First Murder by Fred Limberg Read Free Book Online Page B

difficulties?”
    Fredrickson turned to her. “No. We’re not rich, detective, but there are not any financial issues. Dee has…had access to all of the accounts. All of the accounts are in both names. No.”
    “Could someone have been blackmailing her and you wouldn’t have necessarily known?”
    “Blackmail?”
    “Extortion of some kind. Blackmail.”
    “For what?” Scott looked completely lost.
    “An affair? Compromising photos? Drug use? Maybe you’ve done something? You’re in investments, right? You bent some rules and she was covering for you?” Both detectives noticed that this was making Fredrickson uncomfortable. There was a change in his posture. He sat a little straighter. His eyes narrowed. Was it anger? Guilt?
    “My wife and I shared an extremely satisfying sex life. We are…were more in love now than when we married. There was no affair. I’d have known. As for my business, if you’ll sign a confidentiality agreement I’ll open my books for you.”
    “We don’t need to sign anything, Mr. Fredrickson. This is a murder investigation. We can get subpoenas, warrants, anything we need if we feel the investigation takes us there.” Carol was pissed and it showed. Ray caught her eye and gave a slight shake of his head, waving her off.
    Scott continued, unfazed. “It will be easier, faster, and more complete. That’s the only reason I mention it. I have a responsibility to my clients. It’s privileged information, Detective. I have nothing to hide, but I have responsibilities.”
    “We appreciate that, Mr. Fredrickson.” Ray said
    “As for our personal records, credit cards and debit card statements, I’ll hand those over anytime. There’s nothing there that will point to any blackmail payments. Let’s move on, shall we?” Ray blinked. Here was who would
usually
be the prime suspect in effect taunting him to take his next punch.
    “Tell me about your daughter.”
    “Helene. Thoreson’s her last name now. Husband Brad. Baby girl, Anna. They live in Madison. Deanna’s mother lives there too. We see them as often as we can, which isn’t often enough. They’re en route now. They were camping over the weekend. Deanna’s mother finally got hold of them. She went out to the park to get them, as a matter of fact.”
    “Any friction there?” Ray meant between the daughter and the grandparent.
    Scott sighed. “No. We haven’t been able to talk Dee’s mother into moving to the Cities so far, and Helene and Brad live there as much to keep an eye on her as any other reason. If there’s any
friction
, Detective, it’s because they couldn’t be closer.”
    “How about the son? I’m sorry, your son.”
    “They were best friends.” Fredrickson shrugged. “It’s the only way to describe it. They had some difficulties when Scotty was in high school. Pretty normal stuff. He tested limits. She pointed out where they were. You see, what you don’t know about Deanna is that she has…had this incredible capacity to love people and help them. It was tough on her sometimes, like when one of her friends was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was Dee’s force of will that kept the woman going through the ordeal.”
    “You keep mentioning her friends.”
    “The ‘Go Girls’. It’s what they call the group.” Fredrickson got up and retrieved a sheaf of papers from his briefcase. “I knew you’d want to know about them so I wrote down all the names and addresses for you. Phone numbers too.”
    “The ‘Go Girls’?” Ray scanned the handwritten list.
    “Karen Hewes was Deanna’s best friend, has been since college. Her husband and I are friends, too. Gary and I go hunting a couple of times a year, right? So the girls decided they’d take some trips. Let’s see, the last few years they’ve gone to Vegas, Laughlin, LA, and one time to Mexico, Ixtapa. They went to Florida one time too. Rented a car and drove to Key West from Miami.”
    “Gambling?”
    “Nothing high stakes, although