Page 40 of Meant for Two

“Okay, but I’m with Mr. Dragman at the moment. He’s my… insurance agent.”

“Perfect. We’d love to speak with him too,” Jeff said.

Another man—or rather a werewolf—tapped Mr. Hensley on the shoulder, and Mr. Hensley turned around. “I think we’ve covered everything, and I have another appointment I have to get to,” the agent said.

Mr. Hensley opened the door wide, and Mr. Dragman—a man in his mid-thirties—nodded to them and left. Mr. Hensley then motioned for them to come in. “I hope this won’t take long. My wife is due back from walking the dog any moment.”

“We’ll be quick.” Jeff smiled, hoping to disarm the older man.

Mr. Hensley showed them to the living room and had them sit on the sofa. “Did you find out who robbed us?” Mr. Hensley asked.

“We have some suspects,” Jeff said. “It was kind of why having the insurance agent here would have been helpful.” Jeff wasn’t sure why he said that, except that having a werewolf—other than themselves—visit Mr. Hensley seemed odd for some reason. “What can you tell us about Jacob Crenshaw?”

Mr. Hensley’s face turned white. “It’s a tragedy, but there was nothing I could do.”

“What happened?” Zane asked, even though he knew more or less.

“Mr. Crenshaw was a customer at the bank where I worked. The poor man’s three-year-old son needed a kidney transplant. Jacob needed to borrow a lot of money, only he was already heavily in debt. We have rules, you know.”

“I’m sure you wanted to lend him the money, but rules are rules, right?”

Mr. Hensley nodded. “Yes.”

“Sir, how upset was Jacob with you? Was it enough to take revenge out on you?” Zane asked.

“Ah…ah…I don’t know. Maybe. He was angry. Yes, very angry.”

Jeff wished he could ask if he thought Jacob had the means to hire someone to rob Mr. Hensley, though it was possible Mr. Crenshaw had friends who were willing to do it for a cut of the profit.

“Did he ever threaten to get back at you?” Zane asked.

Mr. Hensley looked off to the side. “Yes. I think so. I mean, he said I’d pay. It wasn’t long after that exchange that his son died.”

“I’m sorry.”

“To be honest, I was so upset by that encounter that I decided it was time for me to retire.”

“Did you hear from Mr. Crenshaw after that?” Zane asked.

“No. I moved from Midvale, so he would have no way of knowing I was here.”

Jacob Crenshaw might be a dead end, though there were ways of locating people. “Thank you. If you can think of anyone else who had a grudge against you, let the sheriff know.” Jeff stood, and Zane followed suit. “We’ll show ourselves out.”

“Is it my imagination, or was Mr. Hensley nervous?” Zane asked as soon as he slipped into Jeff’s truck.

“I’d say he was more confused than nervous. It was sad, actually.”

“Sure, but it was almost as if he didn’t want us to know he was speaking with the insurance agent,” Zane said.

“Why? His house had been robbed. It makes sense that an insurance agent would stop by.”

Zane shrugged. “I guess so. You did pick up that this agent was a werewolf, right?”

“Of course, but what does that have to do with it? Our kind has all sorts of jobs.” Jeff started the engine.

“You’re right. Back to the case at hand. What does your gut tell you about whether Jacob Crenshaw had something to do with the theft or not?” Zane asked.

“On the surface, it seems as if he’s innocent, but he threatened Mr. Hensley.”