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Authors: Richard Montanari
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Byrne sensed there was more to the story. They remained silent.
‘The next day Alonzo – that’s Alonzo Mayweather, our IT guy – was dumping some shredded documents into the big recycling bin out back, when he saw some material in the bin, some red shredded cardboard. He moved some of the paper aside and saw that the big birthday card had been shredded. Not only had Robert shredded the card, but he then tried to put it on the bottom of the bin so no one would see it. Weird, huh?’
A bit antisocial, Jessica thought, certainly ungracious, but not particularly weird. And she knew weird.
‘Why didn’t he just take it home and throw it out when he got there?’ Karen Jacobs added.
It was a rhetorical question, but Byrne responded to it anyway. ‘I’m afraid I can’t answer that, ma’am.’
‘Well, needless to say, we never bought him another card, never acknowledged his birthdays in any way.’
This partially explained the dearth of cards at Robert Freitag’s house. If he got them, it seemed, he didn’t even bring them inside.
Byrne continued the standard line of questioning, taking sparse notes. There wasn’t much to write.
‘Can you think of anyone who might have had a problem with Robert?’ Byrne asked. ‘Someone he owed money, or someone who owed him money?’
She thought a moment. ‘No. I don’t think he ever gambled, and I’m sure he was never involved in drugs or anything like that.’
You can never be sure about drugs
, Jessica thought, but decided to take this woman’s word for it.
‘What about personal relationships? Girlfriends, a jealous boyfriend?’
At the word boyfriend, the woman smiled. ‘Robert wasn’t gay, if that’s what you mean.’
Jessica was pretty sure Byrne meant Robert Freitag may have been dating a woman who had a jealous boyfriend. Byrne let it ride.
‘Is there anyone here, other than yourself, who might have had a closer relationship with Mr Freitag?’ he asked.
She took a moment. ‘Not really. He was impossible to get to know.’
Byrne made another note. ‘Was there ever any money missing from your business accounts? Any unauthorized withdrawals?’
It seemed as if this question came as a bit of a shock. ‘You mean CycleLife accounts?’
‘Yes.’
‘Are you saying Robert took money from the company?’
‘I’m not saying that at all,’ Byrne said. ‘We just have to explore every possibility.’
Karen Jacobs shrugged. ‘Not that I know of. Again, we’re a small company. If something like that happened I would know about it.’
‘Did Robert have access to the accounts?’
‘No. Only the owner, Mr Larson, has access. He signs every check.’ At this she pointed to a photograph on the wall, a picture of a white-haired man shaking hands with a woman in a wheelchair.
Byrne glanced at Jessica, who shook her head. She had no questions. They both stood; the woman followed suit, straightened her skirt.
‘We thank you for your time,’ Byrne said.
‘You are most welcome.’ The woman glanced at her watch. She had all but missed rush hour. ‘I’ll probably get home about the same time.’
‘We don’t want to keep you any longer,’ Byrne said. ‘Can we get that list of employees now?’
‘Of course.’ She crossed over to the reception desk, hit a few keys on the computer keyboard. Seconds later the laser printer came to life. Karen Jacobs grabbed the sheet, handed it to Byrne.
‘Thanks,’ Byrne said. ‘You’ll have that other information faxed to us? Mr Freitag’s application and resume?’
The woman held up her cell phone. ‘I’ll call them straightaway.’
‘I just have one other question,’ Byrne said.
‘Sure.’
‘When you met with Detective Garcia, did he ask a lot of the same questions I asked you?’
She thought about it. ‘Not really. To be quite honest, I didn’t really understand some of the things he was talking about.’
‘Can you give us an example?’
‘Well, he asked me about Robert’s last day of
‘The next day Alonzo – that’s Alonzo Mayweather, our IT guy – was dumping some shredded documents into the big recycling bin out back, when he saw some material in the bin, some red shredded cardboard. He moved some of the paper aside and saw that the big birthday card had been shredded. Not only had Robert shredded the card, but he then tried to put it on the bottom of the bin so no one would see it. Weird, huh?’
A bit antisocial, Jessica thought, certainly ungracious, but not particularly weird. And she knew weird.
‘Why didn’t he just take it home and throw it out when he got there?’ Karen Jacobs added.
It was a rhetorical question, but Byrne responded to it anyway. ‘I’m afraid I can’t answer that, ma’am.’
‘Well, needless to say, we never bought him another card, never acknowledged his birthdays in any way.’
This partially explained the dearth of cards at Robert Freitag’s house. If he got them, it seemed, he didn’t even bring them inside.
Byrne continued the standard line of questioning, taking sparse notes. There wasn’t much to write.
‘Can you think of anyone who might have had a problem with Robert?’ Byrne asked. ‘Someone he owed money, or someone who owed him money?’
She thought a moment. ‘No. I don’t think he ever gambled, and I’m sure he was never involved in drugs or anything like that.’
You can never be sure about drugs
, Jessica thought, but decided to take this woman’s word for it.
‘What about personal relationships? Girlfriends, a jealous boyfriend?’
At the word boyfriend, the woman smiled. ‘Robert wasn’t gay, if that’s what you mean.’
Jessica was pretty sure Byrne meant Robert Freitag may have been dating a woman who had a jealous boyfriend. Byrne let it ride.
‘Is there anyone here, other than yourself, who might have had a closer relationship with Mr Freitag?’ he asked.
She took a moment. ‘Not really. He was impossible to get to know.’
Byrne made another note. ‘Was there ever any money missing from your business accounts? Any unauthorized withdrawals?’
It seemed as if this question came as a bit of a shock. ‘You mean CycleLife accounts?’
‘Yes.’
‘Are you saying Robert took money from the company?’
‘I’m not saying that at all,’ Byrne said. ‘We just have to explore every possibility.’
Karen Jacobs shrugged. ‘Not that I know of. Again, we’re a small company. If something like that happened I would know about it.’
‘Did Robert have access to the accounts?’
‘No. Only the owner, Mr Larson, has access. He signs every check.’ At this she pointed to a photograph on the wall, a picture of a white-haired man shaking hands with a woman in a wheelchair.
Byrne glanced at Jessica, who shook her head. She had no questions. They both stood; the woman followed suit, straightened her skirt.
‘We thank you for your time,’ Byrne said.
‘You are most welcome.’ The woman glanced at her watch. She had all but missed rush hour. ‘I’ll probably get home about the same time.’
‘We don’t want to keep you any longer,’ Byrne said. ‘Can we get that list of employees now?’
‘Of course.’ She crossed over to the reception desk, hit a few keys on the computer keyboard. Seconds later the laser printer came to life. Karen Jacobs grabbed the sheet, handed it to Byrne.
‘Thanks,’ Byrne said. ‘You’ll have that other information faxed to us? Mr Freitag’s application and resume?’
The woman held up her cell phone. ‘I’ll call them straightaway.’
‘I just have one other question,’ Byrne said.
‘Sure.’
‘When you met with Detective Garcia, did he ask a lot of the same questions I asked you?’
She thought about it. ‘Not really. To be quite honest, I didn’t really understand some of the things he was talking about.’
‘Can you give us an example?’
‘Well, he asked me about Robert’s last day of
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