Read It Takes Two to Strangle for Free Online Page B

backdrop.”
    The conversation continued for a few more minutes, moving from the murder to the closing of the fair. Just before they hung up, Damon asked if he could call her “if he heard anything else about the murder.” She agreed and he stored her number in his phone.
    He breathed in deeply and exhaled. Bethany had never called him before.
    Before returning home, Damon detoured to the nearby Safeway to pick up some staples. Traversing down the cereal aisle, he noticed Jim Riley wedging a box of granola bars into a handheld basket. Damon offered his condolences.
    “Good riddance to bad rubbish,” Jim replied looking up. His earlobe was pulsating and Damon couldn’t help but notice several deep scratches on one of his forearms.
    Damon regretted approaching the man, but he couldn’t walk away now. “Still, it’s horrible when anyone dies before their time,” he said.
    “I suppose, but he wasn’t doing me any favors living. The IRS audited us last year. Lirim and Victor McElroy were skimming cash off the top of our receipts.”
    Damon was taken aback by Jim’s frankness. “They didn’t go to jail?”
    “No. That’s the kicker. The IRS penalized the company rather than call in their criminal investigation team. Because I own half of Big Surf I had to eat fifty percent of the penalty.” He set his basket on the floor and crossed his arms. “The IRS said they were skimming about five percent, but I think it was closer to fifteen. And those two wouldn’t let me anywhere near them when they were counting receipts. I was his partner, and he wouldn’t even let me see the books.”
    “Why didn’t you sue him?” Damon asked. His regret about approaching Jim had vanished.
    Jim blanched. He picked up the basket and switched it from his right hand to his left and then back again. “I couldn’t do that. I just couldn’t.”
    Damon looked at him with interest. There was clearly something Jim wasn’t telling him, but he didn’t press the point. “At least the IRS made them stop skimming,” he said in an effort to mollify Jim’s agitation.
    “It made them stop for a while, then about two months ago they started right back up,” Jim said with venom in his voice. “He and Victor might not have been taking fifteen percent off the top this time, but it was probably almost ten. After the audit penalty, I had a better sense of how much we were really bringing in.”
    Jim winced and his earlobe pulsated in unison. “I should’ve been able to see early on what he and Victor were doing,” Jim continued. “It’s so obvious now. But before the investigation, it never occurred to me because the receipts had been consistent since we became partners.”
    Damon nodded sympathetically.
    “We expect the college kids to slip the odd twenty dollar bill in their pockets, which is why we pay them so little,” Jim said. “But I never expected my business partner to do it.” He took a deep breath.
    “Why did Lirim sell a share to you in the first place?” Damon asked.
    Jim eyed Damon but didn’t shy away from the question. “I think he needed the capital. He was in deep with a couple of guys who called themselves venture capitalists. Maybe venture capitalists for rednecks. I suspect that they suckered Lirim into a bad investment down in Florida. The first winter after I bought in, Lirim spent a lot of time down there. About a year later I stopped seeing the ‘venture capitalists’ around.”
    “So does that mean Clara isn’t inheriting anything other than Lirim’s half of Big Surf?”
    “Probably not. And even though she’s an only child, Lirim’s half is mortgaged to the hilt. Still, I imagine she’ll ask me to buy her out and I probably will.”
    “I suppose it also depends on whether Lirim had a will,” Damon pondered out loud.
    “I don’t think he did. He told me his wife had one but he didn’t care what happened after he was gone. He probably didn’t want one drawn up because he didn’t want an