Mystery: The Card Counter: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Mr. Bennett to his feet, then walked him into the house.
    “What the hell is going on?” Mrs. Bennett asked her husband.
    “Wally’s hurt, or dead.” Mr. Bennett finally spat out. “Isn’t he?”
    I paused for a moment, but quickly realized that this was going to happen anyway, so much better to just tear it away like an old Band-Aid. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
    Mrs. Bennett began to cry and fall down to the floor. Flo helped pick her up, as well, and walked her to the couch in the living room. I stayed in the hallway with Mr. Bennett. It was a good idea to keep them separate to ask a few questions. I started off with something basic. “How long were you at work last night?”
    Mr. Bennett paused for a moment. “Ten hours.”
    “Okay,” I said before moving on. “Did your son ever receive threats from other teams or people jealous of his success?”
    “I don’t think so,” the old man answered tearfully. “Do you think he was targeted?”
    “We don’t know yet,” I honestly answered. “Did he receive any threats in the mail from crazy kooks? Random things that didn’t seem credible?”
    “Not here,” Mr. Bennett answered tiredly. “You might want to check with the university. He got a lot of mail through the team.”
    “We are looking into that, sir.” It was evident that he had no idea of anyone that would want to do harm to his son. “Does your son have any criminal record? Has he ever gotten into trouble with the law?”
    “No, never.” I could sense Mr. Bennett’s frustration. “Why are you asking me all this?”
    “They’re very standard questions, just to see if he has any enemies that might want to see him dead. Standard protocol, I promise.” Realizing the old man wasn’t in the mood for further questions along that line, I ushered him into the living room and sat him down on the couch beside his wife.
    We asked them more questions about Wally’s past, who his closest friends were, and if there had been any other issues with women and what-not. We tried to cover as much as we could without upsetting them any more than they already were, and when I felt they’d had enough, we decided to leave them to grieve. I gave them a card with a hotline they could call. “These people are good at helping people cope with loss. They’re ready to help if you need them.”
    “Thank you very much,” Mrs. Bennett said as she took the card.
    “Once again, we are very sorry for your loss.” I walked to the door and turned back as I opened it. “We will do what we can to bring whoever did this to justice.” They didn’t respond and I didn’t wait for them to.
    There were more reporters waiting outside when we were leaving, and they were asking questions I refused to answer. I kept telling them that the police would be making a press conference later in the day, and that I had no comment at the time. I didn’t see the reporter from earlier today, so she’d been true to her word, but I couldn’t stop everyone else as there were too many of them.  They recognized me as a detective from other cases, so there was little chance of hiding what they’d already guessed.
    Seeing me there only confirmed the obvious. We were there to inform the family that their son was dead. Short of a confirmation, which I was refusing to give, the press still couldn’t tell the public who was found at the university. Not yet, at least.
    As we walked back to the car, I could tell Flo was eager to know what was going through my mind. “You’re going back to the station. I’m going home to see the girls,” I said, not even giving her a chance to ask.
    “You’re not coming in with me?” Flo asked.
    “If I clock any more overtime, the union head is going to rip me a new one,” I answered, which was true enough. “Right now, we’re waiting for tests and autopsies to come back. You can handle the paperwork until some of that comes in.” I could tell she wasn’t impressed with that, but understood that