7026d51896537f7070e55fc097206916

“So you think it must have been another person, unrelated to you and your friends?”

“Yes.”

He looked on the verge of a breakdown, and I think Odelia must have noticed, too, for she decided to leave the man be for now. After all, he’d just had a nasty conk on the head.

“Thank you for your time, Mr. Wissinski,” she said therefore.

“Look, I feel sorry for the Careens, I really do, but I had nothing to do with the accident, I swear.”

Just then, loud voices interrupted us. They seemed to come from the front of the shop, and when we went over to look what was going on, we saw that a man tried to gain access but was being held back by the same cop who’d allowed us to pass through.

The man didn’t look happy, and when he caught sight of Omar, he shouted, “I want my money back, you thief! Give me back my money right now—or else!”

He wasn’t wielding an ax, like Dominic had done, but he looked dangerous enough!

Chapter 6

The shouting man turned out to be answering to the name Gene Stooge, and when Chase took him apart, he was already less belligerent. Chase has that effect on people.

“So what seems to be the problem?” asked Chase.

“That man,” said Mr. Stooge, pointing an accusatory finger at Omar Wissinski, “robbed my mother of her savings.”

“I did nothing of the kind,” said Omar, shaking his head, then seemed to get a little woozy, and decided that keeping his head perfectly still was probably the better option.

“He came in and made my mom all kinds of promises about doubling her money if she decided to invest with them and instead her money is now gone—all of it!”

“Your mother’s money isn’t gone at all, I can assure you,” said Omar, then frowned. “Though now that I come to think of it…”

“See!” the irate customer shouted. “He’s admitting it!”

“We just had a robbery,” Omar explained. “And I’m afraid your mother’s money was in the safe, along with that of some of our other customers.”

“You robbed us!”

“No, we were robbed.”

The man made a throwaway gesture with his hand, then turned to Chase.“Can I file a complaint with you, officer?”

“What did your mother invest in, sir?” asked Odelia.

“Some bitcoin nonsense,” said Mr. Stooge.

“It isn’t nonsense,” said Omar adamantly. “Our bitcoin fund is a high-yield investment and is doing very well indeed.”

“So why did the paper say that bitcoin is one big scam?”

“Why do you believe anything that’s written in the papers?”

Dooley and I glanced to Odelia, whose face had flushed a little. Still she decided to keep her tongue. Now was not the time to defend her professional honor.

“So you advised Mr. Stooge’s mother to invest in your bitcoin fund?” she asked instead.

“I advise all of our customers to invest in our bitcoin fund. It’s the fund of the future. And it wouldn’t surprise me if it will be our most successful fund ever. But like with all high-yield investments there is a certain level of risk involved.”

“When I called you yesterday and asked for my mother’s money back you said she had signed a contract and you wouldn’t give it back!” the angry customer cried.

“I explained all this to Leta, Gene. When you invest in the bitcoin fund you invest for the long term. If everyone took out their money a week into their investment we’d never be able to turn a profit. It’s the way we’ve always worked here at Morro& Wissinski.”

“Ah, nuts,” the man grumbled, clearly not satisfied with this explanation. “I wish my mother would have told me before she gave you all of her savings.”

“Trust me, Gene,” said the insurance man. “You stand to double your investment. Maybe even triple it.”

“I thought you just said the money’s been stolen?” said Chase.

Omar seemed to slump a little as this sobering truth came home to him.“Oh, darn it,” he muttered, then closed his eyes and seemed to sway, like a sapling in the breeze.

“I think you better go home, Mr. Wissinski,” Odelia suggested. “You don’t look so good.”

“I think you better go to the hospital,” said Chase, eyeing the man with a worried frown. “You might have a concussion, sir.”

“You’re right,” said Wissinski as he got up, then abruptly sat down again. And right before our eyes, his eyes suddenly turned up in his skull, and he would have crashed down onto the floor, if Chase hadn’t been there to catch him.

“We better call an ambulance,” said Odelia.

“Yeah, looks like he got hit harder than he thought.”

“So what’s going to happen with my money?” asked Gene Stooge.

“I thought it was your mother’s money?” said Chase dryly.

“Is he going to pay me back or not?” the man demanded, pointing to the unconscious insurance broker.

“Please go home, Mr. Stooge,” said Chase. “Now is not the time.”

“I should have known,” Gene grumbled as he got up. “It’s all Jona’s fault. He’s the one who’s behind this scheme, isn’t he?”

“What makes you say that?” asked Odelia.

“Because it’s true! Everybody knows that Jona is the one who handles the investments, while Omar handles the insurance side of the business.” He planted both feet firmly on the floor. “I demand to speak to Jona. Right now!”