on.
Mariah was fine with the decision and anxious to see Caroline again. Both she and Liza had made a vow to keep in touch with their friends from the past a bit better, and this was step one in that plan. She and Caroline had drifted apart, and they didn't have to be best friends who talked all the time, but they didn't have to be strangers either. There had to be a happy medium somewhere.
If Danny and Caroline thought it was strange that they were back to ask more questions, they were too polite to say so. As before, they were invited in and offered refreshments by the pool by the smiling couple. Knox was introduced and he made fast friends with the family dog. It was love at first sight between the two of them.
"I'm sorry that we have to bother you again," Ryan apologized when they were all settled around the table. It was a typically hot summer day so Danny had opened the large striped umbrella to shelter them from the sun. "But I have a few more questions that have come up during the investigation."
Danny put his arm around his wife's shoulders. "As we said before, we have no secrets. You can ask us anything you want."
Clearing his throat, Ryan took the lead on asking the questions. That had also been decided last night. Knox had said that he would stay mostly out of it, if possible. He was there for back up only if Ryan missed a follow-up question.
"During the investigation we've found that Brad was communicating with several bookies on a daily basis. Based on the amount of money he was withdrawing and depositing in his account, we think he was heavily involved in gambling. We were wondering if you were aware of this."
Caroline's eyes had gone wide and even the usual unflappable Danny looked shocked.
"Gambling?" she repeated. "Are you saying he was addicted to gambling? Because I know that he placed bets from time to time. He'd tell me about them. I never thought it was a big deal."
"You think this is what got him killed?" Danny asked, before anyone could answer his wife. "That he owed money and they murdered him?"
Ryan shook his head. "Not necessarily. It's simply one avenue that we're looking at. Did either of you see Brad worried about finances at all?"
"Brad was never worried about money," Caroline replied firmly. "Ever. He never worried about what anything cost or where the money would come from. I never saw him concerned about it in the least."
That would have been Mariah's response as well. Brad wasn't a person who worried about much of anything, especially money. And for good reason; he didn't have the worries that average people did.
"Me neither," Danny agreed. "I don't ever remember Brad worried about much of anything except his grades that last semester. He said that if he didn't fix them then his mom and dad would be disappointed. That's it. That's all that I ever remember him being concerned about."
"Did Brad have any new friends during that time?" Knox asked, giving the dog a scratch behind the ears. "Did he use any new names that you weren't familiar with?"
Danny shook his head, but Caroline nodded. "Actually, he did. We were out at a movie the night after he got back to Chicago. His phone was off during the film but afterward he checked his messages and he said that he needed to return Aaron's call. I have no clue who Aaron was, and I think that I said that, but I don't remember him answering me. He just said that he was going to call him back and told me to go ahead inside of the restaurant and order for both of us. I did and when he came back he didn't say anything about the call. I guess I just assumed that he was a friend from college."
"Aaron," Ryan repeated. "No last name?"
"No last name," Caroline confirmed. "He only mentioned him that one time. That's why I didn't think it was important."
It wasn't much to go on in Mariah's eyes. If Ryan and Knox could find out anything about some mysterious guy from over ten years ago with no last name that would be amazing.
They chatted a little bit more but Caroline and Danny didn't have anything else to add. Brad hadn't been acting strangely and he didn't seem worried about anything.
Mariah gave her friend a hug when they all stood up to