Page 35 of Shadow Seeking

I glanced at Dante. “Oh brother.”

“You can say that again,” he said. “Let’s go.”

I pulled my jacket tighter against a sudden gust of wind that swept past. “Brr. It’s getting chilly.”

“It’s November,” Dante said with a laugh. “But you’re right. It almost smells like snow.”

I sniffed the air. “Almost, but not quite yet. I’d say give it a week or two. But I think a big thunderstorm’s coming in.”

We climbed the steps to the three-story house, stopping to ring the bell. After two more rings, the door opened, and a man who reminded me of a lumberjack model peeked out. He was too ‘stately’ to be an actual lumberjack, but he had the slightly scruffy hair and five o’clock shadow down pat. He was also muscled to hell and back, though he was wearing a pair of suit pants and a sweater vest over a button-down shirt.

“Holden White?” I asked.

“Yes, may I help you?” He flashed us a curious look.

“I’m Kyann Sarasan, and this is Dante Franco. We’re from Shadow Blade Investigations, and we’re wondering if you’d be able to answer a few questions for us.” I smiled and held out my hand.

He stared at it for a moment, then grudgingly shook it. “How do you do? You know who I am, so I think I can skip the introduction for the moment. Please come in,” he said, standing back so we could enter the house. “Let me guess. You’re here because of my next-door neighbor with a bad case of paranoia. Am I right?”

Taken aback, I said, “Your neighbor Alf Lindstrom asked us to investigate a theft, so we thought we’d ask you if you noticed anything suspicious.”

Holden led us into a large living room that looked all too much like a hotel lobby. The sofa and chairs had that ivory linen look that hotel furniture had, and everything mirrored the bland minimalistic look, right down to the vases of white mums, the sparsely covered tables free of bric-a-brac, immaculately dusted bookshelves with every book lined up precisely. It seemed impossible that a child lived in this house, unless they were locked up in their bedroom.

“So, let me guess. This is about Alf’s missing figurine collection?” he said, offering us a seat on the sofa.

I gingerly sat down, hoping I didn’t have anything on that might stain the ivory linen. “Well, yes. Since you mention it, we’re investigating the theft for him. He mentioned that you wanted to buy them for your son, and you offered a lowball amount for them.”

Holden sat down, crossing one knee over the other and sitting back in the recliner. “Alf Lindstrom has always hated me since I moved in. I resurrected the HOA, which had lapsed, and he was forced to clean up his yard and paint his shed. He resents me for that.”

“I see,” I said, noting that down. “Did you do it with him specifically in mind? I mean, was it because of his yard and shed?”

“Not really, though those were factors in my decision to revive it. His grass was knee deep and a fire hazard, and his shed was the color of toxic waste.Neontoxic waste. I felt like it would provide the neighborhood with more security because when everyone has to meet once a month, it gives a certain sense of community, and the crime rate here is pretty bad.” Holden shrugged. “Alf took it personally.”

“What about your visit? Where’s your son, by the way?”

“It’s none of your business as to where he’s at, but I’ll tell you. He’s with his mother. He stays with me on weekends. And as to the collection, well, we went over there to return the lawn mower I borrowed because mine’s in the shop. One of the blades broke on a rock that I didn’t see. My son saw the figurines and wanted to play with them. Alf yelled for him to keep away from them, so I offered to buy them. I admit, I was being a bit smug—I had no idea they were worth that much. I wanted to goad him. I knew that he’d say no.” Holden smiled, just enough to see his teeth. They were so white they were blinding.

“You said you didn’t know how much they were worth,” Dante asked. “When did you find out?”

“When Alf showed up on my doorstep a few days later, accusing me of taking them. I offered to let him search my house but he stormed off, calling me names.” Holden shrugged. “You can search the house, as well. In fact, if you want, I’ll call my ex-wife and you can search her house, too, to see if they’re in my son’s room.”

I cleared my throat. “Well, Alf seems to think you might have sold them online.”

Holden let out a laugh. “Right. Like I need a few grand in cash.” He leaned forward. “Let me tell you something. I was one of the first employees with Macro Technology. I got in on the ground floor and was given a large amount of stock as one of my benefits. By the time I retired, about twelve years ago, I had over four million in stock alone. Not to mention a tidy pension, and everything I saved that didn’t go to Irene in the divorce. I don’t need petty change.”

He was telling the truth. You could tell when someone had nothing to hide, and Holden had nothing to hide.

“Okay,” I said. “As a matter of courtesy would you show us around and give us Irene’s number?” Even though I believedhim, we needed to check out his story. But I knew it wasn’t Holden that had stolen Alf’s figurines.

“Of course,” he said. “Oh, and my guess is that if you examine Alf’s house, you might find them hidden away. I don’t put it past him to pull an insurance scam. And you’ve got to believe he has those figurines insured. He’s no fool.”

By the time we left, I had a sneaking suspicion that our main suspect was the very one who had reported the crime in the first place. I wasn’t sure why he tried to insist it was Holden, though I suspected it might be to throw some doubt on Holden’s character and muck up his life for a bit. As we excused ourselves, I had already decided to drop the case.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Back at the office,I told Sophia to return Alf’s retainer and let him know we wouldn’t be able to handle his case. I had the strong suspicion that Holden was right and it was an attempted case of insurance fraud.

I asked Sophia to transcribe the recording from Penn. “If you could have them ready by tomorrow, for Friday’s staff meeting.”

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