Tahoe Dark (An Owen McKenna Mystery Thriller Book 14) Read Online Free Page B

Montrop’s balcony to his death. The fight was witnessed by people in an apartment in a high rise across the street.”
    Sergeant Lanzen looked sad, an unusual expression for a cop.
    “I’m sorry to say that we botched the case,” I said. “His lawyer knew it, and Montrop was able to plea bargain and get off with parole only. During the case, the music scam came out, which led to multiple civil suits, which Montrop lost. Unfortunately for the fraud victims, Montrop’s money appeared to have disappeared.”
    The men finished tightening the gurney straps and wheeled the body down the driveway.
    “You’re saying that Montrop claimed to have lost all of the money he stole,” Lanzen said.
    “Yeah.”
    “But you don’t believe it,” she said.
    “No one close to the case believed it. He demonstrated financial skill in putting together his swindle. Those same skills would have been useful in hiding the money.”
    Lanzen looked up at the grand house. “You’d need a big bank account to own a place like this. This house must have cost three or four million, don’t you think?”
    “I’m no real estate expert, but I bet you’re in the ballpark. Any idea if he lived with anyone? Did he have family?”
    “We just got the search warrant a half hour before you came, so we’ve made only the briefest search of his things. It appears he has a son named Jonas. In his top desk drawer, we found one of those cartoon birthday cards addressed to Jonas. On the front, it says, ‘For my favorite son.’ On the inside it says, ‘Okay, so you’re an only child, but you’re still my favorite.’ And stuck to the front of the card was a Post-it note that said, ‘Remember to get Jonas a birthday present.’”
     
     
     
     
    FOUR
     
     
    “Have you contacted Jonas?” I asked.
    The sergeant said, “I called the number in Montrop’s book and got Jonas’s voicemail. I left a message asking him to call me about his father. I said it was important.”
    “Any indication of his son’s address?”
    Lanzen looked at me. “You’re interested in the case.” It was a statement, not a question.
    “Being accused by the murder victim piques my curiosity. If I’m not actually a suspect, maybe I can help.”
    “After I called Sergeant Diamond Martinez, I knew you weren’t a suspect. I’d be happy to have help. And you would no doubt like to find out why you were mentioned on Montrop’s note.”
    I made a single nod.
    Lanzen said, “The son’s address wasn’t clear. Montrop abbreviated the street in his book and left off the town. I suppose he didn’t need it to remember where Jonas lived, so he just wrote down the number. Maybe it will make sense to you.”
    She led me back inside the house to the study, pulled on latex gloves, and opened the top drawer of the desk. She opened the address book, turned the pages until she found the one she wanted, and pointed to the left side of that page. Montrop had written Jonas’s name, a street number, and then the letters TKB.
    “Does it give you any ideas?” she said.
    “Possibly. One version could be Tahoe Keys Boulevard.”
    “Oh, very good. South Lake Tahoe, right?”
    I nodded.
    She got out her cell phone. “I’ll Google that address and see what comes up.” She tapped on her phone, waited a bit, tapped some more.
    After another minute, she showed me the phone.
    “Looks like an actual address,” I said. “If you like, I can call Commander Mallory of the SLTPD and give him the news. He could send out one of his people to inform Jonas of his father’s death. Or I can go myself. My office is on Kingsbury Grade. That’s just a few miles away. Now that I’ve been pulled into the periphery of this case, I’d like to meet the son.”
    Lanzen thought about it. “You don’t belong to a law enforcement agency, but I think that would be okay. Will you let me know if you’re able to find him or not?”
    “Certainly. One question is, do we know if this house belongs to