Icy Betrayal Read Online Free Page B

investigators.
    She thought back to her meeting with Mick. He had suggested she look at the suicide angle, essentially to eliminate it as a possibility. She opened the Lombard file on her computer to find the next of kin. The report showed the medical examiner had notified a nephew in Salt Lake City. She dialed the number, got a voice mail, and left a message. She didn’t say specifically what she needed to ask, but she knew from experience that people generally called back when police investigators left messages.
    Mia turned her attention to the accident report. A few minutes later, her office line rang.
    “Investigator Serrano.”
    “Uh, Ms. Serrano, this is Tim Neuhaus returning your call.”
    “Thanks, Mr. Neuhaus, I appreciate you getting back to me so quickly.”
    “You said you had some questions for me about my uncle?”
    “Yes, I’m in charge of the investigation into his death.”
    “Investigation? I was under the impression it was an accident.”
    “Well, our office looks into all traffic related fatalities. I have just a couple of quick questions, if you don’t mind—just for the record.”
    “Okay,” the nephew said tentatively.
    “First off, are you the only next of kin?”
    “I am. We were all each other had, family wise. My father died of a stroke when I was very young. My mother passed away my freshman year in college, so Uncle George stepped in, more as a mentor than anything. He paid for my college, hounded me about grades, and helped me with my career choices.”
    “So, were you close to your uncle?”
    “Somewhat, but I’m in Utah and he was there in Colorado—so the visits were somewhat infrequent. But we talked quite a bit on the phone.”
    “When was the last time you saw your uncle?”
    “He drove out and spent a week here with my family for the Fourth of July. Our kids are three and four. They called him Grandpa George…”
    Tim Neuhaus started to choke up.
    Mia tried to offer sympathy, but it was never easy over the phone. “I’m very sorry for your loss.”
    “I just don’t know what we’re going to tell the boys.”
    “Mr. Neuhaus, when you last saw your uncle, how was his health?” Mia tried to transition to her key question gently.
    “His health seemed fine when we saw him in July. The kids were a handful and he got a little winded, but we had a great week. Why do you ask?”
    “Were you aware your uncle had cancer?”

EIGHT

    O n Monday afternoon, Gabe Diamond was sitting in his office in Kansas City reviewing insurance payout reports when the email arrived from claims. Diamond was in his late sixties, having retired a decade earlier from the Kansas City PD. He was a gifted investigator and was quickly hired by the Midwestern Life Insurance Company after leaving the force. Before long he rose to the level of lead investigator for the Western U.S. territory. As such, he oversaw a team of sixteen insurance investigators, each with the primary duty of sniffing out insurance fraud in an area that covered twelve states.
    Diamond queried the database for the policy. It had been taken out three years earlier—one of two $2 million life insurance policies on business partners at an ice-making operation in Castle Springs, Colorado. Nothing too unusual about that; it was a fairly common practice for small businesses to take out life insurance policies on the primary stakeholders.
    He pushed the intercom button on his phone.
    “Giselle, I need you to find a number for the Rocklin County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado. See if you can me patch me through to someone in their traffic investigations unit.”
    “Okay, I’ll let you know when I have someone on the line.”
    Diamond sat back and pondered the situation. It was probably nothing, but he thought he should at least have a conversation with officials investigating the accident.
    “I have someone on line three.”
    “Good afternoon. I need to speak to the investigator handling the fatal traffic accident involving a