He trundled up the steps.
They went in through the foyer and into the living room. The home was lavish, worthy of a billionaire.
Heath said, “Hey everybody.”
They greeted him and Jeff.
“Bottled water’s over there at the bar,” Scarlet said. “If you want a cocktail, help yourself.”
Jeff would love a stiff Scotch but of course he couldn’t indulge. Heath poured a whiskey and the rest chose water. “So, Scarlet, you called the meeting. Why?”
“I hope I’m not overreacting, because this might not mean anything, but it was odd and hasn’t happened before. A guy drove up here and asked one of the guards I hired, Roman Krause from Kirland Security, if I was selling Stanley. Roman said he was dressed up as a cowboy. He looked weird. Acted arrogant. And he wore an odd medallion.”
Juliet gasped.
“What?” Jeff asked.
“Someone new came to my yoga class and acted strangely. He had odd eyes. And he wore a medallion, too. I told him he couldn’t have it on in class and he said, “You’ll never see this again.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” Jeff asked.
“It seemed like nothing.”
“Scarlet, can you phone Krause and ask him to come here?”
She clicked into her cell. While they waited for the guard, Jeff asked Juliet what the man looked like.
“Blonde hair. Expensive outfit. An average body, I guess. As I said, he had odd green eyes.”
When there was a knock on the door, Scarlet answered and walked in with Krause. “Hi, all. What’s up?”
“First, do you know Captain Marshall?”
“Yes, through my job.”
Scarlet added, “He’s in charge of our investigation. The FBI is helping out too. Where are they, by the way?”
“On standby and doing some investigation under the radar.” Jeff greeted the guard. Roman dropped down into a chair.
“We understand Scarlet had a visitor while she was out.” He reiterated what Scarlet had told him about the man. “Can you describe him in more detail for us?”
“Sure. He had a lot of brown hair and blue eyes, but a funny blue. And the medallion was odd.”
“The physical descriptions don’t match. But anybody can create a disguise. Did you get the make, model and license plate of the car?”
“I did. I’ll give it to you. But I already called my contacts and found out it was a rental.”
“Damn it,” Heath said.
The tension in the room was palpable.
“We have the medallion,” Juliet put in, probably trying to be optimistic for the others. “That’s a lead, right?”
Jeff cocked his head. “I guess it’s as good of a clue as anything we’ve had so far.”
Heath asked, “Why would he let everybody see the thing if it was important?”
“Thrills, I’d guess.” Jeff thought for a second. “We’ll have you two describe it for a sketch artist. Then I’ll send it to the FBI.”
