though, when he thought one of our divisional heads was Richard Holland.
He got very upset about it, I remember, and accused the poor man of stalking
him. Walter was mortified.”
    Karen leaned casually on an elbow.
“Tell me about Holland.”
    “A rapid riser. Mr. Jarrett had a
lot of time for him.”
    “What does he do around here?”
    “He’s vice-president of corporate
and regulatory affairs, which handles government liaison in the United States
and all other countries where we do business. So, current and proposed
regulations for pharmaceuticals, our participation in emergency preparedness,
international approval processes, things like that.”
    “Sounds important.”
    “He’s built an effective network
in a very short