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“Oh, you’re hopeless. Just like your father. You two really are cut from the same cloth, aren’t you? Both as stubborn as mules!”

There was a sound of shuffling feet inside, and Harriet quickly nudged Scarlett, and they both hurried back to the desk. And just in time, too, for Scarlett had only just taken a seat, when the door to the inner office swung open and Julia Wissinski appeared, with her son right behind her, his face red and clearly in the throes of some powerful emotion.

“Please reconsider, Omar,” said Mrs. Wissinski.

“No means no, Mom,” said Omar, not to be dissuaded.

“Ooh!” his mother cried, throwing up her hands in obvious frustration, then stalked off, without deigning Scarlett even a single glance.

Omar stood there, silently fuming for a few moments, his jaw working furiously as he did, then he cut a fiery look to Scarlett.“Any calls for me?”

“No, Mr. Wissinski, sir,” said Scarlett meekly. “No one has called.”

“Hrmph,” said Omar, then retreated into his inner sanctum, and slammed the door.

“What was that all about?” asked Harriet.

“No idea,” said Brutus, “but we better tell Max. Maybe he’ll be able to figure it out.”

“Don’t think we need to,” said Harriet, and gestured to Scarlett, who’d picked up her phone and was dialing a number.

Gran’s friend had lowered her voice, and whispered into her phone, “Omar’s mom was here, Vesta. She and Omar had a big fight. No, I don’t know what it was about. Something about him having to apologize to his dad, and refusing to. Yeah, big blowup, apparently.”

Just then, the door to the outer office swung open and an elderly lady walked in, glanced around for a moment to get her bearings, then made a beeline for Scarlett.

“Gotta go!” Scarlett whispered, and hung up.

“I want to see Mr. Wissinski,” the old lady demanded.

“I’ll see if he’s available,” said Scarlett in honeyed tones. “Who can I say is calling?”

“Leta Stooge,” said the woman, enunciating clearly. “My son Gene was in here yesterday, but apparently one of the partners had just been murdered.” She arched an eyebrow, as if she didn’t approve of this kind of outlandish behavior on the part of her insurance agent. “I hope Mr. Wissinski hasn’t been murdered, too?”

“No, Mr. Wissinski is fine.”

“Good. I don’t mind if he’s murdered, but not before he gives me back my money.”

Scarlett picked up the phone and moments later was in a brief conference with her employer. And even though Omar had only recently inquired if new customers had paid a visit to their offices, clearly he wasn’t as eager as he could have been to see Mrs. Stooge.

“He’ll be with you shortly,” said Scarlett, as she gestured to the waiting area and offered Mrs. Stooge a cup of coffee or tea while she waited.

The woman didn’t seem predisposed either to waiting or to cups of tea or coffee, but she decided to do as she was told, and took a seat next to a potted plant, then picked up a copy ofInsurers Weekly from the table in the waiting area and started leafing through it.

Finally Omar managed to screw up his nerve and the door to his office opened once more.“Mrs. Stooge? I can see you now, if you please.”

The older lady, head held high, stalked past the man and straight into his office.

“Please hold my calls, Miss Canyon,” said Omar, looking a little feverish all of a sudden.

“Let’s go!” Harriet said, and hurried over to the man’s door, Scarlett and Brutus right behind her.

“I know my son came in here yesterday,” they heard Mrs. Stooge declare, “and I know you gave him some kind of runaround. You won’t do the same with me, Mr. Wissinski. I want my money back and I want it now!”

“See, the problem is that we were robbed, Mrs. Stooge,” said Omar. “And I explained all this to Gene yesterday. Our safe was emptied out, as in everything was taken.”

“But surely you have money in your account?”

“I’m afraid we hadn’t yet transferred the money you gave me to the bank.”

“So my money was in your safe?”

“Yes, it was. And it’s all gone now.”

“But aren’t you insured against this sort of thing? I mean, you are an insurance agent, aren’t you? Insuring stuff is what you do.”

They heard Omar heave a loud sigh.“The problem is, Mrs. Stooge, and I’m very sorry to have to inform you of this, that it now looks as if my partner was engaged in activities that weren’t exactly above board.”

“You mean he was cheating?”

“We’re still trying to figure out what Jona was up to, but as far as I can figure out, he used the money that you and some other people invested in our bitcoin fund to finance his own extracurricular activities. In other words, all the money that was received was received off the books.”

“Under the table.”

“So it would seem.”

“And you’re telling me you weren’t aware of this?”

“No, I wasn’t. It’s only after what happened yesterday that I discovered certain irregularities in the accounts. You see, Jona was in charge of our investments while I took care of the insurance policies.”

“But you sold me on your bitcoin fund! Said I was going to triple my investment!”