"How did you find this? I can't imagine that he put his gambling on his credit card."
"He didn't, but he did make regular withdrawals and sometimes transferred money to other accounts. I also followed his cell phone records and they led to about half a dozen bookies in Chicago and New York City. Looks like he was spreading his bets around so he could bet the maximum amount each day. And from what I can see, he did bet every single day."
"I had no idea he was that bad," Ryan finally replied, his brain running through so many images from the past. "I know that he liked to place a few bets on sports, but I don't think any of us knew the extent of his problem. I thought it was a few innocent bets. I placed a couple myself on the playoffs or the big game. I didn't think it was a big deal."
"From what I can find, your friend was betting up to seventy-five thousand dollars a day. That's just an estimate, though. I could be wrong. It might be more or less, but I think it's a decent guess."
A day? That was insane.
"His family didn't know? I can't imagine that he was in so deep without them knowing he was spending money like that."
"I can't answer that question. Maybe his family only looked at monthly totals, for example. Then they'd see that he spent more than he won but they wouldn't see all the details for each day. Or maybe they didn't monitor his spending at all. There's also a chance they knew and didn't care. Do the parents gamble? I'm wondering if the son learned from mom or dad."
"I don't know but it looks like I'm going to need to ask that question."
It was going to be awkward as hell too, depending on Skip and Lilly's attitude regarding gambling. Ryan was almost positive that Skip bet on golf when he played with Ryan's dad.
"Did you get anything else from his phone activity?"
"Names of a few women you may not have talked to yet. He had an active social life, that's for sure. Parties, bars, restaurants, nightclubs. All of that and more. He did slow down a little during his last semester, but the gambling stayed the same. If anything, it intensified."
Ryan would need to talk to Caroline again and see if she knew anything about the gambling. Theo, too. If anyone knew it would be Brad's best friend.
I have a feeling that perhaps a few people haven't been completely candid with me. And what about Isla? Did she know?
"Can you text me the information for the women? I'll make arrangements for Rosenthal to talk to them."
"Will do. How are your interviews going? Anything to report?"
"Not really. Everyone says that Brad was acting normally that night and in the weeks before. They all thought that he'd show up in Hawaii and were surprised that he didn't." A thought occurred to Ryan. "I know this is going to sound insane but they kept bringing up how Brad would talk about faking his own death. I don't suppose you could check on that? Maybe find out if he looked into buying a one-way ticket to Fiji? Can you even get information like that from the distant past?"
"If it's in a computer database somewhere we can try," Jared replied, confidence in his tone. "Listen, I don't mean to be an asshole here, but your friend talked about faking his own death? Why? Did he hate his life or something? Were his parents abusive to him?"
"Not that I know of but Brad liked to be different, quirky. He thought it was cool to be rich and eccentric. He thought the idea of running away from society and living barefoot on the beach was kind of romantic."
"He sounds like an interesting guy," Jared remarked. "Definitely not boring."
"That's true. He was never dull. He always had something going on."
Did Brad have something going on that had gotten him killed? Ryan was beginning to think the answer might be yes. Time to backtrack to the parents and Theo. He had new questions to ask.
18
So far, dinner hadn't been the ordeal that Mariah had expected it to be. Ryan had been friendly and polite to his parents, and Jack and Patricia hadn't made any digs about being a cop or not joining the family business. All in all, it had been quite pleasant.
Of course, Mariah wasn't in the same boat as Ryan. She actually liked his mom and dad. They seemed like good people who loved their children, but perhaps didn't always know how to show that emotion. Instead they bought them things hoping their American Express card would do the talking.
How Ryan couldn't see this, Mariah didn't know. He was one of the most intelligent men she'd ever known but when it came to his family he couldn't see past the end of his nose. He was just angry that they weren't the kind of parents that he'd wanted so he'd set out to be the son they didn't want either. No one wanted to budge from their position which made the entire situation more frustrating for everyone around them.
Liza had been working on her parents for years, telling them to back off Ryan about his career choices. She'd also been working on Ryan, and Mariah had been as well when they'd still been together. She hadn't made much progress though, and he'd constantly tried to avoid spending any time with them. Deep inside, she felt that he'd regret that eventually. His parents weren't going to live forever, after all.
"So how is the investigation going, son?" Jack asked as the dinner plates were whisked away. "Any progress?"
They'd somehow managed to avoid talking about Brad during the meal, instead discussing the upcoming party for Patricia's birthday which had led to an even more in-depth debate about the merits of the Caribbean versus Europe. Jack was planning to take his wife on an extended vacation as part of her birthday present and they were trying to decide where to go. They'd already traveled extensively so neither location would be new to them. Mariah had suggested an Alaskan cruise as her parents had just returned from one and were still raving about it.
Ryan dabbed at the corners of his mouth with the heavy linen napkin. "I'm still putting together a picture of what happened that night when we were all together. I still have to speak to a few people including Isla Norton. She's had a busy schedule but I'm hoping that I get to talk to her tomorrow. My boss has also done some research into Brad's finances and came up with a few leads for me to follow."
This was the first that Mariah was hearing about new leads. She'd specifically asked Ryan in the car on the way there how his day had gone. He'd said it was fine but he hadn't elaborated on it any further so she'd assumed that meant there was nothing to talk about. Apparently, she'd been wrong.
Liza's brows rose expectantly. "You can't just throw something out there like that and then clam up, big brother. Talk. What did your boss find out? Was Brad funding an underground research facility that was trying to weaponize trained sharks?"
Her husband Mike grinned. "Or even better, a clandestine paramilitary group that goes around and helps people in trouble like ’The A-Team’?"
Chuckling, Jack smiled. "I think both of you watch too much television. I doubt it was anything very interesting. What would Ryan find if he looked into your finances, I wonder?"
"That I like shoes," Liza sighed. "And Italian takeout. He'd find out that Mike plays too much golf."