Football is Murder (Bee's Bakehouse Cozy Mysteries Book 4) (Bee's Bakehouse Mysteries) by Kathy Cranston Page B

he just bought that huge home across the street from me.”
    Chief Daly tapped his pen against his lips. “Were they able to provide more detail? Jessie’s right—the money these guys earn, how on earth can he be in this much debt?”
    Pete nodded. “Yes, Chief. We spoke on the phone and he emailed me this. I wanted to tell you as soon as possible. He’s preparing a detailed report right now.”
    “Good. We’ll need it when we bring it to Rockfield. But judging from this? And the fact that we found him with that much cash that doesn’t show up in his financials? I’m going to go ahead and guess we’ve got our financial motive. Only it’s not the wife like we first thought.”
    * * *
    As soon as the more detailed report came through from the accountants, everything began to unravel for Chad. The pages and pages of detailed statements showed how his paychecks arrived and then flowed straight out again. His home had been purchased with a mortgage, on which the first payments were due. And there was still no sign of the five hundred thousand having come from any of his accounts.
    Chief Daly marched back into the interview room and threw the statement on the table.
    “Do you know what this is?”
    Chad shook his head. “No.” His wild eyes were a stark contrast to his calm voice.
    The chief took his seat. “Well, Chad. I’ll tell you. It’s a report into your finances. It tells me not just that that five hundred thousand didn’t come from any of your own accounts—”
    “It’s not illegal to receive a payment from somebody,” Chad cut in.
    Beside him, the attorney just shook his head.
    “No,” Chief Daly said calmly. “No, it’s not. But it’s my duty to find out where the money came from. Otherwise it can be seized by the government.”
    The chief watched him expectantly but Chad didn’t react.
    “You want to know what I think?” the chief said. “I think you banked on nobody pointing the finger at you. You argued with Johnny. Is that what it was about? Your out of control spending?”
    Chad shook his head before catching the warning glance from his attorney and falling silent again.
    “I’m close. Aren’t I? He didn’t approve. Maybe he threatened to go to the Ravens management.”
    Silence.
    Chief Daly tapped his chin. “You knew him better than anybody else in the world. Let me guess. You knew he had some cash stashed away. Five hundred thousand. Maybe not enough to pay off your debts, but enough to stave off the vultures for a while.”
    Chad’s eyes were wide and feral. Jessie shook her head. She couldn’t believe it; couldn’t believe that this monster had been living across the street from her.
    “You were out of control. You killed your best friend of nearly twenty years. And for what? A fraction of your yearly salary? Do you know how screwed up that is?”
    Lewis held up his hand. “Enough.” He glanced at Chad, who appeared to be in some kind of catatonic state now.
    “Okay then, Chad,” Chief Daly sighed. “Tell me how it really happened.”
    Chad didn’t respond.
    * * *
    Jessie shook her head as the chief walked her back to the café.
    “I can’t believe it. He didn’t even try to pretend like it wasn’t him.”
    Chief Daly shrugged. “It’s out of our hands now. Rockfield will take it from here.”
    “I still don’t get why he was brought back here and not Rockfield.”
    The chief turned to her and smiled. “Oh, it’s not normal protocol. We had discussed this, me and the Rockfield police chief. We suspected that any arrests over there would draw a lot of media attention. We needed to know we had the right guy.”
    Jessie nodded. “That makes sense. You mean there’s a whole media scrum camped in front of Rockfield PD?”
    “It’s getting that way.”
    “You think they’ll come here?”
    He shrugged. “Hopefully they won’t find out. Springdale is too small for a media hoard.”
    * * *
    There had been no need to worry, Jessie reflected as she walked