Death of a Bankster by David Bishop Read Free Book Online

President, name of Maxwell Norbert. He gave me the same story and expressed his concern because Sam Crawford had neither shown up for work on Friday or this morning, and he had not called in. Mr. Norbert characterized that behavior not at all like Sam Crawford, a longtime, dependable executive.”
    * * *
    Later that day, Maddie and Sue stopped at Saint Joseph’s Hospital on West Thomas Road and interviewed a registered nurse named Carla Roth. Ms. Roth told the same story they had heard from Paige Crawford. All of it: The shooting of Sam Crawford. That she had confirmed he was dead. That FBI agents Powell and Withers had taken Sam Crawford’s laptop and his smart phone. That someone purporting to be the local medical examiner had shown up and taken the body of Sam Crawford. That SAIC Powell had asked both her and Paige not to speak to anyone about any of it before Monday. That Agent Powell had returned Paige’s door key, and that neither of them had heard from either of the FBI agents since.
    After leaving the hospital, and briefly stopping back at the station, Maddie and Sue went by the home of Sam and Paige Crawford. They told Paige they had confirmed everything she had said with Carla Roth. They asked Paige if she had anywhere to stay for a day or two. They were going to button up Paige Crawford’s residence as a crime scene.
    “Why? Agent Powell said that wouldn’t be necessary. That he had the entire thing on tape.”
    “You’re forgetting there are no Agents Powell and Withers, and the medical examiner who came and took your husband’s body was an imposter. There’s no tape showing anything and, at the moment, no body.”
    “Of course, how foolish of me, I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
    “In your place,” Sue said, “I doubt I would be either. We asked Ms. Roth and she said you could stay with her as long as we needed your house. That you already had a key.”
    Paige Crawford nodded. “That’s … yeah, okay, I’ll stay with Carla.”
    Sue stepped forward. “If you will head over there right away, I’ll go about sealing up your house. After that you won’t be able to reenter for anything until we tell you we’ve completed our process. I’ll need to go with you while you gather what you need to take from the crime scene. Please try to move as little as possible before you leave.”
    “Detective, I’m afraid I may have already contaminated, if that’s the word, your crime scene. I’ve been back and forth between here and Carla’s the last couple days. Most of what I’ll need is already over there, just a few more changes of clothes and some more cosmetics.”
    “We can’t do anything about what’s already happened,” Maddie said, “but we can try to minimize any changes from this point forward. Your home just officially became a crime scene. So, now, we need to follow established procedure.”
    A moment later, Maddie asked Paige, “Have you cleaned since Thursday? Washed counters, maybe swept or vacuumed floors, cleaned toilets or anything at all?”
    “No Sergeant. My housekeeper comes every Wednesday, sometimes Thursday so all this has happened since her last cleaning. Carla did come back here last Thursday, after I went to sleep, to clean up … the area near the front door. I routinely do some picking up between my housekeeper’s visits, nothing all that much. Just to keep things neat as I go along, you know. Clean the bathrooms. Keep the kitchen up. But I haven’t even done that, so no, no cleaning. Why does that matter?”
    “The phony agents spent a couple hours in your house last Thursday night after you left to stay with Ms. Roth. Treating your home as a crime scene may help us find the real identities of these imposters.”
    “And they murdered Sam.”
    “Possibly, Mrs. Crawford,” Sue said. Maddie then added, “We don’t know that yet. But they can certainly tell us why they were watching your house, and where the phony medical examiner took your husband.”
    “I spoke