He’d just caught the soccer ball. He turned toward her, bouncing the ball in his hands. “Who’s asking?”
“My name is Lainie Jensen. You were at the beach the other day when the woman went missing.”
He rolled his eyes, tossed the ball into the air, then kicked it across the course, causing the kids to scream and all run after it.
“What do you want to know about it? I already told that other guy everything.”
“What other guy?”
“There was a guy here earlier, asking about what I saw.”
“A police officer?”
“No. His ID said he was FBI. He was investigating an insurance claim.”
“Insurance?” That stopped Lainie cold. The implications were dark.
“You don’t work with him?”
She shook her head. “The missing woman is my sister.”
“Oh.” He nodded once. “I’m sorry.”
“What was this guy’s name?”
“Ah, I don’t remember. I only saw his ID for a moment. I asked if the whole thing was fraud, and he said he was just asking questions.”
“Do you think it was a fraud?”
“Ma’am, I don’t know. That day I thought maybe there had been a shark, but in hindsight, maybe I just saw what the woman wanted me to see.”
“What woman?”
“The woman screaming shark. She was so loud she had everyone staring out at the ocean. That’s what I told the FBI guy. It seemed like she knew the guy, ah, you know. I guess your brother-in-law. Well, I got the impression that they knew each other well.”
The kids were back with the soccer ball, and Lainie found herself with a lot of questions, yet at a loss for words.
FBI?
Insurance?
Stan knew the woman yelling shark?
“Were they friends?”
“Ah.” He gave a tilt of his head. “They seemed to be a whole lot more than friends.”
CHAPTER 17
Deeply disturbed by what she’d heard from the two witnesses, Lainie called Detective Yamada as soon as she returned to her car. She shared with him what she’d learned.
“I’ll speak to the officers who recorded the witness information.”
“Did Stan say anything to you about a life insurance policy? Was that in the scope of your investigation?”
“No. As I told the agent when I spoke to him initially, we had no reason to doubt Mr. Moffit’s version of events. Now, I’m not so sure.”
“Agent? Have you spoken to one?”
