Gilded Craving - Olivia Jaymes Page 0,72

one will notice. And let's make it clear that no one noticed Brad having any issues with anyone that night."

Knox unfolded the police drawing of the construction site. "So we're saying that we think that Brad was alive when he exited the bar and that he was killed here? Because that begs the question of how the hell did he get out of the building without anyone seeing him? You said yourself that the back door has an alarm on it."

Mariah pointed to the west side of the bar on the drawing. "There were windows along here. It would have been a tight fit but he could have gotten out through one of them."

Ryan seized onto that detail. "According to the bar staff, he wasn't there after they pushed everyone out to close, and they checked the office and bathrooms each night in case some drunk decides they don't want to go home. So I think that makes the crawl through a window theory a probable one."

"We can try watching the video again," Knox suggested. "I can try enhancing it as much as possible. We need to be sure that he didn't exit out of the front door."

"It's old and terrible quality," Ryan warned him. "But it's worth a shot. At this point, we can't afford to ignore anything."

"I'll take a look at it," Knox promised. "If I can enhance it slightly, we might be able to get Jared to run some facial recognition software on it. Maybe we'll get a hit on someone who worked for a bookie."

The chance was small but they had to take it. They weren't rolling in leads at the moment.

"The only question is why did he do that?" Mariah asked quietly. "Why would he crawl out of a window instead of going out the front door? It doesn't make any sense."

"Because there was something or someone outside of the front door that he didn't want to see," Knox replied. "I'm guessing he owed someone money."

Mariah shook her head. "Brad's parents gave him plenty of money, especially after he started college. They weren't even worried about how much he was spending. He could have paid his debts."

"Maybe he placed a big bet," Ryan said. "A bet bigger than any he'd placed before and he lost. To pay it back, he might have had to take a bigger withdrawal than usual and he was worried about his parents finding out about his hobby."

She didn't look convinced.

"I guess that's a possibility, but I still don't see Brad not being able to pay for it. You said yourself he had plenty of money in the bank and a credit line, too. He also had control of the trust fund from his grandparents, remember? He got that when he turned twenty-one. Technically, he had millions."

"You have a valid point," Ryan conceded. "But I still agree with Knox that there had to be a damn good reason that Brad didn't go out the front door. Fear would be my only guess there. Maybe his fear didn't have anything to do with his gambling. It could be a red herring, and there was something else going on."

Knox rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. "I don't want to speak ill of your friend, but you did say he was something of a womanizer. Maybe he was running from a jealous boyfriend or husband. Hell, maybe he was just avoiding a woman that couldn't take a hint. I've been known to duck out of a bar when someone arrives that I was hoping not to see."

That was a distinct possibility. Ryan could picture a pissed-off boyfriend tracking down Brad to have it out.

"And that's the crux of this whole investigation, isn't it?" Mariah asked. "The reason Brad didn't go out the front door is probably the reason he ended up dead that night. But if we can't figure out the reason..."

She'd hit the nail on the head. Ryan believed that the reason Brad was dead was tied to why he didn't leave the bar the way the rest of them had that night. The big question was could he ever figure out what was going on?

"You've talked to all of Brad's friends and family," Knox said. "No one knew of anything strange going on."

"Except for Isla," Ryan said, his tone laced with frustration. "I haven't been able to talk to her."

"We'll definitely talk to her tomorrow," Knox promised. "Even if we have to have the cops bring her to the precinct.